does anyone else think that limiting waitlists by view category is rediculous?

[TisBit]

I agree that the concept of limiting waitlist in the end is a good thing. There were way too many waitlists before and many people often just put in a bunch of waitlist, etc.

But, I do agree that maybe the limits on waitlist should be by dates/resort. Restrict members to two waitlist at one time and a waitlist would be defined as a specific date range at a specific resort. If you want to specify room type or view you can, but you don't have to.

Problem I am sure is in the computer programming.....

 

[dcfromva]

It's a double-edged sword. If they did allow more waitlist requests...there would be more waitlist requests across the board. That means more people ahead of you in line at every turn.

I get that allowing more requests would give folks more coverage when they aren't picky about room size, view or even resort. But again, all members would have more requests in the system, making the lists exponentially longer than they are now.

Yet, somehow they were able to manage it before they made the latest change limiting it to 2 WLs....

 

[dis-happy]

Rumor had it that there used to be a manual component to matching the waitlists. Remember the days where they would actually call you too and allow you to accept (or hold out for something else) on your waitlist? With so many more contracts since then maybe they had to move to w/l limits. Not ideal, but understandable.

 

[tjkraz]

Yet, somehow they were able to manage it before they made the latest change limiting it to 2 WLs....

Oh, they could certainly manage it. My point simply is that with the limits, all of the lists are smaller.

Imagine that for any given date, there are already 49 total members waitlisting for a studio villa. You are caller number 50. Without the limits in place, it's entirely conceivable that you are #50 on the waitlist for every single resort and view.

But with the limits in place, all 49 of those people have to choose just two resort / view combinations. Take all of the resorts & views into account: BLT has 3 views, BWV has 3, AKV has at least 6 between Jambo and Kidani--I count 17 different Studio options at the WDW resorts. Spread those 49 people over the 17 options and you could be 5th or 6th in line at the options you select. Choose wisely (largest resorts) and it tilts the overall odds in your favor.

And as another poster said, yes it is a very manual process. In the example above given unlimited requests, the CM first has to create 17 separate waitlist entries. When a request is met, it's again a manual process of creating the new reservation and cancelling other outstanding waitlist requests.

Having a more automated process would help but at the end of the day, it wouldn't lead to any increased success. If there are 50 cancellations, 50 people have their waitlists met. Only thing changing is how those 50 vacancies are redistributed.

 

[cel_disney]

I can see why its hard to have generic wait lists or more than 2, I really wish that there was a way to have both of these options!!

I find this especially problematic for people that 1) are looking for ANY 2 bedroom (if there are 17 studio options, there are probably 34 2bedrooms because you have to do dedicated and LO) or 2) you have more than 1 trip planned in a short time period and it would be nice to request 2 waitlists for each trip...

I have considered writing to MS about this in the past but dont really want to complain if I dont have any constructive suggestions as alternatives....sigh...

 

[missycj96]

thanks for all your comments. I had no idea that lock off and dedicated were separate waitlist categories because I have never waitlisted a 2 BR. I am now convinced that dvc would save money or at least time in call volume to member services if we were able to waitlist a whole category (i.e. a 2 BR at BLT or a 2 BR at BWV). Members probably keep calling to check on availability because they know that the waitlist is not really checking all there is at the resort they are trying to waitlist. I know I'd keep calling. This is so interesting.

 

[Chuck S]

thanks for all your comments. I had no idea that lock off and dedicated were separate waitlist categories because I have never waitlisted a 2 BR. I am now convinced that dvc would save money or at least time in call volume to member services if we were able to waitlist a whole category (i.e. a 2 BR at BLT or a 2 BR at BWV). Members probably keep calling to check on availability because they know that the waitlist is not really checking all there is at the resort they are trying to waitlist. I know I'd keep calling. This is so interesting.

Dedicated and Lock-off for two bedrooms almost have to be considered a separate waitlist. At most resorts, the bedding configurations are different (2 beds vs bed and sofa in 2nd bedroom). Those configurations may be important to the person booking the 2 bedroom unit. Plus, a lock-off takes a one bedroom AND a studio out of service, affecting those waitlists as well.

 

[ppony]

Dedicated and Lock-off for two bedrooms almost have to be considered a separate waitlist. At most resorts, the bedding configurations are different (2 beds vs bed and sofa in 2nd bedroom). Those configurations may be important to the person booking the 2 bedroom unit. Plus, a lock-off takes a one bedroom AND a studio out of service, affecting those waitlists as well.

I wish it wasn't though. Some may care how it's configured, some may not. I couldn't even begin to predict which desire would be higher. All I know is I wished I could have gotten a theme park view or lake view. I didn't care which, but I had to pick one and then stick w/ my 2BR lock-off and dedicated options. We didn't care which. It just seems so much more cumbersome than it needs to be. To me anyway. Is this an example of how a few PITAs were just causing too much trouble so they homogenized it for everyone? Some people are just impossible to please, no matter what. We've all read about the hyper-controller-planner on thee boards. I bet you could find 6 on the resorts forum first page if you went and looked right now. But how many people are really that difficult? Guess I just like to be that Rice Krispie floating in the milk in my "old age". I get my ducks in a general loose-type row as opposed to a rigid row and move on from there.

 

[missycj96]

Even if lock off and dedicated need to be separate, members should have the leeway to take either on a waitlist. Otherwise the waitlist is not accomplishing its purpose for either dvc/member services or the member.