Segmented reservation nightmare-long

[fairy god aunt]

I wanted to update everyone our recent DDP/segmented reservation trip. We had a fairly complicated ressie. My sister and I own at BLT. We stay together in a 2BR. We decided to take sister2 and her family with us for a 3 night stay over Memorial Day weekend. We did reserve until maybe 3-4 months out. We were able to get a 2BR lockoff for us at AKL but the studio for sister2 was not available for the 2nd night so we wait listed. Luckily, it came through. Then, airtran decided to change our nonstop flights to layovers in Atlanta. We decided to take a direct flight the night before but by this time, we were less than a month out so availability was limited. We booked OKW and wait listed AKV, which came through only for the studio. My family decided to stay an extra 2 days at Beach Club in a studio.
I was nervous about adding DP. I heard good and bad stories. We wanted DDP for Sat and Sun night. So, not the first night and not the last night. Because I was staying at OKW, this meant that Sister2 would need to check us in Saturday am and get our new KTTW with dining and meet us at MK. Desk opened at 7 so we thought we'd be safe. Talked with MS, said no problem but Sister 2 should be listed on our 2 br so she could check in. So, we switched her and my mom. No biggie- I was assured it was all correct and would be seemless. Just one additional trip to get new keys Sat am and that's it.
I tried to check in online and all of the info was wrong. The names were all wrong. People were missing- some were twice. I called MS and was told their system was right but online check in was having issues. They were working on it but wouldn't be fixed for my trip. Again, told everything was fine.
Well, far from it. Not only were the names wrong but AKV could find no record of my even paying for any dining plan. It took poor Sister 2 and me (from MK) on the phone with AKV and MS for 2 and a half hours to get it fixed. Well, guess what? Went to CP and the cards didn't have dining on them. Same with LTT. It was really awful. Sister 2 only had one day in MK and so much was spent on this issue (although we did have a great time). I told her just to leave and get to Mk and I'd deal later that night but they kept saying it would only be a minute.
Anyway, next am I go down to straighten it out and guess what- another 2 hours and them booking and rebooking and crediting. They said they just can't do segmented reservations and don't understand why MS thinks they can.
More problems at check out. Meals, snacks and mugs not properly credited, etc. To put into context how awful it was, they gave us FPs, an extra day of DDP and a cash credit. That's how much they screwed this up!!
Now onto Beach Club. At AKV, we were told that we each needed to out credit cards on room so that our cash credit (to the extent not used) would be refunded to a cc for each room. I was told that the account would be settled after AKV and I would start anew at Beach Club.
Got to BC and more issues. They carried over Sister 2's credit card to my room and charged more for the AKV stay. They couldn't find my reservation at AKV because during the booking-rebooking process they put in in my mom's name- why??? Because my ressie was so screwed up they started anew with another name but never told me! Bottom line is that we still have no idea what we were charged for and what was credited. Some things went directly to ccs, some on room- no rhyme or reason. I just couldn't deal with it anymore. Based on what ended up charged to our ccs, it looks like we did get a credit that covered things like tips but it is crazy that their accounting system could not explain what charges/credits there were.
CM at BC said they are fixing the system so DVC can segment and not have to get new KTTW or segment. Until then, beware.
For us, segmenting with DDP instead of reg DP for each night made sense financially. But, even with their concessions, we would have rathered not wasted precious park time on such a short trip. The FPs they gave us saved us from some lines - but not the heat of touring early afternoon instead of morning.

 

[vicki_c]

Sorry you had trouble - not surprising giving the other posts I've seen with complicated DDP situations.

PS - I could not read your post other than the briefest skimming (well I could, but I won't) - please use paragraphs - it's much too hard to read that giant block of non-stop text!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I have seen so many issues posted on this board about segmented dining plans, that I think there is no way I would ever use it.

 

[Sandisw]

Thanks for sharing. We have been going back and forth with the segmented plan.

I currently have added the DxDDP to just one night of a 3 night stay. It is the first night and it is the day we would be switching resorts anyway as I booked a split stay (2 nights at BWV and 3 nights at BLT).

But, I have paid for that plan and it would be a good idea to get confirmation that they have the plan listed and then bring along confirmation that it was paid for via my CC statement (just in case).

 

[paults]

sorry I stopped reading after my eyes started reading the same lines twice

 

[bumbershoot]

The names were all wrong. People were missing- some were twice. I called MS and was told their system was right but online check in was having issues.

Oh man, that's how our reservation is now! I don't have it segmented other than it's a split stay (2 bedroom then studio then 1 bedroom) and we don't have the dining plan, but...given that last December when they had the names all nice and pretty but didn't have ME down on the first reservation (I booked it all!) so I couldn't get past the OKW security people, and then I was the only one who didn't have "dvc" on our KTTW (the 3 year old, who was our guest, had it, as did everyone else, but not me), I figure the fact that it's *already* messed up does not bode well....

 

[Deb & Bill]

Oh man, that's how our reservation is now! I don't have it segmented other than it's a split stay (2 bedroom then studio then 1 bedroom) and we don't have the dining plan, but...given that last December when they had the names all nice and pretty but didn't have ME down on the first reservation (I booked it all!) so I couldn't get past the OKW security people, and then I was the only one who didn't have "dvc" on our KTTW (the 3 year old, who was our guest, had it, as did everyone else, but not me), I figure the fact that it's *already* messed up does not bode well....

Nobody gets DVC Member on their KTTW now. It just says DVC room only.

I have seen so many issues posted on this board about segmented dining plans, that I think there is no way I would ever use it.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[kristenrice]

We have a "segmented" stay coming in October. We have 2 nights in a LV studio at BLT with the DxDDP follower by 3 nights in a standard 1BR at BWV with no dining plan. The odd thing is that we initially had our first two nights in a savanna studio at Kidani village until our waitlist came through. When I go to pull up our reservation information on the WDW website (not the DVC site) it still shows that we are at Kidani Village. The member site shows my reservation at BLT so I am not too worried. I cannot believe that a company as big as Disney has such a messed up IT department.

 

[cvjw]

We just returned from 2 weeks at Disney with 7 segmented reservations at 3 different resorts. Everything worked very smoothly at BWV and BLT. AKV - Kidani was a nightmare. I will never again segment at KV, but wouldn't hesitate to segment at BWV or BLT. They had everything so messed up with our dining plan at KV, that our party of 7 ended up with 70 counter service meals and 70 snacks for 3 days (in addition to our 21 TS credits). They kept having to cancel our reservation and rebook - and just kept rolling over all of our meal and snack credits. It was very frustrating and time consuming to try and keep everything straight. They did end up giving me $100 for my trouble, and all of the extra meal and snack credits.

 

[jarestel]

Remember when DVC members couldn't purchase the DDP? Seems like the "good ole days" in retrospect. I can't imagine that any perceived "savings" would be worth all of this.

Anyway "fairy god aunt", here's hoping your next trip is 100% problem free!

 

[Chuck S]

I'm so glad I use the TiW instead.

 

[hakepb]

It seems like names on reservations being different cause a lot of these split issues (it seemed to be my problem in Oct)

From an IT perspective, it's near impossible to properly relate data if you are basing the relation on free-form text that multiple people are typing in on multiple occasions. But they cannot use something better like DVC member # because members can reserve multiple rooms.

 

[hmillerbarilla]

CM at BC said they are fixing the system so DVC can segment and not have to get new KTTW or segment.

This is the best thing I've read. I hope this is true!!!

I'm sorry your segmenting was such a hassle. I really hope they work this issue out!

 

[dianeschlicht]

I'm so glad I use the TiW instead.

Me too!

 

[Ms. WDW]

I have a segemented ressie coming up in 9 days but it's simple. I check in June 22 without the DDP and then on June 24 I add it on. Now, I'm really counting on this being an easy transaction but we all know how something simple can turn out!!! I'm well aware of the fact that I actually have to "check out" and then "check back in" but I'm being told by MS that in all probability I will NOT have to change rooms.

I'll let you all know how this goes!

 

[Tinker74]

I keep reading of people spending 2 hours plus at a time at the front desk...

No way would I do that!...I would spend say 20 minutes then I would be like ..see ya..get back to me when you've sorted this out mr manager!

Saying that..I do feel sorry for the front desk workers..they must curse the day disney brought out segmented dining...

 

[Starshine]

I'm so glad I use the TiW instead.

Yep, makes me very glad we can't eat enough to justify DDP!

 

[TeresaNJ]

I feel your pain. Something similar to this happened to me last month during my stay. I booked my first night in a studio at BWV, then was switching to a 1-BR at BCV the next day for 7 nights, then back to BWV studio for last two nights. What a freaking nightmare. For some reason, MS booked my first night at BWV and my next 7 nights at BCV under one reservation number, and then my last two nights under a different number. Thankfully, I did not do the DDP on this trip, as God knows how much more things would have been screwed up.

First off, I never received a detailed charge statement when I checked out of BWV after my first night. I was told the amount would just be added to my BCV statement since both reservations were under the same number. However, my credit card kept getting charged nightly, even though I put my credit card on hold in order to charge to my room key. I didn't realize what they were doing until I checked my bank account a few days later. When I called to have it corrected, they said I asked for it to be done this way. I was like "what sense does this make? I would just use my credit card then, if I wanted my card to be run through daily". I was assured it would be fixed. It wasn't. I made numerous calls about this, even speaking to several managers, who could not tell me what the problem was. They said they never had that problem before.

Secondly, my whole DME itinerary was screwed up. It took several phone calls to fix that, even though I called from home to make sure they realized I was not going home when my BCV stay ended.

Thirdly, and this has nothing to do with segmented reservations, but just added icing to the cake, I was able to change my last two nights to the BCV prior to having to switch back to the BWV because the manager was trying to appease me after so many screw-ups, but when I checked into my new room, a dying bunny was laying on my patio. I realize this isn't Disney's fault, but really, did housekeeping not notice this when they were getting the room ready? Do they not check the balconies and patios?

Fourth, again, nothing to do with the segmented reservation, but when I called the front desk to see if my room was ready, prior to calling bell services to come get my luggage when checking out of the 1BR at the BCV to move to the studio for my last two nights, I was told the room was not ready. Fine, I called bell services. They came and took my luggage. I immediately went to the front desk to check in to my new room, with the dead bunny. Guess what? The room was ready, not ten minutes after I sent my luggage with bell services, and, to top it off, the new room was a short walk down the hall from my old room! I could have taken my luggage myself. I walked to my new room, called bell services, and the cast member says, "didn't we just come get your luggage?" Uh, yea, you did.

Of course, I didn't notice the soon to be dead bunny until after I called bell services to bring my luggage back. I immediately called the front desk and said I am not staying in this room. At that point I just lost it. The poor bunny kept looking at me as if he was saying "do something, please". I don't know if he got hit by a car, as the room faced the road area on the first floor, or if he was sick, or what. He was just stretched out with his head bent at an odd angle. I was trying to tell myself he was just resting, as it was so hot out, but when he didn't move when I opened the patio door, I knew I was just kidding myself. I am so glad I didn't have any children with me. A few minutes later bell services shows up with my luggage, the same guy who just picked it up from my old room. I open the door and say to him, "take it back, I am not staying in this room, there is a dying bunny on my patio"! He looked at me like I had two heads, LOL, but left with my luggage.

I made sure I let the manager know how unhappy I was with my BCV stay. I'm sorry I didn't just stay at the BWV for my entire trip.