Wait list - cash room question

[Fishteacher]

Hi, we are fairly new to the DVC program and have a question that I hope someone can answer for me. We are trying to use our points for a studio room at ANY Disney World property. However, there is no availability for the week of October 1-8th at any resort?? I didn't think that this is a VERY busy time for the world but a I guess I am wrong. Because there was no DVC availability I searched for a room via the Disney website. When I did this, The Wilderness Lodge Villa (our home resort and first preference for this trip) was available. How could it be? If there is not availability for points, how can I purchase the Villa?

Also, we are currently on the waitlist for both Bay Lake Tower and Wilderness lodge. We have never waitlisted before. What is the chance of one of these rooms coming through? We chose these two resorts because we will have family staying at Fort Wilderness and would like to be close to them if possible.

Thank you in advance for any insight you may be able to provide.

 

[loveswdw]

Disney still holds a small percentage of rooms at all DVC resorts for cash reservations. There are two different inventories of rooms...points and those that can be booked on cash. Sounds like all points inventory is booked but cash inventory is not.

 

[DebbieB]

Hi, we are fairly new to the DVC program and have a question that I hope someone can answer for me. We are trying to use our points for a studio room at ANY Disney World property. However, there is no availability for the week of October 1-8th at any resort?? I didn't think that this is a VERY busy time for the world but a I guess I am wrong. Because there was no DVC availability I searched for a room via the Disney website. When I did this, The Wilderness Lodge Villa (our home resort and first preference for this trip) was available. How could it be? If there is not availability for points, how can I purchase the Villa?

Also, we are currently on the waitlist for both Bay Lake Tower and Wilderness lodge. We have never waitlisted before. What is the chance of one of these rooms coming through? We chose these two resorts because we will have family staying at Fort Wilderness and would like to be close to them if possible.

Thank you in advance for any insight you may be able to provide.

Rooms on the Disney website are not owned by the members for points reservations. They are rooms that either DVC itself owns (unsold points) or rooms that were sent to CRO when a member traded out. For example, if a member books a Disney cruise with points, a room goes to CRO to rent to the public to pay for the cruise.

The fall is the most popular time of the year for DVC members. Rooms book up early.

 

[tjkraz]

Also, we are currently on the waitlist for both Bay Lake Tower and Wilderness lodge. We have never waitlisted before. What is the chance of one of these rooms coming through? We chose these two resorts because we will have family staying at Fort Wilderness and would like to be close to them if possible.

Thank you in advance for any insight you may be able to provide.

If you want to maximize your chances of going, I would HIGHLY recommend changing your wait list to Saratoga Springs and Old Key West non-hospitality. Those two have the highest concentration of available villas. Saratoga Springs itself is about 4-5x larger than Wilderness Lodge or any Bay Lake category.

VWL is one of the smallest resorts and Bay Lake is both small and quite popular. We are only 3 months from your travel dates for a very popular time during Food and Wine fest. Problem you face is not only lack of availability but also the fact that there are probably dozens of people ahead of you on the wait list for Bay lake and Wilderness Lodge. There are people right now booked at Saratoga, Old Key West, Animal Kingdom Lodge and others who are wait listed for BLT and VWL. If any cancellations should occur, rooms will go to those who are highest on the wait list.

Due to the complexities of the wait list there is no way to accurately gauge your odds of getting a room. But under the circumstances described, I would say the odds are quite slim. Changing wait list to OKW and SSR will only improve odds.

 

[com_op_2000]

There are two different DVC useage times as of now:
Very Busy - mid-Sept through mid-Jan
Busy - Mid-Jan through Mid-Sept, except around holidays when it goes back to Very Busy.
DVC is designed to be 98% booked every night of the year.
CRO and DVC points bookings are different inventory.
DVD is required to own 2% of each resort for use when maintenance is required and when not needed can be sent to CRO for booking. Also, as PP mentioned when a DVC member goes on a trip outside of DVC, that reservation they would of taken in DVC is given to CRO to book, to pay for the outside trip.

 

[Fishteacher]

Thank you to all who answered my questions. I never knew that some of the rooms were reserved for cash for various reasons. I will definitely take your advice and switch the Bay Lake Tower waitlist to Saratoga Springs. I was hoping that Wilderness Lodge would open up when the announced the refurb of its pool. We'll see if that happens.

I don't usually ever travel without making plans almost a year out. Unfortunately, an immediate family member of mine is severely ill and she would like to take a trip to Disney with all of her children and grandchildren together(she has never done this before). She cannot go in the summer because of the heat so she decided on October. She will be staying in a camper at Fort Wilderness so I was hoping to be close to her. If I am able to get a reservation at Saratoga then we will rent a car so that we can get around to the campground quickly to meet up with everyone else who is going.

Thank you again for all of your input!

 

[com_op_2000]

She will be staying in a camper at Fort Wilderness so I was hoping to be close to her. If I am able to get a reservation at Saratoga then we will rent a car so that we can get around to the campground quickly to meet up with everyone else who is going.

Thank you again for all of your input!

If you do not get the rental:
There is a bus and a walkway directly from VWL to the FWC. There is also, the boats that run from WL dock to the FWC.
It is only about a mile walk along the nature trail from one to the other.
There are reports of people seeing deer, turkey, and other wild-life along that walkway.

 

[kda]

As of 9:45 this morning, there are 5 nights available in a studio at Saratoga Springs. Unfortunately, the 2 unavailable nights are not together and are in the middle of your week. You could book the 5 nights and wait list for the other 2. There is a very good chance you'd be able to pick up an isolated night rather than wait for 7 nights to become available. Yes, there's gambling involved, and you have to decide if you're willing to cancel your other wait lists and use your 2 wait list requests for these 2 nights. SS is a very large resort and inventory constantly changes. As you secure a night on the wait list (I'm really optimistic for you), you can then wait list for VWL.
You could also consider splitting your stay. Whenever you find 3-4 nights available anywhere, grab those and then wait list for the other nights at that resort or VWL. Take some of the nights available at SS and wait list for 1 night and use your second wait list for VWL. Sorry if it sounds confusing --- sometimes it takes creativity to get a reservation, and it definitely takes flexibility. (if it makes you nervous to be 'missing' a night at SS, check to see if you can secure the night on cash with member's discount --- but don't be shocked at the price. No deposit required and the cancellation policy used to be pretty liberal. You can still wait list for that night.)
Good luck!!
And I always check for availability myself. Sometimes Disney has secured the night I needed, but 2 weeks ago I saw a night and trusted that Disney had it for me ---- still don't have that night. Lesson learned.

 

[Deb & Bill]

You are hitting the Tower of Terror 10 Miler that falls on the weekend. Plus F&W.