Strange Question Regarding Resort Reservation

[jpeden]

Hey everyone - I've got a strange question regarding resort reservations that I can't find an answer to so I thought I'd ask here!

My wife and I are looking to go for a quick weekend trip with our AP discount to Pop Century August 18-20. However, there are no rooms at Pop for the 18-20 for some reason. However, there are rooms for the 18-21 of August on the summer room offer and the AP discount.

The room at Pop is cheaper by a good margin to book for three nights vs any other room on property for two nights (Pop is the only value we want to stay at). Would there be an issue for us to book the room for three nights but leave early? I know that we will need to pay for the extra night even if we don't occupy the room.

I am a bit confused why there are rooms for three nights and not for two, but I guess that's a quirk of the system.

 

[dansdad]

Hey everyone - I've got a strange question regarding resort reservations that I can't find an answer to so I thought I'd ask here!

My wife and I are looking to go for a quick weekend trip with our AP discount to Pop Century August 18-20. However, there are no rooms at Pop for the 18-20 for some reason. However, there are rooms for the 18-21 of August on the summer room offer and the AP discount.

The room at Pop is cheaper by a good margin to book for three nights vs any other room on property for two nights (Pop is the only value we want to stay at). Would there be an issue for us to book the room for three nights but leave early? I know that we will need to pay for the extra night even if we don't occupy the room.

I am a bit confused why there are rooms for three nights and not for two, but I guess that's a quirk of the system.

You will have no issues with leaving on the 20th.

 

[writerguyfl]

I am a bit confused why there are rooms for three nights and not for two, but I guess that's a quirk of the system.

It's not a quirk. It's intentional as part of a practice known as revenue management. Revenue management is practiced by virtually every hotel on the planet. Essentially, it maximizes the use of hotel rooms by instituting stay controls. For at least of night of your stay, there is likely a minimum stay requirement of 3 nights.

Without question, revenue management is beneficial to hotels by increasing revenue. But, they also benefit guests. If you've ever stayed for more than one night at a hotel, you may have benefited from a stay control that "saved" your room.

For example, Disney could probably sell out most their hotel rooms every Saturday night with one night stays by Floridians. If Disney didn't institute stay controls, Floridians would fill the hotels for Saturday night. Anyone wanting to stay (hypothetically) 4 or more nights might get shut out.

The room at Pop is cheaper by a good margin to book for three nights vs any other room on property for two nights (Pop is the only value we want to stay at). Would there be an issue for us to book the room for three nights but leave early? I know that we will need to pay for the extra night even if we don't occupy the room.

Provided you're willing to pay for the additional night, Disney will take your money. Since you have the extra night, you won't have to worry about leaving the room by the normal check-out time.

Please note: This only works if the extra day is at the end of your stay. You can't book the extra day in the beginning because your entire reservation will be canceled when you don't show up on your scheduled check-in day.

 

[adisneyaunt]

I'd simply wait till 10 days before n call... then tell them you'd like to remove a day... no fee, no issue n save the money rather than just leaving....
not sure why that wouldn't work.

 

[DisneyFansInNYC]

Yes - we have found this. Some discounts come with a minimum night stay. Sometimes if you call you can get it - I have called and gotten the lesser days but I was looking to stay 5 instead of 6.

 

[maramarrie]

You can leave whenever you want. That won't be a problem, though you will likely still pay the 3 nights. There are often cases when you will search available dates and find nothing, but shift it a day or two and there are bookings. I believe Disney also limits the nights sometimes (or maybe they only have a certain number of rooms they'll use for short stays)...they'd much rather sell 3 nights for an available room than to sell two nights and retain an un-sellable single night for the room. I've seen this explained in more detail somewhere, but I can't remember all of what it said. I have had that happen with 4 and 5-night stays as well. Another option is to book the 3 night and then call and ask if you can take one night off. I did that one time for a 5-night stay when we decided to only stay for 4. They had to "make sure that was available," but ultimately I was able to get the 5th night removed.

 

[dansdad]

I'd simply wait till 10 days before n call... then tell them you'd like to remove a day... no fee, no issue n save the money rather than just leaving....
not sure why that wouldn't work.

WDW has stopped that practice. It can work, but there would have to be availability for just those 2 nights as if OP was booking a brand new reservation. They have eliminated the ability to just automatically drop a night from a reservation.

 

[jpeden]

It's not a quirk. It's intentional as part of a practice known as revenue management. Revenue management is practiced by virtually every hotel on the planet. Essentially, it maximizes the use of hotel rooms by instituting stay controls. For at least of night of your stay, there is likely a minimum stay requirement of 3 nights.

Without question, revenue management is beneficial to hotels by increasing revenue. But, they also benefit guests. If you've ever stayed for more than one night at a hotel, you may have benefited from a stay control that "saved" your room.

For example, Disney could probably sell out most their hotel rooms every Saturday night with one night stays by Floridians. If Disney didn't institute stay controls, Floridians would fill the hotels for Saturday night. Anyone wanting to stay (hypothetically) 4 or more nights might get shut out.



Provided you're willing to pay for the additional night, Disney will take your money. Since you have the extra night, you won't have to worry about leaving the room by the normal check-out time.

Please note: This only works if the extra day is at the end of your stay. You can't book the extra day in the beginning because your entire reservation will be canceled when you don't show up on your scheduled check-in day.

WDW has stopped that practice. It can work, but there would have to be availability for just those 2 nights as if OP was booking a brand new reservation. They have eliminated the ability to just automatically drop a night from a reservation.

I may try and call if we decide to book. The strange thing is the AP offer doesn't have a minimum stay requirement (says 1 night minimum required on offer details) so I don't get it. It is what it is - if I have to book the extra night so be it.

 

[dansdad]

I may try and call if we decide to book. The strange thing is the AP offer doesn't have a minimum stay requirement (says 1 night minimum required on offer details) so I don't get it. It is what it is - if I have to book the extra night so be it.

See the thing is, they sometimes implement minimum stays without advertising it. Just like you are seeing. I can't tell you how many times we've tried to pop down for a short last minute trip with no discount and yet could not find availability for 2 nights, but could for 3. It's there way to avoid what the call "phantom" rooms, rooms that are vacant for a single night.

 

[jpeden]

See the thing is, they sometimes implement minimum stays without advertising it. Just like you are seeing. I can't tell you how many times we've tried to pop down for a short last minute trip with no discount and yet could not find availability for 2 nights, but could for 3. It's there way to avoid what the call "phantom" rooms, rooms that are vacant for a single night.

I get that - but if the deal is advertised as a minimum stay of one night (which it is), I would think they'd have to honor it.

Also, isn't it better to have one room vacant for one night than to have that room vacant for three nights because someone just wanted to book it for two nights? It's giving up guaranteed revenue for possible revenue.

 

[dansdad]

I get that - but if the deal is advertised as a minimum stay of one night (which it is), I would think they'd have to honor it.

I understand the frustration, but the discounts also state "depending on availability". And if they don't show availability........

 

[writerguyfl]

Also, isn't it better to have one room vacant for one night than to have that room vacant for three nights because someone just wanted to book it for two nights? It's giving up guaranteed revenue for possible revenue.

I actually worked as a hotel Revenue Manager for about 5 years at the flagship hotel for Radisson Hotels. I also worked at the Disney Reservations Center. (I tried to get into Disney's Revenue Management Department but only made it to the second round of interviews. My experience wasn't enough; they had people applying who had advanced degrees.)

Revenue management is wildly complex. It's all done by computers that calculate more permutations than humans can handle. The computer looks at historical data, the anticipated number of reservation requests, the estimated number of cancelations and no-shows, the types of reservations made (group vs individuals), the availability of every other Disney resort down to the room type (king vs two beds), and a whole host of other factors. The systems used today are uniformly great at predicting demand. The only times they struggle are when unexpected events happen. Things like major weather, airline strikes, airline computer meltdowns, or things like terrorism.

If Disney's computers are requiring a 3-night minimum for your weekend, I can almost guarantee they aren't going to end up with a vacant room for three nights. The system really is that good.

 

[bumbershoot]

I'd simply wait till 10 days before n call... then tell them you'd like to remove a day... no fee, no issue n save the money rather than just leaving....
not sure why that wouldn't work.

Doesn't work anymore. Used to, but not anymore. It has to be available on that date at that rate. And it almost certainly won't be.

I get that - but if the deal is advertised as a minimum stay of one night (which it is), I would think they'd have to honor it.

Alas, no. The word "minimum" works for them...

 

[baler31]

I actually worked as a hotel Revenue Manager for about 5 years at the flagship hotel for Radisson Hotels. I also worked at the Disney Reservations Center. (I tried to get into Disney's Revenue Management Department but only made it to the second round of interviews. My experience wasn't enough; they had people applying who had advanced degrees.)

Revenue management is wildly complex. It's all done by computers that calculate more permutations than humans can handle. The computer looks at historical data, the anticipated number of reservation requests, the estimated number of cancelations and no-shows, the types of reservations made (group vs individuals), the availability of every other Disney resort down to the room type (king vs two beds), and a whole host of other factors. The systems used today are uniformly great at predicting demand. The only times they struggle are when unexpected events happen. Things like major weather, airline strikes, airline computer meltdowns, or things like terrorism.

If Disney's computers are requiring a 3-night minimum for your weekend, I can almost guarantee they aren't going to end up with a vacant room for three nights. The system really is that good.

This..Disney's system is unique for the business and very complex. It is not based around a minimum stay. You can sometimes get a one night but not a two, a four night but not a 3 and so on. It takes so many things and adds them to the algorithm. In the last few years it seems to have placed a high importance on maintaining check in/check out dates at certain variables.

 

[Shanti]

Disney's system is unique for the business and very complex. It is not based around a minimum stay. You can sometimes get a one night but not a two, a four night but not a 3 and so on. It takes so many things and adds them to the algorithm. In the last few years it seems to have placed a high importance on maintaining check in/check out dates at certain variables.

Yes, it's definitely more complex than a minimum stay requirement. I often add one night at a different resort onto my vacation, and I find that it's typically easier to get availability for 1 night than for 3, 4 or 5 nights. Even on Saturday nights, I haven't had a problem. In fact, we have a 1-night stay coming up on a Saturday night in August.

Edit: I just checked for the OP & was able to get August 18 - 20 by putting in a request for 2 separate 1-night stays.

 

[Shanti]

Hey everyone - I've got a strange question regarding resort reservations that I can't find an answer to so I thought I'd ask here!

My wife and I are looking to go for a quick weekend trip with our AP discount to Pop Century August 18-20. However, there are no rooms at Pop for the 18-20 for some reason. However, there are rooms for the 18-21 of August on the summer room offer and the AP discount.

The room at Pop is cheaper by a good margin to book for three nights vs any other room on property for two nights (Pop is the only value we want to stay at). Would there be an issue for us to book the room for three nights but leave early? I know that we will need to pay for the extra night even if we don't occupy the room.

I am a bit confused why there are rooms for three nights and not for two, but I guess that's a quirk of the system.

I just checked & was able to get Pop from August 18 - 20 by putting in a request for 2 separate 1-night stays. You can book August 18th for 1 night, then August 19th for 1 night. That's a much better deal than wasting a 3rd night. You can even get the summer room offer rate.

 

[jpeden]

I just checked & was able to get Pop from August 18 - 20 by putting in a request for 2 separate 1-night stays. You can book August 18th for 1 night, then August 19th for 1 night. That's a much better deal than wasting a 3rd night. You can even get the summer room offer rate.

I have the room booked right now for the three night stay. If my wife and I both get the time off approved, I'll switch to this method if it's avaliable as it would save us around $100. It's crazy to me that the room is avaliable for all three nights, but the system won't let me book two. It will let me book one and one, or all three, but not two.

 

[Nancyg56]

I'd simply wait till 10 days before n call... then tell them you'd like to remove a day... no fee, no issue n save the money rather than just leaving....
not sure why that wouldn't work.

I get that - but if the deal is advertised as a minimum stay of one night (which it is), I would think they'd have to honor it.

Also, isn't it better to have one room vacant for one night than to have that room vacant for three nights because someone just wanted to book it for two nights? It's giving up guaranteed revenue for possible revenue.

This only works if there is availability, and if the system has blocked that length of stay from being available, the strategy does not work. As to revenue and vacant rooms, I imagine there are numbers crunchers locked in a closet somewhere who can project what revenue willbe generated under this specific circumstance. In the event room census falls short fo teh projections, you can bet there will be openings appear.

 

[Shanti]

I have the room booked right now for the three night stay. If my wife and I both get the time off approved, I'll switch to this method if it's avaliable as it would save us around $100. It's crazy to me that the room is avaliable for all three nights, but the system won't let me book two. It will let me book one and one, or all three, but not two.

Another thing you can do is call Disney. They are capable of bypassing the computer algorithms to get your desired reservation, as long as there is actually room, which there is in your case. They've done it for me before. It can take 10-15 minutes on the phone with them, but it works.

 

[thinkerbell]

Another thing you can do is call Disney. They are capable of bypassing the computer algorithms to get your desired reservation, as long as there is actually room, which there is in your case. They've done it for me before. It can take 10-15 minutes on the phone with them, but it works.

Yes. Call them. We were trying to do the same thing but for a different amount of time. Something like we needed 4 nights, July 2-6, and could only get it for 5 nights, July 2-7. We called Disney and the CM said she had to ask the resort to approve and do it for us. They did with no problem.