Rumor about “modified experiences” when Disney reopens (read 1st post for potential modifications being considered)

[JacknSally]

thanks again for you help and clarity ! Just one more thing - (obviously, you know how the industry works)
I normally think of over -booking as accidental - ( I know it happens with airlines frequently - restaurants - ( for example - adrs, when so many ppl might be booking online at the same time)
But, I guess those are considered to be accidental, in a sense

With this situation still be considered over-booking ?
If ppl had a reservation for a particular hotel/section , and then the space is needed for a larger group, like in the NBA situation, and ppl are asked to relocate - would the hotel /company consider that an "over-book", when they just found out that those rooms would be needed ?

Sorry if post is confusing, and thanks !

So, overbooking/overselling just means that more rooms are reserved/booked than are empty & available to be rented.

Hotels’ computer systems automatically allow a small number of oversold rooms, to account for no-show reservations or last minute cancellations. Oversell by 3 rooms, but then 3 reservations get cancelled during the day? Awesome! Most of the time everything washes, but sometimes it doesn’t - and then the hotel has to “walk”, or relocate, guests.

Front desk/reservations agents and managers will also sometimes “force in” additional bookings (termed that way because the computer system isn’t allowing them to go in automatically based on any number of criteria) depending on the situation.

The Hilton property I managed was really popular for booking business groups and kids’ athletic teams. There were definitely times when a team would approach us to book a block of rooms and we didn’t have the available inventory, but we took the room block anyway for whatever reason - maybe a higher rate for the group than what existing reservations had (so more revenue), or the group was a group who stayed with us frequently and we wanted to keep that relationship, or they could potentially become frequent guests and we wanted to establish that relationship, etc. Taking those group blocks intentionally overbooked/oversold the hotel and caused us to have to walk non-group-block guests if inventory didn’t wash on its own.

Hopefully that made sense and answered the question! Let me know if it didn’t! I’m happy to share whatever I know.

Tl;dr - hotels will absolutely intentionally overbook in certain situations.

 

[JacknSally]

So, overbooking/overselling just means that more rooms are reserved/booked than are empty & available to be rented.

Hotels’ computer systems automatically allow a small number of oversold rooms, to account for no-show reservations or last minute cancellations. Oversell by 3 rooms, but then 3 reservations get cancelled during the day? Awesome! Most of the time everything washes, but sometimes it doesn’t - and then the hotel has to “walk”, or relocate, guests.

Front desk/reservations agents and managers will also sometimes “force in” additional bookings (termed that way because the computer system isn’t allowing them to go in automatically based on any number of criteria) depending on the situation.

The Hilton property I managed was really popular for booking business groups and kids’ athletic teams. There were definitely times when a team would approach us to book a block of rooms and we didn’t have the available inventory, but we took the room block anyway for whatever reason - maybe a higher rate for the group than what existing reservations had (so more revenue), or the group was a group who stayed with us frequently and we wanted to keep that relationship, or they could potentially become frequent guests and we wanted to establish that relationship, etc. Taking those group blocks intentionally overbooked/oversold the hotel and caused us to have to walk non-group-block guests if inventory didn’t wash on its own.

Hopefully that made sense and answered the question! Let me know if it didn’t! I’m happy to share whatever I know. ☺

Tl;dr - hotels will absolutely intentionally overbook in certain situations.

@tinkerhon - Let me also say...

The above is all about reservations before the guest has checked in. Hotels won't kick out people who have already checked in just because the hotel has a group coming in or they want a group to come in - but if you're already checked in, they may not let you extend your current reservation if you decide you need to/want to stay another night.

It's also possible that if the room type you are in has been blocked for a group, but they have other room types available, they'll let you extend your already-checked-in reservation, but tell you that you have to move rooms. Example: you're in a room with two full beds and you're supposed to check out Friday morning. A team is supposed to check-in Friday night, and they have blocked all of the two-full-bed rooms at the hotel. You decide you need to stay Friday night. The hotel may tell you that you can stay, but you'll have to move to a room with a king bed and a pull-out sofa because the room you're currently in is part of a group block so it isn't available that night.

 

[tinkerhon]

So, overbooking/overselling just means that more rooms are reserved/booked than are empty & available to be rented.

Hotels’ computer systems automatically allow a small number of oversold rooms, to account for no-show reservations or last minute cancellations. Oversell by 3 rooms, but then 3 reservations get cancelled during the day? Awesome! Most of the time everything washes, but sometimes it doesn’t - and then the hotel has to “walk”, or relocate, guests.

Front desk/reservations agents and managers will also sometimes “force in” additional bookings (termed that way because the computer system isn’t allowing them to go in automatically based on any number of criteria) depending on the situation.

The Hilton property I managed was really popular for booking business groups and kids’ athletic teams. There were definitely times when a team would approach us to book a block of rooms and we didn’t have the available inventory, but we took the room block anyway for whatever reason - maybe a higher rate for the group than what existing reservations had (so more revenue), or the group was a group who stayed with us frequently and we wanted to keep that relationship, or they could potentially become frequent guests and we wanted to establish that relationship, etc. Taking those group blocks intentionally overbooked/oversold the hotel and caused us to have to walk non-group-block guests if inventory didn’t wash on its own.

Hopefully that made sense and answered the question! Let me know if it didn’t! I’m happy to share whatever I know.

Tl;dr - hotels will absolutely intentionally overbook in certain situations.

Thanks ! Wow, you're good !

 

[Broncho52]

So, overbooking/overselling just means that more rooms are reserved/booked than are empty & available to be rented.

Hotels’ computer systems automatically allow a small number of oversold rooms, to account for no-show reservations or last minute cancellations. Oversell by 3 rooms, but then 3 reservations get cancelled during the day? Awesome! Most of the time everything washes, but sometimes it doesn’t - and then the hotel has to “walk”, or relocate, guests.

Front desk/reservations agents and managers will also sometimes “force in” additional bookings (termed that way because the computer system isn’t allowing them to go in automatically based on any number of criteria) depending on the situation.

The Hilton property I managed was really popular for booking business groups and kids’ athletic teams. There were definitely times when a team would approach us to book a block of rooms and we didn’t have the available inventory, but we took the room block anyway for whatever reason - maybe a higher rate for the group than what existing reservations had (so more revenue), or the group was a group who stayed with us frequently and we wanted to keep that relationship, or they could potentially become frequent guests and we wanted to establish that relationship, etc. Taking those group blocks intentionally overbooked/oversold the hotel and caused us to have to walk non-group-block guests if inventory didn’t wash on its own.

Hopefully that made sense and answered the question! Let me know if it didn’t! I’m happy to share whatever I know. ☺

Tl;dr - hotels will absolutely intentionally overbook in certain situations.

I would love to have my room overbooked at Disney. You know there are a lot of incentives that would come with it and wouldn’t be a inconvenience like say over booked flight are.

 

[tinkerhon]

@tinkerhon - Let me also say...

The above is all about reservations before the guest has checked in. Hotels won't kick out people who have already checked in just because the hotel has a group coming in or they want a group to come in - but if you're already checked in, they may not let you extend your current reservation if you decide you need to/want to stay another night.

It's also possible that if the room type you are in has been blocked for a group, but they have other room types available, they'll let you extend your already-checked-in reservation, but tell you that you have to move rooms. Example: you're in a room with two full beds and you're supposed to check out Friday morning. A team is supposed to check-in Friday night, and they have blocked all of the two-full-bed rooms at the hotel. You decide you need to stay Friday night. The hotel may tell you that you can stay, but you'll have to move to a room with a king bed and a pull-out sofa because the room you're currently in is part of a group block so it isn't available that night.

Thanks again ! My concern was for the family that loves a certain hotel - we ALWAYS stayed at CBR years ago - so, let's say you had your reservation for a year, and your trip is next month, and you get contacted by Disney that they need to relocate you (prior to your trip) to another hotel - (could be as beautiful as the Poly) but you always stay at CBR- ( we have so many amazing memories from staying there )

But now you have to stay somewhere else because of the NBA (or any other group) that RECENTLY booked there -
Third world problem? - no- but will be upsetting for many, I would think.

 

[chicagoshannon]

You bring up an interesting point. They do keep referring to WWOS as the "site" for housing, practices and games. Could they rustle up enough trailers to accommodate everyone? I don't know - my money is on CSR. Lots of rooms and suites at that property. Food and Bev services set up to cater to large conventions. Pools, a gym. It will be interesting to see how this all shakes out.

I'm sure they could find enough trailers but not sure they could figure out the plumbing situation for them.

 

[JacknSally]

Thanks again ! My concern was for the family that loves a certain hotel - we ALWAYS stayed at CBR years ago - so, let's say you had your reservation for a year, and your trip is next month, and you get contacted by Disney that they need to relocate you (prior to your trip) to another hotel - (could be as beautiful as the Poly) but you always stay at CBR- ( we have so many amazing memories from staying there )

But now you have to stay somewhere else because of the NBA (or any other group) that RECENTLY booked there -
Third world problem? - no- but will be upsetting for many, I would think.

I totally get it! This is always a possibility with any reservation, though, even without the current pandemic-NBA-MLS mess. On the bright side, Disney especially is really good about trying to make the situation right, and it becomes an opportunity for new memories/experiences you might not have had if everything had panned out as planned!

Also, a good general rule of thumb - if what Disney or any other company is offering as a solution to make a problem "right" doesn't actually make it right for you, don't be afraid to outright (politely, lol) ask for/tell them what would make it right for you. That doesn't mean they'll be able to make your solution happen but it does make it easier for them to know where you stand and hopefully come up with a better solution than what they initially offered.

 

[gottalovepluto]

Someone’s opinion he’s been spreading for many weeks, nothing new. He did try and claim it was the first time he shared the aug date, but he was “ mistaken”. lol He also claims DLR is not being maintained and is overrun with rats,so there’s that....

They even furloughed the Disneyland Cats? Jerks!

 

[tinkerhon]

I totally get it! This is always a possibility with any reservation, though, even without the current pandemic-NBA-MLS mess. On the bright side, Disney especially is really good about trying to make the situation right.

Also, a good general rule of thumb - if what Disney or any other company is offering as a solution to make a problem "right" doesn't actually make it right for you, don't be afraid to outright ask for/tell them what would make it right for you. That doesn't mean they'll be able to make your solution happen but it does make it easier for them to know where you stand and hopefully come up with a better solution than what they initially offered.

Thanks again ! You're amazing ! And I'm sure the NBA won't kick me out of the ASMovies, lol - but Disney will hear me if I don't get a refund for my park tickets !

 

[Betty Rohrer]

We did! Just on a whim. We have been multiple, multiple times so it’s not a “once in a lifetime” or any special trip. We have ridden everything so many times it’s not a “tragedy” if we have to cancel or reschedule. We booked Aug 2-8. We actually thought it would be a great opportunity to “introduce” or 2 severe medical/special needs foster boys to the park. ( less hysteria, less noise, less crowds) we wanted to take a lot of resort time ( at Yacht Club ) so, we booked about 2 weeks ago. Who knows what will happen? Might be open, might not. Don’t need plane tickets, best to drive with them and their equipment. Don’t need character meals, would scare the bejeezus out of them as “meeting” characters would. It would just be an experience for them to stay in hotel, eat at a restaurant, and swim. It might be a great idea, or like many of our other ones, a horrible idea . Our family motto has always been “prepare for the best, but expect the worst” ❤

I know this is a dumb question but will the 2 littles be allowed to travel? from what a family near me has said they cant travel with their fosters for now. just wondering if it is different for you guys

 

[robinb]

Maybe, but they've had since the shutdown to figure out what to do to open. The restrictions are probably less than what were originally envisioned. I know WDW is big, but they've had months. It's time to execute. Announce this week what the plan is, give a week or two of margin for opening so you don't miss the date. Address any compensatory measures as related to mitigation strategies. If transportation is an issue, cancel it until Phase 3. Everyone has to drive. All busses will only be used to get from TTC to MK so only half the bus is full. No monorails, no boats. Waive all overnight parking fees until normal transportation is available. For every ADR that gets cancelled due to limited spacing, your entire party gets an anytime fast pass. Or two. Whatever. They know what the plan is, I'm sure. They know what it will take to execute the plan. And they have contingencies for a multitude of what if's. If that's not true, several people should look for another line of work, because they're failing. Supply chains better be in motion by now. They should have been ready and waiting for the OK to re-open. Maybe they are. Maybe they just needed a week to try to get the NBA thing halfway finalized. I hope so, so that all of you with late June plans can still go. If the NBA is a hang-up, they can still announce a date and let people know that the resort they booked may be impacted and you will receive a replacement of equal or greater value. Nothing can possibly be keeping them from opening end of June/beginning of July unless they simply don't want to. If that's the case, tell us. Let people make other plans or re-schedule the one's they have with WDW. For a date that is actually going to be OK. Or maybe we're all so rumored out with not much else to do that everything is getting amplified 1000 times what it should be. And Disney is going to announce that they'll be opened on 6/22 and we've gotten ourselves spun up over nothing. They were just allowed to submit plans only a week ago, right?

You sound very frustrated. I understand, we're all frustrated with the shutdown. Even though Disney has had months to plan, things really are still in flux. In addition, it will take a massive effort to bring all the CMs back and reopen everything. There is not enough Pixie Dust in the world to make that happen quickly. A too premature opening resulting in illness and death will harm the parks and the brand far more then postponing reopening. Frankly, I would not want to visit a Disney that does not value the health and safety of the CMs and guests.

FTR, I have a reservation for November and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that WDW will be reopen by then.

 

[Betty Rohrer]

Maybe, but they've had since the shutdown to figure out what to do to open. The restrictions are probably less than what were originally envisioned. I know WDW is big, but they've had months. It's time to execute. Announce this week what the plan is, give a week or two of margin for opening so you don't miss the date. Address any compensatory measures as related to mitigation strategies. If transportation is an issue, cancel it until Phase 3. Everyone has to drive. All busses will only be used to get from TTC to MK so only half the bus is full. No monorails, no boats. Waive all overnight parking fees until normal transportation is available. For every ADR that gets cancelled due to limited spacing, your entire party gets an anytime fast pass. Or two. Whatever. They know what the plan is, I'm sure. They know what it will take to execute the plan. And they have contingencies for a multitude of what if's. If that's not true, several people should look for another line of work, because they're failing. Supply chains better be in motion by now. They should have been ready and waiting for the OK to re-open. Maybe they are. Maybe they just needed a week to try to get the NBA thing halfway finalized. I hope so, so that all of you with late June plans can still go. If the NBA is a hang-up, they can still announce a date and let people know that the resort they booked may be impacted and you will receive a replacement of equal or greater value. Nothing can possibly be keeping them from opening end of June/beginning of July unless they simply don't want to. If that's the case, tell us. Let people make other plans or re-schedule the one's they have with WDW. For a date that is actually going to be OK. Or maybe we're all so rumored out with not much else to do that everything is getting amplified 1000 times what it should be. And Disney is going to announce that they'll be opened on 6/22 and we've gotten ourselves spun up over nothing. They were just allowed to submit plans only a week ago, right?

so the plan means masks for CMs and guests, go back and read all the antimasks comments. If Disney had said they were opening with masks required and they now see all these anti comments so they now decide to change the date. how is that going to look. I am guessing Disney will wait until Universal has been open a few weeks before deciding anything. just my guess

 

[gottalovepluto]

I understand everything has been fluid. We still don't know what the plans are for regular guests.

But I'll bet my mouse ears this deal with the NBA is finalized quickly.

I sure won’t. Someone reported owners vote is Fri and then they have to get the players vote.... I think herding chipmunks will be easier...

 

[gottalovepluto]

thanks again for you help and clarity ! Just one more thing - (obviously, you know how the industry works)
I normally think of over -booking as accidental - ( I know it happens with airlines frequently - restaurants - ( for example - adrs, when so many ppl might be booking online at the same time)
But, I guess those are considered to be accidental, in a sense

With this situation still be considered over-booking ?
If ppl had a reservation for a particular hotel/section , and then the space is needed for a larger group, like in the NBA situation, and ppl are asked to relocate - would the hotel /company consider that an "over-book", when they just found out that those rooms would be needed ?

Sorry if post is confusing, and thanks !

What the hotel considers it to be doesn’t matter. Every hotel can walk you if they sell your room to someone else for whatever reason. At that point you have to hope they’ll rebook you or help you find a new hotel. If you have status this is a time it can help with compensation/more compensation potentially offered. Disney doesn’t have status but they do have extensive hotel capacity at their other hotels so hopefully they will rebook guests.... but do be aware nothing says they have to. (“I can’t imagine Disney wouldn’t put me in another hotel”- well I couldn’t imagine 2020 but here we are.)

 

[gottalovepluto]

I would love to have my room overbooked at Disney. You know there are a lot of incentives that would come with it and wouldn’t be a inconvenience like say over booked flight are.

You HOPE there are still incentives. Right now, WDW appears to not give a whit about ticking customers off.

 

[Anna H]

Did they ever say how Universal is handling resort capacity and how they would fare with park admittance? Someone speculated that attendance would be first come first serve but they oughta tell people with reservations that because most people won't want to risk the high expense with no guaranteed entry.

 

[DGsAtBLT]

Did they ever say how Universal is handling resort capacity and how they would fare with park admittance? Someone speculated that attendance would be first come first serve but they oughta tell people with reservations that because most people won't want to risk the high expense with no guaranteed entry.

Unless I missed something, I don’t think we know anything definitively (in terms of opening dates and stuff) when it comes to the UO resorts, beyond that you can make reservations in June.

 

[NotUrsula]

Nothing can possibly be keeping them from opening end of June/beginning of July unless they simply don't want to.

The one thing that I can think of that might be a sticking point is the transit system. I'm pretty sure that WDW's system is the most heavily used in the state of Florida (Can't find a cite for that; but I believe I've heard it. Miami and Jacksonville have more buses, but I think WDW moves more people in an average year.) It takes a bit of time to set up efficient super-cleaning measures on a big transit fleet, especially one that has as many different kinds of vehicles as that one does. It certainly can be done, and is being done by large cities, but an acceptable level of risk on a public bus fleet and an acceptable level of risk on a fleet owned by a deep-pocket private company like Disney are not the same. Disney is going to want to be able to say that they are actively doing things to kill the virus on the transit system all day long, not just once every 24 hours. Public transit has a higher-than-average real risk for transmission of SARS-COV2;

(Or, alternatively, -- and I have NOT heard anyone float this as an option being considered -- they could initially choose to open without the large-volume guest transit, and just let all guests find their own way around during Phase 1. (If they did, free parking would be a nice temporary perk.))

 

[cakebaker]

They even furloughed the Disneyland Cats? Jerks!

They probably made them wear masks. I have a source....

 

[cakebaker]

Frankly, I would not want to visit a Disney that does not value the health and safety of the CMs and guests.

Does anyone? Does Universal not care about the health of their guests and employees.