Unique Situation

[solorund]

I'm in charge of planning a quick trip to Disney this summer and because there are multiple families going on this trip, there's a lot of moving parts and things are not as firmed up as I would typically like when planning. Because of this, I have a bit of a unique situation and I'm looking for some direction from some experts here, as I can't seem to find a clear answer anywhere.

RIGHT NOW, the plan is to check into an onsite hotel (TBD) on Sunday, June 7 and checkout Wednesday the 10th. The only days we are actually planning on visiting the parks, however, are Tuesday and Wednesday. It is my understanding that FP availability will open up for us for that Tuesday and Wednesday 60 days before Sunday the 10th. 62 and 63 days respectively before their use. Is that correct? If so I would plan on securing those FPs at the 62/63 day mark.

The problem, however, is that we will be going to Universal on that Monday, and some in the group are kicking around the idea of staying at a Universal resort to gain access to their FP equivalent. So, we may potentially end up canceling the first night at Disney and switching to Universal. I would rather not do this as I hate the idea of switching hotels in the middle of a vacation. Nevertheless, if we DID change the reservation to Monday-Wednesday after we had already made the FP reservations, would those FPs be forfeited? I know that is the case if you cancel a reservation, but I'm not sure what happens if you simply change the dates of the reservation.

I ask because it seems like an obvious loophole that people would take advantage of this. IE making a two week reservation starting a week earlier than they need so they can get access to FP sooner, and then once they have them and are within 60 days, simply getting rid of that first week. This seems like an obvious loophole that Disney would not want, so I just want to make sure that our reservation/FP wouldn't get flagged as being dubious when we are really just fickle!

 

[ClapYourHands]

I don’t know what would happen to your FP, but June is coming up quickly. If you want to be on-site, you should book soon. Disney hotels have had very high occupancy rates, so don’t wait too long or you might not have much inventory left.

Also, you may not always be able to cancel just one night from an on-site reservation because Disney doesn’t want “orphan” rooms.

Your best bet is to decide where you really want to stay ASAP, and book accordingly.

 

[SG131]

If you are just changing the days, that shouldn't kick you into losing your fastpasses. However, it is not simple to just change the days on your reservation anymore. It used to be, but now sometimes you have to cancel and rebook, and sometimes you might not find the room you want when you try to rebook. Disney and Universal both have an algorithm set up to avoid the orphan rooms as the PP described. So especially at Disney, while you may see availability for a week long stay whey you reduce the stay to 2 nights, you may not see any availability. Unfortunately there's nothing simple about dropping a night or two.

 

[divingdad]

I have heard of people actually booking an on site room for a few days before their actual stay in order to be able to book FastPasses a few day earlier and then cancelling the "ghost" reservation. This was a few years ago, and I never did it personally. At that time the FastPass system never noted this change and the booked FastPasses were not affected. I heard rumors that Disney was going to somehow address this practice. I don't know if they did. Hopefully someone with more recent experience will chime in and have a definite answer for you. If they haven't changed anything, I think you would be safe.

 

[mrp4352]

Unrelated to your question, but the benefits to staying on site at Universal are absolutely worth the trouble of moving (in my opinion). It's basically fast pass for pretty much everything, but with no time restraints. You simply walk up and join the fast pass line.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Unrelated to your question, but the benefits to staying on site at Universal are absolutely worth the trouble of moving (in my opinion). It's basically fast pass for pretty much everything, but with no time restraints. You simply walk up and join the fast pass line.

Agreed. And depending on your plans, you pay for one night at the Universal Resort and get 2 days of the Express Queue - if you opt for an extra day!

 

[Feberin]

Universal is also cheaper. We were going to drive from Disney to avoid moving but we save like hundred dollars staying at a Universal value instead of a Disney one. We don't get the Express pass but I still think it's worth the savings to switch.

 

[Elle :)]

I can’t answer your question but I did want to say that if it were me, I would absolutely be staying at Universal for one night. Depending on the resort, you get the FP option and the 1hr early entrance. Those are valuable commodities IMO. I honestly don’t think I would do Universal without the express pass anymore.