Grand Californian Wait List

RedM94

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 3, 2011
Hello all,

Has anyone ever had a waitlist fill for the Grand Californian? I was able to cobble together a one bedroom and a studio for early June. I had to waitlist a studio for Sunday into Monday. Has anyone ever had a studio waitlist fill Sunday into Monday in June?

I do have a back up room booked at a good neighbor hotel just in case.
 
Hello all,

Has anyone ever had a waitlist fill for the Grand Californian? I was able to cobble together a one bedroom and a studio for early June. I had to waitlist a studio for Sunday into Monday. Has anyone ever had a studio waitlist fill Sunday into Monday in June?

I do have a back up room booked at a good neighbor hotel just in case.

I think a lot ppl have had a waitlist for VGC which matched.

I guess that you mean a waitlist within the 7 month window. Since you are only waitlisting 1 day I think your odds are good.

Since you also have a backup room booked I wouldn't worrie.
 
We got a one-night waitlist for a 2bedroom at VGC last June. I had booked 2 nights but couldn’t get the 3rd. I’d read that waitlisting one night instead of all 3 together was the way to go, and it worked out great!
 
@Cyberc1978 You we’re right, my one night waitlist filled today at 1:15 pm for a VGC studio. Even better, MS was able to combine my studio nights. I now have two nights in a one bedroom, followed by three nights in a studio.

The two nights in the one bedroom are one reservation. Can I waitlist a studio for each of my two one bedroom nights independently, or can I only waitlist once for the two consecutive nights.
 


I pulled 3 nights together one night at a time last month. I wanted Oct 14 to 20, but night 2 and night 5 were gone at 7 months. I booked Paradise Pier on cash and waitlisted the whole week. I figured the odds were slim. In the meanwhile, friends & I decided to book Poly in September so I was short on points, so I cancelled the waitlist. Then I heard DCA was open to midnight on Friday night, I decided to waitlist that by itself. Came through in July. Then I decided to waitlist Thursday night, came through in August. Then I waitlisted Wednesday night, came through in September at 28 days out. They automatically combined Wednesday and Thursday but Friday was still separate. I called Member Services and they combined Friday. I didn't have anymore points available so I stopped there. So I ended up with 3 nights Paradise Pier on cash, 3 nights at VGC on points. Worked out great! Plus I scored the best studio, 6504! Top floor park view!

One thing, I had to pay the 2 nights at PP at checkin (1st night was deposit). I hated to have to pay for that after I got home! One of the reasons I love DVC!
 
We are traveling from FL to CA with DD, her husband and our baby grandson next Mar. Son in law has a week through RCI booked at a good neighbor hotel. We thought a couple nites in GC on our points would be nice so we waitlisted a Mon/Tues 1br. It came through in about a week or 10 days and we were thrilled. First trip for DW and me to Disneyland. We will be in the parks 4 days. Hardly can wait
 
@Cyberc1978 You we’re right, my one night waitlist filled today at 1:15 pm for a VGC studio. Even better, MS was able to combine my studio nights. I now have two nights in a one bedroom, followed by three nights in a studio.

The two nights in the one bedroom are one reservation. Can I waitlist a studio for each of my two one bedroom nights independently, or can I only waitlist once for the two consecutive nights.

You can have two active waitlists at a time so you can either waitlist each night separately or waitlist both nights on one and waitlist just the second night with the other to keep your reservation continuous if only the single night fills.
 


Make sure they've actually combined your reservation. I had waitlisted an extra day on the end of our reservation (same room category) at VGC, and when it came through, I called in to member services to see if I'd be able to keep the same room. They linked the reservations and assured me I'd be fine. I double-checked when we checked in to make sure I still had everything correct and we wouldn't have to move, just check in the morning of the reservation so they'd redo our cards. Lo and behold, we had to move rooms for that last night. It wasted a ton of time (we missed EMH) and basically negated the benefit of the extra day.
 
If they truly combine the reservation it'll switch to all one reservation number and list all the days vs being two reservation numbers linked together. Make sure any rep you talk to links them under all one reservation number so you don't have to move.
 
We own at VGC, but in January 2017, on a whim I started looking at the reservation tool and found 3 open consecutive night for mid-March 2017! I then waitlisted for a 4th night. I booked 1 night in GCH for cash, but the waitlist came through.

I pulled 3 nights together one night at a time last month. I wanted Oct 14 to 20, but night 2 and night 5 were gone at 7 months. I booked Paradise Pier on cash and waitlisted the whole week. I figured the odds were slim. In the meanwhile, friends & I decided to book Poly in September so I was short on points, so I cancelled the waitlist. Then I heard DCA was open to midnight on Friday night, I decided to waitlist that by itself. Came through in July. Then I decided to waitlist Thursday night, came through in August. Then I waitlisted Wednesday night, came through in September at 28 days out. They automatically combined Wednesday and Thursday but Friday was still separate. I called Member Services and they combined Friday. I didn't have anymore points available so I stopped there. So I ended up with 3 nights Paradise Pier on cash, 3 nights at VGC on points. Worked out great! Plus I scored the best studio, 6504! Top floor park view!
!

We just got home from a stay at VGC, and we had studio 6504 and 1 bedroom 6502. Awesome rooms!!! We loved them! Sadly, World of Color wasn't playing (still down), but the view was still incredible.
 
We own at VGC, but in January 2017, on a whim I started looking at the reservation tool and found 3 open consecutive night for mid-March 2017! I then waitlisted for a 4th night. I booked 1 night in GCH for cash, but the waitlist came through.



We just got home from a stay at VGC, and we had studio 6504 and 1 bedroom 6502. Awesome rooms!!! We loved them! Sadly, World of Color wasn't playing (still down), but the view was still incredible.

@sgrap

Thank you for replying. I have a similar reservations for GCH. My first two nights are in a one bedroom, then three nights in a studio. How did you score the awesome room locations? Did you request prior to checking, and if so, how to you request those specific rooms?
 
@sgrap

Thank you for replying. I have a similar reservations for GCH. My first two nights are in a one bedroom, then three nights in a studio. How did you score the awesome room locations? Did you request prior to checking, and if so, how to you request those specific rooms?
I always either call or do an online chat with DVC ahead of time and request certain room #'s. It was also our 30th anniversary, and our son's fiance's birthday, so I'm guessing that might have helped this time? We have never had our first request granted (although we have always been in a room that was somewhere on our list), and this time we had every single request granted, with our first choice of rooms. It was amazing!
 

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