resort availaibility oddity for early summer..

[havoc315]

In playing around with adjusting my own trip, I noticed something very unusual..
The Epcot area resorts are booked almost totally solid from 6/28-7/2.
At first, I attributed it to July 4th crowds -- But there is actually a good amount of availability from 7/2-7/4.
Yes, free dining likely caused increased booking during that window..... But why would it affect the Epcot area more than other resort areas?
The second free dining window (July 5th) still has plenty of availability also.

So what the heck is going on from 6/28-7/2?? There is no Epcot festival occurring around that time.
Has Disney pulled roomed out of inventory for that week? Maybe they are planning on opening the France expansion that week and are setting aside rooms for it??

 

[Dave B]

I think you had a lot of people take advantage of the free dining promo that stated with the June 28 and 29 check in date and they probably booked thru the 4th of July weekend, so the openings for July 5, 6, and 7 are widely open still as people probably wanted to be there for the 4th of July

 

[Disstevefan1]

In playing around with adjusting my own trip, I noticed something very unusual..
The Epcot area resorts are booked almost totally solid from 6/28-7/2.
At first, I attributed it to July 4th crowds -- But there is actually a good amount of availability from 7/2-7/4.
Yes, free dining likely caused increased booking during that window..... But why would it affect the Epcot area more than other resort areas?
The second free dining window (July 5th) still has plenty of availability also.

So what the heck is going on from 6/28-7/2?? There is no Epcot festival occurring around that time.
Has Disney pulled roomed out of inventory for that week? Maybe they are planning on opening the France expansion that week and are setting aside rooms for it??

To paraphrase the late great Yogi Berra, “No one goes to WDW 7/2 - 7/4, it’s too crowded

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

I'm sure it had a lot to do with FD and the fact that Deluxe resorts get the DDP.
As to why EPCOT resorts in particular? The ability to get to 2 parks with ease.

 

[havoc315]

I think you had a lot of people take advantage of the free dining promo that stated with the June 28 and 29 check in date and they probably booked thru the 4th of July weekend, so the openings for July 5, 6, and 7 are widely open still as people probably wanted to be there for the 4th of July

But July 2nd-July 4th is wide open. I'd expect those people to stay through the weekend! And why would free diners show a strong preference for the Epcot area over all the other resorts at Disney?
Nah, free dining doesn't explain it.

 

[havoc315]

I'm sure it had a lot to do with FD and the fact that Deluxe resorts get the DDP.
As to why EPCOT resorts in particular? The ability to get to 2 parks with ease.

"2 parks with ease" is year round. But typically, the Magic Kingdom resorts face more demand. As Magic Kingdom is more popular than the other 2 parks combined!

 

[wdwmagic]

In playing around with adjusting my own trip, I noticed something very unusual..
The Epcot area resorts are booked almost totally solid from 6/28-7/2.
At first, I attributed it to July 4th crowds -- But there is actually a good amount of availability from 7/2-7/4.
Yes, free dining likely caused increased booking during that window..... But why would it affect the Epcot area more than other resort areas?
The second free dining window (July 5th) still has plenty of availability also.

So what the heck is going on from 6/28-7/2?? There is no Epcot festival occurring around that time.
Has Disney pulled roomed out of inventory for that week? Maybe they are planning on opening the France expansion that week and are setting aside rooms for it??

The Epcot resorts are popular with convention groups. In the past, Microsoft had a convention and took pretty much every room at yacht, Beach, Boardwalk and Swan/Dolphin.

 

[havoc315]

The Epcot resorts are popular with convention groups. In the past, Microsoft had a convention and took pretty much every room at yacht, Beach, Boardwalk and Swan/Dolphin.

That's most likely it... though it really wouldn't be a typical week for most conventions. There is a dance competition at the Dolphin matching those exact dates --- So that could be it.