WDW COVID-19 Operational Changes- Reservation System-Rope Drop Procedures

[cakebaker]

I have seen a lot of discussion around those folks who chose the free dining plan getting a 35% discount, but is there any information out there on those who opted for the room rate discount? My parents were booked at POR in May, and when they rebooked for early August, they chose the room discount, which was 15% at POR.

I imagine most people chose free dining, so this other side is not as popular a discussion topic, but curious if anyone has heard or seen anything concrete if they are going to give those who chose the room discount an equal 35% discount.

I’m in that boat with an AP discount. So far, Disney is offering nothing to those cancelled who didn’t get the free dining.

 

[thr33boys]

None of us knows at this time when the reservation system will be offered. If it's before someone's paid-in-full date they will have a good idea before finalizing their reservations if they will be able to enter the parks.

f the reservation system is not available until after a guest's paid-in-full date then it is a known risk they are taking to pay knowing they may not be able to enter the parks some/all days. All Disney information clearly states that entry into a park is not guaranteed.

Exactly! Currently, my payment is due June 14th. I booked through a TA and received a general email from her Friday evening but nothing yet from Disney. My resort is most likely changing as I have 2 rooms at CSR and I too have the border issue. I am 99.9% sure we're cancelling but I'd like to know all the pieces of the puzzle beforehand.

Here's another thing that I'm thinking...what if we are lucky and get into the parks we have selected, but on our HS day, ROTR goes down or we are impacted by a storm and can only do a fraction of the park because of the reduced hours. There's no way to try again the next day because you're not able to make any park day changes.

 

[yulilin3]

Exactly! Currently, my payment is due June 14th. I booked through a TA and received a general email from her Friday evening but nothing yet from Disney. My resort is most likely changing as I have 2 rooms at CSR and I too have the border issue. I am 99.9% sure we're cancelling but I'd like to know all the pieces of the puzzle beforehand.

Here's another thing that I'm thinking...what if we are lucky and get into the parks we have selected, but on our HS day, ROTR goes down or we are impacted by a storm and can only do a fraction of the park because of the reduced hours. There's no way to try again the next day because you're not able to make any park day changes.

Nothing at wdw is guaranteed and they don't have to do anything to compensate for anything. It's spelled out in their terms and conditions.
Now more than ever everyone needs to understand this, do not expect Disney to do anything. Im not saying this in a mean way, it's just you have to come with realistic expectations.
Disney has always been lenient in most things and come up with fps or food vouchers or other forms of guest recovery but with this new system, for now, i believe they are going to stick to what they put out so that everyone gets the same treatment

 

[thr33boys]

Nothing at wdw is guaranteed and they don't have to do anything to compensate for anything. It's spelled out in their terms and conditions.
Now more than ever everyone needs to understand this, do not expect Disney to do anything. Im not saying this in a mean way, it's just you have to come with realistic expectations.
Disney has always been lenient in most things and come up with fps or food vouchers or other forms of guest recovery but with this new system, for now, i believe they are going to stick to what they put out so that everyone gets the same treatment

I'm sorry if you thought I was complaining or looking for any type of compensation. That was not the case at all. I would just like to have a firm idea of what to expect before my paid in full date. By firm idea, I simply mean any resort changes and confirmation of park admission. It's difficult to make a decision without knowing at least those 2 things.

 

[lanejudy]

I have seen a lot of discussion around those folks who chose the free dining plan getting a 35% discount, but is there any information out there on those who opted for the room rate discount? My parents were booked at POR in May, and when they rebooked for early August, they chose the room discount, which was 15% at POR.

I imagine most people chose free dining, so this other side is not as popular a discussion topic, but curious if anyone has heard or seen anything concrete if they are going to give those who chose the room discount an equal 35% discount.

Thanks for the response, and it makes sense why Disney gave the 35% off rack rate for those who got the free dining plan option cancelled. What I was attempting to get at is that there now seem to be two groups of people who rebooked their cancelled trips: Group A, who chose the free dining plan when they rebooked and are now getting 35% off the room rack rate, and Group B, who chose the 15% discount off the room rack rate (for POR at least) when they rebooked. Both groups are now paying for their own food, so it appears Group A is getting a better deal than Group B if everything holds to current form.

I think the difference comes down to the fact that your parents essentially already declined the recovery offer -- they could have choosen the recovery free dining package but for whatever reasons they decided to book a regular offer instead. Presumably it fit their situation better, as for many others who did not take advantage of that offer. If everything returned "normal" they wouldn't have arrived at WDW and said "hey, food prices increased, I really want that free dining offer now." At this point, nothing has been taken away from them (like the DDP was removed from free dining) - hence no need for a new "recovery" offer.

 

[Katrina Y]

We had free dining for our July stay. Because we are 5 adults who would have purchased the dining plan anyway we saved about $400 a day. With the 35% off the room we'd save about $175 a day. So that's about $1,350 more for a one-week stay. We had already canceled our trip more than a month ago due to the uncertainty, but I would not have been happy paying $1,350 more for a trip with masks, limited hours (during the day in the middle of summer), no shows/characters, etc.

I am not complaining at all. I was just explaining that to get free dining, you had to pay more for your room. I am happy with the discount.

 

[yulilin3]

I'm sorry if you thought I was complaining or looking for any type of compensation. That was not the case at all. I would just like to have a firm idea of what to expect before my paid in full date. By firm idea, I simply mean any resort changes and confirmation of park admission. It's difficult to make a decision without knowing at least those 2 things.

I didn't think you were complaining or looking for compensation
It's just something that needs reminding in general because someone is sure to come and start saying Disney SHOULD compensate
This situation is so unique in all levels, Diney has trained the WDW visitor to preplan half a year in advance, then suddenly the rug is pulled from under all of us and we are lost.
Now on top of that is the unknown on staffing and recalling tens of thousands of people.
So yeah, it'll still be a couple more weeks of waiting.

 

[tinkerbell1991]

This is my update from Disney regarding parking

 

[lanejudy]

'm wondering if Disney is going to offer any cancellation leniency due to circumstances beyond our control?

I believe there currently is leniency, and I wouldn't be surprised if that continues for a while. I can't guarantee it will continue, but I believe they have not indicated an "end date" for the 7-day PIF.

 

[yulilin3]

This is my update from Disney regarding parking

View attachment 498586

This has always been the case

 

[tinkerbell1991]

This has always been the case

But it says complimentary. I thought you now had to pay?

 

[yulilin3]

But it says complimentary. I thought you now had to pay?

You have to pay at the resort, a nightly fee for overnight parking
The response is talking about theme park complimentary parking

 

[scrappinginontario]

I believe there currently is leniency, and I wouldn't be surprised if that continues for a while. I can't guarantee it will continue, but I believe they have not indicated an "end date" for the 7-day PIF.

Sorry, can you please let me know what you mean by the 7-day PIF date?

I have 2 reservations. One was a room + DDP + ticket booking for August and another reservation was a FD BB with room + DDP + tickets. Both reservations have been updated (using 2 different codes) to reflect the new, reduced amount but, both are still showing a PIF date of 30 days prior to arrival date.

Is PIF no longer 30 days in advance? If that's the case, do you know where it's published on the Disney website? This would be huge relief as it would give us 3 extra week to make decisions about our trips.

 

[tinkerbell1991]

You have to pay at the resort, a nightly fee for overnight parking
The response is talking about theme park complimentary parking

Aaaah haha yeah I never even noticed that it didn't mention about resort either. Just thought ooh woohoo they're waiving the fee for a while lol

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Sorry, can you please let me know what you mean by the 7-day PIF date?

I have 2 reservations. One was a room + DDP + ticket booking for August and another reservation was a FD BB with room + DDP + tickets. Both reservations have been updated (using 2 different codes) to reflect the new, reduced amount but, both are still showing a PIF date of 30 days prior to arrival date.

Is PIF no longer 30 days in advance? If that's the case, do you know where it's published on the Disney website? This would be huge relief as it would give us 3 extra week to make decisions about our trips.

Back when this whole mess started (2+ months ago) they sent notice to TAs that the package paid in full requirement would be 7 days "until further notice", not the regular 30 days prior to check-in. However, auto-generated e-mails have and continue to still go out based on 30 days (so that and the fact this isn't on any public info has been causing confusion).

AFAIK we're still in "until further notice" status as I don't think I've seen anything to the contrary (but we'd need a TA or someone with access to confirm).

 

[mickeysmith]

Has anyone gotten their money back or cancellation or anything about the Cirque Du Soleil show Drawn To Life? I have tried to cancel many times, before the big shut off of cancellations, and they kept saying that it was not them it was another group. I still technically have not passed my date for the tickets, but it is June 14th, so it is not opening, and I don't know how to get anyone to cancel these tickets and give me a refund. They keep saying that they send an email to the group that handles it but then I hear nothing.

I hope I copied this right, but below is a link to a thread I am following (I may actually be following 2 at this time). I just received an email that I have been added to their list for refunds. My date was June 5th. They stated the refund could take several weeks due to the volume of cancellations. Hope that helps!
https://www.disboards.com/posts/61955809/

 

[GirlDreamer]

I was just thinking that when the new park reservation system opens it might be a nightmare to get through. I don't know if it's a rumour or not, but I've seen several places that when the reservation system goes live it'll be available for everyone, even if your holiday is several months away. I can only imagine that the system will crash with that kind of demand.

 

[lanejudy]

Sorry, can you please let me know what you mean by the 7-day PIF date?

I see GADisneyDad14 answered what I was going to say. It's been discussed on the Resorts forum periodically. There are a couple of TAs who have shared that it's still current - as recently as late last week. I'll see if I can find a post.

WDW has actually always been quite lenient in cancellation policies -- allowing reservations to be moved out (and then subsequently canceled if still necessary). Usually without any penalty, or at most a $50 change fee, though it is usually waived.

 

[scrappinginontario]

Thanks so much @GADisneyDad14 and @lanejudy! That's really helpful information.

We're Canadian so right now cannot even enter the US due to the border closure. My trip is Sept my my friend's trip is early Aug with a displayed PIF date of July 10th. It's great to know that may not actually be the case!

The only time I had to cancel a trip was due to Irma and I'll agree, Disney was more than accommodating and I cancelled less than 24 hours before I was due to arrive.

I appreciate your help!

 

[FredtheDuck]

Did anyone else get a cell phone alert from Disney saying changes have been made to an upcoming trip that require review and to contact their travel professional? I don’t have a travel professional for my one remaining trip, and I don’t see anything different on MDE, so I’m confused.