VWL Lovers & Groupies thread: It all started with a Moose

[eliza61]

Happy Monday groupies,

Question: On another thread some one mention a new "7 day" booking guidelines. I didn't want to post an explanation as the thread is already a couple of pages deep.
So whats the new booking guidelines? I have to admit that I don't pay much attention as we generally go the end of August or Jersey week (first week in November) and I've had great success getting my reservations.

Thanks.

 

[eliza61]

35 days!

Right there with you, Dad!! Tammy and I were just speaking of how close it is, and how we cant wait! It is nice to be so excited to go back to a place that we have been many times before, yet it still draws us in like moths to a flame.

by the time I get back to the world 8/2011 it will be a 2 full years. I feel like screaming ala "Charlie Brown whenever lucy pulls the football out from under him".

Logically my head tells me that we are most blessed, my heart is another story all together. I miss the world.

 

[Granny]

Happy Monday groupies,

Question: On another thread some one mention a new "7 day" booking guidelines. I didn't want to post an explanation as the thread is already a couple of pages deep.
So whats the new booking guidelines? I have to admit that I don't pay much attention as we generally go the end of August or Jersey week (first week in November) and I've had great success getting my reservations.

Thanks.

Is this referring to the change where you can now book 11/7 months from the check-in date rather than check-out date? Part of that change says that you can book 7 days at a time.

Thus the old "day by day" booking strategy got replaced by the new "walking the reservation" strategy. Personally I liked the old way better.

 

[twinklebug]

Is this referring to the change where you can now book 11/7 months from the check-in date rather than check-out date? Part of that change says that you can book 7 days at a time.

Thus the old "day by day" booking strategy got replaced by the new "walking the reservation" strategy. Personally I liked the old way better.

Eliza thank you for posting that question, I saw that post you're talking about too and figured I'd have to call MS to find out what it means. Didn't want to ask and look foolish on a thread where everyone just knew what it was referring to (I'm already looking like a fool elsewhere on the boards... hehe... have to learn to stay away from the community board )

I hate walking reservations. They seem to be twice the amount of work as just calling day by day and they seem to favor those with a lot of points to spare tp be able to book further in out and grab the start date they need. What was wrong with the old way? Was is because some trips would be split up?

 

[eliza61]

Is this referring to the change where you can now book 11/7 months from the check-in date rather than check-out date? Part of that change says that you can book 7 days at a time.

Thus the old "day by day" booking strategy got replaced by the new "walking the reservation" strategy. Personally I liked the old way better.

So now if you book a stay, you can do so at the beginning of your trip? For example, we're hoping to snag August 23rd-26 at BLT. since blt isn't my home resort I know I have to wait until January before I can request. usually I would wait until the 26th of January to cover the entire time. does this mean I can now request on January 23rd and get all 3 nights?

 

[sleepydog25]

34 days. . .

 

[Granny]

So now if you book a stay, you can do so at the beginning of your trip? For example, we're hoping to snag August 23rd-26 at BLT. since blt isn't my home resort I know I have to wait until January before I can request. usually I would wait until the 26th of January to cover the entire time. does this mean I can now request on January 23rd and get all 3 nights?

That's exactly right. Now the booking window is from the check-in date, not the check-out like it used to be. If you have a trip of more than 7 nights, you have to call back to add the additional nights.

So this has some people now "walking" their reservations. Booking early and then cancelling one night and adding another one each day. It takes a fair amount of excess points to do it but is effective.

So for example, someone with a lot of points who wanted your reservation could call at the 11/7 month window on January 19 and book 7 days with check out on the 26. Then call back any time prior to 30 days before and cancel January 19-23 leaving the 23-26 booking. They just got a multi-day jump on you....which many feel is really unfair.

To make it worse, they could actually start this process with a January 1 booking and call each day to add one night at the end and subtract the first day. So the reservation "walks" from a Jan 1-8 to a Jan 19-26 and you never really have an equal shot at the reservation unless you do the same.

That's the topic of the current thread on this board. Personally, I much preferred the old way.

 

[wildernessDad]

34 days. . .

Rub it in, why don'tcha.

 

[DisneyNutzy]

That's exactly right. Now the booking window is from the check-in date, not the check-out like it used to be. If you have a trip of more than 7 nights, you have to call back to add the additional nights.

So this has some people now "walking" their reservations. Booking early and then cancelling one night and adding another one each day. It takes a fair amount of excess points to do it but is effective.

So for example, someone with a lot of points who wanted your reservation could call at the 11/7 month window on January 19 and book 7 days with check out on the 26. Then call back any time prior to 30 days before and cancel January 19-23 leaving the 23-26 booking. They just got a multi-day jump on you....which many feel is really unfair.

To make it worse, they could actually start this process with a January 1 booking and call each day to add one night at the end and subtract the first day. So the reservation "walks" from a Jan 1-8 to a Jan 19-26 and you never really have an equal shot at the reservation unless you do the same.

That's the topic of the current thread on this board. Personally, I much preferred the old way.

Thanks Granny. That is the best explanation I have read and I finally understand it. I agree this way invites abuse of the booking system.

Single digit dance for us! 9 Days

 

[DiznyDi]

Groupies on page 2. Oh no!

 

[Inkmahm]

Sitting here watching the election results and celebrating the changes that I see are coming. I'm quite happy that some of these people will be joining me in the unemployment line.

Tomorrow we are out of here and off to Boston for a very long weekend. Fresh seafood, here we come! Thanks to Airtran having a $100 round trip fare sale, we got a great deal on getting there. Thanks to me still being unemployed, we have the time to go. It's not the VWL, but we'll enjoy it anyway.

As is predictable since we are leaving on an out of town trip, I had to have an emergency root canal done last night. I'm finally feeling more human after having mouth pain for more than a week until I figured out which tooth was the issue. Next week is the appt to crown the tooth but for now, I can chew again. Yay!

 

[Dizny Dad]

And as I sat watching the election returns, from behind me DiznyDi screams out, "were on page 2!!"

It took a minute for my head to clear, to return to reality, and to understand that she was rocked that The Thread was in such an embarrassing position!

I love it when she brings me back to what is really important.

29 days out . . . . .

 

[eliza61]

Tomorrow we are out of here and off to Boston for a very long weekend. Fresh seafood, here we come! Thanks to Airtran having a $100 round trip fare sale, we got a great deal on getting there. Thanks to me still being unemployed, we have the time to go. It's not the VWL, but we'll enjoy it anyway.

As is predictable since we are leaving on an out of town trip, I had to have an emergency root canal done last night. I'm finally feeling more human after having mouth pain for more than a week until I figured out which tooth was the issue. Next week is the appt to crown the tooth but for now, I can chew again. Yay!

Boston is one of my favorite towns and you're right it has some awesome seafood. Have some chowder on me.

And as I sat watching the election returns, from behind me DiznyDi screams out, "were on page 2!!"

It took a minute for my head to clear, to return to reality, and to understand that she was rocked that The Thread was in such an embarrassing position!

I love it when she brings me back to what is really important.
29 days out . . . . .

Under a month. I'm so jealous. Money, politics and religion come and go but the lodge, now that's a different story all together.

 

[horselover]

Enjoy your trip to my neck of the woods Inkmahm!

 

[stopher1]

Good morning Groupies!

It's "Hump Day" - so I thought I'd share a few of pics to help you get through the rest of the week...

Have a great day all!

 

[KeepSwimmingDory]

Great pictures stopher! What a nice Wed. morning treat!

 

[twinklebug]

Great news: I had an interview yesterday! Bad news: I missed said interview due to car trouble - had a flat that needed replacing - $184 later and I'm set to go. Interview has been rescheduled for later this week. Lesson I learned here: never go to the dealer service center for tire help no matter how much you trust them (I honestly thought a tire would cost $80 at the most - their price was double that). I miss having a man around for this stuff. They knew they had me over a barrel and dropped me in.

The irony in all this: I had to call AAA to inflate the tire for me to get down to the service center. Take a random guess at where my interview was supposed to be. Well... at least I have proof in their systems of what happened. In a way, I'm glad as this gives me a little more time to prepare.

Tomorrow we are out of here and off to Boston for a very long weekend. Fresh seafood, here we come! Thanks to Airtran having a $100 round trip fare sale, we got a great deal on getting there. Thanks to me still being unemployed, we have the time to go. It's not the VWL, but we'll enjoy it anyway.

As is predictable since we are leaving on an out of town trip, I had to have an emergency root canal done last night. I'm finally feeling more human after having mouth pain for more than a week until I figured out which tooth was the issue. Next week is the appt to crown the tooth but for now, I can chew again. Yay!

Enjoy Boston! I used to love the no name down on the warf but recent reviews make it sounds as though their quality has dropped. When I'm re-employed I'm dying to try the Meritage... haven't heard a bad thing about them yet. Do you have a favorite?

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . . . . Money, politics and religion come and go but the lodge, now that's a different story all together.

EXACTLY!

 

[twinklebug]

Chris - Thank you for posting those great pics. I love the totem pole shot the most. Getting any image inside of WL or VWL takes a lot of patience and practice.

 

[horselover]

My favorite spot in all of WDW! Thanks Stopher!

Great news: I had an interview yesterday! Bad news: I missed said interview due to car trouble - had a flat that needed replacing - $184 later and I'm set to go. Interview has been rescheduled for later this week. Lesson I learned here: never go to the dealer service center for tire help no matter how much you trust them (I honestly thought a tire would cost $80 at the most - their price was double that). I miss having a man around for this stuff. They knew they had me over a barrel and dropped me in.

The irony in all this: I had to call AAA to inflate the tire for me to get down to the service center. Take a random guess at where my interview was supposed to be. Well... at least I have proof in their systems of what happened. In a way, I'm glad as this gives me a little more time to prepare.

Sorry about the car trouble, but good news on being able to reschedule. Sending some moose dust your way!!