FW Stopped Reservations 499 days out?

[Mcert01]

Hi,

I just called the reservation line to make a campsite reservation for 499 days out. I was told by a cast member who seemed to know her stuff that they stopped this practice in 2020. She said reservations for 2023 wouldn't be available until February or March 2022.

Does anyone have a different experience post 2020? If so, how did you make the reservation?

Thanks!

 

[Paulaparm]

Not sure if this will help you or not. We had made reservations at 499 days for 2021 and then canceled due to covid. We wanted to move it to the next year and were not able to, as they had stopped the 499 days. We were able to make our reservation that begins Jan 31, 2022 on February 18, 2021. That being said, maybe they will open up 2023 reservations mid-February 2022...

 

[Mcert01]

Not sure if this will help you or not. We had made reservations at 499 days for 2021 and then canceled due to covid. We wanted to move it to the next year and were not able to, as they had stopped the 499 days. We were able to make our reservation that begins Jan 31, 2022 on February 18, 2021. That being said, maybe they will open up 2023 reservations mid-February 2022...

Very helpful. It confirms what I was told. It makes sense. I never quite understood why they opened it up earlier than the rest of the resorts. It was nice though.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Paulaparm]

I agree, it was nice but never understood it either! Good luck!

 

[bama_ed]

Currently I've heard that they are allowing ARRIVALS within 2022 (for example the last week of December 2022) to run into 2023 (max 30 days on a reservation) but are not currently allowing 2023 arrivals which is what we are looking for.

If the change is permanent and not pandemic-related, I wish they would say so (more than through a random CM) thus allowing people to plan and set accurate expectations.

So. We. Shall. See. That could be our new reservation normal.

Bama Ed

 

[Mcert01]

Currently I've heard that they are allowing ARRIVALS within 2022 (for example the last week of December 2022) to run into 2023 (max 30 days on a reservation) but are not currently allowing 2023 arrivals which is what we are looking for.

If the change is permanent and not pandemic-related, I wish they would say so (more than through a random CM) thus allowing people to plan and set accurate expectations.

So. We. Shall. See. That could be our new reservation normal.

Bama Ed

I agree. I called 3 times and got 3 different answers, though the one consistent answer was that they are not taking 2023 reservations now. One CM did say the 499 rule is still in effect, but there was no availability. I guess we'll see what happens going forward.

 

[tiggerdad]

I turned my 2023 needs over to Tracey at Dreams Unlimited. She felt like 2023 dates wouldn't release until this Summer was her best guess.

 

[Mcert01]

I turned my 2023 needs over to Tracey at Dreams Unlimited. She felt like 2023 dates wouldn't release until this Summer was her best guess.

We have used her for DCL. I may reach out.

 

[tatkins]

It would be great if they would let everyone know what the number of days out you can book is instead of saying sometime around a certain month. I’m still salty about having to stay off property due to this change and then not knowing when I could book my trip. Seen they were doing reservations in my time frame 5 days after making our weekly call to ask and by then all sites were gone!!

 

[ontdvc2015]

Same issue for us! And I agree with everyone saying that it's fine if they have changed their policy, but give us some damn info on it! We want to book for Feb 2023 and I have NO idea when I should call and try and book again. The last time I called I waited on hold for 1 hour and was told we couldn't book. I don't really feel like doing that again! So if the policy has changed to no more than 1 year out, that's fine, but just tell us that!

 

[Mcert01]

Update for those that are following. I saw a post yesterday on a FW Facebook group claiming they had a March, 2023 reservation. Since the website still doesn't show 2023 availability I decided to call the WDW Reservation line again. The CM took my reservation for April 2023 with no issues - other than the fact that Full Hookup is full, which is what we had wanted, and rates are 11% higher than the 2022 rates for the same week (last week of April). YIKES!

 

[bama_ed]

Help me understand here, Mike:

You're comparing April 2022 Full rates to April 2023 Premium/Prem Meadows? Or are both years the same type of site? Can you elaborate?

Same week, I get it.

We've got a thread on page 1 here that they've been taking 2023 by phone for over a month.

April is a great time to go, though. No doubt.

Bama Ed

 

[Mcert01]

Help me understand here, Mike:

You're comparing April 2022 Full rates to April 2023 Premium/Prem Meadows? Or are both years the same type of site? Can you elaborate?

Same week, I get it.

We've got a thread on page 1 here that they've been taking 2023 by phone for over a month.

April is a great time to go, though. No doubt.

Bama Ed

Hi Ed,

When I was planning the trip I looked up the rates for premium, preferred and full hookup and put them in a spreadsheet for comparison purposes. I got rates for premium and preferred during my call with WDW Reservations today, so the math was apples to apples.

Looking forward to the trip!