I have booked 3 rooms at CBR for May 2020. Hubby and I in a King room; son, daughter-in-law, granddaughter (2), daughter-in-laws mom and great aunt (84 who lives with them) all in a 5th sleeper room; daughter-in-law's sister and hubby in 3rd room. So the sister's hubby is an assistant high school baseball coach and is now saying he doesn't know if he will stay the whole week, missing practices and two games. We have packages booked with park hoppers and dining plan. I know he has a few months to decide but am wondering how best to handle this. If he only stays for 3 days, would you experts try to book 2 separate packages for that room? One package for the days he will be there with 2 people and another with just the sister? It seems like the cost of the tickets and dining would mean don't just leave him on the package for the entire week. I think it would be crowded to add the sister to the room that already has 4 adults and a 2 year old in it. Not sure if her mom would want to move to her room at that time. Then two rooms have two packages. I like packages for the simplicity and paying for most of the stay in advance. Anyone have any other ideas? I am open to any suggestions!
If you do separate packages, you run the risk of the sister having to change rooms after her husband leaves. I think you could do one of several things for the sister and husband:
1) Book one "ticketless package" for the entire stay. A "ticketless package" is a room plus dining only (no tickets). You can then purchase their tickets separately depending on what their individual park days are. The advantage of this - no switching rooms, only purchasing the length of tickets that will be used by each. The disadvantage - you will have extra dining credits once the husband leaves, but you could figure out how to use them amongst the other people on your trip.
2) Book a room-only, again, for the entire length of stay. Purchase tickets separately. Don't add the dining plan and pay OOP for their dining. Advantage - no switching of rooms, they each have the tickets they need. Disadvantage - no dining plan for sister and husband
3) Book two, separate "ticketless packages" - one for when sister and hubby will be there, one for when only sister will be there. Again, buy tickets separately. Advantage - they have the tickets they need, they both get the dining plan and you won't have extra credits when hubby leaves. Disadvantage - sister might have to switch rooms. If you go this route, make sure to book the same room category for each reservation to reduce the risk of switching rooms.
No matter what you decide to do, if hubby is only staying a portion of the time, I really encourage you to take the tickets off the package and buy them separately so you aren't paying more for hubby's ticket than you have to.
