Length of stay and room assignment

[Camshell]

Has anyone found there to be a relationship between their length of stay and room assignment? When we last checked into the Grand Californian the front desk cast member seemed to say that because we were staying a long time (8 nights) that it was difficult to get one of the theme park view rooms. All rooms at the Grand Californian use the same number of points (within each room category) regardless of view. She didn't go into details and we didn't ask her to. We seemed to be getting a lesser view room based on our longer stay.

My husband thinks that they can make more people happy with the theme park view so they might do it this way.

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

We've had 3 DVC stays at 3 different resorts (BCV - 8 nights, Treehouses - 8 nights, VGF - 6 nights) in the last 14 months. Each time I requested a specific location or view and each time the request was granted; so much so that if I could have picked any room it probably would have been the one we were assigned. Maybe really lucky but I tend to think that the room assigner works on the longer stays first and fits the shorter stays in around them.

 

[disneynutz]

That may be a resort policy at DL but not at WDW. Policies can be different at each resort even at WDW so experience is that best teacher.

Bill

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

That may be a resort policy at DL but not at WDW. Policies can be different at each resort even at WDW so experience is that best teacher.

Bill

Bill,

Does your personal experience tell you that length of stay has no bearing on room assignment? I haven't done any short stays so I have no experience to draw from.

Maybe it's just the way I look at the situation as if I was the room assigner. I'd place the longer stays in their rooms first since most of the rooms would be unassigned at 2-3 weeks out and it would be easy to not only grant requests but to just plain get a room assigned. Much easier than trying to fit the longer stays in after all the shorter stays have been placed. In the latter scenario, I would imagine that some shorter stays would need to be moved around to make a big enough block for the longer stays to fit.

 

[DebbieB]

What size room did you have? The issue at VGC is all the studios and 1 bedrooms are lockoffs. So they have to be careful when making room assignments for a studio or 1 bedroom separate because a few days later they need them together for a 2 bedroom lockoff reservation. So they may block those 2 bedroom lockoffs earlier. With the small number of rooms (23 lockoffs and 23 dedicated 2 bedrooms), it sounds like a puzzle. Just my theory.

 

[Camshell]

What size room did you have? The issue at VGC is all the studios and 1 bedrooms are lockoffs. So they have to be careful when making room assignments for a studio or 1 bedroom separate because a few days later they need them together for a 2 bedroom lockoff reservation. So they may block those 2 bedroom lockoffs earlier. With the small number of rooms (23 lockoffs and 23 dedicated 2 bedrooms), it sounds like a puzzle. Just my theory.

We were are usually in a studio so your theory might be correct.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Like Debbie said I look at it like a puzzle. And VGC is a TINY puzzle. All the rooms are booked and they have to fit the varying lengths of stays into the slots. And they are not looking at a months time - just perhaps 3-4 days before check in. I can't say I've noticed any particular bearing on length of stay. I've had my requests not met at all on both a short stay (2 nights - BLT) and one of our longer stays (7 nights - BWV boardwalk view). But I've also had good success at both those resorts. VGC is probably my least successful location. I think everyone requests Paradise Pier view. When there over this New Years we were assigned the pool view - which, of course, was not my request. The CM saw that and they finally located a Grizzly Peak view lower floor to offer but I just decided to stay in the pool view.

 

[disneynutz]

Bill,

Does your personal experience tell you that length of stay has no bearing on room assignment? I haven't done any short stays so I have no experience to draw from.

Maybe it's just the way I look at the situation as if I was the room assigner. I'd place the longer stays in their rooms first since most of the rooms would be unassigned at 2-3 weeks out and it would be easy to not only grant requests but to just plain get a room assigned. Much easier than trying to fit the longer stays in after all the shorter stays have been placed. In the latter scenario, I would imagine that some shorter stays would need to be moved around to make a big enough block for the longer stays to fit.

We average around a 50% request success, doesn't seem to matter when we book or make the request. We have been in a room for 3 nights or as long as 15 and for the longer stays we move as soon as our requested room location or view becomes available.

Bill

 

[GrumpyInPhilly]

We average around a 50% request success, doesn't seem to matter when we book or make the request. We have been in a room for 3 nights or as long as 15 and for the longer stays we move as soon as our requested room location or view becomes available.

Bill

Thanks for the info on your experiences.

 

[Minniesgal]

Rather than a policy that longer stays get lesser views I think it could be that a longer stay means the room assigner has less flexibility in which room they can give you. As studios can be rented as studios or as part of a two bedroom they maybe had very few that had been rented the way you needed for the full 8 days limiting the choice of view available to you.