Maximum Night Stay Being Enforced At Select Resort(s) for Select Dates

[maxiesmom]

No, Tom P. is correct. I used to work at the Disney Reservations Center. A single adult with multiple children can get guaranteed connecting rooms if the party size exceeds to total occupancy for a single room.



Outliers can happen in virtually every situation in life. Perhaps someone at the resort made (a big) mistake and unblocked the connecting rooms. Or, a maintenance issue caused the problem.

If something is not guaranteed 100% of the time the guarantee is worthless.

 

[writerguyfl]

If something is not guaranteed 100% of the time the guarantee is worthless.

Strongly disagree. Nothing in life is 100% guaranteed, except death.

What matter in this case is the percentage of outliers. One example doesn't make the "guarantee" worthless.

 

[maxiesmom]

Strongly disagree. Nothing in life is 100% guaranteed, except death.

What matter in this case is the percentage of outliers. One example doesn't make the "guarantee" worthless.

I've experienced one of the "outliers" more than once at Disney. They happen more often than you think. And it sucks to think you are guaranteed something and to not end up with it. Until they start stating something like "You are guaranteed connecting rooms unless we can't give them to you" then they shouldn't be using the word guarantee. It is misleading at best and an outright lie at worst.

 

[cwis]

I've experienced one of the "outliers" more than once at Disney. They happen more often than you think. And it sucks to think you are guaranteed something and to not end up with it. Until they start stating something like "You are guaranteed connecting rooms unless we can't give them to you" then they shouldn't be using the word guarantee. It is misleading at best and an outright lie at worst.

While you are correct it might happen once in a while that such guarantees are not met, do you really believe Disney should take such care describing those reservations as being not-absolutely-guaranteed-as-occasionnally-****-might-happen?

When you think about it, every booking in WDW might go havoc. You might book the most expensive suite in the most upscale hotel, if a technical problem happens the night before you check in… well… you're SOL.
Browsing forums where hard-core fans post about everything wrong at WDW might be the only way that you might possibly know that such glitches exist.

 

[maxiesmom]

When a guest not getting something they were guaranteed can have such an impact, yes, they should not be using the word guaranteed.

Again even the Disney web site states connecting rooms are a request only. Why tell people otherwise? Why not say we do our best but it is not a 100% guarantee? That is the truth.

I know as someone who did not get something they were supposedly guaranteed I was shocked and very upset. Had no idea Disney could promise something and not follow through. I think when people see the word guarantee that is what they think they are getting. Not something that is sort of guaranteed unless something comes up and it can't be guaranteed.

 

[Tom P.]

If something is not guaranteed 100% of the time the guarantee is worthless.

Now I think we're disagreeing over the word "guarantee." Nothing in life is truly 100% guaranteed ever. By your definition of the term, no company should ever use the word "guarantee."

When you ship a package overnight via FedEx, it is guaranteed to arrive the next day and by a certain time. Doe every package always arrive on time? No. Occasionally, some don't.

At my work, our Internet provider guarantees a 99.999% uptime for their connections. Does that mean there is never a month where they have less than 99.999% uptime? No, occasionally something goes wrong and their uptime is lower.

A guarantee simply means that you are *supposed* to receive the promised product or service. When the guarantee is missed, the company is expected to compensate you. If FedEx misses a guaranteed delivery date, they will refund the shipping cost, for example. The fact that the remedy is written right into their policy shows that they acknowledge the possibility of failing to meet their promise. But it's still called a guarantee.

The bottom line is that Disney does not guarantee connecting rooms to most patrons and does not tell them they do. However, in this one circumstances, they *do* offer guaranteed connecting rooms. It's Disney policy, experienced travel agents have verified it, cast members from reservations have verified it, etc. You can prove it, even, by virtue of the fact that normally each room has a separate reservation number, but guaranteed connecting rooms are both booked under a single reservation number.

Again, nothing is 100% in life, but Disney will guarantee connecting rooms in this particular circumstance just the same as FedEx guarantees it's delivery times and Internet providers guarantee their uptimes.

 

[Sue M]

Having things like FP auto cancel would be a hassle for those who switch resorts, or who cancel and re-book in order to take advantage of a discount. I don't think Disney's systems are at a point where they could have them transfer over to the new reservation without problems.

Your right, guess auto cancel just wouldn't work. But manual cancelling would!! Lol

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Your right, guess auto cancel just wouldn't work. But manual cancelling would!! Lol

But then you would need to pay workers to do that...

 

[cwis]

Your right, guess auto cancel just wouldn't work. But manual cancelling would!! Lol

WDW could, everyday, cancel all FPs obtained before the 30 days mark, for guests that do no longer hold an active reservation (checked-in or not) at any WDW resort (be it the original reservation or another).
Sounds pretty easy to do automatically.

 

[bumbershoot]

An adult traveling with kids on their own room are granted a room type specifically issued for handling this case. I think it is called ”connecting room guaranteed”. This is typically hidden from guests, though I remember when they rolled online check-in there was a glitch where you could select this requirement for some hotels (of course it was not intended of being available).

I'm on the "nope" side of this. I've read too many posts over the years where this has NOT happened.

To me a guarantee is something that is 100% assured. Which is why Disney's "guarantee" is not a "guarantee" and it should never be assumed to be one.

A guarantee means if it doesn't happen they'll compensate you. It never ever means "its absolutely going to happen".

We travel from Canada and to make the trip worthwhile (flights, exchange, etc) we stay long periods. If we can no longer do that we won't be going. Plain and simple. No dramatic exclamation, just fact.

Of course you can still go. You just might have more than one reservation number.

What happened to the "WDW carefree vacation"?

That's never existed for me.

This is really good to hear as I thought they had really cracked down on this. I wonder, when they made the changes for you, if the same discount happened to be available for the room category and length of stay you wanted. I wonder if that's why it was taken care of so easily.

Absolutely. They've changed their policies in the last nearly a year. So that's the only way it happened.

I'm sorry, but this is not true.

Disney does have one exception to the "connecting rooms are not guaranteed" policy. If you have a party where it is two parents traveling with small children, Disney *will* guarantee connecting rooms. This was even discussed on the Dreams Unlimited Travel podcast in May. It has to be done over the phone, not online, but Disney will book it under a single reservation number but with two rooms and will guarantee it.

Here is the relevant video. Traci Henrichs explains this situation beginning at the 4:47 mark:

Oh well if a podcast says it lol.

Well just ignore the people who were "guaranteed" connecting rooms and didn't get them.

 

[CT Disney]

Even the folks on this thread have different definitions and understandings of the word guarantee.

I'm thinking Disney should pick a different word...

 

[maxiesmom]

Even the folks on this thread have different definitions and understandings of the word guarantee.

I'm thinking Disney should pick a different word...

Agreed. A guarantee that is not really a guarantee doesn't cut it when you are spending thousands of dollars. I know people who would find their vacation ruined if they didn't get their guaranteed connecting rooms. I know people who could go with it, but some couldn't. Disney has no business making something sound like it is a given when it really isn't.

They state "guaranteed" and then in their terms and conditions go on to say, nope, not really. Find a different word or way of phrasing then.

 

[maxiesmom]

But then you would need to pay workers to do that...

And you would have to trust them to not mess it up. And the more and more posts I read from people who spoke with CMs over the phone, I don't think I would trust them.

 

[Tom P.]

Agreed. A guarantee that is not really a guarantee doesn't cut it when you are spending thousands of dollars. I know people who would find their vacation ruined if they didn't get their guaranteed connecting rooms. I know people who could go with it, but some couldn't. Disney has no business making something sound like it is a given when it really isn't.

They state "guaranteed" and then in their terms and conditions go on to say, nope, not really. Find a different word or way of phrasing then.

Disney is using the word "guarantee" in the same way that literally every other company that offers a guarantee does. I cited examples, but you chose not to respond to them. By your definition, no company should ever use the word guarantee because it is impossible to ever deliver something 100% of the time.

 

[GoGoBeans]

Disney is using the word "guarantee" in the same way that literally every other company that offers a guarantee does. I cited examples, but you chose not to respond to them. By your definition, no company should ever use the word guarantee because it is impossible to ever deliver something 100% of the time.

I'm getting the feeling that I'm guaranteed a headache.

 

[maxiesmom]

Most decent places, if they have a guarantee, let you know ahead of time what will happen if they don't meet that guarantee. No pizza in 30 minutes, get one free. Your muffler dies before the year is up, we put one on free. Disney just says your room is guaranteed........and nothing. No ownership that they may not be able to meet that guarantee. No, if we can't meet the guarantee here is what we will do for you. You show up thinking you have guaranteed connecting rooms (after all unless you look really hard Disney doesn't admit they are not truly guaranteed) don't get them, and you have to make do with what they give you. Here are your 2 non connecting rooms, hope mom and dad didn't want to sleep together on vacation. No assurance the rooms will even be near each other. Hope you pack so you can be on different ends of the same building, if you are that lucky!

Yeah, I get (thanks in part to lovely experience) that Disney's guarantee doesn't really guarantee squat. But Mr and Misses Sam Eagle, if it is there first trip, probably don't know that. They take Disney at their word that their connecting rooms are GUARANTEED. Disney shouldn't use the word guarantee until they also state what they will do for you if they can't meet that guarantee. How about something like

Connecting rooms are guaranteed for your family

*If for some unforeseen reason we cannot give you connecting rooms we will give you 10 % off of your stay.

That way people have a heads up that sometimes they cannot give out connecting rooms. They will know what the offer is, and can book based on if they are ok with the wishy-washy guarantee.