Pls excuse my ignorance but how does the waitlist work?

[CrzyforPiglet]

I looked for a sticky on this topic but didn't see one so hopefully I'm not bringing up something that has been thoroughly discussed but how does waitlisting work? We're taking an unexpected trip in December. We had enough points for two nights in a studio at any of the DVC resorts. The only thing open was SSR (our home resort) or OKW which we don't really have an interest in. So I waitlisted for BWV, BCV, and WLV. MS asked me to list the resorts in order of preference so that is how I listed them but I'm wondering if availability comes open in BCV but my "top choice" is listed as BWV will they pass my name or offer me BCV. We don't care which of the three we may get but would like to stay somewhere different which is why we're open to all three but want to do what we can to increase our chances of getting one of them. Also will they call me or do I need to call them. I see where people called MS and got cleared from the waitlist but I would hope that MS would have called them even if they didn't call.

Please enlighten me!

 

[PamOKW]

I would call back MS and make sure you are set up on the waitlist the way you want to be. They can do "automatic" or they can call and give you 24 hours to respond. Also, you can waitlist so that you only accept the whole stay as one "chunk" or you can waitlist for "any" of the days and piecework your way to a new reservation. For the last option, it's probably safest to have them call since you have to tell them what to cancel if you'll need to free up points to book the new rooms. You should always be sure MS is cancelling what you don't need when you book something "new".

 

[CrzyforPiglet]

Thanks Pam but how does the preference thing work. I don't want to be passed by for any of my waitlists just b/c it isn't listed as my top choice so I guess I'm confused as to why MS had me put BWV, BCV, and WLV in my order of preference. Maybe I'll just call them back and see what they say.

 

[RobDoc]

This is a little tricky. If you have several resorts as your preference- using automatic waitlist - you could end up with a different resort for each nite you have waitlisted. My personal preference is to use automatic/daily waitlist- where they will automatically reserve ANY of your dates as they become available. If you have multiple resorts you could end up with changing rooms daily (NOT my personal preference).

I'd specify one resort and let MS know that if when the first one becomes available that you want that resort (and THAT RESORT ONLY) as you preference for the remaining days.

By using the automatic preference- you'll et each day as it becomes available. If you want to be notified, you'll only be called if ALL dates become available at once- as they will not hold dates for you otherwise and will give them to others (even if they are behind you on the waitlist).

At this point, I'd still be confident that the waitlist will work for you - as long as you are very flexible with your dates and resort.

Just be specific with what you want and I'd also check back with MS regularly (every few weeks at this point) to see where you stand. The waitlist does work- so be patient.

Good luck!