First Time/DVC-Curious

[intamin]

silly question: if you own at disneyland hotel, and a specific room is available, can you secure it when booking? I ask because some of the 1- and 2-bedrooms look at the monorail pool but others seem to overlook... Anaheim. Not exactly the vibe I'd want to leave to chance and couldnt get for cheaper at the westin

You cannot guarantee what specific room you get. You can make requests for certain rooms but you will not always be able to book what you want.

VDH separates their view category into standard and preferred. Preferred views cost more points per night of course. Typically most of the preferred views SHOULD have a view of the pool and etc. but some of them do not despite being preferred. I also want to mention, regardless of if you own at VDH or at another resort it does not guarantee you will get the specific rooms you want. You owning at VDH does not improve the chances of your room request being filled.

 

[Sean81995]

You cannot guarantee what specific room you get. You can make requests for certain rooms but you will not always be able to book what you want.

VDH separates their view category into standard and preferred. Preferred views cost more points per night of course. Typically most of the preferred views SHOULD have a view of the pool and etc. but some of them do not despite being preferred. I also want to mention, regardless of if you own at VDH or at another resort it does not guarantee you will get the specific rooms you want. You owning at VDH does not improve the chances of your room request being filled.

got it. i believe i read a preferred view room doesn't exclude the possibility of an Anaheim view

 

[intamin]

got it. i believe i read a preferred view room doesn't exclude the possibility of an Anaheim view

I've seen some people complain about their "preferred" views being less than ideal although I haven't personally stayed at VDH. I can understand why people would be upset though when the room is already costing them more points and they're paying more in transient taxes as well when they don't get what they would consider a preferred view.

 

[AstroBlasters]

got it. i believe i read a preferred view room doesn't exclude the possibility of an Anaheim view

That might apply more to the studios than the villas. I’d check out the VDH views thread.

 

[Sean81995]

That might apply more to the studios than the villas. I’d check out the VDH views thread.

Sorry, I'm new to forums etc. Can someone please provide the link to that thread?

 

[Wedgeout]

Sorry, I'm new to forums etc. Can someone please provide the link to that thread?

https://www.disboards.com/threads/v...-hotel-dvc-view-from-the-room-thread.3931280/
Here for those VDH room views.

 

[mort1331]

I know this may sound stupid or come off odd but one reason I'd really love to visit DL is because I hear it's mostly locals. I'm not ignorant, I know Disney World is one of the largest tourist draws in the world but honestly sometimes it gets really annoying being around...well...tourists! I know I know everyone that uses MCO is a tourist but I hope you know what I'm getting at. Sometimes I just want to be like..."can we all act like we've been here before even if we haven't?" I have this feeling I'd really enjoy the more laid back feel that I assume DL provides since again...a lot of the people have "been there done that" before. Correct me if I'm wrong about my assumption!

After finally doing the west coast, I can firmly say book it. It gives great perspective into both lands, and what is similar and what is very different. My recommendation is fly in and do 3-4 days at DL, fly to Aulani (use as a base and travel the island) for 8-10 days, then fly back to Vegas for 3 before heading home. Dream trip.

 

[Sean81995]

https://www.disboards.com/threads/v...-hotel-dvc-view-from-the-room-thread.3931280/
Here for those VDH room views.

Y'all are super thorough! Thank you!

Here's a hypothetical question, if I were to make an 11-month booking, but then I saw a reservation that I immediately wanted at 7 months, is it easy to instantly cancel the 11-month one and grab the 7-month one? I'm envisioning a scenario in which I buy AK but then see a Grand Californian opening during the holidays and try to grab that.

 

[Chili327]

Y'all are super thorough! Thank you!

Here's a hypothetical question, if I were to make an 11-month booking, but then I saw a reservation that I immediately wanted at 7 months, is it easy to instantly cancel the 11-month one and grab the 7-month one? I'm envisioning a scenario in which I buy AK but then see a Grand Californian opening during the holidays and try to grab that.

If Grand Cal as something available at 7 months, yes you can swap to it.

 

[CarolynFH]

Y'all are super thorough! Thank you!

Here's a hypothetical question, if I were to make an 11-month booking, but then I saw a reservation that I immediately wanted at 7 months, is it easy to instantly cancel the 11-month one and grab the 7-month one? I'm envisioning a scenario in which I buy AK but then see a Grand Californian opening during the holidays and try to grab that.

Normally you could simply use the Modify button on the AKV reservation to change to a different resort at 7 months, and your AKV reservation would be held until the switch was completed. No need to cancel AKV and then book the non-home resort.

However, I’ve read that when modifying a WDW reservation the DL and AUL resorts might not show as options. In that case you’d need to call MS to make the switch, but again you wouldn’t need to cancel AKV and take the chance of losing it if VGC availability disappeared in the meantime.

 

[intamin]

Y'all are super thorough! Thank you!

Here's a hypothetical question, if I were to make an 11-month booking, but then I saw a reservation that I immediately wanted at 7 months, is it easy to instantly cancel the 11-month one and grab the 7-month one? I'm envisioning a scenario in which I buy AK but then see a Grand Californian opening during the holidays and try to grab that.

As above, you’d want to use the modify function so you don’t forfeit your VDH room without securing VGC.

 

[Sean81995]

Normally you could simply use the Modify button on the AKV reservation to change to a different resort at 7 months, and your AKV reservation would be held until the switch was completed. No need to cancel AKV and then book the non-home resort.

However, I’ve read that when modifying a WDW reservation the DL and AUL resorts might not show as options. In that case you’d need to call MS to make the switch, but again you wouldn’t need to cancel AKV and take the chance of losing it if VGC availability disappeared in the meantime.

Super helpful. Has anyone with a home resort on the east coast tried doing this? I wonder how long that call takes rather than making the switch online etc.

 

[CarolynFH]

Super helpful. Has anyone with a home resort on the east coast tried doing this? I wonder how long that call takes rather than making the switch online etc.

Well, online booking opens at 8:00 AM Eastern but MS doesn’t open until 9:00, so a highly-competitive reservation like a VGC studio can disappear in that time. The other unknown is how long it takes to get MS on the line - sometimes hold time is longer than others. It wouldn’t take MS long to make the switch once you’re talking to them.

Unfortunately, I don’t know any way around the issue. But at least everyone else who has an East Coast reservation and wants to switch to the West Coast is in the same boat!

 

[Sean81995]

Well, online booking opens at 8:00 AM Eastern but MS doesn’t open until 9:00, so a highly-competitive reservation like a VGC studio can disappear in that time. The other unknown is how long it takes to get MS on the line - sometimes hold time is longer than others. It wouldn’t take MS long to make the switch once you’re taking to them.

Unfortunately, I don’t know any way around the issue. But at least everyone else who has an east Coast reservation and wants to switch to the West Coast is in the same boat!

Ha thanks! If someone on this board currently has a resale contract for a wdw home resort and a present booking, I'd be curious to know that if they tried to modify it online (please don't actually modify it/lose your reservation for my sake), does grand californian show up as an option to change it?

 

[intamin]

Ha thanks! If someone on this board currently has a resale contract for a wdw home resort and a present booking, I'd be curious to know that if they tried to modify it online (please don't actually modify it/lose your reservation for my sake), does grand californian show up as an option to change it?

If you're booked at WDW, or Aulani, it will not let you modify to a Disneyland resort because they're in completely different locations.

You CAN modify from Hilton Head to a WDW resort or VB.

 

[Sean81995]

If you're booked at WDW, or Aulani, it will not let you modify to a Disneyland resort because they're in completely different locations.

You CAN modify from Hilton Head to a WDW resort or VB.

Understood. Conversely, if you're booked at Disneyland hotel, can you change it on the website to grand californian?

 

[Chili327]

If you're booked at WDW, or Aulani, it will not let you modify to a Disneyland resort because they're in completely different locations.

You CAN modify from Hilton Head to a WDW resort or VB.

Interesting, i didn't know that. I wonder why.?

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

If you're booked at WDW, or Aulani, it will not let you modify to a Disneyland resort because they're in completely different locations.

You CAN modify from Hilton Head to a WDW resort or VB.

So interesting - I noticed this last year and figured it had to do with resale.

 

[tx911]

If Grand Cal as something available at 7 months, yes you can swap to it.

But imagine that "if" is the size of Mount Everest

 

[tx911]

If you're booked at WDW, or Aulani, it will not let you modify to a Disneyland resort because they're in completely different locations.

You CAN modify from Hilton Head to a WDW resort or VB.

Did NOT know that!