Pixie Dust Needed - AKL Value - "What is the SECRET"!??

[ShablamE]

I came to the conclusion over a year ago that Disney was doing something with these rooms as well. I was in the same situation of waiting until 8am to book seeing that my entire week was available. 8am hit and I refreshed and attempted to book but the booking software on Disney's end had an unexpected issue. I immediately called in to try and acquire the elusive room, refreshed my browser again and the single day at the start of my trip was gone. When members services picked up I was informed that they too were unable to book any rooms due to an issue with the software that Disney IT was investigating. So how was it that the single day managed to disappear if the booking system was currently down for both members using the site and cast members using the internal booking system? I never did manage to get the answer to that one.

 

[kanerf]

Get out your Ouija board and ask the spirits of former DVC'ers for their help.

 

[E2ME2]

Sadly, to get one of these rooms you need to learn to “walk” before you can run…

Yeah - I must work on developing that patience to "walk" a reservation.
This morning's attempt was a repeat of the previous 3 days - - - all 7 days marked available until I hit the continue button, then they were GONE!
I tried the refresh/refresh/refresh approach today, just to see if it made any difference.
The good news is that, even though I'm not very patient, I am very persistent and I will keep at this everyday until I get something at AKV-Value.
As long as I can grab 3-4 consecutive days there within the month of Sep. 2023, I will build the rest of our trip around that.

 

[E2ME2]

I have taken the advice of several on this thread, and from the extremely kind and courteous CM at MS today, and I have waitlisted my dates (actually broke it into 2 shorter wait lists). So I have back-ups in place, but I'm still trying every day at 8:00:00 to see if I can land the big one, unassisted!

 

[ScottOKW2K]

Just keep checking back. I have never had a full reservation available at the initial time I tried to book and got the same result you did. Over time I just kept checking and was able to grab a day here and there. With that and waitlists I was able to get AVK Value studion last year arriving after Christmas and leaving after New Years - an extreme example. I have done one trip this year and two more coming up , all AKV value studio and all booked the same way.

As far as waitlist, use single days. You want the easiest match as possible. And keep checking as sometimes a day will show up that you have waitlisted but there is sometimes a delay between availability and W/L matching. You probably won't see any availability for the next few months and then there will be a day showing up here and there as people change plans. That's how I got BLT standard view studio over the 4th of July weekend without being a owner at BLT.

 

[motherof5]

I can really use some guidance on how to acquire the illusive Value Studio booking at AKV.
I have tried, unsuccessfully now, for several days. Each day's experience has been a little different, but this morning's was the most frustrating yet.
At 7:45 am the entire week of 9/1/23-9/8/23 was available at AKV-Jambo in a Value Studio, for a whopping 55 Points.
I attempted to continue at 7:55, and I received the expected error message that the booking window didn't open until 8:00.
I refreshed my browser, and the availabilty was till there at 7:56 thru 7:59......
I hovered my finger over the "continue" button, until 8:00 clicked over on my browser clock, and then it gave me the same message AAGGHH!!!!!.
Of course, by the time I refreshed my screen again, the first day in that window was gone, and I could not book.
For those who have booked this category successfully; Is there a secret in your approach ?? Is there a magical delay? Should I wait for 8:00 to appear and then count to 3?
What is the SECRET ????

Someone is probably walking the reservation. Each day at 8 see if you can get one day at a time to piece it together.

 

[motherof5]

Just keep checking back. I have never had a full reservation available at the initial time I tried to book and got the same result you did. Over time I just kept checking and was able to grab a day here and there. With that and waitlists I was able to get AVK Value studion last year arriving after Christmas and leaving after New Years - an extreme example. I have done one trip this year and two more coming up , all AKV value studio and all booked the same way.

As far as waitlist, use single days. You want the easiest match as possible. And keep checking as sometimes a day will show up that you have waitlisted but there is sometimes a delay between availability and W/L matching. You probably won't see any availability for the next few months and then there will be a day showing up here and there as people change plans. That's how I got BLT standard view studio over the 4th of July weekend without being a owner at BLT.

I agree.

 

[nasmith]

1- Disney IT is the worst. I have come to hate the dwarves.

2- Buy more points and book a standard room. Wide open for September - and the difference between value and standard for 4 nights (Sept) is 12 points. How much is your stress worth?

3- Maybe you'll get lucky; SOMEBODY ( I suspect robo-dialers / renting barons) gets thru and books those days..... Keep trying!

4- Definitely submit the waitlist - I've had some fabulous waitlists come thru over the years....

 

[E2ME2]

1- Disney IT is the worst. I have come to hate the dwarves.

2- Buy more points and book a standard room. Wide open for September - and the difference between value and standard for 4 nights (Sept) is 12 points. How much is your stress worth?

3- Maybe you'll get lucky; SOMEBODY ( I suspect robo-dialers / renting barons) gets thru and books those days..... Keep trying!

4- Definitely submit the waitlist - I've had some fabulous waitlists come thru over the years....

THANKS - I have done exactly this: I reserved standard studio on day 1, I still have active waitilists, and I will continue to stalk the RAT !
But there's still that competitive side of me that wants desperately to be the first one to grab a Value Studio at exactly 11 months, using the online tool !