Used Availability Tool!

[bobbiwoz]

Instead of driving down, DH decides he will fly to meet me at Disney in December, and he wants to arrive the day before our reservation begins. So, I need a room for him for 1 night. Since we are 2 months out, I hope either OKW or SSR have a studio for him, and both do. Wise guy asks for something else. Behold, there is a SV studio for the night at BWV, and so I book it for him!

The reason this is so great is that BWVs is where I am staying with my girlfriends for our gals trip together. My friends will leave in the AM, DH & I give our luggage to Bell service to move it to VGF where OUR stay will be, and DH & I head to EPCOT for the day, it is perfect, and who would ever guess it would have been available 2 months out!?

The availability tool is something I did not think I would use, since mostly I book 11 months out, but it was great to use! Thank you DVC!

Bobbi

 

[davedmaine]

Instead of driving down, DH decides he will fly to meet me at Disney in December, and he wants to arrive the day before our reservation begins. So, I need a room for him for 1 night. Since we are 2 months out, I hope either OKW or SSR have a studio for him, and both do. Wise guy asks for something else. Behold, there is a SV studio for the night at BWV, and so I book it for him!

The reason this is so great is that BWVs is where I am staying with my girlfriends for our gals trip together. My friends will leave in the AM, DH & I give our luggage to Bell service to move it to VGF where OUR stay will be, and DH & I head to EPCOT for the day, it is perfect, and who would ever guess it would have been available 2 months out!?

The availability tool is something I did not think I would use, since mostly I book 11 months out, but it was great to use! Thank you DVC!

Bobbi

Couldn't you just have checked BWV like you normally would while booking a reservation? That would have taken a step out of the process.

 

[CarolMN]

Couldn't you just have checked BWV like you normally would while booking a reservation? That would have taken a step out of the process.

Maybe she could have.

But I think you are underestimating how quick and easy it is to use the tool to see if ANYTHING is available at any WDW DVC resort for particular dates. It's quick and if you find something, you can quickly book. I love the new tool and also used it to secure something relatively last minute.

The new tool is also great for those who plan to book at 7 months. If it shows one or more of your days are taken, it's time to make a back up plan or resign yourself to a waitlist. IMO, it also cuts down on unnecessary "walking" at 7 months.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Couldn't you just have checked BWV like you normally would while booking a reservation? That would have taken a step out of the process.

Sure, but honestly, I never thought it would be, and I already have 2 waitlists!
I had holding points to use, and today was my first day to use them. We decided yesterday that he would fly. I assumed it would be SSR or OKW that might be available.

 

[LisaS]

Couldn't you just have checked BWV like you normally would while booking a reservation? That would have taken a step out of the process.

Yes but then if it wasn't available she would have had to continue on, checking other resorts one at a time. The Availability Tool lets you check multiple resorts and also room sizes at the same time. When looking for something two months out, it's much faster to use the tool to see all of your options at once.

Well done Bobbi! It sounds like things couldn't have worked out better. I've also been surprised to see what the Availability Tool shows as being available at the last minute. It's a great addition to the members' website.

 

[thepops]

And I must add THANKS! to the Dis-er that came up with his own one first (and may have influenced Disney to do their own).

 

[bobbiwoz]

Yes but then if it wasn't available she would have had to continue on, checking other resorts one at a time. The Availability Tool lets you check multiple resorts and also room sizes at the same time. When looking for something two months out, it's much faster to use the tool to see all of your options at once.

Well done Bobbi! It sounds like things couldn't have worked out better. I've also been surprised to see what the Availability Tool shows as being available at the last minute. It's a great addition to the members' website.

Yes, it just didn't occur to me that 2 months out for DECEMBER, I was going to get a STANDARD studio at BWV....even for 1 night. Well used 10 points if you ask me!

I was surprised that both Jambo and Kidani had standard view studios available for that night too and that neither had savannah. Goes to show that people do want to see the animals and forego point savings. Lake view BLT studio was available as well.

 

[Halle]

The resort availability tool is so much fun. I love looking at all the possibilities.

 

[summabreeze85]

And I must add THANKS! to the Dis-er that came up with his own one first (and may have influenced Disney to do their own).

That thing was AMAZING! the dvc app guy gets my praises as well. I don't understand why Disney had to shut him down. his site was 100% better than the availability tool Disney came up with; however, the availability tool does beat having to go back and click through all the different resorts. So while its not absolutely wonderful, it's a vast improvement over regular booking tool

 

[maburke]

I completely love the new availability tool, too. I just used it last night to put my sister in a studio for one night before we join and go into a 2BR. It was great to be able to find a BLT std studio available, though 1BR stds were sold out. I never would have guessed that. And this is 9 months out.

With the regular reservation booking process, not only does it only show you three choices, it's not always clear to me why it picks those choices. Sometimes, if I'm asking for an Epcot area resort, it will show me other Epcot area options that are not available, instead of showing me something that is available. I love having all the information in one step, and then I can make an informed choice.