Paying for part of package when I get to WDW

[ericstac]

I currently have an 11 night package with WDW at the Poly with free dining and a 10 day hopper. It came out to about 10,300.00. today is day 46 and I still owe about a $1000.00.

I recently discovered the magic of discounted giftcards and one of the things I did was sign up for the Target redcard and through some big disappointing confusion I managed to give them a lot of cash, being told I could use it in the store, only later to find out that I could only use my daily limit of $500.00 per day.

So me being the cheap guy trying to save 5%, I have ran into my deadline and will be a few days late. I'm sure when I ca;; they will be cool with it but then I started reading and was wondering if this would work because ideally I wanted to try to procrastinate paying off Disney until the end of November when some crazy discounted giftcard action could happen.

So I read here on the board that its better to not get the hopper add on and just buy it there, if you ever need it. so I plan on deleting this. Then I read about how some people would reduce their park tickets from their original length to like a 4 nighter reducing the amount owed to disney then when they had the funds a couple weeks later they would call and upgrade the tickets and pay it off. awesome idea.. but can I upgrade at anytime? like even upgrade the day I show up at disney and it is the same cost as I'm currently buying the 10 day package for?

If so I'm thinking it would be a smart idea to delete the hopper and reduce the tix until I see if I get some good discounted gift cards and just pay for the ticket upgrade a few days or even when we get there.

 

[msmama]

If you're within your window, I don't think you can make changes. You can get a bit of leeway, but I've never heard of them giving you a TON.

Your free dining is dependent on your PACKAGE (hotel and tickets) so I don't think you can reduce those. If you are able to make changes you could drop the hoppers.

And regardless, unless it's room only (which would mean no free dining) then it has to be paid in advance, as far as I know.

 

[ericstac]

whats the window? i thought it was 45 days?

 

[Megkel]

Not sure when your trip is but if you are going through the holidays you might not want to shorten your stay. They can only extend you if they have the space. You are running the risk of them not having the space for the remaining 6 days of your trip. This is especially important if you are getting a discount ( only so many rooms set aside for each discount) or want a specific room or suite. Good luck

 

[ericstac]

Not sure when your trip is but if you are going through the holidays you might not want to shorten your stay. They can only extend you if they have the space. You are running the risk of them not having the space for the remaining 6 days of your trip. This is especially important if you are getting a discount ( only so many rooms set aside for each discount) or want a specific room or suite. Good luck

OH NO!!! there is no way i would shorten my stay, just the park tickets.. i thought you could buy tickets of lesser size than your stay, like we are staying 11 nights but only get 10 tickets.. my wife came up with a good reason not to though.. it would cancel our fastpass+ reservations. forget it..

I will just pay the balance off by 45 days and be done with it

 

[livndisney]

I currently have an 11 night package with WDW at the Poly with free dining and a 10 day hopper. It came out to about 10,300.00. today is day 46 and I still owe about a $1000.00.

I recently discovered the magic of discounted giftcards and one of the things I did was sign up for the Target redcard and through some big disappointing confusion I managed to give them a lot of cash, being told I could use it in the store, only later to find out that I could only use my daily limit of $500.00 per day.

So me being the cheap guy trying to save 5%, I have ran into my deadline and will be a few days late. I'm sure when I ca;; they will be cool with it but then I started reading and was wondering if this would work because ideally I wanted to try to procrastinate paying off Disney until the end of November when some crazy discounted giftcard action could happen.

So I read here on the board that its better to not get the hopper add on and just buy it there, if you ever need it. so I plan on deleting this. Then I read about how some people would reduce their park tickets from their original length to like a 4 nighter reducing the amount owed to disney then when they had the funds a couple weeks later they would call and upgrade the tickets and pay it off. awesome idea.. but can I upgrade at anytime? like even upgrade the day I show up at disney and it is the same cost as I'm currently buying the 10 day package for?

If so I'm thinking it would be a smart idea to delete the hopper and reduce the tix until I see if I get some good discounted gift cards and just pay for the ticket upgrade a few days or even when we get there.

Not sure I understand your goal here.

You paid 10,000. You owe 1,000. You want to reduce the cost of the package by lowering the tickets? So basically you want a refund from WDW so you can go buy gift cards to save 5%(or the hope of a better deal). Am I close?

 

[ericstac]

Not sure I understand your goal here.

You paid 10,000. You owe 1,000. You want to reduce the cost of the package by lowering the tickets? So basically you want a refund from WDW so you can go buy gift cards to save 5%(or the hope of a better deal). Am I close?

yeah that was the plan, except the refund part, just reduce enough to not have to pay the balance right now and hope i can get some of those 10-20% discounts on giftcards

 

[livndisney]

yeah that was the plan, except the refund part, just reduce enough to not have to pay the balance right now and hope i can get some of those 10-20% discounts on giftcards

That is the part I am not understanding. 20% discount on giftcards? The best I did last year was 5% plus 10.00 of 50.00 But if you have already paid the bulk of the package-what are the giftcards for?

 

[ericstac]

Last year HEB, a store here in TX, had an awesome deal on cards for a week near thanksgiving.

Saving $200.00 is saving 200.00 but not if its too complicated or risky.

 

[SandrA9810]

I would just save the gift card for when you get there. You will still have tips and other purchases to worry about once you're there.

Park hopper option can easily be added to your ticket upon arrival, but it would probably mess up the whole new Magic Band thing where everything is tied together. I don't know if it would recognize if you drop the park hopper option or not. You'd have to worry about reservations and the FP+ system. You could still call and ask.

BTW, HEB is an awesome store. I love it.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

If you are within the 45 days, if you make any change to the reservation which reduces the cost you will be charged a $50 change fee.

 

[Disneyaddictz]

What about ordering online, did you try that?? Maybe the limit is in store? Just a thought.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[ericstac]

I would just save the gift card for when you get there. You will still have tips and other purchases to worry about once you're there. Park hopper option can easily be added to your ticket upon arrival, but it would probably mess up the whole new Magic Band thing where everything is tied together. I don't know if it would recognize if you drop the park hopper option or not. You'd have to worry about reservations and the FP+ system. You could still call and ask. BTW, HEB is an awesome store. I love it.

Yeah it's my favorite store.

I'm just going to delete the park hopper as originally planned. And yes, we are looking at another 3000-3500.00 OOP expenses that I will be in search of gift card deals until then, and f nothing else will do target 5% and hopefully another 5% from the pharmacy. I just have to convince them to raise that ugly limit in time

 

[EPCOTatNight]

No one answered your question. The answer is yes. If you call them BEFORE your final payment date, you can reduce the tickets. I have only gotten 2 day base tickets with a free dining package and just upgraded the tickets when I felt like it. So, again, the answer is yes.

Sent from my IPad using DisBoards.

 

[SandrA9810]

It's not just a question if the tickets can be adjusted, but also how it will effect the magic bands. In the old days, it was easy to get the hotel room and one day base ticket for the package to count for free dining. Then they would adjust the tickets after check-in for the trip or save it for another trip. Dining reservations were on a separate system. There was no connection to the room reservation or tickets.

 

[ericstac]

No one answered your question. The answer is yes. If you call them BEFORE your final payment date, you can reduce the tickets. I have only gotten 2 day base tickets with a free dining package and just upgraded the tickets when I felt like it. So, again, the answer is yes.

Sent from my IPad using DisBoards.

thank you! lol, was it really that complicated of an explanation in my OP?

I called them and just removed the hopper option because, as our reservations stand now, we will not hop at all. That lowered it enough to at least use the 5% redcard giftcards to pay the balance off. It was too risky reducing the park tix to 1-2 nights with all the FP+ setups we already have in place.

thanks again everyone! I will just work on buying the giftcards when the really good deals come out for our next trip. better to start early on them savings!!