Talk To Me About Your Success With Waitlists...

[Little E]

Hi Disfriends!

I'm a relative DVC newbie. DH and I purchased GF direct in April of 2022, and we just completed our welcome home trip at the end of March. We already have another trip scheduled for November and we're really excited a new-to-us resort WL. We currently have a one bedroom at CC booked, but I'm having second thoughts and I'd really like to try a refurbed one bedroom at BR instead. This type of room is only available for a couple of days during our trip, and we're already doing a "mini" split stay, staying one night at Riviera before transferring to WL, so booking those couple of days and then transferring again to CC is a no-go for us.

Talk to me about waitlists, as I've had no experience with them. I called MS yesterday and had them waitlist a one bedroom at BR to fully replace our CC November 1-7. I know this is a longer trip, so the likelihood that we'll get it is not guaranteed. There is also a 4 point difference, with BR being 4 points less than CC. I have a February UY, and those 4 points would be in jeopardy if I get the waitlist after September 30th which is my banking deadline.

I know no one has a crystal ball, but I'm curious about the likelihood of getting our waitlist request. I had MS set the waitlist listing for 31 days before check in, although that date is actually October 1st, which already puts those 4 points in jeopardy. I have a reminder on my calendar to "think about canceling the waitlist" for September 30th, so there's that. Am I more likely to get the waitlist request if I set the listing for 7 days before checkin? I recognize that either way (31 days vs 7 days) puts the point difference in jeopardy. Basically, is this waitlist request a fool's errand, or do I have a real shot at getting my request?

It's totally fine if we stay at CC, but it would be nice to have a refurbed room at BR. Just thought I would check in with DVC vets to get your take on this. Thanks so much for your feedback!

 

[Sandisw]

ThT is a popular time and 6 nights is a long time. I’d say that your waitlist will be tough.

It requires someone to cancel and all of those days need to be available for it to fill.

If someone is on the waitlist for only some of the days, and that is all that becomes available, they will fill theirs, even if you are ahead of them since waitlists are all or nothing.

if you are worried about the potential 4 points, I’d cancel before the banking deadline.

 

[lovin'fl]

I have a lot of success but typically do 1-3 night wait list. Your best bet is to book the few days already available and then just wait list the other part. And if it doesn't come through, moving from RR to CCV to BRV is not that big a deal....being that CC and BR are next door.

 

[iteachlit]

I was shocked that my most recent waitlist came through. We had originally booked a 2BR May 7 - May 14 at Boulder Ridge Villas at seven months (not our home resort), but waitlisted for Beach Club Villas. Surprisingly, the waitlist came through only a few weeks later.

 

[disneyfan123]

Just had a waitlist come through for standard studio at Poly for July 1. Not sure how hard that is to book normally, but it we planned a last minute trip and we needed that night, and the room became available.

Not technically a waitlist, but we were stalking for beach club for that same week in July and a whole week opened up yesterday. We booked 3 nights in the 1 bedroom (didn't have enough points left for the whole week), at 2 months out, so that was a win. If you waitlist/stalk the website, usually good things happen.

 

[RoseGold]

6 night waitlist is incredibly unlikely. I would put in a 2-3 night waitlist at the front of the trip and call MS to leave notes to cancel RIV and the first night or two of CCV.

If it's already available for a couple nights, you could book those and waitlist what is missing?

 

[sndral]

The few times I’ve tried waitlists I’ve not had much luck, I’ve had more success w/ stalking the website & tweaking my dates.
Unless you really want to try out Riv that one night, I’d aim for a CCV/BRV split - they are both at WL which makes for a pretty easy moving day. Or maybe more days at Riv then move to BRV, although Riv likely takes more points.

 

[DavidMagic]

I'm 0/4 on waitlists but generally go during busy times.

 

[jekjones1558]

Waitlisting alone is tough but waitlisting along with stalking can work. But unless you have the points to hold the CC reservation while piecing together the BR reservation, you would risk having to move between rooms and that might not be something you want to do. In any case, good luck! Using DVC can involve a learning curve, for sure. Lucky that there are many on this forum who are gracious and helpful.

 

[LadybugsMum]

I generally have good luck with wait lists, but I also stalk the website too so I can pick up days as they open up. I did just have really good luck with getting a standard 1 bed at BLT for Nov 13-18. I switched from BVW to Poly, but really wanted a 1 bed. I put in a waitlist for the whole 6 nights as I didn't want to risk not having the same room the whole visit. I got super lucky and in 5 days my waitlist for BLT came through. I will say that we don't normally travel during the super busy times which helps with getting the waitlists.

 

[LadybugsMum]

Another data point: I just got a RR standard studio for Nov 9 through a waitlist which has been hard since the 7 month window opened. I've been stalking since I setup the waitlist a few weeks ago, but it was the waitlist that came through for me.

 

[bookbabe626]

We had to make a date change for our October trip, so on April 4 we booked BLT (for 4 nights) and only a lake view 1 bdrm was available. We waitlisted both std view and theme park view. (want to either use as few points as possible or spend lots of points for the perfect view, just not interested at all in lake view). Wait list for standard view came in today. Have readded the theme park view waitlist since there’s still tons of time before the trip.

FYI, just in case you haven’t seen this info, if your waitlist comes through you will receive the cancellation notice for your original booking AGES before you get the confirmation for the new booking. Our new confirmation came hours later, and getting the cancellation would have totally freaked me out if I hadn’t read here on the DIS that there was a time lag between the two emails.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I had a CM once tell me (and it's often our experience) that waitlists often come through close to thirty days out. That's because, she said, if you're going to cancel a trip, it really doesn't matter whether you cancel 6 months out or 6 weeks out, as long as you cancel before the dreaded "holding" 30 days. I've actually had waitlists come through at 31 days a couple times now. Of course, if you're rescheduling the trip and need the points to reschedule, that may be incentive to cancel earlier. Even that's not a guarantee- we've had waitlists come through within a month. I always feel kind of sad for the people who had to cancel then. And we've also had waitlists come through a couple days after we waitlist right at 7 months. But don't give up. We spent a week at a sold out resort with no reservations (long story), but lucky for us, every day someone canceled, so we had a room every night.

 

[mz-s]

I just had two waitlists come through yesterday, one for a deluxe studio at HHI for Thanksgiving day, and one for a tower studio for January 13th at Riviera. I had existing reservations for the rest of the days of those trips, so I just waitlisted those single days I was unable to book at the time.

I do think that booking all the days you can for your trip, even if they're disjointed, and waitlisting only the days that are unavailable, is the best way to go. If you are inching upon penalty periods and waitlists aren't coming through, then maybe switch over to Saratoga which will almost certainly have availability. Or consider split stays, etc.

 

[Stormalong Smiths]

We had to make a date change for our October trip, so on April 4 we booked BLT (for 4 nights) and only a lake view 1 bdrm was available. We waitlisted both std view and theme park view. (want to either use as few points as possible or spend lots of points for the perfect view, just not interested at all in lake view). Wait list for standard view came in today. Have readded the theme park view waitlist since there’s still tons of time before the trip.

FYI, just in case you haven’t seen this info, if your waitlist comes through you will receive the cancellation notice for your original booking AGES before you get the confirmation for the new booking. Our new confirmation came hours later, and getting the cancellation would have totally freaked me out if I hadn’t read here on the DIS that there was a time lag between the two emails.

I have waitlisted many times and this weekend was the first time I have received a cancellation notice. You're right--it came in 30+ minutes before my new confirmation email arrived! Fortunately, I was driving and not looking at my phone during that time or I would have been totally freaked out.

But, happy to have gotten my 2BR lockoff at Copper Creek switched over to a dedicated 2BR the week after Thanksgiving!

 

[chuff88]

I'm on the waitlist for a savanna view studio at AKV (Jambo) and a studio at BWV for November 11-14. We have a preferred studio book at SSR, but I'm hoping one of the others comes through. This will be my first time staying as a DVC member and AKV is my home resort so I'd love to stay there, but all I can get right now is a 1-bedroom and it just seems wasteful for just 2 of us. Plus I don't want to sacrifice 90 points when I have another trip planned for a week in 2024.

I've also been stalking the reservations every day just in case something else pops up that's preferable to what I already have.

 

[jekjones1558]

I'm on the waitlist for a savanna view studio at AKV (Jambo) and a studio at BWV for November 11-14. We have a preferred studio book at SSR, but I'm hoping one of the others comes through. This will be my first time staying as a DVC member and AKV is my home resort so I'd love to stay there, but all I can get right now is a 1-bedroom and it just seems wasteful for just 2 of us. Plus I don't want to sacrifice 90 points when I have another trip planned for a week in 2024.

I've also been stalking the reservations every day just in case something else pops up that's preferable to what I already have.

Good luck!!!!

 

[eandt]

Hi Disfriends!

I'm a relative DVC newbie. DH and I purchased GF direct in April of 2022, and we just completed our welcome home trip at the end of March. We already have another trip scheduled for November and we're really excited a new-to-us resort WL. We currently have a one bedroom at CC booked, but I'm having second thoughts and I'd really like to try a refurbed one bedroom at BR instead. This type of room is only available for a couple of days during our trip, and we're already doing a "mini" split stay, staying one night at Riviera before transferring to WL, so booking those couple of days and then transferring again to CC is a no-go for us.

Talk to me about waitlists, as I've had no experience with them. I called MS yesterday and had them waitlist a one bedroom at BR to fully replace our CC November 1-7. I know this is a longer trip, so the likelihood that we'll get it is not guaranteed. There is also a 4 point difference, with BR being 4 points less than CC. I have a February UY, and those 4 points would be in jeopardy if I get the waitlist after September 30th which is my banking deadline.

I know no one has a crystal ball, but I'm curious about the likelihood of getting our waitlist request. I had MS set the waitlist listing for 31 days before check in, although that date is actually October 1st, which already puts those 4 points in jeopardy. I have a reminder on my calendar to "think about canceling the waitlist" for September 30th, so there's that. Am I more likely to get the waitlist request if I set the listing for 7 days before checkin? I recognize that either way (31 days vs 7 days) puts the point difference in jeopardy. Basically, is this waitlist request a fool's errand, or do I have a real shot at getting my request?

It's totally fine if we stay at CC, but it would be nice to have a refurbed room at BR. Just thought I would check in with DVC vets to get your take on this. Thanks so much for your feedback!

Last December we had 6 night waitlist for AKL Value come through. First our one night add on and then the 5 night main reservation .... easily merged the 2 reservations and had a great stay! Keep the faith

 

[heapmaster]

I had a CM once tell me (and it's often our experience) that waitlists often come through close to thirty days out. That's because, she said, if you're going to cancel a trip, it really doesn't matter whether you cancel 6 months out or 6 weeks out, as long as you cancel before the dreaded "holding" 30 days. I've actually had waitlists come through at 31 days a couple times now. Of course, if you're rescheduling the trip and need the points to reschedule, that may be incentive to cancel earlier. Even that's not a guarantee- we've had waitlists come through within a month. I always feel kind of sad for the people who had to cancel then. And we've also had waitlists come through a couple days after we waitlist right at 7 months. But don't give up. We spent a week at a sold out resort with no reservations (long story), but lucky for us, every day someone canceled, so we had a room every night.

Did you talk to the front desk of hotel or member services the night before to get the room?

 

[chuff88]

Good luck!!!!

Thanks! I would be perfectly happy at SSR, I just would love to have my first stay as a DVC member be at my home resort.