Unpleasant discovery today re hotel bucket

[DizMe]

I have 4 park reservations in Dec. I also.booked a trip with my oldest daughter and grandson for Nov 11-13. I could only make 2 more park reservations with my Inspire key and I forgot that I'd need another one.

So today we went to DL and no res. available with my key. Park is full but we stayed on site so I looked at the hotel bucket and it was available for today! Except... Guest Services outside the park said you have to get it through the hotel. So back to DLH, wait in line there, and find out IT DOESN'T APPLY TO MKs.

Luckily, my younger daughter is a CM and is working at DLH today, so I'm just waiting for her shift to end and she can sign me in. We have a BB reservation half an hour after her shift ends, ha ha. Kind of stressful.

I've never heard it mentioned before that the Hotel Guest bucket excludes guests with MKs.

 

[starlite_]

That's bizarre. It shouldn't matter what type of ticket you have, you are paying for the hotel. That should guarantee entrance.

 

[SOCALMouseMommy]

I have 4 park reservations in Dec. I also.booked a trip with my oldest daughter and grandson for Nov 11-13. I could only make 2 more park reservations with my Inspire key and I forgot that I'd need another one.

So today we went to DL and no res. available with my key. Park is full but we stayed on site so I looked at the hotel bucket and it was available for today! Except... Guest Services outside the park said you have to get it through the hotel. So back to DLH, wait in line there, and find out IT DOESN'T APPLY TO MKs.

Luckily, my younger daughter is a CM and is working at DLH today, so I'm just waiting for her shift to end and she can sign me in. We have a BB reservation half an hour after her shift ends, ha ha. Kind of stressful.

I've never heard it mentioned before that the Hotel Guest bucket excludes guests with MKs.

I made reservations multiple times with my Magic Key through the hotel bucket. But are you saying you did not have any reservations left (i.e., you had reservations for 6 other park days)? Because it's true you can't hold an additional reservation if you have used up all your MK reservations.

 

[Kender]

That's bizarre because several people on these boards have successfully used the hotel bucket with MKs. And there should be no need to go to the hotel, you should have been able to book it online no issue.

This reminds me of when they tried to deny there was a separate bucket for the on site hotels in the early days

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I’ve used the hotel bucket to make reservations with my MK many times. You should have been able to do it online…

 

[Pluto468]

That sounds so stressful! I hope it all worked out in the end and you had a good dinner at BB.

 

[DizMe]

Thank you for the replies! It didn't make sense to me that MK s would be excluded. I'm happy to hear they're not!

Next question, though: how do you book it? I saw the calendar but didn't know how to use it. The Disney guest services person (right outside DCA) told me I had to go back to the hotel. At the turnstiles, the cm called for a manager and I was told they couldn't do anything. I obviously didn't figure it out but at least I got in with my DD. Good thing she was there.

Socal Mouse Mommy, this was our last day so I could have gotten another reservation with my MK because I'd used 2 during our trip if the day was available. I hadn't really worried about that because of the hotel bucket.

So where online can you make a hotel bucket reservation?

 

[TinkerTay]

You should be able to just go to your hotel reservations in the app and it should say “make a theme park reservation.” It shows on the home page, or go thru the hamburger menu on the lower right… I’ve always made my reservations that way when staying onsite…

 

[kristensideaoffun]

Thank you for the replies! It didn't make sense to me that MK s would be excluded. I'm happy to hear they're not!

Next question, though: how do you book it? I saw the calendar but didn't know how to use it. The Disney guest services person (right outside DCA) told me I had to go back to the hotel. At the turnstiles, the cm called for a manager and I was told they couldn't do anything. I obviously didn't figure it out but at least I got in with my DD. Good thing she was there.

Socal Mouse Mommy, this was our last day so I could have gotten another reservation with my MK because I'd used 2 during our trip if the day was available. I hadn't really worried about that because of the hotel bucket.

So where online can you make a hotel bucket reservation?

I don’t have a hotel reservation right now so I can’t post a screenshot, but when you are logged into your account on the website and go to view your hotel reservation, somewhere on that page is a make park reservations button. This button takes you to the hotel bucket.

 

[Aladora]

I don’t have a hotel reservation right now so I can’t post a screenshot, but when you are logged into your account on the website and go to view your hotel reservation, somewhere on that page is a make park reservations button. This button takes you to the hotel bucket.

I think this is what you were trying to describe?

 

[DizMe]

Thanks so much, you guys!! I really appreciate the help I get from this board!

 

[kristensideaoffun]

I think this is what you were trying to describe?

View attachment 810421

Yes! Thank you! That link will take you to the hotel bucket for park reservations.

 

[KPeterso]

I had issues with making reservations from the hotel bucket for our upcoming stay. I am booked VGC 11/15-/11/17. I was able to book the first 2 days no issues from the regular theme park reservations, but 11/17 was totally booked (and still has been for well over a month). I tried the hotel bucket multiple times on my phone, but it would just keep taking me back to my reservation and not to the park reservations. I finally logged in via my IPad and had no issues. No clue what the issue was on my phone.

 

[TinkerTay]

I had issues with making reservations from the hotel bucket for our upcoming stay. I am booked VGC 11/15-/11/17. I was able to book the first 2 days no issues from the regular theme park reservations, but 11/17 was totally booked (and still has been for well over a month). I tried the hotel bucket multiple times on my phone, but it would just keep taking me back to my reservation and not to the park reservations. I finally logged in via my IPad and had no issues. No clue what the issue was on my phone.

I had a similar issue a couple years ago, and it was some kind of pop-up that my phone didn’t like, as I was also able to make the reservations from my iPad… you might have to temporarily disable any pop-up blockers you have on the phone while you make your reservations

 

[Whistlebee]

I'm trying to change my Magic Key park reservations using the Hotel Bucket. I have park reservations already, but in order to access Magic Morning I need to switch my park days. My Enchant Key days are no longer available and when I try to access the hotel bucket under my hotel reservations page the calendar that comes up still has the dates I need blocked. I can book them with a regular ticket, but not my MK. I've disabled pop-ups, tried it on iphone, chromebook, and desktop. Does anyone have any other ideas? Is there a phone number for this? I need to get it worked out now before I arrive, because we are meeting other friends who have park hopper tickets and I want to ask them to switch their park days to match mine too. Thank you for any ideas!

Edited to add:
As far as I can tell, I am accessing the hotel bucket calendar and it is not letting me book park reservations on the days I need. I think because park reservations are no longer available for my MK on the days I have my hotel reservation, it will not allow me to book park reservations. I have park hopper tickets as well, and I can make hotel bucket park reservations for them no problem. My passes are not blocked, and I even have one day available to make park reservations. I'm only trying to change parks so I can take advantage of magic morning. I already have reservations!

 

[KPeterso]

I'm trying to change my Magic Key park reservations using the Hotel Bucket. I have park reservations already, but in order to access Magic Morning I need to switch my park days. My Enchant Key days are no longer available and when I try to access the hotel bucket under my hotel reservations page the calendar that comes up still has the dates I need blocked. I can book them with a regular ticket, but not my MK. I've disabled pop-ups, tried it on iphone, chromebook, and desktop. Does anyone have any other ideas? Is there a phone number for this? I need to get it worked out now before I arrive, because we are meeting other friends who have park hopper tickets and I want to ask them to switch their park days to match mine too. Thank you for any ideas!

Edited to add:
As far as I can tell, I am accessing the hotel bucket calendar and it is not letting me book park reservations on the days I need. I think because park reservations are no longer available for my MK on the days I have my hotel reservation, it will not allow me to book park reservations. I have park hopper tickets as well, and I can make hotel bucket park reservations for them no problem. My passes are not blocked, and I even have one day available to make park reservations. I'm only trying to change parks so I can take advantage of magic morning. I already have reservations!

Have you cancelled your current park reservation for the wrong park? I don't think you can make the new reservation or see the availability for the new parks until a previous reservation is cancelled. If you are just trying to modify, it will still look at it from the MK bucket and not the hotel one.

 

[Whistlebee]

Have you cancelled your current park reservation for the wrong park? I don't think you can make the new reservation or see the availability for the new parks until a previous reservation is cancelled. If you are just trying to modify, it will still look at it from the MK bucket and not the hotel one.

Oh my goodness! You figured it out! Thank you!!!

 

[MATTERHORN]

I feel your pain as a CAST MEMBER. We just spent a hefty amount staying at the Grand Californian last week and we are also excluded from the hotel ressie bucket. Blah!

 

[Whistlebee]

I feel your pain as a CAST MEMBER. We just spent a hefty amount staying at the Grand Californian last week and we are also excluded from the hotel ressie bucket. Blah!

I feel strongly that if you are ponying up for onsite hotel prices (even with discounts) you should receive the perks! Just to clarify tho, Magic Keys are not blocked from the hotel bucket (at least that is my experience). It was operator error on my part. I needed to cancel my park reservations before the "hotel bucket Calendar" would show me availability. Once I did that, I was able to book a park reservation through the hotel bucket. I'm sorry to hear that cast members are blocked! That feels unfair to me. Sadly, we aren't going to end up using our early entry because the friends we are meeting up with want to start in Disneyland because their grown son hasn't been since he was a little boy and he's excited to check out the Star Wars stuff. I get it! So off to Galaxy's Edge we'll go.

 

[MATTERHORN]

I feel strongly that if you are ponying up for onsite hotel prices (even with discounts) you should receive the perks! Just to clarify tho, Magic Keys are not blocked from the hotel bucket (at least that is my experience). It was operator error on my part. I needed to cancel my park reservations before the "hotel bucket Calendar" would show me availability. Once I did that, I was able to book a park reservation through the hotel bucket. I'm sorry to hear that cast members are blocked! That feels unfair to me. Sadly, we aren't going to end up using our early entry because the friends we are meeting up with want to start in Disneyland because their grown son hasn't been since he was a little boy and he's excited to check out the Star Wars stuff. I get it! So off to Galaxy's Edge we'll go.

Ah, gotcha. Yeah, sadly that was not the case for us but I'm happy it would have worked out for you! I agree, if you stay onsite, the perks should not have any other conditions.

You're going to have a fantastic time either way!! When we just went, we booked our park ressies well before the new rule was released for alternating days for EE, and sadly, I would have had to rearrange 35 people's reservations for the day which felt like entirely too much work, so we did not get to take advantage either!!

Next time, right? LOL