Question about reservations at DLR hotels

[PinkBudgie]

If you book a room at a DLR property do you have to pay at that time? Can you cancel without penalty?

 

[Sherry E]

If you book a room at a DLR property do you have to pay at that time? Can you cancel without penalty?

If you book what's called a "Room-Only Reservation" - and you can do that by calling the Central/Room-Only number for DLR reservations - they will ask for one night's deposit plus 15% tax up front. So whatever the total would be for one night at the hotel of your choice plus 15% has to be paid right away. You can pay the rest of it later or upon arrival. I think they are still charging the Resort Fee through this year, but next year I think the Resort Fee is gone and they will be charging separately for parking instead. In any case, you don't have to pay the Resort Fee up front. It can be handled upon arrival.

With a Room-Only Reservation, you can cancel without penalty all the way up to 5 days prior to arrival. If you cancel inside of 5 days, there is a penalty - not sure what it is.

If you book a package through the Walt Disney Travel Company - and some of the packages do not have tickets in them and so people don't realize they are still getting a package - that's when things get more complicated. First of all, you have to pay $200 up front and then the balance is due, I think, 30 days before arrival. Plus, unless you purchase Travel Insurance from WDTC, you will be charged a penalty upon cancellation. If you cancel more than 30 days in advance, I think it is, they would take $100 of your money. If you cancel inside of 30 days, they take $200, I believe. I think I have those time frames right. But if you buy Travel Insurance you can get a full refund, but you have to submit paperwork and explain why you are cancelling.

I did the package before. No more of that for me! Now I stick with Room-Only/Central reservations!!!

 

[caimakale]

Here is the change/cancellation policy directly from my room only confirmation letter.

Cancel/Change Policy: Notification of cancellation or change must be received at least 5 days prior to your arrival date. Your deposit of one night plus tax is nonrefundable in the event of a cancellation 4 days or less prior to arrival.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Thank you to both of you. I was interested in the room only policy. We've never stayed there and I wanted to know "just in case".

 

[Sherry E]

Thank you to both of you. I was interested in the room only policy. We've never stayed there and I wanted to know "just in case".

The reason I mentioned packages in addition to explaining about how Central/Room Only reservations works is because the line between the two is becoming increasingly more blurred, and I think that more than a few people thought that were getting Room Only reservations, when it actually turned out to be a package without tickets!! I think they figured since they just had a room and no tickets, then it was a Room Only reservation. I guess they didn't know to ask for Central or Room-Only reservations, which makes a big difference because it's actually like a separate 'department,' if you want to call it that.

So that's a warning to everyone - if you have to book a DLR room and you don't want to be trapped into any kind of Walt Disney Travel Co. package with or without tickets, be very careful with the wording and ask immediately (when a CM picks up) to be connected to Central Reservations for a Room Only, Non-Package booking.

 

[DahliaRW]

I had no trouble getting a room only reservation when I called. I was just very clear that I ONLY wanted the room. You'll know it's right if you have to pay the one nights deposit rather than the $200. I was also told you can call and convert a room only reservation at a package at any point, and you can call and request that new specials or discounts be applied to your reservation as they become available. So if you want a room for sure, reserve, and as long as you cancel 5+ days out if you change your mind you're out nothing! I currently have 14 nights reserved at DLH in February because we're not sure when we're going (we're going to stay 7 nights) and wanted some flexibility when the ride closures list comes out and with pricing airfare.

 

[caimakale]

I booked mine through disneyland.com but did get a room only reservation...maybe I got lucky.

I was required to pay for one night plus tax and don't have to finish paying until I check-in. I also have the ability to cancel up to 5 days before (see the cancellation policy above).

This is good to know though. I am going to book some nights in December but am unsure of when we are going and may have to cancel. Because we are AP holders, tickets are not needed so I'll be sure to call and book instead of going through the website again so I can cancel without penalty if needed.

 

[Sherry E]

I'm sure there are plenty of people who have booked their Room-Only reservations with no trouble. The info I am giving is not for the people who know what to ask for and do and have done it before, but for the people who don't know how it works, and that there is a difference in the types of reservations they can get. And also, sometimes people go with a "package" because they think it's easier in the long run, but that is not always the case, and, in fact, can cause more trouble for them if they try to change or cancel the reservation.

I can think of a couple of people right off the top of my head - one of them very recently - who thought they were getting a "Room-Only Reservation" because there were no tickets involved, and it turned out to be a package without tickets!! They didn't know what or who they specifcally had to ask for.

And there are other folks who, no matter how many times a subject is brought up on the DIS, still don't know specifcally what to ask for (they don't see certain threads but they do see others - that sort of thing). Case in point - it has been said repeatedly that to get a HoJo's room with an Entertainment Rate, one has to call the In-House Reservations number directly. If you call the main HoJo's reservation number, you probably will not get what you want. There is actually a separate number for In-House. Still, people end up calling the main number and then wondering why they didn't get a good rate - even if they asked to be transfered to In-House.

So everything bears repeating, and I'm trying to be as specific and detailed as possible for those folks out there who are not aware that the types of reservations at DLR could easily be confused if you don't know the exact thing/department to ask for. That's not to say that they will be confused, but they can be and have been. See, you can book a reservation for only a room through Walt Disney Travel Company, or you can book a Room-Only reservation through the actual Central/Room-Only department, and if you are making a phone call to book, be sure you ask for the right place.

There actually is/was a direct phone number to Central/Room Only bookings that differed from the other reservation numbers for DLR (not sure if that number is still valid because some of the WDTC reservations people moved in to the office where the Central people are, and suddenly it seemed like there may be just one number for everyone). Somewhere, buried in my multitudes of scraps and notes from all my previous DLR hotel stays is that number. If I find it and discover that it is still valid, I will post it.

The 5-day cancellation policy (I mentioned it in my first post) has been in effect for years. DLR has gone back and forth in they way they handle deposits on reservations, though. In the old, old days of the DLH, they used to require one night's deposit up front, and then when you arrived you would pay them the balance, as well as put down a deposit for phone use and pay for parking. There was no Resort Fee. You only paid for the things you needed. Then, over the years, DLR implemented the Resort Fee - which supposedly covered parking, Internet access in the rooms, a daily newspaper and gym usage.

Also, for a while at Central Reservations they had stopped taking deposits up front. They were not requiring any payment up front when a guest booked a room. But eventually, they re-instituted the one night's deposit, which has now been in effect for a while.

In the old, old days of reservations, the packages actually used to be a better bargain/deal. These days, that's not necessarily the case.

And yes, you can make all kinds of changes to your Room-Only bookings through Central without a fee - on my last holiday booking, I switched hotels on the existing reservation. Then I switched dates to one weekend earlier. Then I switched the type of discount I was using - I went from one discount to a better one. And then I added an extra night on to my reservation. I'm sure they wre not thrilled with me at DLR for making so many changes - which I only made as my money situation ebbed and flowed and ebbed again - but they happily made them for me without a fee of any kind.

 

[PinkBudgie]

Thank you for the clarification. I too, have heard of them asking if they would like add_____ (dining,etc) and then once you do, it is a "package". So, good to be aware of that.

DH and I are both teachers so we can allow a week or so in the summer to go to DLR. In that case, I'd rather stay longer and stay off property. However, I was thinking if we could get down during the year, we'd have only a few days and how nice would it be to stay on property for a short time. Wishful thinking, I'm sure, since we just had to buy a new mattress.

 

[Sherry E]

Thank you for the clarification. I too, have heard of them asking if they would like add_____ (dining,etc) and then once you do, it is a "package". So, good to be aware of that.

DH and I are both teachers so we can allow a week or so in the summer to go to DLR. In that case, I'd rather stay longer and stay off property. However, I was thinking if we could get down during the year, we'd have only a few days and how nice would it be to stay on property for a short time. Wishful thinking, I'm sure, since we just had to buy a new mattress.

Exactly. They could add in something like dining - or there might not even be dining, but they could add in the vouchers for ToonTown Morning Madness or Aladdin, the little booklet that WDTC gives out for DTD discounts or the luggage tags - and suddenly you have a package with different restrictions and policies!! It only got trickier when then the WDTC folks moved into the same reservations office as the regular, non-package CM's. So now I think a lot of them answer the same phones (unless that Central Reservations number is still valid), and I would imagine there are folks who just book something to get it done quickly, not realizing what they are getting.

I hope you are able to swing an onsite stay for at least a few nights. It really is nice to be on property and in the middle of extra Disney magic. However, it is awfully tempting when you know you could get extra nights out of an offsite stay.

And I swear - the best laid plans can get thrown all off track by just one big purchase. You could have everything planned out nicely, it's all set and nothing else needs to be planned, and then, boom - you have to buy a mattress (and mattresses are not cheap), or the car has an issue that needs to be fixed, or someone gets sick and there's no insurance, etc., etc. A couple of years ago, I had a plan in place and reservations for PPH paid when, boom! My friend's (who was picking me up) transmission blew and that suddenly impacted the money she would have available to spend. There is so often something that pops up to throw plans off track!!