All booked Oct. 2 - 9, 2010?

[Brandis]

We have a reservation for a 2-BR at Wilderness Lodge for Oct. 2-9, 2010 and I'm very excited.

However, my last stay was at Animal Kingdom in a Value Studio which I also liked very much and I was thinking it would also be nice to stay there again. So I filled in a online booking form for the same dates as above with the following preferences:

Resort First Choice: Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Jambo House
Room Type: 2 Bedroom Lock-Off Villa - Value
Resort Second Choice: Disney's Animal Kingdom Villas - Kidani Village
Room Type: 2 Bedroom Villa - Standard View
Resort Third Choice: Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort
Room Type: 3 Bedroom Treehouse

Their answer was really fast, I wrote yesterday morning (CET) and I got their reply yesterday evening (CET).

They wrote:

"At this time we are showing no Vacation Point availability at any DISNEY
VACATION CLUB Resort for the dates requested."

Do you think they mean there is no availability at the resorts I asked for for the room type I requested or no availability anywhere?

Is this something that happens often?

In the end, it is not a problem for me as I'm really happy with what I have, but I'm just curious.

 

[Sandisw]

Since you were very specific in what you wanted, and asked for specific dates, I think that is what is not available.

Both treehouses and value rooms book fast, almost at the 11 month mark. Standard view rooms are also popular and since you are only 5 months out, those rooms are probably booked.

I would give them a call and simply ask what 2 bedrooms are available for your length of stay. If you are hoping for AKV, just say at AKV and don't specify which and that will give you a better idea.

 

[Brandis]

No, that's fine, I don't want to bother them too much. After all I already have a reservation with which I'm happy. Never stayed at Wildnerness Lodge and look forward to it very much. It's just that I also enjoyed my stay at AKL last time.

I guess that's one of the problems when you can get the rooms for "free", you can't make up your mind on which one to take.

 

[CarolAnnC]

There is no DVC availability at all that time period. I tried for 4 days together at any DVC resort, any room size except Grand Villa. NOthing. Just a single day for a 2 bedroom at one. This was about 10 days ago that I called...

 

[Brandis]

Wow, that's amazing!

Seems we were really lucky to have gotten a 2 BR at the 7 month mark.

 

[HsvTeacher]

I booked October 2-5 about a month ago, and all that was available at that time was SSR. They had a few days here and there, but SSR was the only resort that had all the nights. We are waitlisted for BWV and WL, but I don't expect them to come through.

Many Southern schools have Fall Break that week, because we go back to school so early. The Wine & Dine Half-Marathon is also that weekend.

 

[Brandis]

Good luck on your waitlists!

I guess it will be really busy then. But we have a whole week, so should still be able to do all the stuff we want to do.

 

[biolabetty]

I know the feeling. We are booked Oct. 3-10 at Kidani Village in a 2 bedroom standard lock off, and that was achieved only after 2 waitlists. I have one more waitlist now for our very last night, Oct. 10, but so far we are at SSR on a cash reservation since that was all there was left in the entire resort. We booked at the 6 month mark, and I feel fortunate to have been successful in my waitlists thus far. I hope you are successful finding something.

 

[n2mm]

I guess the combination of the kick off of F&W and the Colombus Day weekend are wreaking havoc on reserations. I am actually holding a studio reservation at the AKV that I may be cancelling (Sept. 29-Oct.5). I'm booked on the FD at a value that I booked last year on the BB and can't decide if we want to keep it and do the FD once last time (this is the old version with the basic ddp at the value and only a 1 day ticket). But I'm holding the Kidani reservation because I keep getting cold feet about staying at Pop during FD. I've got to decide soon. So if I cancel, hopefully someone will be happy.

 

[Steamboat Girlie]

To the OP. I think you will be very happy at VWL if you love AKV so much.
To me, the grandeur of the lobby at both VWL and Jambo House give me a similar feeling.
Last summer we did a week at VWL and I fell in love. The boat to MK was wonderful and the I thought the bus service was great. I loved the main pool. Both my boys, (3 & 6) went nuts over the slide.
Wilderness Lodge is really immersive. You truly will feel like you are somewhere out west. Again, I really think you will love it!

 

[hbehrman]

We just got in on Friday from 10/2 to 10/8 at AKL Kidani in a 1 Bedroom Savannah View. However that might only be because I made our buy in at SSR contingent upon the ressie, as we had a standing ressie at POR for 10/2 to 10/9 (I didn't want to send points on an extra weekend day).

 

[HsvTeacher]

We just got in on Friday from 10/2 to 10/8 at AKL Kidani in a 1 Bedroom Savannah View. However that might only be because I made our buy in at SSR contingent upon the ressie, as we had a standing ressie at POR for 10/2 to 10/9 (I didn't want to send points on an extra weekend day).

That's most likely what happened. When we bought in, we also made our contract contingent on being able to switch our standing cash reservations over to a DVC stay. Since it was on short notice, the DVC rooms were "sold out" for that time, but our guide was still able to get us in. I'm not sure if they keep a few rooms in reserve for those situations, or if they are able to pull from the cash reservations pool.

Either way, I'm glad you were able to book. Have a wonderful trip!