DVC Availability

[Lgh5000]

We are renting points for our trip in September, and the member we've rented from is being really kind and generous and allowing us to ask him to make changes to our reservations by May 31st if an opening occurs at the Polynesian (it booked up days before the 7 month window opened up, so we had to go to plan B with a split stay at Wilderness and Boardwalk). I've been stalking different availability calendars for DVC resorts, but am wondering if they are even accurate (or if one is more accurate than another). There was an opening a few days ago only via one site, but that soon disappeared.

Is there anything I can do as a non-member to stalk the actual availability? If not are there any members that want a side job checking availability for me? (kidding, but also kind of serious, lol).

Thanks for any tips or advice! I appreciate it! My heart was set on Polynesian and it broke a little once that fell through. If I could get 2 or even 3 days there I would be ecstatic.

 

[Marionnette]

We are renting points for our trip in September, and the member we've rented from is being really kind and generous and allowing us to ask him to make changes to our reservations by May 31st if an opening occurs at the Polynesian (it booked up days before the 7 month window opened up, so we had to go to plan B with a split stay at Wilderness and Boardwalk). I've been stalking different availability calendars for DVC resorts, but am wondering if they are even accurate (or if one is more accurate than another). There was an opening a few days ago only via one site, but that soon disappeared.

Is there anything I can do as a non-member to stalk the actual availability? If not are there any members that want a side job checking availability for me? (kidding, but also kind of serious, lol).

Thanks for any tips or advice! I appreciate it! My heart was set on Polynesian and it broke a little once that fell through. If I could get 2 or even 3 days there I would be ecstatic.

You’re so fortunate to have found an owner who is willing to monitor availability at 7 months to get you a reservation at Poly. Not all owners would do that for a renter.

As for those availability websites and tools, I don’t put a lot of faith in them. Availability is extremely fluid in normal years. It’s unusually volatile due to COVID. I could look now and see a villa available and a minute later it can be gone. I think that as a non-owner who can do nothing when you see an opening, you’re just going to make yourself crazy trying to monitor anything open up. Trust the DVC member you’re working with to do the job. They’re ultimately the one who has to make reservation changes anyway.

 

[Lgh5000]

You’re so fortunate to have found an owner who is willing to monitor availability at 7 months to get you a reservation at Poly. Not all owners would do that for a renter.

As for those availability websites and tools, I don’t put a lot of faith in them. Availability is extremely fluid in normal years. It’s unusually volatile due to COVID. I could look now and see a villa available and a minute later it can be gone. I think that as a non-owner who can do nothing when you see an opening, you’re just going to make yourself crazy trying to monitor anything open up. Trust the DVC member you’re working with to do the job. They’re ultimately the one who has to make reservation changes anyway.

I should clarify..the owner is not monitoring availability; that is up to me. He just agreed to change the reservation if I found an opening. But now I'm realizing that just might not be possible since availabilities come and go so quickly that the availability tools might not be accurate.

 

[GoingSince1990]

Ask the owner to stalk availability for you, and in exchange you will pay him an extra $500 (or some suitable sum) if he is able to switch. You can also ask him to waitlist the reservation for you.

 

[supersnoop]

I should clarify..the owner is not monitoring availability; that is up to me. He just agreed to change the reservation if I found an opening. But now I'm realizing that just might not be possible since availabilities come and go so quickly that the availability tools might not be accurate.

Nope, you have no way to monitor availability. Any site that purports to track availability is only a snapshot in time. Availability can change on a moments notice and you would have to be prepared to act immediately.

 

[Chuck S]

If you actually found something, by the time you contacted the owner and told them, it would likely be gone, anyway. And remember that if something shows up on a website like Hotels.com. or even the Disney world website, that doesn't mean that room would ne available for a points reservation.

 

[Lgh5000]

Thank you so much everyone for your input! I really appreciate it!

 

[Where'sPiglet?]

You may be able to have the owner set up a waitlist for you.