New FP+ policy and waitlist

[cmwade77]

Agreed, I said *could* not *would. But I'm always surprised to see threads where people ask who they should call to advise they will be arriving a day late.

Actually, we had this issue ourselves, we had a red eye flight that was supposed to land at 7:30 AM and wanted to ensure our room would be ready when we arrived, so we booked the room for the day before we arrived and that wouldn't have been an issue, but then our flight was delayed 3 hours, so we had to figure out who to call.

 

[cmwade77]

Likely if the door is never opened by the guest. If you never entered the room, it is pretty likely it isn't being used. Also they track if you've passed through the guard shack at the resort or boarded DME.

They don't track when you enter your room for privacy reasons, otherwise housekeeping would know when you are there and when you aren't and could make sure they only come when you aren't.

And you assume that people always pass through the guard shack or use DME. Security will waive Taxis, Minnie Vans and several other types of vehicles through, especially if there is a backup of traffic.

So it would be virtually impossible for Disney to tell if a room isn't being used, except when housekeeping enters and sees no luggage, beds still made, etc.

 

[cmwade77]

I don't know if it works the same way, but don;t you need to go through a guard station of some kind before entering the campground? That would tell them if you've arrived or not.

Not necessarily, there are taxis, Minnie Vans, etc. That will often get waived through without providing a room number.

 

[cruisin5]

I think it would be easier to start with the tent sites as that is where most of the throwaway bookings go.

They could easily require and verify a minimum camp setup to be established. No camp established 48 hours after check-in, FPs and ADRs(?) cancelled. I also suspect the vast majority of tent campers are not arriving by taxi, uber/lyft or MinnieVan.

Agreed that it would be more difficult to enforce with a room booking. Someone at Disney can tell if a MB was used to open a room door or not, it may not filter down to mousekeeping but someone knows.

I have no problem with DVC walking but to me a throwaway room is different to me.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

Enforcing verification of the throwaway room being utilized is something that costs Disney money and requires both manpower & tech to accomplish. Plus they still get the money for the room, regardless of housekeeping etc.

Enforcing FP+ cancellations within 2 days if the user doesn't have the appropriate entitlements (an onsite stay/Good Neighbor hotel in this case) requires nothing but their existing tech and it doesn't lose them any money, so of course that is the step Disney will take first.

YMMV but I am glad that Disney is taking this step to look at how to balance guest entitlements with guest entitlement.

 

[crvetter]

Enforcing verification of the throwaway room being utilized is something that costs Disney money and requires both manpower & tech to accomplish. Plus they still get the money for the room, regardless of housekeeping etc.

Enforcing FP+ cancellations within 2 days if the user doesn't have the appropriate entitlements (an onsite stay/Good Neighbor hotel in this case) requires nothing but their existing tech and it doesn't lose them any money, so of course that is the step Disney will take first.

YMMV but I am glad that Disney is taking this step to look at how to balance guest entitlements with guest entitlement.

I think this rumor was about cancelling the room within 30 days. Though the throwaway rooms are a problem because they then can do a rolling 60 day window for the number of days on their ticket or 6 days if an AP. So while yes they pay for 1 night and thus allowed 2 days of Fastpasses they then get X more at 60 days out just need to reserve 1 by 1 day after the checkout day. When really they should only be entitled 30 days.

In my opinion either are wrong and should not be allowed. They taking away benefits from those who own DVC or pay to stay on site. If you book a throwaway room you should only get the check in and checkout day at 60 and the rest of your ticket days should be 30. And if you cancel a reservation (without any others) you should 100% lose your Fastpasses.

 

[marcyleecorgan]

I have had to pay for an additional night at a hotel frequently, so I have no problem with paying for a room even if I'm not getting a full 8 hours sleep in it.
If you can't check in until late, they make you pay for the additional day - if you do a very late checkout, they also have to charge for the room. Sometimes the staff can comp this, but othertimes, they can't.
This really isn't any different from any other hotel, except that staying at these onsite hotels also entitle one to FP+ to be used at the Parks.

 

[crvetter]

I have had to pay for an additional night at a hotel frequently, so I have no problem with paying for a room even if I'm not getting a full 8 hours sleep in it.
If you can't check in until late, they make you pay for the additional day - if you do a very late checkout, they also have to charge for the room. Sometimes the staff can comp this, but othertimes, they can't.
This really isn't any different from any other hotel, except that staying at these onsite hotels also entitle one to FP+ to be used at the Parks.

I think the Fastpass is the important part. While I agree people can do the throwaway and nothing is wrong with the Fastpasses for the check in and check out day. The problem is the rolling 60 that occurs after the check out day. That’s were the issue on my end is. The other issue is cancelling within 30 days.

 

[Chuck S]

They don't track when you enter your room for privacy reasons, otherwise housekeeping would know when you are there and when you aren't and could make sure they only come when you aren't.

And you assume that people always pass through the guard shack or use DME. Security will waive Taxis, Minnie Vans and several other types of vehicles through, especially if there is a backup of traffic.

So it would be virtually impossible for Disney to tell if a room isn't being used, except when housekeeping enters and sees no luggage, beds still made, etc.

There is a difference between housekeeping checking and a front desk manager checking to see if the door had ever been activated by the registered guest to see if they ever physically arrived at the resort. Much like here on the DIS Rent/Trade board for the paid memberships, we mods and webmasters have no access to the payment info for privacy and security of our users, but ONE person does have access to process those payments and place the payment icon.