Strategy for mid-November 2020 BWV booking (Boardwalk Views)

Boardwalk III

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 1, 2001
Hi all,

We’re heading to Boardwalk next month for a short trip (home resort). In order to secure Boardwalk Views (for a 2BR and a studio) I started walking at least a month ahead last January as I knew early December would be difficult. Glad I did, but it was a pain!

Next trip we’re looking at is 2nd week of November next year. So I wanted to get a sense as to whether I’ll need to start walking that far ahead for that trip (i.e. start now)? Or can I wait until a week or so ahead (avoiding the Halloween rush).

Appreciate any thoughts anyone might have.

Many thanks!
 
Hi all,

We’re heading to Boardwalk next month for a short trip (home resort). In order to secure Boardwalk Views (for a 2BR and a studio) I started walking at least a month ahead last January as I knew early December would be difficult. Glad I did, but it was a pain!

Next trip we’re looking at is 2nd week of November next year. So I wanted to get a sense as to whether I’ll need to start walking that far ahead for that trip (i.e. start now)? Or can I wait until a week or so ahead (avoiding the Halloween rush).

Appreciate any thoughts anyone might have.

Many thanks!

For a 2BR, you'll need to walk.
 
Next year is the 50th celebration, all units will be very difficult to book from Oct 1st on for several months.
Good luck and have a nice walk.
 




My mistake, I've been planning our next 2 trips and I guess I had our 50th trip in my head when I replied. Thanks for correcting me.
 
I book 2br boardwalk view in Nov or Dec every other year. You should have already started the walk. Get your toe in asap if you can.

OK, so if the first day is already missing my best bet is to pick up the couple of days before that (which are open) and add day by day as they drop off, do I have that right? And assuming I can get to a full 7 day reservation, how often do I need to go online and move it? I’ve seen different opinions on this. Thanks again.
 
OK, so if the first day is already missing my best bet is to pick up the couple of days before that (which are open) and add day by day as they drop off, do I have that right? And assuming I can get to a full 7 day reservation, how often do I need to go online and move it? I’ve seen different opinions on this. Thanks again.

Yes, I would pick them up tonight if you can. Then tomorrow morning go on and try to modify it to add more nights. If you can’t add any right at 8 am, then try about 30 minutes later as those walking may have dropped.

Or, instead of modifying the 2 nights, go on right at 8 tMorris trying to start a trip on October 14th, pick up what you can and then try to merge them when the 13th is back available.
 
You cannot start a walk without the first day. I would just get on and be ready at 8am tomorrow and if you don't get it keep trying every day until you grab it. Once you get that first day your good to go, book your nights and move it once a week.
 
You cannot start a walk without the first day. I would just get on and be ready at 8am tomorrow and if you don't get it keep trying every day until you grab it. Once you get that first day your good to go, book your nights and move it once a week.

Correct. But if the days that were not available exactly at 11 mona few days ago are now available, someone can grab them, and then continue to add to it if there is indeed walking going on.

I have done this with success as walkers dropped days and then got lucky at. 8am to get a room as well that allowed me to now extend.
 
Correct. But if the days that were not available exactly at 11 mona few days ago are now available, someone can grab them, and then continue to add to it if there is indeed walking going on.

I have done this with success as walkers dropped days and then got lucky at. 8am to get a room as well that allowed me to now extend.


I seriously wish we could go back to the days when we had to call each day to book the rooms. Know I’m dating myself but one call right at 9:00 am for 7 days in a row did the trick! Thanks for all the tips :)
 
I seriously wish we could go back to the days when we had to call each day to book the rooms. Know I’m dating myself but one call right at 9:00 am for 7 days in a row did the trick! Thanks for all the tips :)
But that was because booking at 11 months wasn't as hard as it's now for certain booking categories. Now it would be a disaster. The problem is the high demand.
Let's say there are 100 available rooms and 200 people want them. Every day for a week 200 people try to book the only day they can, 11 months in advance. Only half of them will succeed, but each day a different set of people. Someone might get Monday, Thursday and Friday, another Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
The result is that no one will get the full week they want (or maybe only someone with "lottery winning" caliber luck). Then the game of chicken and stalking will begin. Who will give up and drop their nights first? Who will be fast enough to catch them as soon as they became available?
It would be 100x more stressful for everyone.
And add that not being able to get a full week may cause people to settle for shorter stays, causing housekeeping and front desk costs to spike as rooms are turned over more often.

So no, booking day by day would be a nightmare for everyone.
 
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But that was because booking at 11 months wasn't as hard as it's now for certain booking categories. Now it would be a disaster. The problem is the high demand.
Let's say there are 100 available rooms and 200 people want them. Every day for a week 200 people try to book the only day they can, 11 months in advance. Only half of them will succeed, but each day a different set of people. Someone might get Monday, Thursday and Friday, another Tuesdar, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
The result is that no one will get the full week they want (or maybe only someo e with "lottery winning" caliber luck). Then the game of chicken and stalking will begin. Who will give up and drop their nights first? Who will be fast enough to catch them as soon as they became available?
It would be 100x more stressful for everyone.
And add that not being able to get a full week may cause people to settle for shorter stays, causing housekeeping and front desk costs to spike as rooms are turned over more often.

So no, booking day by day would be a nightmare for everyone.

Good point, so what is the reason for higher demand? I assume the number of Boardwalk owners is the same if all points have been sold, so is it simply that people have become more competitive?
 
Good point, so what is the reason for higher demand? I assume the number of Boardwalk owners is the same if all points have been sold, so is it simply that people have become more competitive?

It’s demand for the SV and BW view rooms that are going so quickly. BWV owners can still book, without issue at 11 months, the garden/pool view room.

I bet more people have bought BWV via resale for specific Fall stays due to Food and Wine. I wonder if this is what has created the booking to become harder of those particular rooms.

I also wonder if people are booking earlier since competition of booking at 7 month is more difficult. When I first became a member, you could book trips at 5 or 6 months without a lot of trouble. Now, it’s tough.

I do think online booking has made it easier to book, which could play a role for sure, But I love having that option, even though it. Means I have to do a little more work if I want a hard to get room.
 
I assume the number of Boardwalk owners is the same if all points have been sold

Nope. Number of points is like a pan of cookies. All of them can be eaten by one person, or they can be cut into teeny squares to feed many.

When BWV was sold originally, it was a 230 point minimum. Over time, as minimums reduced, and people did things like "buy 25 points direct to be members," many small contracts have been sold and entered the system. Disney got the points to split down via ROFR and foreclosure.

There are more owners at BWV today than there were at "sell out." And many joined the party to have priority in Fall Frenzy.
 
Nope. Number of points is like a pan of cookies. All of them can be eaten by one person, or they can be cut into teeny squares to feed many.

When BWV was sold originally, it was a 230 point minimum. Over time, as minimums reduced, and people did things like "buy 25 points direct to be members," many small contracts have been sold and entered the system. Disney got the points to split down via ROFR and foreclosure.

There are more owners at BWV today than there were at "sell out." And many joined the party to have priority in Fall Frenzy.

Ah, got it, makes sense. And if I’m not mistaken Food & Wind and holiday decorations now overlap in November which ups the demand even more. Not to mention the rental market. Someone should go into business handling difficult bookings for DVC owners. I’d actually pay someone to not have to deal with this daily search at 8:00 am. Or perhaps someone already has!
 
But that was because booking at 11 months wasn't as hard as it's now for certain booking categories. Now it would be a disaster. The problem is the high demand.
Let's say there are 100 available rooms and 200 people want them. Every day for a week 200 people try to book the only day they can, 11 months in advance. Only half of them will succeed, but each day a different set of people. Someone might get Monday, Thursday and Friday, another Tuesdar, Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday.
The result is that no one will get the full week they want (or maybe only someo e with "lottery winning" caliber luck). Then the game of chicken and stalking will begin. Who will give up and drop their nights first? Who will be fast enough to catch them as soon as they became available?
It would be 100x more stressful for everyone.
And add that not being able to get a full week may cause people to settle for shorter stays, causing housekeeping and front desk costs to spike as rooms are turned over more often.

So no, booking day by day would be a nightmare for everyone.

Completely agree and I initially HATED the change when it was first introduced.

I seriously wish we could go back to the days when we had to call each day to book the rooms. Know I’m dating myself but one call right at 9:00 am for 7 days in a row did the trick! Thanks for all the tips :)

Day by day CALLING will never come back. The real reason for the change to booking from check out to check in was the burden on MS. DVCMC did not want to continue to add MS reps to handle the ever-increasing load. Peop!e are expensive and DVCMC is only allowed a fixed percentage of the operating budget.

i really hated the change at first and thought it absolutely unfair. However I soon realized it was for the good of the system overall for all the reasons zavandor mentioned.

I know it is frustrating when you can't get what you want. Unfortunately, there just aren't enough SV studios to satisfy everyone who wants them at some times of the year (and I know you already know th a and are just renting a bit). :)
 
You already got a lot of good answers, but I'd add another one: self fulfilling prophecy.
We WDW planners are really strange people, we can go great lenght to be sure to have our perfect vacation. I always cause astonishment when I tell someone what was happening just a few years ago with Cinderella Breakfast reservations. And still, when I tell people to book Be Our Guest or O'ahna 190 days in advance they don't believe me.
So now that online booking made it easier, people can start walking a reservation weeks in advance. It would probably not be required but you never know. This but you never know attitude is then actually causing availability problems and causing more people start walking because you never know. Often, we DVC members are our own worst enemies.
 

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