Throwaway room (read post #2041 or #2710 before posting)

[doconeill]

Just updating again. It is letting me make FP+ reservations for April 13th today. My day with no ADRs isn't until April 15th, so I'll let you know if that effects it.

Looks like it is tracking 60 days out. My guess is it won't let you past 60 days without a reservation that extends that far, but since you are "active" you can make FP+ reservations within 60 days up to the length of your ticket.

 

[doconeill]

I don't personally get this. I mean if I could manage to get a reservation at a Disney resort I would probably just stay there. Which I see some of you are.
It just seems an expensive price for extra time for FP+ reservations and a plastic band.

But it's your money who am I to judge.

Ah well Disney will close that loophole faster than you can say Jiminy Cricket.

People book campsites just to get EMH without staying there...not a lot different.

The "loophole" will close when they let offsite guests get advanced FP+ anyways.

And frankly it's pure profit for Disney...the room is paid for and doesn't need to be cleaned. Not much incentive to close. And they could always go, "These people didn't check in...cancel their bands!" if they wanted, and still keep the money.

 

[TISHLOVESDISNEY]

Because they are only have a reservation for one night which isn't a huge expense. Most aren't staying onsite because the size of the rooms and/or it is cheaper to stay off-site in a larger place. Our family along with another family will be sharing a 3 bedroom, 3 bath, full kitchen, living room and washer and dryer time share that we ended up paying less than $900. Nothing onsite can compare to that!

We paid just an exchange fee thru timeshare, so for 100 bucks roughly, I get a condo at Marriott that sleeps up to 12 (7 of us going down). Imagine the cost for 7 at a Disney resort?

I have a campsite reserved for our first night, I also have a room reserved at POR the second night, that we will use for 5 of us as a "break" between activities. EDIT to add that I used a new Disney Visa to reserve, I got a 200.00 statement credit, so the room at POR is free.
If offsite can prebook by the time we go, I will long have cancelled these as I do not want to use them if we don't have to, but 7 fps reservations at a kiosk in the park? No thank you....

 

[Alesia]

I don't personally get this. I mean if I could manage to get a reservation at a Disney resort I would probably just stay there. Which I see some of you are.
It just seems an expensive price for extra time for FP+ reservations and a plastic band.

But it's your money who am I to judge.

I'm paying less than $650 for 9 nights in a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom, 1400 square foot house. Even if I pay an extra $100 for one night at a value resort so that I can pre-book my fastpasses for the entire 10 day trip, I'm still getting a fantastic deal.

Ah well Disney will close that loophole faster than you can say Jiminy Cricket.

Why would they? In the hotel industry, there's nothing better than having a room paid for but not used. They still get the money, but don't have to pay the costs of someone actually using the room (water, electricity, and cleaning.)

 

[kbelle8995]

True to Disney money is money. And mostly they don't care what you do with the room. But at the same time they want to keep you on Disney property and spend all your cash with them.

However, that's what I said about the soda's that Disney just didn't care because they get it for free (So I thought). The people refilling old cups is a small problem and Disney does not care.

And Now we have Cups with barcodes. And they charge you to use it for a day now.

Hey do what you want, It's your money at the end of the day.

 

[doconeill]

True to Disney money is money. And mostly they don't care what you do with the room. But at the same time they want to keep you on Disney property and spend all your cash with them.

However, that's what I said about the soda's that Disney just didn't care because they get it for free (So I thought). The people refilling old cups is a small problem and Disney does not care.

And Now we have Cups with barcodes. And they charge you to use it for a day now.

Hey do what you want, It's your money at the end of the day.

I have never found any valid source that Disney did indeed get the syrup for free, but it doesn't matter...it still cost Disney to dispense each cup, in the water, CO2, maintenance, etc. And it was essentially money out of Disney's pocket anyways since people weren't buying mugs/cups when they should have. Very different situation. More akin to Disney allowing people to stay in rooms for free since they weren't going to be occupied anyways...

 

[kbelle8995]

I have never found any valid source that Disney did indeed get the syrup for free, but it doesn't matter...it still cost Disney to dispense each cup, in the water, CO2, maintenance, etc. And it was essentially money out of Disney's pocket anyways since people weren't buying mugs/cups when they should have. Very different situation. More akin to Disney allowing people to stay in rooms for free since they weren't going to be occupied anyways...

It cost money for Disney to maintain the hotels and clean the hotels regardless whether there is a guest there or not. They still have to pay CM's to work there

What I am saying if Disney wants to stop this they will. If they don't care as many have stated they won't do anything but just let it ride. I am not judging. More power to you.

I just don't understand why if you have paid for a room you just don't use that room for the night. But that's just me that doesn't get that.

I will just have to agree to disagree and move on.

 

[doconeill]

It cost money for Disney to maintain the hotels and clean the hotels regardless whether there is a guest there or not. They still have to pay CM's to work there

Not exactly.

We're talking about a room someone paid for that went unused. Not someone getting coke they didn't pay for. Disney is getting paid for the former, and not for the latter. It's pretty much the polar opposite.

If the room goes unused, they do not need to do a full cleaning on it again. They don't need to wash the linens, towels, etc. again, since they were unused. If the room was left unused for a number of days, they might have to dust it. But that's a lot less work than a full cleaning like is done each day. The CMs can get more work done, there is less supplies used, etc. It's still a savings to Disney.

I will just have to agree to disagree and move on.

That's fine...I'm just trying to make sure there is an apples-to-apples comparison. The Coke comparison was guests getting something totally at Disney/Coke's expense for nothing. The room situation is Disney _and_ the guests getting something at the guest's expense.

Edit: I should add, that Disney _might_ have an incentive to close the loophole if they are turning away guests due to 100% occupancy, and they find that additional income of guests actually staying at the resort is worth it, which it might be. But if they aren't at 100%, it's basically free money to Disney...

 

[kbelle8995]

Completely OT: I think my belief that they get the syrup free comes from my days (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) as a CM in Fast food. And they let us have sodas for free. Probably just a perk of being a fast food Host.

Okay back to the discussion of Throwaway rooms. I apologize

 

[doconeill]

Completely OT: I think my belief that they get the syrup free comes from my days (when dinosaurs roamed the earth) as a CM in Fast food. And they let us have sodas for free. Probably just a perk of being a fast food Host.

Okay back to the discussion of Throwaway rooms. I apologize

Even if they paid for the syrup, the cost per serving of the syrup is measured in pennies. On the retail market I found soda syrup for $0.12 per 16oz serving, and that wasn't nearly in the bulk levels Disney would get it for. A more commonly quoted amount is around $0.05/serving.

But that's just the syrup anyways....and yes, further off topic.

Back to the regularly scheduled "Hey, don't pay for a room if you're not going to use it, you're taking it from someone else..." discussion.

 

[ckelly14]

Just updating again. It is letting me make FP+ reservations for April 13th today. My day with no ADRs isn't until April 15th, so I'll let you know if that effects it.

Great! At least we know that the throwaway room will still work if you have an ADR. Hoping it will work for you in 2 days...

 

[ArwenMarie]

Just updating again. It is letting me make FP+ reservations for April 13th today. My day with no ADRs isn't until April 15th, so I'll let you know if that effects it.

Thanks for coming back to update!

 

[nugov2]

I don't personally get this. I mean if I could manage to get a reservation at a Disney resort I would probably just stay there. Which I see some of you are.
It just seems an expensive price for extra time for FP+ reservations and a plastic band.

But it's your money who am I to judge.

Ah well Disney will close that loophole faster than you can say Jiminy Cricket.

Because some people stay off site not to save money, but to have space. They don't want to cram their family into small rooms for a week. It really is not expensive when you think about it to pay for one night. If you have a family of 4 it is costing you maybe around $30(even less if you factor in the cost of the MB about $15) per person for a week to have access to FP+ and avoid kiosks. If you are going when it is busy it is a big time saver.

 

[kbmets]

I was booked at Swan next week for six nights using 50k starwoood points (travel alot for work and stay at Starwood properties). I cancelled the first night and booked a room at All-Stars for $152 and got 10K points back to be used for next year (hopefully Swan will be eligible for early FP+ reservations by then). For me it makes sense to get the Fp+ reservations for the ENTIRE week (by booking just one night) ahead of time during a busy week. Thanks to this board for alerting me to this strategy.

On another note...a few years back we did the Disney cruise and was planning on doing an excursion at Atlantis which I think was $120 per person or $480 for the family. My wife instead, booked a room at the Atlantis Comfort Inn for $200 for one night, which includes free passes for four. We checked in, but never went to the room and saved $280.

 

[kbmets]

I was booked at Swan next week for six nights using 50k starwoood points (travel alot for work and stay at Starwood properties). I cancelled the first night and booked a room at All-Stars for $152 and got 10K points back to be used for next year (hopefully Swan will be eligible for early FP+ reservations by then). For me it makes sense to get the Fp+ reservations for the ENTIRE week (by booking just one night) ahead of time during a busy week. Thanks to this board for alerting me to this strategy.

On another note...a few years back we did the Disney cruise and was planning on doing an excursion at Atlantis which I think was $120 per person or $480 for the family. My wife instead, booked a room at the Atlantis Comfort Inn for $200 for one night, which includes free passes for four. We checked in, but never went to the room and saved $280.

Also, we now get to use the Magical Express, which is saving us $140, so our actual cost is about just about a wash. And...Disney will transfer my bags for free from All-Stars to the Swan while we are in the park. Genius I say!

 

[goofy4tink]

I truly believe we will see the time come when FP+ is tied to our resort stay...you get to make FP+, in advance, for the days you are actually at the resort. Cancel the resort, and your FP+ get cancelled too. It's ridiculous to have people booking a WDW resort stay for one night in order to book a week's worth of FP+. It should be done the same way DDP is...you get it for the night's you are staying there. If you have a park pass for 7 nights, but only book one night at Pop (for instance) and then move out to stay offsite? You should be able to get FP+ for the time you are at Pop. Then book FP+ each day..just like the other offsite people!

 

[kbmets]

As long as you work within the system, there is nothing wrong with it.

 

[CanadaJulie]

I just don't understand why if you have paid for a room you just don't use that room for the night. But that's just me that doesn't get that.

I will just have to agree to disagree and move on.

My guess is you're not seeing the big picture.

We have a family of 5. We have booked a throwaway room. We also booked a 5 bedroom / 3 bathroom house with full kitchen and private pool and spa. There are 2 master bedrooms with ensuite bath.

The house is booked for the duration of our stay. We arrive late at night on the Wednesday

Our Disney room is book on the Thursday. We won't be going to the parks on Wednesday so I made it for Thrusday to get the free parking Thurs/fri.

We arrive at the house on Wednesday. We each get our own bedroom. We unpack, go for a swim in our backyard, sit in the spa with a glass of wine.

How much sense would it make for us to waste time packing up on Thursday morning, then waste more time checking in to a tiny hotel room on-site. After that is finally done, we spend the day at the parks, then come back to share one small space with all the beds in the same room and only 1 bathroom. The next morning, we have to waste more time packing up our tiny hotel room again, and moving our stuff back into our large house. Not terribly efficient, eh ?

Instead, we will arrive at the house, get comfy and stay there, never having to move my stuff in and out. We get the FP+ pre-booking by paying for a throwaway room.

I don't know about everyone else but I don't get to vacation that often. We have a limited time at Disney and have no plans to return in the next 5 years. I do not want to waste my hard earned vacation time checking into and out of hotel rooms and squashing my family into a tiny room. However, I do want to be able to pre-book FP+. Hence: "the throwaway room"

 

[rimomma66]

I truly believe we will see the time come when FP+ is tied to our resort stay...you get to make FP+, in advance, for the days you are actually at the resort. Cancel the resort, and your FP+ get cancelled too. It's ridiculous to have people booking a WDW resort stay for one night in order to book a week's worth of FP+. It should be done the same way DDP is...you get it for the night's you are staying there. If you have a park pass for 7 nights, but only book one night at Pop (for instance) and then move out to stay offsite? You should be able to get FP+ for the time you are at Pop. Then book FP+ each day..just like the other offsite people!

I disagree- I believe that advance FP+ is meant to be rolled out to ALL park guests, not just resort guests. Disney themselves has NEVER claimed this is a resort perk or part of a package. DDP IS part of a package so totally different. Closing what you perceive as a loophole is counterintuitive to this. That would cut off AP and reg MYW tickets, which inevitably I believe will all get advanced FP+. I don't believe it's a loophole at all, I believe it's the way the system is meant to work eventually and that during the roll out, the stay was the trigger. Eventually (whenever the Disney braintrust decided to fully implement this) the ticket itself will be the trigger.

 

[goofy4tink]

As long as you work within the system, there is nothing wrong with it.

True. But it used to be 'within the system' to book a room using a child's AP...Disney closed that one down. This 'within the system' is only sort of right. Can you do it? Sure you can. But, when Disney says that FP+ advance reservations are a perk of staying onsite, and then people come along and book one night in order to get that advance booking? I guess it's a grey area. But that's just me. I really resent it when people work the system. Not to mention it takes away rooms from those that want them. And yes, it does give Disney an inflated sense of room bookings. When people book a ton of rooms, Disney no longer sees the need to offer room discounts..so we end up paying more in the end. But, that isn't going to bother those staying offsite, is it?!
It's pretty obvious that even though most here say this 'throwaway room' is a way around the system, they have no problem doing it. But, that's just the way I feel about it. I'll just sit and wait until this loophole is closed up..hopefully sooner rather than later.