first DVC reservation.... no pixie dust offered...

[WDWLayla]

I've heard... And read... That when you are making your first dvc reservation your guide can assist you to get the resort you'd like. I asked my guide who I needed to contact to make my first reservation... And she told me I needed to call member services.

Long story short, I called member services, stressed this was my first reservation and was unable to get any AKL reservation...

Instead I'm wait listed... Is this now the case??

 

[AnnaS]

Are you making your first reservation within 30 days of closing and/or your stay is within 30 days of closing? I could be wrong but I am thinking it is within this time frame.

 

[MoreTravels]

You should have tried to get it in writing BEFORE the deal is done. Now that your guide has finished the sale, his/her motivation to help has also evaporated. It's like some guide promised gift cards or fast passes then pretended nothing was said. Sneaky salesmen.

 

[keaster]

I think it depends on the guide. There is no hard and fast rule that they have to help you secure your first reservation.

 

[bakerworld]

I too was very frustrated by my first booking experience with DVC. Our guide offered to help us but we were in the middle of a stay and I just couldn't think off the top of my head. I tried calling back when we returned home and had received our materials but she was on vacation. I called member services and they were less then helpful. So for months I just walked away until my husband had a fit. We'd paid a lot of $$ to just not use it so I called and asked for them to tell me where we could stay.

From then on I always plan ahead - even if I end up changing something I've booked 11 or 7 months I have found it a better situation than no availablity.

My advice, call them and ask them what's available on your dates - then make a choice. Leave your wait list in place.

 

[WDWLayla]

My stay is in August. I've heard of guides being able to help secure that reservation once points are in the system... Which they are.

I have yet to close, but I guess everyone's experience is different. Especially since I expressed to my guide that I was worried I'd be locked out come the seven month window (as I was wait list for OKW for a time) and she said not to worry as they do help first time dvc ers make their first reservation...

She never responded in writing... And made it a point to email me that she would call me to answer my questions...

 

[Brian Noble]

Now that AKL is almost fully declared, they might not have the flexibility they once did. If another resort is available, it might be worth booking it---you'll have many years to explore the collection!

 

[keaster]

When in august are you planning? Closer to the end is less busy.

 

[WDWLayla]

Yes, we ended up booking at SSR just to have something in the pocket for now...

Last week of august is usually low time

 

[rlovew]

You must need the 19-23rd of August- other than those nights I was getting full availability at many room sizes at AKV for the month.

 

[WDWLayla]

You must need the 19-23rd of August- other than those nights I was getting full availability at many room sizes at AKV for the month.

18-24 actually... Darn airfare!!

 

[todd222222]

well -

We just made our first reservation and frankly had not heard of this "pixie dust" stuff from anyone...not our guide or read about it on the boards....

This is our story -

Were in WDW in March - took a tour and decided to buy from Disney. (I know crazy) - At this time we were planning on going back the next March so when asked if we wanted to make a reservation we just said we would have to wait until our 11 month window.

We got home and are very excited about our purchase and my wife and I decided to try and go on a short trip with just the two of us (no kids - they are 9 and 11, but in the 11 years we have only taken one weekend trip away from them, and that was an award at work)....so anyway, we said let's try and go in Oct.

I called MS and just got a normal agent and told her we were wanting to see what was available (I mentioned that we had not closed yet so we couldn't check online). She asked what our dream reservation would be - I told her (knowing there was no way it could be available, like BWV during F&W) and she put me on hold...came back a few minutes later and said she was able to secure it.

Now frankly I don't know how this works, but they only thing I can think of is that they are taking rooms out of inventory that Disney owns and converting them to points - but what do I know.

She did say, this was a one time thing, the room wasn't available for points reservation and don't expect it again, but that they wanted to make our first reservation special.

No guide involvement and I didn't ask for it....just offered.

YMMV

This may be one of those things that they can offer under very specific conditions.

 

[Madhattr]

We purchased in Feb while on a cruise. When we got home I called member services and booked our first ressie. Beach Club two weeks from now for four nights of flower and garden. Was on hold for maybe ten minutes when the CSR came back on the line with a confirmation. Talk about "welcome home". Needless to say we were pleased

 

[Deb & Bill]

Welcome to the real world of DVC. Pixie dust just doesn't happen that often.

 

[disneynutz]

New owners will soon learn that with Disney there are ups and downs, pixie dust and saw dust. Just because someone gets pixie dust doesn't mean that everyone will.

To the OP, you can contact your Guide again for some booking help but you might have a Guide who doesn't want to get involved.

Bill

 

[Irishmom23]

I made my first SSR purchase in September 2011. I knew I wanted marathon weekend that following January, and really wanted BWV. Called MS to bank some of my shiny new points and asked them to book the reservation for January. Asked for BWV, and like another poster, was on hold for a few minutes, and got BWV standard view for 6 nights over the entire marathon weekend. I would definitely say I had some pixie dust that time

 

[Dean]

I've heard... And read... That when you are making your first dvc reservation your guide can assist you to get the resort you'd like. I asked my guide who I needed to contact to make my first reservation... And she told me I needed to call member services.

Long story short, I called member services, stressed this was my first reservation and was unable to get any AKL reservation...

Instead I'm wait listed... Is this now the case??

I think most situations have been associated with the purchase itself and not after the fact. If the resort is completely declared and the resort is full, there's not a lot of wiggle room. Any availability has to come from somewhere. Usually in this case it comes from undeclared or just declared inventory which wouldn't apply here. It can also come from points owned by DVD either directly or when traded for cash type exchanges but there still has to be availability or time they already have reserved but not committed.

 

[KateB]

We bought in 2009 and our guide booked our first trip home. When we bought we had a December trip booked through Disney and he looked up BLT to see if we could transfer to our soon to be home resort. When we actually purchased he did it for us and we were given a fantastic room too.

Our guide is pretty awesome though, if I do say so myself. He calls us on every vacation to ask how the resort is and if there is anything he can do. I was very happy to refer him to a friend who bought in too.

 

[Eventer98]

We bought into SSR in the spring of 07...our guide tried to book us a week at the end of June in a studio, anywhere. She said we had to do a split stay and we ended up using points (a ton!) for 3 nights at Coronado and 4 at SSR. Kinda stunk.

 

[bwang123]

in march 2012, our guide found us 2 days in a BLT studio lake view during spring break which just happened to be 2 days out from the day of calling to make the reservation. they put us on the 16th floor right by TOTWL. AKV was our home resort but there was no availability so we made the best out of those accommodations.