Waitlist Strategies

[stitchloversith]

I am a member since 2004 and recently how I Vacation has changed. I do not know at the 11 month booking window that I can make it to the world. Sometimes I know by the 7 month window but even then it is one trip in five that I know this far out. Right now I have a cash reservation for Coronado Springs and waitlisted at Kidani Village 2bd and Bay Lake 2bd for Nov 2-6 for the AAP conference. So far there has been no movement on the waitlists. There will be at most four adults in the room, can anyone suggest a waitlist that has a higher chance to come through?

 

[disneynutz]

Try for the lesser desired resorts with the most rooms. Wanting a larger room may help. I would consider selling or renting your reservations and renting from others if you have favorite resorts.

Bill

 

[stitchloversith]

Try for the lesser desired resorts with the most rooms. Wanting a larger room may help. I would consider selling or renting your reservations and renting from others if you have favorite resorts.

Bill

The reason behind the resorts listed is they have transportation to the AAP conference. If we could do any resort and not have transportation issues we would. I will be doing three Law school visits that will need a car for while the others will be at the conference. We are trying to stay on property to not have the hotel bill in addition to the cost of conference and tickets for me. I remember the good old days when you could book just a few weeks out and not have these issues. Now it has become so bad that the family has thought about selling all our contracts because we can never use them with the new vacation style we have. In the past our waitlists have come through but this particular trip being Wine and Dine Half Weekend in addition to AAP has me worried.

 

[disneynutz]

The reason behind the resorts listed is they have transportation to the AAP conference. If we could do any resort and not have transportation issues we would. I will be doing three Law school visits that will need a car for while the others will be at the conference. We are trying to stay on property to not have the hotel bill in addition to the cost of conference and tickets for me. I remember the good old days when you could book just a few weeks out and not have these issues. Now it has become so bad that the family has thought about selling all our contracts because we can never use them with the new vacation style we have. In the past our waitlists have come through but this particular trip being Wine and Dine Half Weekend in addition to AAP has me worried.

I expect it to get even worse so that's why years ago I started posting that you should buy where you love to stay and book at 11 months. Disney has and will continue to dream up events and attractions that will keep the guest count at maximum.

Bill

 

[stitchloversith]

I expect it to get even worse so that's why years ago I started posting that you should buy where you love to stay and book at 11 months. Disney has and will continue to dream up events and attractions that will keep the guest count at maximum.

Bill

Funny thing is I own AKL and we are waitlisted for a Bay Lake contract. With how life has been I have no idea 11 months out if I can take time off to go to the world. My last DVC stay I knew five days out from when I could be there. I was able to get a SSR room but this is the minority of my experince not the majority of stays. For the Star Wars race weekend I booked at the 11 month window but the AAP confrence dates were not even annouced till after the 7 month window, much less what resorts they would have transportation at.

 

[southerngirl528]

I am a member since 2004 and recently how I Vacation has changed. I do not know at the 11 month booking window that I can make it to the world. Sometimes I know by the 7 month window but even then it is one trip in five that I know this far out. Right now I have a cash reservation for Coronado Springs and waitlisted at Kidani Village 2bd and Bay Lake 2bd for Nov 2-6 for the AAP conference. So far there has been no movement on the waitlists. There will be at most four adults in the room, can anyone suggest a waitlist that has a higher chance to come through?

Funny thing is I own AKL and we are waitlisted for a Bay Lake contract. With how life has been I have no idea 11 months out if I can take time off to go to the world. My last DVC stay I knew five days out from when I could be there. I was able to get a SSR room but this is the minority of my experince not the majority of stays. For the Star Wars race weekend I booked at the 11 month window but the AAP confrence dates were not even annouced till after the 7 month window, much less what resorts they would have transportation at.

I agree with disneynutz about waitlisting for the larger resorts, but sounds like you do not want that at all due to the conference you are attending? It's a shame your conference does not announce their dates until so late. Odd.

My first thought was to utilize what I consider a best use DVC tip: If you are even remotely entertaining any dates, BOOK THEM, unless you would have to borrow points of course. The cancellation window is generous to make that entirely plausible. As time goes by, if you see you can't go, or don't need the dates, throw them back. Just keep an eye on your banking window.

I still do find availability in short time periods, but generally only if I can be flexible. In your scenario, you have precious little of that. Good luck!!!

 

[Marionnette]

I am a member since 2004 and recently how I Vacation has changed. I do not know at the 11 month booking window that I can make it to the world. Sometimes I know by the 7 month window but even then it is one trip in five that I know this far out. Right now I have a cash reservation for Coronado Springs and waitlisted at Kidani Village 2bd and Bay Lake 2bd for Nov 2-6 for the AAP conference. So far there has been no movement on the waitlists. There will be at most four adults in the room, can anyone suggest a waitlist that has a higher chance to come through?

The problem is that you want to book a weekend during F&W at 3.5 months out. It's possible that the wait list will come thru but the stars would have to align perfectly.

It's getting harder and harder to book inside the 7-month window, especially during peak demand seasons like F&W. Studios are at a premium and as a result, many 2 BR villas are taken out because they are lock-offs (thus leaving an occupied studio + available 1BR).

If being able to make reservations on short notice is important at this stage of your life, it might be best to rent out your points and use the cash for cash stays until you reach a point where booking at least at the 7-month mark is a possibility.

A 1BR at Kidani might be a better choice for a wait list at this point. It accommodates up to 5 people (1K bed, 1Q sleeper sofa, 1 single sleeper chair) and it has 2 full bathrooms. I would wait list both standard and savanna views and hope for the best. No guarantees but I believe it stands a greater chance of success of coming thru than a 2BR for those dates.

 

[southerngirl528]

If being able to make reservations on short notice is important at this stage of your life, it might be best to rent out your points and use the cash for cash stays until you reach a point where booking at least at the 7-month mark is a possibility.

A 1BR at Kidani might be a better choice for a wait list at this point. It accommodates up to 5 people (1K bed, 1Q sleeper sofa, 1 single sleeper chair) and it has 2 full bathrooms. I would wait list both standard and savanna views and hope for the best. No guarantees but I believe it stands a greater chance of success of coming thru than a 2BR for those dates.

As a member since the early 90's, I agree with this very good advice.

 

[stitchloversith]

After talking with the disney fam I ended up booking the nights that I could find at SSR two are in a 1bd and two are in a 2br with waitlisting the last two nights we need. While keeping the BLT waitlist. I am planning on calling member services in the morning to see if the stays can be merged or at least linked. Having the free DVC parking and full kitchen cuts down on cost enough to allow for a rental car as second vehicle for AAP and law school visits. I had forgotten about the car fee because all my recent stays have been either DVC or before they started charging for parking.

 

[TexasChick123]

After talking with the disney fam I ended up booking the nights that I could find at SSR two are in a 1bd and two are in a 2br with waitlisting the last two nights we need. While keeping the BLT waitlist. I am planning on calling member services in the morning to see if the stays can be merged or at least linked. Having the free DVC parking and full kitchen cuts down on cost enough to allow for a rental car as second vehicle for AAP and law school visits. I had forgotten about the car fee because all my recent stays have been either DVC or before they started charging for parking.

So you don’t run into this again, here is a link to the future dates and locations of the conference (hopefully it shows up):

http://aapexperience.org/future-dates/

One of my best friends is a pediatrician and told me they post it years in advance. :/

 

[paults]

I always book our Oct trip at 11 months even if I'm not sure we can go. I can always cancel or switch resorts at 7 months before my banking window is up.