October CRAZY busy... or what?

[WiltonJohn]

Having tried to get 100 points worth of a DVC deluxe studio AKL savannah view (Jambo or Kidani )on the rental point market for ANYTIME in October (and into the first few days of November)......... for six nights ............ after a LOT of searching with multiple companies,........ got told by all of them (and also a DVC member I know) that there are NO studios (of any type of view/preference) at ANY DVC resort for 6 consecutive nights then!

We originally started looking at the 11 month window... and then again the day the 7 month window opened for us. No joy. Lost the last studio availability the day after the window opened and before a member picked up the points sale.

So I am wondering what is happening here. The person I know says that she has never seen it this way before. One of the companies I was dealing with has said the same thing.

Thinking aloud here. What could cause this?

Some big new thing that is happening then (with more impact than the F+W Fest and Halloween Party....which has always been there in October)?

Is Disney overselling the core DVC inventory? (More members than there are rooms to reasonably get.)

Are they holding more than usual room inventory for potential retail sale until they know that they are not going to sell it for the "big bucks", and then later releasing it into the DVC pool?

Is there a computer glitch on their inventory control and they are going to get blindsided?

Anyone have some thoughts (or inside info) on this?

We finally gave up and booked a Value resort at retail. Same dates... room booked almost instantly.

best,

..................john

[BrerGnat]

Well, a LOT of people plan trips that last week of October overlapping into November precisely to be able to attend BOTH the Halloween and Christmas Parties in the same trip.

[VWL Mom]

When we went to F&W last year I didn't have any booking problem at 7 months, this year is nuts. I don't know how many rooms they've pulled from inventory for refurb/construction but you do have 4 resorts tied up; BLT, BCV, AKL, and VWL. The last week in October is probably tough because you have the F&W Marathon that weekend. BTW, just checked and SSR studios are available from October 22nd through November.

[WiltonJohn]

We tried every week of October.... one after another..... starting with the third, and working forward. And then tried the last week... and also into the first week of Nov....... which of course hit the half marathon crowd.

And yes, Saratoga Springs had the most availability... but as of two days ago..... no 6 night long stretch. (Maybe more got put into inventory?)

We could get availability for two or 3 days in a block... but nothing longer. Seemed like every Fri, Sat, and Sun was totally booked very early. Interestingly we lost the 6 day stretch when the THURSDAY that week booked out (but Fri, Sat, and Sun still were OK).

best,

................john

[VWL Mom]

And yes, Saratoga Springs had the most availability... but as of two days ago..... no 6 night long stretch. (Maybe more got put into inventory?)


Right now it's wide open starting with October 22nd so you may want to try again in the morning.

[Fangorn]

There are a number of things going on here, I think. First, the is F&W. Then there are the Halloween parties in Sept/Oct and the Christmas parties starting in November. Then, as mentioned, there are several resorts with refurbs going on, so some number of rooms are out of inventory. Finally, remember that Sept through the first half of December is the time of the year when DVC rooms are the least expensive. All of which makes Fall the most desirable time to go for DVC members as a whole.

We're going down the last week of Sept and the first week of Oct, and had planned to do a split stay. We own at Poly, so booked the last week of those weeks at around the 8 month mark - not an issue. We were flexible on the first 6 days, as we wanted to experience different resorts anyway. As we got closer to the magical 7 month day, the options changed radically, to the point that what we had decided on the night before we could book, was not available at 5am (Pacific Time) the next morning. We did, unexpectedly, manage to get 3 nights at Beach Club and then 3 nights at Kidani. But of course that had to be done in 2 reservations and even more last minute changes of plans.

Steve

[TheDuckRocks]

Is Disney overselling the core DVC inventory? (More members than there are rooms to reasonably get.)

Are they holding more than usual room inventory for potential retail sale until they know that they are not going to sell it for the "big bucks", and then later releasing it into the DVC pool?

Both of these by Florida law should not be happening. I don't think even Disney would want to mess with the system on either of these issues.

Is there a computer glitch on their inventory control and they are going to get blindsided?

This is a very likely possibility. Can't begin to tell you of how many times in the past few months CMs have complained to me about the computers being down/not working right.

Good luck.

[Hammer]

There are a number of things going on here, I think. First, the is F&W. Then there are the Halloween parties in Sept/Oct and the Christmas parties starting in November. Then, as mentioned, there are several resorts with refurbs going on, so some number of rooms are out of inventory. Finally, remember that Sept through the first half of December is the time of the year when DVC rooms are the least expensive. All of which makes Fall the most desirable time to go for DVC members as a whole.


Steve

All of those reasons are exactly why you are having issues booking but I would also add you are trying to book a studio, which I think is the most popular category for many owners. John, as you are a new owner, you might not have the ability to sign into the DVC portal yet. So I checked studios for you while I was logged in to see about availability for my next stay of November 2-8 (I was looking for 2 bedroom for myself) as of tonight you could book a studio at Kidani, savanna view for those dates. If you own at Kidani, call Member Services tomorrow morning and see if you can book it!

[WiltonJohn]

Christine,

Thanks very much for getting that info. Appreciate the effort. Unfortunately we have already booked a Value for the original dates that we wanted in late October.

Our DVC membership is pending (ROFR is done) and we're waiting for closing docs... so we don't have access to the DVC site yet. Plus the points we'll need for what we want to do will not be available until a bit down the road anyway. So there was never an intent to use it for this trip. We wanted to get rental points for this one. So we were relegated to using the folks that do the rental points to do the research on availability for us.

Interestingly as of only a couple of days ago... those specific dates you mention for either Kidani or Jambo did NOT have any availability showing for either of the two companies that I was using to find a DVC point rental purchase. Both (independently) said that time was already booked up for savannah view studios. It was not that there were no members willing to pick up the points sale... but that there was no availability. In fact I got an email with a screen shot showing that graphic date table from one company. It would not have been to their advantage to "miss" the sale by misleading us (that I can see). So I'm guessing something changed.

So..... I think we are committed now. Airline tickets already booked too.

THANK YOU again for trying.

best,

......................john