Disney to cancel FPs if room is cancelled

[SouthFayetteFan]

Help me out as I just got back from our trip and missed these “changes.”

Do we know for certain this is new policy or is this speculation again? I don’t have a dog in this fight as we stay on site and don’t split, but there seems to be a lot of absolutes being posted when nothing has happened yet?

There ABSOLUTELY was a change to booking split stay FPs verified by numerous people. The DIS (mesaboy) has even changed the FP sticky. So that is a MAJOR change that is verified and has happened.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

There ABSOLUTELY was a change to booking split stay FPs verified by numerous people. The DIS (mesaboy) has even changed the FP sticky. So that is a MAJOR change that is verified and has happened.

Thanks! I’ll check out his sticky.

I just kept reading the past 5 or so pages back that no FP had been canceled yet (assuming because it’s too soon?)

 

[DavidNYC]

If they got rid of the “length of stay” advantage and made every guest book each day at 60 days out, leading reservations would have no advantage. Then if anyone cancels, they lose the FP for just the days they cancel/modify. If NO ONE can get FP+ before 60 days (except club level) availability should be good for everyone. Seems fair to me.

That would be easiest. Everyone on equal terms every day. Slight annoyance in that you have to book multiple days but if you want easy that is it! And far far less for a system to monitor.

 

[disneygirlsng]

Thanks! I’ll check out his sticky.

I just kept reading the past 5 or so pages back that no FP had been canceled yet (assuming because it’s too soon?)

Gotta go back a little further than that. I believe it was around page 30 or so where things started really coming out and being tested.

 

[TheOneWithTheTriplets]

Thanks! I’ll check out his sticky.

I just kept reading the past 5 or so pages back that no FP had been canceled yet (assuming because it’s too soon?)

The only verified change is that split stays now have separate windows. People have made and cancelled dummy reservations to test other theories, but none have them have been cancelled for the 48 hour grace window the site started referencing yesterday.

 

[DavidNYC]

Thanks! I’ll check out his sticky.

I just kept reading the past 5 or so pages back that no FP had been canceled yet (assuming because it’s too soon?)

The initial booking of FP is a fairly straightforward change with very few questions about how things work in different scenarios. It’s the what happens upon a modification or change that has so many different possibilities and will take a while to sort out (and that’s assuming the system works as intended - and that’s a really big IF!)

 

[Marionnette]

I’m taking the example directly from the throwaway thread. It’s definitely a variation. I’m pretty familiar with how throwaways work.

Then you are aware that under the old rules there was no added FP advantage to be had by booking throwaway split stays. They were booked for the free theme park parking (rather valuable if you have a large group with multiple vehicles) and EMH. Not for the FPs because just a 1-night reservation would get them a rolling 60-day window for however many days their tickets would allow.

Under the new rules, the EOD booking gives the guest the same rolling 60-day FP window that they had under the old rules with just a single night. That could get kind of pricey just to be able to book 2 days of FPs at 60 days. Not to mention being online EOD to book the next 2-day group. I don’t think a lot of people who booked 1-night throwaways in the past will now book EOD reservations just for the FP 60-day windows but there will be some. And this could create more problems at the Fort than it solves.

 

[crvetter]

Help me out as I just got back from our trip and missed these “changes.”

Do we know for certain this is new policy or is this speculation again? I don’t have a dog in this fight as we stay on site and don’t split, but there seems to be a lot of absolutes being posted when nothing has happened yet?

Certain parts of the policy have been confirmed and tested. Especially split stays functioning like ADR. As for the other loopholes supposedly many have been closed. I hope they have but others are testing if they have been but since it started just yesterday the rumored grace period is 48 hours so any tests won’t be known until then.

 

[Magnoliafan]

The only problem with that is... how do you differentiate between who is doing it for a legitimate reason, and who is doing it simply to get a jump on fastpasses?

Honestly, you can’t. But IMO, it’s better than punishing guests for changing their minds. Take my last hypothetical example of a family modifying a June 1-9 reservation to June 3-9. Let’s say they make the change on May 10. If ALL of their FP are cancelled because they’re tied to the original reservation alone, then the family has lost their 60 day advantage completely even though they’re still paying to stay on site for nights they booked well in advance. They couldn’t book June 3-9 FP at exactly 60 days from June 3 because they had already booked them 2 days earlier as part of their original plan. And now because Mom couldn’t get more time off work approved or Dad’s car needed an unexpected repair that cut into their vacation budget, they’re forced to rebook their FP with a less than 30 day window. That’s not right. So I’d say either follow Gentry2004’s idea of eliminating length of stay entirely, or else keep it simple and this hypothetical family keeps their FP for June 3-9 because they still have an on-site reservation booked for those days. And the 48 hour rebooking window should be straightforward and allow you to book a new room for any FP day you want to keep, regardless of whether the new dates exactly match the original ones (which would allow my hypothetical family to switch from Poly to Pop in addition to shortening their dates, even if it meant cancelling and rebooking rather than modifying the original reservation).

 

[Marionnette]

If they got rid of the “length of stay” advantage and made every guest book each day at 60 days out, leading reservations would have no advantage. Then if anyone cancels, they lose the FP for just the days they cancel/modify. If NO ONE can get FP+ before 60 days (except club level) availability should be good for everyone. Seems fair to me.

Imagine that you live in a different time zone than Florida. Maybe you live in England or just the western coast of the US. In London, they’re 5 hours ahead and of Florida. In LA, they are 3 hours behind Orlando. Would you really want to have to book each and every day at noon London time or 4AM PT? That’s not very guest-friendly.

I get where you’re going with this idea but it’s just not practical for a large group of guests (not the majority, but still a large group).

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Imagine that you live in a different time zone than Florida. Maybe you live in England or just the western coast of the US. In London, they’re 5 hours ahead and of Florida. In LA, they are 3 hours behind Orlando. Would you really want to have to book each and every day at noon London time or 4AM PT? That’s not very guest-friendly.

I get where you’re going with this idea but it’s just not practical for a large group of guests (not the majority, but still a large group).

Plus Disney wants you to stay on property for your entire stay - removing this benefit would decrease the incentive to do that

 

[rteetz]

@rteetz - there’s a lot of talk here about loopholes and circumventing the system and leading reservations or throwaways or accessing FPs at 60 days as an off-site visitor. Of course there is also some relevant items being discussed. At what point does the DIS concede that Disney has made a change and these “Loopholes” shouldn’t be discussed here? I’m not trying to cause issues but how is some of this discussion much different from that whole SDFP thing that blew up awhile back?

I’m trying to get some clarification on that. I would recommend that all posters not discuss in depth on further loopholes that now exist.

 

[Party.Of.4-NY>>>FL]

Well, I am DVC and AP holder so I tried to see if a split stay will automatically be seen as continuous and open up the duration.
1. Made a reservation SSR std studio 4/24-4/26 (60-62 days out)
2. Linked the reservation to MDE - could only book FP through 3/25
3. Checked into SSR - could select FP from today through 3/25 and 4/24 - 4/26
4. Made a reservation SSR pref studio 4/26-4/27
5. Linked the reservation to MDE and checked in - Can still only see through 3/25 and 2/24 - 4/26, not 4/27

Since I am right at the 60 day FP window, I did not book any FP's. I don't want to mess with someone's plans real planning process.
And both room types still have availability after I booked my rooms, so I am currently not impacting anyone's ability to book a room.

So the reservations did not automatically link for DVC either. Since Member Services (MS) is not open yet, I have not called them. I may call them later today after the 9am rush, but I will definitely call MS on 3/6 when my 60 day window opens on a real split stay.

Maybe a dumb question, but were trying to book before 7:00am this morning?

 

[Cinderumbrella]

Ok, I went back to page 30 to read. I think I’ve got it clear now (so many changes).

Like I said, I never split, but I have many friends that do and switch resorts frequently as availability opens up. Seems unfair if you originally booked a 4/3 split but change to a 5/2 split (or suddenly can get all 7 at same resort) to lose FP even though you are still on site.

 

[cakebaker]

Then you are aware that under the old rules there was no added FP advantage to be had by booking throwaway split stays. They were booked for the free theme park parking (rather valuable if you have a large group with multiple vehicles) and EMH. Not for the FPs because just a 1-night reservation would get them a rolling 60-day window for however many days their tickets would allow.

Under the new rules, the EOD booking gives the guest the same rolling 60-day FP window that they had under the old rules with just a single night. That could get kind of pricey just to be able to book 2 days of FPs at 60 days. Not to mention being online EOD to book the next 2-day group. I don’t think a lot of people who booked 1-night throwaways in the past will now book EOD reservations just for the FP 60-day windows but there will be some. And this could create more problems at the Fort than it solves.

I’m going to abide by the request that we don’t discuss loopholes and how to do them. You’re missing my point, but I’m not going into detail as to how and why.

 

[JenniferYoung44]

After reading another thread, I see why they may actually be targeting split stays rather than it just being an unintended consequence. Apparently booking split stays at the campsites, with a day break in the reservations to gain even more advantage on fp’s and other perks is a thing. Who knew.....

Yeah but a day break inbetween is not really a full “onsite split stay.” Why would they want to punish people who just switch hotels? Often to more expensive ones that they can’t afford for the entire trip.

 

[JenniferYoung44]

What about this... you book a split stay 50 days out and make your FPs. How do we know which reservation number the system is assigning the FPs to? What if you have to cancel half the stay and it associates the rez number with the half you’re canceling. This change just totally mucks up the system. And if Disney’s intention was to stop having leading reservations taking up availability that then gets dropped, now everyone with a split stay will have to make a Danton reservation to keep from getting screwed on their FPs and that’s probably a lot more people than ever made leading reservations making even more availability problems. This really needs rethought.

 

[DavidNYC]

What about this... you book a split stay 50 days out and make your FPs. How do we know which reservation number the system is assigning the FPs to? What if you have to cancel half the stay and it associates the rez number with the half you’re canceling. This change just totally mucks up the system. And if Disney’s intention was to stop having leading reservations taking up availability that then gets dropped, now everyone with a split stay will have to make a Danton reservation to keep from getting screwed on their FPs and that’s probably a lot more people than ever made leading reservations making even more availability problems. This really needs rethought.

Logically (and I would think it’s easy to code this) any FP made during an open booking window would be associated with the reservation that covers that stay night. Especially now that the rolling window is gone. As long as you didn’t end up with any unfair advantage you should be safe. All assumptions but I cannot think of any reason to do it any other way and to do it the other way would seem to be very convoluted.

 

[Runnsally]

What about this... you book a split stay 50 days out and make your FPs. How do we know which reservation number the system is assigning the FPs to? What if you have to cancel half the stay and it associates the rez number with the half you’re canceling. This change just totally mucks up the system. And if Disney’s intention was to stop having leading reservations taking up availability that then gets dropped, now everyone with a split stay will have to make a Danton reservation to keep from getting screwed on their FPs and that’s probably a lot more people than ever made leading reservations making even more availability problems. This really needs rethought.

I don’t think FPs will be associated with a particular reservation number.

 

[JenniferYoung44]

The real question is what kind of customer service nightmare is this going to create. Us DISers that are well versed in the new ramifications are a VERY VERY small subset of the people visiting Disney. Only time will tell when your average family that doesn’t obsessively stalk MDE adjusts their trip by a day only to show up and realize all of their FPs are gone. Those are going to be some very unhappy campers. And there are a lot more of them than us.