Room Block = GRRRRRRR!

[DISNEY*lover]

So I've done the site visit and what not. Now the dreaded room block. This is the part I dreaded the most.

Which resorts did you guys pick? *Pulls hair out*

 

[mermaidbride1108]

I agree the room block is the worst part! I stressed about it so much and had to rush doing it so I could get my contract signed before 10/1.

I was on the phone several times with Heidi and she was so helpful about everything! We are not sure at all who will actually make the trip for our wedding (besides our immediate families) so we just went with the minimum. We didn't want to get stuck paying for extra rooms just so we could offer the discount to guests we aren't sure are coming or if they even will stay on Disney Property!

We chose All Star Movies (sister's choice) and Polynesian (our choice and my parents choice) His mom is planning on using her timeshare and staying at Boardwalk. So we are covered for the 25 minimum and just put our extra rooms at All Star because we thought about it and decided for our guests it's going to come down to price for them. Not many people from my area (that I know) stay at Disney when they go so that definitely factored into our decision. Think about your guests habits, do they care about staying in a nice place or care more about price? Do they usually stay off-site? Are they Disney Fanatics who will absolutely want to be on-site?

They only thing that still bothered me after that was the uncertainty. We were told that the room block isn't set in stone, but if we upped the room block, we had to add to our guarantee. So we decided that if we know for absolutely certain that if an Aunt or another friend asked if they could add to our room block, then will we add when the time comes. We were told that we could alter our room block later if needed. However - this is very important - if the rooms aren't available at our choice of resort, they aren't available. We are only absolutely guaranteed the rooms we added before we signed our contract. So if we decide to add to the room block, we will have to be open to what's available and increase our guarantee. There is a chance that we may not be able to add to the room block and we decided we will jst have to accept that if that happens

My advice would be to only count on your guests that are coming and do your room block with them in mind and add your nights for you & the groom as well. That might be harsh but I didn't want to stress over paying for empty rooms!

Also think about your time of year - I'm getting married in value season so it's more likely that rooms will be available until Free dining time hits, if it does again. I'll be open to adding rooms for my guests until Free Dining hits, and then it'll be too difficult to find open rooms, so I'll be saying tough luck on getting our discount! (again sounds harsh, but I rather not stress over it)

If you are getting married around Christmas or Easter, you might want to think differently or your guests might have to stay off-site if you haven't guaranteed the rooms.

It's a double-edge sword the room block is and it's stinks! I made by decision and didn't want to waste my time calling guests now to see what their plans are.

I wish you luck!

 

[bridetobe789]

This was definitely stressful and DF did do the block for the most part! (THANK GOODNESS!!) We ended up choosing the Pop Century mostly for all of our rooms we did choose Carribean Beach just to have it in there but only put like 2 rooms but enough where if guests decided they wanted that one we could just add on later more to the block. We also put GF on there since that is where we are staying so we would get the discount as well! HTH!

BTW ... POP wasn't an option on the actual chart but we did request it and they said it was okay!?

 

[SarahInMN]

We picked the Grand Floridian (because this is where the ceremony/reception will be AND where we are staying), the Boardwalk, and the Port Orleans Riverside.

We did an informal poll and estimated room needs. As it stands, no one has booked the Boardwalk (most people are staying at the GF), so we will likely close all those rooms.

Also, you can change/adjust the room blocks up to 90 days before the event, so if you over-estimate, you CAN cut back on the number of rooms that are blocked off. We have found the adjustment process pretty easy and flexible.

I guess I haven't found the room block all that stressful: we made an estimate and have adjusted based on updates of how the room block is doing.

Good luck!

 

[Tink901]

We picked Pop Century, Port Orleans Riverside and Port Orleans French Quarter. I was thinking with costs going up daily I wanted prices to be more reasonable since most people have to fly in for the wedding. Port Orleans they can take the boat to Downtown Disney to shop or dine. We have some people with smaller children who love Pop Century.

Good luck - it is frustrating!

 

[shezfrombermuda]

I found the room block very frustrating as well and had to call Heidi about it a couple of times. I chose All-Star Music (I didn't think Pop was a choice), Caribbean Beach, and the Beach Club. I thought most people would choose CB so I blocked the most rooms there. It turned out that most of my rooms were booked at the Beach Club, 4 rooms at Music and none at CB. I didn't end up adjusting the room block at all. As long as rooms are still available in the hotel they will still give the wedding discount so it all worked out. The rooms that weren't booked were released. I also thought some people would come for 3 or 4 nights but everyone is staying for 6 - 9 nights so I have filled my rooms. Good luck!

 

[Keira1387]

Here is what we picked:
1)All Star Sport
2) Carribean Resort
3) GF

I know it seems like a huge pain, and I spent ALOT of time stressing over it, but it really didn't cause any problems.

 

[DisneyBrideToni]

I actually didn't have that hard of a decision because everyone told me where they wanted to stay..

I picked the Grand Floridian, Cornado, All Star Movies and the Wilderness Cabins.

 

[ElleBren]

I chose GF, Coronado, & All star music. Fun little tidbit-once your room block closes one month before the event, if someone gets a room in one of the hotel you block they should still get the wedding rate. Even if it is the day before the event. So that means if there is no availability when you need to add rooms they might be able to book at another hotel 7 then try to change over to the hotel they really wanted.

We had to add the poly because I didn't realize so many people wanted to stay at the GF. However the day before the wedding we were able to move the few couples we had at the poly since rooms opened up at GF. I recommend calling 5-6 days before you are scheduled to be there since thats when people can cancel without losing their money.