Interesting waitlist experience

[Anal Annie]

So we've decided with the cost of airfare these days that Aulani is OUT for us for this summer and so decided to make this a big 2 or 3 trips to WDW kind of year instead. I started calling a few days ago for a studio at BWV. I am booking more nights than I really need to start until I find airfare but I think we will ultimately decide to go for 8 or 9 nights so we can still get good use out of our AP's and also spend a couple of days at Universal (we've never take DS over there). So I got the first full week on the first call and then started calling back every morning to add another night to the end. Then I'll call back after I book air & will cancel off what we don't want.

ANYWAY, it had been working fine until yesterday when the next night that I wanted to add wasn't available. So I waitlisted it. Today I called back to add my final day & the CM put it on the waitlist at first. Then she asked if I wanted her to just double check the entire 11 days in a std. studio. I said I would be VERY surprised if it was available but SURE go ahead & check. Next thing I'm hearing her say "Hummmmm" and I was like "What? WHAT?!" For a sec I thought she was going to tell me the std. view is now open (it wasn't when I first started the orig. call). She says "No, it's not BUT there ARE BW view studios showing as open!" So I said why didn't the waitlist come through? And she said she didn't know, but that it SHOULD HAVE. She claimed she's never seen a glitch like this before with the waitlisting not happening automatically. I asked her if she could force the days onto our ressie & she was like yes so that's what she did. But so we may have NEVER gotten the rest of our days if I hadn't called back & if she hadn't started a new search for the entire 11 nights! Somebody else would've been able to book those days before the waitlist had a chance to recylce or whatever it does. I didn't call until about 10:00 so I am guessing that someone else called this morning right before me & cancelled the days. Little scary isn't it that the system has such a big flaw that it doesn't automatically recognize that someone else has already requested the dates? I just wonder how often this happens & how common it is??

It's a lesson in waitlisting for me...I will always call daily now to double check the dates 'cuz you can't trust the system to take care of you!!

 

[jekjones1558]

We had a similar experience with not a good result. We were wait listed for one night for a BW view room since shortly after the 11 month mark. Our friends called many months later to book any room and actually got the BW view room we had been waiting for. When I found this out I called MS and they denied it could happen. I gave them our friends' reservation number and a supervisor admitted that there was a glitch. I have seen too many examples of people getting their wait lists by calling. I believe that the computers only do matches at certain times and if someone happens to call before the computer does the match, then the room goes to the person who called rather than to the wait list. JMHO.

 

[wdwnomad]

I am not sure when you are going but I just booked 13 nights in a standard view studio at the BWV with no problem. My 7 month window opened on Monday and I called back every day at 9:00 am to add on the extra days. I finally got all my nights added today. Everyday there was a standard view studio available. A couple of times the agents said I was taking the last one. Most of the time they didn't say anything though. Don't know if they weren't just saying or there were more.

I will say I was surprised it was that easy. I thought I was going to be hard to get.

 

[Sandisw]

I have heard that it takes a bit to have the wait list kick in and that it is possible for someone to snag a room in the mean time.

I had to do some modifying of trips last week and ended up canceling a BLT SV studio, knowing that when I rebooked it, I would end up with LV since that was all that was available.

Since I was borrowing points, I wanted to attach them to the reservation I know for sure will be happening.

Anyway, in the 10 minutes that I realized the studio, it never got picked back up by a wait list and I got it back..so, I think there is certainly a lag between when a room shows up and when the computer snatches it for a wait list.

So glad you were able to get what you wanted!!!

 

[disneynutz]

The computer does the matches, a CM then has to book the reservation. Depending on their work load, there can be a delay.

As I posted on another thread, Disney and Disney Management denies that there is a wait list issue even though it's very obvious that there is.

Bill

 

[Anal Annie]

I am not sure when you are going but I just booked 13 nights in a standard view studio at the BWV with no problem. My 7 month window opened on Monday and I called back every day at 9:00 am to add on the extra days. I finally got all my nights added today. Everyday there was a standard view studio available. A couple of times the agents said I was taking the last one. Most of the time they didn't say anything though. Don't know if they weren't just saying or there were more.

I will say I was surprised it was that easy. I thought I was going to be hard to get.

Hummm...Lucky you!! I started calling promptly at 9:00 on Tues. 1/10 and initially started with a week beginning on Fri. 8/10. So I guess you probably DID get the last one since you called the day before me. When I first asked about the std. view they said they could only confirm the first 5 nights in the std. view & said that they couldn't do the 15th or 16th and that I'd have to waitlist those 2 nights so I just went with the BW view 'cuz they said they DID have that available. Since I knew that I'd be calling back to add a few more days I figured maybe the "Dream" season might get harder to book since it requires fewer points and I thought my odds would only get harder to get the std. view (especially since I wanted more than 7 nights). (If that thinking makes any sense!) These last 2 days I wasn't able to call right at 9:00 because I was driving did but I did call shortly after. Today I guess I just got lucky with a CM willing to take an extra step. I still didn't get std. view but at least I got all my nights that I wanted to have available until I book flights. But in the future now anytime I have to waitlist I think I will have to call back every day to check on it. I was thinking that someone probably called right before me & released them...no wonder people report such spotty luck with waitlisting!!

You are certainly saving a lot more points than we are...we normally only ever book a std. view whenever we go to like AKV or something. We DID spring for LV at BLT this spring but that was mainly because the there were no std. views available at 7 months for spring break & I felt lucky to even get the LV for that time period.

 

[wdwnomad]

Well at least in the end everything worked out. I guess I will be seeing you around! We'll be there at the same time.

 

[BrerNashville]

The computer does the matches, a CM then has to book the reservation. Depending on their work load, there can be a delay.

As I posted on another thread, Disney and Disney Management denies that there is a wait list issue even though it's very obvious that there is.

Bill

Interesting. A couple of months ago, I was adding a night to the end of my stay at BLT this summer. It was well within the seven months. The CM seemed surprised the extra night was available (one room only -- 1BR SV), and I had to do some finnagling with my points. The CM was very anxious about getting the room booked right away (like, telling me I needed to do a cancellation after I confirmed the reservation, and got nervous when I hesitated). My thought at the time was not to worry about it, because, what were the chances of someone else calling in this five minute window, after the seven month time period had already passed, and getting the night? After reading the above, the more likely reason for the nervousness, assuming she wasn't just a nervous nellie by nature, was that she was afraid a waitlist would kick in and get the night.

Which seems to indicate that the CMs know there is a window after a cancellation before the room is allocated to the waitlist. You just have to be lucky, I guess. Sure would be nice to know what that window is, and what time of day it opens. I suppose it's probably random, though.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Boy, this really gets me a little upset at the CM who commented when I called about our waitlist. I'd heard here that it's advisable to call periodically when you're on the waitlist. But when I called, I got a really rude CM, who informed me in no uncertain terms that "It's NOT necessary to call to check on your waitlist, ma'am. The computer system will take care of it." I wish I could print this out and send it to him!

 

[goofydad99]

You know, we have been on a waitlist since early December for our June trip. It makes me think that maybe I need to go behind goofydad's back and check on it. I should have known that I wouldn't be able to give him complete control of our reservations.

 

[ajseagles3]

The computer does the matches, a CM then has to book the reservation. Depending on their work load, there can be a delay.

As I posted on another thread, Disney and Disney Management denies that there is a wait list issue even though it's very obvious that there is.

Bill

Well, the problem is that you're calling it an "issue". It's just another piece of Disney magic. Really should be called the DVC "magic list" instead of wait list.

 

[Dawn16]

Yup, same thing happened to us also with BWV. Had to waitlist the first night of a 10 night stay and when I called the the next day to add the 8th night, the CM said 'Oh, that first night is showing as available so I will book it. I wonder why the waitlist didn't do it for you?" So, yes, you are correct - the waitlist is clearly flawed.

 

[Anal Annie]

I am going to guess that the waitlist "system" looks only once a day for whatever's come available by the end of that day (so let's say it searches at midnight). Meanwhile, if someone calls the next morning at 9:15 and drops a room and you or I call at 9:45 with a new request the newly available room is still sitting there and the "system" has no idea 'cuz it's not midnight yet so it's not looking for availability. For the "system" to know immediately about the room & kick it into the waitlists it would probably require a more advanced search that makes it look continuously - probably the DVC IT staff isn't up to speed on that one.

Of course this is all just a guess on my part...the "system" may look more often, like hourly or something but from the sounds of the spotty success I doubt it. All I know is if (when) we waitlist I will definitely call about it and not just trust the system do the work.

 

[goofydad99]

Hmmm, well member services assured me there wasn't any availability on the days I wanted a room. According to the new online booking feature, some of my days are available. It's interesting I suppose.