Weird reservation change and autocancellation - anyone experienced this?

[2vets]

Wanted to post this because it was just kind of bizarre.

I have an upcoming 4-night solo stay at GF. They released a Celebration at the Top for my arrival night - I love that event, attended one years ago and have never had another one line up with a stay, so I booked it. But I was stressing about the potential for travel delays, so I decided to tack on a night to the beginning of my stay.

Here's where things got odd. I initially booked that night at an AS resort, but a great annual passholder rate popped up on a standard AKL room a couple of days later. I have been wanting to try Boma, and I am there during a cheer competition (AS will be mobbed), so I decided to go for it. I changed my AS room to AKL, and the booking went all the way through, but I was never prompted to pay the difference in room price. I have never been able to book a room only reservation without one entire night's stay deposited, so it was odd to me, but I got a confirmation and everything. I checked, and the room showed in MDE and online, so I figured I was all set. But today, I was messing with ADRs, and my AKL reservation was missing. I then started looking into the financials, and my credit card was credited a few days after the booking, so I tried to rebook the room, but there were no AP rates left - the only standard room was going to be $55 or so more than my original rate. I called Disney - they said the res had been autocancelled since the entire deposit was not paid. At first, they tried to say that there was nothing they could do about the rate and that I'd need to book at the higher rate and keep checking back, but I pushed them until they reinstated my booking at the original AP rate.

I appreciate that they were able to fix this for me, and all's well that ends well (I'm thankful I noticed the reservation had disappeared!), but this was just - weird. Anyone ever hear of this happening before?

 

[DCLMP]

Wanted to post this because it was just kind of bizarre.

I have an upcoming 4-night solo stay at GF. They released a Celebration at the Top for my arrival night - I love that event, attended one years ago and have never had another one line up with a stay, so I booked it. But I was stressing about the potential for travel delays, so I decided to tack on a night to the beginning of my stay.

Here's where things got odd. I initially booked that night at an AS resort, but a great annual passholder rate popped up on a standard AKL room a couple of days later. I have been wanting to try Boma, and I am there during a cheer competition (AS will be mobbed), so I decided to go for it. I changed my AS room to AKL, and the booking went all the way through, but I was never prompted to pay the difference in room price. I have never been able to book a room only reservation without one entire night's stay deposited, so it was odd to me, but I got a confirmation and everything. I checked, and the room showed in MDE and online, so I figured I was all set. But today, I was messing with ADRs, and my AKL reservation was missing. I then started looking into the financials, and my credit card was credited a few days after the booking, so I tried to rebook the room, but there were no AP rates left - the only standard room was going to be $55 or so more than my original rate. I called Disney - they said the res had been autocancelled since the entire deposit was not paid. At first, they tried to say that there was nothing they could do about the rate and that I'd need to book at the higher rate and keep checking back, but I pushed them until they reinstated my booking at the original AP rate.

I appreciate that they were able to fix this for me, and all's well that ends well (I'm thankful I noticed the reservation had disappeared!), but this was just - weird. Anyone ever hear of this happening before?

Yes I have had it happen, but I went back into the reservation and paid the difference before it cancelled.

 

[2vets]

Yes I have had it happen, but I went back into the reservation and paid the difference before it cancelled.

Thanks. Were you prompted? My confirmation states that the balance was due on my arrival date, so I didn't think about it. I had zero problem paying the difference, but I didn't see a compelling reason to pay early if it wasn't necessary.

 

[DCLMP]

Thanks. Were you prompted? My confirmation states that the balance was due on my arrival date, so I didn't think about it. I had zero problem paying the difference, but I didn't see a compelling reason to pay early if it wasn't necessary.

No prompt

 

[jemtx]

I never encountered that. I’ve always had to pay the difference before finishing the booking. Weird glitch, but I glad you noticed and that you were persistent with the CM and they able to fix the price. Have a great trip & let us know how Boma is (it looks good).

 

[DCLMP]

I never encountered that. I’ve always had to pay the difference before finishing the booking. Weird glitch, but I glad you noticed and that you were persistent with the CM and they able to fix the price. Have a great trip & let us know how Boma is (it looks good).

If you've booked enough Disney vacations or cruises you learn the system is glitchy and to just be proactive. I'm glad OP escalated it and got it resolved. I would have done the same.

 

[2vets]

I never encountered that. I’ve always had to pay the difference before finishing the booking. Weird glitch, but I glad you noticed and that you were persistent with the CM and they able to fix the price. Have a great trip & let us know how Boma is (it looks good).

I mean, I can’t recall a WDW trip where I didn’t change my res a million times! This was a first, and as @DCLMP points out, I figured it was a weird glitch. I alllllmost posted asking about it here when I booked. But my confirmation clearly shows the cost, amount paid, and balance due upon checkin (with date), so I thought maybe it was b/c it was such a small balance, it was just something I’d not encountered before.

I’m glad they were able to help rebook, and I had a great and knowledgeable CM, but I was a little annoyed with guest services’ first response to her and me. I had to ask her to go back to them and remind them that this was clearly THEIR side’s issue, I had a confirmation stating the rate and payment terms and dates, and that they had cancelled it with zero communication. I may well have shown up with AKL with my email but no booking. As for the higher rate, the extra $55 I’d be paying because of their issue was the cost of the dinner that had prompted the change to AKL in the first place. Asking me to spend time daily stalking the website in the hopes of re-gaining my original rate was adding insult to injury. I think this may well have been the first time I ever asked for something to be escalated.

Anyways, it’s fixed, and I have my answer! I’m super excited for Boma and AKL, and my trip in general! I have some awesome stuff planned! I originally had a CR CL room, and I decided to move to GF non-CL (AP discount was much greater for non-CL) and do some amazing dinners, etc instead. I have that Celebration at the Top, a MK after hours, and I also have a dinner booked at V&A’s!! That might be a little weird solo, so I’ll have to bring a book . All this stuff: still cheaper than CL…

 

[jemtx]

I mean, I can’t recall a WDW trip where I didn’t change my res a million times! This was a first, and as @DCLMP points out, I figured it was a weird glitch. I alllllmost posted asking about it here when I booked. But my confirmation clearly shows the cost, amount paid, and balance due upon checkin (with date), so I thought maybe it was b/c it was such a small balance, it was just something I’d not encountered before.

I’m glad they were able to help rebook, and I had a great and knowledgeable CM, but I was a little annoyed with guest services’ first response to her and me. I had to ask her to go back to them and remind them that this was clearly THEIR side’s issue, I had a confirmation stating the rate and payment terms and dates, and that they had cancelled it with zero communication. I may well have shown up with AKL with my email but no booking. As for the higher rate, the extra $55 I’d be paying because of their issue was the cost of the dinner that had prompted the change to AKL in the first place. Asking me to spend time daily stalking the website in the hopes of re-gaining my original rate was adding insult to injury. I think this may well have been the first time I ever asked for something to be escalated.

Anyways, it’s fixed, and I have my answer! I’m super excited for Boma and AKL, and my trip in general! I have some awesome stuff planned! I originally had a CR CL room, and I decided to move to GF non-CL (AP discount was much greater for non-CL) and do some amazing dinners, etc instead. I have that Celebration at the Top, a MK after hours, and I also have a dinner booked at V&A’s!! That might be a little weird solo, so I’ll have to bring a book . All this stuff: still cheaper than CL…

It’s so crazy that all that stuff is cheaper than CL . Sounds like you have a lot of great stuff booked. A great CM makes all the difference. Glad you got it resolved. Look forward to hearing about your trip.

 

[mickey916]

Just had this happen to us two weeks ago. I booked a one night stay at All Star Music for this coming April for three of us. My younger son then changed his mind and decided to join us on the trip. So within an hour of booking, I added him to the reservation. It showed $17.02 due at check-in on our confirmation email. I too assumed it was because of the small amount. Then, later that night I happened to notice that it changed the due date to the following day. I paid the difference but it's so weird. Another odd thing is the $17.02 went through on my cc prior to the original payment. Very strange. Glad it worked out for you.

 

[2vets]

It’s so crazy that all that stuff is cheaper than CL . Sounds like you have a lot of great stuff booked. A great CM makes all the difference. Glad you got it resolved. Look forward to hearing about your trip.

I mean, it is just me! But I think it would be slightly less even with two. I adore CL and will still book it (will be calling for a BB rate when there, possibly), but for a pure solo trip, it no longer makes sense most of the time, rates have gone up a lot, and I don’t eat breakfast most days!

 

[2vets]

Just had this happen to us two weeks ago. I booked a one night stay at All Star Music for this coming April for three of us. My younger son then changed his mind and decided to join us on the trip. So within an hour of booking, I added him to the reservation. It showed $17.02 due at check-in on our confirmation email. I too assumed it was because of the small amount. Then, later that night I happened to notice that it changed the due date to the following day. I paid the difference but it's so weird. Another odd thing is the $17.02 went through on my cc prior to the original payment. Very strange. Glad it worked out for you.

Weird. They need to nip this in the bud - just send a notice to pay or something, a casual visitor could be impacted quite negatively. Glad it worked out for you, as well. Have a great trip!

 

[mickey916]

Weird. They need to nip this in the bud - just send a notice to pay or something, a casual visitor could be impacted quite negatively. Glad it worked out for you, as well. Have a great trip!

They definitely need to fix this. I had an AP discount too so I would have potentially lost that rate as well if I hadn't noticed. Thank you!

 

[jemtx]

I mean, it is just me! But I think it would be slightly less even with two. I adore CL and will still book it (will be calling for a BB rate when there, possibly), but for a pure solo trip, it no longer makes sense most of the time, rates have gone up a lot, and I don’t eat breakfast most days!

The price has gotten CRAZY. The only way I was able to do CL is the BB rate. The price difference is only about $100-150 more a night. Beyond that, I think I’ll skip CL too. The party at the Top sounds great—enjoy

 

[2vets]

The price has gotten CRAZY. The only way I was able to do CL is the BB rate. The price difference is only about $100-150 more a night. Beyond that, I think I’ll skip CL too. The party at the Top sounds great—enjoy

I can maaaaybe see doing it when I travel with my husband (next November - 2025), but I just don't know. We have a lot of overseas trips planned. I do have an upcoming CL stay with my sister and niece at GCH (Disneyland), at rack rate, and it's mostly over a weekend so the rate is unlikely to be discounted significantly, ever - that is eye-wateringly expensive, so I am not leaning towards any more right now. I'll report back on this trip, very excited! Hope you have a great trip, as well.

 

[kylenne]

This literally just happened to us last week. Our Grand Floridian reservation fell off my MDE account twice and I thought it was due to tech glitches. Our TA actually logged in to try to "unstick" the cookies or w/e and it seemed to be fine, we could both see it, but then I went back in the next day when I was WFH and it was gone. I then noticed a credit hit on my Amex card. I called Disney first and the CM said it was most likely autocancelled because we had modified the reservation a couple of times (the last time was from Contemporary to GF). The thing is, my TA said it never prompted her to pay any additional difference for the room only deposit, we had more than enough paid to cover the difference anyway is the crazy part. And that's never happened to her, ever. It had to be some crazy IT glitch.

She got it straightened out and was able to rebook us, but she got her sales manager on them.

 

[2vets]

This literally just happened to us last week. Our Grand Floridian reservation fell off my MDE account twice and I thought it was due to tech glitches. Our TA actually logged in to try to "unstick" the cookies or w/e and it seemed to be fine, we could both see it, but then I went back in the next day when I was WFH and it was gone. I then noticed a credit hit on my Amex card. I called Disney first and the CM said it was most likely autocancelled because we had modified the reservation a couple of times (the last time was from Contemporary to GF). The thing is, my TA said it never prompted her to pay any additional difference for the room only deposit, we had more than enough paid to cover the difference anyway is the crazy part. And that's never happened to her, ever. It had to be some crazy IT glitch.

She got it straightened out and was able to rebook us, but she got her sales manager on them.

Oh, wow. That is crazy.

 

[kylenne]

Oh, wow. That is crazy.

Putting on my IT analyst hat I have to wonder if they pushed some kind of update to the reservation system and something broke with whatever system automatically prompts a payment for the difference. I'm still not sure how we got caught up in it though given that we had paid over and above the difference between our garden wing CR room and resort view at GF. Our TA is a veteran agent who does a lot of business through her platinum earmarked agency and it's the first time she ever saw something like that. Luckily we are just booked rack waiting for the fall AP discounts to come out or else I would have been really heated if we had lost a discount because of that.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Thanks for the head's up that this has been happening.

 

[2vets]

Putting on my IT analyst hat I have to wonder if they pushed some kind of update to the reservation system and something broke with whatever system automatically prompts a payment for the difference. I'm still not sure how we got caught up in it though given that we had paid over and above the difference between our garden wing CR room and resort view at GF. Our TA is a veteran agent who does a lot of business through her platinum earmarked agency and it's the first time she ever saw something like that. Luckily we are just booked rack waiting for the fall AP discounts to come out or else I would have been really heated if we had lost a discount because of that.

I cannot overemphasize how often I switch resorts/dates/room categories/rates. This was a first for me. And I was NOT HAPPY when they tried to tell me I'd have to suck it up and take the higher rate, and spend my time stalking the website if I wanted the rate I had originally confirmed. I mean, in what world would that seem like an acceptable approach? I'm glad I had such a great CM, because I was able to get my point across without (obviously) getting upset. I am of the mindset that that rarely helps any situation.

I'll say again, they need to nip this in the bud. @kylenne, your story is ridiculous.

 

[Rpo0921]

I cannot overemphasize how often I switch resorts/dates/room categories/rates. This was a first for me. And I was NOT HAPPY when they tried to tell me I'd have to suck it up and take the higher rate, and spend my time stalking the website if I wanted the rate I had originally confirmed. I mean, in what world would that seem like an acceptable approach? I'm glad I had such a great CM, because I was able to get my point across without (obviously) getting upset. I am of the mindset that that rarely helps any situation.

I'll say again, they need to nip this in the bud. @kylenne, your story is ridiculous.

Unrelated slightly but I had an issue where I had to ask for a manager because one department transferred me to another and they transferred me back to the first. The manager I ended up talking to was the rudest person and acted like the issue was my fault while both CM prior said they saw the issue but didn’t know how to correct it. If I hadn’t of had a screenshot to literally email to the manager I don’t know what would’ve happened.

Sum of the story? Always screenshot things that might be important lol