To answer Pete's question on the podcast about room only reservations who don't yet have tickets...

[disneyholic family]

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wow, i was just watching Brayden's video....
when the park reservation system opens, we'll be able to reserve a park entrance a whole year in advance.!!!
wow....oh, i said that already...

so that means this august, when i make the DVC reservations for our July 2021 stay, i'm going to have to immediately buy 9 tickets so that i can immediately make park reservations (and it also means no park hopping in 2021 either?)...
so i'll have to shell out 9 tickets worth of money 11 months before we travel.....yikes!

does anyone else think the no-park-hopping option will continue through 2021?

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[starry_solo]

that's crazy..
we asked the CM if there was any kind of ticket available....length of stay, AP,anything...
she said no and she didn't know when they would be available again...
and we knew that the UK 14 day ultimate ticket wasn't being sold for 2020 either (that's the ticket we usually get)...

well it doesn't matter.....
my daughter needed to cancel anyway...
international travel isn't the wisest of choices right now...
not to mention, travel insurance to the USA now costs over $100 per day (because of corona)..
so for her 15 day trip, she would have had to pay $1,500 for insurance for each of them...
$3,000 for travel insurance for the two of them is a wee bit expensive....
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OMG, that is expensive travel insurance!

 

[disneysteve]

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I can't say enough about that location.

Last August, Chani and i stayed at Bay Lake Tower and oh my god, it was fantastic being able to walk to the Magic Kingdom and especially to be able to walk back after the fireworks.
No crazy crush of people waiting for the ferry/monorail/buses, just a nice short stroll back to BLT/CR.

i knew it would be convenient staying so nearby, but i underestimated how much we would enjoy being able to walk back and forth like that.

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I stayed at Contemporary once before but I was a teenager and WDW wasn't the monster complex it is now. I don't believe we ever walked to or from the park. But when we were at the last DIS event, even though we weren't staying there, we did make that walk a couple of times and it is so nice.

Especially during the 50th hoopla, not having to wait for or crowd onto transportation will be well worth it.

 

[disneyholic family]

OMG, that is expensive travel insurance!

it's only because of covid.
And because medical care in the US is so expensive.

Normally, when someone gets sick, if they require lengthy hospitalization, the insurance company will just fly the person back home to Israel for medical care at home.
Even if it requires a very expensive medical evacuation plane, it's still much cheaper than hospital care in the US.

But right now, if a person catches covid 19 and ends up in the hospital, the insurance company has to pay for all their care in the US given that you're not allowed back into Israel until you're no longer sick.
That's a lot of money that the insurance companies have to shell out.

So while travel insurance before covid cost about $1 a day.....so for 15 days it would cost $15, now with this situation, it's gone up to $100/day but only for travel to the US.

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[disneyholic family]

I stayed at Contemporary once before but I was a teenager and WDW wasn't the monster complex it is now. I don't believe we ever walked to or from the park. But when we were at the last DIS event, even though we weren't staying there, we did make that walk a couple of times and it is so nice.

Especially during the 50th hoopla, not having to wait for or crowd onto transportation will be well worth it.

i'm sure the place is going to be crazy packed....especially given all the constraints and cancelled trips this year.
That's a whole lot of pent up demand, even without the 50th. Throw in the 50th and you've got a mad crush of people.
I'd hate to be in the pack waiting for the ferry to the parking lot!!!!!

 

[kylenne]

I’ll be there for the 50th as well! We’ll have to have a DIS meetup!

We booked CL at the Contemporary right when it opened up for the 50th weekend but before they shut new reservations off. Tried to get TPV but it was already sold out so we have the Bay Lake view. We’re just there for the weekend (9/30 - 10/3) but neither of us have stayed at CR before and gf in particular is crazy excited because it was a dream resort for her since childhood.

 

[Tonyz]

We booked CL at the Contemporary right when it opened up for the 50th weekend but before they shut new reservations off. Tried to get TPV but it was already sold out so we have the Bay Lake view. We’re just there for the weekend (9/30 - 10/3) but neither of us have stayed at CR before and gf in particular is crazy excited because it was a dream resort for her since childhood.

Man now I’m nervous I missed the boat for booking for the 50th.

But that’s awesome for you and your gf. Contemporary definitely makes the most sense for the 50th, I’ve just never had any interest in staying there when the Poly is so close haha.

You ever stay on the monorail loop hotel before or is this your first?

 

[disneyholic family]

Man now I’m nervous I missed the boat for booking for the 50th.

But that’s awesome for you and your gf. Contemporary definitely makes the most sense for the 50th, I’ve just never had any interest in staying there when the Poly is so close haha.

You ever stay on the monorail loop hotel before or is this your first?

didn't they say that on June 28th they'll reopen 2021 bookings?
i wonder what time it will start....midnight? 7 am?
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[kylenne]

Man now I’m nervous I missed the boat for booking for the 50th.

But that’s awesome for you and your gf. Contemporary definitely makes the most sense for the 50th, I’ve just never had any interest in staying there when the Poly is so close haha.

You ever stay on the monorail loop hotel before or is this your first?

Lol I feel the same way about CR but we chose it mainly because of practical concerns thinking of the easy walk home with crowds. The history of it is appealing though and gf is an artist who counts Mary Blair as one of her heroes.

Our first monorail resort stay was at the Poly a couple of years ago and we absolutely fell in love with it. It’s definitely “home” to us! Something about walking in the lobby and getting The Smell and seeing the castle is so magical. I miss it a lot when I’m elsewhere, even though I like the Boardwalk area too. We didn’t realize it at first but between our rebooked May trip (GF/Poly split) and the 50th weekend we will actually hit all three monorail resorts in the same year! We will both turn 40 next year (myself on the May trip, gf in July) so it will be real special for us.

 

[disneyholic family]

didn't they say that on June 28th they'll reopen 2021 bookings?
i wonder what time it will start....midnight? 7 am?
.

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oh but wait a minute.....did they say that it will only be for bookings through september 26th 2021?
i'm so confused..

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[disneyholic family]

Lol I feel the same way about CR but we chose it mainly because of practical concerns thinking of the easy walk home with crowds. The history of it is appealing though and gf is an artist who counts Mary Blair as one of her heroes.

Our first monorail resort stay was at the Poly a couple of years ago and we absolutely fell in love with it. It’s definitely “home” to us! Something about walking in the lobby and getting The Smell and seeing the castle is so magical. I miss it a lot when I’m elsewhere, even though I like the Boardwalk area too. We didn’t realize it at first but between our rebooked May trip (GF/Poly split) and the 50th weekend we will actually hit all three monorail resorts in the same year! We will both turn 40 next year (myself on the May trip, gf in July) so it will be real special for us.

truth be told, all the resorts have something in their favor.....
But that convenience of walking from BLT outweighed all other considerations for us.
Though for next summer, we're hoping to split between the beach club villas and BLT.
But i don't know if we'll be able to manage that.
Whatever we get will be amazing, just let this covid be over and done with so we can get back to the mouse!!!
(not to mention, get into the US without having to self quarantine for 14 days - which could put a bit of a damper on a WDW holiday! LOL)
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[dina444444]

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oh but wait a minute.....did they say that it will only be for bookings through september 26th 2021?
i'm so confused..

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That when reservations for the parks will be required/open through.

 

[Tonyz]

Lol I feel the same way about CR but we chose it mainly because of practical concerns thinking of the easy walk home with crowds. The history of it is appealing though and gf is an artist who counts Mary Blair as one of her heroes.

Our first monorail resort stay was at the Poly a couple of years ago and we absolutely fell in love with it. It’s definitely “home” to us! Something about walking in the lobby and getting The Smell and seeing the castle is so magical. I miss it a lot when I’m elsewhere, even though I like the Boardwalk area too. We didn’t realize it at first but between our rebooked May trip (GF/Poly split) and the 50th weekend we will actually hit all three monorail resorts in the same year! We will both turn 40 next year (myself on the May trip, gf in July) so it will be real special for us.

Oh, The Smell... if my entire trip was walking into the Poly lobby once, taking a deep breath, and then fly back home.... it would still be a great trip!

The Poly, AKL, and Boardwalk are my top 3. Still gotta do Wilderness - which is the plan if I end up going in October.

 

[disneyholic family]

That CM was wrong. On monday 6/15 I bought 3 gold AP for my family thru the disneyworld website. AP sales never stopped as far as I know. Tickets are linked to our aug 22nd trip now waiting for monday.

i really don't know what you're talking about. If you look at the disney world website it very clearly states that ticket sales, including APs have been temporarily suspended.
On the day my daughter cancelled her DVC reservation i checked the website and no tickets were for sale.
We confirmed that with the CM. She was very apologetic that tickets weren't available even for people with confirmed reservations. Even for DVC members.
And she said she didn't know when they would go back on sale.

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[TheMaxRebo]

.
wow, i was just watching Brayden's video....
when the park reservation system opens, we'll be able to reserve a park entrance a whole year in advance.!!!
wow....oh, i said that already...

so that means this august, when i make the DVC reservations for our July 2021 stay, i'm going to have to immediately buy 9 tickets so that i can immediately make park reservations (and it also means no park hopping in 2021 either?)...
so i'll have to shell out 9 tickets worth of money 11 months before we travel.....yikes!

does anyone else think the no-park-hopping option will continue through 2021?

.

So that is what appears to be the case, that starting at 7am tomorrow you will be able to book park reservations for any stay that you have that you have tickets for up to Sept 26, 2021

For a maximum of 14 days total, and only 3 days if you have an AP but no resort stay booked

BUT I wouldn't be surprised if in practice it works differently (I saw one report it would only allow bookings through and of 2020, another that it will be a rolling booking period, etc) - but we will find out tomorrow!

Also, just means you *can* do that doesn't mean you *have* to ... Though like ADRs and FPs for busier times (whenever that is) you will want to do it as early as you can to get the best options

 

[disneyholic family]

So that is what appears to be the case, that starting at 7am tomorrow you will be able to book park reservations for any stay that you have that you have tickets for up to Sept 26, 2021

For a maximum of 14 days total, and only 3 days if you have an AP but no resort stay booked

BUT I wouldn't be surprised if in practice it works differently (I saw one report it would only allow bookings through and of 2020, another that it will be a rolling booking period, etc) - but we will find out tomorrow!

Also, just means you *can* do that doesn't mean you *have* to ... Though like ADRs and FPs for busier times (whenever that is) you will want to do it as early as you can to get the best options

that explains why Disney has eliminated the UK 21 day ticket for 2021.
That's the ticket that a lot of us use since our WDW stays are often 21 days long.
And that's in fact how long we'll be there in 2021.
hmm.....so we'll only be able to reserve 14 days.
I wonder if there's a work around.
I suppose i could buy a UK 14 day ticket combined with a UK 7 day ticket.
I wonder if the system will let me book 21 days on two different tickets at the same time.
I suppose time will tell if people are able to reserve multiple trips on different tickets.
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[Smittolis]

When I spoke with a CM about purchasing a Florida Resident or DVC AP they said technically I could purchase one once the system allows, but technically it isn't viewed as an existing ticket until it is activated at the park or guest services. Until then its just a certificate and not viewed as a ticket. Not sure if things have changed but this meant based on all the information around we have cancelled our August trip sadly as I am on the only one in the family without an existing AP!

 

[disneyholic family]

When I spoke with a CM about purchasing a Florida Resident or DVC AP they said technically I could purchase one once the system allows, but technically it isn't viewed as an existing ticket until it is activated at the park or guest services. Until then its just a certificate and not viewed as a ticket. Not sure if things have changed but this meant based on all the information around we have cancelled our August trip sadly as I am on the only one in the family without an existing AP!

OMG......i wonder if that CM was correct!
so there's no way to have a ticket to make the park reservations???????????????????????
so we won't be able to reserve in advance for our trip?
how do you spell dealbreaker!!

 

[Smittolis]

OMG......i wonder if that CM was correct!
so there's no way to have a ticket to make the park reservations???????????????????????
so we won't be able to reserve in advance for our trip?
how do you spell dealbreaker!!

I know, we didn't have a knee jerk reaction to the news but it was part of the equation that has led us to not only cancel our upcoming trip in August but also to cancel our AP's as we will not be able to use them at all until after they expire. So we will simply purchase them again when we go in a years time. Sad really, but I had this info confirmed by more than one CM but it was more of an interpretation as opposed to a hard fast rule so perhaps it may change, that said there is enough uncertainty surrounding it to make us not want to risk it given the large financial investment needed to go for 2 weeks with a family of 5.

Hopefully you have better luck!

 

[disneysteve]

When I spoke with a CM about purchasing a Florida Resident or DVC AP they said technically I could purchase one once the system allows, but technically it isn't viewed as an existing ticket until it is activated at the park or guest services.

Unless they have recently changed the rules (which is possible), this is not true. We've always been able to add an AP to our MDE account as soon as we purchased it online and could use it to make FPs, get AP discounts, etc. even though it wasn't activated yet.