Is there any point in trying for November or December at this point?

[Jabroniville]

Hi all. I was going back and forth on planning a long-delayed return trip to WDW, but naturally since plans keep changing everywhere, I was putting it off. Recently I was thinking of trying for November since it was during the 50th and is generally a quieter time of year. Plus I can still use the Magical Express and stuff before it's shut down.

But checking the websites for availability, almost NOTHING is! Is this due to the 50th, because of hotels being part-shuttered, or just because it's only two months away? A weird glitch in the system? I was a bit surprised, as this has never happened to me before (I usually book 6 months out).

December seems SLIGHTLY more available, but only for short trips (and even then, the cheaper resorts are no-gos). I generally plan on longer trips, being Canadian (I have to make the trips worth it more, you know?).

So should I even bother trying for November & December trips, or should I just hold off for next year? They might just be having MONSTROUS crowds owing to the 50th. I could I guess also go to a nearby hotel since there's no EMH anymore, but I'm not sure.

 

[TJA]

For what it's worth, I was feeling that exact same way about mid-October a couple months ago. Nothing was available except All Stars and Old Key West. By checking religiously, I'd see other resorts pop up from time to time. Finally, within the last couple of weeks, almost every single resort is showing up as available and staying available. So I'm not sure if a flurry of people are waiting for a discount and gave up and cancelled? Or maybe the virus is scaring people off and they cancelled? Or maybe Disney held rooms back and finally released them? Or maybe some borders are still closed and people had to cancel? Whatever the reason, my dates in mid-October are now wide open.

 

[gottalovepluto]

People seem to be waiting until 30 days out and then cancelling in droves. How long they will keep canceling idk, everyone has their own speculations. I would table it for now since nothing practical is available and check back next month.

 

[Tigger's ally]

For what it's worth, I was feeling that exact same way about mid-October a couple months ago. Nothing was available except All Stars and Old Key West. By checking religiously, I'd see other resorts pop up from time to time. Finally, within the last couple of weeks, almost every single resort is showing up as available and staying available. So I'm not sure if a flurry of people are waiting for a discount and gave up and cancelled? Or maybe the virus is scaring people off and they cancelled? Or maybe Disney held rooms back and finally released them? Or maybe some borders are still closed and people had to cancel? Whatever the reason, my dates in mid-October are now wide open.

Overseas folks who want to come can't. Fall is a great time for them to "holiday" and they have all kept their ressies hoping for ability to travel. I think there will be cancelations just like there has been.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Agreed - keep checking and monitoring. The cancellations seem to be happening often.

 

[Jabroniville]

That is SUPER WEIRD, but I'm seeing that yeah, a lot of October is available, despite ALSO being in the 50th and also being around Halloween. Only the resorts I can't afford to stay at, but it's there.

Expedia is weirdly showing the Dolphin for around when I'm staying, though the Disney site does not. I forget how that works, though.

I guess I'll keep checking November, but as I like to plan far ahead, this is a bit annoying. I wonder if Disney's now-easy cancellation policy (I cancelled two vacations already, and one was literally just the click of a button on the site instead of having to call them ahead) is the reason why?

 

[cutigerlady]

I felt the same way about my September trip that I began planning at the end of July. I think I had 3 resorts to pick from originally and now everything is wide open. Definitely keep checking close to the 30 day mark. I just switched today when the moderate I wanted became available. I do think people are waiting to cancel until the last minute.

 

[Tonberry]

Keep checking every day. Things open up every day (and are taken just as fast). If you see something available and are not sure about it, you can add it to your cart and keep it there for 24 hours while you think about it.
Just keep in mind that for the rest of the year (October, November, and December) it is all going to be packed. With the 50th going on and a ton of pent of travel demand, I don't think crowd calendars are going to be of much use for the entire fall..

 

[Dave006]

Expedia is weirdly showing the Dolphin for around when I'm staying, though the Disney site does not. I forget how that works, though.

Expedia has it's own block of rooms, Disney has their block of rooms at the Swan & Dolphin and the new Swan Reserve, and Marriott has the bulk of the room availability.

Not to mention that Hotwire and Priceline also have select blocks of rooms.

Dave

 

[katyjeka]

We have traveled the same two weeks for close to thirty years and I have never seen such little availability. December is no longer as slow as it once was however there has got to be a lot of rooms that they are holding. There are too many rooms at WDW for there to be nothing left for early December. This is the first year in a very long time that Pop Warner is not at Disney and less people are traveling from overseas. Where are those rooms? A huge indication to me that less people are traveling this December compared to other years is looking at Swan/Dolphin. It is usually very hard to get an employee rate at either location for more than a day or two in a row. This morning they had employee rates posted for early December. Many years I've been unable to get employee rates as they didn't have as many available due to their occupancy being so high, not the case this year. Just my opinion

 

[Jabroniville]

Keep checking every day. Things open up every day (and are taken just as fast). If you see something available and are not sure about it, you can add it to your cart and keep it there for 24 hours while you think about it.
Just keep in mind that for the rest of the year (October, November, and December) it is all going to be packed. With the 50th going on and a ton of pent of travel demand, I don't think crowd calendars are going to be of much use for the entire fall..

Yeah, I was thinking that, too- the "revenge travel" (as one site calls it) combined with the 50th can make it a big thing. My deal was... I'm not sure what NEXT year will bring, and it might be just as busy if I wait a few months. Or some OTHER dumb thing can happen to delay travel again. Who knows?

Part of me doesn't want to travel during a busy time (that's why I usually went in spring), but right now I'm not sure when it WON'T be busy. And if I want until January... I could just wait until March, which is my usual "travel time". But my point this time was to FINALLY travel after putting off my 2020 vacation for 1.5 years, and then maybe go next year, haha.

Another weird thing is that the "Reserve a Park" thing is still open for every park, every day in November. So people are booking hotels but not buying tickets or reserving parks yet?

 

[GADisneyDad14]

Another weird thing is that the "Reserve a Park" thing is still open for every park, every day in November. So people are booking hotels but not buying tickets or reserving parks yet?

Generally speaking, Disney resort occupancy isn't a great proxy for theme park crowds. Sure, it's a part of it, but the theme parks really need a lot more people than just Disney resort guests (eg, locals, off-site resorts, etc) to fill the parks.

 

[emilymad]

I think a lot of people are holding reservations to see if discounts come out, the covid situation, how Genie+ works, how much are IAS rides, etc. I know I am one of those people but I won't decide to cancel until closer to the 30 day mark.

 

[dwonderz]

Like others have said - I would keep checking. We are planning on going in November and when we booked (in the beginning of August) there was pretty much open availability. The next day we decided we wanted to change resorts and everything was sold out. Since then - it seems like everyday one or two resorts have open up with availability. I would just keep checking - and once we get closer to 30 days out really check a lot!

 

[letsgobirds]

Keep checking every day. Things open up every day (and are taken just as fast). If you see something available and are not sure about it, you can add it to your cart and keep it there for 24 hours while you think about it.
Just keep in mind that for the rest of the year (October, November, and December) it is all going to be packed. With the 50th going on and a ton of pent of travel demand, I don't think crowd calendars are going to be of much use for the entire fall..

Totally agree. Im seeing a massive disconnect between the Touring Plans and other crowd calendars and the demand for hotels, ADRs, etc. Doesn't seem like early Nov will be crowd level 4 at all

 

[StarrySkye21]

Totally agree. Im seeing a massive disconnect between the Touring Plans and other crowd calendars and the demand for hotels, ADRs, etc. Doesn't seem like early Nov will be crowd level 4 at all

I suspect crowds will be lower than we fear and that the lack of available rooms is because of insufficient staff, so rooms are deliberately kept offline.

I hope at least.

 

[Eastern]

Keep checking. 2 days ago there was nothing but suites left for a late October week. I checked again yesterday and I could book POP. Things come and go all the time.

 

[Jabroniville]

Yeah I'm checking every day, mostly out of curiosity, and I'm still not seeing much, but occasionally if I lower the parameters stuff opens up.

One issue I'm having is that I typically go for long visits to make the long plane flights worth it, and so I need more than a quick 4-6 day stay. That probably lowers things. I could try for a "half & half" hotel trip, but that would be even trickier to pull off.

Though I guess without EMH I could just go to a non-Disney hotel that still has a shuttle or something, but I'd have to see which ones are good, and which ones offer good timing.

 

[CrystalClear82]

We're set to go back for New Years Eve.
My problem isn't that we don't have a room, just not the one i want.. (i know first world problem)

I would prefer this to be more of a staycation and we're right in the heart of it at the Poly.

 

[kanerf]

23 Dec Jambo House Value Studio 8 pts! Someone grab it!