Hi, we just planned a very last minute trip to Disney over Thanksgiving holiday and Disney resorts are all booked up...we really want to try staying on property this time, does anyone know if they open up or if they have cancellations frequently or not. Do you fodorites think I will find an opening at this late date???? We have stayed off site for years and want to stay on property this trip. Thanks.

I very seriously doubt you'll get anything on property for Thanksgiving.
These book up months in advance. Try some off-property hotels like Homewood Suites, or if you're pretty steadfast about staying on property, I'd suggest changing your dates.

thanks for the info, we can't change the dates unfortunately. Does anyone know if the WDW Swan or Dolphin are nice propertys, are they Disney oriented?? thanks.

Have you tried the Swan or Dolphin?

I was thinking of doing Swan or Dolphin if Disney has no openings...are they at ll like the Disney properties?? thanks

Swan/Dolphin are not "Disney themed", but we love them. You still get the early entry to the parks and the Disney treansportation. Just no "Mickey" wake up calls, etc. They offer VERY easy acces to the parks.

thanks scherml, I will check rates for them, I am still checking Disney but no luck yet!!

also, where do you book for Swan/Dolphin?? Just Starwood hotels or another website?? Thanks alot.

Also, has anyone tried the Omni-Orlando, Champions Gate??? Thank you very much.

I bokked the Dolphin at www.dreamsunlimited.com The Swan/Dolphin offer discounts for teachers, nurses, and government workers. You could probably book them through the Starwood website also.

ttt

Did u try the All Star resorts?It never hurts to call.

I suggest that you just keep calling everyday - there may be a cancellation.

I'll throw another option out there. Not sure if your plans include Universal Studios but I stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel earlier this year. It's a 5 minute walk to Universal, Islands of Adventure and City Walk. Excellent place for kids, great pool area, and you get front of the line passes for the rides. We were there for just 3 days but we literally never left the area, plenty to do. I enjoyed my stay there and would recommend it. There's also 2 other Universal properties you could check out as well.

If the resorts are booked up, can you imagine how crowded the parks are going to be, how long the lines will be? Sounds awful.

Keep trying, there are always cancellations. Also, ask about the Camp Wilderness cabins. They are actually (dare I say it) trailers/manufactured homes, but have been sided with half logs. We took one as a last resort and loved it - having never camped before in our lives. It was fully equiped just like a house. We rented (reserve ahead) a little golf cart to transport us from the cabin to the campfire, boatdock, etc. The kids REALLY liked it.
But, as I say, keep checking because cancellations happen.

I'd keep trying too, availiblity changes constantly. We needed to add a room at a sold out Disney hotel and got lucky on a weekend, struck out a few days in a row.

Here is the cancellation policy for room only reservations: "In order to receive a full refund of your deposit, notification of cancellation must be received at least 6 days prior to your arrival date." So, I would call at the 6 day mark. I would think that if nothing is available 6 days before you want to be there, there isn't much of a chance of a future cancellation. (The deposit is one night's room plus tax, so with the price of the rooms, that's pretty hefty.)

We made our Thanksgiving 2005 WDW reservations in August of 2004. We ended up having to cancel, but that will give you an idea of how early some people book.

Disney packages including lodging can still be cancelled at any time as long as you puchased trip insurance, so rooms may still become availible at the 6 night mark though I agree the 6 night point is probably your best bet

We stayed at The Swan several years ago with our kids, when I had a conference there, and the hotel was relatively new. It was a very nice property, and I assume it still is. The swimming pool there was awesome. It's a big place, and was decorated in a colorful scheme that I thought looked like a Disney property. I believe it was designed by Michael Graves. I think you'd be happy there. They used to offer transportation to the Disney parks, don't know if they still do. Didn't go into the Dolphin, but it's a sister property to the Swan. I hope you get the reservations you want. Have fun.