Walking Reservations

[Chuck S]

Is there a time of day the bots typically drop the days they were walking?

I don't think anyone knows, but I would assume it is early morning, as soon as reservations open so they can also have a better chance to extend the reservation. I know the one time I walked a reservation for a HA GV at OKW (there are only 3) I was online as soon as I could be since there is such a limited number of those HA units, but there are 27 GVs overall at OKW.

 

[muppets3d]

Is there a time of day the bots typically drop the days they were walking?

Depends on the rooms you're looking for. If you want an Animal Kingdom Lodge value studio, your best bet is to book a resort view studio and waitlist a value studio. The days that are dropped due to walking almost never make it back to the booking engine, they go to waitlists. Ditto for the club studios.

 

[muppets3d]

Were you not able to utilize the modify feature of changing a DVC reservation? If you were trying to replace one DVC res with another, you really shouldn't need to cancel, let alone lose both reservations. Sorry to hear this.....

You can't modify across coasts, so if you had a WDW trip booked and want to switch to VGC that's a cancel and rebook. Or member services can do it over the phone, but that takes a lot longer than doing it yourself online - so it's possible the room will be gone then.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

You can't modify across coasts, so if you had a WDW trip booked and want to switch to VGC that's a cancel and rebook. Or member services can do it over the phone, but that takes a lot longer than doing it yourself online - so it's possible the room will be gone then.

Thank you - learned something new there. I didn't realize that was a restriction.

 

[toesmom]

Is there a time of day the bots typically drop the days they were walking?

Just asking: how does anyone know that bots are booking rooms? This week I was able to get standard studio at boardwalk for my trip next May, booked right at 8am.

 

[Sandisw]

Were you not able to utilize the modify feature of changing a DVC reservation? If you were trying to replace one DVC res with another, you really shouldn't need to cancel, let alone lose both reservations. Sorry to hear this.....

You can’t modify a WDW resort to VGC, VDH, or AUL.

ETA. Already answered…lol

 

[Sandisw]

Just asking: how does anyone know that bots are booking rooms? This week I was able to get standard studio at boardwalk for my trip next May, booked right at 8am.

No one knows 100% but some say things happen that prove bots are being used.

But, your experience shows that owners can beat them out for even the hard to get rooms.

 

[tx911]

You can’t modify a WDW resort to VGC, VDH, or AUL.

ETA. Already answered…lol

But can you extend an existing VGC reservation at 7 months with WDW points?

 

[lowlight]

Just asking: how does anyone know that bots are booking rooms? This week I was able to get standard studio at boardwalk for my trip next May, booked right at 8am.

1) Spec renting is a multi-million dollar a year business
2) Bots currently exist to book all other reservation types
3) Bots exist to check live DVC room availability
4) Some renters have a statistically unlikely amount of hard to get rooms for rent

Therefore, it's not a big leap to assume that bots exist that can book a DVC room, since the motivation, technology, and proof of concept are all already present, but no renter has been like "Hey, my name is Paul, 32/M from Florida, and I use a bot to book your rooms!". Usage of bots/scripts interchangeably.

 

[eticketplease]

No one knows 100% but some say things happen that prove bots are being used.

But, your experience shows that owners can beat them out for even the hard to get rooms.

Or that new checkbox is stopping them for right now

 

[eticketplease]

But can you extend an existing VGC reservation at 7 months with WDW points?

If the existing reservation was made at 7 months then yes. If the existing reservation used the home advantage it is usually locked although MS might be able to do it for you.

 

[tx911]

If the existing reservation was made at 7 months then yes. If the existing reservation used the home advantage it is usually locked although MS might be able to do it for you.

I guess I could book one night at 7 months and then get it merged

 

[Sandisw]

Or that new checkbox is stopping them for right now

There have always been people who have gotten them…this is not new.

Bird who knows

 

[Sandisw]

I guess I could book one night at 7 months and then get it merged

What is blocked is the ability to change between the coasts. It’s not related to the points.

So, if you already have VGC booked and want to extend it, you can modify it and then just check the second contract with the other points.

However, if you still have VGC points but don’t want to use them, then you need to contact MS as the contract stays locked.

 

[Chuck S]

1) Spec renting is a multi-million dollar a year business
2) Bots currently exist to book all other reservation types
3) Bots exist to check live DVC room availability
4) Some renters have a statistically unlikely amount of hard to get rooms for rent

Therefore, it's not a big leap to assume that bots exist that can book a DVC room, since the motivation, technology, and proof of concept are all already present, but no renter has been like "Hey, my name is Paul, 32/M from Florida, and I use a bot to book your rooms!". Usage of bots/scripts interchangeably.

Not sure I'd say it is as profitable as a multi million $ per year business. I mean, say you have access to 15,000 points, however you have them titled. At the top price I've seen for any existing reservation of about $45 per point, that is $675,000 gross, less about $10 maintenance at $150,000. so roughly 1/2 million at most for any group of commercial owners. If there are 5 or so owners with that number of points, you are looking at roughly $2.5 million. True, that is a lot of income, but at the same time, consider that not every reservation they book will rent at those prices, even for hard to get rooms. I'm guessing they probably cancel 35% of those booking before their banking windows, and prior to the 30 day cancellation penalty mark. so if they lose that 35% frequently that leaves about $1.625 million overall. Then remember how many point they would need to book all those reservations..
Then consider that to reserve all 14 Value Studios at Jambo House for every day of 2025 you would need 53,354 pints. If you paid an average of only $70 per point years ago, you'd have an outlay of $3.34 million, if you paid cash, more if you financed it. And that doesn't include the other rooms people consider hard to get when they talk about walking and commercial spec renting.

It really doesn't seem practical as a long term business plan, when you don't know if every reservation will rent every year. The debt service could be oppressive.

 

[CarolMN]

IMO, lead guest name changes should be prohibited for any reservation made during the home resort priority period. Instead, lead guest changes would require a cancellation & rebook (if there are no members on the waitlist).

I believe that would stop the most "objectionable" spec reservations. (It will not stop walking, but would help ensure that members rather than renters, have better opportunities to book the popular dates and villas).

MS should be empowered to make 1-time exceptions to the no-change rule, similar to the way they make them for banking errors. This, along with the new transfer rules should should alleviate most situations in which a member who doesn't make spec reservations, needs/wants to avoid losing points due to a last minute issue that prevents them from using the reservation themselves.

 

[Mouseforward]

IMO, lead guest name changes should be prohibited for any reservation made during the home resort priority period.

One issue with this.

Not all of my family can commit to a trip 11 months in advance. For my big family trips I always book two rooms under my name at 11 months and change the lead guest when it is decided. This is why I want an "Is this a rental?" checkbox. I agree that no rental reservations should be made at 11 months is a great idea, but we don't need to punish large family trips to accomplish this.

 

[robinb]

IMO, lead guest name changes should be prohibited for any reservation made during the home resort priority period. Instead, lead guest changes would require a cancellation & rebook (if there are no members on the waitlist).

I believe that would stop the most "objectionable" spec reservations. (It will not stop walking, but would help ensure that members rather than renters, have better opportunities to book the popular dates and villas).

MS should be empowered to make 1-time exceptions to the no-change rule, similar to the way they make them for banking errors. This, along with the new transfer rules should should alleviate most situations in which a member who doesn't make spec reservations, needs/wants to avoid losing points due to a last minute issue that prevents them from using the reservation themselves.

Nah, I don't think that would change a thing. The people who rent out the spec reservations from DVC members with no refunds are not doing it 8 months in advance. I am on a number of DVC rental groups on FB and the vast majority of people are looking for a villa just a couple months out.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

One issue with this.

Not all of my family can commit to a trip 11 months in advance. For my big family trips I always book two rooms under my name at 11 months and change the lead guest when it is decided. This is why I want an "Is this a rental?" checkbox. I agree that no rental reservations should be made at 11 months is a great idea, but we don't need to punish large family trips to accomplish this.

Agreed. This is us. 50% of our trips we bring friends/family and will have multiple rooms. I'm always the lead guest to get things started on all of them until details are worked out much later. Then I'll put a different family member as lead guest on the other room(s). Since I'm entitled to book the multiple rooms, I don't want the extra hoops to jump through because of issues a small percentage of others might create sometimes.

 

[Mouseforward]

Agreed. This is us. 50% of our trips we bring friends/family and will have multiple rooms. I'm always the lead guest to get things started on all of them until details are worked out much later. Then I'll put a different family member as lead guest on the other room(s). Since I'm entitled to book the multiple rooms, I don't want the extra hoops to jump through because of issues a small percentage of others might create sometimes.

it is hard when you have family members with entry level jobs, retail worker in general have some of the most unfriendly PTO policies that do not let them make firm commitments. Even when my parents were making vacations as a child my father was a public school teacher and he had to wait for the school board to release the schedule for the next year to plot our vacations.