Did we make a mistake?

[MissMarzenia]

We had a trip booked for may 2017 with our little boy, but due to health issues and lack of company, we canceled and planned to book same trip in October.
We stay at Polynesian for 11 nights. I had a look yesterday, at second half of October and there is basically nothing available. That usually was a less crowded time at WDW, after 17th till beginning of November.
I watched Dis unplugged from two weeks ago where the cast mentions that there might not be free dining offered for that period because the rooms are basically sold out...
Should we wait till the end of the month, when the offers for this period is usually announced, or book something else? I am totally puzzled , we never had issues with booking in may, which is usually the same weather and same crowds. Help! Any insight?

 

[Hi Pluto]

October has become popular because of food & wine and Mickey's not-so-scary halloween party. Is it that you're having trouble booking 11 days straight? Maybe try to do a split stay? You might have better luck breaking up your days into shorter stays? You could also try to contact travel agents and see if they have anything.

ETA: I did a quick 11 days search for 1 room from Oct. 18-Oct.28 and there were a lot of choices, with many standard room choices. Poly included. Maybe keep playing around with it.

~Cari~

 

[MissMarzenia]

Even considering food and wine, October is listed as less crowded. So it is surprising that all of a sudden it is all booked. Days we picked were only available on club level (we usually stay on club level anyway) but only one view choice. Basically there is no choice. Not a fan of spilt stay with a year old baby, this is also our first trip with him like this, we travel from Europe. So we are aiming for stress free stay
Good suggestion tho,I'll check for shorter stay.

 

[Hopefully]

Even considering food and wine, October is listed as less crowded. So it is surprising that all of a sudden it is all booked. Days we picked were only available on club level (we usually stay on club level anyway) but only one view choice. Basically there is no choice. Not a fan of spilt stay with a year old baby, this is also our first trip with him like this, we travel from Europe. So we are aiming for stress free stay
Good suggestion tho,I'll check for shorter stay.

October is not one of the quieter times of the year. It is NOT surprising that it is nearly booked.
We have been going to Food & Wine Festival for the past 12 years. EVERY Year has been busier than the year before. It is not Holiday busy, but at least as busy as the summer.
If you want Polynesian Club Level and you see availability, book it now - even if it is not the view you want. Then you can keep looking for a different view to open if someone cancels.
If you wait, you will likely not find anything that you want at all.

 

[MissMarzenia]

Well the crowd calendars for last 3 years show crowds from 5 to 8 - so I would not say this is super busy.
What usually happens in May, at least for us the last 2 years is that there rooms are available when the spring deals are announced. Is it possible that some rooms are reserved for room deals for that period too? (not the free dining, as apparently that only comes when there is lots of free rooms)

 

[vicki_c]

They don't hold back rooms for future offers. Most of Disney's visitors stay off site, so 5-8 crowd level predictions don't equate to open Disney resort rooms.

 

[MissMarzenia]

Most of Disney's visitors stay off site

Wouldnt that mean that there is more rooms available on site then...?
Low crowd level in all the parks - lets say all on 5/10, and most guests staying off site = more free rooms at Disney resorts.


And if they do not hold back rooms, then I do not understand how before the offer is up, there is very limited number of rooms in May. After the offer goes live there is suddenly more rooms available. One thing if guests would hold bookings for those dates until the offer comes live, and then if there is an offer they cancel? That makes very little sense.
Unless people book multiple dates/rooms, and then when the offer goes live they cancel all of those which they are not picking, therefore making them available?

 

[msjprincess]

They definitely don't hold back rooms. It wouldn't make any sense for them to do so. They offer discounts in order to fill empty rooms. They would much rather fill them at rack rate.

 

[Spork24]

Have you considered club level at the contemporary? I'm not 100% sure of the cost difference, but would think it would be similar. We love staying at the contemporary with our infants due to the ability to walk with our stroller to MK should we choose. You can 100% control your arrival and departure times and not be dependent on monorails or bus.

 

[MissMarzenia]

Have you considered club level at the contemporary? I'm not 100% sure of the cost difference, but would think it would be similar. We love staying at the contemporary with our infants due to the ability to walk with our stroller to MK should we choose. You can 100% control your arrival and departure times and not be dependent on monorails or bus.

I would love to stay at Contemporary at some point. But we just love Poly too much I think. If nothing becomes available by the end of the month we will definitely reconsider it

 

[Spork24]

I would love to stay at Contemporary at some point. But we just love Poly too much I think. If nothing becomes available by the end of the month we will definitely reconsider it

We've stayed at both, my brother and his family LOVE the poly, but my wife and I prefer the contemporary. So much that we ended up purchasing a DVC at bay lake.

 

[Spork24]

They definitely don't hold back rooms. It wouldn't make any sense for them to do so. They offer discounts in order to fill empty rooms. They would much rather fill them at rack rate.

What they DO hold rooms for is group bookings. They make groups release unbooked rooms from their block at some point as the travel days approach.

 

[msjprincess]

What they DO hold rooms for is group bookings. They make groups release unbooked rooms from their block at some point as the travel days approach.

Yes, that's different than what the OP was talking about.

 

[Spork24]

Yes, that's different than what the OP was talking about.

Yes, but could explain why some have noticed more availability after deals come out, it could randomly coincide with a large group releasing rooms

 

[Hopefully]

I would love to stay at Contemporary at some point. But we just love Poly too much I think. If nothing becomes available by the end of the month we will definitely reconsider it

It is interesting to me that you seem so convinced that it will not be busy - even though many here are telling you differently.
I repeat my advice. Book now if there is availability at the Resort you love, or you risk not getting anything at the end of the month.
Good Luck

 

[msjprincess]

I would love to stay at Contemporary at some point. But we just love Poly too much I think. If nothing becomes available by the end of the month we will definitely reconsider it

I would do the opposite. Book the Contemporary now and hope that the Polynesian becomes available later on.

 

[LilyWDW]

October is no longer a slow period of time. It's not horrible, but it's not nearly as "dead" as it used to be. If you want to stay somewhere specific, then book it now. Don't wait for the possibility of deals or you may end up totally shut out. Why would you want to risk that?

 

[Mickey's Best Girl]

I can't speak to anything regarding the Poly and we've never stayed there but I do want to chime in (along with a few pp's) and tell you that October is in fact gaining in popularity and is no longer a "quiet" time to visit. It is a time of fall breaks for many North American schools, Canada included, and regardless of what crowd calendars are telling you October will be busy.

I just don't want you to have any false expectations.

Have a great vacation!

 

[alex9179]

You can't put too much stock in crowd calendars. For example, Touringplans has stated that their current rating of "5" is what the older system would rate "8". So, they've realigned their scale to account for more park goers, overall. With the new lands starting to open and the various festivals/events to bring in resort guests, there are very few opportunities for a quiet period at WDW. The company is making an effort to keep occupancy high and it's working.

As stated. If you see a resort the aligns with your stay dates, and that suits you, book it.

 

[wilkeliza]

Seeing as October is blocked out of the free dinning bounce back I imagine it is going to be blocked out of the regular offer and there are going to be a ton of cancellations in the next 2 weeks. People keep shooting themselves in the foot by booking several rooms in hopes of getting Free dinning with out realizing Disney only offers it when they need to fill rooms. If people are booking then Disney has no reason to offer discounts or promotions so they don't.