Walking?

[jlb727]

I am new at this, so I wanted some feedback. I was hoping to eventually modify a reservation to a dedicated 2 bedroom at BC at the 7 month mark for March 22-28. That's our Spring Break here in Illinois. I am bored today (literally waiting for paint to dry) and I was playing around, trying to see if I could book the same number of nights for 7 months from today (I had vague notions of trying to walk it, but I wasn't really going to because it would be at 7 months, not 11). At any rate, it wouldn't let me modify without waitlisting because of lack of availability. See below.

However, I thought it was kind of interesting that everything beyond 7 months and several days is open. That doesn't seem like 11 month bookings to me. Could this be evidence of people trying to walk 2 bedrooms to their Spring Break week? Or is 7 months from today a popular time? Or is this just kind of how it works? TIA

 

[crvetter]

That is President's Day weekend and the following weekend is the Princess Half Marathon. So it's likely demand for President's Day with some walkers. It's possible that home resort priority was used for that weekend even.

 

[jlb727]

I forgot about President's Day.

 

[Frederic Civish]

I think that clearly SOME people are walking. As of today (July 12th), if it was available, you could book something for next February 12th, and extend it out for 7 nights. Clearly, ALL of the reservations for Today (actually, for Feb 12th) are already taken. Some people just want one night or two nights, but a lot of people want more nights. If everybody who had a reservation for next Feb 12th actually wanted 7 days, then you would see the calendar booked out, with no openings, until Feb 19th. But usually, some people want just a few days, so you sometimes see the calendar with no openings until a couple of days from now. It depends on everyone's plans. If you see that day when there are openings shift another day forward, every morning, it is because people are walking.

Walking at the 7 month window often works, but keep in mind that you could be walking along and someone who owns there could still jump past you, deeper into the 7 to 11 month window and 'block' your walk. Still, what can you do? All you can do is try, and it USUALLY works.

I would keep an eye on the reservations at your desired units for a few days, and if you see that they always disappear every morning, then you will know that you need to jump in there, grab the first reservation you can get, and start walking, because when the day comes that is 7 months out from your desired date, that day too will disappear and not be available.

I had to walk an AKL Value Studio and Value 2 bedroom for a few weeks, last summer.

I had to walk a room at Riviera for almost a month to get the room I wanted in February at Riviera, and even then, I couldn't get the Standard View and had to go with the Preferred view. Standard View was booked out a week or two deep into the window, meaning it was all being taken by owners.

For both the AKL and Riviera reservations, I had to try multiple days in a row to get them, before I was able to finally get it right and beat everyone else to them.

Recently, I was trying to get a 6 day res for another 2 bedroom Value unit at AKL, at the 11 month window for next May 2nd. I was never able to get it, despite trying for three or four weeks, with the intention to walk it. Other people beat me to it every morning at 8 AM. I finally had to settle on a 2 Bedroom Standard View.

 

[stuartsong]

No, I have been watching the 2-bedroom Beach Club. Those dates have been gone long before the other DVC owners had an opportunity to book at 7 month. It's not walkers, but BCV owners who booked those dates.

 

[badeacon]

As above, those dates have been booked for awhile. I have reservation at BCV 2/16-22 and was looking to add 2/15 with other points when reach 7 month window and those dates have been waitlisted for awhile as I had been checking some the past few weeks.