Can someone tell me what's going on with the reservation system...?

[TestTrack]

So today I decided we wanted to add two days to our stay which would be April 18-20th. So I call up and they say...no problem. I tell them to hold on for a bit while I go call Delta to make sure I can change my flight. I call back...no availability...anywhere. This is actually true from searching the reservation system until about the end of May. Then suddenly there is availability no problem.

Its even weirder because if I look for a room from the 13-20th...there is availability. If I just search for the 18th-20th...nothing.

Has anyone seen this before? They mentioned that the annual pass discount came out today...are they locking down rooms for that and I just can't see them because I don't have an annual pass?

 

[Monty]

AP Discount will have TA's "holding" rooms until they can reach their clients to confirm if they want the AP discount on their current booking or a better resort for a slight increase as a result of the discount. Once they get an answer, they release one or the other room. Thus availability may fluctuate. Also, each guest who checks a room has a certain timeframe to book before it returns to inventory.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Also, each guest who checks a room has a certain timeframe to book before it returns to inventory.

Correct - when it is in your "shopping cart" you have a temp hold on it and they may even hold it a little longer than you expect in case you decide to return and check it again, then eventually a process releases it back into inventory.

 

[LAKid53]

Correct - when it is in your "shopping cart" you have a temp hold on it and they may even hold it a little longer than you expect in case you decide to return and check it again, then eventually a process releases it back into inventory.

Which, according to the CM I spoke with once, is about 15 minutes.

 

[TestTrack]

Thanks guys I think that makes sense. Hopefully they get released really soon! One thing that still makes no sense to me...if you search for 4/18-4/20...no availability pretty much anywhere. Search for 4/15-4/20...no availability....but search for 4/13-4/20...suddenly there are at least quite a few options. The only reasoning I can see for this is searching in the discount window only gives you rooms on the discounted rate...if you include a time outside this window it suddenly throws you back to rack rate...stupid.

 

[JSkellington#31]

The actual day of the week sometimes will make a difference.We have weekday passes so I like to book Sunday leaving on Saturday, this splits the weekend and limits the availability. This coupled with all the different types of discounts Disney offers makes finding a room available for enough consecutive nights sometimes challenging.

 

[LAKid53]

If you're trying to add days to your April trip this year, remember that (1) Animal Kingdom's 20th anniversary is April 22nd, which is also Earth Day and (2) that same weekend is the Star Wars Dark Side Half marathon.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Thanks guys I think that makes sense. Hopefully they get released really soon! One thing that still makes no sense to me...if you search for 4/18-4/20...no availability pretty much anywhere. Search for 4/15-4/20...no availability....but search for 4/13-4/20...suddenly there are at least quite a few options. The only reasoning I can see for this is searching in the discount window only gives you rooms on the discounted rate...if you include a time outside this window it suddenly throws you back to rack rate...stupid.

They also began adding rules 2 years ago or so where they are enforcing some type of minimal stays - but it greatly varies by resort and dates and days and offer...

 

[Dave B]

Thanks guys I think that makes sense. Hopefully they get released really soon! One thing that still makes no sense to me...if you search for 4/18-4/20...no availability pretty much anywhere. Search for 4/15-4/20...no availability....but search for 4/13-4/20...suddenly there are at least quite a few options. The only reasoning I can see for this is searching in the discount window only gives you rooms on the discounted rate...if you include a time outside this window it suddenly throws you back to rack rate...stupid.

So you can book the 4/13-4/20 and then call into Disney and they will remove the days that you do not want, tell them your plans changed and you cant make all the dates you originally booked, it has never been an issue for us