Irma, Results for Canceling/Rescheduling ONLY (no debate or if you should or shouldn't)

[tiggerluver12]

Originally rented points to stay at BoardWalk Villas 9/13-9/18 (5 nights). Flight on the 13th kept getting rescheduled for later in the day so we reserved 1 night on 12th at All-Star Sports and rescheduled our flight for the night of the 12th. Then Irma began churning towards the US. So I went ahead and booked back up dates - 9/18-9/20 at Pop in case Irma caused a delay.

On the 9th AA cancelled our 9/12 flight. Said there was only availability to fly in on Saturday the 16th. There went our first night at All-Star Sports, as well as our 1st 3 nights at the BoardWalk (lost $$ on that), as well as our Fastpass selections and Dining Reservations. I went ahead and had AA extend our flight out to the 22nd and booked 2 extra nights 9/20-9/22 at the DoubleTree because Disney Reservation system was down.

Spent 6 hours on the phone (mostly on hold) Tuesday morning attempting to extend our stay at Pop until the 22nd with no luck at all. I am assuming the double booking issue that they are experiencing has caused no rooms to be found for quite some time. Was told to keep checking back to see if anything opens up.

So right now we are 2 nights at BoardWalk, 2 nights at Pop and 2 nights off property at DoubleTree. Thanks Irma!!

Disney was able to add the deluxe dining plan at Pop for me and they also rescheduled our 6 tickets to MNSSHP - got a small refund on that too.

 

[ElleJay1119]

How did it turn out? Hope they were able to do something for you. I was told no on FD on my trip by guest services when I had cancel and move ours to October. They said FD isn't offered then so they couldn't let me keep it.

We rebooked for 4/29. They are only letting people get FD if it's available, and they would let us do it for what the current bounce back offer is. So we'd have to change to June, when it is crowded and hotels are more expensive so FD wouldn't even be worth it. We went ahead and rebooked, but guest services was not helpful at all. I get it, Disney doesn't have to do anything because everything is booking back up with people paying the increased prices. I tried, but in the end we rebooked. Hopefully a room discount will come out for our new dates. Moral: don't waste 3 hours on hold with guest services hoping for something.

 

[dansdad]

We rebooked for 4/29. They are only letting people get FD if it's available, and they would let us do it for what the current bounce back offer is. So we'd have to change to June, when it is crowded and hotels are more expensive so FD wouldn't even be worth it. We went ahead and rebooked, but guest services was not helpful at all. I get it, Disney doesn't have to do anything because everything is booking back up with people paying the increased prices. I tried, but in the end we rebooked. Hopefully a room discount will come out for our new dates. Moral: don't waste 3 hours on hold with guest services hoping for something.

After posting earlier I've been able to talk to the parties we know that changed their dates and kept their discounts. All 3 said Guest Services mentioned that it was a good thing they were rescheduling as if they had cancelled and then tried to book later there would be nothing they could do. Two of the three kept Free Dining in early 2018 when it's never offered. The other kept their room only even though there's no offers for their dates.

I know this doesn't help you now but for the future the key is to reschedule as opposed to cancelling. Once you cancel they can't get you access to your previous offer.

 

[Kelly Sullivan]

Yesterday as we were getting ready to leave to head down to our reschedule the trip we got a phone call from Disney and they left a message saying the fort wilderness cabins were closed until the 20th and we needed to call to either reschedule or do a split stay or something so we didn't leave and instead called them and ended up spending all day on the phone getting disconnected, getting customer service who couldn't help us because every thing was booked and they couldn't find us a room anywhere finally after six hours they were able to find us a room at All-Star music I'm very disappointed they did nothing to compensate us for the inconvenience no fps no nothing. The first girl I talk to said I'm sorry that there's so many people coming in to seek refuge from the hurricane that there's no rooms available but I'm thinking I paid already I reserved a trip already they should be accommodating me right? The message offered a split stay and they couldn't even accommodate that! We've never gone and stayed anywhere else because the cabins have always been perfect for our family it's quiet there's no one else around. I booked early to get our dates. I already lost all my reservations and fast passes for BR Guest Crystal Palace flight of passage Navi river Journey frozen and peter pan etc. the first time around when we rescheduled from our original dates of the 11th to checking in the 15th. It has been extremely frustrating. I know it's not disneys fault that a hurricane hit and I was really patient and understanding up until this point. The phone situation was the worst. Being disconnected after being on hold for hours. Being transferred to "guest services" only to find it wasn't guest services it was just another customer service person who really didn't understand anything, she treated me like I was someone calling to set up a new reservation, when I was in fact trying to salvage my trip. then having to wait another hour and a half to talk to a real guest services person. The part that really upset me was being told that even though they were the ones moving me from the cabins they couldn't find any availability ANYWHERE! So all of Disneyworld is apparently booked :/. I was foolishly thinking when I got the message that oh maybe we will be upgraded for our inconvenience or compensated in some way with maybe a gift card or fast passes or something because we were being displaced. But noooooooooo all they said was if we were unhappy with the new situatio, our other option was to cancel.

This will be our last trip to Disney. I'm not feeling very magical. I saved for three years to make this happen. I've been actively planning it for almost two I was so excited. Now I'm sitting here seriously considering canceling and using the money for something more enjoyable like new flooring for the house.

I'm feeling selfish and petty because I do know there are people there who lost everything due to the hurricane or aren't even sure if their house is still standing.

But at the same time I saved,planned for years and all of that planning .... family discussions on what days, what rides, what restaurants.... picking times for everything to avoid crowds.... four of us taking the time off of work. Which we've been off for a week now waiting to start this trip because we were supposed to leave a week ago.

 

[ElleJay1119]

Yesterday as we were getting ready to leave to head down to our reschedule the trip we got a phone call from Disney and they left a message saying the fort wilderness cabins were closed until the 20th and we needed to call to either reschedule or do a split stay or something so we didn't leave and instead called them and ended up spending all day on the phone getting disconnected, getting customer service who couldn't help us because every thing was booked and they couldn't find us a room anywhere finally after six hours they were able to find us a room at All-Star music I'm very disappointed they did nothing to compensate us for the inconvenience no fps no nothing. The first girl I talk to said I'm sorry that there's so many people coming in to seek refuge from the hurricane that there's no rooms available but I'm thinking I paid already I reserved a trip already they should be accommodating me right? The message offered a split stay and they couldn't even accommodate that! We've never gone and stayed anywhere else because the cabins have always been perfect for our family it's quiet there's no one else around. I booked early to get our dates. I already lost all my reservations and fast passes for BR Guest Crystal Palace flight of passage Navi river Journey frozen and peter pan etc. the first time around when we rescheduled from our original dates of the 11th to checking in the 15th. It has been extremely frustrating. I know it's not disneys fault that a hurricane hit and I was really patient and understanding up until this point. The phone situation was the worst. Being disconnected after being on hold for hours. Being transferred to "guest services" only to find it wasn't guest services it was just another customer service person who really didn't understand anything, she treated me like I was someone calling to set up a new reservation, when I was in fact trying to salvage my trip. then having to wait another hour and a half to talk to a real guest services person. The part that really upset me was being told that even though they were the ones moving me from the cabins they couldn't find any availability ANYWHERE! So all of Disneyworld is apparently booked :/. I was foolishly thinking when I got the message that oh maybe we will be upgraded for our inconvenience or compensated in some way with maybe a gift card or fast passes or something because we were being displaced. But noooooooooo all they said was if we were unhappy with the new situatio, our other option was to cancel.

This will be our last trip to Disney. I'm not feeling very magical. I saved for three years to make this happen. I've been actively planning it for almost two I was so excited. Now I'm sitting here seriously considering canceling and using the money for something more enjoyable like new flooring for the house.

I'm feeling selfish and petty because I do know there are people there who lost everything due to the hurricane or aren't even sure if their house is still standing.

But at the same time I saved,planned for years and all of that planning .... family discussions on what days, what rides, what restaurants.... picking times for everything to avoid crowds.... four of us taking the time off of work. Which we've been off for a week now waiting to start this trip because we were supposed to leave a week ago.

I feel you completely.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

Yesterday as we were getting ready to leave to head down to our reschedule the trip we got a phone call from Disney and they left a message saying the fort wilderness cabins were closed until the 20th and we needed to call to either reschedule or do a split stay or something so we didn't leave and instead called them and ended up spending all day on the phone getting disconnected, getting customer service who couldn't help us because every thing was booked and they couldn't find us a room anywhere finally after six hours they were able to find us a room at All-Star music I'm very disappointed they did nothing to compensate us for the inconvenience no fps no nothing. The first girl I talk to said I'm sorry that there's so many people coming in to seek refuge from the hurricane that there's no rooms available but I'm thinking I paid already I reserved a trip already they should be accommodating me right? The message offered a split stay and they couldn't even accommodate that! We've never gone and stayed anywhere else because the cabins have always been perfect for our family it's quiet there's no one else around. I booked early to get our dates. I already lost all my reservations and fast passes for BR Guest Crystal Palace flight of passage Navi river Journey frozen and peter pan etc. the first time around when we rescheduled from our original dates of the 11th to checking in the 15th. It has been extremely frustrating. I know it's not disneys fault that a hurricane hit and I was really patient and understanding up until this point. The phone situation was the worst. Being disconnected after being on hold for hours. Being transferred to "guest services" only to find it wasn't guest services it was just another customer service person who really didn't understand anything, she treated me like I was someone calling to set up a new reservation, when I was in fact trying to salvage my trip. then having to wait another hour and a half to talk to a real guest services person. The part that really upset me was being told that even though they were the ones moving me from the cabins they couldn't find any availability ANYWHERE! So all of Disneyworld is apparently booked :/. I was foolishly thinking when I got the message that oh maybe we will be upgraded for our inconvenience or compensated in some way with maybe a gift card or fast passes or something because we were being displaced. But noooooooooo all they said was if we were unhappy with the new situatio, our other option was to cancel.

This will be our last trip to Disney. I'm not feeling very magical. I saved for three years to make this happen. I've been actively planning it for almost two I was so excited. Now I'm sitting here seriously considering canceling and using the money for something more enjoyable like new flooring for the house.

I'm feeling selfish and petty because I do know there are people there who lost everything due to the hurricane or aren't even sure if their house is still standing.

But at the same time I saved,planned for years and all of that planning .... family discussions on what days, what rides, what restaurants.... picking times for everything to avoid crowds.... four of us taking the time off of work. Which we've been off for a week now waiting to start this trip because we were supposed to leave a week ago.

I also totally understand. We have also been left totally scrambling ourselves. I've been kind and patient, even with our also crazy experience on the phone 16+ hours total holding between two days at one point. Trying to get to someone on the phone that can help is a nightmare. So I do understand. Everything is still not right with ours and I understand the day before thing as we had to cancel the day before our arrival. Now we are currently scrambling to cover the additional costs from moving the trip to the only dates that were available, which caused us to lose the discount we were booked under. I don't know what to say except that there are those who understand, I understand, and I really feel for you. Hang in there and I hope you can regain some of the magic on your trip

 

[goav2000]

After posting earlier I've been able to talk to the parties we know that changed their dates and kept their discounts. All 3 said Guest Services mentioned that it was a good thing they were rescheduling as if they had cancelled and then tried to book later there would be nothing they could do. Two of the three kept Free Dining in early 2018 when it's never offered. The other kept their room only even though there's no offers for their dates.

I know this doesn't help you now but for the future the key is to reschedule as opposed to cancelling. Once you cancel they can't get you access to your previous offer.

Thanks for following up with information I COULD HAVE USED LAST WEEK!!
But seriously, that was really nice of you to follow up. We cancelled/booked new so we lost our free dining. RO discount applied, but I guess we won't have a bunch of snack credits to waste on the last day.

 

[FutureDisneyEventPlanner]

i was able to reschedule for the middle of November. i was only on the phone for less than an hour, but i usually call them later at night instead of during the day when everyone else is.

i had to pay more than i originally paid, which annoyed me a bit since other people were given the rate they originally purchased at. lost all my fastpasses and ADRs though, but was able to get all them back except BOG of course.

i've learned that you have to search on the Disney site yourself, see what's available, and then tell them what you want. calling them first without looking never seems to work. there have been times when i see things online and then i call and they tell me it's not available!

 

[daisydee43]

Has anyone got their refunds yet for the resort vacation package cancellations? I have got our prepaid ADR refunds etc, but nothing for the actual resort reservation cancellation. I've been assured the reservation was cancelled (even though it still shows on MDE along with our new Oct reservation) but my funds haven't been transferred to cover our new reservation nor have I got the remaining fund refunded to me yet.

I called yesterday because I haven't received refund from cancelling on the 6th. They said it could take 2 billing cycles on my credit card to show up.

 

[ElleJay1119]

I called yesterday because I haven't received refund from cancelling on the 6th. They said it could take 2 billing cycles on my credit card to show up.

When they say that, they mean to see the credit on your actual credit card statement. If you go online to monitor the charges and credits, you should see it in 7-10 days. We cancelled Thursday 9/7 around 8pm central. The refunds for our room-only showed up Monday 9/11 and for the package on Wednesday 9/13. I was told that they were having to send each package cancellation to guest services to approve for a full refund, so it was taking a while to process.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

I called yesterday because I haven't received refund from cancelling on the 6th. They said it could take 2 billing cycles on my credit card to show up.

I've been checking my credit card account online each day since the 6th, and the vacation package refund just showed up this morning. Hope yours shows up soon. I've now have received all my refunds back.

I also got an email back from guest services saying that they had finally found our box package we had shipped down to the resort for our arrival (that never happened) and they are shipping it back to us. Woohoo! We were scared it had been lost at the resort. It has vacation supplies, our window decorations etc.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

How did it turn out? Hope they were able to do something for you. I was told no on FD on my trip by guest services when I had cancel and move ours to October. They said FD isn't offered then so they couldn't let me keep it.

Followup: I received a call from Guest Services today in regards to an email I sent last week inquiring about the chance of possibly getting our free dining back. I had been told no on the phone by Guest Services when dealing with everything originally. But I had emailed to just ask one more time so that I felt in my heart that I had at least really tried. I was shocked when the great lady CM today gave it back to us! We've really been pixie dusted and I so appreciate Disney doing that for us. I would say to those of you who lost your free dining, maybe try emailing Guest Services if you have not already. I am so thankful and did not expect it. This has really helped put the excitement back into our trip since we lost so much from our plans (ADRs & FPs) and have been scrambling to come up with the extra money for food costs.

 

[laudawso]

I wanted to follow up on my previous post (on the first page I believe). Short version is we had booked at Wilderness Lodge under the enchanted package and had to cancel/reschedule for 2 weeks later at POFQ (plus we extended the trip by 2 days and had to schedule the first 2 days offsite) with the AP discount (requiring at least one of us to upgrade to an AP).

Approaching the cancellation window for the offsite hotel, we called last night and were transferred to Guest Services. Not only was this CM incredibly pleasant and helpful, but she got us in at POFQ so we didn't have to stay offsite at all. The best part of all- she was able to apply the same enchanted package/promo. So now we are paying the same cost for 9 nights at POFQ that we had for 7 nights at WL.

 

[goav2000]

Followup: I received a call from Guest Services today in regards to an email I sent last week inquiring about the chance of possibly getting our free dining back. I had been told no on the phone by Guest Services when dealing with everything originally. But I had emailed to just ask one more time so that I felt in my heart that I had at least really tried. I was shocked when the great lady CM today gave it back to us! We've really been pixie dusted and I so appreciate Disney doing that for us. I would say to those of you who lost your free dining, maybe try emailing Guest Services if you have not already. I am so thankful and did not expect it. This has really helped put the excitement back into our trip since we lost so much from our plans (ADRs & FPs) and have been scrambling to come up with the extra money for food costs.

Congrats!!! Could you please post the script of the email and tell the same great lady to call us too!

 

[goav2000]

I wanted to follow up on my previous post (on the first page I believe). Short version is we had booked at Wilderness Lodge under the enchanted package and had to cancel/reschedule for 2 weeks later at POFQ (plus we extended the trip by 2 days and had to schedule the first 2 days offsite) with the AP discount (requiring at least one of us to upgrade to an AP).

Approaching the cancellation window for the offsite hotel, we called last night and were transferred to Guest Services. Not only was this CM incredibly pleasant and helpful, but she got us in at POFQ so we didn't have to stay offsite at all. The best part of all- she was able to apply the same enchanted package/promo. So now we are paying the same cost for 9 nights at POFQ that we had for 7 nights at WL.

I'm not sure how much the discount was, but shouldn't 9 nights at FQ cost much less than 7 nights at WL?

 

[laudawso]

The discount was 30% off at WL. Our rate was like 240/night. When we had to reschedule at FQ, it was either rack rate or AP discount on only the weekday portions of the stay (and have to buy an AP). The package rate is $10/nt higher than the AP rate, but it's for each night of the stay and we don't need to upgrade to APs to get it.

(edited to fix the WL discounted rate)

 

[ElleJay1119]

Followup: I received a call from Guest Services today in regards to an email I sent last week inquiring about the chance of possibly getting our free dining back. I had been told no on the phone by Guest Services when dealing with everything originally. But I had emailed to just ask one more time so that I felt in my heart that I had at least really tried. I was shocked when the great lady CM today gave it back to us! We've really been pixie dusted and I so appreciate Disney doing that for us. I would say to those of you who lost your free dining, maybe try emailing Guest Services if you have not already. I am so thankful and did not expect it. This has really helped put the excitement back into our trip since we lost so much from our plans (ADRs & FPs) and have been scrambling to come up with the extra money for food costs.

What is the email for guest services you used?

 

[dansdad]

What is the email for guest services you used?

wdw.guest.communications@disneyworld. com.

 

[prettypatchesmsu]

What is the email for guest services you used?

I used guest.services@disneyworld. com and I got an email from them later that same day saying they were forwarding it on to someone who could help me. I assume someone with the authorization to do things like I was wanting. Then it took 8 days from then to hear back via the phone call. I hope that helps.

 

[ElleJay1119]

I used guest.services@disneyworld. com and I got an email from them later that same day saying they were forwarding it on to someone who could help me. I assume someone with the authorization to do things like I was wanting. Then it took 8 days from then to hear back via the phone call. I hope that helps.

I just did this too, but with no expectations. Thanks for sharing.