First time booking leaves me wondering...

ustasmom

Mouseketeer
Joined
Oct 15, 2015
Messages
290
I got my points yesterday and I booked a trip in November before my AP expire. I've tucked it in between Jersey week and Thanksgiving. I booked AKV value for Monday-Thursday and club level for the Friday night. It leaves me with the weekend before and the Thursday night. I can get Kidani but we really liked our view from Jambo.

So short of waitlisting and watching I guess that I will be waiting for the 7th month mark and doing some moving. Are reservations made at the 11 month mark usually set in stone or is there a dump and grab at the 7th month mark? Since I am missing some, should I be open to the idea of changing at 7 months? How does that work? Can I get duplicate reservations if I have the points?
 
If I am reading your reservations correctly, you currently have Nov 14-17, 2016 in AKV value, nothing for night of Nov 17, and a club level room for the night of the 18th, and you are looking to add Nov 17 and the "weekend" before, meaning either Nov 11 or Nov 12, thru 13.

As to whether there may be changes by others which allow you to get what you need, the answer is yes, but you should consider it imperative to get on a wait list now if you want any chance.

If you want value for that weekend before, and value or club level for that missing Thursday, you will be seeking two of the hardest booking categories to reserve out of all the DVC resorts and booking categories, and those two are booking categories that few ever want to change once they get them. Also that weekend before has Food & Wine, and with Veterans Day holiday on the Friday, it is a very high DVC demand weekend. To give you an idea of what you are up against, be aware that Nov 13 in a value studio and 2BR went full by 30 seconds after the 11 month window opened on line at 8 a.m. on Devember 13, 2015, and the club level studios and 2BRs were already filled for that date by reservations made on December 12.

In other words, what you need to hope for is that someone who has reserved will need to cancel, likely not because of a desire to change resorts or room category at WDW but because something comes up that requires a trip cancellation, date change for their trip, or the need to seek a larger room (e.g., they have to add new guests and what they reserved is not big enough). You should consider your chances of getting value or club level for the times you want by trying to reserve on line at exactly 7 months out to be slim to none. The wait list, for which priority is established by how early you get on it in relation to others, gives you a chance and those kinds of changes that affect the wait list are ones that could occur any time, starting now.

Another thing you will need to consider is when to change to something else if the wait list does not come through. For that weekend, Jambo savanna and standard view has a real risk of filling before the 7 month window, so if you want Jambo you will need to consider making a switch significantly before 7 months out. Note, if your current plan is instead to seek elsewhere at 7 months out rather than make a real attempt to extend your AKV reservations, be aware that anything elsewhere for that weekend you want is going to be hard to get at 7 months out anywhere other than SSR and possibnly OKW and Poly.

As to making a new reservation at 7 months out if without canceling the old one if you have enough points to go that route, yes, you can make the new reservation and then cancel the old one.
 
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Drusba-- Thank you for all your help. I guess that I should be happy that I got what I did. I do have Sunday and Thursday on the waitlist but I check often anyway. I have 8 kids so I always have this "frugal" thinking. I can't wrap my brain around spending 16 points for what could cost me 9. :crazy:
 



















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