Warning: no changing names on reservation!

[giftcard]

Hey Everyone,

This is a mini-vent and an FYI all rolled into one.

We booked our hotel reservations back in March b/c I got a 40% off code There are going to be four adults -- me, my best friend and her parents. BFF and I in one room and her parents in the other. When I asked if I could reserve two rooms they said yes, but they would have to be two seperate reservations (as opposed to two rooms on one reservation). I gave my credit card info and they charged the deposit for both rooms. Gave my address/info for the first room and wanted to use the my address for the second room. But they said no it has to be the address of the person staying in the room. Well I don't know my BFF's parents address. So I gave them her address. BUT I made the mistake of telling them that it was her address so then they put the second reservation under her name and put her in the room w/ her dad and her mom in the first room with me (are you following this?).

I didn't think this would be a big deal to change down the road and just left it. I have never booked a Disney vacation before but have booked many regular hotel reservations and have never had any trouble changing a name on it.

So cut to today when I'm finally going to call and give them our flight info for the Magical Express. It was a disaster! On the phone for over an hour (goodbye daytime cell minutes! hello long distance charges!). At first the CM was really rude, until she had to call someone at guest services (?) and they were really rude to her so then it kind of became "us" against "them" and she worked really hard to figure things out. Right around the same time I lamented that this felt very un-magical. Basically, if I wanted to correct the names on the reservation to who would actually be staying in the room we would have to cancel the reservations and re-book, losing the 40% code! Plus adding to the confusion was they had mispelled BFF's mom's name as "Karlo" instead of "Karol". So the CM kept asking me where Karlo was staying. Also, it appeared there were some computer glitches going on as well.

Today when I called during all the prompts it does tell you that you must have the address of those staying in the rooms but they didn't say that back in March.

The moral of the story is: treat a Disney hotel reservation like a flight or cruise ressie. Have complete names / addresses etc. Not difficult if you're travelling w/ family but a potential problem travelling w/ friends.

Thanks for letting me vent. I was very cranky earlier today (I'm pms'ing which made things WAY worse). I've had some time to calm down and realize that I'm still uber-lucky as I've got a great vacation to go on. But it still wasn't a fun phone call.

I'm still a tad nervous b/c the parents are arriving 12 hours before BFF and I and I just want everything to go smoothly.

 

[mbanks21]

They could have added your friend to your res with no problem and if the second res was just a spelling correction on the lead guest that wouldnt have been a problem either. You didnt lose the discount did you?

 

[giftcard]

They could have added your friend to your res with no problem and if the second res was just a spelling correction on the lead guest that wouldnt have been a problem either. You didnt lose the discount did you?

We kept the reservations the same so we wouldn't lose the discount but my friend is the lead guest on the second reservation. So according to Disney it's me and her mom in one room and my BFF and her dad in the 2nd. Obviously we'll just switch keys so we end up staying w/ the person we want to. But I'm a "follow the rules" kind of person so I wanted it to be correct on the acutal ressie. They did fix the spelling error without any problems.

 

[teddygurl28]

its funny you mention the address being prompted on the phone recording now. it definately was not in march and april when i was booking. My BF and I are going in august, its one room and all in my name all on my credit card so i just did everything in my address. But they never asked if the other guest in my room was living at the same address as me, not until i got my confirmation email does it mention that it needs the correct names and addresses of all the people in the room, im not going to bother calling back, its not worth the effort, but im sorry it turned out to be stressful for you. im sure once you are down there it will all work out for you!

 

[supersuperwendy]

Why not just leave the reservations how they are and then when you get there just switch around your sleeping arrangements? When we travel with my parents my kids bounce back and forth from our room to theirs.

 

[zoie101]

not a very magical start
I am sure thing will work out for you!

 

[pixiechick]

Obviously we'll just switch keys so we end up staying w/ the person we want to.

I'm thinking out loud here, so if I'm missing something ignore me!

I don't think you can switch the keys because your names are on them. Obviously you *can* switch them, but you wouldn't be able to use them for room charging unless you forge each other's signatures so the handwriting matches. Am I missing something?

I would call back and ask for a supervisor or someone who can help fix it.

 

[n2mm]

Ours are the exact same way. I'm in one room and hubby is in the other room. My daughter and grandgirls are in my room, her husband and son are in my husband's room. We are not going to lose one moment over worrying about this. We will either ask them to switch us at check in to the correct rooms, or we'll just exchange room cards. We had to do it for the 40% discount too, just like the OP did.

 

[SB in KY]

My guess is when you check in the front desk will straighten it out without a hassle. We have had similar issues multiple times and all they want to know at check in is who is staying in which room and they fix it for you.
Don't worry over this one.

 

[safetymom]

I agree. Once you are there they can get the keys straightened out.

 

[giftcard]

Thanks everyone!!!! I choose to believe everything will work out once we're there!

I love DIS!!!! You guys are all the best! I knew I could come on here to vent and get It's very much appreciated!

What's funny is at the bottom of my reservation email it says "Room reservations are non-transferable, and reservation name changes are not permitted." So at least I know for next time.

 

[Feralpeg]

My guess, and this is just a guess, is that they use the lead reservation name as a key to one of their database tables. Not a great design tactic. Since it is a key, it cannot be changed. The record can be deleted, but not changed.

Many people don't realize that Disney reservations are under one name per room. People often give me a different name for my gift baskets even though I stress the importance of the reservation name. When the CM tries to look up the name to get the room number, they can't find it if it is not the reservation name. In such case, they have to do a global search. Not a big deal, but not all CMs know how to do this.

Moral of the story...the lead reservation name per room is extremely important!

 

[Tiresius]

Not to be a thread hijacker, but does this also apply to names that aren't the primary ones in the room?

I am planning on taking two of my employees on a trip at the end of August, but won't know which two until three weeks before the trip (that part is complicated). When I booked the package back in May, I said that I didn't know the names of the two people I would be traveling with yet, but that I would need 3 people on the reservation. I was required to give names, so I picked my parents' names in my panic. I still don't know who my traveling companions will be, but my own name and contact on the room will not change. Will that be a problem? Am I going to be penalized for changing my traveling companions names?

 

[supersuperwendy]

Not to be a thread hijacker, but does this also apply to names that aren't the primary ones in the room?

I am planning on taking two of my employees on a trip at the end of August, but won't know which two until three weeks before the trip (that part is complicated). When I booked the package back in May, I said that I didn't know the names of the two people I would be traveling with yet, but that I would need 3 people on the reservation. I was required to give names, so I picked my parents' names in my panic. I still don't know who my traveling companions will be, but my own name and contact on the room will not change. Will that be a problem? Am I going to be penalized for changing my traveling companions names?

You can't change the Lead Guest's name. You can change the others though. If you wind up with more or less people the price could change. Also, be sure to do it asap since you will need the correct people on your DME docs.

 

[cart-mom]

It's not so much Disney as it is with the airlines. Everything has to match with the airline reservation or it could set off a red flag. But yes, when making ANY reservation you MUST have all correct and legal names.

One suggestion to keep in mind, you could place a "hold" on a room with your reservation. They'll give you a date when deposit is due and you should still be able to make any name changes if you didn't know them when you made your first phone call. Another reason it is so important to check your reservation confirmation as soon as you get it.

Sorry you had trouble, but hope you have a great vacation anyway. Chalk this up as a learning experience. Thanks for sharing.

 

[buffi]

I am sure the PMSing thing didn't help with the situation...if it was me, I would have been in tears!

 

[BamaFan121s]

We have the same concerns (kind of). Last year, my mother booked and paid for 2 rooms at Pop. They let her book the rooms and pay for both of them--no issue there, but wouldn't allow both of them to be listed in her name and automatically put one in DH's name. We checked in before the rooms were ready and when she called back later to get the room number, they would only give her the number for one of the rooms, but not the other!

 

[Disneychix]

I have sort of the same situation. We booked bounce-back free dining for this September. We are taking my mother and son with us this year. Mom gets her own room. They would not allow the room to be in her name because she wasn't physically there to receive the bounceback offer. So one room is in my name and one in my DHs. I hope they will correct this when we all get there.
I guess I'll worry about it then. It will only be a pain if we don't get connecting rooms which I've asked for.

Oh, I wanted to add when I called to add more days on the reservation a CM asked me why my DH was staying by himself and Mom and me were sharing a room. I told him why and he thought that sounded nuts. I guess I should've asked him to try and change the names then.

 

[giftcard]

I am sure the PMSing thing didn't help with the situation...if it was me, I would have been in tears!

Actually, I was! But I only when I was on hold. I tried really hard to keep it together when I was talking to her. PMS sucks, doesn't it?

I'm glad to know other people have had similar problems and it's worked out.

Like someone else said, it's a learning experience. We'll know for next time and hopefully this thread will help someone who's about to book.