OMG - I forgot to make park reservations and sold out!!

[mdurette]

Thanks all - I'm working the system hoping to find something that opens.

I do have a follow up question: The link provided above to page that shows all 4 tiers of park reservations. 1 day, hopper, Annual pass and hotel guest.
The hotel guest have options and I have found 4 out of the 5 days needed at PP. But, when I go through the booking process and it tells me to check reservations, it brings me back to the same hopper calendar, not the resort calendar. Not sure why. Is that hotel option calendar not valid for some reason?



Waiting for DL to open so I can make the call.

 

[sjmac42]

Pretty sure you need to book the hotel room, link your tickets then make your park reservations. They won’t let you book from the hotel reservations “bucket” on a promise that you will book the room if you get a park reservation.
San Diego is a really nice city, LA has plenty to do and Santa Barbara is worth a few days . . . . .

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Thanks all - I'm working the system hoping to find something that opens.

I do have a follow up question: The link provided above to page that shows all 4 tiers of park reservations. 1 day, hopper, Annual pass and hotel guest.
The hotel guest have options and I have found 4 out of the 5 days needed at PP. But, when I go through the booking process and it tells me to check reservations, it brings me back to the same hopper calendar, not the resort calendar. Not sure why. Is that hotel option calendar not valid for some reason?



Waiting for DL to open so I can make the call.

You’ll need to book the hotel first. Once the hotel reservation is on your account, a link to book park reservations will show up underneath it.

ETA: You may just be able to book one night at the hotel but all days for your tickets. I noticed I was able to do that last summer, so I’m not sure if this loophole has been closed. But it’s worth booking one night to see if you can get reservations and then changing hotels for the rest of the trip.

 

[disneyland_is_magic]

I’m going to jump to a conclusion and apologize if this comes off wrong because I genuinely don’t mean it that way.

I am kinda wondering if since you didn’t have park reservations if you haven’t really had time to plan all the things that come after the reservation, a “battle plan” so to speak, of dining reservations, shuttles, etc. I totally get it and made a similar “mistake”myself where life keeps you from planning a vacation.

I am not sure I consider PPH an improvement or even an equal trade off of whatever you had. It’s kinda an expensive way to solve the problem.


For that reason, I would recommend postponing and enjoy the planning process. Set a date in the future, do the 60 day dining drop, spend some times getting ideas from our board of tricks, etc. I think the whole experience will be more positive and less stressed.

Hang in there, we have definitely all been there!!

 

[gelatoni fan]

If your hotels and flights are still refundable, I'd just postpone the whole trip.

Otherwise, you could try booking paradise pier for one night and see if you can secure reservations that way. I wouldn't recommend taking your chances with reservations due to the extra stress involved. I also don't recommend upgrading to Magic Keys because that's expensive, has the potential of a lot of glitches and you still have to go through the stress of making reservations.

 

[DLgal]

If you book one night at the PPH, you will be able to book all 5 days of tickets that you have. The hotel bucket gives you that ability, regardless of how many nights you have booked.

 

[kristensideaoffun]

If you book one night at the PPH, you will be able to book all 5 days of tickets that you have. The hotel bucket gives you that ability, regardless of how many nights you have booked.

I thought so! I have a one night hotel reservation with 3-day park hoppers for two weeks from now, but I've already reached my max capacity of reservations so I couldn't double-check this. But I remember being able to make reservations for all of the 5 days on my tickets last summer even though I only had a 3-night reservation.

 

[Federalist45]

My understanding is you can do it at any time but you could potentially lose your reservations so the prevailing strategy is to upgrade at the end of the trip. After you’ve entered the park for the last time.*

*We upgraded our tickets and were able to scan in after the fact just fine so not sure why this is an issue, but Disney IT will Disney IT.

Does the prevailing wisdom of waiting to upgrade until your last day apply even if you are staying on property?

The whole allure of upgrading is to get the discount for our trip. Will they really just ask me if I’m willing to risk losing all my reservations to do the upgrade? Or, can’t they essentially guarantee me that I’ll be able to secure hotel bucket reservations after they process the upgrade?

 

[HashberryOTG]

Wait, they're selling passes??

 

[Mle8308]

Wait, they're selling passes??

Disneyland Enchant Key, not WDW

 

[brightlined]

Does the prevailing wisdom of waiting to upgrade until your last day apply even if you are staying on property?

Question for the room - does the resort bucket care if you're using parkhoppers vs Magic Key? I'd wonder if it'd just keep the existing reservations if you upgraded, since the park reservation might be attached to the stay and not the specific park media. (Unless it is actually attached to the specific park media - just a separate pool of them.)

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Question for the room - does the resort bucket care if you're using parkhoppers vs Magic Key? I'd wonder if it'd just keep the existing reservations if you upgraded, since the park reservation might be attached to the stay and not the specific park media. (Unless it is actually attached to the specific park media - just a separate pool of them.)

The hotel bucket does differentiate and you need to link the resort stay to your account to have access to the resort bucket.

 

[brightlined]

The hotel bucket does differentiate and you need to link the resort stay to your account to have access to the resort bucket.

Oh, I got that - I was just curious if the resort bucket itself could distinguish between a parkhopper and a Magic Key, or if it was just looking for any valid ticket/pass. (This might be something that no one here has tried or has the answer to.)

In theory, if the resort bucket didn't care about the ticket/pass, someone could upgrade their ticket and keep their park reservations, since they would still have a valid ticket/pass after the upgrade.

 

[DLgal]

I thought so! I have a one night hotel reservation with 3-day park hoppers for two weeks from now, but I've already reached my max capacity of reservations so I couldn't double-check this. But I remember being able to make reservations for all of the 5 days on my tickets last summer even though I only had a 3-night reservation.

Yep. Same. We had 5 day tickets and only a 3 day resort reservation and I used the resort bucket to book days within a span of 2 weeks surrounding that hotel stay.

 

[Rich M]

Yep. Same. We had 5 day tickets and only a 3 day resort reservation and I used the resort bucket to book days within a span of 2 weeks surrounding that hotel stay.

Does resort reservations trump your magic key reservation? I am staying May 4th to May 5th for the Star Wars party but I already have 4 reservations so I can't make one for May 5th. I thought if you staying onsite you could get more reservations

 

[DLgal]

Oh, I got that - I was just curious if the resort bucket itself could distinguish between a parkhopper and a Magic Key, or if it was just looking for any valid ticket/pass. (This might be something that no one here has tried or has the answer to.)

In theory, if the resort bucket didn't care about the ticket/pass, someone could upgrade their ticket and keep their park reservations, since they would still have a valid ticket/pass after the upgrade.

The park reservations are tied to the ticket media, not the hotel reservation. Think of it like the ability to book DCL cruises early based on Castaway Cay member status. The hotel reservation "unlocks" that reservation calendar, but then you need to tie a specific ticket to each reservation you make.

 

[DLgal]

Does resort reservations trump your magic key reservation? I am staying May 4th to May 5th for the Star Wars party but I already have 4 reservations so I can't make one for May 5th. I thought if you staying onsite you could get more reservations

No. You are limited to the number of allowed reservations per the terms of your Magic Key if that is what you are using to book park days.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

Oh, I got that - I was just curious if the resort bucket itself could distinguish between a parkhopper and a Magic Key, or if it was just looking for any valid ticket/pass. (This might be something that no one here has tried or has the answer to.)

In theory, if the resort bucket didn't care about the ticket/pass, someone could upgrade their ticket and keep their park reservations, since they would still have a valid ticket/pass after the upgrade.

It does differentiate between regular tickets and Magic Keys.

 

[bwvBound]

Just an idea ... have you asked the Cruise Line if their reservation would have the same power as a hotel reservation? I wonder if that reservation could also allow you to book theme park reservations using the 'hotel' bucket?

 

[mdurette]

UPDATE: I have it all worked out now, thank you for all your support, ideas and well wishes.

And, I would just like to say, with all the social media out there, Disboard is still the best for all things Disney. Been a member for 15 years always come here for expert advice.