Anyone have luck with wait list for Grand Californian 1br in summer time?

[DSLRuser]

Looking for 3 nights in the summer. I understand it is a total crap shoot for GC at 7 months.

Has anyone not able to book at 7 months had their wait list come in? If yes, how long did it take?

 

[CaliAdventurer]

I've never had a waitlist come through there in the summer though I have booked at 7mos. This past year- no luck at all BUT 3 days (or less) in a 1bedroom has the best shot of any!

 

[kboo]

Maybe I scored a unicorn, but I got a studio (just one night) over Easter break booking exactly at 8am, at 7mo.

 

[DebbieB]

I had a 1 bedroom for the Sunday to Wednesday nights before D23 last August at 7 months. To be honest, we walked it starting about 3 weeks before. That was a special event, so not sure it would be necessary next August.

 

[bwvBound]

Based on memory alone, I know we've gone over Memorial Day weekend a few times. The first stay was at the hotel, using points, before the villas were available ... but others were in 1BR units. Our stay is usually 2 nights, not 3.

 

[Eastcoast02]

I just booked a studio at 7 mo. today, except I would like to shift my dates by one day. To walk with peace of mind you'd need a full 7 day res right? It is only 3 nights so I think I'm going to have to get lucky again tomorrow a.m. when I try to modify.

 

[Sandisw]

I just booked a studio at 7 mo. today, except I would like to shift my dates by one day. To walk with peace of mind you'd need a full 7 day res right? It is only 3 nights so I think I'm going to have to get lucky again tomorrow a.m. when I try to modify.

If you have 3 nights, moving one day will not be a problem if that day is available today. The only people who can grab that new night you want is a VGC owner, but by this point, most VGC owners would have booked. That is why walking at 7 months is not exactly the same as at 11 months.

You do not need to do 7 nights., only enough nights that when you are adjusting you are getting a date a few days ahead of others.

 

[Cyberc1978]

If you have 3 nights, moving one day will not be a problem if that day is available today. The only people who can grab that new night you want is a VGC owner, but by this point, most VGC owners would have booked. That is why walking at 7 months is not exactly the same as at 11 months.

You do not need to do 7 nights., only enough nights that when you are adjusting you are getting a date a few days ahead of others.

I would say at 7 months you need to book 7 days otherwise you risk loosing 1 or more days.

If you need Friday, Saturday and Sunday at any given week and you start by booking Monday - Wednesday. If someone then books Tuesday - Sunday the day after and there is only 1 Friday left at that week then you won’t get that Friday even if you started you 7 months walk 1 day before the previous booker.

 

[Sandisw]

I would say at 7 months you need to book 7 days otherwise you risk loosing 1 or more days.

If you need Friday, Saturday and Sunday at any given week and you start by booking Monday - Wednesday. If someone then books Tuesday - Sunday the day after and there is only 1 Friday left at that week then you won’t get that Friday even if you started you 7 months walk 1 day before the previous booker.

I’ve done it successfully with 4 days but I think the person wanted to know if you had to do 7 in order to walk and you don’t.

of course, if you want 7 nights, then you’d want to walk it with 7 as you mention, but someone who only wants 3 or 4 nights can still attempt it. Again, walking at 7 is not the same as 11, but if you’ve secured a room at 7 months for 3 nights, no one can book that room for night 4 ahead of you but a resort owner.

 

[Eastcoast02]

I’ve done it successfully with 4 days but I think the person wanted to know if you had to do 7 in order to walk and you don’t.

of course, if you want 7 nights, then you’d want to walk it with 7 as you mention, but someone who only wants 3 or 4 nights can still attempt it. Again, walking at 7 is not the same as 11, but if you’ve secured a room at 7 months for 3 nights, no one can book that room for night 4 ahead of you but a resort owner.

Except they can which is what I think cyber C is touching on, but only if there is still availability. If there are two rooms available the first 3 days, but only one the 4th then someone who books a longer stay would shut me out. Interestingly enough there was availability for a 5+ day consecutive stay all day yesterday. It would not let me modify until this morning, and luckily I was able to! I went back in to check availability and the current 7 mo. day was unavailable, but the day I shifted from was open for the single night.

I was working with 67 "2020" points and did not want to borrow from 2021 in case I have to cancel the res somewhere down the line. The 3 night stay in a studio was 64 points...which seems incredibly fair for the resort. It will be our first time to California so it will all be entirely new!

 

[Sandisw]

Except they can which is what I think cyber C is touching on, but only if there is still availability. If there are two rooms available the first 3 days, but only one the 4th then someone who books a longer stay would shut me out. Interestingly enough there was availability for a 5+ day consecutive stay all day yesterday. It would not let me modify until this morning, and luckily I was able to! I went back in to check availability and the current 7 mo. day was unavailable, but the day I shifted from was open for the single night.

I was working with 67 "2020" points and did not want to borrow from 2021 in case I have to cancel the res somewhere down the line. The 3 night stay in a studio was 64 points...which seems incredibly fair for the resort. It will be our first time to California so it will all be entirely new!

But once a room is booked at 7 months, only a resort owner can come in and take a night from a non resort owner prior to the 7 month window for that specific room.

Because once I have a room, no one can book my room until I check out except the home resort owner, because the 7 month window doesn’t open until then,

So, I book my room Sunday to Wednesday at 7 months. Another non resort owner can not book my room for Thursday until the 7 month window opens for that day because I already have it booked, It is the whole concept behind walking. The only way I lose Thursday is if a home resort owner comes in and books a stay starting Thursday because they can already book.

As long as I modify my reservation to add Thursday before other non resort owners can book it, it will work,

I guess my point is is that you can always lose a night when trying to walk at 7 months because of home resort owners, but not to another non resort owners.

I booked Rivera today for. 4 nights with the intention of moving it forward 2 days to avoid the weekend if I can. Since those days are still available, I am guaranteed to get them unless a Rivera owner decides today to book a stay starting 5 days from now. But that is the only way I can lose it.

 

[Eastcoast02]

I think its a little more tricky at VGC though since there just isn't a lot of inventory. The problem being there is a good chance someone may be able to book what you need before you can modify. If I had the points to play with I would have booked a longer stay than needed ahead of my desired dates to guarantee the reservation, and then shortened it once the 7 month booking window opened on my desired check in date.

Luckily I can be semi-flexible but a Wednesday to Saturday stay would work best for me. VGC studios seem to be very hard/impossible to book at 7 months but for whatever reason look promising for the month of May.

 

[Sandisw]

I think its a little more tricky at VGC though since there just isn't a lot of inventory. The problem being there is a good chance someone may be able to book what you need before you can modify. If I had the points to play with I would have booked a longer stay than needed ahead of my desired dates to guarantee the reservation, and then shortened it once the 7 month booking window opened on my desired check in date.

Luckily I can be semi-flexible but a Wednesday to Saturday stay would work best for me. VGC studios seem to be very hard/impossible to book at 7 months but for whatever reason look promising for the month of May.

Yes, with VGCm you can always lose out to a VGC owner who can come in and steal it from you due to how popular and small it is . But at least you don’t have to worry about everyone else!

Good luck!