Did we make a mistake?

[aspen10]

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

I agree with you. October is no longer a slower period. It has become very popular. Last year I saw a room online at the Beach Club I wanted for the week we were visiting in October. I thought about it, decided to book, the next day it was gone. I called in, it turned out that it was the very last room available for the week. Luckily, a room at the Boardwalk later opened up, and we took it, but we were never able to get back into the Beach Club. With the Halloween Party and F&W and good weather, October is now pretty popular.

 

[ajh88]

I'm sorry you're running into this OP - we ran into this issue ourselves last year. We needed 3 rooms at the Poly - we had booked one of them in August of 2015 (as soon as we could) because we needed a very specific accessible room type. I booked our room in January, and then when I went to book for my sister's family in March, we found they were nearly sold out. Her family ended up in one of the DVC Studios (which they loved), but we tried unsuccessfully for months to get them into a regular room. There is a huge conference in Orlando in October (Gartner) that draws thousands. Last year, many attendees were staying at Disney resorts (there was even a standee in the Poly lobby directing convention attendees to transportation). The conference was not on property (I don't think) but they did have rooms blocked off for it. We have gone 3 times in October (2008, 2012, 2016) and each time was busier than the time before. Maybe not spring break/Christmas/Easter levels, but much more like a peak season than a slow one.

I agree with PP's - if there is a room at the Poly, I would book it. You can change it later when (if) something else you really want comes available. Best of luck - enjoy your trip!

 

[elaine amj]

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.

What this means is that Disney typically always manages to fill up their resorts. Unlike most hotels, they operate on a very high occupancy rate. So however they need to fill those rooms, whether discounts, higher demand, better marketing, they fill them. Therefore there is always a certain level of crowds in the parks based on the onsite guests. However, onsite guests alone cannot completely fill up all 4 parks so crowds at Disney are determined by offsite guests. If there are a lot of offsite guests, parks get packed. If there are fewer offsite guests, than the parks are less busy. Does this make more sense?

And like everyone else is saying, the parks have been getting busier. Prices have skyrocketed with the US economy improving.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Don't forget about moderate resorts going under renovation, so that takes out rooms as well - both Coronado Springs and Caribbean Beach may have many buildings shut down for the big renovations.

 

[mcurran]

Disney does not hold rooms for future promotions. They would rather sell you a room at a higher rate (just sayin). The parks are busy but not crazy in October. Disney does a good job selling THEIR hotels but that doesn't mean offsite hotels do as well on fill %. Between reduced seasonal base pricing for rooms,room discounts, and free dining (don't expect that for October) they do well. Also October has Colombus day and I think NJ or something has a weeklong school break somewhere in there too. You'll have fun butbook now not later. Just a good rule of thumb.

If you don't book exactly what you want check next week and as your trip gets closer to see if availability changes.

Also there is a lot of moderate resort construction (CBR and CSR) which may push some to book at deluxe resorts.

 

[AtlantaDisneyDreamer]

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?

I would stalk reservations- maybe even a few times a day, if you have time. I have been trying to book something for several days now and the fluctuation in available reservations is really surprising. One day, nothing is available for a certain resort. The next day, preferred and standard are available. The next day certain discounts are available for a room, while they are not available a few hours later- and vice versa. I have even seen the rates change within a few days/hours (that may only be true for passholder disocunts- not sure).

As a previous poster mentioned, there are several resorts under renovation right now and thru the upcoming months that are taking rooms out of circulation. Two are moderate and one is value, so that may not affect availability at the Poly, but it is possible.

I have seen posts where people talked about being able to book five nights at a time, three nights at a time, then three more nights to get their 11 nights. Might have to work the system.

Just keep checking. There is a long time between now and then.

 

[MissMarzenia]

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.

That is exactly why we do not want to book now. And to be honest, we do not hunt for free dining either.

 

[Spork24]

That is exactly why we do not want to book now. And to be honest, we do not hunt for free dining either.

You do realize it's super easy to change room types, change resorts or even flat out cancel your stay. You aren't locking yourself in until 45 days with packages and like (7days?) with room only. Your logic goes against longtime Dis boards mantra, which is why you are seeing some push back. Best of luck to you, I hope it works out.

 

[MissMarzenia]

Thanks for so many great tips guys. We decided to change dates when the free dining and % off rooms was announced yesterday. Looks like reservations even in slower times like september is quite tricky if you have a very specific plan and not much flexibility.