New policy for reservations based on check IN date

[Gizmo1951]

I found out about the new policy this morning when I made my May 09
BC reservations and mentioned I needed to call tomorrow to request my
OKW GV resvations day by day starting tomorrow.

I was happily surprised I was able to get everything arranged in one call.
It is a family trip for our 35th Anniversary and we can't wait.

 

[Chuck S]

So if you want, say a 9 or 10 night reservation, you call in at 11 months on the fist day, then again in the middle? Or you call once, just in the middle and hope the first couple of nights aren't gone? Boy, am I ever glad I own at OKW, where there is sally plenty of availability for my travel dates! I'd absolutely hate this new system for BWV, BCV, or VWL. Especially for December reservations.

 

[kdepot]

If that's the case, MS may need to have a policy where later modifications where the check-in date is dropped from the reservation would require that the reservation would be cancelled and rebooked - allowing the waitlist to pick up any freed up dates in the meantime.

I like this plan! It would slow down abuse.

 

[Disneyhappy]

I am also going to reserve judgment. I initailly liked this change but then I thought about the ADRs I made at 180 days (plus 10) out for Thanksgiving week. I could not get a single dinner reservation for 5 people at Le Cellier for the whole week. I settled for lunch. I can definitely see potential for abuse but I am sure Disney will be on top of it.

 

[PEANUT1]

I am pretty excited about this.

 

[ead79]

I like this from a stress-reduction perspective. When I was making our reservations for our mid-December stay in a concierge 1 BR villa at AKV, calling day by day right at 9:00 AM was pretty stressful. It would be nice to only have to make 1 phone call and know where you stand for the whole trip. However, it may make it harder to get the highly sought after rooms (like the concierge rooms or GV's), since portions of your stay may have already been booked by folks who called earlier with dates that overlap yours.

I do like this idea from the perspective of those who want to change to a resort other than their home resort at the 7 month window. With this system, I will call at book something at AKV (my home resort) at the 11 month window. Then for those trips where I'd like to stay at another DVC resort, I can call at the 7 month window and know right away whether my entire stay can be accommodated or not. It's nice to not wind up with a bunch of days spread around between different resorts.

 

[Disney_Villain]

I like this plan! It would slow down abuse.

I wrote a letter to the DVC Member Satisfaction Team, outlining Doc's idea as to how to prevent abuse of the system (even if they have already considered it). I really like this change!

 

[kgc07]

I'm glad I got my concierge stay booked. I have a feeling this is going to be my last one. It's going to be impossible to try to get a stay with the new booking rules. When somone tries to call, part or all of their stay is probably going to be already taken by someone who checked in a day or two earlier.

 

[ead79]

I am also going to reserve judgment. I initailly liked this change but then I thought about the ADRs I made at 180 days (plus 10) out for Thanksgiving week. I could not get a single dinner reservation for 5 people at Le Cellier for the whole week. I settled for lunch. I can definitely see potential for abuse but I am sure Disney will be on top of it.

I too had trouble getting reservations for Le Cellier for dinner during mid-December. I think this may be due to Disney holding back tables for the Candlelight Processional dinner packages rather than to guest abuse (though I'm sure that does happen). Don't give up yet--maybe they will release some more tables at the same time they release CP dinner packages for booking.

 

[Starshine]

Kim, thanks so much for posting this! I just booked our May 2009 BWV trip already instead of having to wait until next week.

 

[disneydisneydoo]

I don't have a very good feeling about this. What happens when you call on the first day and it's not available. Do you waitlist that one day at that point and then call back the next day and try to book the rest of the trip as a different reservation? The same issues will exist at the 7-month window that exist at the 11 month window. Yes, it will be great to just know you have the reservation up front, but I think this change will probably decrease the chances of getting what you want. I think those that are able to be very flexible with their dates will have the best shot here - especially once this gets up and running and we start to understand where the difficulties in booking are.

Also, if you are only allowed to book 7 nights with this - it's going to make Xmas/New Years really difficult. Christmas Eve through New Years Day is more than 7 nights. There are probably other times of the year like this as well.

 

[jarestel]

Simpler is better, IMO, so this is a good thing. As with any change to SOP, someone is going to feel shortchanged but I suspect the vast majority of DVC members don't call day by day anyway so the only change for them is going to be the day on which they make their one phone call.

Regarding Doc's scenario of the sneaky & nefarious using 7 day reservations to get a jump on others, well if it is within the rules as currently understood, then it is no more "gaming the system" than is the current practice of calling day-by-day to ensure one gets what one wants. Neither is "bad", just members using the rules to their advantage. As long as there isn't a rule against it, everyone is free to make 7 day reservations and cancel the Fri-Sat portion just as everyone is currently free to make day-by-day calls.

Probably not even worth $.02, but that's how I see it.

 

[mla973]

I have no clue why MS makes a great improvement and then doesn't let people know. They should have some sort of email system when things change. The only time they email me now is to buy more points!

 

[WebmasterCricket]

...As long as there isn't a rule against it, everyone is free to make 7 day reservations and cancel the Fri-Sat portion just as everyone is currently free to make day-by-day calls.

That will only apply if you have the points to make the "fake" Fri-Sat portion of a reservation if the ending reservation is from Sun-Thurs. Larger contracts now have an unfair advantage if that situation applies. I have 3 contracts that use the bank-borrow for 3 total years of points with the 11 month advantage going Sun-Thurs and I don't have enough to make a 7 day reservation in many cases.

I can't see any real advantage other than DVC member services taking fewer calls. The days of knowing you could get a day at 11 months for difficult rooms is gone. Now it's a crapshoot just like priority seating roulette has become.

 

[Caren]

I'll tell you, this thread is making me rethink buying DVC when we go down next month. It sounds like it's easier to dine with Cinderella in the castle than to make a DVC reservation.

 

[dopeyone]

So you're saying if I'm checking in on Thur. and leaving Mon. I could make reservations from the Mon before my actual check in date until the next Mon. my check out date, then cancel the Mon,Tues., Wed ? Oh I see this happening !

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Regarding Doc's scenario of the sneaky & nefarious using 7 day reservations to get a jump on others, well if it is within the rules as currently understood, then it is no more "gaming the system" than is the current practice of calling day-by-day to ensure one gets what one wants. Neither is "bad", just members using the rules to their advantage. As long as there isn't a rule against it, everyone is free to make 7 day reservations and cancel the Fri-Sat portion just as everyone is currently free to make day-by-day calls.

Probably not even worth $.02, but that's how I see it.

Actually Doc's scenario IS different than calling day-by-day under the current rules because it involves booking nights you DO NOT WANT OR PLAN TO USE to get a better chance at nights you do want. There is absolutely no advantage to this under the current rules. It definitely rewards those who have more points and can book more "spec" bookings with little or no risk.

And the cure for this "scenario" may be worse than the disease. From time to time, we have had plans change and have dropped nights from our reservation. For example, we planned to arrive on Firday, but airfare was substantially cheaper on Saturday, so we want to arrive a day later. Having 7 nights cancel just because you need to drop a single night seems unfair in the extreme. Sure looks like the system is moving more towards encouraging 7 night stays.

I undersand that Worldmark has a similar system, with no requirement that all 7 nights be at the same resort, but nights cannot be cancelled from the reservation. To get the high demand nights, members book the cheapest possible nights for the nights they don't plan to stay in order to guarantee that they have the first opportunity book the nights they really want. With a "no cancellation policy" as suggested, value studios may get booked for Fri/Sat night stays as the "cost" of getting advance booking for the Sun-TH 2 BR concierge reservation.

And, of course, there are lots of questions still to be answered about this new booking policy. If the first night is unavailable, can you still book the remaining 6 nights? After booking 7 nights, can you call the next day to get an eighth day, and then the next night for a ninth day and so-on?

I agree that the old system gave every member a level playing field. -- Suzanne

 

[wildernessDad]

I must have worn MS out on my very recent concierge booking.

 

[WebmasterCricket]

Having 7 nights cancel just because you need to drop a single night seems unfair in the extreme.

That's the only way I can see to combat the issue though. It would level the playing field again. No one owning member should have an advantage over another member and that's the boat we are all in unless this is how it will work.

 

[jarestel]

Actually Doc's scenario IS different than calling day-by-day under the current rules because it involves booking nights you DO NOT WANT OR PLAN TO USE to get a better chance at nights you do want. There is absolutely no advantage to this under the current rules. It definitely rewards those who have more points and can book more "spec" bookings with little or no risk.

The point is if there's no rule against either, those who employ the strategies aren't doing anything but utilizing the rules to their advantage. IMO, that's what a smart member does. Now obviously when one strategy works best for a certain individual, they will understandably prefer that over another.

But since we haven't seen anything in writing about this new policy, it seems a little premature to get ourselves worked up over something that might or might not be a real issue.