Trying to book hard-to-get room, never seeing availability even before 8 AM?

[SpicyMcHaggis]

I've been trying for a few weeks to snag a value studio at AKV. However, I'm not seeing any availability even before 8 AM - for example last night before I went to bed it looked like there would be availability to attempt to book this morning, but when my alarm went off and I hopped on to have a look (I'm out west), the soonest availability was several days in the future. I've seen several threads with tips such as having everything populated and being ready to hit Search right at 8 AM, but without any availability showing even before 8 AM is that futile?

Is this just walking, or am I doing something wrong here? This is the first time I've attempted to book something hard to get, but I've been looking for weeks and haven't seen a day with any availability before 8 AM to even be able to attempt to book that first day so far.

 

[Genie+]

I've been trying for a few weeks to snag a value studio at AKV. However, I'm not seeing any availability even before 8 AM - for example last night before I went to bed it looked like there would be availability to attempt to book this morning, but when my alarm went off and I hopped on to have a look (I'm out west), the soonest availability was several days in the future. I've seen several threads with tips such as having everything populated and being ready to hit Search right at 8 AM, but without any availability showing even before 8 AM is that futile?

Is this just walking, or am I doing something wrong here? This is the first time I've attempted to book something hard to get, but I've been looking for weeks and haven't seen a day with any availability before 8 AM to even be able to attempt to book that first day so far.

The sad fact is AK-J Value studio is #1 target for confirmed reservations because it holds the greatest profit margin. So people who wheel in deal in this area invest the time and resources to stay competitive above all the other demand. So these people are using scrapers, bots, and automated reservation tools to get a leg up. These may sound complex but take a look at online gaming communities and see how relatively easy this stuff can be.

There’s only something like 20 rooms in this category and I’ve seen dates where over 80% of the slots end up on the confirmed rental market. For the average personal use owner to access, the chances are much higher by grabbing any date that can be walked and do that. The highest chance dates to find an opening will be in higher point seasons so it’s best to start looking there.

 

[drusba]

There appears to be a system problem -- another one that can join the about a dozen other system problems relating to availability that started appearing for reserving dates in late Aug at 11-months out and many are still going on. MS has been informed of other problems and you may want to contact MS and let it know there is now another one they need to fix.

I just checked the Jambo value studio availability for Sep 22-29. What it is showing right now is that the 22d is filled (as it likely should be), the nights of 24 through 28 are available, but Sep 23 is just non-existent -- the box does not show available or unavailable but is just faded out, meaning it is not recording the date's availability at all. The same is happening elsewhere -- the club level 1BRs are showing the 23d as non-existent, likewise the value 1BRs are doing the same for both Sep 23 and 24, BWV standard view studios doing the same for 23. the BLT standard studio is showing the same for 23. In other words the problem is occurring with multiple resorts and rooms.

 

[lorimt]

I had no luck getting a value studio at 8am for September 2025 but was able to pick up 2 consecutive nights after what I am assuming was walkers moving their reservations. I continue to stalk and have seen other days is September available periodically. This was my first attempt and I got the exact nights I wanted so I think you can find short stays with persistent stalking.