Basic but unanswered question

[mikeymars]

We're DVC members who are planning a trip to WDW/Universal a year from now (in mid/late August 2005), and admit to being hard core fans of the "early-bird gets the worm" strategy (ergo, to get first choice, book things as early as possible).

Given that, the basic question I can't find an answer to here (after literally looking for hours): at each of the three Universal resorts, exactly how far out in advance can one make a reservation?

Thanks!!!

 

[Motherfletcher]

You can book it now but the discounts won't show up until a few months before you go. You can then cancel and re-book using APH or Entertainment Card rates. The only rooms that you need to book a ways in advance to make sure you get them would be the premium suites. In other cases I have heard that even if you book way in advance and confirm before you leave that you could be bumped out of your preference. The "early bird theory" works best the day you are checking in.
FYI, this year the peak season drops back to value season on August 16th.

 

[mikeymars]

Mother, thanks - we're looking for a nice premium room (will request preferred pool view when booking), but not necessarily a suite (prior to the stay at Universal, we will be at WDW, staying for a week in a one bedroom vacation home at the Boardwalk, so we'll have already had more than enough "grade A suite" time by the time we get to Universal).

Also, I've gotten the sense from the threads that the best Universal resort discounts generally come from booking using the Entertainment Card, and from what I see, the ones that cover the August 2005 period won't even be available until sometime this Fall. Also, we do plan to check in after 8/16 (primarily because we want to get full FOTL benefits, not the limited early/mid summer ones).

 

[mikeymars]

Originally posted by Motherfletcher
You can book it now

Are you sure?

I've already checked on several online reservation sites (Universals, Lowes, Entertainment), and all tell me I'm too far out to book reservations for August 2005. Universal and Lowes will only take me into June 2005, and Entertainment states I have to wait until this September to book August 2005 dates.

This doesn't surprise me, and it's why I asked the original question. In my experience, I've found it's dificult to book any travel reservations more than a year out. All airlines and most hotels/resorts state the earliest you can book is 330 days in advance (cruise lines let you go out till the end of the next year).

The only exceptions I've seen to this are when major special events are occuring , ergo the Olympics, December 1999 New year's Eve, etc. (for the latter, I was able to book a resort almost two and a half years out, which given the demand was necessary if one wanted any sort of "first choice.").

 

[Motherfletcher]

No, I'm not sure. I thought if you called that they would take ressies that far out.

 

[LuvTigger]

I'm not positive, but I've found that sometimes you have more flexibility when you call than when you book online. So although online it might not let you book more than a year out, if you call, they might allow it.

One thing that happened to me when looking for an Entertainment rate, online it wasn't available, but when I called it was.

Wouldn't hurt to call and ask (at least they have an 800 #). Let us know what happens.

 

[mikeymars]

Originally posted by LuvTigger
Wouldn't hurt to call and ask (at least they have an 800 #). Let us know what happens.

Thanks, I did call Universal resort reservations directly.

The rep I spoke to was nice. She said there is no specific policy about how far in advance one can book; as long as prices for a given period have been loaded into the reservation system, one can book.

She then checked: prices for the Portofino and the Royal Pacific for the mid/late August 2005 period are already in the system, so I can literally book either of those immediately if I want to (presumably, at or close to "rack" rate). For whatever reason, however, the Hard Rock pricing has not yet been loaded, so it isn't "bookable" for 8/05. As for when it will be, the rep said "we never know exactly when pricing is going to updated, you'll just have to keep checking back with us."

She also said "if you want to book the Portofino or Pacific now, you can do that with losing access to future potential promotions; if they become available, you can change the reservation to take advantage of them.'

Does anyone know if the above is correct (and if so, per the italic emphasis above, exactly what is meant by the term "change"?) Obviously, I don't want to pay rack, and from reading the the threads here, sense it can difficult to add discounts (such as an Entertainment rate) to an existing ressie.

Also, on the latter, does anyone know when the 2005 Entertainment books will come out? (their web site is already discounting the 2004 books, so it looks like they are trying to clean out inventory in preparation for the "new models.")