Number of People Walking

Status
Not open for further replies.

DougEMG

DIS Veteran
DVC Gold
Joined
Aug 14, 2008
I had originally planned to book a room at BWV for Sept 30, 2019 at the 11 month mark. A few days ahead of time I started checking online to see what availability was like and what I noticed was it appeared that rooms were being walked. On Sept 27, nothing was available for Sept 27. Then on Sept 28, Sept 28 had nothing available but now Sept 27 became available. Same thing happened on Sept 29.

So on Sept 30 I made sure I was online right at 8am to book but the room disappeared before I could grab it. Sept 29 though suddenly became available. Bad luck for me. First time ever that I haven't been quick enough at opening to get what I wanted.

17 hours later I was a little bored and was curious how many rooms had opened back up for Sept 29th. So I started booking 1 night stays for Sept 29-30 (Sept 30 is still currently unavailable). After booking 4 rooms and there still being another room available, I quit that and released all the rooms.

So I was a little surprised at the results. At least 5 people walking rooms, all of who managed to modify/book at 8am before I got in at 8am.

Currently I have a waitlist for Sept 30 and plan to be online at 8am again on Sept 31 to see if I have any better luck. If I do get a room, at least one person walking is going to have their walk broken as I'm looking to keep the nights I book.
 
I've been watching Club and Value rooms at AKV for the last month or so. Club hasn't had a single chance at even trying to get in at 11 months. They have all been booked at least 2 days into 11 months all the time and then days are becoming available behind each day. Value has had chances most days but very few as they are gone immediately (if you wait 1-2 seconds at 8AM you're too late). They also show back up the next day but at least you've got a shot most days. It took me a week of trying each morning at 8 to get into a value studio.
 
I grabbed the last AKV concierge studio room that was showing available at the 11 month window a month ago. I had to try more than a dozen mornings in order to snag it. It always disappeared before I could pull the trigger.

Until it didn’t. Happy dance morning!

Since then, they’re all being walked out past availability at the 11 month window.

I admit it; I’m one of them. And. Unless I trip up somewhere, I’m walking it to the very end of Fall, Dec 22, in order to have concierge access (90 day out FPs) for the start of Star Wars.

I’ve been walking since the end of September (for dates starting end of August) and I’m going to walk until late Dec.

If not me, somebody else.

Although, I admit that I probably wouldn’t do this by phone; that’d be way to much effort. Online modification is no effort at all.
 
Last edited:


I’ve been walking since the end of August and I’m going to walk until late Dec.
I was wondering about this. Given the specific popularity of Jambo Concierge, and the apparent walking of every studio, if one were taken out service for a planned repair downstream from 11 months, wouldn’t walking into that be the equivalent of walking at 7 months?

In other words, if there is a planned repair right before Thanksgiving 2019, wouldn’t it be a race for all walkers each day to book at 8am so as to not be left holding he bag? If every last Concierge room is being walked, the only guarantee you don’t hit a service block would be to be among the first X walkers of all the walkers to do 11+7; modifying daily right at 8am.

If you believed this to be a real risk, would you still be willing to walk three months if needed to be done daily?
 
I'm experiencing the exact same issue with Boardwalk and Bay Lake std. I'm checking every day-- even at 8am-- and getting nothing.

It was never this hard in past years for a std room. We want a 2bd. I'll just keep trying...
 
I was wondering about this. Given the specific popularity of Jambo Concierge, and the apparent walking of every studio, if one were taken out service for a planned repair downstream from 11 months, wouldn’t walking into that be the equivalent of walking at 7 months?

In other words, if there is a planned repair right before Thanksgiving 2019, wouldn’t it be a race for all walkers each day to book at 8am so as to not be left holding he bag? If every last Concierge room is being walked, the only guarantee you don’t hit a service block would be to be among the first X walkers of all the walkers to do 11+7; modifying daily right at 8am.

If you believed this to be a real risk, would you still be willing to walk three months if needed to be done daily?
Between that possibility and the possibility of just outright forgetting to move the dates, I figure the actual odds of being successful here are far less than 100%. Maybe 70%. I like those odds, though.

Not enough to call in to make this work. That’d be too much work vs odds. I don’t have to do that.

I only have 100 AKV points, so I’m only walking 4 days. I think most of the others are walking a full week.

I almost lost the walk because I was walking every third day and couldn’t modify online on a Sunday. I finally called and did that by phone. Whew!

So. Now I shift the dates every other day.

Honestly, with online modification, walking is going to be an exponentially bigger thing. I expect a change to curb it some although I doubt they’ll eliminate it completely. I just hope they wait a few more months ...

That’s a bigger concern (a rule change that stops my walk) than a room taken out of service a year in advance.
 


Honestly, with online modification, walking is going to be an exponentially bigger thing. I expect a change to curb it some although I doubt they’ll eliminate it completely. I just hope they wait a few more months ...
I suspect walking is becoming the norm and there is no question the modify tool makes it a (mostly) risk free endeavor. Whether or not DVCMC does anything about it? I doubt it. Rooms get filled. People complain, but it's not like members are jumping ship.

Until there is a real financial impact from members' inconvenience of needing to wait for walkers to pass, or get on a waitlist, I don't see anything being done about it. The reason the modify tool was created (the source of easy walking) was to save money not having to pay CMs to deal with simple modifications. Good luck getting the mouse to give that savings back.
 
Since DVC recently made changes to the booking system to permit members to make these changes on their own, I expect walking will become more popular. The sad part is that walking for months at a time interferes with members that want reservations during the walking period. And IMO walking at the 7 month mark doesn't work very well even if you walk months in advance because an owner can book at 8 months and get the reservation you wanted.
 
Maybe they will add a fee to make changes, say you get 3 for free then a fee for a change after that. That will slow down the walkers and renter agents.


I'd even up that to perhaps 10 walks. I'm guilty of sort of walking. For instance, I want Monday to Saturday. Sunday to Saturday is open. I'll book it and later down the road , after I check airfare, I may drop the Sunday.
 
Maybe they will add a fee to make changes, say you get 3 for free then a fee for a change after that. That will slow down the walkers and renter agents.

Doubt they will add fees, although IMO, a fee should be charged for every date modification and the proceeds used to reduce annual dues or perhaps to fund member-requested website improvements. ;) :teeth:
 
I also would support a modification fee after a certain number of changes. I understand plans change and it's great that the system is so flexible, but after 5+ times there should be some kind of penalty. Only if the fee goes back to the members of course :)
 
Any change that levels the playing field one way makes it uneven another way.

I’m playing the game under the rules as they exist. If I didn’t have one of the rooms I have, somebody else would.

Said another way, I can’t wait until 11 months out for a shot to book the room I want because that’s not an effective strategy. Those rooms will be gone and in that window (first two weeks of Dec), the other walkers are going to be stopping as well: no dates left in the wake.

If the rules changed, say 10 free walks before a charge, then the game changes but not availability at 11 months. Someone who can book and modify a week at a time would have an advantage over someone like me, who can only book 4 nights at a time (modifying every 3rd day, I could start 30 days in advance whereas someone who can book 7 nights and modify every 6 nights could start 60 days out).

And then: if I pay the fee once, I could book 66 nights out and get a leg up on the 60 night out bookers. Rinse. Repeat.

Point being, such a change doesn’t end walking, it doesn’t help the 11 month window, it just gives larger point holders an advantage over smaller point holders.

The best change to make would be this: any modification that includes dates outside the 11 month window must be a cancel/rebook. If all dates lie within the 11 month window, current rules remain as is.

I would be just fine with that rule change because I would still have an equal shot at the right time. Just as every AKV owner had the same shot I did for what I’m doing now.

I bought AKV only for this reason: to walk value and concierge from time to time.
 
Last edited:
I have been watching beach club rooms for a month now. For the upcoming 7 month window. It deff looks like people r walking some rooms but also it’s booking up faster now than before. I wish there were more rooms over there. I can’t even try to walk the week I want causexthere r random 1 days missing in the walk and take today. That day is gone so can’t even start it even if I wanted to.
 
Any change that levels the playing field one way makes it uneven another way.

I’m playing the game under the rules as they exist. If I didn’t have one of the rooms I have, somebody else would.

Said another way, I can’t wait until 11 months out for a shot to book the room I want because that’s not an effective strategy. Those rooms will be gone and in that window (first two weeks of Dec), the other walkers are going to be stopping as well: no dates left in the wake.

If the rules changed, say 10 free walks before a charge, then the game changes but not availability at 11 months. Someone who can book and modify a week at a time would have an advantage over someone like me, who can only book 4 nights at a time (modifying every 3rd day, I could start 30 days in advance whereas someone who can book 7 nights and modify every 6 nights could start 60 days out).

And then: if I pay the fee once, I could book 66 nights out and get a leg up on the 60 night out bookers. Rinse. Repeat.

Point being, such a change doesn’t end walking, it doesn’t help the 11 month window, it just gives larger point holders an advantage over smaller point holders.

The best change to make would be this: any modification that includes dates outside the 11 month window must be a cancel/rebook. If all dates lie within the 11 month window, current rules remain as is.

I would be just fine with that rule change because I would still have an equal shot at the right time. Just as every AKV owner had the same shot I did for what I’m doing now.

I bought AKV only for this reason: to walk value and concierge from time to time.

If a fee were charged for every date modification (i.e., every drop & add change with none free) you could still walk. You would just be paying for the inconvenience you cause other Members who actually want the nights you are temporarily holding with no intent to use.
 
I had originally planned to book a room at BWV for Sept 30, 2019 at the 11 month mark. A few days ahead of time I started checking online to see what availability was like and what I noticed was it appeared that rooms were being walked. On Sept 27, nothing was available for Sept 27. Then on Sept 28, Sept 28 had nothing available but now Sept 27 became available. Same thing happened on Sept 29.

So on Sept 30 I made sure I was online right at 8am to book but the room disappeared before I could grab it. Sept 29 though suddenly became available. Bad luck for me. First time ever that I haven't been quick enough at opening to get what I wanted.

17 hours later I was a little bored and was curious how many rooms had opened back up for Sept 29th. So I started booking 1 night stays for Sept 29-30 (Sept 30 is still currently unavailable). After booking 4 rooms and there still being another room available, I quit that and released all the rooms.

So I was a little surprised at the results. At least 5 people walking rooms, all of who managed to modify/book at 8am before I got in at 8am.

Currently I have a waitlist for Sept 30 and plan to be online at 8am again on Sept 31 to see if I have any better luck. If I do get a room, at least one person walking is going to have their walk broken as I'm looking to keep the nights I book.

Good luck going forward, know it’s frustrating.

I’ve been shut out @ 11 months for the standard studio for the first week of October a handful of times, it happens. Just not that many of them for such a popular time of year.

It’s one of the reasons I moved our trip up a week this year, goal being to not visit over the Columbus Day weekend. HA HA no difference as to popularity as far as I can tell.

I started monitoring for evidence of walking a week prior to the day I wanted to arrive @ BWV - 9/29. It was obviously being employed. I don’t judge, just go with the flow.

Tried to start my process three days early, shut out @ 8 am. Was able to secure it the next am. Called in two days later & modified, dropping the first day & adding on what i needed to finish it. Had to speak to MS anyway as I spanned two UYs for the remainder of our reservation.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!




Latest posts






Top