Already seems limited availability at resorts 2018

#1MMFan

Space Mountain Maniac
Joined
Aug 1, 2000
I'm just back and looking at 2018 bookings to secure free dining package - I'm on the disney holidays.co.uk site and for example, there are only club level rooms available for WL every time I look -- August, even March and February (which to be honest aren't even times which would be a go for me). Of course it says I can't book flights as a package for August yet as it's more than 11 months away but what is going on with the hotel rooms? I've never experienced it to be so busy - or expensive - before.
 
I'm just back and looking at 2018 bookings to secure free dining package - I'm on the disney holidays.co.uk site and for example, there are only club level rooms available for WL every time I look -- August, even March and February (which to be honest aren't even times which would be a go for me). Of course it says I can't book flights as a package for August yet as it's more than 11 months away but what is going on with the hotel rooms? I've never experienced it to be so busy - or expensive - before.

Yes. It's a form of upselling. You can have the free food, but only if you book a more expensive room. Our dates in February were dictated by the dates that the Yacht Club was available with free dining in a Garden view non-club room...
 
Yes. It's a form of upselling. You can have the free food, but only if you book a more expensive room. Our dates in February were dictated by the dates that the Yacht Club was available with free dining in a Garden view non-club room...

I'm not sure it's upselling. At the start of the promotion they have a specific number of rooms in each category at each resort that will be available to book with free dining.

If they allowed all the rooms to be booked as a Standard Room by UK guests then the US guests would be outraged they can never get Standard Room with free dining over a year later when their promotion happens.
 


I'm not sure it's upselling. At the start of the promotion they have a specific number of rooms in each category at each resort that will be available to book with free dining.

If they allowed all the rooms to be booked as a Standard Room by UK guests then the US guests would be outraged they can never get Standard Room with free dining over a year later when their promotion happens.

Agreed, I didn't have to book a more expensive room to get the offer. I think its probably that, as the offer has been on since April, the majority of lower priced rooms have gone already.
 
Agreed, I didn't have to book a more expensive room to get the offer. I think its probably that, as the offer has been on since April, the majority of lower priced rooms have gone already.

Indeed. At the most popular resorts the number of less expensive rooms available is extremely limited, even at the start of the offer period. That was certainly the case at Yacht Club. It's best to get your booking in early if you are set on a particular room type...
 
Indeed. At the most popular resorts the number of less expensive rooms available is extremely limited, even at the start of the offer period. That was certainly the case at Yacht Club. It's best to get your booking in early if you are set on a particular room type...

Tt doesn't hurt to get a booking in right away if you're 100% going to be having a trip, you can always change it, £50 is nothing in the scheme of things if you end up lowering the package amount.
 


I am booking our honeymoon for September next year at the end of the month and I'm worried about what will be left.
 
I am booking our honeymoon for September next year at the end of the month and I'm worried about what will be left.
Maybe try looking again next month when it's down to 11 months out from the dates you want. There might be a few more rooms released then especially if you are looking at a DVC property to stay in. Just make sure you clear your cache and browser history befor you look again. They sometimes just refresh the ones you've already seen if you don't start from scratch. I hope you find your perfect room and at the price range you want the next time you look at availability.
 
I've found this with the Yacht and Beach Club for next year. Not planning on going but thought I'd check on prices for the water view rooms as we got one this time even though we'd booked standard so wanted to know the price difference. I did wonder if there were only so many rooms released with the free dining and the rest would be available after the offer ends.

Wanting to go in 2019 so will have to book as soon as it's available.
 
I asked this question in various places and the common response was they do not hold rooms back. If more rooms appear it's because of cancellations or resort moves etc
 
Rooms at WDW are not only reserved for direct bookings but also with a great many travel agents too both overseas and at home. Sometimes refurbishment and maintainence schedules do reduce room availability too. Just take the recent YC work as an example, they switched some guests to another location while the work has been carried out. It looks different but I'm personally not sure I like it. Refurbishments tend to happen every ten years or so. They can be a full refit or just the soft furnishings depending on how they see the need to update. Of course thing like the demolition work over at Caribbean Beach reduced room numbers too. They are working on the new Gondola transportation over there and had to make changes to install the cableways and support towers. They are also building a new DVC section over there.
DVC locations are harder to grab purely dour to the nature of the category itself, many folks have their allotted weeks booked for those who are already members so there's usually only a few weeks when no one is using them that Disney put on their site. There are a few reliable DVC members you can rent points from though...they often advertise so worth looking into if that's your thing ... or ask Disney to pop you on the wait list for a specific DVC resort location.
 
You have to remember that at WL the regular resort is half the size it was and is popular due to location and price point.

Also there are only a set number of rooms for the free dining offer and once they are gone thats it. As we are near the end of the promo I would expect limited availability unfortunately :)
 
We booked Wilderness lodge 6 weeks ago for December 2018 and were rung yesterday to be told it's not available! Offers animal kingdom lodge as a swop but it's not what we want. Waiting to hear back from Virgin tomorrow but not expecting much joy
 
We booked Wilderness lodge 6 weeks ago for December 2018 and were rung yesterday to be told it's not available! Offers animal kingdom lodge as a swop but it's not what we want. Waiting to hear back from Virgin tomorrow but not expecting much joy
I would feel the same in your situation too. For me they are not equal, different locations and different dining options and that's just to start with. AKL is huge I prefer the WL purely because I love it's layout and decor as well as location. The cabins down at FW look lovely they recently went through a refurb and look wonderful and they share the friendship boats to MK too. You can take a bus if you prefer or it's a nice walk over to WL if you are a fan of walking. We have walked from WL down to FW and back in the past it's a pleasant way to spot wildlife.
If I couldn't get a room in the WL I would choose FW campgrounds without hesitating. The store and dining options down there are still good and so quiet too. You can even join the camp fire sing along at night or make some S'mores. Get involved in the games and relax.
I hope they come up with a better compromise than AKL for you, yes i know lots of people love staying there but it's not for everyone.
 
Dont forget because of the great cancellation policy many people cancel or choose to resort hopp.

I would CALL in regularly to see if there are any cancellations
 

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