New policy for single players at Disney golf courses...and its not good.

[PleasejointheFarque]

So the husband was planning on playing every morning of our 14 day trip in Sept at a Disney course, went to see the booking page and noticed you cant book for a single player. He emailed and got this reply...

"Due to a change in policy for single golfers, you will only be able to book 3 days in advance. Also, we do not have a 9 hole rate. You will either have to walk up everyday or book our Sunrise 9 early in the mornings or our Sunset 9 late in the evenings.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Please let me know if I can help you or you have any other questions.
Walt Disney World Golf Reservations Agent
Phone: (407) 939-4653 "

There was no notice on the website, and now he will have to book at non-Disney courses for those 14 mornings. Very disappointing and has thrown our scheduling out. Disney also have lost a bit of $$$ but that doesn't seem to worry them. I'm just getting a bit tired of all the changes that don't make our vacations better, they actually make them more stressful.

So single golfers, be warned.....but as always YMMV.

 

[Firepath]

My husband is NOT going to be happy about this! He also often plays the Sunrise 9 and Sunset 9 but noticed that they often have openings for 2 or more, and much less availability for 1. He says he often joins other singles or groups of 3, so I'm not sure what they're thinking.

 

[PleasejointheFarque]

I was actually thinking maybe we should book for 2 players and then cancel one, do they have a cancellation policy??...my hubby is def not a happy camper atm.... Sigh..its all just getting too hard.
Disney why you do this???
Its hard enough to get my guy to go back to wdw every year, and then you take away my major draw card?? Don't you want our money.....

 

[tjkraz]

Disney also have lost a bit of $$$ but that doesn't seem to worry them. I'm just getting a bit tired of all the changes that don't make our vacations better, they actually make them more stressful.

I'm not a golfer and don't have any insight on this particular change. But putting on my Business 101 hat, I suspect demand is driving this decision as it does with many others. Anecdotally, business is booming at Walt Disney World. We complain about higher prices (which are designed, in part, to discourage some guests from visiting) and more restrictive policies. And we also complain about huge crowds and limited availability.

On the surface, it seems like this policy is designed to accommodate larger groups rather than trying to match up singles throughout the day. Assuming demand is strong for the golf courses, it's another way for Disney to maximize capacity of a resource with limited availability.

Totally understand the disappointment, though. Hope your husband finds something that works for him.

 

[drusba]

Not sure how much of this is actually new. For well over two years now , they have prevented single golfers from reserving more than several days out. However, the single golfer rule they were following had an exception that allowed you to still book up to 60 days out as long as there was already at least a twosome in the time you wanted. If they are still following that exception, you should be OK.

 

[BillPA]

Is the golf still managed by The Arnold Palmer Company? Maybe with Arnold's passing they are getting more money hungry like the mouse.

 

[Simba's Mom]

So the husband was planning on playing every morning of our 14 day trip in Sept at a Disney course, went to see the booking page and noticed you cant book for a single player. He emailed and got this reply...

"Due to a change in policy for single golfers, you will only be able to book 3 days in advance. Also, we do not have a 9 hole rate. You will either have to walk up everyday or book our Sunrise 9 early in the mornings or our Sunset 9 late in the evenings.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Please let me know if I can help you or you have any other questions.
Walt Disney World Golf Reservations Agent
Phone: (407) 939-4653 "

There was no notice on the website, and now he will have to book at non-Disney courses for those 14 mornings. Very disappointing and has thrown our scheduling out. Disney also have lost a bit of $$$ but that doesn't seem to worry them. I'm just getting a bit tired of all the changes that don't make our vacations better, they actually make them more stressful.

So single golfers, be warned.....but as always YMMV.

Doesn't the policy stink? DH learned about it when he called about a month ago, and they told him it had just been in effect for a few weeks. Now, we can't plan. He was hoping to golf every morning, while I'd go to a park. Now I don't know what's happening every day, so FP+s are difficult to make.
What's especially ironic is that supposedly, the Arnold Palmer company knows resort golf, there are lots of single golfers Usually, like in both our cases, one family member is a golfer-very rarely is WDW a "golf trip" destination for a group of 3-4 golfers-DH always gets paired with other singles, never met a group together. This doesn't do good things to our WDW future,

 

[hcortesis]

I'm a golfer but usually (not always however) bring another player. But doesn't this say that as a single you can still play 18 but only book within 3 days? And I believe you can still book the Sunrise/Sunset 9 beyond 3 days out? Most of the time I only book within 3 days so if I have this right, it wouldn't affect me. Sorry it affects you.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Doesn't the policy stink? DH learned about it when he called about a month ago, and they told him it had just been in effect for a few weeks. Now, we can't plan. He was hoping to golf every morning, while I'd go to a park. Now I don't know what's happening every day, so FP+s are difficult to make.
What's especially ironic is that supposedly, the Arnold Palmer company knows resort golf, there are lots of single golfers Usually, like in both our cases, one family member is a golfer-very rarely is WDW a "golf trip" destination for a group of 3-4 golfers-DH always gets paired with other singles, never met a group together. This doesn't do good things to our WDW future,

He still can book ahead of time - it's just a shorter time. Years ago I worked at a golf course and never was there an instance we didn't get a single golfer out. Usually they called day of or just walked up. I often golfed as a single at various courses and had no issues as a walk up and usually never much of a wait - if any at all. It's common for there to be an odd number of people. Or there will be a twosome booked and a couple of singles waiting that can be placed with them.

I do think it's not customer friendly for Disney resort golf to do but I wouldn't worry too much about not getting out.

 

[PoohsFan1]

Thank you for all of the information. DH is thinking about playing a round of golf while we are there in December, I will have to tell him about the new rule.

 

[drusba]

Is the golf still managed by The Arnold Palmer Company? Maybe with Arnold's passing they are getting more money hungry like the mouse.

It is still the Arnold Palmer Golf Management Co. but Arnie's passing probably changed little. Arnie actually had little to do with the company except to license the use of his name to it.

 

[sleepydog25]

He still can book ahead of time - it's just a shorter time. Years ago I worked at a golf course and never was there an instance we didn't get a single golfer out. Usually they called day of or just walked up. I often golfed as a single at various courses and had no issues as a walk up and usually never much of a wait - if any at all. It's common for there to be an odd number of people. Or there will be a twosome booked and a couple of singles waiting that can be placed with them.

I do think it's not customer friendly for Disney resort golf to do but I wouldn't worry too much about not getting out.

Agree. I golf occasionally at the World, but only do walk ups, and I've not had an issue. That being said, I completely understand the OP and her husband's frustration. Disney has made tons of quite unpopular decisions the last several years, and I'm rather certain all of them have to do with money, as in how it can help the bottom line which they pass on to stockholders to whom they're obligated. This new policy joins a long line of cost adjustments via "streamlining" or "industry standards."

 

[Jerry5788]

So the husband was planning on playing every morning of our 14 day trip in Sept at a Disney course, went to see the booking page and noticed you cant book for a single player. He emailed and got this reply...

"Due to a change in policy for single golfers, you will only be able to book 3 days in advance. Also, we do not have a 9 hole rate. You will either have to walk up everyday or book our Sunrise 9 early in the mornings or our Sunset 9 late in the evenings.
Sorry for the inconvenience. Please let me know if I can help you or you have any other questions.
Walt Disney World Golf Reservations Agent
Phone: (407) 939-4653 "

There was no notice on the website, and now he will have to book at non-Disney courses for those 14 mornings. Very disappointing and has thrown our scheduling out. Disney also have lost a bit of $$$ but that doesn't seem to worry them. I'm just getting a bit tired of all the changes that don't make our vacations better, they actually make them more stressful.

So single golfers, be warned.....but as always YMMV.

Looks like you will have to take up golf

 

[DSLRuser]

I'm just getting a bit tired of all the changes that don't make our vacations better, they actually make them more stressful.

.

Disney Golf Ceased to exist when the sold of Eagle and Osprey to make way for the money grab that is Golden Oaks and 4 seasons. Disney used to be such a nice golf destination.

 

[Pirate Granny]

My hubby Always golfs as a single, numerous times while we are there. This will force him to drive to cheaper courses around Disney. My only drawback is I liked the clubs out of our studio, as they would hold and move them from course to course.

 

[PleasejointheFarque]

sigh...I had booked all our lunch dining at the EMH AM parks, so I could do the parks and he golf early, being able to meet me at the parks for 11.30-12.30 pm lunch.....now that he cant book the early slots, we dont know what to do about our dining, and now that free dining is available at this time, all the reservations are filling up fast so i cant move the times. This sucks.

 

[Simba's Mom]

sigh...I had booked all our lunch dining at the EMH AM parks, so I could do the parks and he golf early, being able to meet me at the parks for 11.30-12.30 pm lunch.....now that he cant book the early slots, we dont know what to do about our dining, and now that free dining is available at this time, all the reservations are filling up fast so i cant move the times. This sucks.

We were talking about this at dinner tonight. We're going to WDW next week, and ordinarily DH would be playing every morning we're there. He says they'll probably have tee times available at 11:00 or later, which does not work. Like he said, he's still bringing his clubs, but he doesn't know if he'll have an opportunity to use them, and if so, will he be able to use them every morning? We'll see.

 

[PleasejointheFarque]

We were talking about this at dinner tonight. We're going to WDW next week, and ordinarily DH would be playing every morning we're there. He says they'll probably have tee times available at 11:00 or later, which does not work. Like he said, he's still bringing his clubs, but he doesn't know if he'll have an opportunity to use them, and if so, will he be able to use them every morning? We'll see.

Our problem is we are international guests, so we are lugging his "babies" half way across the world, on two flights and he's already stressed about them being lost or damaged, so we really cant just bring them and not use them (they also take 1 bag from my 4 bag allowance, thus cuts down my shopping so sacrifices are being made lol). Also I ain't sharing my tinsy weensy tiny studio at BLT for 14 days with his stinky clubs
I just hate not being organised, cause that's when things go pear shaped....sigh.

 

[PleasejointheFarque]

Maybe we should start a thread on golfers at WDW and see if anyone wants to play/book together to overcome the single player restrictions.
My DH is wanting to play Sept 6-17, early morning, staying at BLT, if anyone is also there this time.
Thoughts?

 

[Pirate Granny]

Perhaps we should consider a single golfer disboard web site...hook players up with another single to book.

My hubby is a single player and always tries to book the first couple of tee times in the morning. He has zero desire to play 9:30 or later.

He has been paired with Disney executives and cast members; are they going to have the same restrictions? He has always been put in a foursome, not sure what game Disney is playing.