Resort Availability - Can I check?

[Cdnmommy]

I'm wondering if one of the wise people on these boards would be able to offer some advice/answers for me.

My family of 4 (me, DH, DD, DS) and my mom and DH's mom were planning a trip for the end of this Nov. I had rented points from a DVC owner and paid in full, everything went very smoothly. The reservation was for 2 rooms, for 2 nights at VWL (60 pts).

My issue is that our mothers cannot come with us on the trip now so we need to modify the reservation to one room for 4 nights. The DVC owner has started a new job and is very busy so takes a long time to get back to me when I call and/or email her. When she did try to call DVC she says that the VWL does not have 4 nights for the time we were going, so she cancelled our reservation and put us on a wait list. However, I'm unsure if she put us on a wait list for the same week that we were originally going or another week in December that I told her we are available.

I getting quite concerned as December is quickly approaching and we currently have no reservation and have already paid the money for this trip. I have emailed the DVC owner to try to clarify the wait list time as well as advise her that we would be willing to go to another resort or do a split stay, whatever is available as I don't want to miss out on the vacation and the money I've already spent. However, due to her busy schedule she hasn't called Disney yet.

My real question is this: Is there any way that I can call to see what might be available at a DVC resort to make this process move along faster? And then just give the DVC owner that info? I have to arrange my holidays from work according to the days that we are going on the trip and it must be done asap.

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[daisyduck123]

I'm wondering if one of the wise people on these boards would be able to offer some advice/answers for me.

My family of 4 (me, DH, DD, DS) and my mom and DH's mom were planning a trip for the end of this Nov. I had rented points from a DVC owner and paid in full, everything went very smoothly. The reservation was for 2 rooms, for 2 nights at VWL (60 pts).

My issue is that our mothers cannot come with us on the trip now so we need to modify the reservation to one room for 4 nights. The DVC owner has started a new job and is very busy so takes a long time to get back to me when I call and/or email her. When she did try to call DVC she says that the VWL does not have 4 nights for the time we were going, so she cancelled our reservation and put us on a wait list. However, I'm unsure if she put us on a wait list for the same week that we were originally going or another week in December that I told her we are available.

I getting quite concerned as December is quickly approaching and we currently have no reservation and have already paid the money for this trip. I have emailed the DVC owner to try to clarify the wait list time as well as advise her that we would be willing to go to another resort or do a split stay, whatever is available as I don't want to miss out on the vacation and the money I've already spent. However, due to her busy schedule she hasn't called Disney yet.

My real question is this: Is there any way that I can call to see what might be available at a DVC resort to make this process move along faster? And then just give the DVC owner that info? I have to arrange my holidays from work according to the days that we are going on the trip and it must be done asap.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Hi! I've been a DVC member for 5 years now, & as far as I know, "no, you cannot call Members Services yourself & speak with anyone about DVC availability or anything else".

Sorry I'm not much else but at least you are no longer wondering if you can make that call yourself.

Are you sure that the member actually canceled all of your first reservation? I would think that since you just wanted an additional two nights added, that he/she would've kept one room (while canceling the grandmothers' room) from your initial reservation & then just waitlisted two nights to that reservation...unless you needed new dates entirely?

 

[GoofItUp]

Unfortunately, the only point of contact is with the DVC owner. There may be a way to check if 1 room is still booked by using your confirmation number. There is (was?) a DVC site that reportedly would show reservations. I never used it, but perhaps someone else can shed some more light on it.

If 2 or 3 days go by and you haven't heard anything from her, e-mail/call her again and ask for the update. Unless you've had lots of changes since your reservation or bombarded her with tons of questions, what you are asking her to check/do is not unreasonable and she should be able to work with you. At the same time, make sure that what you're asking isn't costing more points (going from weeknights to weekend nights or something.) It is a busy time of year, but hopefully something will be available.

 

[Cdnmommy]

Hi! I've been a DVC member for 5 years now, & as far as I know, "no, you cannot call Members Services yourself & speak with anyone about DVC availability or anything else".

Sorry I'm not much else but at least you are no longer wondering if you can make that call yourself.

Are you sure that the member actually canceled all of your first reservation? I would think that since you just wanted an additional two nights added, that he/she would've kept one room (while canceling the grandmothers' room) from your initial reservation & then just waitlisted two nights to that reservation...unless you needed new dates entirely?

Thanks for your reply, I kind of figured that would be the answer but you never know unless you ask, right?

After reading your post I re-read the email the DVC owner sent me and it does say what you suggest (that she cancelled the extra room and put us on the waitlist for the other two nights). I think I must have read the email really quickly and didn't actually absorb it all.....geesh!

However, when I try to check the reservation online using the confirmation number she gave me it says there isn't a reservation under that number and name?

 

[daisyduck123]

Thanks for your reply, I kind of figured that would be the answer but you never know unless you ask, right?

After reading your post I re-read the email the DVC owner sent me and it does say what you suggest (that she cancelled the extra room and put us on the waitlist for the other two nights). I think I must have read the email really quickly and didn't actually absorb it all.....geesh!

However, when I try to check the reservation online using the confirmation number she gave me it says there isn't a reservation under that number and name?

Whew! Well at least you still have those first two nights. About not seeing anything using the reservation # - - don't panic. I think I've read posts like yours before. Some other DVC member, I'm sure, will come along & say something.

 

[Cdnmommy]

Unfortunately, the only point of contact is with the DVC owner. There may be a way to check if 1 room is still booked by using your confirmation number. There is (was?) a DVC site that reportedly would show reservations. I never used it, but perhaps someone else can shed some more light on it.

If 2 or 3 days go by and you haven't heard anything from her, e-mail/call her again and ask for the update. Unless you've had lots of changes since your reservation or bombarded her with tons of questions, what you are asking her to check/do is not unreasonable and she should be able to work with you. At the same time, make sure that what you're asking isn't costing more points (going from weeknights to weekend nights or something.) It is a busy time of year, but hopefully something will be available.

Thanks for the advice. When I emailed her to try to clarify what she cancelled and waitlisted for me I think I was clear about being okay with different resorts/split stays and that we can change dates. I don't want to keep bugging her but at this point we really just need to nail down the dates. I listed the rooms/resorts and number of nights that our purchased number of points would allow to try to make it easier for her so she wouldn't have to calculate a lot of options. I also mentioned that if a resort that took another couple of points (i.e. 3) was open that I would rent those points from her if she had them available. If it ends up being a resort that only needs 57 points, I'm not concerened about the extra couple of points I paid for.

When we originally found out that our moms couldn't go, we were just going to postpone our trip until next year (we had planned on staying onsite for 2 nights and off site for a week after that). However, it was proving difficult to find someone to rent our existing reservation, so we decided to do a short trip (just the 4 nights that we had already paid for) with just our family of 4. We had already given up our holidays at our work places, they are being understanding and allowing us to take some of those days back, but want the dates now so they can make the necessary arrangements (of course).

Here's hoping for some disney magic!

 

[disneynutz]

Unfortunately your rental contract is between you and the owner. Some owners take the time to respond to renters and others don't, it all about customer service and like any business you will find that there are differences.

Bill

 

[Deb & Bill]

You are lucky the member even put you on a waitlist. Most members would say so sorry, you get what you asked for and paid for. Did you have a contract with the member?

 

[Cdnmommy]

You are lucky the member even put you on a waitlist. Most members would say so sorry, you get what you asked for and paid for. Did you have a contract with the member?

Yes, I did have a contract with her that stated she would help re-schedule if necessary but that there were no refunds (which is totally understandable).

She just emailed me and it has been all straightened out!!!!! We are booked for a different resort which is fewer points so now we are staying for 6 nights instead of just 4!! She was willing to use a couple of extra points of hers to make it happen. I am so relieved! And excited! She was able to do some fancy work and got us booked into OKW which we've never been to before but know we will love it!

I'm so thankful to be able to rent points from DVC owners as I know it's not something I could ever talk DH into buying for ourselves. So, from a renter - thank you to the owners that rent points out so others can live a little disney magic!

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice!!

 

[icydog]

Yes, I did have a contract with her that stated she would help re-schedule if necessary but that there were no refunds (which is totally understandable).

She just emailed me and it has been all straightened out!!!!! We are booked for a different resort which is fewer points so now we are staying for 6 nights instead of just 4!! She was willing to use a couple of extra points of hers to make it happen. I am so relieved! And excited! She was able to do some fancy work and got us booked into OKW which we've never been to before but know we will love it!

I'm so thankful to be able to rent points from DVC owners as I know it's not something I could ever talk DH into buying for ourselves. So, from a renter - thank you to the owners that rent points out so others can live a little disney magic!

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice!!

I am so glad it worked out for you. Working with the owner directly gives you more options than, say, a rental agency. I love OKW and you will too.

 

[GoofItUp]

Yes, I did have a contract with her that stated she would help re-schedule if necessary but that there were no refunds (which is totally understandable).

She just emailed me and it has been all straightened out!!!!! We are booked for a different resort which is fewer points so now we are staying for 6 nights instead of just 4!! She was willing to use a couple of extra points of hers to make it happen. I am so relieved! And excited! She was able to do some fancy work and got us booked into OKW which we've never been to before but know we will love it!

I'm so thankful to be able to rent points from DVC owners as I know it's not something I could ever talk DH into buying for ourselves. So, from a renter - thank you to the owners that rent points out so others can live a little disney magic!

Thanks to everyone who gave me advice!!

Glad to hear it all worked out! Sounds like you had a great owner to rent from!

Have a fun trip!

 

[rsjj]

new to dvc, really...but there's a site here that shows resort availability...not sure how accurate it is...i think it's all posts by owners or people who have tried to book their stays at various dvc resorts. and someone actually puts it in a nice little thread by months.

 

[Deb & Bill]

new to dvc, really...but there's a site here that shows resort availability...not sure how accurate it is...i think it's all posts by owners or people who have tried to book their stays at various dvc resorts. and someone actually puts it in a nice little thread by months.

It really is a bit more accurate to tell what is not going to be available, but even that isn't a sure thing. If every DVC member posted on the DIS and posted when they were unable to get a specific time and location, it might be accurate. Alas, not all members post here.

 

[nolanboys]

So glad it worked out for you. From 2 nights to 6 nights - how great for you! And you will love OKW. The rooms are huge and the grounds are lush. It will be our third trip their this September.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I think you're very lucky, and I hope you have a great vacation!

 

[spiceycat]

boy she had to really work to do this for you.

dec is the dvc busiest time - lots of us love it then.

really surprised she got you anything for that time.

she did really great. You will love OKW - now it is not VWL - but you can go visit WL/VWL while you are staying at okw.

now some people recommend a car for OKW - but I have not rented one in my few trips to it and we were okay.

waiting for the buses can be either long or real quick. (long for me is over 40 minutes - quick is less than 10 minutes)

but hey with 6 days instead of 2 - you definitely have the time.