Booking a Value Room at AKV?

[Mainstreetdreams]

AKV is my home resort. Every time I check the AKV value rooms, even at the eleven month mark, there is no availability. I have a larger party I want to book for June 2020 and I'm wondering if there are any strategies to get the value rooms? How do people manage to book them?

 

[crvetter]

AKV is my home resort. Every time I check the AKV value rooms, even at the eleven month mark, there is no availability. I have a larger party I want to book for June 2020 and I'm wondering if there are any strategies to get the value rooms? How do people manage to book them?

I would have a look at this thread. https://www.disboards.com/threads/sw-ge-opening-guess-dec-4-dvc-related.3729912/

There have been reports of Disney pulling them from inventory for December-February. Disney has recently suggested it has to do with the refurbishments going on at Jambo in some capacity. It is well known that Jambo is going through a refurb on the cash side but wasn't expected to effect the DVC part but apparently it is.

 

[kristenrice]

There are only (10) 2BR lock-off villas and an additional 8 dedicated studios in the value category. The reason they are so hard to get, even at the 11 month mark, is because there are so few available and they are the cheapest rooms available on property. You really need to be ready right at the 8am mark and have luck on your side. It is hard enough to get one room and if you are trying to book more than one, you will need a miracle.

 

[Mainstreetdreams]

Thanks!

 

[skippytx]

How large of a party? Are you trying to get a 2 bedroom or multiple rooms? There's not many of them, and it's hyper competitive to get the value rooms.

 

[Mainstreetdreams]

I was hoping to get a 2 bedroom and a studio. (I couldn’t find the appropriate cringe face to insert here.)

 

[Frederic Civish]

I booked a 2 bedroom and a studio in the Value category at Jambo for mid-August of this year. (Then I ended up cancelling both, when we changed our travel plans.)

I did this by stalking the reservation system, at the edge of the 11 month window, and walking. Stalking the reservation system, to me, is when you sign on at 8 AM Eastern time, and run 'dry runs' for multiple mornings over a period of time. Think of it as walking your 'hunting' grounds and getting the 'lay of the land' before you actually start the hunt. You do this to get a good sense of what is happening with the rooms/units you want, to give you an idea of when you need to start Walking.

To get the 2 rooms, I started almost 2 weeks in advance (it wasn't the busiest time of the year) and I needed to get a Studio, and a 2 bedroom Lock Off. It didn't matter which one I got first, since I needed, in essence, two Studios. By that I mean that I needed a Value Studio AND then a 2nd Value Studio + a 1-bedroom, to make the 2 Bedroom Lock off. Clearly, I was only going to be able to do this in one morning IF there were at least several Value Studios hanging around for a number of minutes, so I would have time to get both, but there weren't. I was ready to go, right at 8 AM, and clicking my mouse the instant the clock rolled over from 7:59 to 8:00. Even doing it as instantaneously as I could, I got nothing for the first few days. On the 3rd day I got the 2-Bedroom and on the 4th day I got the other Studio. And then I walked them to the days I needed.

It wasn't easy. If you check things out this way, you will find that ON MOST DAYS there is no availability at all, because there are a very limited number of rooms and people are walking them. The time you mentioned is also not THE MOST BUSY TIME, but it is still plenty busy. You might need to start even earlier, and be willing to walk for several weeks.

 

[kristenrice]

I was hoping to get a 2 bedroom and a studio. (I couldn’t find the appropriate cringe face to insert here.)

You may need to try to use two computers simultaneously to try and book each one at the same time.

 

[CarolMN]

You may need to try to use two computers simultaneously to try and book each one at the same time.

Don't think this works anymore unless you have more than one membership number with separate log-ins. Someone please correct me if not correct.

 

[drusba]

What is certain right now is that no one has been able to book the values for any dates from early December 2019 forward. All value rooms are continuously being shown as fully booked for a week at 11 months out daily. Moreover, the next day in that sequence is continuously disappearing before 8 a.m. -- even though you cannot book until 8 a.m., the system turns over at midnight and shows you the status of the next day in sequence and that is being shown as already booked, e.g., it is currently 6:45 a.m. on February 20 and the night of Jan 26, 2020 (the seventh night in sequence for a booking made at 8 a.m. on Feb 20, 2019) is already shown as full.

In other words, those rooms have been taken out of the system and cannot possibly be booked, likely because of some refurbishment issue -- the hotel rooms are scheduled to undergo refurbishment this year and possibly into next, and what we are seeing may havesomething to do with that. How long that will last is unknown.

Assuming the rooms return to the booking system before July when you can book June 2020, you will be able to try booking them, but, as noted above, even if you want just one room, you face a real risk of not being able to get it because those rooms can disappear very quickly at 8 a.m. at 11 months out and sometimes even before 11 months out, and if you want both a studio and a 2BR, the chances are even less. And, as stated above, the system will not let you book both rooms at the same time on separate computers under the same member number. In other words, you may need to consider alternatives such as the standard view rooms.

 

[karen4546]

I have not made the DVC plunge yet, but i have rented several times and in January of 2018 I emailed my request for a value studio and a 2br standard for Jambo House. I got both at the 11 month mark. The reservation was for 5 nights. I really did not think that i would get the value studio, and was surprised when I got the email thta my vacation was booked. I am still looking into purchasing DVC.

I hope you get your reservation.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I have not made the DVC plunge yet, but i have rented several times and in January of 2018 I emailed my request for a value studio and a 2br standard for Jambo House. I got both at the 11 month mark. The reservation was for 5 nights. I really did not think that i would get the value studio, and was surprised when I got the email thta my vacation was booked. I am still looking into purchasing DVC.

I hope you get your reservation.

Past results are not currently indicative of future success with DVC. People's walking games have stepped up significantly, and Galaxy's Edge is changing patterns.

 

[Marionnette]

Don't think this works anymore unless you have more than one membership number with separate log-ins. Someone please correct me if not correct.

It doesn’t work with the same login. I tried it a while back when I was trying to get a BWV Std. View studio in early December. I thought that having browsers open and logged in on multiple devices would increase my chances. If can’t remember the error code it threw but I know it was was failure.

 

[kristenrice]

It doesn’t work with the same login. I tried it a while back when I was trying to get a BWV Std. View studio in early December. I thought that having browsers open and logged in on multiple devices would increase my chances. If can’t remember the error code it threw but I know it was was failure.

That’s good to know. We often travel with my parents and my dad is an associate member on my account with his own log in. If we ever needed to book two rooms simultaneously, it’s good to know that it won’t work and we will have to each take our turn and book them separately.

 

[Mainstreetdreams]

If I could get the 2 bedroom value, I can make it work with a standard studio. What’s been boggling me is the utter lack of anything showing availability even a week out. Now that I know it’s probably an irregularity, I’m a little more hopeful of getting at least the one unit if I stalk it. I was starting to think it never happened without someone on the inside pulling strings.

 

[herrmannpt]

The value studios are our favorite. Not only do they help you conserve points, but I love the location with them all being fairly close to the lobby. We have stayed in them many times before. In June 2017, we were even able to walk a bit and score a 2 bedroom value and a value studio when we had extended family coming with us. In the past year, it has gotten MUCH harder. The new modification feature on the website has made walking much easier. Recently, I've only had luck by getting on the waitlist at exactly 8am and hoping that it comes available when someone else that is walking gives up the dates I want. It's come through for us a couple of times that way but usually only on shorter stays of 2-3 days. Unfortunately, I think these rooms will become even harder to get. We've already seen the point chart decrease for these rooms to accommodate an increase in the Club Level rooms. And with the 2020 point chart they rolled out (before they revised it back to the 2019 one), the point differential between value and standard rooms was even greater. If they continue to modify point charts in coming years and make the point differential between the two categories greater, demand will go up even more...

 

[Debbie Jean]

Past results are not currently indicative of future success with DVC. People's walking games have stepped up significantly, and Galaxy's Edge is changing patterns.

I agree completely.

Availability of value studios will be incredibly difficult going forward. I have one booked for a week next month and several days in August. Both were reserved at exactly 11 months. But in truth 2018 is sadly only a distant memory and my December booking also made at exactly 11 months is a standard.

 

[crvetter]

The blogs are know saying this as a fact but I’m not so convinced since DVC hasn’t actually released this.

http://blogmickey.com/2019/02/more-...r-this-year-to-disneys-animal-kingdom-villas/

 

[JoeD07]

Sorry for the newbie question, but can someone explain the term "walking" a reservation?

 

[Denise W]

Sorry for the newbie question, but can someone explain the term "walking" a reservation?

Do a search on these forums. There are a few very detailed descriptions that should answer your questions.
Denise