New policy for reservations based on check IN date

[robinb]

I interpreted it that if your first night is not available your only option is to WL your entire 7 nights, even if nights 2-7 are available. If you can't get the first night, you can't book any nights within the 7-night window that are available. You can however call back the next day and if night 2 is available you can book it and any other nights immediately following that are also available, but you cannot book any non-contiguous nights. So if nights 2 and 4 are available but night 3 is not, you can only book night 2 that day.

Yes, that was how it was explained to me. You may start booking any night within the 11 month window with contiguous nights after your start date. As soon as you run into an unavailable night outside the 11 month window but inside the 11+7 you must waitlist it and the remainder of your days.

 

[jdg345]

Actually if the WL policy as reported by some who received phone calls is correct, there is no ability to "lock it down" by making earlier reservations. Everyone competes equally for a day 7 reservation, those with existing reservations and those who can't get those reservatiosn and must WL, alike.

Hmmm ...

I want 11-19, you want 12-19.
Day1-Me : I book 11-18 - I get the last room, so they are sold out thru the 18th.
Day1-You: Nothing.

Day2-Me : I extend to the 19th. I can because 12-18th are available for me.
Day2-You: The 12th is booked, so you WL for the 12th to 19th together. You have no shot at booking the 19th on this day.

Again, it was reported that MS would allow a Day 1-6 WL and Day 7 reservation. As a result, the member with the Day 1-6 reservation has no particular advantage over the member with no reservation or an existing Day 1-6 WL, when calling to book Day 7.

Ransom confirmed, but it was a little crazy with replies showing up before the original posts. You can waitlist day-1 only, or waitlist the whole period if you day-1 is not available. If you're waitlisting the period, you need the other days to be available at the same time for it to trigger, so you just won't auto-grab the 19th.

So far, I have not seen anyone report that they have successfully waitlisted days 1-6 and then reserved Day 7. If it cannot actually be done, this would not be the first time since the policy change that the CMs have said one thing and system has done something else.

-- Suzanne

Can't do it, I've tried 3 times. Walking is still working though.

 

[rinkwide]

...(DVC) was suppose to be a community of people who share the love of Disney and the Resort...

At least until you miss a payment.

 

[jdg345]

Okay, just trying to digest all of this. Please help me understand one thing...11+7??? Is this just another way of saying booking at 11 months from checkin for a full 7 day vacation, or you all advocating call 7 days prior to check in and "walking" the reservation?

I have never called day by day, but this is all so confusing!

While I can't speak for everyone, when I use the term, it's booking at 11 months from arrival day and up to 7 days forward.

 

[jdg345]

I'm not following here. Quoting from robinb's post:



If I call for Dec 24 and can't get it, I can WL Dec 24-30. If I call the next day, I can book Dec 25 plus any contiguous nights (up to 7) that are available. I can also fill in Dec 24 on my WL if it became available. But I don't see how I can book Dec 31 unless Dec 25-30 are also available. I can add that night to my WL but unless all 6 nights prior to Dec 31 are available when I call, I don't believe I can book that night on that call.

My understanding on this is the same as yours.

 

[DisneyKidds]

Okay, just trying to digest all of this. Please help me understand one thing...11+7??? Is this just another way of saying booking at 11 months from checkin for a full 7 day vacation, or you all advocating call 7 days prior to check in and "walking" the reservation?

I have never called day by day, but this is all so confusing!

Agreed, this is confusing. IMHO this new policy absolutely stinks. Under the old system, every member had an equal chance at any date. Not under the new system.

Take my dilemma. We've gone after Thanksgiving every year for a while now. Never had any trouble getting a reservation at my home resort for the day after Thanksgiving, or any of the following seven nights. I called early at the 11 month mark, called day by day, I got all the nights I wanted.

Now what am I looking at as far as being able to book the Friday after Thanksgiving? Instead of competing on an even playing field with every other member of my home resort who wants to book that one night, I am competing for that night with any member of my home resort who wants to arrive anywhere from the previous Saturday night up to Thanksgiving night and stay through at least that Friday night, as well as whatever members want to arrive that Friday night like I do. I don't like my chances of that. Heck, even if I have no reason to feel that way, I'm not going to take a chance with our big annual vacation. So what am I to do? Let's put it this way, what I'll probably have to do certainly won't make it easier for MS to book my vacation.

I suppose this new system may benefit a few lazy members who migh not have gotten what they wanted in the past if they failed to call day by day during a busy time. Changing the system to benefit the few who didn't really know how the system worked, to the detriment of many others, doesn't seem like an enhancement to me.

 

[jdg345]

That was how it was explained to me. The reservation start day must be in the 11 month window or before. If you call at the 11 month window for Day 1 and Day 1 or Day 2 is not available, but Day 3 is you may not book Day 3 and WL for Day 1 and Day 2. If you call 2 or more days later and Day 3 is still available you may book it then.

I assume that in your example 12/31 would be added to your waitlist even if it was available as you do not hold a valid reservation to the days before it. I have to wonder again if the WL priority remains the same or if it is "reset" with the changes made. Does anyone know what the current rules are?

I would like to know the answer to this as well. In another thread, a poster mentioned that they called to check on something and asked about their WL as well. When they did, they learned that a room was available and they were able to book it and cancel the WL. That leads me to believe that WL's only trigger overnight as part of some batch process. I can imagine that MS wouldn't want to spread that around though, because if it is the case, they have no idea what sort of call volume they would unleash upon themselves with people calling 2, 3, or more times per day to see if a room was available.

 

[jdg345]

At least until you miss a payment.

Aww ... c'mon ... they let you miss a few ...

 

[bookwormde]

The solution is still pretty simple. Allow member to book any group of days (up to 7), which are contiguous and include day(s) that is currently at the 11+7-month threshold. No extensions of reservations that are less than 7 days until the extending days are within the 11-month window. No “walking” of reservations, for members using the DBD extension for 7 day reservations, no partial cancellations for 14 days after their last DBD add on as a matter of standard practice. No booking multiples of the same resort/room classes during the 11+7 window.

Yes you could still walk a reservation if you had enough points but it would be “against the rules”.

bookwormde

 

[ransom]

The solution is still pretty simple. Allow member to book any group of days (up to 7), which are contiguous and include day(s) that is currently at the 11+7-month threshold. No extensions of reservations that are less than 7 days until the extending days are within the 11-month window. No “walking” of reservations, for members using the DBD extension for 7 day reservations, no partial cancellations for 14 days after their last DBD add on as a matter of standard practice. No booking multiples of the same resort/room classes during the 11+7 window.

Yes you could still walk a reservation if you had enough points but it would be “against the rules”.

bookwormde

That would solve some of the side-effects of the new rule, but it would leave the main problem of the unfairness of it all.

I wish it were otherwise, but I believe the only way to maintain perfect fairness is to go back to the old system, where everyone starts out equal every single day, no matter when they're checking in, how many points they have etc.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

The solution is still pretty simple. Allow member to book any group of days (up to 7), which are contiguous and include day(s) that is currently at the 11+7-month threshold. No extensions of reservations that are less than 7 days until the extending days are within the 11-month window. No “walking” of reservations, for members using the DBD extension for 7 day reservations, no partial cancellations for 14 days after their last DBD add on as a matter of standard practice. No booking multiples of the same resort/room classes during the 11+7 window.

Yes you could still walk a reservation if you had enough points but it would be “against the rules”.

bookwormde

The thing about putting restrictions on is that it then hurts some members even more. What about people that are bringing family and want 2 studios? Your proposed restrictions would prevent that it seems. I would consider that a very fair use of points if the member wished to do that.

 

[ljmiii]

I wish it were otherwise, but I believe the only way to maintain perfect fairness is to go back to the old system, where everyone starts out equal every single day, no matter when they're checking in, how many points they have etc.

If the test is 'Will I get a reservation for the dates I want?' than the new system is much more fair. You call, you get a yes or no, and you move on. Only if the test is 'Will I get a reservation for a particular room category on a particular day?' is the old system more fair.

I like the new system much better. Never again will I have to call day by day, borrowing next years points for my vacation and then find that I have a hole in the middle because I didn't make the front of the queue. Thankfully my missing days got waitlisted about 2 months out - but it made for a VERY nervous year.

 

[bookwormde]

Ransom,

No it is not completely fair, but it is sure a lot better than it is now, at least everyone has the same chance at any single day and shorter reservations are not at a disadvantage to a 7 day reservations. It does give an advantage to those extending 7 day stays as long as they can get contiguous days. There is another system which I outlined earlier which is much more fair but more complicated.

KAT4DISNEY

They could still do that at the 11 month mark which in most cases would not be a problem unless the wanted concierge or 2 studios for the week of Christmas.

This is not a must; it just stops some avenues of gaming the system and reduces serial renters from grabbing chunks of rooms with 1 call. It might work if you could only do 1 reservation per call or per hour rather than restricting it totally during the 11+7 period. Members with 2 separate contracts (under different formal names could still do it).

boowkormde

 

[zulaya]

IMHO this new policy absolutely stinks. Under the old system, every member had an equal chance at any date. Not under the new system.

Take my dilemma. We've gone after Thanksgiving every year for a while now. Never had any trouble getting a reservation at my home resort for the day after Thanksgiving, or any of the following seven nights. I called early at the 11 month mark, called day by day, I got all the nights I wanted.

Now what am I looking at as far as being able to book the Friday after Thanksgiving? Instead of competing on an even playing field with every other member of my home resort who wants to book that one night, I am competing for that night with any member of my home resort who wants to arrive anywhere from the previous Saturday night up to Thanksgiving night and stay through at least that Friday night, as well as whatever members want to arrive that Friday night like I do. I don't like my chances of that. Heck, even if I have no reason to feel that way, I'm not going to take a chance with our big annual vacation. So what am I to do? Let's put it this way, what I'll probably have to do certainly won't make it easier for MS to book my vacation.

I suppose this new system may benefit a few lazy members who migh not have gotten what they wanted in the past if they failed to call day by day during a busy time. Changing the system to benefit the few who didn't really know how the system worked, to the detriment of many others, doesn't seem like an enhancement to me.

I really agree with your entire post, but especially the bolded part. It seems t me that the ones who complained about the old system were under the misguided notion that they HAD to book DBD all the time! When in reality, that was not necessary. And even in the necessary times/situations, it's all about getting the job done. If you wanted that reservation bad enough, you would have figured out how to call or have someone else call at 9am to have a fair shot at it, if that's what it took.

The sad thing is that no matter how many of us are not in favor of this policy, and even though many of us have sent in our complaints about it, it sounds like DVC is just going to keep it as it's been changed now and "monitor" it. IMO, they should have admitted that they messed up and reversed their decision.

Sorry if my opinion doesn't jive with those of you who all like this new policy. I don't even travel at Xmas or NYE or do the BW SV or anything like that and I still don't like this.

 

[jdg345]

If the test is 'Will I get a reservation for the dates I want?' than the new system is much more fair. You call, you get a yes or no, and you move on. Only if the test is 'Will I get a reservation for a particular room category on a particular day?' is the old system more fair.

I like the new system much better. Never again will I have to call day by day, borrowing next years points for my vacation and then find that I have a hole in the middle because I didn't make the front of the queue. Thankfully my missing days got waitlisted about 2 months out - but it made for a VERY nervous year.

What would you do if you called and what you wanted wasn't available under the new system? It's the same scenario. You're vacation worked out last time using the old system. If you get a 'No availability' this time around, then what?

And you can't assume that because DBD worked on that first day, you'll be fine with the new system as folks will be able to book your arrival day up to 7 days before you even get a shot. There may be nothing available for you no matter how early you call.

 

[dvcdisney]

I wish it were otherwise, but I believe the only way to maintain perfect fairness is to go back to the old system, where everyone starts out equal every single day, no matter when they're checking in, how many points they have etc.

Definitely!

I am really curious to know how many people did complain about the DBD. It doesn't seem possible that it is the "overwhelming feedback from members" that they seem to tell all of us. I just can't imagine what the conversation would be like. I suppose it would be in the lines of:

"Hi, yes, is this the Members Satisfaction Team?....Yes, I have a complaint.....I do not like the idea that other members are able to book their vacation day by day....Yes, I know they can but I don't want to call everyday at 9am, so no one should be allowed either!"

 

[disneydisneydoo]

I keep reading posts that there is a disadvantage to those booking less than 7 days? Would someone explain why that is? Is it making the assumption that most stays shorter than 7 nights are a 5 night stay Su - Th and that those individuals will be locked out because someone making a 7 night reservation will arrive on the Fri before the Sun?

But, if I want to make a 5 day reservation starting on Fri and someone wants to make a 7 days reservation starting on Fri then there is no advantage to either party correct?

And, if someone wanted to make a 5 day reservation starting on Thurs and someone making a 7 day reservation starting the day after on Fri then the advantage would be for the individual starting on Thurs regardless of the length of stay?

What am I missing here?

Thanks!

 

[jdg345]

I keep reading posts that there is a disadvantage to those booking less than 7 days? Would someone explain why that is? Is it making the assumption that most stays shorter than 7 nights are a 5 night stay Su - Th and that those individuals will be locked out because someone making a 7 night reservation will arrive on the Fri before the Sun?

But, if I want to make a 5 day reservation starting on Fri and someone wants to make a 7 days reservation starting on Fri then there is no advantage to either party correct?

And, if someone wanted to make a 5 day reservation starting on Thurs and someone making a 7 day reservation starting the day after on Fri then the advantage would be for the individual starting on Thurs regardless of the length of stay?

What am I missing here?

Thanks!

Sounds like you've got it all down really ... for most times, it might not matter. For busy times in prime categories, it's a matter of who decides to book rooms earlier they dont need just to get a jump on people they think might be booking before them.

 

[ljmiii]

What would you do if you called and what you wanted wasn't available under the new system? It's the same scenario. You're vacation worked out last time using the old system. If you get a 'No availability' this time around, then what?

Then I would book another resort or pick another time. You don't get into a situation where you've already committed to borrowing the points only to find three days later that your vacation is in tatters.

And you can't assume that because DBD worked on that first day, you'll be fine with the new system as folks will be able to book your arrival day up to 7 days before you even get a shot. There may be nothing available for you no matter how early you call.

All true. I didn't say that under the new system I would get my way, just that it is fair. You call and you get the reservation you desire. Or you don't and you make a different reservation. But no one else can take away your room on day 3 of your vacation.

 

[photobob]

I've read several posts and I understand the delimma that everyone is up in arms about. I feel like no matter what the system is some people are going to try to use it to their personal advantage to try to insure that get the rooms they want for Christmas, NYE etc. I don't particularly care for the practice of DBD reservations, I'd rather that practice not be allowed. To me DBD is not much different than walking a reservation. They are both ways of trying to skirt the rules to your advantage.