Split stay - need good advice re booking a late arrival during a super busy week and dining reservations

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

I am looking into booking a split stay during super busy week off from school. If the vacation break for most starts on 3/13 for ex, and I may not be able to arrive until 3/15, I am worried the dining reservations will all be gobbled up by the time my window for dining reservations opens. Also, since I plan on doing a split stay that means the second half of the vacation the dining reservations will surely be gone by the time that second stay of the split stay dining window opens for me, which seems so unfair considering it's one trip for me (but yes, 2 separate to them).

Is there a way around this? Some thoughts - If I book from 3/13 but wind up removing those 2 days from my reservation by calling and changing my dates once my dining reservations are made, would the removal of those 2 days effect my dining reservations for the remaining days?

If I book the second stay for the full length of the trip, make my dining reservations for the entire week, then call to adjust the dates of the second portion of my split stay and then book the first resort stay by adding a new hotel as my first resort, will my dining reservations stay on my account?

Thanks for reading, hope someone understands or has a suggestion. I hate that a split stay is not recognized by Disney and that will surely be a problem for me to get any dining reservations for the second portion of my stay due to it being a week off holiday from school.

 

[loves to dive]

I could be wrong but I didn't think dining reservations were even associated with a stay, otherwise how would locals and other people be able to eat there? I thought there was just a certain amount of time in the future you could book them. I'm not sure about it since we don't book our ADRs in advance, we actually eat at TS just about every single day of our stay and book them the afternoon of while walking around. Of course, we are two adults, always have park hoppers and times don't matter, we don't eat at buffets or character meals so that might make a difference. We aren't tied down to FPs either since we don't book them until morning of or the night before if we have decided which park we are going to. We never book more than one at a time and never more than a hour out, we just like to go with the flow.

 

[Dave006]

You don't need a resort reservation to make ADRs. Anyone can make them at the 180 day mark. The only extra benefit to have a reservation is that you are able to book at the 180 mark + length of stay.

To easy your planning process, I would vote with your suggestion to book a continuous vacation stay, book your ADRs and then decide how you want to adjust your stay if you want a split-stay. Just a few words of caution, you can't just modify your original reservation to drop days. There needs to be availability for a new reservation for the days you want at each resort. It can be done on a single call if you have a good CM or contact Guest Services as they have more flexibly in what changes they are able to make in the Disney reservation system.

Note: You will not lose your booked ADRs when you make any changes to your plans as they are not tied to your actual resort(s) stay but to you and the credit card that you use to make the ADR.

Dave

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

You don't need a resort reservation to make ADRs. Anyone can make them at the 180 day mark. The only extra benefit to have a reservation is that you are able to book at the 180 mark + length of stay.

To easy your planning process, I would vote with your suggestion to book a continuous vacation stay, book your ADRs and then decide how you want to adjust your stay if you want a split-stay. Just a few words of caution, you can't just modify your original reservation to drop days. There needs to be availability for a new reservation for the days you want at each resort. It can be done on a single call if you have a good CM or contact Guest Services as they have more flexibly in what changes they are able to make in the Disney reservation system.

Note: You will not lose your booked ADRs when you make any changes to your plans as they are not tied to your actual resort(s) stay but to you and the credit card that you use to make the ADR.

Dave

Hmm, so you are saying that with my online account, even without a reservation, I can book any dining reservations 180 days out? I am so confused by this. I just had a split stay booked before this and I had 2 different windows that opened up to make dining reservations. I could only book each stay's dining at a time from the start of that resort stay. Please help me understand.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

Just a few words of caution, you can't just modify your original reservation to drop days. There needs to be availability for a new reservation for the days you want at each resort. It can be done on a single call if you have a good CM or contact Guest Services as they have more flexibly in what changes they are able to make in the Disney reservation system.



Dave

This confuses me also. I have done this a few times, had booked a few days extra at the beginning or the end that I shaved off my reservation. Am I misunderstanding what you wrote?

 

[Dave006]

I just had a split stay booked before this and I had 2 different windows that opened up to make dining reservations. I could only book each stay's dining at a time from the start of that resort stay. Please help me understand.

The easy example is that you can book any ADRs for any given day 180 days before that day. Your split-stay, something that you know that Disney does not recognize as a split-stay but 2 distinct stays. Each of your stays has a length of stay, so if you have a stay of 4 days followed by a stay of 3 days, you will have 2 ADR booking windows for each length of stay as you have experienced at 180 days + 4 for the first stay and then a second window that opens 4 days later for your second reservation just as you have already experienced.

This is where you booking a single reservation for your entire planed stay allows you to book at 180 + you full length of stay. Once these ADRs are book you are certainly free to make any adjustments to your resort reservations.

Dave

 

[Dis Dragon]

Pretty sure what you’re discussing is against the rules of this board.

 

[Dave006]

This confuses me also. I have done this a few times, had booked a few days extra at the beginning or the end that I shaved off my reservation. Am I misunderstanding what you wrote?

You did not actually just shave off a few days of the beginning of your stay. That is just the lucky result you got since there was availability at your chosen resort for a new stay The revenue management system that is part of the current reservation system is designed to not have what are know as "orphan" days that Disney can't sell to guests.

Dave

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

Pretty sure what you’re discussing is against the rules of this board.

What is that? I have no intentions to break any rules. If so, I agree the post can be removed.

 

[Dis Dragon]

Booking early with the intentions of reserving dining and then removing the days is called a leading reservation which is going around established rules.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

Booking early with the intentions of reserving dining and then removing the days is called a leading reservation which is going around established rules.

Hmm, ok. I will reach out a moderator.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

You did not actually just shave off a few days of the beginning of your stay. That is just the lucky result you got since there was availability at your chosen resort for a new stay The revenue management system that is part of the current reservation system is designed to not have what are know as "orphan" days that Disney can't sell to guests.

Dave

Thank you, the cast member never explained this to me the few times I have done it when unsure of what days my trip would exactly be.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

Booking early with the intentions of reserving dining and then removing the days is called a leading reservation which is going around established rules.

Hi, I reached out a moderator and have not heard back yet. I found what I believe are the "rules" of the board and see nothing about what you are saying. Can you direct me to where this rule can be found, so I can read about other rules I may not be aware of? Thanks! These are the only rules I found. https://www.disboards.com/help/guidelines/

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

Booking early with the intentions of reserving dining and then removing the days is called a leading reservation which is going around established rules.

I just looked up leading reservation and that term on this board appears to be a reservation made with the sole purpose of cancelling to gain ADRs, etc. I don't plan to make a reservation just to gain ADRs, then cancel it. This post is about a split stay, first reservation is not being cancelled but only have dates adjusted, with the addition of another resort as the first part of our trip, so I don't think my post is what is termed on here as a leading reservation. Again, hoping a moderator can clarify.

 

[Lynne M]

I have no problem with what’s been posted here. Possibly because after reading it several times, I still don’t really understand what you’re planning to do or how it will give you any advantage.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

I have no problem with what’s been posted here. Possibly because after reading it several times, I still don’t really understand what you’re planning to do or how it will give you any advantage.

Thank you. I knew it might be confusing! Ugh, I hate this split stay thing because of the complication it adds. I so wish Disney would recognize split stays because it just seems so unfair to have to wait until the second stay start date window to book those ADRs. Basically it's a holiday break I am booking on and know by the time I get to my second stay ADR window, every ADR I want will be gone. But my trip will be too long for me to not want to do a split stay, yet can't see having such a long trip only to be blocked out of all the good ADRs.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

What ADR's are you hoping for? Maybe it's not as hopeless as you make it out to be?

First of all, once you make an ADR, it's made. ADRs will not automatically cancel if you cancel or modify a resort stay. If you cancel a resort stay, you also have to cancel any ADRs made or you will be charged a no-show fee when you don't show up for the ADR. So, if you make a resort reservation (or two resort reservations), any cancellations or modifications you make to those reservations will not affect ADRs.

It sounds like you aren't even quite sure when you can arrive for your trip? If that's the case, I would consider making one reservation for your length of stay, starting on 3/13 if you think there is a glimmer of hope you will arrive that day, make your ADR's and then adjust your resort reservation once you have a more definitive plan. The only downside to doing this is resort availability fluctuates constantly and your first choice of resort and room category may not be available when you want to modify. This just happened to us - I booked an August 2019 reservation back in Oct. 2018. Life happened and I had to adjust our dates just two weeks ago. Our original room category wasn't available, so I had to choose something else.

 

[Childs1stTime2Disney]

What ADR's are you hoping for? Maybe it's not as hopeless as you make it out to be?

First of all, once you make an ADR, it's made. ADRs will not automatically cancel if you cancel or modify a resort stay. If you cancel a resort stay, you also have to cancel any ADRs made or you will be charged a no-show fee when you don't show up for the ADR. So, if you make a resort reservation (or two resort reservations), any cancellations or modifications you make to those reservations will not affect ADRs.

It sounds like you aren't even quite sure when you can arrive for your trip? If that's the case, I would consider making one reservation for your length of stay, starting on 3/13 if you think there is a glimmer of hope you will arrive that day, make your ADR's and then adjust your resort reservation once you have a more definitive plan. The only downside to doing this is resort availability fluctuates constantly and your first choice of resort and room category may not be available when you want to modify. This just happened to us - I booked an August 2019 reservation back in Oct. 2018. Life happened and I had to adjust our dates just two weeks ago. Our original room category wasn't available, so I had to choose something else.

That is so shocking to me. I have taken days off before and did not realize that was how they were doing it. To have the reservation but to have to have it cancelled, then it must be available to re book? That stinks!

Ohana, BOG, all of the usuals and it's a holiday break for kids. So I want to approach this the best way possible, split stay makes it so much to think about.

 

[Hi Pluto]

Others may disagree with me, but I feel like you might be WAY over thinking this. Yes, spring break is a busy time, but 2020's spring breaks are going to be all over the place because Easter is late, April 12. I would book your trip for when you actually want to go and then make your ADRs accordingly.

To put it in perspective, you could book ADRs for the week of Christmas beginning over a month ago. Today, you can find reservations for almost every single restaurant including BOG and Ohana. I just don't think you need to be as stressed over it as you seem to be. Even if you can't get that one ADR, you can keep checking. People change their minds all the time.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I so wish Disney would recognize split stays because

Industry standard. NO hotel chain recognizes a "split stay" - vecause it doesn't exist. The guest has a reservation, then another, separate, completely umrelated reservation at a different hotel.

But my trip will be too long for me to not want to do a split stay, yet can't see having such a long trip only to be blocked out of all the good ADRs.

Consecutive reservations is a choice, not a necessity. Wanting to change hotels is, indeef, a want - not a necessity. In addition, flexibility and the willingness to try new experiences are good traits.

make your ADR's and then adjust your resort reservation once you have a more definitive plan.

Not always possible. See tge "orphan rooms" comments.