Aulani at 7 months, June strategy

[mickeyman42]

ok, I think I know my answer but I need to run it past all of you smart people. I want to book an OV studio at Aulani with an actual check-in date of June 29th. Am I better off walking the reservation from the 23rd-29th (7 nights before my needed check in date) then calling MS at 9am on the 29th and modifying, or am I better off booking online at 8am on the 29th (exact 7 month mark before my actual needed checkin date).
I cant seem to convince myself that if I wait till 9am on the 29th that I will be able to change my dates to what I actually want (I know that owners could come in at anytime and get some or all of my dates, but really, if they havnt booked before the 7 month mark they probably aren't going to right?). but then again, if I have the 29th booked, then on the 29th any other non-owners are not going to be able to book the 30th, july 1, 2, 3 etc right?
I guess my point is, if I have the 29th date booked, does it matter that I have to wait the extra hour to modify my reservation? someone cant come in on say the 27th or 28th and book from june 26-july 2 and take "my" june 30-july 2 dates can they (as the booking tool would be under the assumption that I'm checking out on the 30th)? As you can see, I'm nervous about this because a lot is riding on getting this reservation and it leads into july 4th which is only adding to my nervousness

 

[drusba]

The issue you will face is that you may not find a day you can even begin a walk. What has happened in latter part of June before is that someone attempts to ge on line at 8 a.m. to book and finds that the studios for the day that is exactly 7 months away are already gone. They try the next day and the same thing happens in that the studio is now also gone for that day 7 months out (that kind of pattern is usually an indication that only one or two rooms are actually still avaialble and are being grabbed by others the immediate day before or right at 8 a.m. and their computers communicate with Disny's quicker than yours). They may see days after that which are open but the process continues like that through end of June where each day disappears before you have an opportunity to book it to even start walking.

If you do walk and succeed in getting June 23-30 (if you want to arrive on June 29 you need the night of June 29 in your initial reservation that you are walking and thus an initial departure date of June 30), you would not then wait until 7 months out from June 29 to make a change. Instead you would call daily and drop a night at beginning and add at the end, e.g., on Nov 24, you would call and change the reservation to June 24 to July 1, on Nov 25 change it to June 25 to July 2, etc.

Whether that will work is questionable and not just because you may not even be able to find a date to start walking. You might succeed in blocking out others who are reserving 7 months out from your particular room but you cannot block out anyone with the 11 month window and it is very possible that even if you could get, for example, June 29 and 30, you may be blocked out by those who get the begiinning of July through July 4 time using the 11 month window.

In other words, you should not assume walking will work at 7 months out even if you could do it. Walking is really just something that can be successful when booking 11 months out.

 

[chainkid]

I just walked two reservation for June 3rd-June 8th for a deluxe studio and a grand villa. I started 10days before I actually wanted to travel and booked as many days as I could using online tool. When I got to actual first day I would be traveling then I checked availability first thing in the morning to see if what I wanted going forward was actually available. Once I knew it was, at exactly 7:59AM I cancelled previous reservation and then when the clocked turned to 8AM I was ready to go booking my new reservation always adding a day . You could theoretically lose the days you had already reserved by doing it like this but the odds are in your favor that no one else will get in ahead of you who has to book at 7 month window. 11 month window people can screw you up at any time. Do a few run throughs to make sure you are very familiar with how you want points taken and don't bother putting more than one name on reservation. I found by doing this my information would be saved and I could complete reservation in under three minutes. In the case of Aulani this year it was totally not necessary as the grand villa is still open but the deluxe studio is now gone. In any case I much prefer using online tool and cancelling rebooking than waiting till 9AM and getting a chatty cathy who is so slow that you lose out to a better CM . you also run the risk they will take the wrong points or cancel the wrong days. Use the tool its a wonderful addition and member services rarely hears from me any more.

 

[chateau]

I can vouch for ^^^^^comment on a Chatty Cathy. No I don't need this or that, no I don't want to look at this or that, I'd like you to concentrate and close out of this account and ask me for my other member number so we can proceed! Jeez!
And I'm usually extremely patient but this CM was just ridiculous!

 

[mickeyman42]

The issue you will face is that you may not find a day you can even begin a walk. What has happened in latter part of June before is that someone attempts to ge on line at 8 a.m. to book and finds that the studios for the day that is exactly 7 months away are already gone. They try the next day and the same thing happens in that the studio is now also gone for that day 7 months out (that kind of pattern is usually an indication that only one or two rooms are actually still avaialble and are being grabbed by others the immediate day before or right at 8 a.m. and their computers communicate with Disny's quicker than yours). They may see days after that which are open but the process continues like that through end of June where each day disappears before you have an opportunity to book it to even start walking.

If you do walk and succeed in getting June 23-30 (if you want to arrive on June 29 you need the night of June 29 in your initial reservation that you are walking and thus an initial departure date of June 30), you would not then wait until 7 months out from June 29 to make a change. Instead you would call daily and drop a night at beginning and add at the end, e.g., on Nov 24, you would call and change the reservation to June 24 to July 1, on Nov 25 change it to June 25 to July 2, etc.

Whether that will work is questionable and not just because you may not even be able to find a date to start walking. You might succeed in blocking out others who are reserving 7 months out from your particular room but you cannot block out anyone with the 11 month window and it is very possible that even if you could get, for example, June 29 and 30, you may be blocked out by those who get the begiinning of July through July 4 time using the 11 month window.

In other words, you should not assume walking will work at 7 months out even if you could do it. Walking is really just something that can be successful when booking 11 months out.

thanks, so I did find a day already and have started the process, I have june 15th -22nd already, the plan is then on monday to change to june 17-24th, thus giving me the day of the 23rd to change it to june 23-30 then on from there. I know I cant block out the 11 month owners, but my hope is that if someone was going to book for july 4 week/weekend and have the home resort priority they would have taken advantage of that by now. So with my current strategy, I should be successful right (again, as long as no home resort people book ahead of me) there is no way for a 7 month booker to beat me to those days now is there as long as I make the adjustments during my currently reserved days? (this whole process makes me feel horrible, knowing that I'm manipulating the system to get an advantage, but I really dont see any other way, and if others are going to do it, well......)

 

[mickeyman42]

another add on, does MS get mad or tell you off when you call in to modify the reservation so often? I know its not technically against the rules, but they must know what you're doing (as they've seen it before), has anyone ever been told off so to speak about "walking"? they cant refuse to change the dates for you can they?

 

[drusba]

MS does not get upset about walking. The biggest MS problem you may have is simply wait time for it to answer every time you call. They deal with walking a lot. As to your current walk, assuming no one with the 11 month window blocks you out, the theory is you should succeed in eventually walking to your actual trip time. What has happened is that you have now blocked out a room for June 15 to 22, even if the particular room is not yet known. Everyone else with the 7 month window should now be unable to get the time for that room for June 22 and after because they cannot currently reserve the days before June 22 at 7 months out. As you walk you keep that bar in place for additonal time going forward until you have what you want.

However, you could already be in trouble with those who have reserved with the 11 month window without knowing it. For example, let us assume there are two studios beside the one you have locked in still left for the June 15 to 22. Now let us assume that those with the 11 month window have already blocked out all but one studio for the night of June 22 but there are two others available before that time. You could find yourself blocked out by others with the seven month window doing a walk like yours if that person is calling daily at exactly 9 a.m. because that person could get the last studio open for the night of June 22 before you do. In other words, your suggestion that you are going to wait until tomorrow to call and extend rather than doing it daily at exactly 9 a.m. could lower any chance you have of completing your walk. Moreover, those with the seven month window who go on line at 8 a.m. today to reserve June 16 to 23 could also block you out of the night of June 22 because they could get the studio time still open for June 16 to 22 and lock in the night of June 22 for the only studio time still available then.