Room Availability

[DisneyDoug85]

My family and i have just selected the dates for our next trip, we're thinking October 15th-22nd. We are still in the process of selecting a hotel. Just browsing disney's site and have come across numerous hotels that have next to no accommodations available for that week. I've looked at Beach Club, Wilderness Lodge, Contemporary, Animal Kingdom Lodge and Polynesian. They can't possibly already be sold out completely for a time of year that is supposed to be "slow" could they? Is this a case where they just haven't released rooms for booking yet? Anybody have any experience or guess as to what this is? Thanks for any help you can give me

 

[Tuvalu]

There is no "slow" time anymore. October is a popular month due to Food and Wine Festival and MNSSHP. Also, many schools have a fall break or long weekend for Columbus Day. Disney doesn't typically hold back rooms for future booking unless there is refurbishment going on, which is the case with WL and Beach Club. Poly doesn't have as many rooms available anymore due to a large part of the resort being DVC. You may have to be flexible with your dates to stay where you want, and keep checking back.

 

[DisneyDoug85]

There is no "slow" time anymore. October is a popular month due to Food and Wine Festival and MNSSHP. Also, many schools have a fall break or long weekend for Columbus Day. Disney doesn't typically hold back rooms for future booking unless there is refurbishment going on, which is the case with WL and Beach Club. Poly doesn't have as many rooms available anymore due to a large part of the resort being DVC. You may have to be flexible with your dates to stay where you want, and keep checking back.

ok thanks. when i was younger and going with my parents, we always went very end of july into august and it was always packed. A couple years ago we went end of september and it was relatively empty for the most part. The one exception being for the MNSSHP which i believe we attended on a weekend night (mistake). I had done some research on best times of year to go to avoid big crowds and almost every site i came across had october as a great time to go. We are fairly flexible with the dates we could go but a couple of the people coming along have jobs that require a lot of notice for vacations and have already put in their requests. We thought we'd avoid the Columbus day weekend (oct10th) crowd by going the following weekend (the 15th). bummer

 

[polarboi]

You might try searching those same dates one night at a time. (For instance, you can search for rooms available Oct 15-16, and then search for 16-17, and then 17-18, etc.) That way, you can figure out if the hotel you want is really unavailable that entire week, or if it's just booked on one particular night during your stay, and that's why it's showing as unavailable for the week.

If you find out it's just a particular night or subset of your trip causing the problem but you really want to stay there, you still have several options:
1. Shift the dates of your trip to avoid the problematic dates.
2. Split the trip between two hotels; lots of folks do this and Disney can have your bags moved.
3. Keep checking back to see if those other dates free up.
4. Call and talk to a human being who may have more information than is available on the website.

I've actually done all of these things with decent success. Good luck!

 

[DisneyDoug85]

You might try searching those same dates one night at a time. (For instance, you can search for rooms available Oct 15-16, and then search for 16-17, and then 17-18, etc.) That way, you can figure out if the hotel you want is really unavailable that entire week, or if it's just booked on one particular night during your stay, and that's why it's showing as unavailable for the week.

If you find out it's just a particular night or subset of your trip causing the problem but you really want to stay there, you still have several options:
1. Shift the dates of your trip to avoid the problematic dates.
2. Split the trip between two hotels; lots of folks do this and Disney can have your bags moved.
3. Keep checking back to see if those other dates free up.
4. Call and talk to a human being who may have more information than is available on the website.

I've actually done all of these things with decent success. Good luck!

i actually had just thought about that, so ill go ahead and try finding out if its just a day or two that week, or the entire week that is the problem. Also, we've never split our trip between two hotels but i thought about that a while back and love the idea of doing so. I think my next step is as you said in #4, try and talk to a human haha. thanks for your suggestions!

btw, we usually hold off on booking until the room discounts or free dining are available. this may be a situation where we need to get our rooms reserved in advance and then when the discounts come out, get the difference refunded back to us.

 

[ekutchey]

I agree I would call directly. Based on your selections it may have to do with refurbishment and construction as BC, WL and Contemporary will all be going through these through out this year into next. As well as MNSSHP it is also Food and Wine Festival in Epcot which is a very popular and highly attended event. It is true now with all the festivals and events Disney truly is never not "busy" but there are less crowded times of year. To be honest the last week in August and first two weeks in September are the least crowded of the year.

 

[DisneyDoug85]

I agree I would call directly. Based on your selections it may have to do with refurbishment and construction as BC, WL and Contemporary will all be going through these through out this year into next. As well as MNSSHP it is also Food and Wine Festival in Epcot which is a very popular and highly attended event. It is true now with all the festivals and events Disney truly is never not "busy" but there are less crowded times of year. To be honest the last week in August and first two weeks in September are the least crowded of the year.

Thanks for your input. One of the reasons we selected mid october was that we'll be traveling with 2 two year olds and a 5 year old. We'd like to avoid extreme hot temps like in the summer/early fall. We figured october is a nice mix of "hot enough to swim, but not too hot", as well as avoiding major crowds with school being in at that point. guess we will see about the room availability. thanks again

 

[Polydweller]

You have picked the week of the Gartner Symposium which runs the 16th to 20th. They pack hotels across the property. Yes, they could have filled those resorts.

 

[DisneyDoug85]

You have picked the week of the Gartner Symposium which runs the 16th to 20th. They pack hotels across the property. Yes, they could have filled those resorts.

well that would explain it...just my luck. Thanks for your help! looks like I'll be looking to adjust the dates of my trip a bit...I thought something had to be up that week, we usually wait to book until the discounts or meal plan is available and still never have trouble with reservations. Sometimes waiting till may or june for a september vacation. Thanks again!