Throwaway room (read post #2041 or #2710 before posting)

[itchin2go]

I'm imagining how ridiculous a conversation complaining to Disney would sound.

"Hello, Disney? Are you aware that someone else bought the campsite that I wanted? But you don't understand! I want it more!"

It's like getting upset at someone who gets a BOG FP+ and only orders a dessert.

"Hello, Disney? Are you aware that you let someone reserve a spot who never intended to order a full meal?! It's not fair!"

 

[cakebaker]

Disney must not care or they would have fixed it by now. Seems simple to fix, just have the benefits only for the nights you stay and no more. If you book one night, you get the benefits for check in and check out day only, not the length of the park ticket. I can't imagine they don't know people are doing this.

I'm sure they do know- not a doubt in my mind. But as I said earlier, they are probably more focused on getting fp+ rolled out- perhaps the bogus bands are at least people using the system to them right now. I'm confident they'll get around to it, just hope it's sooner than later.

There is simply no way they would want, long term, to rent out a campsite for $50 and give away $150 in band sales. That's not even accounting for the strain on the fp system for true onsite guests.

 

[Sammie]

Disney must not care or they would have fixed it by now. Seems simple to fix, just have the benefits only for the nights you stay and no more. If you book one night, you get the benefits for check in and check out day only, not the length of the park ticket. I can't imagine they don't know people are doing this.

Not necessarily, they are slow to fix many things, that others have said they don't care about

It really comes down to if it affects guest satisfaction. If you think this does not bother Disney guests then post it to the Camping forum and then get ready to be basted.

My understand is you only get benefits for those nights.

 

[itchin2go]

I'm confident they'll get around to it, just hope it's sooner than later.

Your confidence is normally misplaced. *Bless your heart.*

Regardless, this throwaway room thing has worked out great for me so far!

 

[itchin2go]

My understand is you only get benefits for those nights.

Your understanding is correct ... nights that have been paid for ... in full.

 

[cakebaker]

Not necessarily, they are slow to fix many things, that others have said they don't care about

It really comes down to if it affects guest satisfaction. If you think this does not bother Disney guests then post it to the Camping forum and then get ready to be basted.

My understand is you only get benefits for those nights.

It depends on what benefits you're talking about. EMH, parking...just for check in check out days. ADR advance booking, 60 days (rolling)- entire length of your ticket.

 

[cakebaker]

Regardless, this throwaway room thing has worked out great for me so far!

There's no question that it's a great little bonus for those willing to use it.

 

[Networth]

This kind of thing has been going on awhile as PP mentioned. Their will always be people gaming the system, it's like the individuals who pack all their luggage into carry ons but make sure it's below the weight limit. Is it allowed by the airline? Yes because their at the weight limit. Is it thinking of others who must share the over head bin with you? No.

That's the unfortunate thing its always about me, myself, and I. Kind of sad actually.

 

[Simplegurl77]

Totally new to this site -

If I have my tickets already from under cover tourist or I won 4 individual hopper passes at a benefit auction and they are all linked on MDE, and book a room on site, will they STILL send the Magic Bands?

 

[Chippy4]

Totally new to this site -

If I have my tickets already from under cover tourist or I won 4 individual hopper passes at a benefit auction and they are all linked on MDE, and book a room on site, will they STILL send the Magic Bands?

My experience is yes, they do send the magic bands. I had basically the same situation -- I have discounted tickets purchased outside of Disney (my husband is a DoD civilian and he bought them on base) and had already linked them to my MDE account. When I read about the perks of the throwaway room on this thread, I booked a "room-only" campsite for one night during my trip and I did receive a set of magic bands.

 

[doconeill]

Totally new to this site -

If I have my tickets already from under cover tourist or I won 4 individual hopper passes at a benefit auction and they are all linked on MDE, and book a room on site, will they STILL send the Magic Bands?

They will send magicbands whether or not you have tickets - getting the bands is a feature of a reservation.

Getting FP+ is a function of having tickets. How EARLY you get FP+ is a function of reservations+tickets.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

This kind of thing has been going on awhile as PP mentioned. Their will always be people gaming the system, it's like the individuals who pack all their luggage into carry ons but make sure it's below the weight limit. Is it allowed by the airline? Yes because their at the weight limit. Is it thinking of others who must share the over head bin with you? No.

That's the unfortunate thing its always about me, myself, and I. Kind of sad actually.

No one is gaming the system. People are paying Disney for a campsite or room got the benefits. This isn't against any policies. In a similar situation, in Nassau, it is almost always cheaper to book a single night in Atlantis to use the facilities than purchase day passes through the cruise ships. Atlantis doesn't care and neither does Disney.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

There is simply no way they would want, long term, to rent out a campsite for $50 and give away $150 in band sales. That's not even accounting for the strain on the fp system for true onsite guests.

You know that the bands "cost" Disney about 2 cents to make. So they aren't "giving away" $150 dollars worth of anything. And the people who are booking the rooms probably wouldn't actually purchase the bands if they weren't being given to them as part of the booking. So Disney isn't actually losing anything, basically they are "giving" out 10 cents worth of Magic Bands (assuming 5 bands per booking) And essentially people are paying for early access to FP+.

At the end of the day, this is a situation Disney has created. I doubt they are going to stop people giving them money for rooms that don't have to be cleaned or even checked into.

 

[itchin2go]

You know that the bands "cost" Disney about 2 cents to make. So they aren't "giving away" $150 dollars worth of anything. And the people who are booking the rooms probably wouldn't actually purchase the bands if they weren't being given to them as part of the booking. So Disney isn't actually losing anything, basically they are "giving" out 10 cents worth of Magic Bands (assuming 5 bands per booking) And essentially people are paying for early access to FP+.

At the end of the day, this is a situation Disney has created. I doubt they are going to stop people giving them money for rooms that don't have to be cleaned or even checked into.

Agreed.

Regardless, no amount of misguided, uninformed peer pressure is going to make me feel guilty for booking something, paying for it and getting the trappings that come with the booking. Not only did I do it, but I think I would have been crazy not to.

I got our Magic Bands in the mail last week, and it made me so excited for our trip!

 

[Disney_Princess83]

It depends on what you mean by "saving" from staying off site. I actually prefer staying off site (but still on property) But $120 a night, we get breakfast daily, a much larger room than Disney provide, 2 Starbucks coffees daily, free high speed internet, access to EMH and points for my stay.

I have not booked a throwaway room this trip. Last trip I did as only on site people could get Magic Bands. This time we are staying at AKL for 6 nights, then going on a 7 day Disney Cruise and then coming back for a 4 week stay.

The main advantage of a throwaway room is access to FP+ at 60 days out. You also get Magic Bands. Benefits like access to EMH and Free Parking are only the days of the reservation.

I'm confused about how throw away rooms are worth the effort and money. I haven't read through all of the thread on throw away rooms (since it currently has 1,960 posts), but based on the few (most recent) comments I did read, it sounds like the benefits associated with a throw away room only apply for the actual days of the room reservation. So if it's one night, then check-in and check-out days.

I understand that there are several benefits to the throw away room (magic bands included, EMH, 60 day advance FP+ reservations, 180+10 ADRs, and free parking). But I searched rates at the campsites at Ft Wilderness (often cited as the location for many throw away reservations), and the prices range from a low of $55 to a high of $154 (2014 prices). If the benefits do, in fact, only apply during the dates of the actual reservation, then how is booking a throw away room financially worth it? I've found rooms at the moderate resorts (CBR, POFQ, POR,...) for $120/night on a variety of dates. Are people really saving money by staying off site (ostensibly also requiring rental car) AND paying for a 'cheap' on-site room?

 

[cakebaker]

You know that the bands "cost" Disney about 2 cents to make. So they aren't "giving away" $150 dollars worth of anything. And the people who are booking the rooms probably wouldn't actually purchase the bands if they weren't being given to them as part of the booking. So Disney isn't actually losing anything, basically they are "giving" out 10 cents worth of Magic Bands (assuming 5 bands per booking) And essentially people are paying for early access to FP+.

At the end of the day, this is a situation Disney has created. I doubt they are going to stop people giving them money for rooms that don't have to be cleaned or even checked into.

I suspect they cost disney more than 2 cents, but I wasn't talking cost, I was talking sales. They sell them for $15.

Who knows what guests would do, but just because someone wouldn't buy something, doesn't mean Disney wants to give it away for free- otherwise I'd just wait till we were on site and grab an empty room.

We agree Disney has allowed this to happen. They've allowed other loopholes to exist as well and eventually fixed them. I expect they'll do it to this too. Time will tell.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

Agreed.

Regardless, no amount of misguided, uninformed peer pressure is going to make me feel guilty for booking something, paying for it and getting the trappings that come with the booking. Not only did I do it, but I think I would have been crazy not to.

I got our Magic Bands in the mail last week, and it made me so excited for our trip!

Exactly! There is nothing wrong with what you did, no matter what other people might try and tell you. You paid for access to a service.

 

[Disney_Princess83]

But Disney isn't giving them away for free - people are paying for their room which now includes Magic Bands. No different than if I book a single night stay at any resort, I will have the opportunity to customise and receive Magic Bands. They aren't free, they are built into the price of the room now.

This supposed "loophole" isn't actually costing Disney anything, they are gaining money from rooms that are being paid for and not stayed in. Less cleaning, no one checking in, access to FP+ 30 days early. There is no monetary loss for Disney, they are probably coming out ahead.

Perhaps Disney should offer early access to FP+ for $50. People would pay that for sure.

I suspect they cost disney more than 2 cents, but I wasn't talking cost, I was talking sales. They sell them for $15.

Who knows what guests would do, but just because someone wouldn't buy something, doesn't mean Disney wants to give it away for free- otherwise I'd just wait till we were on site and grab an empty room.

We agree Disney has allowed this to happen. They've allowed other loopholes to exist as well and eventually fixed them. I expect they'll do it to this too. Time will tell.

 

[cakebaker]

But Disney isn't giving them away for free - people are paying for their room which now includes Magic Bands. No different than if I book a single night stay at any resort, I will have the opportunity to customise and receive Magic Bands. They aren't free, they are built into the price of the room now.

This supposed "loophole" isn't actually costing Disney anything, they are gaining money from rooms that are being paid for and not stayed in. Less cleaning, no one checking in, access to FP+ 30 days early. There is no monetary loss for Disney, they are probably coming out ahead.

Perhaps Disney should offer early access to FP+ for $50. People would pay that for sure.

We'll just have to disagree and see how it all shakes out.

 

[itchin2go]

We'll just have to disagree and see how it all shakes out.

It's actually shaking out as a great trip for me.

We're staying for free offsite in a 2 BR 2 BA villa (courtesy of my husband's company), and with the throwaway room, I got magicbands for all 3 of us, 60 day FP privileges, 180+ ADR privileges and free parking for 2 days. (FWIW, there are also privileges I won't use like EMH and BOG booking).

We also booked a "throwaway room" at Universal for less than the price of 3 express passes. With the cost of the room, we'll get unlimited express passes and early entry.