Experiencing Disney's (harsh) Travel Package Policies

fireworkz

fireworkz

Active Member
I thought I would share with everyone the situation my parents are currently having with their WDW Vacation, yes I may rant a bit, but I also hope their experience can start a discussion to be used by all of us to learn tips and things to consider with their future WDW trip planning.

A little background, my parents (and myself) have always been "off-siters". The last time we stayed on site was 35 years ago when there was only the Contemp, Poly and Golf to stay in. My parents have gone to Disney World over 25 times, including 1971 for their honeymoon! This time however they decided to try on-site for various reasons including the airport bus service and the dining plan.

So they booked a seven day stay, with five day park hopper and dining at the PO Riverside which was supposed to start the weekend. Unfortunately, we had some poor weather conditions here all weekend, which caused flight delays. This forced them to start their trip more than 48 hours late. Being retired and flexible with scheduling, they decided to actually extend their return date. They extended it out so not only so they would get their seven day vacation, but stretch it to ten days as they felt seven was kind of short to start with.

Here's where the fun begins. They called Disney, fully expecting to pay for the two nights of hotel they missed, to make sure if they could get the other five nights, then add five more. They also hoped to keep their five day park hopper and dining plans in tact to apply to the stay and add on extra days to those. Disney has told them no, they not only lose the two days of hotel, but also two days in the parks and two days worth of dining vouchers. Also to add days to their remaining three days of park tickets, they would have to purchase a whole new separate pass rather than the usual, much cheaper few $$ a day add-on rate.

This is ridiculous. For dining they haven't eating a thing, and they made no ADRs, but I guess some argument can be made dining is tied to your number of nights staying - so for dining the whole situation is kind of grey, but you think Disney would offer some compromise seeing they are extending their stay. The park tickets on the other hand is crazy. They only bought five days for a seven day stay. They weren't going to the parks the first two days anyway! One day for travel, one to relax a bit. So how can Disney claw back those two days when they don't even know when they were going to use them? Not to mention if you buy tix separately they don't activate until you walk up to the gate the first time. Then to say you can't use the add-on feature is even worse. If they got their on time and decided to add a day they could, but now because they missed two days for some reason they can't. They haven't given up yet. They are now spending part of their vacation fighting with Disney.

So here's where the discussion comes in.
  • I've already learned there really isn't much of a discount on room or tickets when booking a package.
  • The cancellation policies are actually much better when you book only a room as apposed to booking a package.
  • Park Tickets when bought separate don't activate until you first use them. However in a package they activate from the day you're supposed to check-in. (Edit: I have since learned thanks to others who have posted this info is false. The packaged park tickets also don't start until first use.)
What I would like to know:
  • Can you add Dining to a room only booking when you check-in or does this always have to bought in advance?
  • Has anyone else had a similar experience to my parents and how did they go about resolving them?
Thanks!
 
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ratherbeinwdw

ratherbeinwdw

Well-Known Member
fireworkz said:
I thought I would share with everyone the situation my parents are currently having with their WDW Vacation, yes I may rant a bit, but I also hope their experience can start a discussion to be used by all of us to learn tips and things to consider with their future WDW trip planning.

A little background, my parents (and myself) have always been "off-siters". The last time we stayed on site was 35 years ago when there was only the Contemp, Poly and Golf to stay in. My parents have gone to Disney World over 25 times, including 1971 for their honeymoon! This time however they decided to try on-site for various reasons including the airport bus service and the dining plan.

So they booked a seven day stay, with five day park hopper and dining at the PO Riverside which was supposed to start the weekend. Unfortunately, we had some poor weather conditions here all weekend, which caused flight delays. This forced them to start their trip more than 48 hours late. Being retired and flexible with scheduling, they decided to actually extend their return date. They extended it out so not only so they would get their seven day vacation, but stretch it to ten days as they felt seven was kind of short to start with.

Here's where the fun begins. They called Disney, fully expecting to pay for the two nights of hotel they missed, to make sure if they could get the other five nights, then add five more. They also hoped to keep their five day park hopper and dining plans in tact to apply to the stay and add on extra days to those. Disney has told them no, they not only lose the two days of hotel, but also two days in the parks and two days worth of dining vouchers. Also to add days to their remaining three days of park tickets, they would have to purchase a whole new separate pass rather than the usual, much cheaper few $$ a day add-on rate.

This is ridiculous. For dining they haven't eating a thing, and they made no ADRs, but I guess some argument can be made dining is tied to your number of nights staying - so for dining the whole situation is kind of grey, but you think Disney would offer some compromise seeing they are extending their stay. The park tickets on the other hand is crazy. They only bought five days for a seven day stay. They weren't going to the parks the first two days anyway! One day for travel, one to relax a bit. So how can Disney claw back those two days when they don't even know when they were going to use them? Not to mention if you buy tix separately they don't activate until you walk up to the gate the first time. Then to say you can't use the add-on feature is even worse. If they got their on time and decided to add a day they could, but now because they missed two days for some reason they can't. They haven't given up yet. They are now spending part of their vacation fighting with Disney.

So here's where the discussion comes in.
  • I've already learned there really isn't much of a discount on room or tickets when booking a package.
  • The cancellation policies are actually much better when you book only a room as apposed to booking a package.
  • Park Tickets when bought separate don't activate until you first use them. However in a package they activate from the day you're supposed to check-in.
What I would like to know:

  • Can you add Dining to a room only booking when you check-in or does this always have to bought in advance?
  • Has anyone else had a similar experience to my parents and how did they go about resolving them?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
This is exactly why we never buy a package anymore. We have found that you get the same price purchasing separately. We don't do the dining plan, so I can't answer if you can add it at arrival or not. Even though I purchased our room and tickets for April separately, for the first time, they did not send us our tickets. They said they would be added to our room when we arrived, but that since we purchased them separately, we can get a refund if we cancel the room. You cannot do that with a package.
 
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fireworkz

fireworkz

Active Member
Original Poster
ratherbeinwdw said:
This is exactly why we never buy a package anymore. We have found that you get the same price purchasing separately. We don't do the dining plan, so I can't answer if you can add it at arrival or not. Even though I purchased our room and tickets for April separately, for the first time, they did not send us our tickets. They said they would be added to our room when we arrived, but that since we purchased them separately, we can get a refund if we cancel the room. You cannot do that with a package.
Click to expand...

Agreed - I don't think I'll ever book a package - it would have to be on for a REALLY good deal.

Forgot to mention one thing - I was actually considering staying on-site for my next family trip. My parents experience was going to be the final decision maker. Off-site has another big advantage here. Most of the major chains will let you cancel 24 hours in advance, even in some cases up to 6 pm the day of without any penalty if you re-book. Those are amazing policies, I understand Disney might not be able to offer the same deadlines because they have a more limited audience who tend to stay for days in their hotels. So I'm not totally unreasonable in seeing some of it their way when it comes to their deadlines on accommodations. But I'm totally lost on why the park tickets are so connected. It looks like there is no advantage at all to booking a full Disney package.
 
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draybook

draybook

Well-Known Member
#1- Disney is pretty flexible with the 45 day window. We cancelled within 30 days and lost only half of the deposit.

#2- How could they lose "park days"? I was under the impression that the tickets didn't activate until they were first used, regardless of being separate or in a package? I've never had a CM or any kind of rep tell me that the tickets start when we check-in.
 
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D

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
draybook said:
#1- Disney is pretty flexible with the 45 day window. We cancelled within 30 days and lost only half of the deposit.

#2- How could they lose "park days"? I was under the impression that the tickets didn't activate until they were first used, regardless of being separate or in a package? I've never had a CM or any kind of rep tell me that the tickets start when we check-in.
Click to expand...

They don't. I have clients that buy packages with free dining and tickets and save the tickets for their next trip or apply then later to the cost of an annual pass.
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
Something really does not sound right. I have been able to modify clients plans, package or otherwise, at 24 hours out. The only issues have been availability. Everything else went as smooth as silk. When exactly relative to their original arrival date did they try to make this change?
 
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fireworkz

fireworkz

Active Member
Original Poster
Master Yoda said:
Something really does not sound right. I have been able to modify clients plans, package or otherwise, at 24 hours out. The only issues have been availability. Everything else went as smooth as silk. When exactly relative to their original arrival date did they try to make this change?
Click to expand...

The day of they were supposed to check-in - as soon as they knew their original flight was cancelled.

EDIT: Actually to clarify, they informed Disney their arrival would be delayed at least one day. This call was made the day they were supposed to check-in. They did mention they wanted to make changes, but had to confirm what they would be able to do (after all they had to set up a new return flight). That rep said no problem, contact when ready and they would put a note on the account about the late arrival. On the next call things changed....
 
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Master Yoda

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
fireworkz said:
The day of they were supposed to check-in - as soon as they knew their original flight was cancelled.
Click to expand...
That is part of the problem. Had it been the day prior I doubt an eye would have been batted. Still, Disney should have worked around this especially if all you were doing is moving things up a day or two due to a weather related flight cancellation. Had they out right canceled it would have cost them $200 + insurance max.
 
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taz0162

taz0162

Well-Known Member
DisneyJoe said:
Regarding their tickets, they don't activate until used at a gate. If you never enter a park they won't be consider used. They could bring them back on a future trip.

They got bad info on the tickets. They could have added days at a park ticket services window.
Click to expand...
Very well said indeed.
 
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fireworkz

fireworkz

Active Member
Original Poster
Master Yoda said:
If they are still on this trip I would have them talk to the manager of the resort they are at. If they are already back, there is little chance of much resolution, but I would still contact guest services.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, they are still there, only arrived yesterday.
 
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Z

Zortek

Active Member
Phonedave said:
How can they loose 2 days of dining?

The Disney dining plan does not work by a certain number of meals each day. You get it "in lump sum". If you have 5 nights of the dining plan, you get credit for 5 TS, 5 CS, and 5 Snacks at the start. You can use them all on the frist day, the last day, or any combination in between.
Click to expand...

The dining plan is based on length of stay, so if they are not letting them move the start date of their trip, they will either need to extend the dining plan out the extra days on the end of the trip or if they do a seperate room only stay at the end, their credits will expire before they leave.
 
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annawilliams

annawilliams

Active Member
Sounds like they should just talk to another cast member. :) I've found that talking to different people will definitely get you in touch with someone with more power to change things.
 
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D

DisneyJoe

Well-Known Member
I believe the issue is that once you arrive on a package it can be difficult to modify that package.

The tickets can be taken to a ticket window and have days added with no problem.

In order for them to get 5 more days with dining, they'd need to have a 2nd package created with dining and at least a one day ticket.

Master Yoda, what do you think?
 
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