Has anyone else been told this???

[PrincessCooper's Mom]

I just tried to change a reservation from 8 nights to 4 nights and was told that the computer would only allow it to be changed to a 5 night reservation. If I wanted to change resorts then I could change it to 4 nights. What the crap?

Background information...
On January trip I booked a bounceback room at FQ (2 adults, 1 child) for 8 nights.
My mom also booked the same thing. I called today to change my mom's reservation from 8 nights to only 4 nights.

The castmember told me that since the resort is sold out that the computer would not allow her to change reservation to only 4 nights. She played with it and was able to change it to 5 nights. She said something about the resort being sold out and keeping the reservation to week long stays.

Is there a minimum stay required for bounce back offers?
Has anyone else been told this?

 

[Judyfun]

This is a first for me, I tend to change, then change again and then maybe one more time. Never had an issue

 

[buzznina]

This is the 2nd post that I have seen about this, in the last week I would talk with a manager and if they say the same thing I would have them show me where in writing does it say this when I made my reservation.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Yes, this is the 2nd post I have seen as well. Getting disturbing. I try to book through Orbitz/Travelocity to max out discounts and if we want to do this we must cancel and totally re-book as well. So if Disney is now doing this, it appears to me to be nothing more than another corporate greed move to line their pockets. Unreal.

 

[maxiesmom]

Yes, this is the 2nd post I have seen as well. Getting disturbing. I try to book through Orbitz/Travelocity to max out discounts and if we want to do this we must cancel and totally re-book as well. So if Disney is now doing this, it appears to me to be nothing more than another corporate greed move to line their pockets. Unreal.

So it is ok for guests to do it to save money, but not for the corporation to make money?

It does seem a very strange situation, but even if it is being done for profit, I can't hold it against them. Seems very strange though. But it kind of reminds me of trying to buy concert tickets for a discount=--sometimes I want 2, but they only want to sell me 4. Seems the same sort of thing.

 

[yooperfan]

It's a hotel room. Why discourage guests from tweeking a reservation. How do they know you don't want to remove a few days off a ressie so you can stay at a higher end resort for an extended time than you originally were booked? I feel this was a short sited decision on their part. A lot of people can't resist extending/upgrading vacations they book sometimes a year or more in advance.

 

[theduhaimes]

I just ran into this today. I booked a bounce back in October 2014 to visit with free dining August 20-30, 2015. I called today to change my check out day to the 28th. I was told that the room type I had was not available and I had to upgrade to a different room. The new price was only a little over $100 less for 2 less nights. My first reaction was to tell her that I would keep the extra 2 nights and use the 2 extra days of free meals and still leave on the 28th (2 days of regular dining for a family of 5 is worth a lot more than $100). But then I remembered seeing a post here stating that the person asked to speak to a manager and got the situation resolved. I asked to speak to a manager. The manager was able to over ride the system and I had no problems getting what I wanted and we will now be checking out on the 28th with the garden room that I originally booked. The manager said that this is a new policy that was just implemented about 2 weeks ago.

 

[Amanda999]

Thanks for posting op. I've noticed for a year or two that when booking at Disney's site, sometimes a certain resort room or category is only available if I book for a week or more, but unavailable for less than a week within the same dates. I would always book the longer trip, then call and shorten it without a problem. I'm not surprised that there was a purpose to that now.

I'll just stick to orbitz I guess - unless or until they need to follow the same rule (but they have different inventory, so doubt they would).

 

[aaarcher86]

This is the 2nd post that I have seen about this, in the last week I would talk with a manager and if they say the same thing I would have them show me where in writing does it say this when I made my reservation.

Also the second post I've seen. Not a fan of the policy, but the reservation stuff all says subject to change so I don't think you'd get anywhere with wanting it in writing.

Not sure there's anything on reservations about modifying anyway.

 

[Princess_Nikki]

I just tried to change a reservation from 8 nights to 4 nights and was told that the computer would only allow it to be changed to a 5 night reservation. If I wanted to change resorts then I could change it to 4 nights. What the crap?

Background information...
On January trip I booked a bounceback room at FQ (2 adults, 1 child) for 8 nights.
My mom also booked the same thing. I called today to change my mom's reservation from 8 nights to only 4 nights.

The castmember told me that since the resort is sold out that the computer would not allow her to change reservation to only 4 nights. She played with it and was able to change it to 5 nights. She said something about the resort being sold out and keeping the reservation to week long stays.

Is there a minimum stay required for bounce back offers?
Has anyone else been told this?

This must be a new policy. Even last year I was able to book a stay around the 4-5 night mark using our Florida/Passholder Discount. Not this time. I happened to originally book 7 nights this time (which we usually do not do), tried to downgrade to 4 nights due to a schedule conflict and I could not either. I was told twice (last night, then again this morning) that in order to keep my discount I need a 7 night stay. I was going to split stay CBR and POP. Now I have to choose one or the other. Definitely new to this and I wonder if this will be a continuing policy throughout the rest of this year??

 

[gwynne]

I am wondering what travel agents are telling their clients. It sounds like it doesn't make much sense to book very far ahead if you need some flexibility. Have they started warning people at booking? Do they have a printout of exactly what the new resort reservation modification rules are? If so, please share.

 

[shoreward]

Under terms and conditions on the WDW Travel booking engine, it states "Room rates are guaranteed as long as your reservation is not changed."

I don't recall if that information was always there or newly added.

 

[Babsy]

Wow! This is terrible news! I am not going to be able to book a bounce back anymore! We typically book BB and then try to get a seat sale on flights to correspond with our reservation. Obviously, we almost always have to change our dates either removing or adding days as necessary. Who can know while on one trip exactly what days you will need next year? I can't book flights without knowing I can get a room at a decent rate. The flights we book are non refundable, so I can't do that first.

This just makes getting to WDW almost impossible for us to plan and afford. Where will all the restrictions and negative policy changes end?

Plus, every time I book I double check that it is OK to change and I have always been told 'Yes' but that adding days would be subject to availability. This may even mean that we will have to cancel this years plans. I am not happy.

I wish for the good old days when planning a WDW vacation was fun. I'm sorry, but between the stress of planning every meal and ride, and now the inability to adjust my reservation if necessary, I am getting more angst out of planning than the vacation is worth.

 

[maxiesmom]

Wow! This is terrible news! I am not going to be able to book a bounce back anymore! We typically book BB and then try to get a seat sale on flights to correspond with our reservation. Obviously, we almost always have to change our dates either removing or adding days as necessary. Who can know while on one trip exactly what days you will need next year? I can't book flights without knowing I can get a room at a decent rate. The flights we book are non refundable, so I can't do that first.

This just makes getting to WDW almost impossible for us to plan and afford. Where will all the restrictions and negative policy changes end?

Plus, every time I book I double check that it is OK to change and I have always been told 'Yes' but that adding days would be subject to availability. This may even mean that we will have to cancel this years plans. I am not happy.

I wish for the good old days when planning a WDW vacation was fun. I'm sorry, but between the stress of planning every meal and ride, and now the inability to adjust my reservation if necessary, I am getting more angst out of planning than the vacation is worth.

I don't think adding days is the problem. They are subject to availability, but Disney isn't going to tell you you can only book 4 days, not 6. Taking away days seems to be the problem. They won't let you take days off, but want you to cancel and book new, but then, it is subject to that resort still having rooms under the discount you previously booked.

I think I will still book, just book the fewest days I am comfortable with. You can always add on to a code, as long as rooms are still available. It is taking a chance, but I would have no problem resort hopping if I had to. I know that is not how everyone feels, but that is how I would deal with it. I still think it is a strange policy for a resort to take.

Maybe someone this is affecting should e-mail and ask what is going on.

 

[Marionnette]

This is just a hunch on my part, so I could be completely off base with my theory. But does anyone think that this has something to do with people booking stays for more days than they intend to stay so that they can get the 180+10 advantage on their ADRs for the dates that they intend to stay?

For instance, let's say that you want to stay from Nov. 8 - Nov. 15 and you really, REALLY, REALLY want to score specific ADRs at coveted restaurants. You could book for Nov. 5 - Nov. 15 and get a 3-day advantage for the last 3 days of your stay. Then, after scoring your breakfast at Cindy's or BOG dinner, you cancel the first 3 days of your stay because you never intended to stay that long.

I've seen this workaround referred to in other forums and I wonder if this is Disney's way of stopping the practice.

 

[maxiesmom]

This is just a hunch on my part, so I could be completely off base with my theory. But does anyone think that this has something to do with people booking stays for more days than they intend to stay so that they can get the 180+10 advantage on their ADRs for the dates that they intend to stay?

For instance, let's say that you want to stay from Nov. 8 - Nov. 15 and you really, REALLY, REALLY want to score specific ADRs at coveted restaurants. You could book for Nov. 5 - Nov. 15 and get a 3-day advantage for the last 3 days of your stay. Then, after scoring your breakfast at Cindy's or BOG dinner, you cancel the first 3 days of your stay because you never intended to stay that long.

I've seen this workaround referred to in other forums and I wonder if this is Disney's way of stopping the practice.

That is very possible.

 

[ttstroker]

There might be some truth to the reservation system not allowing it. For certain times of the year (like Memorial Day or 4th of July in DC), hotels will have a minimum stay policy where rooms won't be available for 1 or 2 night stays but will be for the same dates if booking a 3+ night stay. Hotels have learned that folks figured out you could trick the system by reducing the days so they instituted strict cancellation policies and/or advance payment. This is probably another way to mitigate that change by not allowing the system to save reservations under X # of days. Does the current bounce back policy state you have to reserve a minimum number of days?

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

We ran into this with AP rates covering spring and summer discounts. Have spring AP discount for first four, wanted to apply summer AP discount to last three. Availability showed online for our chosen room... but no go. Cutting the last three nights off of our original reservation would have booted us out of AP rate for our chosen room.

 

[tiger4me2]

Is this for the BB or AP ? I have a military discount for Sept. I booked for the full amount of days allowed as I was sure when DH would be able to take off. I was told when I booked to do this.

I made a payment on Wed and said I would be dropping some days but wasn't sure until my husband would know. They said it would be fine that I had 5 days before check in to cancel the days I didn't need.

I did ask about this and they assured me it wasn't so. She even transfer me to a supervisor and told me the same.


With the BB they told me when I booked one this past Dec for this Dec I was told to book the full days and cancel what ones I didn't want.

Disney will be running into trouble with this. If true they should tell you ahead of time or when you book. Not on my email. Just my two cents

 

[Meldev]

I can totally see this as a way to deter booking prior dates for ADR advantage. However, I plan to book this coming Monday (if the rumors about Visa FD hold true) and my issue is that we fly Southwest on points, and the flight schedules are not yet out for those dates. I planned to book a Saturday arrival, not fulling knowing for certain if we would really be able to check in Saturday or Sunday, but now what do I do? This policy therefore is inadvertently shortening my trip because I feel it's only safe to book for a Sunday arrival, instead of trying to delete Saturday if the schedule doesn't work for us.