Devil in the details of the price increase thankful for my dvc

[KAT4DISNEY]

While I do think that Disney ought to post a 15 month calendar of blackout dates vs a 12 month one it also is possible to figure out what they are almost certainly to be as they are blacked out for the Christmas and Easter holidays. I had dealt with that for DL AP's in past years and there was a time that they did put out a 15 month calendar but seem to have shifted to 12 months now.

For 2018 Easter is April 1st. The Gold AP should be blacked out from the Saturday before the long Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend so March 24th to April 6th. MS will verify that.

In 2016 Easter was March 27th and the blackout dates were March 19th-April 1st - the Saturday before the Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend.

In 2017 Easter is April 16th and the blackout dates are April 8th to April 21st - the Saturday before the Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend.

It all reminds me a bit of the shifting DVC seasons due to those holidays. I remember back when CaskBill has his planner and was relatively amazed that he knew when the seasons would change until I realized there was a pattern it followed so it was a simple calculation.

 

[Dean Marino]

While I do think that Disney ought to post a 15 month calendar of blackout dates vs a 12 month one it also is possible to figure out what they are almost certainly to be as they are blacked out for the Christmas and Easter holidays. I had dealt with that for DL AP's in past years and there was a time that they did put out a 15 month calendar but seem to have shifted to 12 months now.

For 2018 Easter is April 1st. The Gold AP should be blacked out from the Saturday before the long Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend so March 24th to April 6th. MS will verify that.

In 2016 Easter was March 27th and the blackout dates were March 19th-April 1st - the Saturday before the Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend.

In 2017 Easter is April 16th and the blackout dates are April 8th to April 21st - the Saturday before the Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend.

It all reminds me a bit of the shifting DVC seasons due to those holidays. I remember back when CaskBill has his planner and was relatively amazed that he knew when the seasons would change until I realized there was a pattern it followed so it was a simple calculation.

Absolutely correct - but the operative term is still "should be", as opposed to "is"......

Let's look at our DVC point calendars..... these are pushed out WELL in advance. Someone is doing a GREAT job here - as it allows us to plan, knowing that both WDW and the DVC owner have a fair, mutual understanding of what will occur. Could a disaster happen? Of COURSE it could . But WDW tries very hard to be transparent about those calendars.

Now, as WDW does a VERY good job with most other time projections..... The GP Blackout Dates leave me baffled. Folks, it's 2-19-2017. The pass is good for 1 year. Today? There are no WEBSITE indications of clear/blocked dates for any of 2-18, let alone 2-1-18 + 60 days. Yet WDW HAS this data, internally. I just want them to publish it.

 

[ILoveMyDVC]

Absolutely correct - but the operative term is still "should be", as opposed to "is"......

Let's look at our DVC point calendars..... these are pushed out WELL in advance. Someone is doing a GREAT job here - as it allows us to plan, knowing that both WDW and the DVC owner have a fair, mutual understanding of what will occur. Could a disaster happen? Of COURSE it could . But WDW tries very hard to be transparent about those calendars.

Now, as WDW does a VERY good job with most other time projections..... The GP Blackout Dates leave me baffled. Folks, it's 2-19-2017. The pass is good for 1 year. Today? There are no WEBSITE indications of clear/blocked dates for any of 2-18, let alone 2-1-18 + 60 days. Yet WDW HAS this data, internally. I just want them to publish it.

Is it another example of today's backward technology? Is it website limitations? I still marvel at how badly the website performs. If Disney will not or cannot demand good technology what will everyone else get?

 

[keishashadow]

While I do think that Disney ought to post a 15 month calendar of blackout dates vs a 12 month one it also is possible to figure out what they are almost certainly to be as they are blacked out for the Christmas and Easter holidays. I had dealt with that for DL AP's in past years and there was a time that they did put out a 15 month calendar but seem to have shifted to 12 months now.

For 2018 Easter is April 1st. The Gold AP should be blacked out from the Saturday before the long Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend so March 24th to April 6th. MS will verify that.

In 2016 Easter was March 27th and the blackout dates were March 19th-April 1st - the Saturday before the Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend.

In 2017 Easter is April 16th and the blackout dates are April 8th to April 21st - the Saturday before the Easter weekend to the Friday immediately following the weekend.

It all reminds me a bit of the shifting DVC seasons due to those holidays. I remember back when CaskBill has his planner and was relatively amazed that he knew when the seasons would change until I realized there was a pattern it followed so it was a simple calculation.

WDW/DVC is set up to encourage us book in the future, 11 months for home window, 180 days for ADRs. They've created uber-planners but we need to have all the tools in place, ala the park hours they provide.

I've booked a cruise departing March 4, 2018, and was planning a Universal/DVC stay the following week. I would departing for home on late on March 17th. We should be good, maybe not the last Saturday. I can live with that, will lop off a pricey Friday DVC night.

I pulled up the same information a few weeks ago re past Easter blackout dates as above since the AP dates wheren't yet updated. During wave season sales i found the ship/specific cabin type/pricing & jumped as i knew the prices would bounce back up.

While i 'think' the AP blackouts should follow the same time frame, Disney has surely slipped us curve balls in the past! I love Vegas, yet this time i didn't book the cruise with the big online TA i use...solely because the AP dates weren't officially out. Didn't want to gamble with large change/cancellation fee if our APs didn't line up. "Lost" free prepaid gratuities, OBC and free speciality dining. Oh, poor, pitiful me lol but I stretch my travel budget till it screams.

JHMO Disney is doing a disservice to sell admission passes and not post the valid usage dates going forward for the full 13 month period. General disclaimers aside as to specially ticketed events, etc., the blackout dates should be clearly stated upfront. We live in a litigious society, would be surprised to hear they haven't been called out on it.

 

[Matty B13]

I'm surprised that someone at the state level hasn't come down on Disney about this, seems to be a little fraudulent on their part selling a pass that has a year duration but not the blackout dates published . If they sold you the pass with only the 2017 blackout dates published, then technically you bought it with no 2018 blackout dates at time of purchase! There is really no excuse for not publishing these dates. Just because there is historical past dates for blackouts, doesn't mean a person should have to gamble when they will happen.