Pre-Trip September 2020 - It Involved Alcohol

This is my first report so while I have mentioned Chris and my mum in other peoples TR's I will do a proper introduction.
Myself Gurt (real name Steph) my boyfriend Chris and my mum Jean

No we don't normally wear 'nice' clothes for the parks, we had dinner at California Grill and my mum wanted a castel picture in our 'nice' clothes.

Me and my mum had several family trips in the 90's, big guy in the middle is my dad (he passed away in 2008) and very young I would say 8ish Gurt in between him and my mum, and the other 3 are my aunt, uncle and cousin we always travelled as a 6 when we started joining them on trips, they had been many more times than we had so uncle T always lead the way I think I spent the 90's shouting 'follow the blue bag'

Chris's 1st trip was my first trip as an adult in 2013 that was for mums 60th birthday we hadn't been together very long when we booked that trip and Chris has never been abroad before so I was very skeptical asking him to spend a bunch of money on a holiday he didn't know he wanted to go on lucky for me he had a great time on our last MK exit he asked when we would be coming back!

That would come in 2016 for my 30th birthday once again a fantastic trip and I thought it would be our last for a long time me and Chris had start being real adults we had postponed buying our 1st house for that trip!



Last year my mum was made redundant however they did take her back on self employed on part time hours, so same work in less hours and no benefits such as holiday or sick pay but her position was redundant, yeah ok really! Yes I am mad about it! She only wanted to work another couple of years before she retired anyway so she agreed, it made her think about her retirement and things she will have to be careful with one of which will be holidays so she decided she wanted to save up and have one more trip before she finishes work and that was the start of this trip.

 

[Gurt]

Update and help needed......



so the flights have been released yey and at half the price of looking on Virgin's website another yey but still a huge chunk to add to what we would be paying to stay at Riviera boooo so really need to get the change to OWK, here lies the next hurdle and where the help is needed, remember that all important 2nd November date they gave me that has been and gone?



The latest nice Disney lady I spoke to told me OWK will not be released till March, is this correct or just another thing I need to ignore like many of the other reasons I have ignored each time I get a different answer?

Whilsts the flights have been released and after already paying a non refundable deposit Disney want another £300 per person to secure the flights also non refundable, if we pay this non refundable money that puts us in for a grand, I can live with my stuff up and loose our original deposit but I can't be £1000 out of pocket if OKW isn't going to be any cheaper than Riviera but I don't want to wait till March to secure the flights, the nice Disney lady assured me her information was correct as she is a DVC member and OKW is her home resort, please for the love of all my money someone tell me she is wrong @Tuvalu I told you I needed help @lostpro9het I am quite sure you and @imahistorygeek are also DVC members, @wdisney9000 im thinking your are too?

It is also very annoying that Disney have now released OKW to Virgin and you can book it via their website, albeit for an extortionate amount and without the dining plan.

All help and advise is muchly appreciated.

 

[Tuvalu]

Sorry Steph, I do not know the ins-and-outs of DVC nor international bookings (which can be quite different from U.S. offers.)

 

[Gurt]

Sorry Steph, I do not know the ins-and-outs of DVC nor international bookings (which can be quite different from U.S. offers.)

Thank you for replying @Tuvalu I really hope it is just one of the random excuses I have heard so far.

 

[lostpro9het]

Update and help needed......



so the flights have been released yey and at half the price of looking on Virgin's website another yey but still a huge chunk to add to what we would be paying to stay at Riviera boooo so really need to get the change to OWK, here lies the next hurdle and where the help is needed, remember that all important 2nd November date they gave me that has been and gone?



The latest nice Disney lady I spoke to told me OWK will not be released till March, is this correct or just another thing I need to ignore like many of the other reasons I have ignored each time I get a different answer?

Whilsts the flights have been released and after already paying a non refundable deposit Disney want another £300 per person to secure the flights also non refundable, if we pay this non refundable money that puts us in for a grand, I can live with my stuff up and loose our original deposit but I can't be £1000 out of pocket if OKW isn't going to be any cheaper than Riviera but I don't want to wait till March to secure the flights, the nice Disney lady assured me her information was correct as she is a DVC member and OKW is her home resort, please for the love of all my money someone tell me she is wrong @Tuvalu I told you I needed help @lostpro9het I am quite sure you and @imahistorygeek are also DVC members, @wdisney9000 im thinking your are too?

It is also very annoying that Disney have now released OKW to Virgin and you can book it via their website, albeit for an extortionate amount and without the dining plan.

All help and advise is muchly appreciated.

May I get the Cliff's notes version of the issue, sans gifs? I'm not entirely sure I understand the situation. September 2020 is most definitively bookable for DVC members since its well withing the 11-month window. I don't know how the particular agent you are using operates or how they are bundling packages BUT I can go in right now and book OKW through October 15th 2020 if I had OKW points. The March window makes me think the agent is waiting til the 7-month booking window. Again, I don't completely understand the situation or the details this agent is booking under.

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

Wow, I didn't realize how much more difficult it is to book internationally

I'm sorry you're facing all these hassles. Just know that soon enough, this stuff will be a distant memory, and you'll be enjoying your trip! ❤

 

[wdisney9000]

May I get the Cliff's notes version of the issue, sans gifs? I'm not entirely sure I understand the situation. September 2020 is most definitively bookable for DVC members since its well withing the 11-month window. I don't know how the particular agent you are using operates or how they are bundling packages BUT I can go in right now and book OKW through October 15th 2020 if I had OKW points. The March window makes me think the agent is waiting til the 7-month booking window. Again, I don't completely understand the situation or the details this agent is booking under.

Just to follow up on this, @lostpro9het is correct and there is PLENTY of availability for OKW in Sept 2020 and yes, it can be booked if the person/agent has a home resort of OKW. Sean is probly correct that the agent is waiting for the 7 month window which would lead me to believe that they do not have OKW as a home resort, or have used/rented their OKW points and need to reserve the room through a different DVC contract.

 

[Gurt]

Sorry my ramblings where not clear, I am not a DVC member, we have booked direct with Disney for September 2020, when I called to book OKW wasn't available but the agent told me I could book Riviera with the package we wanted and once it was 2nd November we would be able to switch resorts to OKW and keep our package as we had made the original booking within the offer timeline, now each time I call Disney they tell me OKW still hasn't been released and to keep calling in a few days time, the last Disney agent I spoke to said she did not know why I had been given that information because OKW was never going to be available till the 7 month March window. (She said that her information was correct the reason she knew was because she is a DVC member).

I hope that is a little clearer for everyone, I have never heard of a 7 month window and have always been able to book OKW with the free dining package offer and all the other things that come with the UK package if you book within certain dates, these dates have always before been with the 11 month window which is why I have never encountered these issues or have much knowledge of them, this year the offer ended before the 11 month window opened up.

Thank you for your replies I appreciate your help.