Looking to book a yurt for this summer? You could be out of luck as most of them were snapped within the first hour after Manitoba provincial park reservations opened on Monday morning.
According to a report, the province opened up reservations for the camping season at 7 a.m. when users who signed up to the website were provided a number representing their place in the queue to reserve a spot.
In the past, there were issues with the website crashing due to demands.
This year, the province further staggered when sites can be reserved, with reservations for only cabins, yurts, and group-use areas opening on Monday–but it didn’t stop people from waiting online with thousands of others trying to reserve spots and then being disappointed when it was their turn.
“It just seems like you have no shot of getting a site unless you get very, very lucky,” said John Coward, who with his wife and other friends attempted to book multiple yurts at Tulabi Falls in September. They all came up empty-handed.
Coward and his wife, using separate computers, both logged in to the system at 7 a.m. Even though they refreshed the site within a few seconds of its opening, Coward’s wife landed a spot around 1,600 while Coward was able to get around 2,100.
It wasn’t too bad when compared to the past, he said.
In addition to the changes made this year, those looking to book a cabin or a yurt can only book two reservations at a time instead of three.
Guests can only book a maximum stay of seven nights at a yurt or cabin, down from 14.
Unhappy campers are calling for Manitoba to revamp its reservation system in light of high demand and booking issues.
According to the province, over 5,800 reservations were made shortly after 11 a.m on Monday.
There were around 7,400 users that logged on as of 7 a.m., and by 7:42 a.m., there were no longer any users waiting in line.
The province added that more than 90% of available nights for cabins and yurts had been reserved.
The province suggests that people keep an eye on the website during the summer for cancellations.
Campsites in Birds Hill Provincial Park, Falcon Beach, Falcon Lakeshore, and West Hawk Lake campgrounds open on Wednesday, followed by all western and northern provincial park campgrounds on Friday.
Reservations for campgrounds in Grand Beach, Nopiming, and the rest of Whiteshell Provincial Park will be available on April 11.
The rest of the provincial park campgrounds will open for reservations on April 13.
This story originally appeared on CBC News.