Help with "Walking a Reservation"

[skelooch]

I don't understand why anyone would want DVC to put an end to "walking", it's the only method we have assure we can get a difficult reservation. If it was being used rampantly by a majority of members at the detriment of other members, which there is no evidence of, then that would be a different story.

I haven't seen any post of members bragging how they just walked a reservation for a month to get a CL or GV-SV at AKV. I think we should just leave it alone, and use it only when we feel we absolutely have to. There is no way for any of us to know if we have been harmed by a Walker.

I agree with KAT4DISNEY 100% any DVC cure will be worst than the Illness, Well Stated.
And higher point owners don't have any more of an advantage over lower point owners.

I suggest the whole subject just be dropped before we give DVC any ideas.
If someone asks about it, it should be explained to them, and let them decide what they should do in their situation. We shouldn't encourage it or discourgage it. Be happy we have it.

Now I'm up to $.06

 

[Sandisw]

As long as a person has points enough for 2 days they can walk and have the same results as a high point owner. The point chart changes reducing weekends also helped a lot with this. The only difference is that they will have to call every day where a person booking for a week period only has to call once a week.



My guess is that the DVC cure would be worse than the illness. But personally I don't feel a change is needed as I'm not feeling there's a mess like Diane talks about. There used to be many, many posts about people struggling with day by day reservations and having holes in their stays. That's gone now. And even day by day really was going outside of the intention of booking your stay from check-out, wasn't it?

I agree with you that the solution could be worse than the problem but just curious of what DVC might do if they perceive it as a problem. Since the new booking as been in place for about two years now (correct me if I am wrong), things must be running smoothly as far as they are concerned.

 

[skelooch]

God bless them if they have the fortitude for it, but doing that gives them an "unfair" (in my estimation) advantage over those who only follow the letter of the law instead of the loop holes.

Hi Diane,
I had the pleasure of meeting you and your husband at a meet you arranged at WL several years ago, I believe it was during Thanksgiving. I have a great deal of respect for you and your knowledge of DVC, I always enjoy reading your posts, because you are one of the many hard core DVCers here on the boards and know your stuff.

Now that the smoke has cleared, I think what you are missing here is when you say "but doing that gives them", remember you are one of "them", I am one of "them", and every other member is one of "them". Just because you don't have the fortitude to do it doesn't mean that every other member also shouldn't have the fortitude, that has to be left up to them. Every member has a right to choose for themselves what is right for them, we have no right to tell any member how to use their membership as long as they are doing so within the rules of DVC. And right now at least there is no rule that prevents a member from cancelling and adding days to their reservation, and personally I hope it stays that way. Would I be upset if I knew I couldn't get a reservation because of walking, absolutely, but not with the walker, with myself for not being smart enough to do the same thing they were doing and I didn't start sooner than they did. It would be my own fault because I have the same right as they do.
I don't want to be penalized for having to make a change to my reservation as some have suggested. We don't want DVC deciding who should or should not be penalized. People change reservation for any number of reasons. Next we will have to get a note from the doctor so we won't be penalized. We don't need anything else taken away from us.

Don't look at it as a loophole, think of it as one for the good guys. You may say that was not the intent of the new booking policy, we don't know if DVC in their infinite wisdom thought of the possibility of walking and just dismissed it. Let's be thankful that someone here did think about it, and decided to share it with the rest of us members.

I totally agree the old policy was better, and I'd love to see it returned, but that isn't likely, so we need to adjust to the new policy the best we can.

Is this now $.08 or $.10 worth?

 

[dianeschlicht]

I agree with you that the solution could be worse than the problem but just curious of what DVC might do if they perceive it as a problem. Since the new booking as been in place for about two years now (correct me if I am wrong), things must be running smoothly as far as they are concerned.

Yes, I'm sure it is running smoothly as far as DVC is concerned. They aren't the ones who get shut out of CL at the 11 month window....The owners are.

As for the way to "fix" the problem.....Go back to check out day booking. I doubt DVC will do that though, because check out day booking with day by day calling was a HUGE problem for MS. See, the fix for us is a non-fix for them, so we are going to have to live with the system as it stands today and just know that if we want a CL room for a busy timeperiod, we are going to have to walk it.

Will I do that? No, probably not, but I know I'll still get to make CL stays....just not at holiday times.

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

really?

just my opinion, i think you're talking in circles so the manipulation
can continued. we were burned but not because we were not
"smart enough" but because dvc managers didn't realized how many
were already manipulating the system. this was our first try &
we stopped the "walking" based on dvc manger's promise. [ our guide
was out sick ].

since that time, i have taken a more active role and gotten support
from others, so corrective measures were accomplished. just like
getting the type of room [ location] & all the things that were part
of the promises made to us. however, after this pia situation, i will
no longer take anything for granted.

for the record, i think it's bull when those claim walking @ 7mos. is
not useful. if there just a few rooms left, then that would be the idea time
to get ahead on your requests?

this is similar to the wait-list loophole. there 's a very good reason why
they are calling every/qod days.

not dvc related but i see that type of rationalization all the time. just
because one can take advantage of another , does not mean it is
right. [ @ work we have to help others that have suffered abuse-]
but it is something i heard from my grandparents...the "candy from a
baby" principle. and we also remind those suffering from abusers,
just because many attempt to covered up their actions, by
"selling" those abused, that "they deserved it". often seen in bated-wife
syndrome. so in this case, you should not have this advantage
over their fellow members, when all do not share the same insights.


for us, we would be happy if all our stays are @ blt. it isn't important
to try any others. but since disney offers this option/benefits, then
they need to make it fair for all it's members. something is wrong when
all the rooms were gone before the 11mos. opening day period. Period!
this was a major stressor for us, & a breech on dvc. [ the only
reason for our dvc is to have a room ready, when we call @ 11mos. out.]
in this process, we were treated very poorly in some areas including
some things that were covered up.



the reason why i think the cure is worst than the disease, because
disney is forced to take extra measures to prevent opening up new
loopholes. another area of concern for us, is "how" dvc is keeping track
of all the guides owners & the special " powers" that can be a source of
temptation & hurting other owners?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

No, you were capable of booking one day at a time for your trip if you chose to. Frankly, I don't remember many people having "holes" in their stays at all much if they were willing to call right at the 11 month mark and at 9 AM for those hard to book holiday units. The only holes I heard of were when people were booking after that magic hour and month.

It may have been my perception because I was relatively new to the boards and DVC so the posts about having holes in the reservations, calling right at 9 AM and sometimes ending up on hold then missing out on the last room and waitlists for only a day really stood out to me. I was a bothered by the fact I might not be able to get my whole stay in one location. I was convinced that getting a stay in early Dec. was going to be a horrific experience. Long hold times, having to call every day at 9 AM (6 AM in my time zone) etc. etc.

But there definitely were posts of people who had called right at 9 am, ended up on hold and missed a day. Then it was a wait and see who would cancel so that hole would be filled.

 

[TisBit]

The big difference between walking and booking day by day....decreased call volume. DVC did what they wanted, it had gotten to a point on these boards that people believed you "had" to call day by day to get just about any reservation and you were at risk if you didn't do it. So MS received 7 calls for a one week reservation, even with walking, you would have to start two months early to start walking to equal the same call volume that day by day caused. Also, with walking you don't have to book at exactly 9 am, so you don't have the same problems with people not being able to get through to make their reservations.

Booking by check out was unfair to certain members (without booking day by day) because even if you arrived before another members, if you checked out after them you couldn't book until after the other member. Walking is purely optional and booking by day of arrival is much simpler to understand and is fair to all members because they can book starting the first day of their vacation vs the last.

I think very few members "walk" their reservations and as stated 99.9% don't need to, there are very few posts about people not getting their reservations at 11 months out (compared to when people were calling day by day).

 

[goodguy23]

Connears you've been extremely lucky, that is not the norm.

 

[Vickis3js]

So a little confused about how you need to go about walking a reservation.

So if I call today and get the max 7 nights my reservation would be for Dec 11-Dec 18 if my plan is to have a check in of Dec 18 when would I have to call again? Thats where I am kind of confused. Do I call everyday and take off a day and add a day or do I not have to call back again until the 18th.

 

[rentayenta]

I know the last post is a year old but I'm desperate to get some help learning to walk a reservation.

We'd like to stay at the GCV 12/22-12/27. From what I can figure it'd be smart to make the reservation then keep bumping it up a day? My plan is Sun- Fri and I'm borrowing so to do that I'd have to borrow more than I'll actually need.


I'm so confused.

 

[BrerNashville]

If you are a GCV member, it is too late to walk a December 2013 reservation just book as normal.

If you are not a GCV member, then walking does not necessarily work. It would help vs. non GCV members, but you won't know that you've gotten your reservation until you're done. If you tried it, you would call, say, 7 months and three or four days before your anticipated arrival and book your 5 nights. Say, May 18 to book December 18 to December 23. Then, on December 22, your desired arrival, you would call to cancel 12/18-12/21 nights, keep the 12/22 night and add 12/23-12/26 nights. On 5/22, any non GCV member who was trying to reserve the GCV for 12/22 and following would not be able to because of your reservation if its otherwise full (their 7 month window would be booked, and they can't book 12/23 on 5/22); however, a member of GCV could come in over you and reserve 12/23 and later at any time.

 

[rentayenta]

If you are a GCV member, it is too late to walk a December 2013 reservation just book as normal.

If you are not a GCV member, then walking does not necessarily work. It would help vs. non GCV members, but you won't know that you've gotten your reservation until you're done. If you tried it, you would call, say, 7 months and three or four days before your anticipated arrival and book your 5 nights. Say, May 18 to book December 18 to December 23. Then, on December 22, your desired arrival, you would call to cancel 12/18-12/21 nights, keep the 12/22 night and add 12/23-12/26 nights. On 5/22, any non GCV member who was trying to reserve the GCV for 12/22 and following would not be able to because of your reservation if its otherwise full (their 7 month window would be booked, and they can't book 12/23 on 5/22); however, a member of GCV could come in over you and reserve 12/23 and later at any time.

Thank you!!! Can I ask you one more thing aside from asking if I can ask one more thing?

I'm borrowing points for a Dec 2013 trip and my use year is Dec. If I book using borrowed points at the Disneyland Hotel, no $95 fee, and the GCV is open at my 7 months, can I use the same borrowed points I used to make the Disneyland Hotel reservation? Am I even making sense?

 

[Judique]

Thank you!!! Can I ask you one more thing aside from asking if I can ask one more thing?

I'm borrowing points for a Dec 2013 trip and my use year is Dec. If I book using borrowed points at the Disneyland Hotel, no $95 fee, and the GCV is open at my 7 months, can I use the same borrowed points I used to make the Disneyland Hotel reservation? Am I even making sense?

Once you make a reservation with them at the Disneyland Hotel, if you cancel they will become 'reservation points' and you can't use them to book GCV.

 

[chalee94]

I'm borrowing points for a Dec 2013 trip and my use year is Dec. If I book using borrowed points at the Disneyland Hotel, no $95 fee, and the GCV is open at my 7 months, can I use the same borrowed points I used to make the Disneyland Hotel reservation? Am I even making sense?

when you book outside the DVC resort system (for example, at the DL hotel), the points become "reservation pts" and are no longer valid for booking DVC resorts (for example, the GCV).

 

[rentayenta]

Once you make a reservation with them at the Disneyland Hotel, if you cancel they will become 'reservation points' and you can't use them to book GCV.

Thank you. I finally called- lol. Borrowing makes this very tricky...

 

[rentayenta]

when you book outside the DVC resort system (for example, at the DL hotel), the points become "reservation pts" and are no longer valid for booking DVC resorts (for example, the GCV).