Disney to cancel FPs if room is cancelled

[runwad]

I've waited this long to tell you but, last Sat I cancelled an onsite stay for end of March, that I booked back in Oct. I made my fps at 60 days out. All the fps are still there a week later.

We had to reschedule to 3 weeks later so I now have an onsite stay for that time.

 

[pepperandchips]

Our DVC family that is going in May was not able to get AKL for the full week, so they had to split their stay.

It's just interesting so see how the Disney monster affects everyone and the hoops we have to jump through to have even a "normal" vacation. I would expect a normal vacation to be able to stay in one resort for one week, not have to run around property.

The DVC availability issues aren’t unique to Disney (it’s the reality of owning a timeshare to have to book waaayyyy far in advance) and really walking is only necessary for super peak travel or super limited room types (value or CL at AKL for example). I’ve found good availability if we are ready to book when our DVC booking window opens at either 11 or 7 months. Unfortunately for us, that’s just not the way most of our trips are planned... we might have one “big” trip a year that’s booked 7+ months out but normally we are looking a month or two out. Whether DVC or another timeshare ownership group, availability gets super limited closer to travel time. So we just have a little DVC contract as it doesn’t work for most of our trips’ planning timelines. I haven’t ever been forced to split a stay when not staying DVC at Disney - although I totally understand that my anecdotal experience isn’t universal.

I, like many others who’ve chimed in here, love split stays so I can get the best of two resort areas or a great pool or whatever. I do think it would be wonderful if Disney would work on its IT to allow continuous booking of FP over split stays, but perhaps we haven’t seen the last of the changes especially ahead of August 29.

All that chicken and egg talk has me craving an omelette... maybe a seafood omelette... with garlic sauce.

 

[ljmiii]

Something else that is interesting is that in a lot of cases people can't get a resort for a full week due to no availability. Our DVC family that is going in May was not able to get AKL for the full week, so they had to split their stay. I can understand why the practice of "walking" DVC reservations loophole is a popular idea...however I wonder if and how the practice of "walking" affects availability for others while the "walkers" are actively juggling their reservations.

While walking is an abominable practice is doesn't directly affect DVC split stays. They have become more prevalent for a pair of reasons.

First and foremost is the increased popularity of forums such as this one where the mantra of 'Book at 11 months then try to swap at 7' have become gospel. So there isn't the same availability for longer stays as there used to be. Second is DVC's pushing people to add on at the 'latest, greatest' resort and do split stays with their old one. Being able to split stay into new resorts is a very important selling point for DVC...so I don't know if this change will 'stick' (at least for DVC).

 

[AngiTN]

I've waited this long to tell you but, last Sat I cancelled an onsite stay for end of March, that I booked back in Oct. I made my fps at 60 days out. All the fps are still there a week later.

We had to reschedule to 3 weeks later so I now have an onsite stay for that time.

I too have to cancel a stay, well, not an entire stay but part of a continuing reservation. The FP booked for the canceled portion of the stay are still there a week later. I booked this entire trip recently, after the change was implemented

 

[motherof5]

I understand this happens a lot at the campgound. This will be welcome news over there.

Why does it happen more at the campgrounds?

 

[crvetter]

Why does it happen more at the campgrounds?

It is believed to happen more over there (throwaway rooms) because they are some of the cheapest rates on-site. By removing the rolling 60 day window they made throwaway rooms much less valuable.

 

[motherof5]

It is believed to happen more over there (throwaway rooms) because they are some of the cheapest rates on-site. By removing the rolling 60 day window they made throwaway rooms much less valuable.

Not sure why Disney would care since getting paid. If people doing just for FP and can’t less purchasing rooms right?

 

[motherof5]

Something else that is interesting is that in a lot of cases people can't get a resort for a full week due to no availability. Our DVC family that is going in May was not able to get AKL for the full week, so they had to split their stay. I can understand why the practice of "walking" DVC reservations loophole is a popular idea. If I paid a lot of $$$ for my timeshare, I would expect I should be able to use it appropriately with no hassle, however I wonder if and how the practice of "walking" affects availability for others while the "walkers" are actively juggling their reservations. ??? I admit I don't fully understand that loophole, but I wonder if it's a chicken/egg thing.... which came first? Limited availability necessitates practicing loopholes and creates the issue of how it affects other people's resort stays which causes the split stay issue that people are having trouble with now?

Just thinking aloud here...I still think the bottom line is Disney trying to get more money from people. It's just interesting so see how the Disney monster affects everyone and the hoops we have to jump through to have even a "normal" vacation. I would expect a normal vacation to be able to stay in one resort for one week, not have to run around property. I feel bad for people who are not in-the-know and go to Disney blind and have a terrible experience.

I’ve seen people on disboards offer to rent points and walk a reservation. No wonder it’s getting hard even at 11 mo to book home resort and the site crashes often at 8 am so disappointing

 

[PolyRob]

My original room only reservation was finally cancelled today. About 2 weeks until I check-in. Lets see if anything happens!

 

[crvetter]

Not sure why Disney would care since getting paid. If people doing just for FP and can’t less purchasing rooms right?

I think it was the circumventing the 60 day rule by get 60 day FP reservations on days you wouldn't be staying on site

 

[motherof5]

I think it was the circumventing the 60 day rule by get 60 day FP reservations on days you wouldn't be staying on site

Seems like the people affected the most are those with split stays.

 

[ljmiii]

Not sure why Disney would care since getting paid. If people doing just for FP and can’t less purchasing rooms right?

Throwaway rooms were used for different purposes. One was to open up the 60 day window for off-site stays - a loophole Disney cares very much about and was closed. This is/was an easy fix.

Another was to get better fastpasses toward the end of a split stay - for some people it was worth paying the $100-ish/night so that (for example) their last FP day in the parks was 60+6 instead of 60+3. Which (IMHO) Disney doesn't care about. But they DO care about people doing the same thing but cancelling the room a week out.

And apparently changing the MDE code to delete FPs that were only obtained 'fraudulently' but keeping those where people legitimately made last minute changes to their reservations is very difficult. So at least for the moment MDE isn't allowing the FP window to be open across a split stay (except when it does for some people for no discernible reason). Meanwhile, over on the DVC side there are CMs who say that once the FP changes 'shake out' DVC split stays will be considered continuous and not just consecutive. Your mileage will almost certainly vary.

 

[mckennarose]

Why does it happen more at the campgrounds?

It is believed to happen more over there (throwaway rooms) because they are some of the cheapest rates on-site. By removing the rolling 60 day window they made throwaway rooms much less valuable.

Not sure why Disney would care since getting paid. If people doing just for FP and can’t less purchasing rooms right?

I think it was the circumventing the 60 day rule by get 60 day FP reservations on days you wouldn't be staying on site

It *seems* the bigger target was the split stay people, because they've been the most impacted. Which is unfortunate, because as I posted before sometimes it's hard to get a resort for the entire length of a stay, which is the boat my DVC family is in now. Disney needed to come up with some FP+ availability for the new hotels and whatever they are planning for the paid FP+ changes later this year. It seems the biggest way to get more availability was to close the split stay reservations.

I've been checking the campsites for my week in May for the past two months, both before the announcement and after, and there seems to be the same availability. I'm not convinced the campsite throwaways are the biggest target since they don't seem to be used as much. There's not a lot of them to begin with, there's still availability---I just checked my dates again and there are campsites (all three types) for Monday to Friday for my week. Two hundred campsites vs. several thousands of resort rooms with split stays....seems pretty obvious which one was a bigger issue as to where the FP+ were going. There are a lot of people who spend a few days onsite and a few offsite too. They have their rolling window closed now too.

 

[AngiTN]

Seems like the people affected the most are those with split stays.

It *seems* the bigger target was the split stay people, because they've been the most impacted. Which is unfortunate, because as I posted before sometimes it's hard to get a resort for the entire length of a stay, which is the boat my DVC family is in now.

But why? How are split stays impacted? Negatively that is
I get that you no longer can book for both stays when the window opens for your first stay but where is that hurting folks?
I guess I'm missing it
We book split stays a lot, on purpose. I'm not seeing how it will be negative, except I'll have to get up early several mornings, instead of 1. Which is only an issue if it falls on a weekend. I'm already up for work during the week.

 

[mckennarose]

But why? How are split stays impacted? Negatively that is
I get that you no longer can book for both stays when the window opens for your first stay but where is that hurting folks?
I guess I'm missing it
We book split stays a lot, on purpose. I'm not seeing how it will be negative, except I'll have to get up early several mornings, instead of 1. Which is only an issue if it falls on a weekend. I'm already up for work during the week.

Because people are reporting it as negatively impacting their trips. And it is freeing up FP+ by not allowing people to make their FP+ for their entire trip.
I get what your saying, and it's not impacting my trips personally, but people are bummed out about it. And a lot of people split stay between Disney and off site.

 

[JETSDAD]

But why? How are split stays impacted? Negatively that is
I get that you no longer can book for both stays when the window opens for your first stay but where is that hurting folks?
I guess I'm missing it
We book split stays a lot, on purpose. I'm not seeing how it will be negative, except I'll have to get up early several mornings, instead of 1. Which is only an issue if it falls on a weekend. I'm already up for work during the week.

If you're wanting an early morning FOP, SDD, or 7DMT FP that isn't likely going to happen if you have only 2-3 days per split stay. If your window opens up all parts then you can get those closer to the end of your stay....with separate windows it's not likely to happen.

 

[Ensusieasm]

But why? How are split stays impacted? Negatively that is
I get that you no longer can book for both stays when the window opens for your first stay but where is that hurting folks?
I guess I'm missing it
We book split stays a lot, on purpose. I'm not seeing how it will be negative, except I'll have to get up early several mornings, instead of 1. Which is only an issue if it falls on a weekend. I'm already up for work during the week.

Here’s an example. Currently it is best to plan your Animal Kingdom Park day For day four and beyond and your Hollywood Studios Park day For day 5 and beyond so that on your sixty day fast pass window you can get FoP and SDD at 60+ 4 and 60 + 5. If you split a 5 day stay into a 2 night and a 3 night stay you loose the benefit of making fast passes all at once and getting both of those rides at the times you want or at all.

 

[AngiTN]

Here’s an example. Currently it is best to plan your Animal Kingdom Park day For day four and beyond and your Hollywood Studios Park day For day 5 and beyond so that on your sixty day fast pass window you can get FoP and SDD at 60+ 4 and 60 + 5. If you split a 5 day stay into a 2 night and a 3 night stay you loose the benefit of making fast passes all at once and getting both of those rides at the times you want or at all.

I guess.
But as I see it, 60 days is 60 days.
Each check-in gets the same 60 days as everyone else gets. Seems fair to me.
You had an advantage previously. They took the advantage away.
They didn't give you a disadvantage.
That's a difference.
Yeah, it's a bummer when you don't want the split stay

 

[PrincessV]

Throwaway rooms were used for different purposes. One was to open up the 60 day window for off-site stays - a loophole Disney cares very much about and was closed. This is/was an easy fix.

But that loophole wasn't closed at all - I've yet to see anyone say they canceled an onsite stay and their FPs were canceled. Until that starts happening, nothing has changed in that regard.

 

[crvetter]

I guess.
But as I see it, 60 days is 60 days.
Each check-in gets the same 60 days as everyone else gets. Seems fair to me.
You had an advantage previously. They took the advantage away.
They didn't give you a disadvantage.
That's a difference.
Yeah, it's a bummer when you don't want the split stay

I don’t think it’s quite fair to say a split stay (onsite to onsite) had an unfair advantage in fact the same advantage as someone with a long continuous stay. In fact it is to the benefit of Disney people split stay because those people are willing to fill vacancies at the resort.

And each guest isn’t behaving strictly to the 60 days is 60 days rule. As shown by the “stratergists” on this site looking for methods/loopholes to book early (including circumventing the split stay rule), morality aside it is just to show not all is following 60 days from the true onsite stays. Including those in the past who were directly canceling onsite stays and keeping Fastpasses, which this rumor was supposed to be originally about.