Sigh, Ent Rate no longer available at HoJos...worth rechecking?

[bayareafamily5]

Hi all, any advice?

Checked the entertainment-rate calendar for HoJos this weekend, called with the dates listed (11/20 - 11/23), but in-house res says they actually have a new calendar that's not up yet and that two of the three dates have been removed. Fair enough, just a bummer...

Has anyone had experience with dates being up, going away, and coming back? Wondering if it's worth watching it like a mad woman or if I should just scrap the idea for the time being? (We have enough flexibility that I'd rather wait until another time when we can use HoJos for the ent rate.)

According to the rep a new calendar should be up today, since things changed over the weekend. Alas.

 

[Kayla's Mom]

Wow - that doesn't seem very fair that they won't honor the dates that are currently listed, I am surprised at that. I would still keep checking - I don't know for sure if they may possibly add the dates back, but it wouldn't hurt to check.

 

[3TinksAndAnEeyore]

The Entertainment Rate Available thread on their discussion board does note on the bottom of the page that the 50% discount rate is "subject to availability and may change without notice". That being said, I would think there's a chance that the rate might come back if someone who has one of those dates ends up cancelling. The discount rates for the DLR hotels aren't listed yet, so people might be reserving Hojo's while still checking on deals on the pricing for on-site as the dates get closer.

 

[DisneyStitch626]

So let me get this correct, just so I know for my upcoming trip.

If your dates are up on the calendar and you call to confirm that they are your dates, and later on they take those down, they can take your entertainment rate away? I thought that once you confirmed it with them, you get to keep it, whether the calendar changed or not??

I am confused.

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

So let me get this correct, just so I know for my upcoming trip.

If your dates are up on the calendar and you call to confirm that they are your dates, and later on they take those down, they can take your entertainment rate away? I thought that once you confirmed it with them, you get to keep it, whether the calendar changed or not??

I am confused.

No, once you have booked the entertainment rate with them, you keep that rate even if the rate becomes unavailable to new bookings. The OP called to make a reservation based on the HOJO message board's Entertainment Rate Available thread and was told that even though the Nov. 20-23 were listed on the page as available this was no longer true for new bookings. The thread is for informational purposes only and is subject to change. It's a bummer for the OP, but I wouldn't give up hope entirely. I think the rate is offered when the hotel is projecting less than some number or percentage of occupancy for the given dates. If enough cancellations occur for certain dates, the rate can be offered again.

 

[amamax2]

No, if you have a confirmed rate, it will not be taken away. Since in-house reservations hours are limited on the weekend, the OP had to wait until today to call to make her reservation. She then found out that all the rooms with the Ent rate for her dates have been booked. She didn't have a confirmed reservation yet.

OP, I would keep checking back - that same thing happened to me for our Sept trip - I waited too long to call and by the time I did the rate was not longer available, but about a month later, it came back again.

Good luck.

 

[DisneyStitch626]

Ok, that all makes sense now! Thanks for clearing that up for me!

Good luck to the OP on finding some dates! I am waiting and hoping for mine to come up as well.

 

[bumbershoot]

OP, that's pretty weird, and not really their usual customer-centric way of doing things. Gosh I might call back, just to make certain.

What's your other choice for hotel? You do know that there's a disboards member discount that you can get just by mentioning you belong to this board?

I figure that anything can happen between now and November (remember, the new ent books come out in Nov, which can make Nov trips tricky figuring out which book to get!), and while I don't know if dates come back or not, there's a relatively long time between now and then.

Anyway, you can make the res now, with ent rate for the one day and disboards discount for the others, and see what might change. If you have another hotel you are thinking about, if they allow cancelations, you could always book both, and then cancel the one that doesn't work for you when you get closer (keeping a close eye on when the cancel period ends for each hotel of course!).

 

[skiingfast]

Could somebody clear this up?

Where do you get the entertainment card? What is it?

In the link a poster provided of the dates, they are all scattered. So do you get the entertainment rate for a couple nights of your stay and pay the regular rate the rest of the time?

 

[GrandBob]

Could somebody clear this up?

Where do you get the entertainment card? What is it?

You can order directly from http://www.entertainment.com Or, a lot of civic organizations sell them as a fundraiser - ask around in your area.

In the link a poster provided of the dates, they are all scattered. So do you get the entertainment rate for a couple nights of your stay and pay the regular rate the rest of the time?

Yes, you can book your dates, and they'll give you the ENT rate for those dates listed, and normal rates for the other days. Mix and match. Note that you can get 15% off just by mentioning DISboards. I think the ENT card is worth the same 15%. If you have a Disney AP, that's worth 20%.

HTH,
Bob

 

[longtimedisneylurker]

Could somebody clear this up?

Where do you get the entertainment card? What is it?

In the link a poster provided of the dates, they are all scattered. So do you get the entertainment rate for a couple nights of your stay and pay the regular rate the rest of the time?

The entertainment book is a discount book you can purchase direct from the makers of the book or from various non-profit organizations that sell them as a fundraiser. The book is full of discounts for dining, activities, attractions, etc., most of them local but some not, such as for hotels, car rental companies, theme parks, and so on. There are different books associated with different cities and regions throughout the country. The books range in price from maybe $20-$50, I think, depending on what region the discounts are good for. The one for my region is usually $40 or $45. The book comes with a card that is required to obtain some of the discounts. Some people just purchase the card from eBay and other sources rather than the whole book. Currently the 2011 entertainment book is being offered for sale; I believe it was first offered this month. The expiration date for the card and most of the offers in the book will be Nov. 1, 2011.


HOJOs Anaheim on Harbor participates in the program and offers a discount to entertainment card holders. The card can be for any city/region, does not have to be for Anaheim, your home city, or anywhere in particular. You do not have to have the card in hand when booking at the discounted rate but must present it upon check-in. There are certain dates that HOJO will offer a significantly discounted rate, what they call 50% off. These are the dates listed on the thread referred to in an earlier post. Dates not listed at the 50% off rate are still offered at 15% off with the entertainment card. You can have a "mixed" booking in that some of your days get the full 50% off and some of them may only get 15% off. I check the dates frequently and call HOJOs anytime there is a rate decrease for dates I have booked. I have had stays during which I got the 50% off rate for all my nights and other stays when I got it for 3 out of 4 nights and 5 out of 7 nights and then the lesser % off for the other night(s).

HOJOs also offers other discounts. They have discount codes for this board and many other Disney fan sites that give the user 15% off. Also, AP holders can receive the same 50% discount for any of the days listed on the Entertainment rate discount page and receive 20% off for all other days.

There are a couple exceptions to these offers. I believe the queen and king suites (not kid suites) are exempted. The list HOJOs offers of available dates is a good reference, but sometimes dates can be booked up quickly before the website is updated. The page notes that the rate is subject to availability; that part of their website seems to be classified as a discussion board, rather than advertised rates exactly.

 

[cheshiregirl]

My previous experience was that when a date was on their active website they honored it even if the allotment of ENT rate rooms was already sold out. The only exception would be if the hotel was sold out completely. Thus, I would try calling again as they still haven't put up a new calendar or removed your dates from the current calendar.

 

[smiley_face2]

hmmm it is still showing your dates on their website at 2:30 in the afternoon.
Yes the dates do disapear then come back again... however, we had to cancel 2 rooms booked at the rate for a week, and they never showed up on the calendar as being available after that. Maybe they got taken right away, I dont' know.

 

[bayareafamily5]

So based on the responses here, and the fact that at 4:15 on Monday the website still showed the dates in question as available, I called back to plead my case. Also based on some thoughts here (thanks) I thought maybe it would be worth it to reserve the nights in the hope that the entertainment card rate would come back later for the 2 nights that were being denied.

Well, the reservations agent this time was very cute, and decided to sort of split the difference...she gave me the entertainment night for 2 of the 3 nights (remember all 3 are showing, but only 1 is actually available.) I thought that was fairly creative and smart, as now I'd probably be hard-pressed to cancel (but still might find something else for the first night.) I'll keep watching it and if 11/20 ever comes back, I'll be on it.

Thanks!

 

[pixiewings71]

Keep watching OP, it might pop back up for you. We did have that happen a few times.

 

[smiley_face2]

So based on the responses here, and the fact that at 4:15 on Monday the website still showed the dates in question as available, I called back to plead my case. Also based on some thoughts here (thanks) I thought maybe it would be worth it to reserve the nights in the hope that the entertainment card rate would come back later for the 2 nights that were being denied.

Well, the reservations agent this time was very cute, and decided to sort of split the difference...she gave me the entertainment night for 2 of the 3 nights (remember all 3 are showing, but only 1 is actually available.) I thought that was fairly creative and smart, as now I'd probably be hard-pressed to cancel (but still might find something else for the first night.) I'll keep watching it and if 11/20 ever comes back, I'll be on it.

Thanks!

Oh good, I'm glad they helped a little bit! With all the bad news lately about the so called economic recovery (not) I'd imagine more people will be thinking twice about vacations.... the day may yet come back up! worth checking even as you are on your way to the hotel! It's funny because I spent a good part of the weekend trying to decide between those days going before the Thanksgiving weekend, or the dates into December, after TG. I finally decided on after and called on Monday to book it, only to read your post! I see the dates after are still available, so I'm really hoping it will be a quiet week!

 

[bumbershoot]

I know you got what they called a compromise so this doesn't change *what* you got, but I'm not sure that it really was a compromise, but rather...what they are offering...updated 8/24, November 21st, 22nd are on their calendar...

I'm actually pretty weirded out by HoJo right now, honestly!