Would this work?

[MichVick]

This is in regards to adding free dining - Since I have heard that you may have to wait for hours on the line for free dining - I was thinking if we re booked online would they transfer our previous payments to our new reservation? Also is the original 200.00 deposit refundable or transferable as well or is it non-refundable? Thanks in advance for info or advice

 

[lustergirl]

This is in regards to adding free dining - Since I have heard that you may have to wait for hours on the line for free dining - I was thinking if we re booked online would they transfer our previous payments to our new reservation? Also is the original 200.00 deposit refundable or transferable as well or is it non-refundable? Thanks in advance for info or advice

You would not get a new reservation. They would apply the free dining promo to your old one. If you had already purchased the dining plan on your old ressie they would refund you that money or take it off your bill. I should clarify that the suggestion I made is if you had a package already, not just a room ressie.

 

[Pmlocke]

This is in regards to adding free dining - Since I have heard that you may have to wait for hours on the line for free dining - I was thinking if we re booked online would they transfer our previous payments to our new reservation? Also is the original 200.00 deposit refundable or transferable as well or is it non-refundable? Thanks in advance for info or advice

I have found that if you dial 407-939-5277 you can talk to a live representative who can book all of your dining needs. I do this every year and it usually takes me ten minutes to set up a week's worth of resaervations. Just be sure you know where you want to dine and at what time.

 

[MichVick]

yes, but I was thinking rather than waiting on hold and risking allotted rooms being scooped up online - I would Re-book online then cancel the previous reservation and transfer the payments to the new reservation.

 

[lustergirl]

yes, but I was thinking rather than waiting on hold and risking allotted rooms being scooped up online - I would Re-book online then cancel the previous reservation and transfer the payments to the new reservation.

I believe it may take a few days for the money to show back on your cc. Not sure if you need that money right away.

 

[MichVick]

I have found that if you dial 407-939-5277 you can talk to a live representative who can book all of your dining needs. I do this every year and it usually takes me ten minutes to set up a week's worth of resaervations. Just be sure you know where you want to dine and at what time.

I have already made my dining reservations online - my question is in regards to the possibility of the free dining promotion

 

[lustergirl]

yes, but I was thinking rather than waiting on hold and risking allotted rooms being scooped up online - I would Re-book online then cancel the previous reservation and transfer the payments to the new reservation.

I guess I am not understanding what you are trying to do? You don't have to rebook anything. They will just apply the free dining promo to your old ressie.

 

[MichVick]

I was wondering if it would be easier to re book online with the free dining promotion and cancel my current reservation, rather than waiting on the phone for 3 hours or so to add it to my existing reservation. But I wouldn't want to do this if the initial deposit wasn't refundable.

 

[worm761]

I was wondering if it would be easier to re book online with the free dining promotion and cancel my current reservation, rather than waiting on the phone for 3 hours or so to add it to my existing reservation. But I wouldn't want to do this if the initial deposit wasn't refundable.

Yes, you can do what you are wanting. But know that it takes up to 10 days (took my dad 30) to receive a refund. Also, booking a room at rack rate doesn't help the possibility of discounts. If rooms are booked at full price, why would they give a discount? My suggestion is to just wait until the discount comes out so you can see which resorts are participating and in which room categories. Not all will be there.

 

[ConnieB]

yes, but I was thinking rather than waiting on hold and risking allotted rooms being scooped up online - I would Re-book online then cancel the previous reservation and transfer the payments to the new reservation.

This actually doesn't work (or hasn't in previous years)....just because you have a reservation does not mean that they can then transfer it to the limited Free Dining rooms. I know it sounds silly, but the FD rooms are separate rooms, so you must call and get one of those "special" rooms ....yes it can be the same category room as you already have, but if it's not the designated FD rooms then you can't get the free dining. When you call and change your reservation to the FD, if a room is available, they will keep the same confirmation number, but you may not get the same rate....remember that the FD requires you to pay "rack rate" for the room, so it may also change your rate if your current reservation is not at rack rate.

Confusing and a bit silly, but that's how it has been for as many years as I can remember. The problem is that people aren't understanding it, so they book a room only thinking it's holding their place, but all it's doing is making Disney think that they don't need to offer Free Dining because they have very good advance booking already. This is EXACTLY what happened last year...for the first time ever, POR was NOT included in the FD because it was already very well booked. And people had to scramble to move to another hotel that did offer FD. And lo and behold, POR had it's only special rate later in the season, because now it was almost empty!

Best thing to do is be patient....in the last several years the FD announcement came the first week of May.....so we have about a month to go. It will open to Disney VISA card holders first (so if you don't have one, apply right away so you may have it before they announce)....then a couple days later it will go public. Once the announcement comes, call and be prepared to be on hold for a little.

Also...if they still have room only deals (or other packages), I'd suggest that you do the math.....many times it's actually cheaper to take the discount on the Deluxe rooms and buy the dining plan, rather than to pay rack rate for "free" dining. It all depends on what works for your family, so do the math.

 

[Allison]

I don't think some posters understand your question (hopefully I get it right).

You could make a brand new reservation online if an offer comes out and take advantage of the promotion.

You could then cancel the old reservation.

Your previous payments would not transfer to the new reservation. You would be refunded your money and then would need to make new payments on your new reservation.

 

[lustergirl]

I don't think some posters understand your question (hopefully I get it right).

You could make a brand new reservation online if an offer comes out and take advantage of the promotion.

You could then cancel the old reservation.

Your previous payments would not transfer to the new reservation. You would be refunded your money and then would need to make new payments on your new reservation.

Your explanation is great. Sorry OP I couldnt get the jist of what you were trying to say.

 

[ConnieB]

I don't think some posters understand your question (hopefully I get it right).

You could make a brand new reservation online if an offer comes out and take advantage of the promotion.

You could then cancel the old reservation.

Your previous payments would not transfer to the new reservation. You would be refunded your money and then would need to make new payments on your new reservation.

You could do it that way, but why? Just have them modify the current reservation to include whatever new promotion, new dates, new hotel, whatever you need to modify, then your deposit stays with the modified reservation....no need to put out new money for the new reservation and then wait for the refund to hit your card 3-5 days later.

Again, you can do it the way Allison described, but realize that just modifying the current reservation is a lot less complicated.

 

[Jennasis]

You could do it that way, but why? Just have them modify the current reservation to include whatever new promotion, new dates, new hotel, whatever you need to modify, then your deposit stays with the modified reservation....no need to put out new money for the new reservation and then wait for the refund to hit your card 3-5 days later.

Again, you can do it the way Allison described, but realize that just modifying the current reservation is a lot less complicated.

So he doesn't have to sit on hold on the phone for an hour or two waiting for a phone rep. Sounds like he's worried the promo will get sold out while he's on hold (not likely) or he's just impatient and wants to get it done without wasting his time on hold.

Was a I right OP?

 

[ConnieB]

Ok, went and re-read original post to see if I wasn't understanding......I think you were trying to avoid being on hold for a long time when FD is announced............be aware that the online booking usually doesn't come out for a day (sometimes two) after it's announced to the general public....so yes, you can do it online to avoid the long hold, but you'll be a day behind others and

So he doesn't have to sit on hold on the phone for an hour or two waiting for a phone rep. Sounds like he's worried the promo will get sold out while he's on hold (not likely) or he's just impatient and wants to get it done without wasting his time on hold.

Was a I right OP?

Be aware that the online booking usually doesn't come out for a day (sometimes two) after it's announced to the general public....so yes, you can do it online to avoid the long hold, but you'll be a day behind others and your dates/hotel choices may or may not be sold out. The values tend to sell out first.

Speculation is that Disney does this online delay to save their website from going down because too many people are hitting it.....you know, like the day the BOG breakfasts were eligible for booking....their website was bouncing up and down most of the morning.....and claiming no reservations were available for ANY restaurant, not just breakfast at BOG, lol. That's typical for anything big and new, the website gets blasted.

Just wait until mid-April (probable date) when the Star Wars Weekend FP for shows opens up....I feel so sorry for the people who are hitting their 180 days for ADRs or their 30/60 for FP....because the site will be down more than it's up that day, lol. Last year when they announced the FP for Mark Hamil's show, the FP were gone within about two hours, but you had to be presistent (and having more than one computer or device to check helped too). I was sooo lucky to have just happened to be online reading DIS when it was announced and was able to get in after about 15 minutes of refreshing waiting for the page to load. It was insane.

 

[ConnieB]

Also, you can modify your reservation online (not just for FD).....this option to modify and/or cancel showed up a couple weeks ago on all of my reservations. Something new....haven't tried it yet to see if it works, but will be nice to be able to do online instead of calling in. I imagine though, that you still won't be able to modify it to FD until the FD actually posts to the website.

 

[bond24seven]

Yes, I have done it...It takes about 2 days for the mayhem to die down, then it is easy to get through.
and they will cancel your old reservation, give you a refund in about 3 days( is what mine took) and then you can apply the refund to your new reservation...Of course you may have to change resorts because you will have to choose from what is still available.. And also, I booked mine Online the same day it was given to the public...Yes internet was slow, but at least i could get through.

 

[MichVick]

So he doesn't have to sit on hold on the phone for an hour or two waiting for a phone rep. Sounds like he's worried the promo will get sold out while he's on hold (not likely) or he's just impatient and wants to get it done without wasting his time on hold.

Was a I right OP?

Yes this is why - I was a little worried that while I am waiting on hold people are going to be booking online and they may sell out early. We have been able to get the free dining before but this is the first time we haven't used a TA and I don't want to mess up the reservation.

 

[MichVick]

I don't think some posters understand your question (hopefully I get it right).

You could make a brand new reservation online if an offer comes out and take advantage of the promotion.

You could then cancel the old reservation.

Your previous payments would not transfer to the new reservation. You would be refunded your money and then would need to make new payments on your new reservation.

Yes this is exactly what I am asking - thank you - do you know if the original 200.00 deposit in refundable? Or if they charge a cancellation fee?