New Availability Tool on DVC Web Site

[rseeb]

This was rolled out today. https://dvc.disney.go.com/members/availability-checker

 

[DebbieB]

This was rolled out today. https://dvc.disney.go.com/members/availability-checker

Nice, even checks beyond 7 month window.

 

[NC State Tigger]

Great!!!

 

[Song of the South]

Sorry, I think it is useless. I was excited until I tried it. "Best availability" does not mean available so one still has to search permutations to get specific days' availability.

I understand uncoupling the search from booking. That makes sense. Uncoupling it from specific date information makes it a waste of time.

I miss the privately created, amazing, search tool.

SotS

 

[keaster]

Sorry, I think it is useless. I was excited until I tried it. "Best availability" does not mean available so one still has to search permutations to get specific days' availability.

I understand uncoupling the search from booking. That makes sense. Uncoupling it from specific date information makes it a waste of time.

I miss the privately created, amazing, search tool.

SotS

But when you click on each accommodation under "Best Availability" it will tell you if it is available or not.

 

[jekjones1558]

I noted some errors. BWV early December is listed as Choice rather than Adventure. This is definitely a step in the right direction, however. It was not that many years ago that I doubted we would ever get an online booking system that actually worked and I was wrong. I am hopeful that this checker will get the bugs worked out soon.

 

[drusba]

It is very useful. Best availability means the room is actually available for the time you designate. For limited availability you have to look to see what days are missing in your period. If you want you can do many resorts and many room sizes at the same time for any specific time period including ones longer than a month. You can check all resorts and all rom sizes for a week exactly 7 months out and find out in one stroke everything that is actually open (best availability) for the entire week.

I have a concern about that designation for the first two weeks of Dec as choice season. That is shown for every WDW resort for that time period. Makes me wonder whether that is a mistake or whether instead this is the beta version of a search engine for which the actual new one is coming in January 2015 along with new point charts for 2016 that show the first two weeks of Dec 2016 officially changed to choice season. There are other "errors." Jan 1-3 is changed to premier season. Two premier season days are added to the beginning of the Easter premier weeks. Much of Feb is changed to adventure season. April after the Easter week has now become choice season except for last two days of April and also first five of May which are changed to premier season. rest of May becomes choice season rather than Tuesday through Sat of Thanksgiving week is now all premier season rather than combination of choice and magic. First 11 days of Oct are changed from choice to adventure season. Last half Aug is changed to magic season from dream season, except Aug 31 which becomes adventure season. And dream season appears to be completely gone.. We may be getting a sneak preview of major point changes to come or possibly they were just using Aulani for all resorts. I am hoping the latter.

 

[disneymath]

I played around with it a bit tonight and liked it ... very useful tool! (Can't help but wonder if a certain non-Disney developed app may have spurred this addition to the DVCmember site.)

 

[wdrl]

Sorry, I think it is useless. I was excited until I tried it. "Best availability" does not mean available so one still has to search permutations to get specific days' availability.

I understand uncoupling the search from booking. That makes sense. Uncoupling it from specific date information makes it a waste of time.

I'm not sure you have given the new tool a fair try. It does show availability for specific dates. Since I own at BLT, I could compare what the Resort Availability tool showed for May 2015 for BLT Standard View Studios with what appears on the Online Reservation system. The two systems were in agreement showing which dates were available and which were already unavailable.

Take another look at the Resort Availability tool and you will probably find what you are looking for.

 

[wildforgoofy]

I have a concern about that designation for the first two weeks of Dec as choice season. That is shown for every WDW resort for that time period. Makes me wonder whether that is a mistake or whether instead this is the beta version of a search engine for which the actual new one is coming in January 2015 along with new point charts for 2016 that show the first two weeks of Dec 2016 officially changed to choice season. There are other "errors." Jan 1-3 is changed to premier season. Two premier season days are added to the beginning of the Easter premier weeks. Much of Feb is changed to adventure season. April after the Easter week has now become choice season except for last two days of April and also first five of May which are changed to premier season. rest of May becomes choice season rather than Tuesday through Sat of Thanksgiving week is now all premier season rather than combination of choice and magic. First 11 days of Oct are changed from choice to adventure season. Last half Aug is changed to magic season from dream season, except Aug 31 which becomes adventure season. And dream season appears to be completely gone.. We may be getting a sneak preview of major point changes to come or possibly they were just using Aulani for all resorts. I am hoping the latter.

This is very interesting! Did any information get released with this new tool, or do things just pop up for DVC members to figure out?
I'm hoping to get my member number next week, but if this is true then it would effect the 2016 point calendar and not the 2015 correct?

 

[tjkraz]

I have a concern about that designation for the first two weeks of Dec as choice season. That is shown for every WDW resort for that time period. Makes me wonder whether that is a mistake or whether instead this is the beta version of a search engine for which the actual new one is coming in January 2015 along with new point charts for 2016 that show the first two weeks of Dec 2016 officially changed to choice season.

...

We may be getting a sneak preview of major point changes to come or possibly they were just using Aulani for all resorts. I am hoping the latter.

It appears to be the latter. Seasons shown correspond to Aulani. I highly suspect it's just a bug. WDW resorts would not be shifting the end of April into Premier Season (which is "Golden Week" for the Japanese, and thus more expensive at Aulani.)

Not to say that there won't be changes to the seasons eventually...Adjustments to most of the fall are long overdue, IMO. But this has all the earmarks of a bug.

 

[AppleDisneyDad]

I think this tool is great. It certainly helps when you know what week you want to head to Disney.

Thank you DVC IT!

(Now my greedy fingers want the perpendicular search, let me choose a resort and tell me what's available at that resort in the next 11 months!!!!)

 

[bwvBound]

This was rolled out today. https://dvc.disney.go.com/members/availability-checker

THANK YOU!

Question: How did you find this? Apart from the link you've shared, I can't figure out how to navigate to this new tool via the Member website. Thx!

 

[DenLo]

Has anyone checked to see if the points are correct based on the point charts for 2014 and 2015 for each resort. It could be that just the labeling is incorrect regarding the seasons. And like others have mentioned this could still be a Beta program that is still process. It is not like DVC announced -- look what we have now for it. Someone just found it.

I actually looked at this link before earlier in the year and it just sent you back to the online booking site. It seemed superfluous have two links to online booking. But now it appears they really had something else in mind. It sounds like they have been listening to members after all, since many of us have asked to get this information so we can decide quickly and easily which resort we can book for our vacation dates.

 

[wdrl]

I can't figure out how to navigate to this new tool via the Member website. Thx!

Once you are signed on to the member website, click on the Vacation Planning tab that appears across the top of the screen. Under that tab, click on Resort Availability Tool.

Once the Resort Availability Tool appears, enter your dates and then click the resort or resorts (that's right, the tool lets you check more than one resort at a time) and the type of accommodation. The Tool will then show you the results.

If all the dates you want are available, the Tool will display "Best Availability"; if one or more dates are unavailable, then the Tool will display "Limited Availability." Under each category, the Tool will list the resort, accommodation, and view in blue letters that you requested. Click on those blues letters and a calendar will pop up showing specifically which dates are available or unavailable.

I checked AKV Jambo for 5/12/2015 to 5/19/2015 for studios. The Tool shows that Studio Savanna and Studio Standard have "Best Availability." The pop up calendars for each shows all dates are still available. The Tool also shows that Studio Value and Studio Club Level have "Limited Availability." The calendars for these accommodations show several days are already booked and unavailable.

I noticed that the pop up calendar shows more dates than my initial request. Although I was checking for only 5/12 - 5/19/2015, the pop up calendar displayed availability for the entire month of May 2015. It also let me go back one month into April 2015, and forward into June, but only to June 3, 2015.

It seems to be a pretty handy little tool.

 

[bwvBound]

wrdl -- THANK YOU! That worked!

 

[Splashboat]

I really like it - thanks for posting OP.

 

[bookwormde]

Glad they finally caught up with the members

 

[Sammie]

I played around with it a bit tonight and liked it ... very useful tool! (Can't help but wonder if a certain non-Disney developed app may have spurred this addition to the DVCmember site.)

Maybe but pretty sure ever since DVC booking came online, the number one request or complaint, was the lack of this feature.

 

[DMKEDM]

I like this a LOT...thank you, Disney...(this almost but not quite makes up for the awful My Disney Experience process/procedure!)...

And speaking of liking a lot vs awful...just back from my fourth MB/MDE trip...MDE remains difficult at best and dreadful most of the time (for me, anyway--altho with Disney IT and enough hours on the phone things eventually get sorted out)...but MBs worked really well this last trip--no glitches at all w/room access, park access, or FP+...plus, my friends used their MBs to charge (I didn't) and they had no trouble w/that either...

So, things are improving in MB-world...now, if only they could make MDE work for anything more "complicated" than one person in one room!

In the meantime, I'll celebrate this availability tool...it really is nifty!