My family is booked for July 11th, just under the 11:00 p.m. EST/8:00 pm. PST wire (actually, slightly over as I finished I think at 8:10 pm!) I started the morning without the Disney Visa card in hand (I had ordered it the week before and was instantly approved but was notified it takes 7-10 days to get the physical card) but called anyways to see if I could book without having the Disney Visa card activated (or without the CC #) as on the Disney site it did reference that for general bookings (not specific to Starcruiser) that people that got a Disney Card can book trips the day the card was approved. When I got through after 20+ attempts I explained the situation to the screener and he had to ask a supervisor if it was possible and the answer came back as "no", as the down payment needed to be paid with the Disney Visa card.
Luckily received the card at 5:00 p.m. PST, activated it, and promptly called to attempt to book. Maybe I got lucky, but got in right away (rather than the call back later) and had to wait about 20 minutes to talk to the screener. Oddly, the screener didn't ask for my CC so I'm not exactly sure how they verified I was a Disney Visa card holder (I did mention to them I was, so maybe they took my word for it or looked it up by my name.). Once I was verified, the very last thing the screener said was "please wait for a *brief* hold as we get you to a booking specialist." Music came on briefly, followed by a message saying the wait was over 2 hrs, followed by silence. Luckily, I was prepped for this based on all of the great information on this forum, but I was worried that I knew their end of day was in 2 1/2 hours and I wasn't sure if they take everyone in the queue or would just cut off the lines at the close of business. Luckily at 7:50 I heard a ring and the rep took my information and I was booked.
Details: 7/11 departure, 2 adults, 2 teenagers. Galaxy Suite w/insurance $7948 (a standard room would have been $6811.30 as I asked her to price both out.). As my rep implied she saw the hotel first hand, I asked which see suggested and she recommended the Galaxy Suite for the extra comfort/space though said both were great options (my kids actually liked the bed of the standard more than the pull down, but I really wanted a sitting area so I was thrilled the rep recommended the suite
). We also were able to book the Captain's table for the second night with the 5:30 booking.
The rest of my notes / memory are a bit fuzzy, here are some other notable details.
- Cancellation/Rebooking Policy: past 90 days no penalty, 50% for 30-89 days, no refund within 30 days. Rebooking means if you change your dates.
- There was a $350 fee to downgrade/remove a guest, specific details I don't recall but there's others that chimed in on the thread here.
- Checkin is as early as 1:00, but she said you can get there as early as 11:30 for parking and then go to Disney Spring to shop/etc.
- There is no automated payment for the remainder of the balance. This apparently is policy for all trips booked for Disney, but as this is my first direct-purchase through Disney I thought that was interesting. So for those of you that may forget, you may want to pay everything up front. You're only required to pay 20% at time of booking. The remainder is due 90 days before departure.
- Trip insurance can be used to cover the extended trip before/after your hotel, and she suggested you notify them of those details (I didn't have my details as I was planning on building the rest of my trip around the Starcruiser plans.). I don't know the exact details/limits, but she mentioned 7 days before/after (I don't know if that means 14 days total or up to 7 days before or after.)
- I was provided 3 reservation numbers, one for the booking and one for each dinner reservation.
- She mentioned 60 days? out someone would contact me regarding the Captains dinner and that if I wanted to book extra stuff I could coordinate with them or reserve it directly through the app.
- I forgot the mention Magic Bands! I thought these were being phased out for resorts, but the rep mentioned we get hotel-specific magic bands. These aren't getting mailed out, and she mentioned there was no options to customize them.
Good luck!