Modifying a Reservation/How To and 7 Month Timing Question

[Little E]

Hi Disfriends!

I'm a DVC newbie...just returned from our welcome home trip. (It was wonderful...after I recover, I'll post a "just back/thoughts" post; we had a wonderful trip, and there were lots of things I noticed that might be helpful to others.)

For our next trip, DH and I snagged reservations for the runDisney 5k event in November, and we currently have a resort studio booked at the VGF for our stay. This is our home resort, so I was able to book beyond the 7 month mark.

Having just returned from our welcome home trip, where we stayed in a 2 bedroom villa at the VGF, we are "wrecked" for life. Our villa was amazing, and we were so spoiled with the space, proximity to parks, and the kitchen and washer/dryer. We are having a hard time wrapping our minds around a studio, and we'd like to book a 1 bedroom villa for the space and specifically for the washer/dryer. There is no availability for a 1 bedroom at VGF, but my 7 month booking window opens tomorrow (4/1) and I'd like to change our reservation to a 1 bedroom at another resort. So, here are my questions:

1. How do I modify from my current VGF studio to something else online? Is there a process to do this where my points used to book the studio move from the current reservation to a new reservation? Is it pretty intuitive? (I have booked our trips directly with a CMs, so I have basically no experience with reservations online, and pre DVC, I always used a TA.) I'm afraid I'll mess stuff up and wreak havoc with our points.

2. Can I book at midnight online or is there a prescribed time on the morning of my 7 month window day #1 that I have to book?

Thanks so much for your advice!

 

[drusba]

Your 7-month reservation time opens at exactly 8 a.m. eastern at 7 months out from date of arrival. If you want to make a change, you need to become familiar with the modification section of the DVC website and how it works. To become familiar with how to do that now, you might do a test modification of your reservation now by "changing" it from the reservation you already have to exactly the same reservation that you already have:

After signing into the DVC website, under MY DVC, click on My Dashboard. On the next page find your reservation and click on it. Then click "View or Modify Details." That takes you to a page where you can click to modify your reservation or, alternatively, the persons In your reservation. Click on "modify" for the reservation. On the next page you can choose the time, resort and room size for the reservation you want to change to. Choose the exact time, resort and room size for the room you already have, and then click continue. You will get a page that shows your "new " reservation is available (which, it will be because it is your own, original reservation that is serving as the opening that exists). Click on the reservation, it will say your reservation is available, and then click continue. You will get a page that asks you to select the contract or contracts you have availalble to use, and that page will show all your available points, including the ones that are in your current reservation, and then choose the same contracts you have already used.

Continue on from there and it will ask you to confirm that your travel party is the same, which you should do, and then click continue, and you will get a page that lists your reservation, guests, and show contracts and points that will be used for the "new" reservation and ask you to confirm the changes after verifying you agree with the DVC terms and conditions. You can stop there and make no change, and just go back to the home page, which means you are just keeping your original reservation. Or you can click on Book This Room and you will get a "new" reservation confirmation that is exactly the same as your original reservation.

Doing that kind of test run for a modification will teach you what you will actually need to do to make a real change at 7-months out, assuming anything you want is actually available. Nevertheless, be aware, that the Nov race weekend (Thurs to Sunday) is one of the highest DVC demand times of the year (makes Easter look like a slow off-season) and thus you may be disappointed in being able to find anything else you might want at 7-months out, although seeking a1BR may potentially give you some chance at some resorts, since 1BRs are often the last to fill.

 

[CarolynFH]

Or you can click on Book This Room and you will get a "new" reservation that is exactly the same as your original reservation.

Will you get a new confirmation number?

 

[drusba]

Will you get a new confirmation number?

That is a question I have never asked, but every time I have done any "modification" of a reservation, rather than cancelling and making a new one, my reservation number has not changed.

 

[bobbiwoz]

@drusba what great instructions you give!

 

[DisneyFamNYC]

If you modify your reservation, your confirmation number stays the same. Only changes if you cancel the reservation and book a new reservation.

 

[Little E]

@drusba Thank you so much! This info is exactly what I was looking for!! Wish me luck...I plan to set my alarm for 7:55 so I can get online at 8 tomorrow!

 

[gmi3804]

If you modify your reservation, your confirmation number stays the same. Only changes if you cancel the reservation and book a new reservation.

Yes, and the number stays the same even if you change resorts.

 

[TinkAgainU]

@drusba Thank you so much! This info is exactly what I was looking for!! Wish me luck...I plan to set my alarm for 7:55 so I can get online at 8 tomorrow!

If what you want shows unavailable it will allow you to WAITLIST for it. You can chose to waitlist, and one of the next selections is if you want to Replace an existing reservation with the Waitlist if it becomes available. If the new reservation is the same or fewer points, it will simply replace what you have and put your unused points back. If you need more points than you have available in that use year - someone else will need to advise you - since I'm not sure it you can pull from banked or borrowed points for a waitlist or if need to call member services? Maybe the site has that option at the same time... Member services opens at 9am EST - so you get a 1 hour jump on people calling in, if whatever you can do is done by then. Waitlists are filled in the order Received, so getting on a waitlist early can be a biggie. You can go on two waitlists at any given time (two per useyear period). If one waitlist gets filled, the other automatically cancels.

 

[Little E]

@TinkAgainU thank you so much! This is really good to know for future reservations.

@drusba I was able to follow your directions this morning at 8 am, and I was able to modify my reservation to a 1 bedroom at Copper Creek. Thank you for the step-by-step instructions. It made this morning's process easy peasy.

 

[ocdb8r1]

Your 7-month reservation time opens at exactly 8 a.m. eastern at 7 months out from date of arrival.

I thought it was actually day of departure....is it not? For examples, if I want to book November 4-11, 2023 I could not book that whole stay until April 11, 2023. What you wrote above implies I could book that stay on April 4, 2023.

Sorry, I am just getting back into the DVC game after a decade long absence but I had always recalled I couldn't book until 7 months ahead of my date of departure....

 

[CarolMN]

I thought it was actually day of departure....is it not? For examples, if I want to book November 4-11, 2023 I could not book that whole stay until April 11, 2023. What you wrote above implies I could book that stay on April 4, 2023.

Sorry, I am just getting back into the DVC game after a decade long absence but I had always recalled I couldn't book until 7 months ahead of my date of departure....

It used to be from date of departure. But that changed several years ago. Now it is from date of arrival. You may book up to 7 nights at 8 am Eastern starting 7 months from date of arrival.

For example, if you wanted to check in on 12/1/23 and stay for 7 nights at a non-home resort, you may book the entire week when the window opens (8 am Eastern) on May 1, 2023, (subject to availability, of course).

 

[drusba]

I thought it was actually day of departure....is it not? For examples, if I want to book November 4-11, 2023 I could not book that whole stay until April 11, 2023. What you wrote above implies I could book that stay on April 4, 2023.

Sorry, I am just getting back into the DVC game after a decade long absence but I had always recalled I couldn't book until 7 months ahead of my date of departure....

The original rule when OKW first opened was 11 (home resort)/10 (other resort) from date of departure. It became 11/7 from date of departure before the second resort, VB, opened, and thus the 10 month period for other resorts was never used. 11/7 from date departure remained the rule until 2008, and since then It is has been 11/7 from date of arrival, with the limitation that you can book no more than 7 nights if you do the reservation exactly 11/7 out (but you can modify and add nights thereafter)

 

[ocdb8r1]

Thanks both!! So glad I asked as I would have never realized this.

Related to the OP - can you add nights after the first 7 online? Can you "walk" the reservation online? I also thought that required a call into MS but the discussion of "modifications" above leads me to believe this can also be done online.

 

[drusba]

Thanks both!! So glad I asked as I would have never realized this.

Related to the OP - can you add nights after the first 7 online? Can you "walk" the reservation online? I also thought that required a call into MS but the discussion of "modifications" above leads me to believe this can also be done online.

Once you have a reservation, you can modify it using the online system to add or subtract days, or change resort or type of room. You can "walk" a reservation online, i.e., book for a time earlier than intended right at 11-months out and then drop front-end dates and add back-end dates thereafter until you have the dates you want. That can work for an 11-month out reservation because once you lock-in reserved dates, no one else can possibly book the room you have for any night you already have, and cannot book nights thereafter for that room until 11-months out from your designated departure date.

Trying to walk at 7-months out is more difficult because of the fact that any owner of the resort you want can book any nights you want to walk into before you can complete the walk. There are times when a 7-month walk might work but that usually means doing the initial reservation fairly close to the time you actually want, e.g., at BLT July 3,4 for lake view rooms is often still open at 7-months out from about June 25, and if you book June 25-July 1, you can possibly do a daily walk and get July 3 and 4, but if instead you first check availability for 7-months out from June 29, you will find that July 3 and 4 are already gone -- to members booking that time with 7-nights reservation starting June 28.

 

[TinkAgainU]

e.g., at BLT July 3,4 for lake view rooms is often still open at 7-months out from about June 25, and if you book June 25-July 1, you can possibly do a daily walk and get July 3 and 4, but if instead you first check availability for 7-months out from June 29, you will find that July 3 and 4 are already gone -- to members booking that time with 7-nights reservation starting June 28.

Also, when walking, you can do all this, and run into either a points shortage (for example if walking thru a higher points week or weekend) if you don't have a lot of spare points, or find out there was a "Guaranteed Week" owner already booked - which blocks adding a room starting at the first night of their guaranteed week when you reach their arrival day.

 

[snowy82]

Your 7-month reservation time opens at exactly 8 a.m. eastern at 7 months out from date of arrival. If you want to make a change, you need to become familiar with the modification section of the DVC website and how it works. To become familiar with how to do that now, you might do a test modification of your reservation now by "changing" it from the reservation you already have to exactly the same reservation that you already have:

After signing into the DVC website, under MY DVC, click on My Dashboard. On the next page find your reservation and click on it. Then click "View or Modify Details." That takes you to a page where you can click to modify your reservation or, alternatively, the persons In your reservation. Click on "modify" for the reservation. On the next page you can choose the time, resort and room size for the reservation you want to change to. Choose the exact time, resort and room size for the room you already have, and then click continue. You will get a page that shows your "new " reservation is available (which, it will be because it is your own, original reservation that is serving as the opening that exists). Click on the reservation, it will say your reservation is available, and then click continue. You will get a page that asks you to select the contract or contracts you have availalble to use, and that page will show all your available points, including the ones that are in your current reservation, and then choose the same contracts you have already used.

Continue on from there and it will ask you to confirm that your travel party is the same, which you should do, and then click continue, and you will get a page that lists your reservation, guests, and show contracts and points that will be used for the "new" reservation and ask you to confirm the changes after verifying you agree with the DVC terms and conditions. You can stop there and make no change, and just go back to the home page, which means you are just keeping your original reservation. Or you can click on Book This Room and you will get a "new" reservation confirmation that is exactly the same as your original reservation.

Doing that kind of test run for a modification will teach you what you will actually need to do to make a real change at 7-months out, assuming anything you want is actually available. Nevertheless, be aware, that the Nov race weekend (Thurs to Sunday) is one of the highest DVC demand times of the year (makes Easter look like a slow off-season) and thus you may be disappointed in being able to find anything else you might want at 7-months out, although seeking a1BR may potentially give you some chance at some resorts, since 1BRs are often the last to fill.

I am preparing my first 7 month game day as a new DVC owner and your post was super helpful. My family is also planning to go in November (the 14-18) and we are hoping to get a 1BR and a 2BR at either CCV or BRV. I've read posts that support your statement about 1BR being easier to find, but how hard will the 2BR be??? And how successful has waitlisting been?? Thanks so much!!

 

[drusba]

I am preparing my first 7 month game day as a new DVC owner and your post was super helpful. My family is also planning to go in November (the 14-18) and we are hoping to get a 1BR and a 2BR at either CCV or BRV. I've read posts that support your statement about 1BR being easier to find, but how hard will the 2BR be??? And how successful has waitlisting been?? Thanks so much!!

Lock-off 2BRs anywhere disappear at the same rate as studios since the booking of the studio eliminates the 2BR. Dedicated 2BRs typically last longer than studios and 2BR lock-offs, but generally go faster than 1BRs. Both BRV and CCV have both lock-off and dedicated 2BRs as separate booking categories.

The time you want is during the "fall" high demand season that runs from late Sep to marathon weekend in Jan. Many rooms that are often open at 7-months during the mid-Jan to mid-Sep period are often not available at 7-months out during that fall season.

Your best chance of the two resorts you mention will likely be at BRV, the 2BR being more iffy than the 1BR, which itself may have some availability issues. CCV has a chance for a 1BR but a 2BR is much less likely. CCV has a particular excess demand problem that was created by DVD. In creating the resort, DVD put in a large number of lakefront cabins that require an extremely high number of points per night to reserve. The law requires that the resort have no more points sold than it would take to fill all the rooms in a designated calendar year. However, few could afford to buy enough points to regularly stay in the cabins. What happened is that most of those points applicable to the cabins got sold to members who could buy only enough to stay in the studios, 1BRs or 2BRs in the main building. The result was a "legal" oversell of those other rooms and repeated excess demand for them, making them disappear at many times before 7-months out. Those "undersold" cabins meanwhile are often open even at 60-days out, providing DVD the ability to rent them and make profits, while the members pay most of the maintenance costs for them.

You should likely have a back-up plan if you cannot get the rooms at either of those resorts, e.g., chances for 1BRs and 2BRs will be better at that time for SSR, OKW, and for Kidani savanna view. Waitlisting at BRV or CCV is a possibility, but no guarantee of success, particularly during that time of year. Again BRV with a waitlist will likely be somewhat better than CCV.

 

[snowy82]

Lock-off 2BRs anywhere disappear at the same rate as studios since the booking of the studio eliminates the 2BR. Dedicated 2BRs typically last longer than studios and 2BR lock-offs, but generally go faster than 1BRs. Both BRV and CCV have both lock-off and dedicated 2BRs as separate booking categories.

The time you want is during the "fall" high demand season that runs from late Sep to marathon weekend in Jan. Many rooms that are often open at 7-months during the mid-Jan to mid-Sep period are often not available at 7-months out during that fall season.

Your best chance of the two resorts you mention will likely be at BRV, the 2BR being more iffy than the 1BR, which itself may have some availability issues. CCV has a chance for a 1BR but a 2BR is much less likely. CCV has a particular excess demand problem that was created by DVD. In creating the resort, DVD put in a large number of lakefront cabins that require an extremely high number of points per night to reserve. The law requires that the resort have no more points sold than it would take to fill all the rooms in a designated calendar year. However, few could afford to buy enough points to regularly stay in the cabins. What happened is that most of those points applicable to the cabins got sold to members who could buy only enough to stay in the studios, 1BRs or 2BRs in the main building. The result was a "legal" oversell of those other rooms and repeated excess demand for them, making them disappear at many times before 7-months out. Those "undersold" cabins meanwhile are often open even at 60-days out, providing DVD the ability to rent them and make profits, while the members pay most of the maintenance costs for them.

You should likely have a back-up plan if you cannot get the rooms at either of those resorts, e.g., chances for 1BRs and 2BRs will be better at that time for SSR, OKW, and for Kidani savanna view. Waitlisting at BRV or CCV is a possibility, but no guarantee of success, particularly during that time of year. Again BRV with a waitlist will likely be somewhat better than CCV.

Extremely helpful, thank you so much!!! We are happy if we get either resort, so we will see how we do. We already have the whole week booked at OKW - a studio and a 2BR - but were hoping to do a split stay half way through and head over to WL for the second half of the week. My research already led me to make sure I had two separate reservations for each room, so I'm hoping that's half the battle!

Any tips to ensure success on the day of? Do I log in a few minutes before 8am so I'm ready to hit book as soon as the window opens?

 

[Southernswthrt1]

Tried this morning to modify my reservation but the system was not cooperative. When I was able to finally get it to work, it said i did not have enough points to make the reservation. It was treating it like a new reservation and not a modification of the existing reservation using the same points. I am actually trying to save myself some points! Do i need to completely cancel my existing reservation to switch? I am afraid of losing what I do have! Please help