Getting Reservations

[Tabteacher]

I am so discouraged. Anytime I try I can not ever find rooms & dates available. Is there some secret I'm missing? Like come on a certain day? Stay a certain length of time?
We are retired & pretty flexible. I refuse to go in hot weather tho. As a school teacher & a family with a son, we went I think 7 times in the summer. No more. We went once in Nov. after we retired & loved it. We have PINs sometimes. We try as soon as a special comes out.
We are not traveling with kids. So we do not want to stay in a Value Resort. We have stayed at CB & not crazy about it, mostly because of the size. We stayed at Dixie Landings-I know it has a different name now. We thought it lacked theming. We stayed at the Disney Inn before it was Shades of Green.
We liked WL, AK, YC. I hated Saratoga!!
The only theming we saw was one horse statue. Room was in poor condition.
I do not want a view of a roof or parking lot.
I had a PIN & they said 2 adults at the Polynesian or Contemporary for 5 nights with tickets & dining was almost $10,000!!
We tried AAA & the lady had the public website. She said we couldn't get any discounts. We tried a travel agent & the possibilities she gave us were nothing like we requested.
I don't understand how when I chose dates on the web site usually the only rooms open are value, or the cabins, or Saratoga. Those are dates with no specials.
What am I missing?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You may simply be looking in a period with high bookings. There's not really any secret other than that some times of year are very heavily booked 6+ months in advance. October of this year is looking crazy, for instance.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I would just keep playing around with dates and lengths of stay. You could also contact an EarMarked travel agency that deals exclusively with Disney. They may be able to steer you in the right direction. AAA agents typically aren't Disney specialists and AAA no longer has a partnership with Disney for discounts.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Play around with adding a day on either side of the trip. I had the same problem in March when I was trying to book for a supposed "not crowded" time in December.

The Contemporary had a length of stay requirement on certain rooms, so I had to add a night.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Btw I am very envious of your pin code!!! I keep checking my email every day in hopes of receiving one.lol

Have a wonderful trip!

 

[Tabteacher]

You may simply be looking in a period with high bookings. There's not really any secret other than that some times of year are very heavily booked 6+ months in advance. October of this year is looking crazy, for instance.

Thanks. Last year we had the last 2 weeks of Oct., all of Nov., & the first 2 weeks of Dec. open when we could go. Still couldn't find dates & rooms.

 

[Tabteacher]

I would just keep playing around with dates and lengths of stay. You could also contact an EarMarked travel agency that deals exclusively with Disney. They may be able to steer you in the right direction. AAA agents typically aren't Disney specialists and AAA no longer has a partnership with Disney for discounts.

Thanks. It was a Disney specialist. And my friends swore they went thru AAA in Dec. of 14. But maybe they still had the partnership then.

 

[Tabteacher]

Play around with adding a day on either side of the trip. I had the same problem in March when I was trying to book for a supposed "not crowded" time in December.

The Contemporary had a length of stay requirement on certain rooms, so I had to add a night.

I've heard that. Thanks. I will keep trying.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

The last two weeks of October this year are crazy. If any one day of your stay is unavailable, it will all show unavailable. October and November are absolutely a new high season. Last December, you also ran into Osborne Lights Mania.

 

[Eeyore's My Favorite]

The time period while Food & Wine is going on is very hard to get a room at any of the moderates or deluxes. I'm an AP holder & have been looking for later in November but rates are super high if there is room availability. We don't go weekends ever. Too crowded so we usually check in on Mondays & out on Thursdays which sometimes will help. We love POR & usually book a preferred room there but I'm hoping to try something different this year. I don't want to book a room & then not be able to apply a discount to it when they come out. Good luck. It does take a lot of time & effort to get a room nowadays.

 

[Hopefully]

Thanks. Last year we had the last 2 weeks of Oct., all of Nov., & the first 2 weeks of Dec. open when we could go. Still couldn't find dates & rooms.

Are you saying you couldn't find anything or you couldn't find anything with a discount or code? This is now a busy time of year. Disney doesn't need to offer discounts to fill the rooms. You may need to try a different season to get what you are hoping for

 

[Jadyreen1282]

We book one year out. We never have difficulty finding a room. Since we go every year we never have difficulty getting a bounce back deal either.

Disney takes serious planning or a serious planner such as a TA if you can't plan that far out and are having difficulty. Make is easier and hire a TA.

 

[Tabteacher]

Are you saying you couldn't find anything or you couldn't find anything with a discount or code? This is now a busy time of year. Disney doesn't need to offer discounts to fill the rooms. You may need to try a different season to get what you are hoping for

We are 2 adults with no children. We aren't going to stay at a Value Resort. Other than that all they would tell us was available was club level. We were not a year out, but probably at least 6 months. We asked what they had available without the pin also.
What season do you suggest? Or months? Summer is out. Can't stand hear & humidity. Thanks.

 

[Tabteacher]

We book one year out. We never have difficulty finding a room. Since we go every year we never have difficulty getting a bounce back deal either.

Disney takes serious planning or a serious planner such as a TA if you can't plan that far out and are having difficulty. Make is easier and hire a TA.

Who do you suggest as a Disney TA? I got quotes from one, but it was like they didn't read anything I put down. They gave me a quote for one resort in each of the three levels. When I replied via email, they never responded back.
I didn't know how to make them understand we had a 2 month window. They always ask for exact dates. I have that problem if we call WDW reservation line too.
Thanks.

 

[kayteekt]

We are 2 adults with no children. We aren't going to stay at a Value Resort. Other than that all they would tell us was available was club level. We were not a year out, but probably at least 6 months. We asked what they had available without the pin also.
What season do you suggest? Or months? Summer is out. Can't stand hear & humidity. Thanks.

As far as a season where heat is out, i would choose late January or February.
Also, early December may be a good time in between holidays.

As for the deals, they won't come out until around 6 mos before, but you can always book earlier and then get the discount applied/re-book/modify when discounts come out.

You may look into POFQ, it's the only non-deluxe we're have any interest in staying at these days.

For the most part we've always booked less than 180 days. Just did a last min trip in April, booked less than a month out, found availability. We have an ann trip planned for end of june - 1st of july and was able to switch from swan to poly last week at a very good rate (35% off) and there is still availability.

I'm surprised to find you're having that much trouble :/ best of luck to you!

 

[kayteekt]

Who do you suggest as a Disney TA? I got quotes from one, but it was like they didn't read anything I put down. They gave me a quote for one resort in each of the three levels. When I replied via email, they never responded back.
I didn't know how to make them understand we had a 2 month window. They always ask for exact dates. I have that problem if we call WDW reservation line too.
Thanks.

I do know what you mean, you have to give them exact dates. May be better to fool around with it on the website, then when you know what you want, call in.

 

[mustlovecats]

Who do you suggest as a Disney TA? I got quotes from one, but it was like they didn't read anything I put down. They gave me a quote for one resort in each of the three levels. When I replied via email, they never responded back.
I didn't know how to make them understand we had a 2 month window. They always ask for exact dates. I have that problem if we call WDW reservation line too.
Thanks.

I understand your frustration, if you tell people on this board what you are looking for they might be able to see if anything is open and what discounts can be applied. I recall that most of the discounts offered for deluxes seemed to be almost exclusively for club level rooms. I know it's hard, but try not to be discouraged. Sites like Orbitz and Expedia may have different and/or more availability than Disney's website.

There are probably hundreds if not thousands of different possibilities if you only give them a two month window, they can't possibly check them all but if you give them several specific ranges I'm sure they would be able to be more helpful. The travel agency that runs this board does a good job and they should be able to help you.

ETA: I just searched 10/30-11/4 using the back to school offer (since those are the latest dates available with that offer and I think you want November/December). There is a pool view room at AKL which has arguably the best theme for $3122 which includes 5 day PH tickets and the regular DP.

 

[Kimberly9701]

We are 2 adults with no children. We aren't going to stay at a Value Resort. Other than that all they would tell us was available was club level. We were not a year out, but probably at least 6 months. We asked what they had available without the pin also.
What season do you suggest? Or months? Summer is out. Can't stand hear & humidity. Thanks.

I booked 65 days out last year, and did end up getting exactly what I wanted! (Until I tried to extend).

I understand your frustration! You have to go day by day on the website. Even if you call the person on the phone has to do the same. There is no calendar that they look at.

When I tried to book for first week of December '16 I had a lot of problems with availability. But like I said before, I extended 1 night to make it work.

It's time consuming!

I used a travel agent this time (friend of a friend). And she is wonderful!! Last year I didn't go thru her, but she mailed maps of WDW with tips to me..I just thought that was so nice! (Was my 1st trip to WDW with kiddo and I was very stressed trying to plan "perfectly")

It doesn't cost you anything extra.
That said, I am a control freak and still am doing all of the planning myself, but if I wanted to I could sit back and let her do it. She's been great recommending transportation options to port etc with my cruise as well.

If you want her info I can pm you, she'll get back to you asap.

If you want to do it yourself that's fine too, just keep playing with dates and you will find something!

Don't give up! There is a light at the end of the tunnel!

 

[Lynne M]

The travel agency that runs this board does a good job and they should be able to help you.

www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com

 

[DisneyWithAMilitaryTwist]

We booked Shades of Green because we have 7 going and our budget is somewhat tight since we want to do NSSM. We're going in October, received special rate, breakfast included. Doing the extras this really helped. Overall I've seen really good reviews on the resort, but we were willing to give up theming for Spirit of Aloha and NSSM.