Room only reservation, can i drop a middle day?

[HappyCamperToo]

We are now considering spending one day at Universal and want to have access to their early entry, so that means paying for a room at one of their hotels. Hate the idea of also paying for a room at Disney on the same night.

We have a 6 night room only reservation. Can/will they let us drop a day from the middle, making two separate reservations? If so, what impact would that have on dining reservations and fast passes? Will we lose them?

We considered seeing Universal at the beginning or end, but it works much better in our schedule to go in the middle.

Thanks for your advice.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You would not be dropping a day. It would become two separate reservations. This would mean two deposits, and two FP+ dates. If you ate within 60 days you shouldn't see any impacts but you will pay a second deposit.

 

[buzznina]

You would not be dropping a day. It would become two separate reservations. This would mean two deposits, and two FP+ dates. If you ate within 60 days you shouldn't see any impacts but you will pay a second deposit.

Question, just curious Will they need to cancel the existing reservation and then see if they have availability for those dates to make 2 reservations?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Question, just curious Will they need to cancel the existing reservation and then see if they have availability for those dates to make 2 reservations?

Yes.

It's why the "drop a day" thing is such a bad term for what the outcome is. In the system, it becomes making two entirely new reservations, subject to availability, and just because all the days are in the current ONE reservation does not mean they will be allowed to make this as two reservations with the stray night in the middle. Disney's algorithm hates orphan nights.

 

[focusondisney]

And remember you would need to pack everything up & take it with you. They will not be holding that same room for you. So you will be moving all your bags to Universal & then back to Disney. Will you have a car? You could pack just what you need for your one night at Universal & leave the rest in your car then at least. I don’t mind split stays at all, but personally this is way too much work for me.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

Question, just curious Will they need to cancel the existing reservation and then see if they have availability for those dates to make 2 reservations?

They wouldn't need to cancel. They can modify the reservation to the new dates of the first stay (if the dates are available) and then make a second reservation for the second WDW stay. If the original resort isn't available for the new dates, they could always modify the current reservation to anything that is available for the first stay and make a second reservation for any resort for the second stay. OP, it is very possible your current resort/room category will not be available for this new date configuration. If you can be somewhat flexible with resorts and room categories, this type of split could work. Maybe even consider switching up your WDW resorts to try out something new - start at one WDW resort, go to Uni, come back and stay at a second WDW resort, for example.

 

[buzznina]

Personally, I do not think the hassle is worth the early park entry benefit, just make sure you are there before the parks open.

 

[kaytieeldr]

They can modify the reservation to the new dates of the first stay (if the dates are available) and then make a second reservation for the second WDW stay.

(if, again, the rates are available).

Honedtly, OP, it seems like it would be less trouble and probably less expensive to just arrive at U.S. early and purchase Front of the Line.

 

[starry_solo]

I would just keep the night at Disney, book the hotel at Universal for the one night you want it, and get there extra early so you can use the FOTL passes for check-in day and check-out day. Pack one day's worth of clothes for the family for the hotel at Universal.

 

[georgina]

The way I read it, they are staying at a Universal resort for early entry but not necessarily an express pass resort? OP are you planning to hit both parks? What time of year are you going? How many people? That all factors into the planning.

 

[Elle23]

Why not do Universal at the beginning or end of the trip instead of right in the middle? That seems like it would be much less disruptive.

 

[HappyCamperToo]

We have three adults and will buy 1 day/2 park passes, which are very expensive.

I was getting mixed signals on how crowded it would be in September on a Saturday with the new ride and the Halloween night so thought we might need benefit of early entry.

Buying Express Pass or staying and higher priced hotels for "free" EP is too costly.

We will uber over and back to save on renting/parking a car and are keeping Disney on both ends of trip for free airport shuttle.

All that said....I just bought touringplans for their crowd calendar and if they are correct I think we will be ok without needing early entry and without EP.

So we're just going to stay put at Disney the whole time. And therefore I don't need to worry about losing dining reservations anymore.

Thank you everyone for your comments and suggestions!