Dec 08 Waitlist thread

[Donald is #1]

Well, I called MS this morning for my 2nd day of the 7 month window. Well, basically, the only places with 1 bedrooms are OKW and SSR. Since I already have a reservation for this night, I didn't change anything. But I asked the CM for the availability going forward and she said that there is almost no availability at AKV, BCV, and BWV in my timeframe (12/3-12/14). This may also apply to VWL but I am not sure. So, now I am thinking about:

1) On 5/14, try to move my entire reservation to SSR 1 BR. This will cover the the 2nd night (12/7) where I don't have a points reservation plus will move me up to a 1 BR. I toyed with staying at the studio that I currently have booked until one of my preferred resorts open up, but I still have a few banked points that I need to use so I figured I was better off moving to the 1 BR now so that I would be assured of using the points (plus I want a 1 BR anyway).

2) On 5/14, rearrange my waitlists so that I have waitlists for the trip for BCV and BWV. I am not sure about putting AKV on the waitlist since I really wanted to try BCV and/or BWV and if the AKV comes through, then I would need to re-waitlist at BCV & BWV.

3) I am considering breaking my waitlist into 2 or 3 sections. That way, I would waitlist 3-5 days together and worst case would require me to move 2-3 times while hopefully making at least some of the wait list easier to come through. Any thoughts on this?

 

[LVSWL]

Well, I called MS this morning for my 2nd day of the 7 month window. Well, basically, the only places with 1 bedrooms are OKW and SSR. Since I already have a reservation for this night, I didn't change anything. But I asked the CM for the availability going forward and she said that there is almost no availability at AKV, BCV, and BWV in my timeframe (12/3-12/14). This may also apply to VWL but I am not sure. So, now I am thinking about:

1) On 5/14, try to move my entire reservation to SSR 1 BR. This will cover the the 2nd night (12/7) where I don't have a points reservation plus will move me up to a 1 BR. I toyed with staying at the studio that I currently have booked until one of my preferred resorts open up, but I still have a few banked points that I need to use so I figured I was better off moving to the 1 BR now so that I would be assured of using the points (plus I want a 1 BR anyway).

2) On 5/14, rearrange my waitlists so that I have waitlists for the trip for BCV and BWV. I am not sure about putting AKV on the waitlist since I really wanted to try BCV and/or BWV and if the AKV comes through, then I would need to re-waitlist at BCV & BWV.

3) I am considering breaking my waitlist into 2 or 3 sections. That way, I would waitlist 3-5 days together and worst case would require me to move 2-3 times while hopefully making at least some of the wait list easier to come through. Any thoughts on this?

Donald1,
Sorry you are having a time of it!
I think that if the days are there, Go for SSR on the 14th! I know that you really want to stay in the Boardwalk area, but if it were me, I would either stick with all SSR, or all BCV, all BWV or only one move. Moving mid-trip is a lot of hassle, but can be nice and something to look forward to. Moving more than once, in our experience, can just be exhausting, and wastes time and you can't really "settle in".
I really hope that you are able to get exactly what you want and have a wonderful time!

 

[MAGICX2]

I need to start calling tomorrow to get on the waitlist for BCV. I have decided to keep our SSR ressie intact and make a seperate ressie on the waitlist. It is for 12/7-12/12, a 2bdrm and a studio. Is it possible to specify that we would take any room as long as we had 3 total (ie-3 studios)? Or should I just say 2bdrm and a studio and leave it at that?
Also, can I waitlist for each day and also the week as a whole or would it make a difference? As far as the domino effect, we just have to hope that people start canceling their plans, that would make them tumble!

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

Called bright and early this AM to change the first two days of my December trip -- the 4th (Thu) and the 5th (Fri) -- from a value one bedroom at AKV to a studio at either 1. VWL, 2. BWV, or 3. BCV. VWL didn't have anything available, BWV and BCV only had the Friday night. So I'm on the waitlist for all three resorts (any view at BWV).

We'll see what happens! A larger group of us are staying in a 2BR at AKV beginning the 6th, so I thought that staying someplace different with just my older kids (DH and DS1 are joining us later) the first two nights would be kind of fun. Fingers crossed!

 

[MAGICX2]

Welll, I thought I could start calling today to get a day by day waitlist, but I was told I had to wait until tomorrow because it would be the check out day. for 12/7-12/12.

The CM I had on the phone was not very nice. She asked if it was for 1 night and I said yes because I was going to be calling day by day to get on the waitlist. She said "Oh no, we don't do that. You have to call on May 13 and get on the waitlist for the entire 5 night stay. We don't do day by day."

What!!! I thought all kinds of members have made day by day ressies before? What gives?

 

[dallasdisneymommy]

Welll, I thought I could start calling today to get a day by day waitlist, but I was told I had to wait until tomorrow because it would be the check out day. for 12/7-12/12.

The CM I had on the phone was not very nice. She asked if it was for 1 night and I said yes because I was going to be calling day by day to get on the waitlist. She said "Oh no, we don't do that. You have to call on May 13 and get on the waitlist for the entire 5 night stay. We don't do day by day."

What!!! I thought all kinds of members have made day by day ressies before? What gives?

When I got a not so nice CM as well when I called on the first day to do day by day. She said there was no point or benefit to calling day by day for a waitlist, because every time you added a day, you'd go back to the bottom of the list. So she told me just to call on the last day.

Wasn't sure this was right either, but it was only two days, so I did it that way.

 

[Goofy DVC]

Fyi
Just booked a 1BR at SSR for 12/3 through 12/7 this morning with no problem.

 

[Disney Kim]

I just wanted to update I went off the boardwalk waitlist, I have a small contract at OKW and booked what I could with those points, I have dec 6-10, so I will be calling day by day to book a studio for the 10-13, I hope I don't have to go back on the list again.. I'll be calling at 9:59!!!!

 

[icouldlivethere]

I got one day of my waitlist yesterday!

I have Dec. 7th - 12th wailisted for any studio at BWV for the entire stay but I decided that I was also open to going Nov. 30th - Dec. 5th..

I called just before the 7 month window opened and discovered there was a BWV studio garden/pool view available for the nights of Nov. 30th and Dec. 2nd and decided to take them and waitlist for the nights of Dec. 1st, 3rd and 4th. I also waitlisted the entire stay from Nov. 30th - Dec. 5th at this time for BWV studio BW view and SV. The CM put in his notes that I only wanted one of the weeks whichever one came through first.

When the 7 month window opened I called and booked the nights of Dec. 3rd and 4th at SSR and asked about availability for the night of Dec. 1st. I was told there were only 2 studios left at SSR for the night of Dec. 1st and decided I better take it even if it meant we had to move 3 times during our trip. I debated about canceling the night I had booked at BWV for the night of Dec. 2nd and just booking that at SSR so we wouldn't have to possibly move 3 times but the CM told me that there were still 30 studio units available at SSR for that night so I decided to leave things alone and take my chances that my waitlist would come through and boy am I glad I did because yesterday my waitlist came through for the night of Dec. 1st in BWV garden/pool view.

So now I am still on the waitlist for Dec. 7th - 12th BWV studio any view.

I am also waitlisted for the nights of Dec. 3rd and 4th at BWV studio garden/pool view.

In addition I waitlisted the entire stay of Nov. 30th - Dec. 5th at BWV studios BW view and SV and I also waitlisted the entire stay at BCV and VWL.

I had them put in there notes that I only want one of these weeks and I would take whichever one I could get first.

 

[JPS439]

Well, it's 9:12AM and I just got off the phone w/ member services a few minutes ago.

NO studios at Saratoga on December 7th.

There are 1 bdrm's available for that week so I figure I'll book the 1bedroom so I have someplace to stay (141pts sun-sat) and then hope for my Animal Kingdom (home resort!) studio waitlist to come through.

Or for 110pts (plus $95 fee) I can book a disney collection moderate- Hmm, don't really need all the room that a 1bdrm has, plus someone would change my towels and make my bed everyday, hmm

One cool thing, I had DVCmember.com up while on the phone, right after the call I hit 'refresh' and the reservation showed up already

 

[MAGICX2]

I called this am to get on the waitlist for the first day of our day by day calling. I requested a 2bdrm and a studio for 12/7. We are actually staying 12/7-12. The only thing is that the very nice CM I spoke with said that once one of the requested units is filled from the waitlist, the other request would be canceled. WHAT! I told him we needed both units and couldn't he specify that. He said that no, once one was filled the other was removed.
I even made the request under two seperate names, although both using my points. Now I have to watch very carefully to see if anything comes through, because I will need to call back immediately and get back on the waitlist for the other unit. This is driving me crazy! Any suggestions?

 

[MNMickeyWorldMom]

Called day-by-day to switch from SSR to OKW for my 11/30-12/5 stay and got the rooms I wanted. Yay! Then decided yesterday that I need one more room (1-bedroom), and they only had 11/30-12/3 available, so I am waitlisted for the last two nights for that room. Same availability for a studio. They had one more night available in a 2-bedroom, but I really only need a 1-bedroom, so didn't spend the points to go that route. Sure hope my waitlist comes through.

 

[AZDisneyDan]

OK, it's been a while since I updated, but today is the 7th month window for our check-out. I called MS right at 9AM and got a nice CM and explained that this is our first reservation as DVC members and I was hoping to finalize my trip with this call.

I orginally booked back in February to at least get our home resort (AKV). Well, the availability even then was not so much so we had to have partial reservations and waitlists and a cash reservation for the 4th and no reservation for the 7th.

Well, the last couple months (after a waitlist came through) looked like this:

11/27 thru 12/4 AKV Savanna View Studio
12/4 Cash reservation for a Standard View studio (waitlisted for above room)
12/5 thru 12/7 AKV Savanna View Studio
12/7 nothing (waitlisted for above room)

I told the CM that we really didn't want to move and if we had to we only wanted to move once. She looked into the system and had nothing for the whole time, but she could give us a studio at SSR for the 12/5 thru 12/7, but there was nothing available anywhere for 12/7.

I was not happy, but said that we would do it and I guess waitlist for the night of 12/7 at SSR. Then the real twist came for me as I told her, as instructed when I booked back in Feb., that I wanted to use my developer points since we have entered the 7th month window. She put me on hold for a while and then came back and told me that she would have to cancel my current reservation and book a new one with points and I could loose the room. I was not very happy and she understood, but her hands were tied.

I asked to speak to a supervisor and got another CM who told me the same thing. He heard me out as I had a lot to say about the dumbness of the whole thing and how their system is not very customer service friendly. I needed to use these points as I only had a year from February and we can't make any other trips by then. If I used it for the SSR portion of my trip it would only take 55 points of the 160, not good enough.

He put me on hold for a really long time and then came back with nothing really new to add and then I explained that I would use more points, but nothing was available. So he said he would look again at what they had (I've been on the phone 1 hour now) and all of a sudden they had a 1 bedroom at SSR resort from 11/30 thru 12/8. Well, I want to even out the two stays more so we looked at it day by day to add the points close to the 160 and finally settled at the following:

11/27 thru 12/2 - AKV savanna view studio
12/2 thru 12/8 - SSR 1 Bedroom

OP - please update the list.

I was not happy that I was forced to burn more points than I really wanted (it would have cost 176 points for a savanna studio at AKV for 11/27 thru 12/2 and then a studio at SSR from 12/2 thru 12/8; now I am using 254 points for the above scenario). They told me one thing and never fully explained the danger in booking a reservation with intention of using developer points outside of the 7month window. The original CM made it seem very easy to switch the points when we reached the 7 month window.

I must say for a first experince with the DVC, we have not been very pleased with our experience. I truly hope this turns around as it was quite an investment and it already seems more frustrating than the traditional way of booking.

 

[shelly3girls]

Well our 1/1 2-bedroom just came through. Now we are still waitlisted for 12/29-1/1 but hope to find something when the 7 month window comes. We are hoping for Vero Beach but will take anything to stay in FL!

 

[Donald is #1]

I also waitlisted the entire stay at BCV and VWL.

I had them put in there notes that I only want one of these weeks and I would take whichever one I could get first.

For BCV & VWL which nights did you waitlist?
1) 11/30-12/5
2) 11/30-12/12
3) 11/30-12/5 + 12/7-12/12

 

[Donald is #1]

Well, the first night of my waitlist came through! I got a BWV pool/garden view 1 BR for 12/3. I only started this waitlist on Sunday (7 month window) so I am excited! Now I just need to adjust my other nights.

 

[LVSWL]

Glad to see a little success! Good luck everyone!!

 

[icouldlivethere]

For BCV & VWL which nights did you waitlist?
1) 11/30-12/5
2) 11/30-12/12
3) 11/30-12/5 + 12/7-12/12

1) 11/30-12/5 for now. I may call back and add 12/7 - 12/12 waitlist at BCV and VWL when the 7 month window opens up for me. I told them to put in their notes that I only want one of these weeks. I hope I'm not asking for trouble.

I would like to have 5 nights at one resort but at least as of right now I only have to move once. I can live with that. I have mixed emotions about doing the BCV and VWL waitlists because this will be my first trip as a DVC owner and also my first trip when the Christmas decorations are up so I would love for it to be at my home resort.

 

[amandelba]

I must say for a first experince with the DVC, we have not been very pleased with our experience. I truly hope this turns around as it was quite an investment and it already seems more frustrating than the traditional way of booking.

AZDisneyDan - Did you call your guide? I know when we bought our points our guide told us that if we had any problems making our first reservation, he may be able to intervene and get us a cash room using our points. I haven't had to take him up on it, but it's worth a call.

 

[AZDisneyDan]

AZDisneyDan - Did you call your guide? I know when we bought our points our guide told us that if we had any problems making our first reservation, he may be able to intervene and get us a cash room using our points. I haven't had to take him up on it, but it's worth a call.

amandelba - I am so glad that you brought this point up because we signed up to DVC while on a Disney Cruise back in February. Now, there is a long story there that left a very bad taste in our mouth about DVC and my wife chronicled it in her trip report in the cruise trip report thread, so I won't rehash it there. Bottom line: when our "guide" (first time I heard that term was on these boards) finished up his part with us and turned us over to the "quality assurance" person to sign the docs, he gave us no card or said anything about contacting him for anything in the future. So, I have no idea how to contact him and if he is even in fact our guide.