Partial Pay at Checkin?

[CarrieR]

This is a weird question, and a long-shot, but wondering if anyone knew or had any experience.

Two friends and I are going to WDW next month. We are booked room-only and will all be paying for the resort with gift cards. One friend and I are arriving about 90 minutes earlier than the other friend. In an ideal world, we would head down to the hotel (Pop,) get checked in, go drop our stuff at the room etc so that when Friend 2 arrived that would be out of the way.

However, Friend 2's gift cards will be with her. Will they allow us to partial-pay the balance, and pay the rest when Friend 2 arrives later the same day? (For the record, I would have assumed it would be impossible, but last year we arrived late one night and the computers were down, so they gave us keycards with instructions to return "sometime tomorrow" (very laid-back) to pay the balance. A different situation, to be sure, but there is obviously a workaround in place.)

If not, there are a number of alternate options, but this is our most preferred option and I was wondering if anyone had done anything similar with success... or tried to do something similar and found it disallowed?

Thanks!

 

[bigbabyblues]

I'm thinking they aren't going to release any room keys to you until the reservation is paid in full.

 

[gdrj]

Only other option would be to give credit card at check-in (they will not charge at that time) when friend comes you can pay for room. You just dont want to use a debit card as the funds could be held for an extended period of time by bank.

 

[scdak]

Could the 3rd person send the gift cards to you in advance for her part of the room then it could be paid in full when you arrive?

 

[chloelovesdisney]

Can one of you pay for her and then she gives you the gift cards to use on the trip for your expenses? Pop split three ways shouldn't be too high of a bill.

 

[CarrieR]

Thanks for the ideas We have considered all of those options. In all liklihood we will 1) pay and have her give us her gcs or 2) just wait at the airport until she arrives. She also could call in her gcs ahead of time. (She would prefer not to send several hundred dollars in gcs through the mail.) It would work out best for our personalities and organizational skills to do it the way I outlined, though.

I don't *think* they'll do it but wondered if anyone had tried, successfully or unsuccessfully. Still would be interested in hearing if anyone has

 

[buzznina]

Every time we have checked in, they have made us pay any remaining balance at that time and if I remember right it even says on their site that the balance is due at check-in. I would just have her call and make a payment of the amount that she would owe, using her GCs. This way you guys will only have your room balance left to pay when you get there, and you can hit the parks.

 

[minnie mum]

Only other option would be to give credit card at check-in (they will not charge at that time) when friend comes you can pay for room. You just dont want to use a debit card as the funds could be held for an extended period of time by bank.

I'm sorry, but this is not correct in the OPs case. Room only reservation balances are due at the time of check in. If you are paying your balance by credit card, it will be charged at that time. This is not the same thing as giving them a cc in order to have charging privileges on your KTTW card.

 

[gilesmt]

Just to let you know I had the same thing happen to a room only ressie one night, I arrived very late, like 1:30 am, a CM was sponsoring me and she had to be there upon check in. The computers where not down, but after an hour of them telling me I had no ressies and paperwork that said I did, and a 14 and 2 year old asleep in the lobby of POR they finally just gave me the room key and said come back in the morning. I actually think they should have giving me the night for free, it was at least 2:30 or 3 am when they finally just gave me the keys, and I was back by 6 am so I could get my tickets put on the room key because they where bought by CM at discount and needed to be added, then they lost all the dinner ressies and then did not put the dining plan on the cards. I was so mad, I almost never returned to Disney. In a way I haven't, I now stay at SoG and don't have to deal with them. Love POR, but every thing they did took hours and hours and then they messed it up and it took hours and hours to fix.