Disney Vacation Club Makes Walking Reservations More Difficult

Disney Vacation Club added a paragraph to its website that could have far-reaching ramifications. Specifically, DVC owners who “walk” reservations will now have a tougher time doing so.

Here’s the updated language:

Modifications to travel dates and room types on a confirmed reservation can only be made when the original check-out date is within 11 months of the modification request. You can still update Guest information or cancel the reservation.

Disney Vacation Club

In short, you can no longer modify the dates or room type of an existing DVC reservation until its original check-out date falls within the 11-month booking window. If you book a seven-night stay as soon as the window opens, you’ll have to wait until the eighth day to modify it.

Why does this matter? It all comes down to that walking thing I mentioned.

What is walking a DVC reservation?

The practice, reviled by most DVC owners, involves repeatedly modifying a reservation until it reaches the dates you actually want.

Say you want to stay in a Value Studio at Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas – Jambo House during the Christmas holidays. It’s a popular room type during a very popular time of year. If you wait until your booking window opens, you’ll be competing with dozens (hundreds?) of other owners for the same room.

But if you begin the process weeks earlier, you have a much better chance of securing it.

Sure, you don’t want the room then. But that’s not the point. You’re now squatting on a room you never intend to use, at least not in November. Remember, this is all about Christmas.

Once you secure the initial reservation, you simply log in every day or two and move it forward. Your reservation slowly creeps from November into December, while the room remains safely in your possession.

Meanwhile, anyone trying to book that room sees the all-important first night as unavailable. They can’t make a reservation, even if they don’t want it for Christmas and are merely hoping to spend some random Wednesday there in early December.

Those unfortunate souls have to choose another room type or try again the following morning. You, meanwhile, have already secured several nights beyond the 11-month window. You can sleep in and move your reservation at your leisure while everyone else stresses at 8 AM Eastern Time.

Suffice it to say, anyone who has ever gone up against these people is probably very happy with today’s news.

The downside

Unfortunately, the new rule will also affect owners who aren’t gaming the system. And it’s a pretty big bummer.

DVC owners can initially book up to seven consecutive nights. Previously, anyone planning a longer vacation could return the next day to add an eighth night. They could repeat that process until the entire stay was booked. I’ve done it many times for our eight-night vacations.

Under the new rule, you can’t add that eighth night until the original check-out date enters the 11-month window. By then, you’ll be competing with everyone trying to begin a new reservation on that date.

That could have a big impact on international DVC owners, many of whom bank and borrow points for longer vacations every two or three years.

I’m all for making reservation walking more difficult. I’m less excited about this collateral damage.

What about the seven-month window?

The updated language specifically addresses the 11-month booking window. So owners will still be able to walk reservations when booking a non-home resort, which they can do beginning seven months before check-in.

This is another reason it’s important to buy a contract at a DVC resort where you actually want to stay, not simply the one with the cheapest buy-in.

My solution

Nobody asked me, but here’s my idea: Allow owners to modify a reservation’s dates once or twice online. After that, they would have to call DVC to make additional changes.

Why does that matter? DVC Member Services opens one hour after online booking begins. Owners making new reservations could book at 8 AM, while those attempting to walk reservations would have to wait until 9 AM. Losing that hour would make walking a reservation much more difficult.

Regardless of whether my idea is ever implemented (spoiler alert, it won’t be) Disney’s new rule should make walking more difficult, at least at 11 months. That’s good news for anyone who has watched a room disappear before their booking window even opened. Unfortunately, it will also make booking longer stays a bit of a hassle.

Need help knowing when you can reserve your ideal DVC villa? Our reservation calculator will make sure you’re ready when your booking date arrives.