When we were at the BC two weeks ago, I was one of the folks who was extremely disappointed to see that the whole month of October was blocked out from the RO BB for next year. We have been booking that BB for the last few years and had planned to book again for next year but sadly, we did not since I REFUSE to pay Disney's rack rates.
Was I completely shocked by the blockout dates? Yes and No. While I expected some of October to be blocked out as has been the case in the past, I didn't expect the whole month to be BUT FWIW, here's my two cents:
F&W draws the crowds both onsite and offsite and even though I booked this year's trip a whole year in advance, I had more difficulty tweaking my dates this time around than I ever have before. Every time I tried, the CM would say there was no availability or the resort I was inquiring about was "sold out" and this was the case back in January/February (8 months out). I also have to agree with
@vinotinto that it doesn't help with availability when people pre-book in hopes for a discount. If rooms are booked, then Disney doesn't need to offer discounts, it's plain and simple.
Now, because I am persistent and really wanted to go next October, I made a couple of calls while we were there, including to my TA that I use for our August trips and found out that they had a pretty good deal for my dates next October and as you can see by new ticker, I now have a discounted trip booked for next year

.