Welcome, David, to planDisney, where we happily answer all of your Disney vacation planning questions! Grab a seat, keep your hands inside the boat, and let’s navigate your payment options together.
There are a few ways to answer your question, and it depends on what type of product has been purchased. Payment options are different for vacation packages (theme park tickets and a Disney Resorts Collection Hotel room booked together) and room-only reservations. So let’s take each scenario one at a time.
Room-Only Reservations
If you’re booking hotel reservations on the
Walt Disney World Resort website, you will need to complete them through three separate transactions. Just note that when booking, the default name of the first Guest will be yours. For any room you are not staying in, make sure the first name listed is the person who will be the lead Guest for that room. In this case, all of the information you enter must be the lead Guest’s information, not yours (including email address, phone number, and so on). Think of it like the Jungle Cruise: there may be a whole crew on board, but only one skipper is officially steering the boat. In this case, that skipper is your lead Guest, even if they aren't making the payments.
For each of these reservations, you would be able to pay the initial deposit, which is currently the cost of one night's stay. By default, the remaining balance will be charged at check-in to the default payment method. If you’d like to pay this ahead of time, you can
call a friendly Cast Member at the resort. Just note that for any reservation in which you are not the lead Guest, you will need to provide that lead Guest’s reservation details, usually including their full name, address, phone number, email, and reservation number.
Vacation PackagesNow that we’ve safely navigated room-only reservations, let’s steer this Jungle Cruise toward vacation packages. If you’re booking through the website, similar to the scenario above, you would complete three separate transactions and ensure that for any reservation in which you are not the lead Guest, you select one Guest as the lead and input their information. Unlike room-only reservations, with a vacation package you can typically choose to pay only the required deposit or any other amount, including the total balance. In your case, you would choose to pay the full amount using your credit card.
If it’s an existing reservation on which you are not the lead Guest, similar to a room-only reservation, you would need to call the resort, provide the necessary information, and make the payment over the phone. For vacation packages, the final payment must be made at least 30 days before arrival.
Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, is there any way I could book a vacation package, give you my information, and have you make all the payments ahead of time? No? Well, you can’t blame me for trying! Seriously, though, David, you’re a hero, and I’m sure you and your travel party are going to have the time of your lives. Be sure to check out all the activities, topiaries, and, of course, the food at the
EPCOT International Flower & Garden Festival while you’re there. It’s running from March 4 to June 1, 2026, and it has rapidly become my favorite festival!
Now, I’d end with a Jungle Cruise joke about reservations, but it might not land.
I'll be here all week,
Matt