Are the Days of Walking a DVC Reservation Numbered?

[Maistre Gracey]

Lots of words to re-state the same FUD that people have been saying since Riviera opened with restrictions. At least you recognize it is all just fear, uncertainty, and doubt by constantly saying "may". I do agree that the more Riviera owners there are, the more difficult 7 month bookings will be - but that also isn't new in the DVC system, outside of popular sleep-around resorts like SSR.

All people have to do is book in the 11 month window. The way DVC has worked since day 1.

Exactly. Backward from check out day worked perfectly.

 

[robinb]

Friends, I’m going to be annoyed if our dues go up because member services needs to hire additional employees because dozens of DISboards members keep bothering MS to ask about walking because a small minority here can’t accept that walking is simultaneously (1) not against the contractual rules but also (2) behavior that Disney sees as undesirable, against the spirit of the rules, and potentially problematic enough that it’s considering changing the rules to make it against the rules.

I believe that the whole reason why walking exists is because DVC didn’t want to hire enough staff to handle the 8:00 am influx of calls to book day-by-day.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I believe that the whole reason why walking exists is because DVC didn’t want to hire enough staff to handle the 8:00 am influx of calls to book day-by-day.

Quite possibly true.

But now with internet booking….

 

[Sandisw]

I believe that the whole reason why walking exists is because DVC didn’t want to hire enough staff to handle the 8:00 am influx of calls to book day-by-day.

They said last week that the day by day booking owners were doing was not what the check out rule was meant to become…and that owners complained that they felt forced into day by day.

So, they switched it so owners could book a trip going forward for a full week and not backward.

I’m sure the impact on MS was a big part of it too!

Of course, it created walking so they simply replaced one problem with another. Once online booking came in and they added the modify feature. It became much easier to do because one no longer had to call to walk.

Which is why I think some of the statements were said the way they were..they don’t want to change it again only to end up in the same situation…another unintentional consequence that they can’t control.

Who knows where we land…but mt hope is when they review the pro and cons of it all, they will realize that allowing walking is the least impactful con for the membership as a whole.

 

[robinb]

They said last week that the day by day booking owners were doing was not what the check out rule was meant to become…and that owners complained that they felt forced into day by day.

So, they switched it so owners could book a trip going forward for a full week and not backward.

I’m sure the impact on MS was a big part of it too!

Of course, it created walking so they simply replaced one problem with another. Once online booking came in and they added the modify feature. It became much easier to do because one no longer had to call to walk.

Which is why I think some of the statements were said the way they were..they don’t want to change it again only to end up in the same situation…another unintentional consequence that they can’t control.

Who knows where we land…but mt hope is when they review the pro and cons of it all, they will realize that allowing walking is the least impactful con for the membership as a whole.

I was around for day-by-day calls. They were a ginormous PITB and you risked having a hole in your reservation if you didn’t time the call right. And talk about unfair … how many people had the ability to call at 8:00 am many days in a row? Or be online at exactly 8:00 am every day?

My hope is that once commercial renting gets under control the regular member walking will be so minimal that it won’t matter.

Edited, my April reservation of a combo of AKV Club studio, AKV Value studio and a SV 2BR at BWV was made picking up the leavings. And yes, it was a PITB to be up at 6:50 am central time for days and days.

 

[zavandor]

There is a very easy solution for walking that doesn't even require a change to rules or the POS, because it's already there and has been used in the past:

• all rooms that are usually walked (AKV value and CL, BWV standard and BW view, BLT standard) will not be bookable online anymore (some of them might be blocked only for certain part of the years)
• they can be booked only as weeks, Saturday to Saturday. Check-in day cannot be changed
• owners must register their interest for one or more weeks before the reservations open
• the weeks are assigned by MS; FCFS, by lottery or a mix of the two
• once assigned, if the owner doesn't want it anymore, they're assigned to the next in line
• once booked, they cannot be modified. If canceled, they're assigned to the next in line

That's how the POS deals with high demand times. That's how Christmas week worked the first couple of years
Can we all agree it would be a terrible solution?
This is what I mean with: "beware what you wish for".

 

[CarolMN]

I believe that the whole reason why walking exists is because DVC didn’t want to hire enough staff to handle the 8:00 am influx of calls to book day-by-day.

Not wanting to hire more staff is the reason why we got online booking when we did.

 

[JackosinDIS]

There is a very easy solution for walking that doesn't even require a change to rules or the POS, because it's already there and has been used in the past:

• all rooms that are usually walked (AKV value and CL, BWV standard and BW view, BLT standard) will not be bookable online anymore (some of them might be blocked only for certain part of the years)
• they can be booked only as weeks, Saturday to Saturday. Check-in day cannot be changed
• owners must register their interest for one or more weeks before the reservations open
• the weeks are assigned by MS; FCFS, by lottery or a mix of the two
• once assigned, if the owner doesn't want it anymore, they're assigned to the next in line
• once booked, they cannot be modified. If canceled, they're assigned to the next in line

That's how the POS deals with high demand times. That's how Christmas week worked the first couple of years
Can we all agree it would be a terrible solution?
This is what I mean with: "beware what you wish for".

Agree that would be a terrible solution!

I am one of those people who doesn’t really find the system to be broken. Yes, it can be a little inconvenient and involves a bit of effort if you want one of the most popular rooms, but I can live with that in return for the almost unlimited flexibility we have.

I have only owned since June 23, so maybe my view is biased by the fact I never experienced booking when it was ‘easy’, but on the other hand I have never had an issue getting what I want. Yes, I had to try repeatedly at 8am for several weeks to get my BWV studio, but that’s also fine - I would rather have a chance trying at 8am (where I know I can put the effort in) than be entered for a lottery.

 

[Nabas]

Being also an owner with Marriott/Westin where modifying a reservation is simply not available I say be careful what you wish for... the alternative of cancel/rebook (and if you can't, your old reservation will have vanished) can be a lot worse and a lot more frustrating!

Thank you for expressing my biggest fear!

Disney changes the booking rules for something that rarely affects me (e.g. walking) to something that does (e.g. the ability to easily modify an existing reservation).

 

[Spivey378]

You’d have to keep trying each morning at exactly 8am until you find an opening. I’m only half kidding when I say you are a few months behind. You could luck out but at this point your chances are getting more dim. Best would’ve been at least 2 months ago. The best time to book December is before the end of 2 summers prior.

All hope is not gone though. You still have a pretty good shot at piecing together your dates right as the real 11 month window passes, and then waitlisting whatever’s missing. I’d also start a full trip waitlist Day 1 as well. Having some flexibility in which dates you could do in December would also help increase your chances.

I got in for a four night stay!

So every day or every other day I modify it at 8:00 right?

 

[Nabas]

I've seen Bay Lake standard view studios get walked leaving no availability at 11 months, only to see that inventory get dropped a few days later.

This is why walking rarely affects me. Yes, I cannot get the dates I want at 11 months but I can at 10 months and 3 weeks.

IMO, there's two primary reasons people dislike walking:

1. Fairness. Since everyone has the ability to walk, then I don't see this as much different than those who have the "unfair" advantage of super-fast computers & connections to book what they want at 8 AM at 11 months out. Everyone knows that bookings open at 8 AM, but not everyone knows that there are tricks you can use to improve your odds. (There are other ways to improve your odds at 8 AM but I'm not sharing my tricks. )

2. Popular dates & rooms. The vast majority of (for example) AKV owners are going to be disappointed that they cannot get a Value room, and there seems to be a tendency to blame walkers for this. The reality is that the year-round demand for AKV Value rooms far exceeds supply. No rule change is going to address this problem. Similarly, certain times of year are much more popular than others. With October and November now being much more expensive, last year was the first time I had a difficult time booking a Studio at any of my DVC resorts for the first two weeks of December. IMO, the best way to address this is to rebalance the point chart.

 

[Genie+]

I got in for a four night stay!

So every day or every other day I modify it at 8:00 right?

You can wait as many days as your reservation is long to flip it. I believe you have until Sunday to flip, because you’ll still be holding Day one of 11 months at that point. And you no longer need to bother with 8am - you’ll have the whole day to pop into the system and move your reservation forward.

Do you want more than 4 nights?

 

[Sandisw]

There is a very easy solution for walking that doesn't even require a change to rules or the POS, because it's already there and has been used in the past:

• all rooms that are usually walked (AKV value and CL, BWV standard and BW view, BLT standard) will not be bookable online anymore (some of them might be blocked only for certain part of the years)
• they can be booked only as weeks, Saturday to Saturday. Check-in day cannot be changed
• owners must register their interest for one or more weeks before the reservations open
• the weeks are assigned by MS; FCFS, by lottery or a mix of the two
• once assigned, if the owner doesn't want it anymore, they're assigned to the next in line
• once booked, they cannot be modified. If canceled, they're assigned to the next in line

That's how the POS deals with high demand times. That's how Christmas week worked the first couple of years
Can we all agree it would be a terrible solution?
This is what I mean with: "beware what you wish for".

The only thing the current rules prohibit here is 7 days. It says that the minimum can not exceed 5 days if that was instituted.

But, other than that, this fits and if DVC is looking to ensure minimal unintentional consequences, this does it because it’s all based on the reason that people walk those hard to get rooms!

 

[Nabas]

Exactly. Backward from check out day worked perfectly.

Well, there are people who really want (for example) 10 days. They book their 7 days and then add 3 more days later. Backward from check-out day puts people with longer stays at a disadvantage.

I love the flexibility of being able to change my reservation without calling Member Services.

There are ways for Disney to change the online booking tool to eliminate walking without affecting flexibility but, as Disney has stated, they need to carefully consider the unintended consequences before they make any change.

 

[JackosinDIS]

You can wait as many days as your reservation is long to flip it. I believe you have until Sunday to flip, because you’ll still be holding Day one of 11 months at that point. And you no longer need to bother with 8am - you’ll have the whole day to pop into the system and move your reservation forward.

Do you want more than 4 nights?

I would just add, if it is a room at CCV, I would make sure you modify as soon as you are able to get the Sunday night, as fixed weeks were sold for that resort which take rooms out of the inventory and break your walk.

 

[Sandisw]

Agree that would be a terrible solution!

I am one of those people who doesn’t really find the system to be broken. Yes, it can be a little inconvenient and involves a bit of effort if you want one of the most popular rooms, but I can live with that in return for the almost unlimited flexibility we have.

I have only owned since June 23, so maybe my view is biased by the fact I never experienced booking when it was ‘easy’, but on the other hand I have never had an issue getting what I want. Yes, I had to try repeatedly at 8am for several weeks to get my BWV studio, but that’s also fine - I would rather have a chance trying at 8am (where I know I can put the effort in) than be entered for a lottery.

In addition, when that is used, the home resort priority is no longer 4 months, it’s just the one we are all guaranteed.

 

[jennypenny]

Sorry if I missed this ... couldn't they just limit modifications during the 11th month? Then from 10 months allow unlimited modifications?

 

[Spivey378]

You can wait as many days as your reservation is long to flip it. I believe you have until Sunday to flip, because you’ll still be holding Day one of 11 months at that point. And you no longer need to bother with 8am - you’ll have the whole day to pop into the system and move your reservation forward.

Do you want more than 4 nights?

Thanks that is good to know!

I just need four nights for a long weekend.

 

[Sandisw]

Sorry if I missed this ... couldn't they just limit modifications during the 11th month? Then from 10 months allow unlimited modifications?

Yes, they can but they have to account for owners who actually go on trips for more than 7 days.

The 7 day limit would impact those owners if no modifications were allowed.

This type of change would have to have something in it to address that.

 

[Spivey378]

I would just add, if it is a room at CCV, I would make sure you modify as soon as you are able to get the Sunday night, as fixed weeks were sold for that resort which take rooms out of the inventory and break your walk.

Thank you!