IMO...they are going in order and allowing those to choose first for a chance at open rooms...by paying for it.
It will reduce those empty rooms, which could mean more people will be canceled at closed resorts. But, at since they are not allowing them to have it for free, going in order does seem like the fair way to do it.
What we don’t know, is maybe the moving into Phase 2, is allowing them to up park capacity? And so they realize they can accommodate if all DVC and Ft. Wilderness were to be filled up? That’s a pure guess on my part.
I just want to understand as there have been so many different recovery conditions as well as different rumors.
If someone has a reservation at a value or moderate resort before any Disney resorts or parks are open (forgive me, I've forgotten the date in July they are supposed to reopen) can they reschedule into the same resort category this year or next at the going rate for that category/hotel? Or are only deluxe available and they have to pay the difference. I'll put aside those that had a recovery offer already since that is a separate wrinkle, just original reservations for this time period.
If someone has a resort reservation at a value or moderate after the parks and (some) resorts are open, but not the resort that they have a reservation for, are we saying that their only option is to get moved to deluxe or cancelled? And that if they move to a deluxe they need to pay for the upgrade, even if it is for the same timeframe as the original reservation? Or does the upcharge only occur if they modify to a different time period?
If Disney chooses to not open those resorts due to $ cost issues (i.e., there is no reason they can't open Pop if they choose to open a deluxe), then this sounds very close to price gauging on the pandemic.
Is it really any different than someone who has different types of masks, one more expensive and brings in a higher profit margin than the other? They take orders for each before the pandemic. Once the pandemic hits, they choose to sell only the expensive masks (albeit at the same original price, not an increased one) and not make the cheaper ones available to people that already ordered them. I realize this is far from a perfect analogy for several reasons, not the least of which is that hotel reservation is for a specific set of dates while the mask is not, but this seems dicey.
Price gauging laws are hard to enforce and without an increase in the actual price of the hotel rack rate it may not technically apply, but by choosing to only open the more expensive hotels and not moving/honoring the original reservation, this seems a little too close for comfort. Disney has much better lawyers than me, (not even a lawyer at all) so I'm sure they know what they are doing, but this just seems like it could end up in litigation, civil or otherwise. I know I wouldn't be happy if I had a reservation at a value and was told the only way I could keep it would be to pay 4 times as much or more because Disney chose to only open deluxe resorts. I may not agree, but can at least understand if they didn't keep all discounts in the same category booking, but forcing someone into a completely different category seems wrong.
Then again, I could be completely misunderstanding what is happening, especially since it may not actually be Disney's official policy, just rumors from different people's experiences and third hand knowledge.
