If I only have 1 night on a Wait List, do I still need to stalk it?

disneygrandma

Mickey Fan
Joined
Apr 2, 2006
Messages
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Is the Wait List a sure thing to pick up that one night if it's available? Or is it possible for that one night to show up as available before the Wait List grabs it? I've been spending a lot of time stalking for the one night that I have Wait Listed, and I'm just wondering if it's necessary since I'm not sure exactly how the Wait List grabs the reservations. Thanks so much for helping me out!
 
There are definitely times I have grabbed by one night. Most of the time, i actually had the match but it hadn’t not been processed yet.

However, there are a few times that wasn’t the case, so I hedge my bets. It really depends on whether it’s just a matter of getting a view that is less points, or it’s a night I have nothing else booked as a back up
 
I have one night waitlisted (OKW HH) - I have plenty of time but I do check the website once in a while.

I originally had 5 nights (not HH) waitlisted for HH. This came through pretty quick. I decided to add one extra night the same time it came through but no HH was available. I think this one night will take longer than the original 5 nights :rolleyes:
 
Do I think your odds are better with a one night waitlist, yes. Do I still think it is worth it (if you have the time) to stalk, yes as well.
 
Yes you need to stalk - to increase your odds but also because the waitlist function is anything but bulletproof.

I waitlisted BwV resort view for Dec 12th. A week or two later I saw the date available, just waiting to be booked. I hurried up and went to my dashboard and modified my current reservation and added the night.

Now I would have thought that my waitlist would have gotten a match since the date was available and the night I booked was just an “extra” Dec 12th.
I waited for MS to match but nothing happened for more than a week. I eventually chatted and asked for a status, and was told it’s still active and will be booked if it eventually get a match.

My guess is that the waitlist system was down or not working when I saw my missing date online and grabbed it. Otherwise it would have taken it.

This is not my first time experiencing things like this and that’s why I recommend waitlist AND stalking.
 
Never hurts to stalk in addition to setting up a WL.
 
Thanks. I have been stalking, but didn't know how dedicated I needed to be to doing that.
 
I called MS to "cancel" my one night reservation (standard studio at AKV) because I wanted to rebook it and buy 4 OTU points to free up the points used in the reservation so that I would have them next week and wouldn't have to call to book the second half of my split stay. I only needed 4 points so I have had a value studio at AKV waitlisted for 3 months now with no luck. When I explained to the CM what I wanted to do, she said, "so you want to cancel the waitlist too? Because it matched today." WHAT?? It's exactly 4 points less (which is why I waitlisted it) so now I don't need to buy any OTU points! YEAH! It's such an odd coincidence that I have had 2 waitlists now that have matched while I happened to be on the phone with MS for an unrelated issue. Weird....but so cool!
 
Same happened to me when I had originally booked my early Dec. OKW stay. People walk and I could not get HH when my 11 month window opened up. I waitlisted HH - when I called MS to add an extra night - the CM told me my waitlist came through for HH. At first she kept telling me there was an error coming up and figured out why. I noticed later when I checked my emails that I had their email telling me it came through. Just happened to me on the same day I called.

& happy my last night recently came through for HH also. I figured it would with OKW and glad it did. A few days ago, I received my email they combined the two reservations (original 5 nights and 1 night).
 












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