2018?

[Duck143]

Do you all know what time of year they release more dates on the resort booking calendar? I'm looking for Spring 2018 and I can only see through Dec 2017.

Thank you!!

 

[KT0191]

You can book a room only by calling as much as 499 days out. 2018 packages will be released most likely in July.

 

[Duck143]

Is a phone call the only way to find out about availability this far out? It looks like I'm 480 days away.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Is a phone call the only way to find out about availability this far out? It looks like I'm 480 days away.

Yes.

You will also be quoted the single highest 2017 rate for the room.

 

[DopeyDame]

WDW's timeline is very challenging for early-year bookings. We ran into that last year when we wanted to book for our upcoming trip (we leave in just a few weeks! Wahoo!)
Unlike most hotels that have a 365-day booking window, WDW waits until July-ish to release the rates and online booking for the coming year. So you can call now, but you won't get accurate rate info, which for us is a critical piece of info before we book. So either just wait several months and book with accurate info, or you can call now and book something without knowing the real price.

 

[Duck143]

WDW's timeline is very challenging for early-year bookings. We ran into that last year when we wanted to book for our upcoming trip (we leave in just a few weeks! Wahoo!)
Unlike most hotels that have a 365-day booking window, WDW waits until July-ish to release the rates and online booking for the coming year. So you can call now, but you won't get accurate rate info, which for us is a critical piece of info before we book. So either just wait several months and book with accurate info, or you can call now and book something without knowing the real price.

Thank you everyone!
So, is the accurate info when you can view it all online?

 

[DopeyDame]

Thank you everyone!
So, is the accurate info when you can view it all online?

Yup. When they release the info, you'll see it *everywhere* - here, on the podcast, on the WDW website, on tv commercials. It will be hard to miss

 

[Duck143]

Do you know if I book more days at a resort than I am sure we will use, can I call and change to less?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Do you know if I book more days at a resort than I am sure we will use, can I call and change to less?

Not always.

 

[DopeyDame]

Do you know if I book more days at a resort than I am sure we will use, can I call and change to less?

I am definitely out of my league in responding to this question, but I think it will totally depend on how you book it and when you're trying to change and what's available. For room only reservations, you can cancel up to 6 days in advance, so there wouldn't be any penalty for changing either. For package reservations, I think the deadline is 45 days (we never do packages, so not positive). Closer to that, and I think changes will be at the mercy of the CM.
Further out, I've *heard* that they don't actually change the reservation, but rather cancel and create a new one, so it's theoretically possible that there wouldn't be room for you to book the "new" reservation at that hotel. That said, I easily changed a reservation online last year, and have changed reservations on the phone in the past without any problems.
So unless you're going at the busiest times of year or planning to make changes shortly before travel, you'll almost certainly be OK.

 

[purple figment]

Do you know if I book more days at a resort than I am sure we will use, can I call and change to less?

As aurora borealis said upthread, "not always." It can be done, but it has gotten more difficult in the past year. Previously, you could just drop one or two nights from a reservation, but now Disney requires that all the nights of your new reservation are still available in their unbooked inventory. Disney, like most hoteliers, does not want one or two nights since those are harder to book so whether you can drop nights on a reservation will depend on what is available at that time.