Check in Day Late?

[Diane Hughess]

I will be attending a conference in Orlando until 12/2 (Friday). I want to take a taxi to WDW after the conf. ends Friday afternoon, and stay at WDW until Sun. 12/4. Right now there is a 'Free Dining' promotion which is valid for check ins 12/1 but not 12/2. Can I book a package with a check in on 12/1 but not check in until 12/2? Or should I take a taxi over on 12/1 then go back to my conference, and take another taxi back to WDW Fri. afternoon?? If I can't do this, I guess I could just wait for the room only discount which should be released 10/14...THANKS!!

 

[todpatcam]

I believe there is a 3 or 4 day minimum stay for the free dining deal - I believe:shrug:

 

[BigTxEars]

I agree there is a minimum stay, 3-4 nights seems right to my old mind. Not 100% sure though. A room discount might work for you.

 

[Diane Hughess]

I believe there is a 3 or 4 day minimum stay for the free dining deal - I believe:shrug:

Ah, yes! you are correct, it is a 3 night minimum stay. But if I make a ressie for Thu/Fri/Sat night, that would satisfy the 3 night minimum. Do you think I could get away with not showing up for it until Friday? Basically paying for 3 nights but not showing for the first night??

 

[BigTxEars]

I bet you could. I mean if Disney is getting paid for the room the first night why on Earth would they care if you were sleeping in it or not? As long as they knew you were going to show up for the rest of the trip so they did not consider you a "no show" and then in turn rent your room out from under you. A simple phone call could fix that I think.

 

[boufa]

Imagine that phone call... "I would like to pay you for something that I have no intention of using, would that be a problem?" .... "Uhhh, no, would you like to NOT stay for longer, or maybe just pay more?"

I am reading this thread because we were in a similar situation. Free Dining ends Saturday this week. But we were intending to drive down and arrive on sunday. (Its a 1000 mile drive). Instead of chancing it, we simply decided to leave friday night (today!!!!!! :sohappy and split the dive up, so that we would arrive Saturday, and thus get free dining. Saved us $200 for the week, vs kids play free, and almost $400 vs room only discount.

To the OP, I never did find a person who could give an answer to this question on any forum I checked.

 

[MeandMickey]

Never tried something like this. Your other option may be to use online check-in. Technically, you would have already booked and checked in, but just showed up to pick up your welcome folder and keys a day later than the reservation. Not sure if it will work and I am positive that nobody at your resort will be able to answer any questions if this will be ok. You are just gonna have to be our guinea pig here and let us know what you do and how you make out. :lol:

 

[Master Yoda]

For free dining you do need a three night minimum stay and a 2 day base ticket to qualify. Depending on your party size and resort choice it is quite likely that any savings you might have will be eclipsed by the extra night stay and the cab ride.

 

[Diane Hughess]

Never tried something like this. Your other option may be to use online check-in. Technically, you would have already booked and checked in, but just showed up to pick up your welcome folder and keys a day later than the reservation. Not sure if it will work and I am positive that nobody at your resort will be able to answer any questions if this will be ok. You are just gonna have to be our guinea pig here and let us know what you do and how you make out. :lol:

LOL! I guess I'll have to take one for the team and try:lol:

 

[pixiesteno]

you might want to price the two cab fares in relation to savings for free dinging and an extra night stay. Why not stay the first night you check in, take a cab to the conference the next morning and then back to property. This would eliminate paying for the conference room and the disney room for the same night.

 

[sbkline]

For free dining you do need a three night minimum stay and a 2 day base ticket to qualify. Depending on your party size and resort choice it is quite likely that any savings you might have will be eclipsed by the extra night stay and the cab ride.

you might want to price the two cab fares in relation to savings for free dinging and an extra night stay. Why not stay the first night you check in, take a cab to the conference the next morning and then back to property. This would eliminate paying for the conference room and the disney room for the same night.

I agree with these posters. I think you might be going to so much effort to save a few dollars that in the long run, you may end up costing yourself MORE than the amount that you are "saving"...or at the very best, breaking about even.

I'm not sure what resort you're staying at, but having stayed at the moderates, I can testify that they normally run right around $200 a night, give or take depending on what season it's in. So if you are indeed planning to stay in a moderate, then you're talking about spending $200 a night on a hotel you aren't staying in just so you can get free dining. So however much money you save on dining by getting free dining, you've just wiped out $200 of it by paying for a hotel you aren't staying in. If you are staying in a Value, then knock that amount down to around $100 bucks or so, give or take.

So just consider what Disney hotel you're staying at and evaluate the numbers to see how much you are paying for that room and compare to how much you are saving on free dining to see if it's worth it or not.

 

[surfsupdon]

Yes you can check in one day late, but call at some point that day and say that you are running late, please hold my room.


Back in the day, when your first night's rate was applied to your entire vacation, we used to do this each Christmas Season at Yacht Club.

The AP discount rate was 219/night for check ins up through 12/25. We would book 12/25 check in and secure the 219/night rate all the way through Jan 2nd or 3rd. If we booked a room starting on 12/26, we would have been paying 545/night--ABSURD!

So we booked check in on 12/25, and would check in on 12/26. Never a problem, and the extra night bought still saved a ton of money throughout the entire week, about 350/night was saved on the room!!


The new night by night pricing stinks for us, clearly.:lol: