I Think The 500-Day Booking Rule (as we knew it) Has Changed

[Cosmic]

Just curious, Cosmic, what's your checkout date? If that's more information than you want to disclose, I truly understand. Thanks.

As of this moment, it’s 11/1-11/21.

Right.

Sadly, Cosmic, I don't know what "500 and 499" means. From arrival? From checkout? What day was it when you were checking?

When Disney posted the new rates for 2020 on June 23, 2019 they didn't tell people they had changed the 500 day rule at the same time. So when 6/23/19 rolled around they could book out to arrivals as late as November 4, 2020 "just like that".

And there were reports on here of a travel agent who booked LOTS of folks during that time before it was widely known (hundreds-and how many Fort sites are there? hundreds + a few).

Plus I know from my work on the DISMeet 2020 thread for October 2020, there are other folks with group contracts MUCH bigger than ours taking sites out of consideration.

If you could come in mid-October 2020 we'd love to have you as part of our DISMeet 2020 group. I met you briefly but you would meet all the ROCK STARS of the DIS. I mean there is (and I'm gonna get in trouble here for leaving folks out) tiggerdad, SouthAlabama5er, rajak73, garneska, TeamUbr, and all the other rabble rousers I've run across. We'd love to have you join us. See my DISMeet thread on the front page of the Camping Board. They are Premium sites mostly but you would be welcomed with a big brass band.

And I'd like to have you visit us too.

Bama Ed

PS - seriously, if you can change your dates to a littel earlier, PM me for the booking form and we'd love to have you with us.

All other things being equal, I would be there with you guys in a heartbeat... and it may still work out that way. Tent camping with no AC, though, my first instinct was to shift to November instead of earlier in October. We are hoping to be bringing two or three other parties along with us, and it may turn out that October works better for them. Now back to check availability on Halloween for the 345th time...

 

[StormyCA]

We have this problem with a nearby campground now that they've gone to the same system. To make it worse, they used to be 100% 'first come, first serve'. People are now booking waaaayyyy beyond the booking window (using the last possible as their 'arrival date') then will cancel the 'excess' as soon as the window for their 'actual' arrival date opens. There's also a cancellation rule that you can't cancel until a certain number of days before your (fake) arrival date. All they 'forfeit' is $10.00 cancellation fee. It's a real problem as it locks up a big part of the campsites. All people can do is keep checking for 'cancellations'.

I predict the same will start happening with the Ft unless TPTB start charging for cancellations. How they'd do it, I don't know since Disney's always had such a liberal cancellation policy. But it's going to start getting a lot harder to get sites (IMHO).

 

[SharonEM]

This has broken my heart. I admittedly don’t check this forum as often as I used to but I’m a camping newbie and used the valuable information on this forum to plan our 2020 Christmas/birthday family bash. I’ve been planning since last year and had our “499” date marked on the calendar and now it’s seems I can’t book the days needed.

 

[Stork]

....I’ve been planning since last year and had our “499” date marked on the calendar and now it’s seems I can’t book the days needed.

Just checked the Disney website and found tent/popup, full hookup, and preferred still available for my dates. What campsites are you looking for and for what dates?

 

[SharonEM]

Just checked the Disney website and found tent/popup, full hookup, and preferred still available for my dates. What campsites are you looking for and for what dates?

I need Dec 21 - Jan 3. I understand this would have been difficult to book prior to this reservation change since it’s over the holiday period but now when I try to book from the first available day to Jan 3 only tent sites come up. I would need at least a full hookup.

 

[Stork]

I need Dec 21 - Jan 3. I understand this would have been difficult to book prior to this reservation change since it’s over the holiday period but now when I try to book from the first available day to Jan 3 only tent sites come up. I would need at least a full hookup.

What about checking with the Travel Agents some people use? Somewhere on this thread or forum there is a reference to them.

 

[BeachMama13]

When Disney posted the new rates for 2020 on June 23, 2019 they didn't tell people they had changed the 500 day rule at the same time. So when 6/23/19 rolled around they could book out to arrivals as late as November 4, 2020 "just like that".

And there were reports on here of a travel agent who booked LOTS of folks during that time before it was widely known (hundreds-and how many Fort sites are there? hundreds + a few).

Bama Ed

I believe I've been using 499 days from the start of my trip to book, for the last few trips. I agree that something has changed. When I tried to book 11/20/2020 on 7/10/2019, not much was available. I had to book a shorter length and could only reserve Premium Meadows when regular Premium is what I'm aiming for. I've tried many different combos and shortening the week and can't ever get a Premium to open up. While I'm thankful to have gotten the ressie, I am frustrated that nothing else is remotely available during that time. I will keep trying different combos of dates between now & then and hope I can stitch together a regular Premium site and drop the other.

I watched that travel agent book LOTS of folks over Halloween 2020 recently, from another group. I wonder if they have an inside avenue to book sites that the rest of us aren't privy to.

 

[SharonEM]

What about checking with the Travel Agents some people use? Somewhere on this thread or forum there is a reference to them.

I was able to snag a reservation for a full hookup site! What a relief.

 

[Stork]

I was able to snag a reservation for a full hookup site! What a relief.

Congrats!
On your own or using a TA? Just curious.

 

[SharonEM]

Congrats!
On your own or using a TA? Just curious.

On my own. I was explaining the situation to a friend and showing her how nothing but tent sites would pop up an lo and behold a full hookup was available.

 

[Stork]

Walt & Mickey definitely had your back this time, SharonEM!

 

[KristinU]

Oh ugh, this makes my head spin. I'm guessing the chances of me getting Christmas 2020 are about non-existent out of the gate. I've been a little on the fence about it anyway with the rate hikes and perceived value, so maybe this is the push over the edge for me. I'll probably still try as my 500 days approaches, but I just plugged in 12/3/2020 - 1/1/2021 and got pop-up/tent sites as the only available for that time frame. Looks like people are indeed gobbling up the entire month with plans to pare back later.

I will say, however, that in the past I've gotten Christmas by being persistent and by stitching a few days together. Looks like that might be my method again if I decide to ignore this as a sign