Question about adding a night

[Kelly014]

We are stay at Pop in late October with free dining. We have MNSSHP on our arrival day, but are contemplating adding a night onto the beginning of our stay and taking an evening flight so the day of the party is a little more relaxing. A few questions though:

Pop doesn't have any availability for free dining for our dates, so if I add on a night will I be out of luck for free dining or will they let us have it on the newly added day?

If I add on a night is that set in stone or could I potentially change it back? We won't be booking airfare for a little while longer so if an evening flight wasn't available for some reason I would want to cancel that extra night I added. If this is a possibility when would I have to do it by?

Thanks!

 

[wdwrich]

Since FD isn't available for the extra night, and since you may cancel it anyway, I would book the one extra night as a separate reservation. That way, if you do cancel it, your original reservation wouldn't be affected.

 

[rwdavis2]

If you search around this forum, and if I understood it correctly, adding/removing days from a reservation causes Disney to consider it a whole new reservation and may require you to rebook the entire thing which may or may not be possible. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

 

[Kelly014]

If you search around this forum, and if I understood it correctly, adding/removing days from a reservation causes Disney to consider it a whole new reservation and may require you to rebook the entire thing which may or may not be possible. Someone correct me if I'm wrong here.

Ah now that you mention it I think I've read that too. So if I just book one night as a separate reservation we won't have to change rooms or anything as long as it's the same type (standard) right? What would the cancellation policy be for the one night, is there a penalty or a date I have to do it by?

 

[mickeynut1]

We are stay at Pop in late October with free dining. We have MNSSHP on our arrival day, but are contemplating adding a night onto the beginning of our stay and taking an evening flight so the day of the party is a little more relaxing. A few questions though:

Pop doesn't have any availability for free dining for our dates, so if I add on a night will I be out of luck for free dining or will they let us have it on the newly added day?

If I add on a night is that set in stone or could I potentially change it back? We won't be booking airfare for a little while longer so if an evening flight wasn't available for some reason I would want to cancel that extra night I added. If this is a possibility when would I have to do it by?

Thanks!

If the extra night isn't available under FD, you will not be able to add that night onto your existing reservation and will not have the DDP for that day. You can, however, make a RO reservation for that night and have the reservations linked to (possibly) avoid having to change rooms. As long as you book the same resort/room type as your package, you can add a request to keep the same room. It's not guaranteed you won't have to move, but Disney will do everything they can to keep you in the same room. You will be required to pay for that night at time of booking as the required deposit for RO is 1 night's room rate + tax, but you can cancel for a full refund if you do so at least 5 days prior to arrival.

 

[mickeynut1]

So if I just book one night as a separate reservation we won't have to change rooms or anything as long as it's the same type (standard) right?

Your chances of not having to move are probably pretty good if you link the reservations, but it's not guaranteed. After you make the RO reservation, have the reservations linked with a request to keep the same room. When you check in for the first reservation, tell the CM you have a continuing reservation and would like to keep the same room. Keep in mind that you will have to check out/check back in the next morning for your package, even if you don't have to move.

 

[Kelly014]

Slight change, free dining is available for the extra night we want to add. Didn't know you had to search for that offer in three night stay increments. I realize if we add it onto our current reservation we can't take it off without canceling the entire package and rebooking (which sounds like a headache), so if I can get DH on board I would be fine with adding it to our current reservation and keeping it that way.

My question now is if I call and rebook with the added night, do I run the risk of losing my free dining in between canceling the original reservation and then rebooking? Does that even make sense? I just don't want it to get messed up!

 

[DJFan88]

Yes, I think it depends what's still available. If it's still available under the room category you want, then no. But, it could mean it's no longer available for standard view, or whatever, and only for some other view like pool and could cost a little more. They should be able to tell you over the phone to allow you to make that decision.

 

[Kelly014]

Yes, I think it depends what's still available. If it's still available under the room category you want, then no. But, it could mean it's no longer available for standard view, or whatever, and only for some other view like pool and could cost a little more. They should be able to tell you over the phone to allow you to make that decision.

We currently have standard booked and there's a standard room available with free dining for the one night we want to add. But there is no availability at all for Pop, for our currently booked dates, under the free dining promo. We have FD and I don't want to risk losing it, so I'm afraid to rebook and lose it in the process (not sure if that would happen if I have them help me cancel and rebook). I probably just need to give them a call and see if we can make it work.

 

[DJFan88]

yes, I would call. They will tell you what they can do, before they hit Go. It's just a matter if the amount of FD rooms they earmarked for that are still available for your now new dates. It seems like it should be easy. But in reality, they cancel and then rebook. Last year I changed some dates around, and I wasn't able to get the same booking class for what I wanted to change to. I had to change the dates, so I booked a different booking class (POR).

 

[mickeynut1]

Slight change, free dining is available for the extra night we want to add. Didn't know you had to search for that offer in three night stay increments. I realize if we add it onto our current reservation we can't take it off without canceling the entire package and rebooking (which sounds like a headache), so if I can get DH on board I would be fine with adding it to our current reservation and keeping it that way.

My question now is if I call and rebook with the added night, do I run the risk of losing my free dining in between canceling the original reservation and then rebooking? Does that even make sense? I just don't want it to get messed up!

If all of the new nights are available under FD and the CM has to rebook without simply adding the extra night to your existing reservation, have him/her book the new reservation and then cancel the old one. If your existing reservation is cancelled first, you do run the risk of the new dates no longer being available by the time the CM goes back to do it.

 

[Kelly014]

If all of the new nights are available under FD and the CM has to rebook without simply adding the extra night to your existing reservation, have him/her book the new reservation and then cancel the old one. If your existing reservation is cancelled first, you do run the risk of the new dates no longer being available by the time the CM goes back to do it.

This is what I'm afraid of. For our existing dates there is no FD availability anymore. I really do want to add the extra night, but it's not worth risking the loss of free dining for our entire trip during the process of rebooking it.

Through google research (hah) it seems like plenty of people have posted about this situation on the DIS and have added a FD night onto an existing FD reservation AFTER the book by promo date has passed (found several threads, which is not a guarantee, but it doesn't seem uncommon). It seems that as long as there is availability still, even if it's after the book by date, it can be added on. If I went that route I would think that no one could snag our original FD dates in the time it takes to rebook with someone. The day we want to add is a Wednesday so I would think it's not super high in demand. I may just wait until after the date has passed and if it has FD availability awesome, and if not I'll just deal with a RO reservation.

 

[DJFan88]

Speculating is fine, but when you call they will tell you what you can do. If they change the reservation, they should know what they are doing and book the new one then cancel the old.
If the FD for that one extra night is so important, I would not wait until they promote date has passed. I can't see how they could then book a new reservation and just give you a promo that is no longer available.
But, it's not the end of the world to not have the FD for the one day, if you just make a separate RO reservation and try to link it to stay in the same room. Your FD will be valid the next day, and you can just eat whatever for the day before, quick service and save the TS meals for the other days. Esp. if you have an evening flight, you will just end up with one more day of credits that you have to use.

 

[Kelly014]

Speculating is fine, but when you call they will tell you what you can do. If they change the reservation, they should know what they are doing and book the new one then cancel the old.
If the FD for that one extra night is so important, I would not wait until they promote date has passed. I can't see how they could then book a new reservation and just give you a promo that is no longer available.
But, it's not the end of the world to not have the FD for the one day, if you just make a separate RO reservation and try to link it to stay in the same room. Your FD will be valid the next day, and you can just eat whatever for the day before, quick service and save the TS meals for the other days. Esp. if you have an evening flight, you will just end up with one more day of credits that you have to use.

I was surprised to see so many people claiming to have done that, but I read several instances of it happening. I will still call to see what my options are though. Thank you for the help!

 

[mickeynut1]

This is what I'm afraid of. For our existing dates there is no FD availability anymore. I really do want to add the extra night, but it's not worth risking the loss of free dining for our entire trip during the process of rebooking it.

Through google research (hah) it seems like plenty of people have posted about this situation on the DIS and have added a FD night onto an existing FD reservation AFTER the book by promo date has passed (found several threads, which is not a guarantee, but it doesn't seem uncommon). It seems that as long as there is availability still, even if it's after the book by date, it can be added on. If I went that route I would think that no one could snag our original FD dates in the time it takes to rebook with someone. The day we want to add is a Wednesday so I would think it's not super high in demand. I may just wait until after the date has passed and if it has FD availability awesome, and if not I'll just deal with a RO reservation.

If the new dates are available and you book that first, you wouldn't lose anything because the new reservation would be confirmed before your existing reservation was cancelled.

The problem I see with waiting until after the promo expires to make the change is if your existing reservation needs to be cancelled/rebooked, you will lose FD because the promo would be over. The CM would not be able to rebook under FD as it would be a new reservation that would no longer be eligible for FD since the promo was expired. It used to be easy to modify a reservation, but with the new policy, it doesn't seem to be as easy as it used to be. If you are worried about losing FD, I'd just book RO for that first night and pay OOP for meals until you check in for your package the next day.

 

[Kelly014]

If the new dates are available and you book that first, you wouldn't lose anything because the new reservation would be confirmed before your existing reservation was cancelled.

The problem I see with waiting until after the promo expires to make the change is if your existing reservation needs to be cancelled/rebooked, you will lose FD because the promo would be over. The CM would not be able to rebook under FD as it would be a new reservation that would no longer be eligible for FD since the promo was expired. It used to be easy to modify a reservation, but with the new policy, it doesn't seem to be as easy as it used to be. If you are worried about losing FD, I'd just book RO for that first night and pay OOP for meals until you check in for your package the next day.

I found several threads on the topic, here are a few:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/adding-a-night-on-to-exisiting-free-dining-reservation.2666931/

http://www.disboards.com/threads/adding-a-night.3309949/

I will still call and check, but it seems like it may be an option. I want to keep the dates we have now (just need to add one day at the beginning), but for the dates we have now at Pop there is no free dining availability so I'm not sure they would be able to book a new package first and then cancel the old one. I will definitely ask though as that would be a lot easier!

ETA: ...I think that second thread is actually your comment I'm referring to. Did they change things recently?

 

[lanejudy]

I found several threads on the topic, here are a few:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/adding-a-night-on-to-exisiting-free-dining-reservation.2666931/

http://www.disboards.com/threads/adding-a-night.3309949/

I will still call and check, but it seems like it may be an option. I want to keep the dates we have now (just need to add one day at the beginning), but for the dates we have now at Pop there is no free dining availability so I'm not sure they would be able to book a new package first and then cancel the old one. I will definitely ask though as that would be a lot easier!

ETA: ...I think that second thread is actually your comment I'm referring to. Did they change things recently?

Yes, I believe the "new policy" has only been in place recently -- the threads you linked are from 2011 and 2014 -- prior to when the new policy began enforcement. As mickeynut1 mentions, it used to be much easier to just add a night if there was availability for that one night. The new policy is requiring the original reservation to be canceled then rebook the full time period. That is where you may lose the promo.

You are going to take an evening flight, so presumably arriving after dinner hours. You don't really NEED the dining credit for that day, and while I can see it might be nice to have extras for the rest of the week, you are paying rack-rate for that privilege. I'd go with a room-only discount on the first night, and link the reservations.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[Kelly014]

Yes, I believe the "new policy" has only been in place recently -- the threads you linked are from 2011 and 2014 -- prior to when the new policy began enforcement. As mickeynut1 mentions, it used to be much easier to just add a night if there was availability for that one night. The new policy is requiring the original reservation to be canceled then rebook the full time period. That is where you may lose the promo.

You are going to take an evening flight, so presumably arriving after dinner hours. You don't really NEED the dining credit for that day, and while I can see it might be nice to have extras for the rest of the week, you are paying rack-rate for that privilege. I'd go with a room-only discount on the first night, and link the reservations.

Enjoy your vacation!

I know we don't really need them, it would just be nice to have since we'll be there anyway. We were skipping a TS meal and snacks the day we are currently scheduled to arrive so we can use snacks and F&W and the TS is combining with another TS for dinner at Artist Point (we upgraded to DDP). So if we're there that full day we'll be paying OOP for meals so we don't have to change our current plans, so it would be nice to have an extra day of FD to avoid that. But it won't be the end of the world if we don't get it. And thank you for clarifying about the new policy, I was hoping since that was from 2014 it would still work but oh well! It will be fun regardless Thanks for your help!

 

[Kelly014]

Ended up talking with guest services and after a few holds and them reassuring me our original reservation would stay in tact we got it to work! So excited Thanks for all the help!

 

[mickeynut1]

Ended up talking with guest services and after a few holds and them reassuring me our original reservation would stay in tact we got it to work! So excited Thanks for all the help!

Glad everything worked out .