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

[honkytonkmama]

o.0 I honestly fail to see the point in this. The rooms are (at the cheapest point I have seen) 100 a night. What is the point of spending that much with no intent to use it?

 

[Cyrano]

Do you know how this would work for parking? If you check in online can you park for free at the parks or do you need to physically go to the resort?

You need to go to your resort to get your parking ticket that says your resort name and length of stay dates

 

[JimmyV]

o.0 I honestly fail to see the point in this. The rooms are (at the cheapest point I have seen) 100 a night. What is the point of spending that much with no intent to use it?

When that cost is spread across the entire cost of the trip, and divided by the total number of people on the trip, it might come out to $3.50 per day per person per day, (7 day trip with 4 people), for the benefit of being able to make ADRs 180+10 out and FP+ times 60 days out. Right now, if you asked most off-site folks if they would pay $3.50 per day to be able to make FP+ reservations in advance, the answer would be a resounding "yes". The $100 room of which you speak is really just a "Comfort Inn" quality room gussied up with some Disney details. People staying off-site in three bedroom condos with full kitchens aren't likely to really want or need that $100 room. But they might want or need the perks it comes with.

 

[Alesia]

o.0 I honestly fail to see the point in this. The rooms are (at the cheapest point I have seen) 100 a night. What is the point of spending that much with no intent to use it?

I have a 3 bedroom house booked that I'm paying $68 per night for. Even adding the extra cost of 1 night for a value resort will put me well under what it would have cost me to stay in a value room onsite and would give us the ability to book our fastpasses in advance for our 10 day trip.

I think it's worth the extra money. I'm just holding off to see what happens in the next couple of months.

 

[married2mm]

The last 2 summers,we've booked onsite and offsite concurrently.
It's worked out fantastically for us.
Initially didn't use room much,but last year we had a super time at pofq.

We're from the UK,and wanted to be onsite but also to have:
space,privacy,bedrooms,kitchen,laundry,bathrooms etc.

But could not afford/nor would pay the amount for 2 bed villas onsite.
Current price for 14 nights at okw/ssr-without tix-$7380!!!

(As stayed in 2 beds at okw and ssr previously-total for 4 of us-with tickets-and fd- cost $5700)

Therefore we've had the best of both worlds and much cheaper than a villa onsite.
Obviously not for everyone,but we thoroughly enjoyed our vacations with "2homes".

 

[kutty]

Do I need to do this step if I still have our bands from 2013?

 

[mickeygirl14]

Just FWIW, I called Disney reservations this past week because we have a one-night onsite reservation for the first night of our trip and then we'll be using our timeshare points offsite the rest of the week (and yes, we WILL be actually staying in the room, but we did it for the FP+ 60 day access). There are 4 of us...my parents are coming down to join us later in the week. I asked if we could change that first night reservation to a suite to accommodate 4 adults and 2 kids for our one night reservation so that they would have Magic Bands and FP+ 60 days out, etc (even though they won't be there with us that night). I was put on hold for quite some time and the castmember came back and said she had spoken with a guest services manager and was told that if they are not physically staying in the hotel with us that night, they cannot be added to the reservation.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Just FWIW, I called Disney reservations this past week because we have a one-night onsite reservation for the first night of our trip and then we'll be using our timeshare points offsite the rest of the week (and yes, we WILL be actually staying in the room, but we did it for the FP+ 60 day access). There are 4 of us...my parents are coming down to join us later in the week. I asked if we could change that first night reservation to a suite to accommodate 4 adults and 2 kids for our one night reservation so that they would have Magic Bands and FP+ 60 days out, etc (even though they won't be there with us that night). I was put on hold for quite some time and the castmember came back and said she had spoken with a guest services manager and was told that if they are not physically staying in the hotel with us that night, they cannot be added to the reservation.

How would they know if your parents are there or not? If they're on the reservation and your room could accommodate them, they wouldn't know if they weren't there?

 

[TwoAtDisney]

How would they know if your parents are there or not? If they're on the reservation and your room could accommodate them, they wouldn't know if they weren't there?

CORRECT!

But aren't the FP+ only good for the day of arrival & day of departure, so FP+ for those not there will not work?????

 

[ckelly14]

CORRECT! But aren't the FP+ only good for the day of arrival & day of departure, so FP+ for those not there will not work?????

If they are "activated" by having an onsite stay, the OP is hoping that they will be able to make FP+ for the entire length of ticket (this is the idea of the "throwaway" room....)

 

[ckelly14]

Do I need to do this step if I still have our bands from 2013?

I don't think you should, but who knows. Why not link you tickets and see what happens?

 

[kutty]

I don't think you should, but who knows. Why not link you tickets and see what happens?

No idea why I didnt think of that. I guess since i'm more than 60 days out I didnt think I could check. So I tried to make fp+ reservations for a random time within the next 60 days and it worked. Thank you for knocking me in the head.

 

[mickeygirl14]

How would they know if your parents are there or not? If they're on the reservation and your room could accommodate them, they wouldn't know if they weren't there?

This was our question as well...with the new magic bands and new system, we weren't sure exactly how check-in processes were working. I would've hated to have gone with that plan only to get there and they require a photo ID to activate the bands.

And yes, TwoAtDisney, we were hoping for access to the FP+ 60 days out. But we're not throwing the room away - I just convinced my DH to add a day at the beginning of our trip. Win-win...I get an extra day at my happy place and Disney gets money from us that they would not have gotten under other circumstances.

 

[mom2mickeyfan]

This was our question as well...with the new magic bands and new system, we weren't sure exactly how check-in processes were working. I would've hated to have gone with that plan only to get there and they require a photo ID to activate the bands.

And yes, TwoAtDisney, we were hoping for access to the FP+ 60 days out. But we're not throwing the room away - I just convinced my DH to add a day at the beginning of our trip. Win-win...I get an extra day at my happy place and Disney gets money from us that they would not have gotten under other circumstances.

Hi neighbor! We are just on the other side of Columbia.

From my understanding, the bands are activated when the are mailed out and that you can do online check-in and never even have to show up at the resort to use the bands. I know you plan on using the room but I don't see why Disney would even have a problem for you paying for a bigger room and not needing all the space.

 

[Hej2222]

No idea why I didnt think of that. I guess since i'm more than 60 days out I didnt think I could check. So I tried to make fp+ reservations for a random time within the next 60 days and it worked. Thank you for knocking me in the head.

What kind of tickets did you link to your account: MYW tickets or AP? If you could link MYW tickets and make FPP in advance (after an on-site stay), that could be an important info for off-site visitors.

 

[kutty]

What kind of tickets did you link to your account: MYW tickets or AP? If you could link MYW tickets and make FPP in advance (after an on-site stay), that could be an important info for off-site visitors.

AP's, still need one MYW ticket as one of the AP's expired. I'll update everyone tomorrow if that works.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

CORRECT!

But aren't the FP+ only good for the day of arrival & day of departure, so FP+ for those not there will not work?????

No. They are good for the length of your ticket. We have AP's, stayed on property prior to our cruise. When we returned, we stayed offsite (a DTD hotel) and still had access to prebooking FP's.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

If they are "activated" by having an onsite stay, the OP is hoping that they will be able to make FP+ for the entire length of ticket (this is the idea of the "throwaway" room....)

You can. It's not directly connected to your resort stay HOWEVER you can't make FP+ reservations for prior to your check in. So if you're check in is 31 January, you couldn't make FP+ reservations for 30th January.

If your stay was 31 January to 2nd February but you had a 10 day ticket, you could make FP+ reservations for 31 January until 13th February (as you have to use the 10 days within 14 days)

This was our question as well...with the new magic bands and new system, we weren't sure exactly how check-in processes were working. I would've hated to have gone with that plan only to get there and they require a photo ID to activate the bands.

And yes, TwoAtDisney, we were hoping for access to the FP+ 60 days out. But we're not throwing the room away - I just convinced my DH to add a day at the beginning of our trip. Win-win...I get an extra day at my happy place and Disney gets money from us that they would not have gotten under other circumstances.

You can do this. Don't tell Disney that your parents won't be in the room. Put their names on your reservation. No one is going to "check" that they are there. As long as the room can accommodate them and they're on your room reservation, you'll be fine. The bands do not become activated at check in, they are already activated when they're shipped (either to your home or when they're send to the resort) Check in doesn't activate the bands in anyway.

 

[mickeyinthehouse]

What happens to multiple MB's and FP+. Here is the scenario...we have a room booked at the end of our trip in March. MB's will be mailed to us soon. I wanted to book a throwaway room at the start of the trip so we would have use of FP+ for the entire trip. However, if I book a throwaway room today and do online check in, it's much cheaper than the rate at the beginning of our trip. How far in advance do you have to book to have the MB's mailed to you? If they are not mailed to you and you don't pick them up, what would happen to the subsequent bands that are mailed? Does that negate the use of FP+ if you don't pick up the first set of bands?

 

[Disney_Princess83]

If you were going to attempt this, I would have the bands sent to you for a "trip" in at least a fortnight-three weeks. The bands are sent within a day or so of you customizing them. Once you have the bands, you can book FP at anytime just not before the "date of check in" So if you booked a room 14th February, you couldn't book FP+ for 13th February.

What happens to multiple MB's and FP+. Here is the scenario...we have a room booked at the end of our trip in March. MB's will be mailed to us soon. I wanted to book a throwaway room at the start of the trip so we would have use of FP+ for the entire trip. However, if I book a throwaway room today and do online check in, it's much cheaper than the rate at the beginning of our trip. How far in advance do you have to book to have the MB's mailed to you? If they are not mailed to you and you don't pick them up, what would happen to the subsequent bands that are mailed? Does that negate the use of FP+ if you don't pick up the first set of bands?