Are the Days of Walking a DVC Reservation Numbered?

[tx911]

If Disney had a guide that told you every little in and out of DVC than I can see your point but they dont.

If Disney is that against walking wouldn't they say that its against the rules publicly? It's not very hard for them to single out the walkers.

I'm against it. Idk how Disney feels about it. For me it just feels underhanded.
It may be that as some have suggested it will become a non-issue if and when commercial renting is addressed in some way.

 

[Leight19]

I'm against it. Idk how Disney feels about it. For me it just feels underhanded.
It may be that as some have suggested it will become a non-issue if and when commercial renting is addressed in some way.

IMO commercial renters have to be addressed and that could help with availability which would make walking less necessary. Today walking is a bit of an arms race where everyone is walking earlier and earlier because they got burned before so even without commercial renters genie may be out of the bottle.

To me commercial renters need to be addressed directly, not through blocking walking because any change recommended to block walking likely will have more of an impact on normal users then commercial renters.

If there’s a limit to number of modifications or blocks on modifications for reservations at 11 months, commercial renters have more points to handle that and likely multiple contracts in LLCs so they can work around easier. Even the idea of enforcing the morale argument of not blocking day you never intend to use would fail on them because if they couldn’t walk they would be booking with intention to use it until something they can book is available which is better profit margin.

That’s the issue I have with putting so much weight on the “desired check in” date. If walking didn’t exist I would still book the dates leading up to my desired dates so I’m guaranteed to have something until the future dates I want open up. You could argue even when not walking im booking those days without intention to use them but the fact is if the walk broke some how and I was stuck with original reservation I would take that trip still.

 

[Wedgeout]

Well I have “walked” as west coaster. Booking early mornings isn’t too fun. Book days early and slide it over. Adapt to the current system. Hasn’t bothered me that others use this walking. Now if I changed the Modification rules: Walking would become Hopping and would really have no benefit to booking days or weeks early. At 7 & 11 months you have same booking process. Can book up to 7 nights. Then modifying the length of stay can’t be done until check out day. That morning (7 or the 11 month mark) can modify the reservation adding up to 7 more nights if you wish. Any more days, wait until that checkout date to extend again. You would be able to modify your original check in day all you want or change the resort, just can’t extend that reservation until the 7 & 11 month to the check out day. (The current system, having that room locked in, unavailable to others, past the daily booking calendar date, and allowing this Slide move..Walking..would end).

 

[Leight19]

Well I have “walked” as west coaster. Booking early mornings isn’t too fun. Book days early and slide it over. Adapt to the current system. Hasn’t bothered me that others use this walking. Now if I changed the Modification rules: Walking would become Hopping and would really have no benefit to booking days or weeks early. At 7 & 11 months you have same booking process. Can book up to 7 nights. Then modifying the length of stay can’t be done until check out day. That morning (7 or the 11 month mark) can modify the reservation adding up to 7 more nights if you wish. Any more days, wait until that checkout date to extend again. You would be able to modify your original check in day all you want or change the resort, just can’t extend that reservation until the 7 & 11 month to the check out day. (The current system, having that room locked in, unavailable to others, past the daily booking calendar date, and allowing this Slide move..Walking..would end).

So in this scenario how would someone book a stay longer than 7 days? In addition if a second room in that category is available at 8am the day after my check in would I be able to modify to that new start day plus 7?

 

[AstroBlasters]

If 99% at 11m didn’t have issues why would anybody be walking? There’s evidence of walking through the fall for studios and 2BRs at BW, BC, CCV, BR, RIV, VGF, BLT. Other months on and off. If DVC made no change so be it. I can work with what exists though I’d prefer DVC to pull true home priority back closer to 11 months.

I am wondering if part of this thread is because the 11m is close to Christmas 2025 and people are looking at availability at WDW and seeing a lot of the lower cost Studios and 2BD LO’s already booked out…. a sense of heightened awareness if you will….

 

[Tatebeck]

I am wondering if part of this thread is because the 11m is close to Christmas 2025 and people are looking at availability at WDW and seeing a lot of the lower cost Studios and 2BD LO’s already booked out…. a sense of heightened awareness if you will….

That and the quarterly/annual association meetings where they actually acknowledged renting and walking as a problem. Anyone seeing stories about or checking in on the association meeting stuff now is aware of it as well

 

[Wedgeout]

So in this scenario how would someone book a stay longer than 7 days? In addition if a second room in that category is available at 8am the day after my check in would I be able to modify to that new start day plus 7?

Would be in same booking field as everyone else. Can extended up to 7 more days but not until the check out date lands 7/11 months out. If another room category opens up second, third, sixth day later after your booking..modify it. Can’t modify past the original reservation check out day (the up to 7 slide wouldn’t apply). You could modify moving the check in day but that reservation will be 6 days until that original booked check out days hits the 7/11 month mark to modify the up to 7 more night. You are now extending days in real time with everyone else attempting a reservation that day, to get your reservation room category.

 

[AstroBlasters]

That and the quarterly/annual association meetings where they actually acknowledged renting and walking as a problem. Anyone seeing stories about or checking in on the association meeting stuff now is aware of it as well

Fair point.

 

[Leight19]

Would be in same booking field as everyone else. Can extended up to 7 more days but not until the check out date lands 7/11 months out. If another room category opens up second, third, sixth day later after your booking..modify it. Can’t modify past the original reservation check out day (the up to 7 slide wouldn’t apply). You could modify moving the check in day but that reservation will be 6 days until that original booked check out days hits the 7/11 month mark to modify the up to 7 more night. You are now extending days in real time with everyone else attempting a reservation that day, to get your reservation room category.

I think your solution is functionally similar to what I propose. For me the solution to walking is any days beyond the 11month are not considered yours when you modify.

I can book today 11 months plus 7. Tomorrow if that new 11Month day is available outside of me holding it for the +1 from yesterday I can compete with everyone else to modify my reservation to get that date but me having it already doesn’t block others from trying. If I’m successful I “walk” the room forward or extend to 8 days pending what I was trying and then another room (my previois booking) comes available since I temporarily needed to have 2 rooms to modify.

This would allow me to book and try to modify to future days but it gives me no advantage by having booked 11Months + 7 the previous day (beyond fact I still have my existing reservation if I fail). I find this solution best I’ve heard proposed but main negative is if you want to book 2 weeks or 3 weeks you have to win the booking derby at least 2 or 3 times.

 

[Sandisw]

What rule? I didn't say anything about a rule- actual or made up. I was talking about the actions and the motivations of a downtrodden group of DVC members who need to be protected from an angry anti-walking mob that you are giving voice to.

Clearly your group is ok with taking something that you don't want from someone else, why can't you just acknowledge it rather than hide behind the whole rule strawman.

But walkers only take it for no more than 6 days and on most cases, rooms are there the next day.

If it’s not coming back then those owners did want it.

Sure, others walking might mean owners who really want those rooms have to do a little extra work, but let’s not pretend that if a walker takes a room and doesn’t want it it is gone for goid.

Sometimes getting what you want, if it’s popular does take some work.

Some of us who have chosen not to walk, and indifferent to it have simply decided that there are still ways to get what we want, even if it’s not first try because we have never been guaranteed that.

 

[Disneyepcot]

I have walked and even back door walked; picking up days as others walked. I’m ok with walking.
Since I agree the cure to walking could be worse for most of us, I will contribute a crazy idea.
What if only direct purchase contracts were permitted to walk and all others had to cancel and rebook. A crazy unlikely scenario but I’ve seen other crazy suggestions. (I don’t want this but DVC must be white boarding all possibilities.)

 

[Chili327]

no one else can get past your 11+1 day to book

Oh, so maybe this is my confusion.. I thought if you had the points you could book 7 days?

 

[Sandisw]

Two Facts:
1. Every DVC owner is intended to be on equal footing for home resort booking at 11 months.
2. Because of walking, all owners are not on equal footing at 11 months.

I want every owner to be on equal footing. A walker by definition does not want every owner on equal footing. They want an advantage.

This is a problem that needs fixing, however limited it might be.

Every owner is on equal footing to book a room 11 months from the check in date…you can go in every day and book rooms available every day of the year…nothing is stopping any owner from doing that.

Whether I book a room I want or not doesn’t make the system unequal or even unfair. Any owners reason or intent for booking a room isn’t really relevant.

Not everyone knows stalking works…not everyone knows you can call and make a fake night with OTU points so you can cancel it and then have them to use at 8 am online to get a jump on a 7 month trip.

Not everyone knows you can reallocate points or that holding points occur even if you change trip to use less points and not cancel.

There will simply always be some things that others have figured out that do give them an advantage.

One can advocate for a change but it’s not because it’s unfair it’s because people don’t like others peoples reasons for booking a room.

 

[JOLT]

Oh, so maybe this is my confusion.. I thought if you had the points you could book 7 days?

so if there are 2 rooms in 1 category. lets say 11m is 12/17/24
Room A is rented 12/15-12/24
Room B you have 12/17-12/19

for someone to book 12/19-12/20 they would also need the days prior but since the 11month window is 12/17 and you and room A already have those days booked they can not book past you.

now if you dont modify your reservation on 12/18 someone can book 12/19 for room B and your walk is wasted.

 

[Sandisw]

I thought it was the issue of how many points you have, but I’ve been told you only need enough points for 2 days to walk… but it still seems like if someone has booked a week they are way ahead of my 2 days. lol

The person who has 7 booked vs the person who could only do two is only ahead in that they don’t have to move as often.

Think of it this way. You book room A at 11 months for two nights. The other person is booking Room B for 7 nights.

You are no longer competing against each other. You are moving Room A and they are moving Room B.

You just need to move daily to keep your room where they can wait 5 days to move it forward.

But, once you have locked in your room, no one can take it from you, except DVc if they remove rooms for service or it’s a rooms with a lot of fixed week

 

[Genie+]

I am wondering if part of this thread is because the 11m is close to Christmas 2025 and people are looking at availability at WDW and seeing a lot of the lower cost Studios and 2BD LO’s already booked out…. a sense of heightened awareness if you will….

It’s been long debated how much walking was even happening and if whatever amount was happening was even necessary. From our end we have clues but not conclusive accounting like DVC can access. They say they are on the case. They specifically mentioned number of calls (changes) into the system and walkers themselves not liking having to do it. They could’ve answered the questions differently if they already had data showing little impact to the membership.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

I think you’ll find that the vast majority of owners disagree with you on this one.

I think the vast majority of members use their points for their vacations only, and as such agree.

 

[Sandisw]

As an owner of both BRV and RIV, I agree there is walking other than the value and club level rooms. RIV is constantly being walked and BRV gets walked for the holidays, it’s happening right now.

There are certainly categories of rooms that get walked at other resorts…because demand is high.

Even if walking is stopped, all the people who want those rooms will not get them.

No easy answer to solve that other than higher point charts or a lottery or something of that effect.

 

[JOLT]

No easy answer to solve that other than higher point charts or a lottery or something of that effect.

you take that idea out of the universe! Dont take away my 10 point weekends!

 

[Wedgeout]

I think your solution is functionally similar to what I propose. For me the solution to walking is any days beyond the 11month are not considered yours when you modify.

I can book today 11 months plus 7. Tomorrow if that new 11Month day is available outside of me holding it for the +1 from yesterday I can compete with everyone else to modify my reservation to get that date but me having it already doesn’t block others from trying. If I’m successful I “walk” the room forward or extend to 8 days pending what I was trying and then another room (my previois booking) comes available since I temporarily needed to have 2 rooms to modify.

This would allow me to book and try to modify to future days but it gives me no advantage by having booked 11Months + 7 the previous day (beyond fact I still have my existing reservation if I fail). I find this solution best I’ve heard proposed but main negative is if you want to book 2 weeks or 3 weeks you have to win the booking derby at least 2 or 3 times.

The issue with this is you would have an advantage already holding the room past the booking date. It’s really not a fresh 7 night booking reservation, it’s still a modification to the original booking. If that category if fully booked that date..nobody else trying to get the week will have availability that day. You get the future 8th night only because your original reservation has it locked into the future 6 nights. Only battling with yourself. (becomes walking if modify this way). That’s why original booking of a reservation, up to 7 nights is currently booked on same fair booking terms. Having to wait to extended by modifying on the 7/11 mark of check out day is a clean and fair booking process. (Palm sweating, nervous frenzy perhaps)..You are attempting the extension as others are trying to book a fresh check in day reservation. All battling for the same rooms. Yes is a hassle to extend this way. (A result caused by walking..in perfect world we all only book what we want..but we are competitors lol). This may stop the ability to “walk”. (Brilliant minds usually figure some ways to get the advantage back). My way would become..you hold what you obtained and hope to “hop” on more availability days to extend the stay.