Open Resorts Booking at Capacity

[John Darling]

I searched but can't find the answer to this question. If a resort is open and accepting reservations, is it open at 100% capacity? Or are some (or all) resorts booking at reduced capacity due to either demand or COVID concerns? TIA

 

[lanejudy]

Nobody knows for sure, but I’m of the opinion there are no capacity limitations at the resorts.

 

[Heather07438]

No official word. I agree with lanejudy. Pretty sure WDW has controlled capacity limitations just by keeping some resorts closed.

The resorts that are open for reservations look like they’re fully open to book. Resort openings have been staggered. The hotel side of the following resorts are opening soon.

• May 30, 2021 – Disney’s Beach Club Resort
• June 6, 2021 – Disney’s Wilderness Lodge
• July 2, 2021 – Disney’s BoardWalk Inn
• Late July 2021 – Disney’s Polynesian Village Resort

A few more resorts still haven’t opened.

 

[Mle8308]

I talked to a CM friend of mine on Saturday who works in reservations for special events. He said they are currently booking to about 80% right now. One of the reasons is because there were so many Guest complaints about the pools being full due to capacity issues over the busy spring break period. However, he said it could now change due to the relaxing of covid protocols.

 

[Cheesehead50]

I was wondering this too. We tried to book in December in Pop for a week, but have had no luck. Same now for Coronado and All-Star Movies. Looks like they have openings up to October before it is hard to find spots. Wondering if they are trying to fill the earlier spots first?

 

[Dave006]

No for what seems like the 100th time. No Disney is not holding inventory for open resorts. Only resorts that are not open and don't have a re-open date are not in the inventory system.

POFQ
PORS
All of the Allstars beyond Movies which is currently open

Dave

 

[Brett Wyman]

No for what seems like the 100th time. No Disney is not holding inventory for open resorts. Only resorts that are not open and don't have a re-open date are not in the inventory system.

POFQ
PORS
All of the Allstars beyond Movies which is currently open

Dave

I think people are just shocked that usually wide open times of year are booked solid already. Demand is just unprecedented this year.

 

[Dave006]

I agree 100% but I don't understand why guests would think Disney is holding inventory in December and trying to sell October. At this point Disney is just trying to catch up on a 14 months of lost revenue.

Dave

 

[cmarsh31]

No for what seems like the 100th time. No Disney is not holding inventory for open resorts. Only resorts that are not open and don't have a re-open date are not in the inventory system.

POFQ
PORS
All of the Allstars beyond Movies which is currently open

Dave

Animal Kingdom Lodge still also not open, with no date...

 

[Dave006]

Animal Kingdom Lodge still also not open, with no date...

Good catch I keep forgetting AKL since the DVC rooms are open and have been for almost a year.

Dave

 

[Dug720]

I talked to a CM friend of mine on Saturday who works in reservations for special events. He said they are currently booking to about 80% right now. One of the reasons is because there were so many Guest complaints about the pools being full due to capacity issues over the busy spring break period. However, he said it could now change due to the relaxing of covid protocols.

Curious what they did with all the people who had already booked making a resort over 80% if they just changed it because of pool capacity over Spring Break. Call up people and say “Sorry. We have to cancel your booking?”

 

[ShirikiUtundu]

No for what seems like the 100th time. No Disney is not holding inventory for open resorts. Only resorts that are not open and don't have a re-open date are not in the inventory system.

POFQ
PORS
All of the Allstars beyond Movies which is currently open

Dave

I don't think that was the question. I think the question was if a resort is currently open, is it 100% open? And the answer is some of them yes, some of them no. For example, CBR is open, but not all the rooms/buildings are open.

 

[Mle8308]

Curious what they did with all the people who had already booked making a resort over 80% if they just changed it because of pool capacity over Spring Break. Call up people and say “Sorry. We have to cancel your booking?”

No idea. Though I have heard guests have been contacted and their reservations have been moved to other resorts, but I don’t think it’s related. Just passing on what a person who works in resort reservations told me last week and I have no reason to question his credibility or knowledge. Also, all CM’s (including furloughed) have a comp 1N stay they can use until 9/25. Resorts offered are the Grand, AoA, Fort Cabins, & CBR. Rooms are determined randomly via an online reservation system thru Cast Activities (or whatever it is called now, names have changed since my Disney days). These random one night stays *could* be impacting availability. And Shirki is correct, not all open resorts are fully open (and I am not including resorts only open for DVC).

 

[Dug720]

I don't think that was the question. I think the question was if a resort is currently open, is it 100% open? And the answer is some of them yes, some of them no. For example, CBR is open, but not all the rooms/buildings are open.

But the indication in the conversation was that they were just capping after Spring Break but if they had not capped before Spring Break resorts could have been sold over the new cap. So they would have to do something to reduce the occupancy to meet the new cap.

 

[zebrastreyepz]

I was wondering this too. We tried to book in December in Pop for a week, but have had no luck. Same now for Coronado and All-Star Movies. Looks like they have openings up to October before it is hard to find spots. Wondering if they are trying to fill the earlier spots first?

The 50th Anniversary starts October 1st.

 

[Mle8308]

But the indication in the conversation was that they were just capping after Spring Break but if they had not capped before Spring Break resorts could have been sold over the new cap. So they would have to do something to reduce the occupancy to meet the new cap.

Sorry for the confusion. Spring break was the first time since opening back up that Disney had markedly higher occupancy levels for the resorts that were open. Occupancy was limited/capped prior to spring break, but demand really didn’t approach the limits. Spring break, it came a lot closer. As a result of some of the problems they had (long wait times for the pools), occupancy has not yet been raised to 100%. They were booking to 80% or less prior to spring break for future reservations & that has not changed. So if a person had a reservation made prior to spring break for the future, there was no effect because the cap was not decreased. In the next few months more resorts will be opening so there will be more inventory, but those hotels, as of now, won’t be at 100%. Now could this change with increased staffing & increases in theme park capacity? Absolutely, it’s easier to release more rooms than take them away. I hope this makes sense!

 

[shawthorne44]

When you think about it, that 80% number was an internal thing. So, not mandated by the gov. or a union. So, if a hotel/date was booked at 90% when they decided on 80%. They could just not put normal cancelled reservations back into availability. If when that date arrives and they were at 85%, they could say to themselves "Meh, close enough".

 

[Nabas]

Disney has 22,227 non-DVC rooms at WDW.

7,652 rooms (at ASMusic, ASSports, POFQ, POR, and AKL) have no announced opening date.

Another 1,984 rooms (at BC, WL, BWI, and Poly) are scheduled to open by the end of July.

This means that, right now, Disney is operating only 57% of its rooms.

It's not surprising that finding a room is difficult right now.

 

[Brett Wyman]

Disney has 22,227 non-DVC rooms at WDW.

7,652 rooms (at ASMusic, ASSports, POFQ, POR, and AKL) have no announced opening date.

Another 1,984 rooms (at BC, WL, BWI, and Poly) are scheduled to open by the end of July.

This means that, right now, Disney is operating only 57% of its rooms.

It's not surprising that finding a room is difficult right now.

And park passes are sold out across the board. So they cant really add anymore rooms right now. The opening of BC, WL, BWI, and Poly will quickly eat up any additional slots that opened based on the slight capacity increases that have happened or will happen in the near future.

 

[Nabas]

And park passes are sold out across the board. So they cant really add anymore rooms right now. The opening of BC, WL, BWI, and Poly will quickly eat up any additional slots that opened based on the slight capacity increases that have happened or will happen in the near future.

On Monday, Chapek said he would increase theme park capacity by “low double digits”.

Really, I think Chapek’s long-term goal is to use Park Passes to limit APH access.

Long-term, anyone staying onsite should be able to get Park Passes.

Chapek also said OSHA is slowing increased capacity down.

Some think Disney is facing a job hiring crunch, and this certainly is the case in some areas. But Chapek said he was pleased with the number of Cast Members who agreed to come back, and the College Program will help.