WWYD - Marathon Weekend

[accm]

I'm crowd sourcing opinions since I can't make up my mind. Background - we're going to be at WDW for marathon weekend next year. We'll need a 2 bedroom from Monday - Monday, then we'll be moving to a studio/1 bed afterwards.

Right now I have a 2 bedroom standard view booked at BLT from Mon-Fri, and a waitlist for Fri-Mon.

In this scenario, would you cancel the 2 bedroom standard for those 4 nights and rebook the whole stay in a lake view, or would you hold out for longer and hope between stalking and the waitlist that you'd be able to complete the reservation? We'll need to borrow the additional points if that plays into the decision.

I guess I just don't know when the lake view rooms start getting booked up.

 

[HappyDisneyWife]

Ooh, that’s tough. A lot depends on your willingness to move during your stay, and on your tolerance for waiting it out. In either case, I would definitely book what’s available now (lake view, Fri-Mon) & waitlist what I really want (std view, Fri-Mon). It’s always better to be safe than sorry

I would personally wait before canceling the standard view res, but that’s just me. I regret having given up my standard view 2-bed res last year at the Riviera bc we changed the dates & I was afraid I couldn’t get my waitlists. The clincher was that we were traveling with a medically fragile child who is super hard to move rooms with. It turned out that I could’ve booked every night needed in std view & I blew a lot of extra points that I hadn’t wanted to spend. However, it gave me peace of mind for my daughter & hubby’s sake, so it was a price I chose to pay. If I was traveling with people *able* to move, I would wait it out quite a lot longer.

 

[accm]

Ooh, that’s tough. A lot depends on your willingness to move during your stay, and on your tolerance for waiting it out. In either case, I would definitely book what’s available now (lake view, Fri-Mon) & waitlist what I really want (std view, Fri-Mon). It’s always better to be safe than sorry

I would personally wait before canceling the standard view res, but that’s just me. I regret having given up my standard view 2-bed res last year at the Riviera bc we changed the dates & I was afraid I couldn’t get my waitlists. The clincher was that we were traveling with a medically fragile child who is super hard to move rooms with. It turned out that I could’ve booked every night needed in std view & I blew a lot of extra points that I hadn’t wanted to spend. However, it gave me peace of mind for my daughter & hubby’s sake, so it was a price I chose to pay. If I was traveling with people *able* to move, I would wait it out quite a lot longer.

I'll be running, so I really don't want to have to worry about switching rooms.
I think like you said, I'll book the lake view for the weekend, and keep an eye on the standard view. It's technically *only* 25 points, but still enough that I'd rather not spend it if I can help it (specially since the 2 bedroom is already a stretch).

 

[RoseGold]

You're running on Friday?

I'd book the more expensive room Thurs-Mon. You don't want to be moving marathon morning, you want to take a nap. BLT standard view is going to be very hard to get marathon weekend. I would not plan on it. That means you are moving twice, which I don't see as a big deal at all. Moving within the same hotel, you just bring your bags down and you can even get to them if you need to. Transfer between hotels can be less convenient.

You have to decide whether it's worth borrowing points to avoid moving. To me, it's not. I'd rather have a new view and a clean room, and less point cost. Moving is pretty much the only way to get housekeeping on your 7 day stay in a deluxe hotel.

 

[accm]

You're running on Friday?

I'd book the more expensive room Thurs-Mon. You don't want to be moving marathon morning, you want to take a nap. BLT standard view is going to be very hard to get marathon weekend. I would not plan on it. That means you are moving twice, which I don't see as a big deal at all. Moving within the same hotel, you just bring your bags down and you can even get to them if you need to. Transfer between hotels can be less convenient.

I'm planning on running all 4 days, and with the number of people in the room, including kids, I'd rather not have to move until the Monday, when the rest of our party will be leaving.
I'm significantly more risk averse than my husband. He thinks we should wait it out a bit longer, while I'm thinking we should just go ahead and book the lake view to make sure we don't end up having to move twice, or end up at a different resort.

 

[RoseGold]

There are about 15 standard view dedicated 2BR and about 74 lake. It is unlikely that you will get one of the 15 on such a peak travel time weekend, but possible, obviously.

I would be willing to split this, risk it, and see if it works, but it sounds like that isn't an option for you. I don't view moving as a big deal, and I think it's a positive to move after staying in one room that long. But if your party can't move, then maybe the solution is to just book the lake.

 

[accm]

There are about 15 standard view dedicated 2BR and about 74 lake. It is unlikely that you will get one of the 15 on such a peak travel time weekend, but possible, obviously.

I would be willing to split this, risk it, and see if it works, but it sounds like that isn't an option for you. I don't view moving as a big deal, and I think it's a positive to move after staying in one room that long. But if your party can't move, then maybe the solution is to just book the lake.

I didn't realize that there were only 15 standard view 2BR. Guess I should ask my husband if he'd rather spend the extra 25pts to stay at BLT or save the points and wait to book Kidani at 7 months.

 

[DaveNan]

I didn't realize that there were only 15 standard view 2BR. Guess I should ask my husband if he'd rather spend the extra 25pts to stay at BLT or save the points and wait to book Kidani at 7 months.

Marathon weekend books fast. I would not count on anything (Kidani, OKW, or even SSR) being available at 7 months. I would not drop an existing reservation until you have another in hand.