In "line" for Epic reservations

[Rodney]

I’ll echo other’s experience, logged on this morning, had a long wait, but once it was my turn, it was quick and easy. I was pleasantly surprised by how smoothly it went, though not the fact that we have to do this in the first place, but hey this is pretty far down my list of inconveniences.

I definitely experienced the much longer than projected wait time, I wonder if they did actually have some issues with the system’s capacity to handle the volume behind the scenes. They were initially projecting 50-150k per hour, and my experience was more like 30-40k per hour.

I’ve been involved in rollouts of web applications enough times to know that for this to have gone as smoothly as it did for us means that a bunch of people at Vail, and any partner they hired, did a heck of a job to get this working for us

 

[BC.]

It’s very easy guys....no reason to worry....and you have a month to do it....before non passholders can do it. I think you’ll be fine....no worries.

 

[Unpiste]

The line is down to 13,434 people, so that's something. (And now 6264 ahead of me in the time it took to write this post, so moving fast enough. Looks like about 10 minutes from entering the line to getting into the system at the moment.)


The thing that bugs me about this system is it seems designed to favor people who have a specific set of days they know they'll want to ski throughout the season. As someone who selects dates more spontaneously under normal circumstances, I'm honestly not quite sure what to make of the reservations, and Vail doesn't really seem to be doing a good job of explaining.

Basically, I wish we knew more about how week-of reservations are going to work. What I'd really like to do, given the option, is simply give up my priority reservation days in lieu of some slight priority in accessing week-of reservations. The current system seems to be forcing me to book a bunch of days I may or may not actually use, since otherwise I'm just giving them up.


Quick follow-up: After actually getting into the reservations page, I realize there's really not much point in reserving anything right now for someone who doesn't have specific dates planned. Better to check periodically to see what dates start filling up and go from there.

Right now it's impossible to say whether priority days will be better left to the core season (mid-Jan through mid-March) or whether they'll be important even for getting days in in, say, December. Also, as long as any date fills up before December 7 and you haven't booked all 7 days, it looks like you're still eligible for a refund if it comes to that. (One thing you might read in to that is that dates probably won't be filling up until after the priority reservation period ends on December 7.)

 

[wooglin]

Now to get buddy tickets after Christmas. Might be tricky.

 

[Joe Strummer]

I logged on at 10:30 MT. !50,000 ahead of me with a three hour wait time. But with only a couple of hundred in the queue you get an email prompt that you have 20 mins to make your reservations. So I used the three hours productively and ironed all my underwear. But that only took 5 minutes.

All-in-all, it exceeded my expectations. I was expecting "Site cannot be reached" or "forbidden" or the dreaded "Error 404 not found"; but no. So I think Vail did well.

 

[Andy Mink]

So you have to make reservations? How does this work if you don't have a vacation set? No more "I feel like skiing today" days?

 

[Unpiste]

So you have to make reservations? How does this work if you don't have a vacation set? No more "I feel like skiing today" days?

There are week-of reservations, but that's my issue as well. I was hoping for a little more clarity before the reservation system opened.

It seems like Vail went with the simplest approach here, but it leaves passholders who don't have specific vacations set in a pretty awkward position. Either reserve before December 7 and hope you choose the right dates, or presumably you're lumped in with everyone else buying day tickets, etc. with no guarantees. I much prefer Alterra's solution at Squaw/Alpine which clearly favors passholders and holds off on implementing reservations until they're needed.

Edit: One thing I really do wish more companies were willing to do is implement lotteries rather than first-come first-serve systems that require you to be online at a specific time and hope you get in to get your spot. Let people indicate their interest in a date prior to the rolling window for week-of reservations, let them also link their reservation with friends/family (just treat the whole group the same as you would one person, so they're no more or less likely to get in), and draw randomly from the pool. Allow cancellations up to 24 hours in advance with penalties for no-shows and implement a waitlist to prevent people from gaming the system.

 

[Andy Mink]

There are week-of reservations, but that's my issue as well. I was hoping for a little more clarity before the reservation system opened.

It seems like Vail went with the simplest approach here, but it leaves passholders who don't have specific vacations set in a pretty awkward position. Either reserve before December 7 and hope you choose the right dates, or presumably you're lumped in with everyone else buying day tickets, etc. with no guarantees. I much prefer Alterra's solution at Squaw/Alpine which clearly favors passholders and holds off on implementing reservations until they're needed.

I just looked at Alterra's page. Most places don't require reservations yet, but AspenSnowmass does. Makes me wonder if I need to get in on it for The Gathering.

 

[SummitGuy]

Got my core season days reserved, but

The way I read the FAQ is that the days will be released each Wednesday (I guess if reservations open at 8 AM it would be the time).
The reservations page information contradicts this and says you can reserve for the next 7 days window on any given day.
The latter seem to be the case based on the bookings availability pages view. Per FAQ, the days should be "Not Available Yet" after next week Wednesday (11/11) but are all completely booked up to Friday 11/13.
So it looks like now you got to book each day in the morning for the 7th day in the future because everything else is booked already.

 

[dbostedo]

I just looked at Alterra's page. Most places don't require reservations yet, but AspenSnowmass does. Makes me wonder if I need to get in on it for The Gathering.

That's what I'm planning to do.

 

[Unpiste]

I guess if reservations open at 8 AM it would be the time.

I sure hope they don't open at 8 AM every day/week.

Why not open reservations at 6 or even 7 PM MT? Seems like that would work well for everyone, rather than opening after east-coasters have gone to work and before a lot of west-coasters really want to be up and trying to make reservations.

 

[Noodler]

Should somebody just say it? I've never been happier to not be on an Epic pass for a ski season. The end result may work great on the mountain, but I hate the idea of having to reserve days so far in advance.

 

[dbostedo]

Should somebody just say it? I've never been happier to not be on an Epic pass for a ski season. The end result may work great on the mountain, but I hate the idea of having to reserve days so far in advance.

To be fair, we don't yet know how far in advance you really have to reserve them... until days start showing up as full, we won't know.

 

[David Chaus]

This whole system is complete BS. I want a week of off-time at my local hill, which does not get many vacationers at all, and I'm over 100,000th in line with a wait of over an hour. I know I should just wait for a few days for it to mellow out, but I should be able to go to Stevens Pass and deal with locals. I HATE Vail, Epic, and the whole corporate thing, but I'm stuck with them. Crap!

Sorry to hear this. I’m mulling over a mid-week Select pass for Stevens and hope I won’t need to worry too much about getting reservations for mid-week days, but I am not going to bother with any reservations in which I need to make a reservation to make a reservation.

I have my reservations about it.

 

[Andy Mink]

I have my reservations about it.

Clever.

 

[Paul Lutes]

To be fair, we don't yet know how far in advance you really have to reserve them... until days start showing up as full, we won't know.

Agree; I suspect that, given the overall level of uncertainty for the next 6-18 months, there will be a hesitancy to commit too much to the future, and traditionally light traffic days will remain open. Obviously, the traditionally heavy traffic days probably won't, and the real trick will be watching the weather closely enough to beat the rush for those precious powder/fresh snow days.

 

[tball]

Any reports of reservations not being available yet? Can you still get Vail and Breck MLK and Pres weekends? If they are available, I think that bodes well for the number of skiers Colorado is allowing on the hill.

 

[Quandary]

The system is easy to use. If you live in a ski town it works great. Book your 7 days then roll them forward as you use them. I doubt there will be any issues on week days, knock on wood. For out of towners reserve your best guess as to vacation, you can always change it when you finalize.

The whole reservation thing and limited hill access will be great. No front rangers coming up and flooding the hill on powder days. If it snows this year it may be the best year ever!

 

[Seldomski]

Should somebody just say it? I've never been happier to not be on an Epic pass for a ski season. The end result may work great on the mountain, but I hate the idea of having to reserve days so far in advance.

The product doesn't work for everyone. It does seem ok to me as someone who travels to ski. This is the customer Vail wants since they typically spend the most.

That said, I don't really want this to be the new normal. I typically plan 2-3 weeks out, not this far in advance.

 

[Ken_R]

Should somebody just say it? I've never been happier to not be on an Epic pass for a ski season. The end result may work great on the mountain, but I hate the idea of having to reserve days so far in advance.

Yep, its absurd. At least for us day trippers. The whole point of the super passes is freedom and unlimited skiing. They have been selling that for many years.

I know I know we have the pandemic but limit the lodging and parking and that organically removes a bunch of skiers from the hill.