DLH Booked?

[nikolasmor]

I've been checking for the past 2 weeks but can find nothing available on DL.com for a room at DLH for 10/4-10/6? Any thoughts? We def. want to stay on site!

Niko

 

[Sherry E]

I've been checking for the past 2 weeks but can find nothing available on DL.com for a room at DLH for 10/4-10/6? Any thoughts? We def. want to stay on site!

Niko

That is just two weeks away - DLH has probably been booked on that weekend for at least a month! Forget the website. You have to actually get REAL people to look around for you. Call the Central Reservations number and ask about their availability (guests do cancel, after all, so you can hope to squeeze in after another person cancels, but you pretty much have to check back EVERY DAY or else you may miss your opportunity). You can also check the Walt Disney Travel Company and they might have some rooms separate from what Central has. Did you check the section of the DL website that says "Fall Rates" or something similar? Those are special promo rates. You might find something if you call Central and ask about the Fall Promo Rates. Rooms are blocked off for different reasons - rooms are blocked for AP holders, for special promo rates, for hotel-only reservations, for the Travel Company, etc. So, while the website may say no rooms, that could mean just in one segment of the rooms that are blocked off but others could open up. So you just have to keep calling and tlaking to a live person.

 

[sunshinemummy]

Oct 4-6 is Gay Days and Miley Cyrus B-Day party, I would not be surprised if it's actually booked.

 

[10stime]

On getawaytoday.com it appears they have room at the Disneyland Hotel available for the dates you were looking for!

 

[Sherry E]

You just have to try a variety of options. Given that the OP wants to stay at DLH in just two weeks, I would have assumed it was booked even without Gay Days or Miley's birthday party! Two weeks is cutting it a little too close for availability at any of the DLR hotels unless it is a really slow time of year. You notice people on this board book their rooms months - and sometimes a year! - in advance! I am going to be at DLR that same weekend, although, thankfully, I am leaving on the 5th, so I can avoid the Miley madness in the parks. My weekend was the only one available at the PPH when I booked. The other weekends in October had already booked up prior to when I made my reservation, which was back in July! So I tend to think my weekend (or for the OP, the weekend of the 4th - 6th) was going to be a slower one at the hotels. I am not sure about now. I am not worried about the Miley crowds packing into the hotels because her b-day party is on a late Sunday afternoon, I think, and kids have to get to school on Monday, so I doubt there will be too many overnight stays on Sunday night. Plus, the tickets for her event are so expensive - and the economy is very bad, and many people are unemployed - that I am not sure every family is going to necessarily decide to spend a few MORE hundred bucks on getting a hotel room for the whole weekend. If they DID decide to stay at a hotel the entire weekend just for that one event, there are plenty of other Good Neighbor hotels that are cheaper to stay in - and open!

Overall, the economy is taking its toll on Disneyland attendance this year, and many people are NOT staying at the actual Disney hotels but instead staying offsite. There were many things like promo offers and what not that increased some of the hotel bookings in the off season this year. Like I booked my PH room with one of the promo PIN# offer discounts, for example. BUT, all of that said, PEOPLE WILL CANCEL. The DLR hotels will be the first to tell you that - people cancel every single day. IN fact, I had heard that some people originally booked for my weekend at the PPH and the GCH decided to change their dates to later in October when they heard of the Miley Cyrus event so they wouldn't risk dealing with extra crowds in the parks!!

The hotels also tell you to try every different option (as stated in my original post) - calling Central, then calling the Travel Company, calling any special numbers associated with promo offers, even checking other non-Disney websites for promo deals (like Ares) - because all of those options have different rooms blocked just for them. When you book with the Travel Company, if you cancel your reservation up to 30 days before your arrival, you will get MOST of your money back, so many people try to cancel with the WDTC a month in advance. That is why I said they may have some rooms available now. With Central (room only) Reservations, you have up to FIVE (5) days prior to arrival to cancel and get a full refund. So I would call Central every day to see if anything has opened up yet, but really start hounding them (maybe calling once in the morning and once at night) right around September 28th and 29th - because that is when there may be an influx of cancellations by people trying to get refunds, and you can sneak into an opening once they do!

Here is one final option, and another reason why it is good to talk to an actual person and not rely on the DL website. Book the nights separately! My inital PPH reservation was just for two nights. Somewhere along the line, after the hotel had mostly booked up, I decided to add a third night. When the CM pulled up the dates in her computer, it showed that the third night I chose was NOT available for a 3-night reservation. However, when Central pulled up the one extra night I wanted as its OWN reservation, it showed that it was available! So sometimes, the computer will tell you that rooms are not available as part of a multi-day stay, BUT if you book the nights separately, you can get in! That was a secret that the CM shared with me that I had never known before. Of course, it may mean that you end up in two different rooms, and possibly having to check in, check out and then in again, but chances are that the closer you get to the arrival date, they will be able to tie the two reservations together into one, which is what ended up happening with mine eventually, and you won't have to go through all that!

 

[nikolasmor]

Yes the short notice is because we are goint to Miley's Party. I'll call reservations directly as soon as I get a chance after they open. Thanks
Niko

 

[Queenbillabong]

On Getawaytoday they have those dates for the DLH for a total of $611 (without park hoppers) - so there are still rooms available.

 

[Sherry E]

On Getawaytoday they have those dates for the DLH for a total of $611 (without park hoppers) - so there are still rooms available.

Good info, Queen and 10stime! I tend to think a lot of people give up because they hear from one place that there are no rooms available, but they don't realize that there are rooms blocked and set aside especially for GAT and other similar sites, as well as for Central, for the Travel Company, for special promo offers, etc. and then rooms available upon other guests' cancellations.

So, Niko, if you don't book through GAT, as has been suggested and which sounds like a great idea, you may have to call each of these different options daily (and remember to hound Central right around Sept. 28 & 29, when a lot of cancellations may occur) until you get an opening. Something WILL open eventually, but you have to be tenacious and be open to the fact that it may be very last-minute! And also be open to booking the two nights separately, as their own individual reservations, if you have to. Also, does it have to be the DLH? Have you looked into PPH too? Is GCH out of the question because of price?

Good luck and have a great time!

 

[nikolasmor]

Thanks so much everyone. A call to reservations revealed lots of rooms still available. I appreciate it so much.

 

[Sherry E]

Thanks so much everyone. A call to reservations revealed lots of rooms still available. I appreciate it so much.

Great! I never rely on what the DL website says because people cancel and make changes all the time, and there are so many different options for getting rooms that the one website cannot cover, so I knew you would find something eventually! I always call the actual people.

So I assume this means you booked a room for the nights of the 4th and 5th? Cool. Well, I will be in the park on the 4th, too, so maybe we will end up in line together on a ride!

Have a great time at DLR and at Miley's party!