Reservation Walking Banned by Disney

[davidhr]

I personally don't have a problem with walkers. I see it as something anybody can do, so it's fair game for me.

IF (big "if") DVD can find a solution that doesn't hurt owners to stop walkers, I'd be ok with it. I still haven't seen anyone mention a solution that can do that.

The "solutions" that are always mentioned will stop walkers with small contracts. Owners with larger contracts can still add days without walking and then drop the days they don't need when modifications are allowed again. The walking for months will end, but I honestly don't think there are that many walkers doing it for months. A lot of owners here have enough points to do that for a full month for a studio.

This might even make it easier to those using DVC as a business as they have lots of points.

That's why I see all these "solutions" hurting more people than walkers are today.

 

[tx911]

It comes down to a code of ethics for me.

I think walking hurts other owners, full stop. So I won't do it.

 

[Chuck S]

I'm just spit-balling, so this may be awful, but how would this work?

What if you could only make modifications within a month of the dates you initially booked?

Anything beyond that would require a complete re-booking?

I guess you could still walk within the month so probably not a great solution....

That would be complicated to enforce, and really not practical to add that check layer to an already nearly overburdened reservation system that also communicates with the non-DVC resort system, and MDE, dining reservations, and so forth.

 

[Genie+]

Actually, you know, this isn't just about walking. It is about too many small point contract owners in the system, too.

Should they not be walking?

I’m not sure there’s much difference between someone walking their 50pt contract for a week trip every other year or a 150 pt contract walking every year for 9 day trip. If anything the impact is smaller with the puny little contracts.

Shouldn’t matter who is doing the walking if it’s totally fine, right? They are booking at 11 months like everyone else.

 

[Chuck S]

It comes down to a code of ethics for me.

I think walking hurts other owners, full stop. So I won't do it.

So, if you needed a handicapped GV room, and there were only 3 built atyour large home resort, you wouldn't walk a reservation for a busy travel time?

 

[DougEMG]

One of the complaints about the old FP+ was that most people didn't know how to use it and that those that did had a huge advantage. Disney solved that problem by implementing Genie+/LL and making everyone pay for ride reservations, now only people willing to pay have an advantage.

Disney's solution to walking could very well be to make all changes to a reservation cost a fee. Walking problem reduced as only those willing to pay will do it and Disney makes money solving the problem.

I own at BWV and normally like to stay there for 1-2 weeks in the fall. I used to try and book standard studios, sometimes I would get it and sometimes not. Do you know how annoying it is to get up at 5am multiple days in a row to try and get a particular room only to have it disappear because you weren't quite fast enough on the keyboard.

These days I just book the 1 bedroom and have no problems, although I do cry inside about all the points it is costing me.

Walking only effects a small number of rooms compared to the huge number of rooms in the system. Any "solution" that Disney implements will probably be worse than the original problem.

 

[Chuck S]

Should they not be walking?

I’m not sure there’s much difference between someone walking their 50pt contract for a week trip every other year or a 150 pt contract walking every year for 9 day trip. If anything the impact is smaller with the puny little contracts.

Shouldn’t matter who is doing the walking if it’s totally fine, right? They are booking at 11 months like everyone else.

I'm not the one saying there is a problem with walking for anyone. I'm saying that mathmatically, that the smaller contracts result in less overall availability per owner, especially for studios, and that it is the smaller contracts that have made walking almost a necessity for so many busy times of year.

 

[tx911]

So, if you needed a handicapped GV room, and there were only 3 built atyour large home resort, you wouldn't walk a reservation for a busy travel time?

I suppose if all the other owners were also allowed to book those rooms, I would compete for those rooms on the level, and book studios or some other room combination if the GV didn't pan out.

But I would probably opt for a fixed week in that circumstance, if practicable, although idk if that guarantees a particular room type.

 

[tx911]

it is the smaller contracts that have made walking almost a necessity for so many busy times of year.

Walking is never a necessity. Sure, small contracts may mean a greater number of owners, but you can still choose to compete for rooms on the level and make the best of it. Plus, if you have a larger number of points, you can always book other view-types or larger rooms that are easier to get.

The bottom line is, some people would rather game the system to guarantee that they get what they want, at the expense of others. It's unfortunate, but not unique to DVC.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Most excellent click bait title! lol


Is walking really such an issue? This mostly comes up at this time of the year when the booking starts for the busiest week or two of the year. The remainder of the year it's pretty much a non-issue and only even seen in the smallest of room categories. Any fixes for this perceived problem would likely cause unfair penalties to others vs really hurt people you want to address.

I always wonder too if it's recognized that just because walking is prevented it still does not mean it would improve the odds of booking. A limited room category will always be a fight to book, especially at the most popular times. The old system that did have you book day of check in was the most stressful unsuccessful mess I ever want to see with booking a DVC room.

Or maybe it's just time for the lottery again.
JK

I'm good with how things are and have no wish for changes.

 

[Chuck S]

Walking is never a necessity. Sure, small contracts may mean a greater number of owners, but you can still choose to compete for rooms on the level and make the best of it. Plus, if you have a larger number of points, you can always book other view-types or larger rooms that are easier to get.

The bottom line is, some people would rather game the system to guarantee that they get what they want, at the expense of others. It's unfortunate, but not unique to DVC.

If walking is never a necessity, then there really is no issue if some people chose to walk, and no one would complain about it.

 

[tx911]

Remember that fixed weeks are a pretty recent addition to the DVC mix.

If walking is never a necessity, then there really is no issue if some people chose to walk, and no one would complain about it.

What I mean is, you can choose not to walk, even if it means you don't get the exact room you want.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

If walking is never a necessity, then there really is no issue if some people chose to walk, and no one would complain about it.

Watching the availability calendars I have tended to think walking probably isn't a necessity but people get fearful. Just this past week you'd see the walkers move on and the rooms sit available which seems to support that. I have long felt walking begets walking more than actual necessity.

 

[Chuck S]

What I mean is, you can choose not to walk, even if it means you don't get the exact room you want.

And lack of walking could very well mean the same thing. There simply aren't enough studios for the number of people wanting them in a particular season. It still boils down to owner to room ratio. Remember, that Disney can ALSO pull rooms from inventory to rent, using their own points, and that owners who use their points outside of DVC, those points/rooms are also turned over to cash reservations, that can be used by Disney for rooms at DVC resorts during peak travel seasons. And Disney can also estimate breakage inventory in advance, perhaps also reducing room inventory. It's all legal and legit.

It all boils down to the fact that not everyone gets the exact room they want, for the dates they want in a point based timeshare system, compared to the old-fashioned fixed week systems from the 1960s timeshares.. And flexibility is why most of us bought DVC. Flexibility comes with risks.

And this mostly affects studio availability. If they built an all studio point based resort, the problem of availability would still exist seasonally. There is no fix for it. Kind of like no one guarantees you wont get a center seat on a Southwest flight.

 

[tx911]

And lack of walking could very well mean the same thing. There simply aren't enough studios for the number of people wanting them in a particular season. It still boils down to owner to room ratio. Remember, that Disney can ALSO pull rooms from inventory to rent, using their own points, and that owners who use their points outside of DVC, thos epoints/rooms are also turned over to cash reservations, that can be used by Disney for rooms at DVC resorts during peak travel seasons. And Disney can also estimate breakage inventory in advance, perhaps also reduing room inventory. It's all legal and legit.

It all boils down to the fact that not everyone gets the exact room they want, for the dates they want in a point based timeshare system, compared to the old-fashioned fixed week systems from the 1960s timeshares.. And flexibility is why most of us bought DVC. Flexibility comes with risks.

And this mostly affects studio availability. If they built an all studio point based resort, the problem of availability would still exist seasonally. There is no fix for it. Kind of like no one guarantees you wont get a center seat on a Southwest flight.

I’ve addressed this lots of times on this thread and elsewhere. I have no problem with limited availability per se.

 

[tx911]

I have long felt walking begets walking more than actual necessity.

Bingo

 

[Sandisw]

I'm just spit-balling, so this may be awful, but how would this work?

What if you could only make modifications within a month of the dates you initially booked?

Anything beyond that would require a complete re-booking?

I guess you could still walk within the month so probably not a great solution....

I think that would be worse. I booked a room at 11 months for December. In October, my friend had health issues and I was now by myself.

So, instead of 4 nights, I reduced it to three…it would have been horrible if I was forced to pay for an extra night I didn’t need since rooms were all gone. It would have left a room vacant that someone else might have been waitlisted for had there been no modifications allowed.

I think this is why this topic comes up every year. While walking at 7 months doesn’t work the way it does at 11 people will still try. So, does that need to be addressed too?

Lots of variables and situations and just not sure any solution won’t be worse. And, if we accept that all owners have the right to book any night at 11 months, then is it really that different if the next day or three days later they release it for someone else?

It might make someone feel like it’s better, but as I said, if it is only walking and not demand, putting in a waitlist should work because when those nights are dropped, it will pick it up as one would be at the top of that list.

 

[Tatebeck]

In general, if we all can do it, then I can see it being fair enough. I may even walk a reservation eventually if I have a set of very inflexible dates for a trip. But the problem I can see with walking reservations in some circumstances is that it is technically NOT always fair and some members simply CANNOT do what others can. The 2 reasons I can think of are use year and number of points

Use year:
If the busiest times are always the same time each year and you typically cannot walk across use year, it can get to the point that certain use years (ex Sep, Oct, Dec) can get completely locked out of popular rooms during certain times (Ex early December or Christmas time). If the walking gets so bad that it is typically starts for hard to book rooms before September, those owners with use years will have ZERO chance to get those dates, due to no fault of their own.

Point numbers:
Similarly, If an owner has a very small number of points left or just a small contract and wants to book a popular room during a popular low points season (ex early December), they may be locked out of walking across a series of dates that have a higher point cost (ex October and November) than their points allow for, even if they are only booking a few days and walking them.

So if there was a way to account for that, I would probably be fine, My use year is September, so the first scenario kind of scares me if it gets that bad.

 

[DebbieB]

Actually, walking worked almsot the same years ago. Even though we could book based on our check-out date instead of check-in date, you could still change dates.

Say you wanted a stay January 1 to January 5. And on January 5, you booked December 1 to 5, then you changed to December 2 to December 6 and so on until you got January 1 to 5. It only meant you needed to modify the reservation each day, instead of every other day or so. You'd still be blocking out December rooms you had no intention of using, and moving the reservation forward daily.

I was just going to bring this up. I joined in 1999 and frequently book BWV for the first week of December. There’s always been some form of walking for this week. As Chuck described, it used to be by checkout date. Back then, had to call everyday, no online system. I remember one time standing at a hospital payphone to move my checkout day while my mom was getting Chemo. So it’s much easier now online.

My attitude is if you can’t beat them, join them. DVC is well aware it’s going on and has never made on attempt to stop it, there have been posts stating Guides or Member Services have suggested it. I’ve never done it for more than a couple weeks. This year has been tougher, I finally got in on the 24th (target 12/1).

 

[pinkxray]

I have never walked and most likely won’t. I just don’t really care that much. I like to try different resorts so I am more likely to be online for the 8am 7m window than 11.

We do tend to travel for some busy times such as RunDisney weekends and Thanksgiving so sometimes I will try to book VGF right at 11m just to have something. I will then change that booking about 100 times before our travel day. Add a day, take away a day, maybe 1 should do a one bedroom, no I’ll save points with a studio. Theme park view splurge? No standard is fine. As someone was loves to change my bookings, I would not like limited changes.

I have noticed once or twice the standard studios at VGF being gone right at 11m. Both resort and regular. I booked lagoon or whatever it is. Two days later the standard opened back up. I think it is much harder for someone who has 150pts at VGF to be flexible than someone who has more.