Room charge question

[shortypots]

I am having a family reunion in a Grand Villa at AKV and I was wondering if they can break out the room charges by the card in which was used to make the charges? We are going to have 8 adults and 3 kids, so want to make sure that I can bill to the correct family the individual charges. I certainly don't want to get stuck with a humongous bill at the end of the week and not know who is responsible for it.

Appreciate the help as always.

 

[Chuck S]

It has been reported that DVC /Disney is going to implement a system where you can have multiple charge cards per room sometime this year. Until such a system comes online, you can go to the front desk the night before check-out and get a printout...the charges are broken down be individual card numbers and each family can pay their own at the desk. But do NOT wait until the day of check-out, or else it will be billed out to you.

 

[Deb & Bill]

But Disney will also charge your card everytime it hits $1500. With a group that size, it might do it before the night before you leave. So you want to check it every so often to see where you are towards the limit of $1500.

 

[Blonde Princess]

four years ago we had a 2 bedroom lockoff with family members. I won't get into specifics but we were sure we would get stuck with their bill. I actually got the VWL manager to re-key the rooms. they got the studio keys with that room number and own charging privileges with their credit card. Our's was keyed to the one bedroom. It took me an hour to talk him into it but they did it. You can try.

 

[shortypots]

Unfortunately, we are staying in a grand villa- only one door to go in. The majority of our charges will be handled via the dining plan, which will go 100% to my credit card on the day we arrive - not overly worried about this (I get lots of Marriott Reward points on my CC) since my mother is handling a good chunk of it as our Christmas presents, but there will still be a good chunk that they have to cover. The good news is, if they don't pay us, they no longer get any help whatsoever from us (we are the first ones that our family goes to when they need help) , and will most certainly not be invited again.

What I do not want to see happening is the party of 4 that decides to go off on their own for 2 nights, charging up a storm and arguing that it isn't theirs, I doubt my sister would do this, but it is always there in my head. I am more worried about my brother stiffing me on his liquor bill because he doesn't have a lot of money, but he will charge and charge and not think twice which is what he does at home.

My plan is to get all receipts and check the room charge daily to make sure everything I have matches up. Then keep a spreadsheet of all the charges, gratuities, etc and give everyone their portion. Does this seem like a good plan? If they can tell me by room key how much they have charged individually, it will certainly help. I have done this very same thing when we had friends staying with us, and it was not a big deal, but somehow it gets touchier when it is family. I don't want them thinking I am trying to charge them more than is their fair share, but that is what I will be told by one of them I am sure.

 

[bumbershoot]

Why not just not allow room charging at all?

 

[Best Aunt]

Why not just not allow room charging at all?

That's what I was going to say.

Don't let anybody charge to the room.

People can get Disney gift cards ahead of time if they don't want to use a credit card each time they purchase something. You can get the cards at Wegman's, Walgreens, and online. People have mentioned other places as well, but I didn't pay attention because those stores weren't near me.

 

[rlovew]

If someone was staying with me and I was worried about being stuck with their bill- I would just not give charging privledges to their cards- it is reaslly not a big deal to take 2 cards instead of one. Since you are all using the dining plan it also means they won't be able to accidentally charge a meal to the room instead of to the dining plan.

 

[disneykidatheart]

If you feel the others need to have charging privileges then it is up to you to sort out the bill for correct charges. For our trips we have to give a charge card to activate the free internet ( is there an oxymoron somewhere in that statement?) When asked if we wanted charging privileges on all cards we told the CM "No". The others in the party don't even know that it is possible to charge with the key card and we don't feel inclined to let them in on that little secret.

 

[Donna M]

Only you two should have charging on the room card. Everyone else can use their own credit cards, then you won't have to worry about anything. If you decide to do that make sure the cards are printed correctly.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Or even better. Use one of their credit cards as the main card for the villa. Then charge up a storm on their card.

One other thing. If you get the dining plan, unless DVC has changed the program by the time you check in, you will have to pay for the plan for everyone when you check in. Each person can pay their own, but they all have to be there to check in at the same time. And dining credits will not be separated. All the dining credits will be on all the room keys. So one of the family who "charges up a storm" can use all the dining credits if you are not careful.

 

[shortypots]

Yeah, that is what I am afraid of. I told my sister yesterday that the dining plan is not separated out by family. One room, one block of credits.

Now I am hearing after I have planned all this stuff out, that My sister and her family do not want to join us for a single meal while we are there. I have only planned out 4 meals together, and now am being told that she doesn't want to have any with us. So, now I have decided to never invite them again. We didn't spend $30K plus on a thought of family vacation to never spend time with the family. Since they don't want to be included in meals, they will not be included at all anymore. Is this too harsh? She has given me nothing but a hassle, and apparently my mother too, about this trip, so I will save us all the trouble and just not invite them again. Which is a shame because I would love to see how happy my nieces are when they are at Disney. Guess my sister just ruined it for them.

 

[Chuck S]

So, now I have decided to never invite them again. We didn't spend $30K plus on a thought of family vacation to never spend time with the family. Since they don't want to be included in meals, they will not be included at all anymore. Is this too harsh?

It is not harsh, IMO. There are family members that I will never invite again.

 

[tjkraz]

Why not just not allow room charging at all?

Amen. The "Key to the World" concept is one of the most overblown "benefits" to staying at a Disney resort. Since when is it so cumbersome to keep a credit card in your pocket during a theme park visit?

Now I am hearing after I have planned all this stuff out, that My sister and her family do not want to join us for a single meal while we are there. I have only planned out 4 meals together, and now am being told that she doesn't want to have any with us. So, now I have decided to never invite them again. We didn't spend $30K plus on a thought of family vacation to never spend time with the family. Since they don't want to be included in meals, they will not be included at all anymore. Is this too harsh? She has given me nothing but a hassle, and apparently my mother too, about this trip, so I will save us all the trouble and just not invite them again. Which is a shame because I would love to see how happy my nieces are when they are at Disney. Guess my sister just ruined it for them.

You don't have to look far to find a lot of horror stories about inviting relatives.

We have brought people along countless times and never had any memorable issues. We usually go over some basic information right from the start to make certain everyone is on the same page BEFORE there is even an agreement to go. We discuss what it will cost (tickets, transportation, food), how folks will be getting there, how we tend to tour the parks, how we plan to dine (restaurant expenses, dining in the room), and so on.

I'm surprised that your sister doesn't intend on joining you for a single meal. She must not share your concept of having the entire family enjoy some time together.

When we bring friends/family, we usually OFFER to help them tour the parks and schedule meals, but there is no expectation that we're joined at the hip the entire time. Basically our philosophy is "here is what we are doing...you are welcome to join us on any given day." ADRs require a little more planning, but we've never had anyone tell us that they didn't want to dine together at all.

It's certainly within your rights to not invite them back in the future. But you may also want to consider addressing the issue up-front to help salvage this trip. If both you and your sister have children, and part of the idea was allowing the kids to spend time with their cousins and grandparents, I would point that out. It doesn't seem unreasonable to have at least a couple nice family meals during the week.

 

[shortypots]

Oh it has been addressed. Now my sister is telling me after I have rebooked the ressies that my mother misunderstood her (thankfully I didn't cancel the other ressies). Apparently she thinks I am the one being difficult because I did let my intention known from the start. This was meant to be a family trip so I wanted to spend 1 meal a day together. She didn't feel that was fair since she is spending the money, so I compromised to 4 (we originally thought we were spending 7 nts, now it is cut to 6, so she is still pissed about it).

It isn't like I didn't ask them where they would prefer to eat and set it up to the timeframe they would prefer to eat since my sister has issues with acid reflux if she eats after 6 pm, so all our ressies were for 5 pm which btw, is 2 hrs before I normally eat. I tried to keep the entire family in mind when picking the restaurants. And apparently that is not good enough. So like I said, she and her family will not be invited again.

 

[tiggercrew]

I'm sorry that your sister has put a damper on your planning...I hope that the vacation itself goes smoothly.

As for the charging privileges, the easiest thing would be to not allow it on their cards. But if you do decide to allow it, the charges on the statement are listed so that you can tell which card made the charge. I think the last 2 or so digits of each are card are unique so she wouldn't be able to claim that their family wasn't the one to make the charge (someone may have already mentioned that in a previous post, but I didn't see it). As for actually paying you for it, well, that's another story but atleast you have a way to distinguish who actually placed the charge.

Good luck to you!

 

[TagsMissy]

Yeah, that is what I am afraid of. I told my sister yesterday that the dining plan is not separated out by family. One room, one block of credits.

Now I am hearing after I have planned all this stuff out, that My sister and her family do not want to join us for a single meal while we are there. I have only planned out 4 meals together, and now am being told that she doesn't want to have any with us. So, now I have decided to never invite them again. We didn't spend $30K plus on a thought of family vacation to never spend time with the family. Since they don't want to be included in meals, they will not be included at all anymore. Is this too harsh? She has given me nothing but a hassle, and apparently my mother too, about this trip, so I will save us all the trouble and just not invite them again. Which is a shame because I would love to see how happy my nieces are when they are at Disney. Guess my sister just ruined it for them.

I am so sorry to hear this... this past summer hubby and i brought one of my brother's and his family with us. it was one of the most enjoyable vacations ever! My brother and I had not traveled together since Italy in 1993 so it was a long time coming My hubby formed an amazing bond with the kids ((which was always there but solidified)) and as a whole we all got much closer again.

Anyways enough sap we had thought and planned before leaving that throughout the trip that we'd split up do stuff on our own or in mixed smaller groups, etc but in the end we spent virtually the whole time together as one big family and that is what made the trip so special. I do hope your sister's tune will change once you are there.

As for the cards just don't give their cards charging privs.