Ok, here is my ?

[elmjimmlm]

I already have a reservation in June and we usually stay in Orlando the night befor we check in...We are thinking why not just stay at our resort instead and make a seperate room only reservation for one night but how will this work? Do we have to pay for this 45 days out or pay when we get there? Is there a deposit on a one night stay? So many questions...Thanks

[KylesMom]

The one night room only reservation would need to be paid in full at the time of booking, since Disney requires a one-night deposit on your reservation.

[PETE FROM NYC]

DW and I drove down last September. Never having made a trip like that, we were unsure of exactly when we would arrive. We wound up getting to the area a day early, and for the one night, we stayed in Knights Inn on 92.I don't remember the exact cost, but it was under $40 for one night. Nothing fancy, free continental breakfast (donuts and coffee).
Now the way I understand it, if you want to stay on property for an extra night or two, you will be paying full rack rate for wlk-ins. Thats also based on availability.

[DisneyPrincess21]

I already have a reservation in June and we usually stay in Orlando the night befor we check in...We are thinking why not just stay at our resort instead and make a seperate room only reservation for one night but how will this work? Do we have to pay for this 45 days out or pay when we get there? Is there a deposit on a one night stay? So many questions...Thanks

Why not just call Disney and add on the extra day to the reservation you have already?

[TheVBs]

We've done this and it works out great. We drive, and a couple trips ago we discovered we were going to get in a night early. So we called the hotel we were staying at and they gave us our room a night early at the same rate we were paying in our package. Last trip we planned it in advance and just had the first night as room only and our package start the next day. Again we paid the same room rate, we didn't pay rack rate either night. We love doing this because we usually get in later in the day. We just take a swim, get some dinner, lounge around the hotel, take advantage of any activities there and start our first day in the parks with no driving!

[elmjimmlm]

If I add another night then won't I have to add the dining with that? We are on the dining and I don't want another day of it...

[cinderella crazy]

I'm pretty sure you would have to have the dining with that.

We arrived on one of our trips a little later in the evening. For the majority of our trip we were staying at the WL but we didn't want to pay that much money when we were arriving so late. So we stayed at the All Star Movies. That way, we were still on property and felt like we were involved in the Disney magic. But if we hadn't done that, we would have probably stayed off site for that one night.

[TheVBs]

If I add another night then won't I have to add the dining with that? We are on the dining and I don't want another day of it...

No, we did not have to add dining or tickets when we did this. We just had one room only night before our package started. Call Disney, I'm sure they can get you taken care of.

[Genie1953]

We are checking in on April 10th which is the last day of peak season. We are checking out on April 19th and have the park hopper passes and the Disney Dining Plan. We ended up doing a room only reservation for the 10th. The reason we did this is because if we started our package on the 10th which fell in peak season then we would have to pay peak season dining plan rates for our entire stay even though only that first night is peak season. By doing a room only reservation for that first night it saved us around $180 on the cost of the dining plan I think. We are doing Downtown Disney that first day so didn't need the park hopper passes anyway.

[cinderella crazy]

No, we did not have to add dining or tickets when we did this. We just had one room only night before our package started. Call Disney, I'm sure they can get you taken care of.

That makes sense. I was under the impression that you would have to add the dining to it. Love Intercot! Always learn something new! Thanks!

[CleveRocks]

If you add 1 night as a room-only reservation then you don't have to (and in fact CAN'T) add the Disney Dining Plan to that night.

You will now have 2 separate reservations, a 1-night room-only reservation and then your package stay. These are totally separate, and are treated as such.

When you make a room-only reservation by phone, you owe the cost of 1 night's stay + tax within 7 days of making the reservation (immediately if doing it online). Since you are staying only the 1 night, you'll be paying for that entire reservation in advance.

Since these are 2 different reservations, you will have 2 separate reservation numbers. After you make the reservation, tell the reservationist about your other reservation and ask to have them linked together. By doing this, you slightly increase your chances of being able to stay in your same room versus having to change rooms after the first night.

Regardless, you WILL need to go to the front desk and check-out and then check-in, even if you're staying in the same room. Well, technically, if you left a credit card for Express Check-out on the room-only, then technically you wouldn't need to go to the front desk to check OUT, but you'd still need to go to the front desk to check IN for your package stay.

[bertmmur]

We are pretty much doing the same thing next week. Except I booked that first "extra" night through Expedia because it was a good bit less. Our package is booked through Disney but when i called for that extra night, they wanted to charge the higher price (said she could not explain how Expedia can sell the room for less??). I not very hopeful that we will not have to change rooms but the original plan was not to arrive until the next day anyway. And for only $60, we figure we cannot find a room much cheaper for that night.

[renecat]

We have done this our last two trips. Just had a room the first day without package. We use magical journeys and last year Wendy e-mailed me and let me know that the room rate had gone down 40.00 for our first night. Disney credited my card at check in. Then the next day you recheck in on your package. Thats when you get your keys that have your dinning and park passses on it.