Same day stay?

[novatwinmom]

We're scheduled to fly to Disney Saturday. From Washington DC. Where there's going to be a huge snowstorm Friday into Saturday. For reference, this area tends to shut down and wait for snow to melt rather than deal with any kind of accumulation - and we're looking at at least 6 inches. So that flight likely isn't going to happen.

I'm now looking at driving instead. Rather than focusing on the unpleasant, at least 13 hour drive down to Disney (and back), I'm choosing to focus on the fact that now we'll have a car at Disney. Making it easier to get to parks and early ADRs, right? And no more checked baggage limits...

Anyway, my reservation starts Saturday, but I'm looking at driving out Thursday instead. I'd love to go the whole distance and arrive late Thursday, but I'm realistic enough to know that will probably not happen. On the highway, you just drive up and see who has spots, or go online and look around at who has rooms available.

Is it realistic to think I can call Disney from the road and make a reservation for the same night? Whether Thursday or Friday, I'm not going to have a whole lot of notice about when we'll arrive. Our reservation is at POP, which is not showing availability at all for Thursday and Friday, though I haven't checked the nights individually (and haven't checked 3rd party sites). I'd be just as happy at an All Stars resort. We qualify for military discounts - can I just call the booking line and say "who has a room/two rooms available for tonight and tomorrow night to add to our stay now that we've beaten the storm here?"

 

[novatwinmom]

OP here - I am also working on changing my flights, but they're not rebooking without a fee yet. So I'm working two plans at once

 

[novatwinmom]

Last addition, I promise - I know that we won't actually "add" to our stay, it will be a separate, the earlier nights will be a room-only stay, then we'll check out and back in again. We can either pack our stuff in our car and move it or we can have Disney move it for us.

 

[chicagoshannon]

You could call now and see what's available. Otherwise there are some nice hotels around Downtown Disney you could stay in for a night or two. We're staying in a Fairfield inn the night before our reservation starts at Disney.

 

[lanejudy]

I would check availability now and see what that looks like at various resorts; however don't be surprised if there are no discounts available on-site (possibly AAA or such at an off-site hotel). I have read of people who walked up, or called an hour or so out, and booked a room for that night. But it would all depend on availability -- and with a snowstorm looming I'll point out there could be a variety of unexpected factors impacting availability between now and Sunday, including people like you trying to arrive early as well as people whose vacations are ending this weekend but flights home have been canceled so they need to stay longer.

Enjoy your vacation!

 

[disneymom06]

We arrived one day early on our drive to Disney. When I inquired about a room, The CM gave me rack rate. I was hoping for my AP rate. The CM told me that she couldn't but if I called Disney or placed the reservation on line then I could get the AP rate. I called right at her station, she said I see it in my system and I was all set!

You never know what can happen. Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.

 

[jmccoy18]

If you're eligible for a military discount, you could always spend a night or two at Shades of Green. If they have availability, then they would be our cheapest option.

 

[Narnian_Princess]

We also just changed our plans to get out of DC on Friday ahead of the storm. (Thank goodness for Southwest's no fee change policy.) We managed to get an extra night at Shades of Green, but before that was set I nearly pulled the trigger on the Disney Springs area Holiday Inn. It still had decent rates through the official Disney Springs Hotels website and no two-night minimum like some of the other Springs area resorts.