So I was under the (apparently outdated) impression that you could book hotel-only reservation further in advance, usually through the phone, but clearly I’m out of the loop again.
When can you now book for jan 2024, for example?
I’m sure this has been discussed before, somewhere…
Check OUT day has to be not more than 499 days away.
You can do that any time for Jan 2024 but you’ll have to call and it will be room-only for now.
I thought they announced a change that you could only book non DVC resorts for the same dates as released packages? Did they not make that change?
Thats what I thought too, but then I saw this:
This was the announcement I remembered:
Huh.
I thought I did a 499 checkout recently but maybe it was longer ago than that. Time flies and all that.
Most of my bookings are packages or reservations that are coming in the next 6-9 months.
My apologies if my info is out of date.
I wonder what “late spring” means…
pre-covid, packages seemed to open up in June, but now that hotel-only is in the same boat, it would be odd if it was so late
It’s typically around mid-June as you see. It’s never been earlier, as long as I’ve been doing TA stuff.
I don’t think it has been an issue before Jan. 1st because packages have been released for 2023 but not 2024.
I called out of curiousity - the CM said he doesn’t know yet but it might be around April when they open reservations for Jan 2024 →
Thanks for that insight!
That would be most excellent!
So in theory, if I’m looking to stay 1/1/24-1/8/24, could I book now for 12/31/23- 1/8/24 and then just edit the reservation?
Yes it seems to be possible to do this. The check-out dates are open for all of january as long as check-in is on or before dec 31st.
One downside is that dec 31st is obviously very busy and that limits hotel availability
Are you planning to randomly check back in April? I want to book for 2024 as well.
I’m not sure how it’ll work 
I mean, will they announce the calendars opening, or will it just suddenly show up? Last february when they opened up the first half of 2022 it was on some news sites on the same day, so seems like there was no advance notice. If this is the case, I guess we’ll have to wait for the first news to drop.
Exactly… waiting like that 
Well, if I see anything I will let you know
They will announce the release of pricing, so you’ll know in advance.
I see, what has the timeline been, announcing pricing → being able to book?
IIRC generally we get a couple of days’ notice
We had a few days notice for the 2023 packages/rates. I remember because I called to book before the rates dropped online. I don’t think that will be allowed to happen with the policy change now.
