day by day ressie?

[kdonnel]

I have seen several people mention they were doing day by day reservations and had to call back several times on consecutive days to get the reservation they wanted.

Why?

Why not book the whole thing at once?

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Some reservations are harder to get than others. Especially around holiday periods. For example BWV standard view: You may be staying for a week but by the time you call, all of the standard view rooms may be taken for one or more nights during the week of your stay.

HBC

 

[Caskbill]

You make your ressie 11-months prior to your check-Out date. Suppose you want to go for Christmas and New Years, checking out on Jan 4th. You could make this reservation the prior February 4th which is 11 months prior to your checking out.

Someone else may also be going for Christmas also, but checking out on Dec 28th. They can therefore make their reservation the prior Jan 28th, a full week before you.

If enough people want Christmas eve/day but are all checking out before Jan 4th, they will all be making their reservations before yourself. By the time you call, your desired accommodation may no longer be available.

So you call on say Jan 22nd to reserve the following dec 21st night. You call again on Jan 23rd to reserve the following Dec 22nd night. And so on.

Always tell the CM what you're doing so they don't send out a confirmation letter for each day.

 

[DebbieB]

I did this a couple weeks ago for BWV Standard 1 BR Dec 6 to 12. It wasn't bad, I called right at 9:00. The first day takes longer because they have to take all the info, but after that all you have to say is you want to add a night to your reservation and you are off the phone quick. By not calling day by day, you risk some of the early days in your reservation being sold out by others who arrived earlier in the week. This is really only necessary for Holiday periods, BWV Standard and Grand Villas. When I make my reservation for OKW for May at 7 months, I just call on the last day and it's never been a problem.

 

[Disney Doll]

I understand why folks do it. It just seems like a pain in the neck to me. Luckily, we generally travel at off times so there's usually not a problem getting a reservation with one phone call.

Obviously, though, I'd do what I had to do to be able to go!

 

[kdonnel]

I thought that was the answer but wanted to make sure.

I mentioned this to my wife and she said if we travel during a time where we have to call daily to get our reservation she does not want to go.... too crowded.

Thanks for the answer everyone!

 

[Granny]

I mentioned this to my wife and she said if we travel during a time where we have to call daily to get our reservation she does not want to go.... too crowded.

Keep in mind that "crowded" for DVC doesn't necessarily translate into crowded at the parks.

DVCers love to go to WDW between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The points are low and the decorations are up. But the parks are not all that crowded...this is a relatively slow period for WDW in general.

Which, of course, is the other reason DVCers love that time of year!

 

[DemoBri1]

I will echo Granny's comments. More than likely a "busy" time for DVC will be a non-busy time in the parks. Exceptions to this rule would obviously be the time right around Thanksgiving and the Christmas/NY week.

I just made reservations for BCV from Dec. 1-9 for a 1 BR. Since this is our first stay at a DVC resort I wanted to make certain we were able to get what we wanted, so I used the daily method of reservation making. It really isn't all that bad, and to tell you the truth I probably could have gotten away with waiting until the 9th to call for all 8 nights, but...better to be safe than sorry.

Anyway, this will be a new experience for us as we usually go down the week before Thanksgiving, and thus we don't get the full effect of the Christmas decorations. We are really looking forward to it.

Brian

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by kdonnel
I thought that was the answer but wanted to make sure.

I mentioned this to my wife and she said if we travel during a time where we have to call daily to get our reservation she does not want to go.... too crowded.

Thanks for the answer everyone!

We've gone the during the first 2 weeks of December the past 5 years, the last 3 at BWV, and it wasn't crowded at all. It's just popular for DVC because it's a low points time, plus there are not many BWV standard rooms. The first year I did preferred view and had no problem calling on the last day.

 

[Caskbill]

We've done New Year's Eve there 4-times now, and I think that might be the biggest crowds they get. Of course extended hours (1:00 AM closing) plus the extra festivities pulls in the crowds.

It's a great time to see the parks as long as you make your dinner reservation waaay ahead of time, and you don't plan on trying to do any of the attractions. (EG 3-hour wait for Test Track is typical).

It's a great time for us to see things we don't normally see because we're too busy doing all the 'regular' attractions. But outside of our NYE trip, we always go off-season for our regular trips.

 

[Eeyore2U]

Originally posted by DebbieB
I did this a couple weeks ago for BWV Standard 1 BR Dec 6 to 12. It wasn't bad, I called right at 9:00. The first day takes longer because they have to take all the info, but after that all you have to say is you want to add a night to your reservation and you are off the phone quick. By not calling day by day, you risk some of the early days in your reservation being sold out by others who arrived earlier in the week. This is really only necessary for Holiday periods, BWV Standard and Grand Villas. When I make my reservation for OKW for May at 7 months, I just call on the last day and it's never been a problem.

I kept telling DW how bad it was going to be. We are not in a position to call day by day. She called on 1/13 and got a 1bdr standard at thew BWV for 12/7/2003 to 12/13/2003. We also moved a a 2br and a studio from VWL to a 2br std and a std studio for the last week of Feb at 7 mos. I think some of it is paranoia. I don't think DW will ever trust me again about making ressies