Help Planning November 2022 Trip - Already Full?

[Vulnox]

Hi all,

We joined DVC a few weeks ago and have a short trip in February, and a big trip, with our kid's first time going, in November 2022.

Our planned dates are Nov 23rd-29th (so checking out the 29th). I know we are two days from being able to book the 23rd, but I went on just to check it out and it shows we can't get all the days we want, already, for the 21st-27th, because it shows that the 21st is unavailable for the two room types we tried (2 Bed Lock off - standard view and 2 Bed Standard View). The other nights, 22nd-27th, are fine. I know the 21st isn't one of our required nights, but it alone is the only night in a roughly 10 day window that is booked, and is also the first night you can book in the 11 month window. That has me thinking people are already planning to walk reservations or something, just doesn't make a lot of sense for that day alone to be consumed.

This has us a bit anxious now because being able to do this was a huge part of joining to begin with, and I know Thanksgiving/Christmas are busy periods, but I guess I didn't expect to see 2 Beds already showing as unavailable.

Is this something that we shouldn't worry much about? Should I book the 21st-26th (which would also put me on a waitlist for the 21st), and then try to walk the reservation once the 22nd-28th opens, then hope I can do 23rd-29th? I didn't want to mess with walking and didn't expect it to be necessary outside of studios.

If we do go that route I have another question. We have 50 points left over for our 2020 UY after booking out Feb trip. We get 200 points in September 2022, so without borrowing we have 250 points for the November trip. We need 339 for this booking, so would have to borrow 89 points, keeping us under the 50% threshold. Anyway, does borrowing points create any headaches when trying to walk a reservation or anything like that? Or can you easily make date changes as long as nothing pushes you out of that total point range?

Thank you in advance! Sorry for all the questions. We don't expect to do a booking in these holiday periods hardly ever, was just supposed to be a big thing for our first major trip with the kids to WDW.

 

[JETSDAD]

I assume that you're talking about Riviera?

So just a few things. 2BR lockoffs also compete with people booking studios so those will generally book up quick for the cheaper booking categories. The dedicated 2BR generally shouldn't be too difficult but right now you're looking at a busy period and Riviera isn't completely declared (so not all rooms are available to book).

There is no reason to waitlist dates that you don't want. Tomorrow morning try booking the lockoff...the dedicated is already booked solid 2 days into the 11 month window so you will have to try that one on the 23rd if it comes available then. Walking only works if you have the 11 month date booked...the waitlist doesn't help you with that. If you don't get the room that you want on the 11 month date then use the waitlist for your actual dates and keep watching for any walkers to drop dates as they move their reservations.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I also assume you are talking about Riviera. Realize that studios being booked will take a lock-off out of inventory. However what you are seeing is multiple things. Probably there's walking going on so that even if your start date does book up quickly at 8am eastern it may open up again the next day or two as walkers move past. Thanksgiving is quite popular for families to go so 2BR's seem to go more quickly then vs other times of the year. And there are certainly people walking towards the first week of December which is the most popular DVC week. The other thing is that it isn't a bad thing to buy for the middle or most expensive room option because the lowest point rooms at most resorts, especially during high point holiday times, will tend to be the first to go. So your resort isn't all booked up - it's just that the lower point rooms are.

I'd guess you'll probably get the 2BR standard view either tomorrow at 8am if you are fast on the computer or else picking up days as walker walk past.

Adding - you can't book the 22-26th and just waitlist the 21st. All the dates would be a waitlist since the 1st day isn't available.

 

[Vulnox]

Thank you so much for the responses and tips. I’ll be ready tomorrow I guess to try and get the 22nd-28th. At worst we can move our vacation to those dates if it’s all we can get.
Thank you again!

 

[JETSDAD]

Thank you so much for the responses and tips. I’ll be ready tomorrow I guess to try and get the 22nd-28th. At worst we can move our vacation to those dates if it’s all we can get.
Thank you again!

If you can get the reservation starting tomorrow then you can simply walk that the next day to get it to the start that you want.

 

[Vulnox]

Yeah, that’s my hope. And yes, I keep not answering it, but it is riviera. Our February trip will be at beach club so November will be our real welcome home trip, from our view anyway.

 

[DaveNan]

Unfortunately, you are seeing what the guides don't tell you, popular categories at popular times are year are sometimes difficult to book, even at 11 months. Assuming you are new, a couple of these answered referred to a practice of walking. That is when you actually book a room days/weeks ahead of when you need it, and then daily/weekly modify it s it starts 11 months from the current date. You just need to modify it early enough to keep the first night of the 11 month window booked. It is nerve racking, but you can also pick up the "walker droppings". Notice that today the 21st is booked, but the 20th is available. I am fairly confident, yesterday, the 20th was not available. As other members modify their reservations forward, nights become available. You just need to regularly check from 8am to noon each day to pick up each day. While Thanksgiving is a busy week, the first 2 weeks of Dec are peak DVC booking times. Many of the folks holding the rooms the night of the 21st have no intention of using them. They want to stay in Dec (either early of late) and those rooms will come available, at least for a few hours. It may seem odd, but if you don't get a room on the 23rd right at 8am, open a waitlist, but just for the 23rd, not for the 23rd to the 29th. And on the 24th the WL may fill, but don't just rely on the WL, stalk the site for a room on the 23rd (on the 24th). WL fill for the entire period. And at no time from now till Jan 1st, will all those night be available. Each day will fill immediately at 8am EST. And I mean 8:00:00. In fact you may try and still miss out. Getting high demand rooms is VERY difficult.

 

[Vulnox]

I wanted to follow up and say thank you again to everyone here and on this forum in general. I was able to get in at 8am and do the 22nd-28th. I will try to edit tomorrow and do... well I guess not so much a walk as a short stroll... to the 23rd-29th we are going for. Probably wasn't needed after how easy it was to get it this morning, but seeing that day lock out just got me nervous as mentioned.

Thank you all!

 

[DaveNan]

congrats.

 

[EatMoreVeg]

Not sure if others are finding this, but I feel the walking is especially bad this year, especially for standard studios at multiple resorts, not just Riviera.

 

[Judique]

I wanted to follow up and say thank you again to everyone here and on this forum in general. I was able to get in at 8am and do the 22nd-28th. I will try to edit tomorrow and do... well I guess not so much a walk as a short stroll... to the 23rd-29th we are going for. Probably wasn't needed after how easy it was to get it this morning, but seeing that day lock out just got me nervous as mentioned.

Thank you all!

I can understand you getting nervous! Just wanted to add that I've been going through this with BWV in early November for the last 4 years. I've owned since 2000, but started getting blocked out by walkers 4 years ago.

Even so, I get my dates one at a time. Just had to wait a day or two and instead of getting all at once, have had to log on every day for the nights I've wanted. It's irritating but no longer concerning to me.

And that said, I still believe in the waitlist. Yes, I've beat it by stalking, but it's also worked for me. A lot of canceling and rebooking goes on.

Anyway, enjoy your trips and welcome home!

 

[JETSDAD]

Not sure if others are finding this, but I feel the walking is especially bad this year, especially for standard studios at multiple resorts, not just Riviera.

It happens every year at this time. There's always a lot of walking posts.....it’s just a really high demand time of year so you get a mix of high demand and more people walking (or the walking is more noticeable because the other rooms are also being booked). Then in January it tends to be less prevalent again.

 

[DaveNan]

Not sure if others are finding this, but I feel the walking is especially bad this year, especially for standard studios at multiple resorts, not just Riviera.

I saw it go up 3-4 years ago when you were able to modify online. Before that, it took a call to MS every "length of stay minus 1 day". When it became "convenient" it increased. But you still saw it for the AKV value & club, BLT STD, and BWV STD. I just think it now starts a little earlier and has hit other places. It also becomes self-fulfilling. Everyone walks, so I need to also AND I need to start before them.....

 

[DonMacGregor]

This is why we have our (almost) carved in stone “No Walking, No Stalking” rule. It’s just WAY too much work, and once you do it (and are reliant upon it), you’re going to feel the need to start earlier and earlier to get ahead of the others.

I 100% completely understand the desire to enjoy Holiday trips, but spending November or December or January doing daily walks on a reservation for the following Thanksgiving and Christmas, while trying to enjoy THIS Holiday season doesn’t do it for me. Maybe I’ll do it someday, but as an annual “tradition”, no thanks.

 

[JETSDAD]

This is why we have our (almost) carved in stone “No Walking, No Stalking” rule. It’s just WAY too much work, and once you do it (and are reliant upon it), you’re going to feel the need to start earlier and earlier to get ahead of the others.

I 100% completely understand the desire to enjoy Holiday trips, but spending November or December or January doing daily walks on a reservation for the following Thanksgiving and Christmas, while trying to enjoy THIS Holiday season doesn’t do it for me. Maybe I’ll do it someday, but as an annual “tradition”, no thanks.

In the time it took to type that post you could have walked a reservation. And you only have to do it once every 6 days if you want. That's not a lot of effort and one reason it happens so much.

 

[DonMacGregor]

In the time it took to type that post you could have walked a reservation. And you only have to do it once every 6 days if you want. That's not a lot of effort and one reason it happens so much.

Well, I'm not typing that post every day or even every six days, and I'm not worried that I won't be able to post it if someone else posts it first, so I didn't get on at the crack of dawn to do it, and I'm not fighting 100 other people to post it. Also, I didn't worry yesterday that I should post it then, because someone might post it a day earlier than me.

The issue isn't the time it takes, it's the obvious fact that it's not simply a perfunctory process of logging on and moving a reservation. People walk reservations for one reason: because they are fighting others for the same rooms. It's a long "first-come-first-served" process for rooms that are in short supply at certain times of the year, and there are people who still won't get the room they want, either because the walking is starting earlier and earlier, or because even after weeks of walking, the same number of rooms will still exist, and the demand will still exceed the supply, and they'll end up wait listing a single night.

Don't get me wrong, I love planning vacations as much, if not more than most people. I can't wait for the 60-day window to make all of our ADR's, for example. For me , however, there is a point where the planning becomes a chore, something that "has" to be done. Starting to walk a reservation 13 or so months before a trip crosses that line for me. As I said, it's our "rule" and that's just how we roll. If others feel that their need to hit a certain vacation window warrants the walking, so be it. That is where they feel they get the appropriate use of and value for their points

 

[Brian Noble]

I think I get where you're coming from. It's not just about the time one spends on it, but also whether or not it is experienced as something that is stressful. My life has enough of that organically, so I try to be mindful about picking up "voluntary" stress.

ADRs are a good example. I used to worry about getting the "right" meals at the "right" times. But, I found myself gravitating towards checking for meals not so much because we wanted them, but because they were hard to get so of course we wanted them. Several years ago, after the no-show penalty was instituted, I started grabbing most of my ADRs the night before, or sometimes even the morning of. We always found something interesting, and it was more like opening a present ("I wonder what's available? Oh look! Let's eat there!") than planning for something I might not get even by logging in at the second they become available, then being disappointed.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I think I get where you're coming from. It's not just about the time one spends on it, but also whether or not it is experienced as something that is stressful. My life has enough of that organically, so I try to be mindful about picking up "voluntary" stress.

So many posts on here by people concerned that the walkers may not walk past the dates they are walking towards themselves and that ultimately their dates won’t be available. You have no idea how many walkers there are, who is walking just a few days ahead of you, or what dates they are walking to. You can only see the effect of the walking (I somehow envision a field stripped bare by an advancing swarm of locusts or army of ants).

 

[Vulnox]

Yeah everyone makes great points and it's definitely an individual decision. I knew that joining DVC would mean we have to sometimes be flexible as some dates would just fill up, or we would have a more impromptu trip plan than 7 or 11 months.

The thing that I think kind of hurts about walking, and my experience is a good example even if I admit I allowed myself to participate, is that when someone sees others walking it pushes someone that may not have intended to walk to start doing so. An ever compounding problem that creates stress for others because of the stress pushed on us. It's like someone texting on their phone while on the highway and looking up and seeing someone ahead braking, so they slam on their brakes in a panic, even if it wasn't needed. Now you have a "wave" of people behind them braking or swerving, leading to further braking, and you now have a short term at least traffic backup. All because of one catalyst.

If a lot of people are walking towards that first couple weeks of December, it definitely made us panic and while we only walked a day, walking is walking. I don't intend to let this scare me into changing how I schedule in the future, as it ended up mainly just being that 21st day that was locked out and not as big a deal. But it's pretty eye opening how much that uncertainty can impact the wider world of booking the nights you want.

 

[J-Dog]

This discussion is exactly why we just bought a GW for the first week in December. I don't have to walk anything unless I really want to. I don't care how much time it takes or how easy it is - I have better things to do in life than worrying about logging-on and walking a reservation for months at a time.