News Disney World extends cancellation notice for resort hotels in 2025

[JD80]

I have never heard it speculated that prebooking will be for your whole day. That system would not make sense at all.

More likely than not, it'll be just like FP+ with tiers. The only question, I suspect, will be how many selections will you get to prebook? My money is on 1 so it takes away your 7AM scramble. You'll only have to do VQs that morning.

 

[Markc2]

Get travel insurance. Just like when booking a cruise with its extended cancellation window.

Absolutely not! Nobody should have to buy supplemental travel insurance because of insane cancellation policies at a hotel. I get doing it for a cruise because you're not just subsidizing the room but rather all of the on board amenities - but not at a hotel with an inflated hotel price. On top of that, everybody knows what a hassle it is to deal with travel insurance and half the time legitimate reasons are denied.

The answer is not travel insurance. The answer is hotels need to be realistic with their cancellation policies - and that includes Disney. Nobody is forcing anybody to book a Disney hotel, so everyone can make their own decisions based on how this policy will alter their booking decisions, but I hope enough people start to look elsewhere. Disney's already charging $700 a night sometimes for a room at their deluxe hotels which barely exceeds the quality of a Hampton Inn. The idea that they're going to start adding unreasonable cancellation policies to this is even more mind blowing. Industry average for a cancellation policy for a "resort" is 48-72 hours prior to check-in. Average cancellation policy for a room in Orlando (assuming a "flex" rate was booked) is 24 hours prior to check-in. Disney was already pushing it with their current policy. They're starting to get greedy again.

 

[nickys]

If the advance selection Genie+ plan comes to fruition as I last heard it is supposed to, you wouldn't have to make selections at all during the day, unlike presently where you have to wait until you've redeemed your current one to make a new one, or every two hours, whichever comes first.

You’ll be allowed to book more through the day as you use them.
Unless you’re happy paying $30 a day for just 1 / 2 / 3 rides.

 

[nickys]

This is never going to last. Not only is this not competitive and bucks the resort/hotel industry trend on cancellation policies, but this also defies logic in the sense that most people who cancel trips at the 5 day mark do it for legitimate reasons (i.e. sickness, weather related concerns, or last minute work or family emergencies). 8 days is too far out to take those into consideration. The amount of call volume from guests who will be begging to have their reservations cancelled with no penalty will be substantial.

Disney's Genie+ booking window shouldn't be dictating the resort cancellation policy. I thought the days of ridiculous policies were gone once Chapek was pushed out....clearly that isn't the case.

The use of Leading reservations for the purposes of booking FP+ was getting very popular. Even for dining. And not just for split stays.

I think they want to minimise that.

Booking on the UK site we always had a £50 per person fee to change or cancel a reservation at any time after booking. It was only after Covid that they relaxed that.

 

[MissingDisney]

The use of Leading reservations for the purposes of booking FP+ was getting very popular. Even for dining. And not just for split stays.

I think they want to minimise that.

This. This was a huge problem. I know people who had this down to a perfect science. Not that I was proud of their skills.

It could be very advantageous if one was willing to put in the effort and research and keep manipulating reservations to their favor, knowing they were going to be in the parks for different days than what the resort reservations were for.

The ultimate was when they were able to do this knowing full well they were actually staying off properly and never had any intentions of staying in a Disney resort but used the reservation system and generous cancellation policy to their benefit.

 

[Markc2]

This. This was a huge problem. I know people who had this down to a perfect science. Not that I was proud of their skills.

It could be very advantageous if one was willing to put in the effort and research and keep manipulating reservations to their favor, knowing they were going to be in the parks for different days than what the resort reservations were for.

The ultimate was when they were able to do this knowing full well they were actually staying off properly and never had any intentions of staying in a Disney resort but used the reservation system and generous cancellation policy to their benefit.

Disney's cancellation policy has never been "generous". Even at it's current 5 day term, it's still way behind industry average.

Disney's charging enough for their hotels that they can afford to figure out how to manage their IT infrastructure which should flag and automatically cancels anybody's reservations who try to game the system.

 

[DisneyCane]

I'm one of those freaks who doesn't like getting up 7am every day on vacation, so if they have to have this Genie+ system, I would prefer to be able to reserve in advance. Overall, I still prefer Paris where the upcharge options are kept to a relatively simple flat priority pass or having the choice to buy one for individual attractions as you go without having to buy Genie+.

I still say a better system would be to convert all LL to ILL and have the purchase be made at the entrance to the queue with dynamic pricing based upon how full the LL queue is at that moment. Price would be displayed on a sign along with expected wait time for the LL. If you think it is worth the price to save the time vs. standby than you tap in. Once the LL queue reaches a maximum it becomes unavailable until the queue reduces.

With a system like this, Disney still gets to monetize wait time reduction but it brings back some spontaneity as well as the "fairness" of the original FP system where you have to physically be at the ride entrance to take advantage. If the dynamic pricing is done correctly, it will get high enough where it will never be sold out and if somebody wants to pay a ridiculous price they will always be able to "skip the line" when they arrive at an attraction entrance.

 

[nickys]

Disney's cancellation policy has never been "generous". Even at it's current 5 day term, it's still way behind industry average.

Disney's charging enough for their hotels that they can afford to figure out how to manage their IT infrastructure which should flag and automatically cancels anybody's reservations who try to game the system.

That works for some instances, such as cancelling and staying offsite.
It gets more complicated if people have overlapping reservations. Even when one is cancelled they’re still onsite guests. To automatically cancel them would also affect legitimate changes - like a flight delay.

 

[MissingDisney]

Disney's charging enough for their hotels that they can afford to figure out how to manage their IT infrastructure which should flag and automatically cancels anybody's reservations who try to game the system.

Disney IT.
Bahahah-hahahahah-bahahahaha!

Bless your heart. You must be new around these parts.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Disney IT.
Bahahah-hahahahah-bahahahaha!

Bless your heart. You must be new around these parts.

The sooner that you realize that TWDC operates not as one streamlined global corporation, but as a random chain of disparate mom-and-pop shops with limited connectivity between them, the better.

 

[MissingDisney]

The sooner that you realize that TWDC operates not as one streamlined global corporation, but as a random chain of disparate mom-and-pop shops with limited connectivity between them, the better.

Oh I do. Thus, the tone of that response. Maybe you meant the other poster???

Disney IT. I'm still laughing and wiping away tears.

 

[PREMiERdrum]

Oh I do. Thus, the tone that response. Maybe you meant the other poster???

Disney IT. I'm still laughing and wiping away tears.

Intended the collective "you." You obviously get it!

 

[doctornick]

Nothing says Magical like more advanced planning.....

I actually would say that having things scheduled in advanced and not having to worry about things while on your vacation actually kind of is on the magical side. Better to be relaxed on the vacation and confident about what you are doing rather than anxious and uncertain IMHO.

But I realize different people value different things.

 

[Jrb1979]

I actually would say that having things scheduled in advanced and not having to worry about things while on your vacation actually kind of is on the magical side. Better to be relaxed on the vacation and confident about what you are doing rather than anxious and uncertain IMHO.

But I realize different people value different things.

My family prefers to go with the flow. We schedule enough in our day to day lives. We don't want to go to a theme park and have to have a spreadsheet for our day to day plan