DVC no reservations available at all? Really?

[Skip3key]

Thanks for all the great responses...I know the answer really is to book further out, but sometimes you just need that Disney Magic fix when you didn't know it...it's such an addiction, and I'm currently going through bad withdrawal!!All the posts and videos are making me have a need to at least get a taste of Halloween...even though this is a Christmas year for us... but I guess there is always next year. In these times of uncertainty, I just don't want to count on next year.... maybe its time to move to Orlando! Can you imagine... sitting at home on Sunday morning and just thinking, "lets just go to EPCOT for lunch today"...."Ok, lets go!"...sigh...

 

[chalee94]

I wonder if this will push for a point reallocation in the near future across all of the DVC properties at WDW?

a few of us have been holding our breath for the last 4 years or so when the new point charts are released, just in case...

 

[Lori in CNY]

I'm confused about what you expected - the resorts were booked full, did you expect them to kick someone else out? Or maybe have you share a room? Or does Tinkerbell's pixie dust make rooms magically appear?

Wow....your sarcasm reminds me of why I never post on these boards.

I guess what I expected was to "wait list" for a room to account for all those folks that were cancelling rooms left and right and they had not planned for them not arriving. Trust me .... after Wednesday there were PLENTY of EMPTY rooms and as I said, I already had a reservation for most of those days. We've been caught in a hurricane twice now and a blizzard once and unable to fly out - other times, the front desk manager has dipped into their rooms that are set aside just for this exact type of situation (weather, emergency). This was not a front desk manager who told us no....

 

[tjkraz]

We were booked right in the middle of Irma too - Saturday 9th thru Sunday 17th. All I asked DVC to do was walk our reservation a few days....let us arrive on Wednesday 13 after all the dust had settled. We already had a room booked for Wed, Thurs, Fri, Sat and Sun so just wanted to add a few more days at the end. Add Monday and Tuesday maybe. Their answer...no...plain and simple. Cannot do it, no rooms available, blah, blah, blah....

I guess what I expected was to "wait list" for a room to account for all those folks that were cancelling rooms left and right and they had not planned for them not arriving. Trust me .... after Wednesday there were PLENTY of EMPTY rooms and as I said, I already had a reservation for most of those days.

I’m confused.

Dropping the first couple of days and keeping the rest is not a problem. But adding the additional days apparently was a problem. Normally you can waitlist for whatever you wish, but all waitlists do expire 7 days prior to arrival. It’s always been that way and DVC can’t alter that computer programming even in light of a hurricane.

Nevertheless, you could have manually checked the website regularly to add the missing dates. If cancellations were as widespread as you claim (I did not follow hurricane aftermath closely), rooms would immediately appear on DVCMember.com for re-booking as they are dropped.

So, DVC should have had no issue with you keeping part of your reservation. And, pending availability, you could add additional days as they open up. The only thing they couldn’t do is give you ANY guarantee that you would get the extra days as long as the resort(s) remained full.

What am I missing?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Wow....your sarcasm reminds me of why I never post on these boards.

I guess what I expected was to "wait list" for a room to account for all those folks that were cancelling rooms left and right and they had not planned for them not arriving. Trust me .... after Wednesday there were PLENTY of EMPTY rooms and as I said, I already had a reservation for most of those days. We've been caught in a hurricane twice now and a blizzard once and unable to fly out - other times, the front desk manager has dipped into their rooms that are set aside just for this exact type of situation (weather, emergency). This was not a front desk manager who told us no....

The problem, though, is they had other displaced persons they placed IN those units when cancels started happening. With Fort Wilderness down, they had to move a lot of cabins and tenters, and they largely required AOA suites, multiple rooms, or 2BR units. You also had people who had evacuated from further south who were placed in many of those rooms.

DVC isn't "putting aside rooms" for this kind of thing. Literally, WDW was using every room that had opened up for ride-out crews, electrical crews from out of state, and evacuees.

 

[bumbershoot]

We've been caught in a hurricane twice now and a blizzard once and unable to fly out - other times, the front desk manager has dipped into their rooms that are set aside just for this exact type of situation (weather, emergency). This was not a front desk manager who told us no....

At a timeshare?

 

[Sandisw]

I was just on looking for my daughter and her friends to do long weekend at the end of January. I was surprised that I could not get a studio for the 3 nights tonight. I can do a 1 bedroom for them so was really surprised as I figured by then I could at least get SSR, OKW, or AKV. She is a CM so does get discounted rooms but when I can book her on points I do! So, yes, it seems that more times than not, booking 4 to 5 months out is showing less and less available!!!

 

[CaliAdventurer]

One solution to even out the seasons would be to make Flower and Garden a Food and Wine clone. It’s already going that way a bit. Would be cool!

 

[drusba]

I don't really believe this year's decrease in rooms for late reservations during the last quarter of the year is actually due to any significant increase in overall demand during that period. In the past, you could often find SSR open for late reservations for many of the dates but that advantage is now decreasing. My sense is that the change is the result of the change to SSR's point structure which lowered the points to OKW's level for "standard," which is close to 70% of the SSR rooms, and raised them to close to BCV level for "preferred." What is happenning there is that SSR is now actually becoming a choice at 7 months out for other-resort owners who would have never chosen SSR before because of its high point cost structure in comparison to OKW, with the result that only the smaller number of "preferred" rooms are the only ones often left for those making late reservations, and they now also disappear quiciker during that late reservation time period.

 

[sssteele]

Irma created a huge problem, and rooms reserved we're unfilled, yet points we're returned to use year. That will affect reservations for a long time to come. We would have lost cancelled/returned points had we not booked Vero Beach as a last resort (Feb use year). Many people may have lost points that they couldn't use because of no availability. Cruises and ABD may have been an option, but not many owners would not have the necessary points or been willing to use other points for a "bad value exchange". It will take a while to wash the system back to normality, but it should happen. Just my crazy theory?

 

[Dean Marino]

Wellllllll - as this is in the DVC thread....

My dear wife and I had ZERO issues booking our home resort, 11 months out. We have RES numbers for Nov 2017, and Apr 2018.

Now - I am also VERY SORRY for any actual DVC OWNER/Members that encountered problems due to Hurricanes . One day, this may happen to US .

 

[toolmanjan]

We'll be staying at BWV 2BR 11/12 - 11/19 Booked after the 7mo window. I needed to add 2 days to the beginning 10th & 11th. I have been checking the website for weeks on and off. This morning I checked again to find multiple options for those days. Although nothing at BWV. I was able to reserve a 1br prefered at SSR. I wonder if the DVC releases rooms that don't sell for cash as the dates become close. I also wonder if there is a way to use the online availability tool to show more availability.

 

[DebbieB]

We'll be staying at BWV 2BR 11/12 - 11/19 Booked after the 7mo window. I needed to add 2 days to the beginning 10th & 11th. I have been checking the website for weeks on and off. This morning I checked again to find multiple options for those days. Although nothing at BWV. I was able to reserve a 1br prefered at SSR. I wonder if the DVC releases rooms that don't sell for cash as the dates become close. I also wonder if there is a way to use the online availability tool to show more availability.

Most likely members who were undecided dropped those nights since they are close to the 31 day deadline. I don't know about cash rooms, there is a note on the DVC reservation page to contact member services if your check-in date is 10 days or less, there may be more availability than what is shown on the website.

 

[Wakey]

My two penneth:

1. Always see people posting buy where you want to stay in response to these posts. That could be poor advice for anyone wanting a 1 bed in DVC off season mid Jan to beginning Sept excluding holidays. Those rooms can easily be booked and it can be an extremely good strategy to buy cheap and save thousands and buy where you don't mind staying. I never have a problem booking any room any category save BLT standard, AKV club and often value 7 months out.
2. The occupation is near 100% year round, but demand is way higher with very early booking required Oct to December. A points reallocation would take the foot of off the gas. Summer points should be lowered.

 

[Wakey]

I don't really believe this year's decrease in rooms for late reservations during the last quarter of the year is actually due to any significant increase in overall demand during that period. In the past, you could often find SSR open for late reservations for many of the dates but that advantage is now decreasing. My sense is that the change is the result of the change to SSR's point structure which lowered the points to OKW's level for "standard," which is close to 70% of the SSR rooms, and raised them to close to BCV level for "preferred." What is happenning there is that SSR is now actually becoming a choice at 7 months out for other-resort owners who would have never chosen SSR before because of its high point cost structure in comparison to OKW, with the result that only the smaller number of "preferred" rooms are the only ones often left for those making late reservations, and they now also disappear quiciker during that late reservation time period.

Agree with this. Also with DS now having some of the best restaurants on property it must have increased its desirability quite a bit- it has for me.

 

[ABE4DISNEY]

We booked at 7 months out for OKW. Our dates are Oct. 27-Nov. 4. We decided about a month later to try for an additional night, the 26th. I waitlisted for it and thought for sure that with 6 month leeway, it would eventually come through, but no dice. Conclusion: this fall was booked up even before Irma came to town.

 

[cruisin5]

Our reservation was for 2 nights at bwv followed by 2 nights at VB the week after Irma. VB was closed with no opening date so I thought I could easily switch to a studio or 1bd on property but NOTHING was available. Fortunately, VB opened.

 

[huskies90]

There is always something happening...F&W, hurricanes, rundisney etc. So I do not think it has to do with Irma. Our short October trip next week has had ZERO availability since well before Irma hit. I have gone every fall for F&W for the last seven years and have always been able to get something in the relatively short term and then waitlist within a month or two. This year I am forced to swallow my points and pay for a room in cash which hurts.

I truly believe that the now very popularity of renting points is the root cause of the change. Not hurricanes, etc. It is so easy for an owner to rent out points when he/she cannot go where in the past, there were owners who just let them expire.

 

[bobbiwoz]

There is always something happening...F&W, hurricanes, rundisney etc. So I do not think it has to do with Irma. ....

I truly believe that the now very popularity of renting points is the root cause of the change. Not hurricanes, etc. It is so easy for an owner to rent out points when he/she cannot go where in the past, there were owners who just let them expire.

I agree. Never ever considered renting, until I had to have surgery this September and had to cancel VGC stay and 2 cruises. This gave me 96 points I would have lost because March UY, and another operation in January, and borrowed points. David’s found someone who used 95 of the points for a late January stay.

March UY worked great for me when I worked, now retired. So January availability got reduced because of renting 5 months out...they got Kidani and BWV, studio in each.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

It was slim pickings before Hurricane Irma. So many people had to reschedule their trips that I think that is what caused everything to be totally booked.

After this years experience will little to no availability, I'm sure not going to wait to plan my fall/early winter trips anymore. I'm currently looking at what I want to do for fall/winter of 2018 so I can book it the moment it becomes available.