How does MS fill waitlists?

[SaratogaShan]

Is it automated? When someone cancels a reservation that matches with a waitlist in the system, is it automatically filled or is it done at a specific time of day? I am just curious how this works.

Shan

 

[mmcguire]

I'm also curious about that. If it only once a day, I can quit checking the web site every day at lunch and again every night!

 

[Crisgw]

Good question!

 

[bookwormde]

No one knows for sure, the general popular consensus seems to be that rooms that are released during the “booking day” are set aside until MS is closed and then at some point they are matched against the waitlists, then any non matching days are released back into general inventory, as to when the days that are matched to waitlists actually get loaded, your guess is as good as mine, but in my experience they seem to show up by 9AM

bookwormde

 

[disneychic]

I'm sure they "hold" some rooms in hopes that they'll get cash ressies for them. I'm on a waitlist now for a studio, I can go onto the WDW main site and book a studio in the resort that I am on the waitlist for and pay cash. I'm guessing that if nobody books these rooms cash, they will be released back for members and then they go through those on the WL.

 

[timandlesley]

I was on the phone looking for BLT the other day and they had to cancel my other ressie to go back and get the BLT and by the time they did, it was gone and then we tried to go back and get my original ressie at AKL and the guy on the phone said " I sure hope it's there, those wait lists snag them up pretty fast", I asked him about it and he said that they are always scrawling the system and scooping them up. Don't know how accuarate that info is
Lesley

 

[Jaaron2]

I would be very interested to know the exact parameters on how the waitlist works. ( although we probably never will). All I know is the wait for the wait list is extremely painful

 

[SaratogaShan]

I was hoping that MS didn't wait until the end of the day to fill wait lists. If someone cancels a reservation that matches my waitlist at say, 11am, the chances are good that someone else would call MS and snag those nights by the close of business. In other words, if they only process this once per day, most matching reservations never make it to the people on waitlists.

I am still hoping that someone knows exactly how this process works. It seems that this may be another one of Disney's best kept secrets!

 

[tjkraz]

I'm sure they "hold" some rooms in hopes that they'll get cash ressies for them. I'm on a waitlist now for a studio, I can go onto the WDW main site and book a studio in the resort that I am on the waitlist for and pay cash. I'm guessing that if nobody books these rooms cash, they will be released back for members and then they go through those on the WL.

This doesn't have anything to do with the waitlist.

When members trade out of DVC (use points for a Disney Cruise, non-DVC resort, Concierge Collection, Adventures by Disney, etc.), their points are effectively used to give rooms to CRO (Disney website you mention) for cash bookings.

That's the mechanism which makes the entire trade process work. Essentially there IS a DVC member using that room--it's just that the member chose to trade his/her room for a Disney Cruise or some other non-DVC destination.

Disney has every right to attempt to sell those villas to cash guests and it has nothing to do with waitlists or cancellations. And no, the rooms do not roll back to DVC members if they aren't rented to cash-paying guests.

 

[kimberh]

I have been on a waitlist since the 11 month window at 9:05 for AKV Concierge for May 3rd and 4th. It was filled this week! I would hope that it was filled as soon as someone cancelled their existing reservation. I sure had been waiting the longest. The waitlist was over 9 months old.

 

[SaratogaShan]

I have been on a waitlist since the 11 month window at 9:05 for AKV Concierge for May 3rd and 4th. It was filled this week! I would hope that it was filled as soon as someone cancelled their existing reservation. I sure had been waiting the longest. The waitlist was over 9 months old.

Congratulations!!!!

I hope I get some pixie dust too!

 

[quentina]

I called today, I call a few times a week to check avail. I currently had 2 waitlists going, one for Jambo and one for Kidani. I switched one WL to VWL and asked the guy which AKL he thought I should cancel. He says...hold on, I can hear him typing away and says to cancel Kidani since Jambo will probably come through.

Now, I was under the impression that that was privlidged info???

I sure wish I know how they filled them....I could stop calling on a regular basis.

Kim

 

[jblrn2b]

I was on the waitlist for 6 days for Sept. recently. I checked at around 1 in the am (d/t working nights) and then I checked around 11a that morning and it had come through. Don't know what that means though.

 

[LoveToDisney]

I read on someone's post that the waitlists are snagged by the computer for the next person on the list, but they sit in holding until a cast member can "finish" it by assigning the points that are to be used, etc. from the account. That's why some people have reported calling in and the cast member notices that they have their wait list filled....it would be sitting there waiting to be finished up and the cast member would go ahead and finish it for them. Whether the person had called in or not, they still would have gotten their waistlist filled. It was just a coincidence that they called "after" the computer snagged it and "before" a seasoned cast member could finish the request. (I couldn't find the post but I'm guessing someone else will know about it and post a link possibly.)

 

[disneydawn6]

I had a waitlist for a standard studio at the boardwalk for Sunday July 5th. I called the other day for some dining reservations. I just asked out of curiosity if there was a standard studio for July 5th. She said, "Your in luck, we have one." I told her I wanted it and she grabbed it for me. I then told her I was on a waitlist for that day anyway. She told me that someone must have canceled it and the waitlist had not picked it up yet... Not sure how it works but I'm glad I got it......

 

[bookwormde]

Wow the info that he waitlist is now dynamic during the day is really interesting, since it give a significant advantage to shorter waitlist since they would be filled before a longer wait list which would be made up from 2 separate cancellations that did not occur during 1 waitlist review cycle.

I guess that is why I have such good luck with my 2-3 day waitlist.

bookwormde

 

[keishashadow]

I had a waitlist for a standard studio at the boardwalk for Sunday July 5th. I called the other day for some dining reservations. I just asked out of curiosity if there was a standard studio for July 5th. She said, "Your in luck, we have one." I told her I wanted it and she grabbed it for me. I then told her I was on a waitlist for that day anyway. She told me that someone must have canceled it and the waitlist had not picked it up yet... Not sure how it works but I'm glad I got it......

congrats

unfortunately, not so good for the possible members ahead of u on the waitlistcertainly NOT your fault in anyway, just how the system is currently operating

based upon the Oct waitlist thread last year, so many reported calling MS(everyday, twice a day, once an hour) and finally getting what they wanted.

imo, not good policy as commando callers could easily clog up MS phone lines and it circumvents the intended process...you'd think they could come up with a 24 hour holding account for released points until the waitlist is checked before releasing to general DVC population.

 

[jekjones1558]

I was waitlisted for one night at BWV this past December. I waitlisted just a couple of days past the 11 month mark. In November a friend called to get the very room I needed and got it on the first call. He then called to tell me that I should check my waitlist. It was not filled. It seems obvious to me that the waitlist matches are NOT instantaneous. There is some lag time (hours? days?) when a member calling in can get a room for which someone (even multiple members) is/are waiting. This only encourages plugging up MS phone lines to check for room availability.

 

[SaratogaShan]

I was waitlisted for one night at BWV this past December. I waitlisted just a couple of days past the 11 month mark. In November a friend called to get the very room I needed and got it on the first call. He then called to tell me that I should check my waitlist. It was not filled. It seems obvious to me that the waitlist matches are NOT instantaneous. There is some lag time (hours? days?) when a member calling in can get a room for which someone (even multiple members) is/are waiting. This only encourages plugging up MS phone lines to check for room availability.

Jean,

This is exactly what I was afraid of. It seems that Disney is just shooting itself in the foot here. Like you stated, people will feel compelled to call and check availability constantly because there is no faith in the waitlist system. You could be on the waitlist for months and never get what you need, but the frequent caller will probably "get lucky" sooner or later.

Sigh

 

[tjkraz]

It sounds like the waitlist requests are run in batch rather than realtime. At some predetermined time during the day--perhaps several times per day--a job kicks-off which compares the thousands of active waitlist requests with all open dates. Matches are made and rooms are booked.

To do this in realitime--where every cancellation or reservation modification then checks the waitlist for a match--is no small adjustment to the process.

Doing it in realtime would also work against longer waitlist requests, IMO. Let's say you are on the waitlist for June 1-5. I cancel June 1-2. If the waitlist process works in realtime, there is no match between my cancellation and your request so you get skipped. Someone else with lower priority on the waitlist who is only seeking June 1-2 will get the days I canceled.

But what if there is another cancellation later in the day for June 3-5. If the waitlist is a batch process run at the end of the business day, all of your dates will be available simultaneously and you will get your booking.

It's hard to put these "I called and my dates were mysteriously available" reports in perspective because we don't know what may have happened otherwise. If "disneydawn6" had not called to ask about her room, it's entirely possible that she still would have had the same result off of the waitlist.

Some of the fear here is predicated on the assumption that someone else could have booked the room before it got the the waitlist. That's a realistic fear, but it's hard to tell how often it happens. We've used the waitlist 4 or 5 times and have always gotten something as a result. So I'm inclined to think the system "works" more times than it doesn't. In each of my experiences, nobody called and snatched my room before the waitlist process ran.

Regardless of how the system works, I suspect there will be circumstances which folks consider less-than-ideal.