I need some help-change in our trip

[mickeymouse090]

I need some help, we have had a change in our plans for our trip & I don’t know what is the best thing to do. We have 3 traveling in our party but one of them will only be staying for only half of the trip now because of a promotion at work. We were originally going to book a package staying at AKL, dining plan & tickets. We still want to do this for half of the trip while all 3 of us are there, but when the other person leaves the two of us left want to switch hotels to save on the cost, but we still want the dining plan & obviously tickets.

We chose AKL because the person who has to leave really wants to stay there, but this was before she found out she can’t be gone as long as we planned. I know many people switch hotels during their trip, but I have never done this before. I am not sure how to handle the booking process…since we want the package for the dining will we have to book 2 trips essentially? Is this going to cost us more money in the end switching around like this? We were going to book through AAA for the package discount they offer & their perks. I just need a little bit of advice on this & how to go about doing it. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!! :wave:

 

[Nemo14]

I need some help, we have had a change in our plans for our trip & I don’t know what is the best thing to do. We have 3 traveling in our party but one of them will only be staying for only half of the trip now because of a promotion at work. We were originally going to book a package staying at AKL, dining plan & tickets. We still want to do this for half of the trip while all 3 of us are there, but when the other person leaves the two of us left want to switch hotels to save on the cost, but we still want the dining plan & obviously tickets.

We chose AKL because the person who has to leave really wants to stay there, but this was before she found out she can’t be gone as long as we planned. I know many people switch hotels during their trip, but I have never done this before. I am not sure how to handle the booking process…since we want the package for the dining will we have to book 2 trips essentially? Is this going to cost us more money in the end switching around like this? We were going to book through AAA for the package discount they offer & their perks. I just need a little bit of advice on this & how to go about doing it. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thank you!! :wave:

I'm pretty sure you'll have to book the 2 seperately, and it could end up costing you more in the end to do that. JPVondrake is our resident expert on these matters - you might want to PM him about it.

If you don't mind my asking, what resort are you considering changing to?

 

[mickeymouse090]

I'm pretty sure you'll have to book the 2 seperately, and it could end up costing you more in the end to do that. JPVondrake is our resident expert on these matters - you might want to PM him about it.

If you don't mind my asking, what resort are you considering changing to?

Port Orleans French Quarter, only because I stayed there on my last trip down in 2006. I was afraid it might end up costing more to do this & the whole reason we are talking about switching is to save us money, so I don't know. :shrug:

 

[Lucky]

My understanding is that if you arrange it now, you would have to do separate reservations and possibly lose free dining on the 2nd reservation. So obviously not worth it.

Otherwise you could try to switch after you arrive. Call the number for POFQ and explain things to them. If they're booked but you're flexible, they might be able to arrange for another moderate for you.

 

[mickeymouse090]

My understanding is that if you arrange it now, you would have to do separate reservations and possibly lose free dining on the 2nd reservation. So obviously not worth it.

Otherwise you could try to switch after you arrive. Call the number for POFQ and explain things to them. If they're booked but you're flexible, they might be able to arrange for another moderate for you.

When we are going to be there in January I don’t think they have any free dining so that shouldn’t be an issue if we would switch hotels. If we decide not to change hotels halfway through because it might not be beneficial how does the dining plan work then for us. The plan says each person in the party has to be on it in order to book the dining, but if one person isn’t staying as long can we still do the plan since we are not all staying the same amount of days?

I did have our entire trip planned out until we got this one “little” hiccup! Aghhh! It is a good hiccup, but like I said…Aghhhh!!! :brick:

 

[KingStefan]

I PM'd JPVonDrake. He's the authority on these boards for this sort of thing. I'm sure he can help.

 

[mickeymouse090]

I PM'd JPVonDrake. He's the authority on these boards for this sort of thing. I'm sure he can help.

I'm sorry I don't know, but how do you PM'd JPVonDrake? :shrug: I'm still fairly new to the boards.

Thanks!

 

[mousefan1972]

Definitely PM JPVonDrake as previously mentioned... he is a DRC CM and is extremely helpful with this kind of thing.

Go to Members List and click on it. A small box will be on the right hand side of the screen that says "Search members" type in JPVonDrake. His profile will pop up. Click on his user name. Choose "send a private message". Type out your question to him and press submit message. Voila!

 

[KingStefan]

I'm sorry I don't know, but how do you PM'd JPVonDrake? :shrug: I'm still fairly new to the boards.

Thanks!

Definitely PM JPVonDrake as previously mentioned... he is a DRC CM and is extremely helpful with this kind of thing.

Go to Members List and click on it. A small box will be on the right hand side of the screen that says "Search members" type in JPVonDrake. His profile will pop up. Click on his user name. Choose "send a private message". Type out your question to him and press submit message. Voila!

No apology necessary; we were all new at one time. Mousefan gave good instructions for sending a PM (Private Message).

However, what I meant when I said that I "PM'd JPVonDrake" was that I already sent a private message to JPVonDrake, asking him to come over to our thread and take a look to see if he could help.

As has been discussed from time to time, there are Cast Members at the Disney Reservation Center of varying skills and knowledge levels, although just about all are competent. JP, however is special. He always seems to understand the issues very well, and gives excellent easy-to-understand answers to even the most complicated questions. And he seems to love helping out on these boards.

I don't know whether he is around just now, but he usually responds in a fairly timely manner. I hope he visits this thread soon.

 

[mickeymouse090]

Thanks for all the help on this, once we get some more details from the person who can't stay for the entire trip we will decide what we are going to do for sure & then I will know exactly who to talk to! :wave:

 

[JPVonDrake]

Glad to help out!

mickeymouse090 - I replied to your PM directly with details on the best way to proceed and how to save the most money. Please feel free to PM me back if you have any further questions or concerns.

For others who may have a similar situation:

The Magic You Way Plus Dine Package can contain only 1 resort room, 1 MYW Ticket for everyone in the room, and the dine plan for everyone in the room for your entire length of stay.

The main thing to remember when you are on a package, everyone in the room must be on the same package with the same components and ticket options and all Guests must be listed for the entire length of stay.

Theme Park days and Dine entitlements are non-transferable. If a Guest leaves early, you would still pay for several meals & theme park days that could not be used by anyone else in your party.

In mickeymouse090 case, it would be less expensive to book two separate reservations then to purchase unneeded theme park days and meal entitlements since one of her Guests is leaving early.

If your entire party simply want to stay at two resorts, you would need to factor in the price of purchasing 2 separate tickets as opposed to 1 longer ticket. The savings from splitting your stay between at a Deluxe Resort and a Moderate Resort in many cases may out-way the extra cost for your tickets making this very do-able.

 

[mickeymouse090]

Thanks JP! :wave: