Adding a day onto a stay?

[princessamygrant]

Hi All--

We have been booked at POFQ for 6/14-6/21 since December. Now that our vacation is finally getting closer, I have been closely looking at flight information. Today I booked our flights from $175 pp, round trip (we live in WI) on AirTran. I was thrilled to get such a good price on our airline tickets! However, we had to fly in on 6/13 as there were just no flight times that would work for us on 6/14 (i.e. they all came in really late at night).

That leaves us with a problem of needing to tack an additional night onto our existing reservation. This is my first time at the World since high school and the very first visit for my two kids (ages 8 & 2). I am having major problems trying to get us into a hotel for that extra day.

I have now been on hold with Disney for well over 45 minutes after a cast member hung up on me the first time I waited on hold for over 30 minutes. Ugh. I wanted to book at the Dolphin or the Swan as my mom (who is coming with me) and I are both teachers so we would get a significant discount, but I was told that we then can't use the ME from the airport and would have to pay for transportation to the hotel which is kind of spendy.

I then asked if we could add an additional night on at the FQ, but was told that I would then need to add dining for that night too which doesn't make a lot of sense given that we are getting in at 8pm that evening.

So now it looks like we will need to try to get in at a value resort in order to avoid paying the extra dining and to utilize ME and then move to the FQ the following day.

I have never spent so much time planning a vacation and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't just a wee bit frustrated at this point. Any advice on this hotel thing?

TIA,
Marieke

[BMan62]

Why worry about adding the night to your existing dates - unless you are under some great 4+3 type offer? Just call and get a Room Only reservation for the night you need. You may find out that, if you are a AAA member you may get a decent discount on the night, or you might have some other possible saving opportunity.

[princessamygrant]

After over an hour on the phone, I did end up booking us a room only ressie at the Pop for the Saturday nite. It was $140. (They told me it would be $300 to add on one night at the FQ). I didn't think about a AAA discount. Any other suggestions on getting a reduced rate?

That was the cheapest they had (although we could have stayed at the Dolphin for $30 more but then wouldn't have the ME). I think this is probably the best solution but am certainly open to others if people have them.

TIA,
Marieke

[WishingStar2006]

I know adding an additional night at your resort is more expensive but the adding another day of dining shouldn't discourage you. You can use it to go to a signature dining location one day (like Cinderella's Royal Table that your children will love) or have a nice breakfast at Chef Mickey's one morning...it's like an little extra splurge..and then you eliminate the hassle of moving, especially with a 2 year old.

That's my

[dancin Disney style]

If you would rather not move resorts then I would call back and make a room only ressie at POFQ. Do it as if you had never called before and see what is available. The AAA discount will get you 10% off for that time period. If you get a room at POFQ you can then tell them to link together the new ressie with your other one. By having them linked together you almost eliminate the possibility of having to change rooms the next day. The only thing you would have to do if go to the front desk the morning of 6/14 and do a fast check out/check in.

[PhilHarHarMagic]

We had a similar situation. We decided to stay off-site for the day. It gave us a different view or Orlando and was a fun way to start the vacation to know we were so close, but not quite there!

(we did have a car, though)