The Great 'Throwaway Room' Debate

[ninecrayons]

I would not expect a quick resolution on this.

It took Disney how long to change the refillable mug policy?

If Disney sees this as an issue, they will fix it.

If it's not fixed quickly, they don't see it as a problem.

Exactly right. There's going to come some tipping point, be it financial or otherwise, which is when this loophole will be closed.

I'm sure if they were losing money, this loophole would get closed faster.

 

[Dean1953]

Is it gaming the system to split a Memory Maker MDE account among various non related families?

 

[DisneyKingpin]

God helps those who help themselves.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

The thing is unlike with the refillable mugs this is costing them money or potential money. When someone calls in to book a room and finds out they can't get all the days they want because someone has booked random days in the middle of the week that affects them big time.

where as with the mugs yeah they may have lost some revenue but I think they may have changed it more because pole would bring in non disney mugs or other containers and fill them up.

 

[DisneyKevin]

The thing is unlike with the refillable mugs this is costing them money or potential money. When someone calls in to book a room and finds out they can't get all the days they want because someone has booked random days in the middle of the week that affects them big time.

where as with the mugs yeah they may have lost some revenue but I think they may have changed it more because pole would bring in non disney mugs or other containers and fill them up.

This is not new.

This has been going on for years.

Cast Members have suggested this to people.

They have changed the refillable mug policy and haven't changed this policy.

That's telling.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

This is not new.

This has been going on for years.

Cast Members have suggested this to people.

They have changed the refillable mug policy and haven't changed this policy.

That's telling.

true but just because a cast member suggests something should you do it. They may have been doing it for years but it seems to be affecting more poel now then it did in the past just like with the mug thing. It may not have been a problem when people just did it with old disney mugs but when you bring in a universal mug or a 7 eleven mug or a thermos and fill that up that's a problem.

I think it's highly possible Disney will do something about this in the next calendar or fiscal year as it hurts potential revenue from a guest who will use the room much more than it does by having someone book a room for a night to take advantage of the system.

Personally I think they should have you check in with a magic band that has a resort stay on it before any perks associated with it can be used. For example if you booked FP + sixty days out they won't work unless you check in or you can''t use it for EMH or it should even flag something at the gate that you haven't been to the resort yet

 

[k5jm]

I think it's highly possible Disney will do something about this in the next calendar or fiscal year as it hurts potential revenue from a guest who will use the room much more than it does by having someone book a room for a night to take advantage of the system.

I guarantee that WDW Travel Company does not track the "Throwaway" metric. What they do track is the % of inventory sold per day/week/month. If that number is not dipping, they have no reason to do anything about it.

 

[DisneyKevin]

true but just because a cast member suggests something should you do it. They may have been doing it for years but it seems to be affecting more poel now then it did in the past just like with the mug thing. It may not have been a problem when people just did it with old disney mugs but when you bring in a universal mug or a 7 eleven mug or a thermos and fill that up that's a problem.

I think it's highly possible Disney will do something about this in the next calendar or fiscal year as it hurts potential revenue from a guest who will use the room much more than it does by having someone book a room for a night to take advantage of the system.

Personally I think they should have you check in with a magic band that has a resort stay on it before any perks associated with it can be used. For example if you booked FP + sixty days out they won't work unless you check in or you can''t use it for EMH or it should even flag something at the gate that you haven't been to the resort yet

If a paid employee of the company suggests it...then yeah...I would do it assuming that it was company sanctioned. I think most would.

I also think that in Disneys multi billion dollar budget this a drop in the bucket.

I also think this is a much smaller epidemic than has been suggested.

This makes great discussions but...as stated, this has been happening for years and Disney has not done anything about it. I still believe that it is telling.

 

[DisneyKevin]

I'm pretty sure Disney doesn't care if you use the room you paid for or not.

 

[nugov2]

true but just because a cast member suggests something should you do it. They may have been doing it for years but it seems to be affecting more poel now then it did in the past just like with the mug thing. It may not have been a problem when people just did it with old disney mugs but when you bring in a universal mug or a 7 eleven mug or a thermos and fill that up that's a problem.

I think it's highly possible Disney will do something about this in the next calendar or fiscal year as it hurts potential revenue from a guest who will use the room much more than it does by having someone book a room for a night to take advantage of the system.

Personally I think they should have you check in with a magic band that has a resort stay on it before any perks associated with it can be used. For example if you booked FP + sixty days out they won't work unless you check in or you can''t use it for EMH or it should even flag something at the gate that you haven't been to the resort yet

The big difference is that the refillable mug was a known policy violation and IMO stealing. If you didn't buy the mug you were not supposed to get soda without paying and everybody knew that. Now if WDW decided to give every person who buys one regular non refillable drink a refillable mug then you are doing nothing wrong by refilling it, even if other guests think it is wrong b/c you didn't pay for the refillable mug. You are no longer stealing the soda b/c Disney has decided that it is ok for you to have the perk of free soda.

I still don't get how more revenue comes b/c you actually sleep there. We are off site people and we dine exclusively on site. We would spend no more money just because we slept in the room. As far as requiring physical check in, it would probably upset more onsite guests who enjoy the perk of online check in then it would the off site family booking a throwaway.

 

[SmithSmith]

I still don't get how more revenue comes b/c you actually sleep there. We are off site people and we dine exclusively on site. We would spend no more money just because we slept in the room. As far as requiring physical check in, it would probably upset more onsite guests who enjoy the perk of online check in then it would the off site family booking a throwaway.

Just pointing out that online checkin does still require you to physically checkin. Unless Ft Wilderness adopted the new "via text checkin procedure thing" that POR tested out over the summer... Which I don't think they have done.

 

[SmithSmith]

Awhile ago when this debate came up I thought I remember reading that Disney was tracking when room keys were used to open up the hotel room doors, so they somehow penalized or kicked people out that checked in but werent using the room. Anyone remember that?

Now that I think about it might have been a different website that had this discussion.

 

[SmithSmith]

I was right it was this board:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3267978

So to whomever believes the anecdotal evidence of Disney promoting this, then here's some anecdotal evidence of Disney prohibiting this.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I still don't get how more revenue comes b/c you actually sleep there. We are off site people and we dine exclusively on site. We would spend no more money just because we slept in the room.

That's not what my point is it's someone who only books a room for one night and doesn't use it they take away that room for someone who wants to use it for more then one night. What happens if a whole resort gets filled up with throwaway rooms. It's the same as the people who book placeholder cruises until they move that cruise it takes away a room someone may want to use.

As far as requiring physical check in, it would probably upset more onsite guests who enjoy the perk of online check in then it would the off site family booking a throwaway.

I only suggested that because most people go to their report before they go to the parks to see if there room is ready. Even when you do online check in you still need to pick up your riom packet and be told where your room is.

 

[Sydney2977]

I don't care so much about guests getting extra benefits and still staying offsite. My family chooses to stay onsite and we still would even if we could pay an extra fee and get the benefits associated with an onsite stay. (We just like being in the Disney bubble )

What is sad to me is that it may take away availability from another family or group. Not everyone gets to go to WDW multiple times and stay at the more expensive resorts. It's a luxury just to get to visit, so to some a campground or value room may be their only option and they've scrimped and saved to do this. It's just inconsiderate to take that away, but some people just don't care, and that's life I guess.

 

[DisneyKevin]

What is sad to me is that it may take away availability from another family or group. Not everyone gets to go to WDW multiple times and stay at the more expensive resorts. It's a luxury just to get to visit, so to some a campground or value room may be their only option and they've scrimped and saved to do this. It's just inconsiderate to take that away, but some people just don't care, and that's life I guess.

There approximately 29,000 rooms on Disney property.

If a guest can not find a room or campsite, they can do the same thing described here.

I think the number of sad families being turned away because of this might be exaggerated.

I think there are many variations of this being done all the time.

We have booked a room that we had no intention of using just so that we had a place to leave our stuff and access to a shower.

We have a booked a night in a hotel that we had no intention of using to guarantee that when we arrived early the next day, our room would be ready and we wouldn't have to wait until 4pm check in.

Once a guest pays for a hotel room, it's theirs to use as they please. The fact that Disney attaches perks to that is an added bonus.

As for guests not being able to string a set of nights together because of this.....there are hundreds of threads about split stays. This seems to be popular.

 

[kbelle8995]

The fact that guests feel the need to jump through these hoops to get this perk is interesting. Is in worth it to them? Apparently it is because they are doing it. Add it to that the apparently desparte need to have free parking and advance ADRS.

What is with the FP+ program anyway? Where are they going with it? Will it be implemented at other parks?

I think that Legacy FP had flaws but it was dealing with who was in the park and only those who were in the park. Disney has spent billions of dollars so FP+ is not going away.

 

[SmithSmith]

There approximately 29,000 rooms on Disney property.

If a guest can not find a room or campsite, they can do the same thing described here

Apparently they can't find a room, that's what people are complaining about. So how do they take advantage if they can't find a room?

 

[SmithSmith]

I think the number of sad families being turned away because of this might be exaggerated.

I think the stories of Disney reservationists suggesting this practice is exaggerated.

You would need an awful lot of things to occur for this scenario to happen. I find it implausible that someone would call Disney (when booking online is so much easier), know enough about Disney World that they understand how important it is to have access to 180+10 to successfully book something like BOG or CRT but they're completely ignorant to what the cost of disney hotel rooms are? So this informed/ignorant caller then has to ask how they can get these perks if they don't stay onsite. I don't buy it. I don't doubt that it has happened, but I doubt it happens regularly.

 

[SmithSmith]

We have booked a room that we had no intention of using just so that we had a place to leave our stuff and access to a shower.

We have a booked a night in a hotel that we had no intention of using to guarantee that when we arrived early the next day, our room would be ready and we wouldn't have to wait until 4pm check in..

So in both cases, you were in fact physically using the room?

I don't see how this is a similar practice at all.