Questions about full/partial wait lists for my upcoming trip

[Avery&Todd]

DH and I decided to hop down to FL for a quickie weekend Dec 3-6th, go to the Xmas party, go to the parks 1 day and some off site site-seeing another..

so I booked flights and booked the DoubleTree @ DS and went about my day..

then I realized I could borrow 2023 points since we have a bunch and don't have any (planned) trips in 2023..so why not book thru DVC??!!!

Well - because there are NO ROOMS for that weekend...we're looking for Sat-Monday nights..and there is nothing.

I called MS on Sunday and we booked waitlists for both SSR and AK-Kidani as I was told those are the most probable ones that could have openings...at the time I called both resorts had Monday, Dec. 5th open but instead of booking that 1 night and then waitlisting the 2 others I'm taking a chance and 3 night waitlists at both resorts..

I figure if nothing comes open then I'll just keep our reservation at the DoubleTree..

Now, I'm seconding guessing myself as both of those Monday nights are gone - should I have booked the Monday @ SSR and then waitlisted the prior 2 nights and then waitlisted all 3 nights at Kidani or did I do it right? I wasn't sure what would have happened if I'd already booked SSR for 1 night, but a waitlist came through for AK, what would have happened..I was a mess!

I've only waitlisted 1 other time and it was Dec 2020 and my nights came through within a few days..but I feel I might be in for the long haul wait now, if even ANY rooms open back up since all of DVC is booked solid..

I do keep checking the reservation calendar on DVC and nothing..

Thoughts?

 

[RoseGold]

Book what you can and then call to get notes put on the waitlist. The waitlist is filled by actual humans, so they can do this.

A shorter waitlist will fill faster, so I would actually shorten the waitlist, even if you get put last in line.

Best advice is keep stalking. Availability changes all the time. Also, the 30-ish day mark matters a lot. People cancel at 30-ish days to keep the points from going into holding. Stalk a lot then.

 

[Avery&Todd]

Book what you can and then call to get notes put on the waitlist. The waitlist is filled by actual humans, so they can do this.

A shorter waitlist will fill faster, so I would actually shorten the waitlist, even if you get put last in line.

Best advice is keep stalking. Availability changes all the time. Also, the 30-ish day mark matters a lot. People cancel at 30-ish days to keep the points from going into holding. Stalk a lot then.

So what would happen if I stalk (and I'm a great stalker!! ) and I can find 2 nights and I book those with my borrowed points..and then the 3rd night never shows up...

I then cancel those borrowed points and then they go into holding? What does that mean and how does that affect me if I won't be using those points anytime soon and in fact will want to bank those points for a trip in April/June 2024??

I guess I was afraid that if I booked a few nights but couldn't get all the night and I actually borrowed the points, then the 2023 points become 2022 points and then I can't bank them using in April/June 2024...

or am I not thinking it out clearly?

 

[RoseGold]

So what would happen if I stalk (and I'm a great stalker!! ) and I can find 2 nights and I book those with my borrowed points..and then the 3rd night never shows up...

Then you stay offsite for a night. It's not like hotels are hard to come by in Orlando. But I'm not worried about that at all.

If you're good at stalking, you'll be able to get something. Maybe it's a triple split stay, but you will get something.

As long as you book something, you can put notes in your waitlist to make it match whatever you have already put together.

 

[Avery&Todd]

Then you stay offsite for a night. It's not like hotels are hard to come by in Orlando. But I'm not worried about that at all.

If you're good at stalking, you'll be able to get something. Maybe it's a triple split stay, but you will get something.

As long as you book something, you can put notes in your waitlist to make it match whatever you have already put together.

so you're saying when I create the waitlist there is a "notes" box and I can add in words to tell them to cancel or keep other booked nights if a waitlist comes thru?

I had NO idea!

and we probably would not do a split stay for only 3 nights - and with the 2nd night doing a party - phew - that's too much for me..

 

[Flash_Sloth]

Be careful if you're borrowing next year's points. If you borrow to book any nights, those points are permanently in your current use year, and can't be moved back to the original use year. That just means that you have to use them in your current use year. If you cancel your reservation at least 31 days in advance, you'll still have all your borrowed points, but you'll have to use them before the end of your use year.

If you cancel within 30 days of the reservation, then your points go into holding, regardless of whether they are banked, borrowed, or current use year points. I've never been in this situation before, but to use them, you have to make another reservation within 60 days of the original reservation. https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/faq/holding-account#definition

It is risky to borrow points to try to piece together a reservation that you may not keep if you can't get all the pieces together.

 

[RoseGold]

Let's say you get a Sunday SSR and a Monday AKL. You put in a waitlist for Sat-Sun AKL and have the notes say to cancel the SSR. You put in another waitlist for Sat-Mon Poly and put in notes to cancel SSR and AKL.

Or you get Monday AKL and Monday BLT. You put in waitlists for Sat-Sun and put notes to cancel whichever monday you don't need anymore.

The notes will depend on what you have already booked.

 

[Avery&Todd]

Be careful if you're borrowing next year's points. If you borrow to book any nights, those points are permanently in your current use year, and can't be moved back to the original use year. That just means that you have to use them in your current use year. If you cancel your reservation at least 31 days in advance, you'll still have all your borrowed points, but you'll have to use them before the end of your use year.

If you cancel within 30 days of the reservation, then your points go into holding, regardless of whether they are banked, borrowed, or current use year points. I've never been in this situation before, but to use them, you have to make another reservation within 60 days of the original reservation. https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/faq/holding-account#definition

It is risky to borrow points to try to piece together a reservation that you may not keep if you can't get all the pieces together.

THANK YOU for that explanation - and that's what I was thinking and why my gut initially told me to not book just the 1 night and waitlist the other 2 nights...

I was afraid that if I did that, the those points would become September UY (2022) points, since I'm borrowing 2023 pts, and then I'd have to use them before they expire which is Aug 31st 2023.

and right now we head to Vegas in Feb. 2023, Cocoa Beach in April 2023 and then my oldest gets married in July 2023 - so I have NO time for another jaunt down to Disney, no matter how bad I might want to go!

and I have both waitlists set up to cancel 7 days prior so if neither resort have all 3 nights open up, then they will both expire and I'm not out any points..and I keep my reservation at the DoubleTree and get a hot cookie at night!

and I know that some folks really like to resort hop, but DH and I are both more of a unpack and settle in kinda traveler and the idea of a new place each night does not excite us!

Thanks!

 

[Avery&Todd]

Let's say you get a Sunday SSR and a Monday AKL. You put in a waitlist for Sat-Sun AKL and have the notes say to cancel the SSR. You put in another waitlist for Sat-Mon Poly and put in notes to cancel SSR and AKL.

Or you get Monday AKL and Monday BLT. You put in waitlists for Sat-Sun and put notes to cancel whichever monday you don't need anymore.

The notes will depend on what you have already booked.

oohhhh...that makes TOTAL sense!

thank you! I had no idea about the notes section!

 

[RoseGold]

and I know that some folks really like to resort hop, but DH and I are both more of a unpack and settle in kinda traveler and the idea of a new place each night does not excite us!

Then I would try for SSR. I'm not scared of a triple split stay, so I would try for better, but nothing wrong with SSR. I'd put a Sat waitlist and a Sun-Mon waitlist. SSR.