Walking a reservation?

[Candace]

Can someone please explain this to me? I tried the search, but it's not working for me. Thanks.

 

[drusba]

First it is not something that is usually needed. Assume you want to go December 30 to January 6 (7 nights). You could call January 30 exactly 11 months out and make the ressie for the seven nights. However, the whole world now knows Dec 31 is the most popular night of the year and if you wait until Jan 30 to call you may not get it because those who called days before have gotten it as one of their 7 nights.

Walking means calling earlier, for example Jan 25 and reserve Dec 25 to Jan 1. On Jan 26 you call and cancel Dec 25 and add night of Jan 1 departure Jan 2, on Jan 27 you call and drop Dec 26 and add night of Jan 2 departure Jan 3, etc until you have the 7 nights you wanted in the first place.

You can chalk this one up to human ingenuity of persons on this board who seem to have instantly figured how to do walking the moment DVD announced that it was going to 11 or 7 months before date of arrival rule for reserving seven nights rather than old 11 or 7 months from date you planned to depart from WDW, and it was only days after DVD's new rule was created that it had its "walking" name.

 

[JimMIA]

There's another kind of "walking" a reservation, which involves relocating a person with a confirmed reservation to another property because the resort is overbooked. It happens occasionally as DVC resorts which are connected to Disney hotels.

But I think the answer Drusba gave you is the one you were looking for.

 

[Candace]

Thanks for the explanation. I think "walking" may be necessary if I am trying to get a Grand Villa at one of the smaller resorts (HHI or VB) during a holiday period.

 

[Donna M]

I was thinking of walking a reservation too, but how often does it happen that you can't get the tail end of the week you want. For instance, I want Presidents' Week 2010, but won't be checking in till Sunday. Now I'm thinking most people will want Sat, Sun, and Mon maybe the Friday too. If I reserve 7 days from Fri on, to be sure to get the beginning of the week, but then start to walk the reservation, I feel I might loose out on getting the tail end of the week which is what I really want. But if I don't reserve the beginning, I might not get anything. (All of this pertains to the 7 month mark since I know I'll get into my home resort)

Do you recommend I try walking it?

 

[drusba]

I assume you mean Presidents' Week 2011 because Feb 2010 is only two months from now. At 11 months out, unless you are seeking AKV concierge (only 5 2BR lock-offs, potentially 10 rooms total) , a GV or possibly BLT standard view, you are not likely to need walking during Presidents' Week and can just call 11 months from day of arrival. At 7 months out, you may have to walk for everything (if there is anything because you will be blocked out of a number of things no matter what since they disappear under the 11 month window for that week) because you can bet a lot of others will be doing it.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

I was thinking of walking a reservation too, but how often does it happen that you can't get the tail end of the week you want. For instance, I want Presidents' Week 2010, but won't be checking in till Sunday. Now I'm thinking most people will want Sat, Sun, and Mon maybe the Friday too. If I reserve 7 days from Fri on, to be sure to get the beginning of the week, but then start to walk the reservation, I feel I might loose out on getting the tail end of the week which is what I really want. But if I don't reserve the beginning, I might not get anything. (All of this pertains to the 7 month mark since I know I'll get into my home resort)

Do you recommend I try walking it?

IMHO, walking only confers a clear advantage when booking at the start of the 11 month window because by walking once you book 1 night you are guaranteed to be able to book as many more as you want. That advantage is just not there at the 7 month window. I wouldn't bother with walking at the 7 month window but I would plan to use the WL if you don't get what you want. - Suzanne

 

[LisaS]

IMHO, walking only confers a clear advantage when booking at the start of the 11 month window because by walking once you book 1 night you are guaranteed to be able to book as many more as you want. That advantage is just not there at the 7 month window. I wouldn't bother with walking at the 7 month window but I would plan to use the WL if you don't get what you want. - Suzanne

I agree. When walking at 11 months out, your initial 7-night reservation effectively blocks the dates after that as well. As each new night becomes available for booking, you add it and drop an initial night. At 7 months out, your initial 7-night reservation does not block anything beyond that time frame because owners may have already booked all of the room nights after that. If your stay was less than 7 nights (say Sun-Thu inclusive) and you initially make a 7-night reservation (Fri-Thu inclusive) to get a 2-day head start on others booking a Sunday check in, that might give you an edge but it doesn't help you get any nights beyond that 7-night period.

 

[Cherokeezebra]

Okay, I'm a little confused. Can you only book 11 months in advance of check in, plus 7 days? If I want to book a trip lasting 10 days, when I call at 11 months prior to check in, can I only book the first 7 days and then have to call each of the next three days to add another day? If so, what if I started calling at 11 months plus 7 days to guarantee the first day, then add walk it from there for the next 10 days?

 

[CarolMN]

Okay, I'm a little confused. Can you only book 11 months in advance of check in, plus 7 days? If I want to book a trip lasting 10 days, when I call at 11 months prior to check in, can I only book the first 7 days and then have to call each of the next three days to add another day? If so, what if I started calling at 11 months plus 7 days to guarantee the first day, then add walk it from there for the next 10 days?

Yes, that is correct - you may call 11 months prior to check in and book up to 7 nights on that call (subject to availability, which is almost never a problem when you call at 11 months).

You do need to call day by day after that to book the remaining nights of your 10 night stay. However, as long as you call each day after you have secured the first 7 nights, you are guaranteed to get the remaining nights.

 

[jelwallace]

I recently walked a Thanksgiving reservation for next year. It was very easy and all of the cast members I talked to agreed that it was the right thing to do for the time period I wanted. Here is how I did it:

I wanted to book Nov 23-30 2010 (Tues-tues)

I called on December 20, 2009 and booked Nov 20-27 (Sat-Sat)
I called on December 21, 2009 and changed the reservation to Nov 21-28 (Sun-Sun)
I called on December 22, 2009 and changed the reservation to Nov 22-29 (Mon-Mon)
I called on December 23 and changed the reservation to Nov 23-30 (Tues-Tues).

When I intially called I told member services that I would be calling the next day to walk the reservation so they didn't send out the confirmation letter until I was all done. I asked them about whether they thought it was neccessary and they said that for Christmas, Easter, Presidents Day and Thanksgiving they would reccommend it but for other times of the year it probably isn't neccessary especially at the 11 month mark. However they did say that if you have your heart set on a particular resort at the 7 month mark it isn't a bad idea to walk the reservation because there is a more limited inventory available at the 7 month mark.

Member services was very accomodating and was very easy to work with. I hope that answers your question. Good luck!

 

[Cherokeezebra]

Okay, got everything above. However, does it matter if I decide to walk the reservations in advance, say 11 months and 7 days before the first day I REALLY want, but the week I'm booking to start is in a different time period requiring more points? Say rooms go from 14 points a night to 11 points a night that next week. Because I made the original booking based on needing more points even though I never planned on using those days, does that effect those points for that year when I end up making the final change?

 

[Sandisw]

Okay, got everything above. However, does it matter if I decide to walk the reservations in advance, say 11 months and 7 days before the first day I REALLY want, but the week I'm booking to start is in a different time period requiring more points? Say rooms go from 14 points a night to 11 points a night that next week. Because I made the original booking based on needing more points even though I never planned on using those days, does that effect those points for that year when I end up making the final change?

You just don't want to borrow points when you walk the reservation as once they are borrowed, they can't be returned.

If you have the points to avoid this, then once you book the rooms with the lower point values, they extra points will just go back into your account.

But you would only want to walk an entire 7 days ahead of time if the 1st night of your real trip is the one you are worried about. For example, if Dec 31st was your check in date, then, yes, I would walk starting 7 days ahead to include the 31st.

But, if you want to travel on a busy day that will ultimately fall in the middle of your reservation, you would only have to back up 7 days from that date.

Hope that makes sense!

 

[Cherokeezebra]

Thanks for all the help, this is why I love this site and all the helpful people on it. Booked our trip home (BLT) today, now have to call the next four days to add extra days.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Thanks for all the help, this is why I love this site and all the helpful people on it. Booked our trip home (BLT) today, now have to call the next four days to add extra days.

Just a reminder: You do not have to call EVERY day to add 4 days to the exiting reservation. You just need to call before anyone without a reservation could reserve those days. So if you have booked 11/30 to 12/6, you can call back on 1/4, 1/5 or 1/6 and book 12/7 thru 12/10 all in one phone call. Just don't wait until 1/7, when other can book the night of 12/7 even if they don't already have a reservation. -- Suzanne

 

[Halle]

Just a reminder: You do not have to call EVERY day to add 4 days to the exiting reservation. You just need to call before anyone without a reservation could reserve those days. So if you have booked 11/30 to 12/6, you can call back on 1/4, 1/5 or 1/6 and book 12/7 thru 12/10 all in one phone call. Just don't wait until 1/7, when other can book the night of 12/7 even if they don't already have a reservation. -- Suzanne

I want to make sure I understand this correctly. Is the room you book then taken out of inventory until 12/7? Thanks.

 

[CarolMN]

I want to make sure I understand this correctly. Is the room you book then taken out of inventory until 12/7? Thanks.

Kind of. No one who doesn't already have a reservation can try to get 12/7 until 11 months prior, which would be on January 7.

So for example, if all of the studios at BLT for 11/30 - 12/6 were booked on December 30 at the 11 month window, there is no way anyone can book 12/7 until January 7. If someone calls to book a studio for 7 nights beginning with 12/1 (or 12/2, 12/3, 12/4, 12/5 or 12/6), they will be told no availability because the studios are sold out for 12/1 -12/6. The first night of your stay must be available for you to book 7 nights. (You can't waitlist for the first night and book anything after that. You have to wait for the 11 month window to open). As long as you call before January 7, there will always be a studio available for you to add to your reservation.

It's a bit more complicated than that if all the studios didn't sell out (for 11/30-12/7) on 12/30, but it still holds true that if you call before 1/7, you are guaranteed to get the rest of your nights. It's just easier for some to call day by day after the first reservation. I think it's a "stress reliever", LOL.

 

[Halle]

Kind of. No one who doesn't already have a reservation can try to get 12/7 until 11 months prior, which would be on January 7.

So for example, if all of the studios at BLT for 11/30 - 12/6 were booked on December 30 at the 11 month window, there is no way anyone can book 12/7 until January 7. If someone calls to book a studio for 7 nights beginning with 12/1 (or 12/2, 12/3, 12/4, 12/5 or 12/6), they will be told no availability because the studios are sold out for 12/1 -12/6. The first night of your stay must be available for you to book 7 nights. (You can't waitlist for the first night and book anything after that. You have to wait for the 11 month window to open). As long as you call before January 7, there will always be a studio available for you to add to your reservation.

It's a bit more complicated than that if all the studios didn't sell out (for 11/30-12/7) on 12/30, but it still holds true that if you call before 1/7, you are guaranteed to get the rest of your nights. It's just easier for some to call day by day after the first reservation. I think it's a "stress reliever", LOL.

Carol, Thanks for the response. I was used to banking day by day and being able to get what I wanted. We are taking entire family for a week for our
35th anniversary(12/27) and I am totally stressed because of this walking thing.

 

[Cherokeezebra]

Carol, Thanks for the response. I was used to banking day by day and being able to get what I wanted. We are taking entire family for a week for our
35th anniversary(12/27) and I am totally stressed because of this walking thing.

We're walking ours this week. Don't know that we necessarily need to (or not), but it is definitely a stress reliever. Don't think of is as a cause of stress. If you're not sure, just do it and eliminate the stress of not knowing. Think of reservation walking as good excerise for the brain.

 

[DisAmyK]

You do need to call day by day after that to book the remaining nights of your 10 night stay. However, as long as you call each day after you have secured the first 7 nights, you are guaranteed to get the remaining nights.
I don't understand why you are guaranteed the remaining nights?
Thanks