Unofficial minimum stays?

[DebbieB]

Right so how can Disney deny you in advance if they can't know for sure a single night won't be used? Locals love single nights. Seems super shady to me.

It's kind of shady to try to skirt the rules by booking a longer stay and then trying to reduce when their system would not allow it in the first place.

 

[Brett Wyman]

It's kind of shady to try to skirt the rules by booking a longer stay and then trying to reduce when their system would not allow it in the first place.

I completely disagree. If I can book 6 days in a row I should be able to book just 3 in the middle of that block. Unless they have it written somewhere of course. I’m willing to die on that hill.

 

[Have3Kids&aHusband]

This happened to my family when trying to book Poly for next July. I couldn't get a room with a Saturday arrival date. I tried with a Friday arrival date and same checkout date. I was able to get a room. So we adjusted our arrival date a day earlier to fit in to being able to stay at Poly for our split stay.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I completely disagree. If I can book 6 days in a row I should be able to book just 3 in the middle of that block. Unless they have it written somewhere of course. I’m willing to die on that hill.

A policy like this would not be shared simply verbally. It would reasonably be written in documents to which we neither have not need access.
You can't book three nights in the middle because there is an existing reservation for six nights encompassing those three nights.

You could cancel the six nights and hope the three nights stays available long enough to book that instead. You agreed to six nights. Between when you booked and when you try to amend, Disney could have booked someone else for those same six nights - but didn't due to your reservation.

They were, reasonably, expecting you and your money for six nights. Now you want to drop nights one, two, and six. That's three nights of lost income because they likely will not have two other guests wanting those three nights.

Got it. You don't like the inconvenience of sticking with your agreement with the property. Don't stay onsite.

 

[mtrib]

Well, this took quite the turn.

I'll jump to the punchline and say I didn't try to shorten my stay because I found a better plan for a better room. So now Disney can have all the days back.

 

[KMarston]

A policy like this would not be shared simply verbally. It would reasonably be written in documents to which we neither have not need access.
You can't book three nights in the middle because there is an existing reservation for six nights encompassing those three nights.

You could cancel the six nights and hope the three nights stays available long enough to book that instead. You agreed to six nights. Between when you booked and when you try to amend, Disney could have booked someone else for those same six nights - but didn't due to your reservation.

They were, reasonably, expecting you and your money for six nights. Now you want to drop nights one, two, and six. That's three nights of lost income because they likely will not have two other guests wanting those three nights.

Got it. You don't like the inconvenience of sticking with your agreement with the property. Don't stay onsite.

It still doesn’t make a lot of sense. Maybe for their business model. I just tried to book one night in January at ASMo on our arrival day, before transferring to the Poly for 6 nights. Initially the site said $139. I didn’t realize it booked me for 6 nights rather than one. When I saw it I went back and changed it to one night and nothing was available. ASSp had popped up for $99 on my initial inquiry which automatically set as six nights, but then changed to $169 for one night. I really don’t get it as many people leave on Sunday anyway. And I’ll pay $550 for another night at the Poly before I shell out $169 for ASSp for 2 double beds for one night.

 

[kaytieeldr]

ASSp had popped up for $99 on my initial inquiry which automatically set as six nights, but then changed to $169 for one night. I really don’t get it as many people leave on Sunday anyway.

$99 could have been the average price per night. For the past couple/few years, Disney has higher rates on Thursday and Sunday nights than on weeknights, and still even higher rates Friday and Saturday.

 

[gatormom2tots]

We had 2 days booked at one resort which we did online but kept trying to get it another resort. While a 2 day didn't show up, a 3 day did. We booked 3 days, then had it shortened to 2. We had to call to do it- the CM could not do it and had to "escalate" it. She was not able to complete it while on the phone but informed me it would be completed within 24 hours. It was showing later that day as a 2 day. Sounds like it takes an override of some sort to shorten it. Is this skirting the rules? Ehhh.....I was completely honest with the CM in what we did. She could see the both reservations in the system (I didn't cancel the first one until I got the 2nd one changed- we were lucky to get the first one at that point). Skirting the rules is doing something sneaky and not being honest about it because it is "against the rules." This is about getting creative to try and get the reservation you wanted. If they couldn't shorten it I would have just cancelled the new one and kept the original.

It sounds like its all a matter of who answers the phone- its just like in the parks. One CM may give you a little pixie dust and another might not so have a backup!

 

[Brett Wyman]

It sounds like its all a matter of who answers the phone- its just like in the parks. One CM may give you a little pixie dust and another might not so have a backup!

Definitely. And most likely the front line people can't do it and it would need to be escalated.

 

[KMarston]

$99 could have been the average price per night. For the past couple/few years, Disney has higher rates on Thursday and Sunday nights than on weeknights, and still even higher rates Friday and Saturday.

You’re probably right. I’m having a hard time deciding on this one, keep hoping that something else will pop up! I might just add it and delete if something else becomes available.

 

[Mainsail Minnie]

Instead of booking and trying to modify, before booking call reservations to try to get the dates you want initially. That will be better received by Disney customer service than someone with an existing reservation wanting to shorten their stay. If availability really is there but tied up by their computer algorithms, the reservations CM can call Guest Services to have someone there override the automated reservation system & book the days you want. I have done this before.

And I have booked multiple short and even 1-night reservations on my own via the Disney website, so they don't prevent people from booking short stays.

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

This just happened to us. I need 1 night (Nov 1st) and nothing was coming up. I played around with our dates and I had a few rooms pop up that way. I booked they whole stay and then called to modify my reservation. It took awhile, but they were able to do it.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I'm curious. Do you think playing around with the website for a while is more or less efficient than just calling Disney directly after your first attempt?