What MS told me today about our Dec. waitlist chances

[CrzyforPiglet]

First my disclaimer - I may be a Disney fan but I definitely don't consider myself an expert so this may mean nothing but today I called MS on another issue and asked about our chances on the waitlist. We're currently booked at SSR 11/30-12/6 and are waitlisted at AKV and BWV - MS told me to hold off booking ME for at least a month in case our waitlist comes through and that way we wouldn't get the wrong luggage tags. When I asked her what the likelihood was we'd get our waitlist she said they've been getting a lot of cancellations recently from people in Texas and Lousiana because they've changed their minds about driving to Florida. I feel so bad for everyone who has to cancel their vacations especially since I think it has more to do with damage from Dolly - than not wanting to drive. I'm trying not to get my hopes up on our waitlist but it just seemed like such an odd thing for MS to say that I thought I'd pass it along.

Laurie

 

[Ms. WDW]

Funny you post this. I'm on a wait list for the Boardwalk in October and I already have my ME tags. MS told me that if my wait list happens they change the information in the computer and it's contained by the barcode. But...many DVC members as a backup, take a Sharpie and change the hotel name on the tag!

 

[ITGirl50]

When I asked her what the likelihood was we'd get our waitlist she said they've been getting a lot of cancellations recently from people in Texas and Lousiana because they've changed their minds about driving to Florida. I feel so bad for everyone who has to cancel their vacations especially since I think it has more to do with damage from Dolly - than not wanting to drive. I'm trying not to get my hopes up on our waitlist but it just seemed like such an odd thing for MS to say that I thought I'd pass it along.

Laurie

I live in Houston and there was no Dolly damage here. Only a light rain a couple of days. I don't think Louisiana got anything either. It's mostly down in South Texas and I hear West Texas got a lot of rain from it too. Texas is a HUGE state.

I think it's the cost of airline tickets.

We are used to tickets costing around $200 round trip to MCO, now they are over $400 round trip. That makes a big difference for a family of 4 or more. It's a long drive from Houston (17 hours or so) and we are in East Texas. Some people just don't want to drive it (like me, but I'll do it if it costs that much to fly).

 

[Deb & Bill]

...When I asked her what the likelihood was we'd get our waitlist she said they've been getting a lot of cancellations recently from people in Texas and Lousiana because they've changed their minds about driving to Florida. ...
Laurie

That has to be the most absurd thing I have ever heard. It's still way cheaper for us to drive than fly. I-10 to I-75. Easy. I'm in NW Lousiana and it takes us 14 hours to drive. About the same from Houston since we left from there one time.

Don't people from IL and IN drive as well????

Kind of like saying I wouldn't come from NW LA in 2005 because of Katrina. We didn't get a drop of rain from Katrina. And Katrina was a BIG one, way bigger than little Dolly.

 

[NSL]

We would drive if we had to because of airline costs and we live in Iowa. More than 24 hours!

 

[pafer]

I live in south louisiana and the cost of gas is not preventing me from travelling to disney this october.

 

[VLee]

We live in NE Louisiana and will continue to fly as long as tickets remain around $300. We could drive (for 2 persons) for about half the cost, but the time it takes and wear on vehicle is not worth it.

However, am planning on driving down next May/June (total of 3 people) in order to have car down there for about a month.

 

[crisi]

I don't think there will be many cancellations. The points are paid for - people are going to need to use them or loose them - unless they can still bank them and hope that, what? - gas prices go down NEXT year? I think you'll see more resales as budgets get tighter and people cut out travel, but DVCers will use those points for one last trip before they NEED to sell. More likely you'll see people change their travel patterns to fewer trips for longer - but given DVC reservation timelines, I don't think people will be switching reservations around this year.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I live in Houston and there was no Dolly damage here. Only a light rain a couple of days. I don't think Louisiana got anything either. It's mostly down in South Texas and I hear West Texas got a lot of rain from it too. Texas is a HUGE state.

I won't hijack this to tell you about the complete devastation down here, but if you want to know, feel free to PM me. You certainly won't hear about it on the National News. OK, getting off soapbox now, please return to current topic re December waitlists.

 

[abeyst]

Have faith in the December waitlists. Mine came through in steps (we had a studio and 2br). I think it took until September or October to get the final waitlists to come through.

If you hold off on the ME and don't get your yellow tags in time, give the ME people at the check-in counter your bag claim slips and they'll pull your luggage for you.

 

[Mississippian]

That has to be the most absurd thing I have ever heard. It's still way cheaper for us to drive than fly. I-10 to I-75. Easy. I'm in NW Lousiana and it takes us 14 hours to drive. About the same from Houston since we left from there one time.

I live about 900 miles away. We've driven a number of times because it's cheaper, we will have a car and plane tickets are so expensive.

My Avalanche gets about 18 miles to the gallon average. That means I'll use about 120 gallons of gas. So the increase from $2 a gallon to $4 a gallon means an additional cost of $240. That may not seem like a lot, but it really is a lot of money.

Add to this that everyone is smarting from high energy costs. Plus, it's just a mental thing -- folks just don't want to spend that amount of money on gas.

I can assure you that people are choosing to postpone trips due to gas prices. We're certainly watching how much we drive.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I live about 900 miles away. We've driven a number of times because it's cheaper, we will have a car and plane tickets are so expensive.

My Avalanche gets about 18 miles to the gallon average. That means I'll use about 120 gallons of gas. So the increase from $2 a gallon to $4 a gallon means an additional cost of $240. That may not seem like a lot, but it really is a lot of money.

Add to this that everyone is smarting from high energy costs. Plus, it's just a mental thing -- folks just don't want to spend that amount of money on gas.

I can assure you that people are choosing to postpone trips due to gas prices. We're certainly watching how much we drive.

I should have been buying gas in Mississippi for the last year. Last year we were paying over $2.50 a gallon here in LA. Closer to $3 a gallon. We're at $3.78 right now.

Plus, 900/18=50 times two is 100 gallons of gas. That's only an addition of $80 ($.80 increase).

 

[tomandrobin]

And on II this morning there were three 1 bedbroom units at Saratoga Springs for December 12,13 or 14 check-in

There is also a 1 bedroom BCV for a Jan 24 check-in

 

[pilferk]

I should have been buying gas in Mississippi for the last year. Last year we were paying over $2.50 a gallon here in LA. Closer to $3 a gallon. We're at $3.78 right now.

Plus, 900/18=50 times two is 100 gallons of gas. That's only an addition of $80 ($.80 increase).

For us, it's still cheaper to make the 22 hour drive than it is to pay for 5 round trip air fares.

We'll see if Southwest runs any specials as we get closer to December, but.....so far, it's still MUCH cheaper to drive.

And, for us, we do roughly 2200 miles in a minivan. It's about 130 gallons of gas, round trip, for us...maybe 135 with the driving we do at Disney.

When we went in January, gas was right around $3 a gallon. Now it's about $4 a gallon. That's about $130 increase for driving.

When we looked at airfare for our January trip, it was running just over $1000 for 5 of us. Looking now, it would run us somewhere between $1350 and $1800, depending on stops and flight times. Southwest is running about $1700 (BDL to MCO). So the increase in air fare is actually, for us, MORE than the increase in costs to drive.

 

[Sheribo]

For us, it's still cheaper to make the 22 hour drive than it is to pay for 5 round trip air fares.

We're in the same position. It's cheaper to do the 24 hour drive with a family of 5. The downside is that it adds 2 vacation days to each end of our trip.

As for the waitlist, we haven't had much luck with it and have to plan our vacation time well in advance so having the waitlist come through at the last minute wouldn't work for us.

Good Luck! That's a busy time at BWV so you'll need all you can get.

 

[pilferk]

We're in the same position. It's cheaper to do the 24 hour drive with a family of 5. The downside is that it adds 2 vacation days to each end of our trip.

For us, it "adds" only one day to each end of the trip.

If we flew, we'd be flying out on Thursday, mid day, and arrive around 3 or 4 PM. We'd fly out on Friday, mid afternoon, and arrive around 8 PM.

When we drive, I leave on Wednesday, around noon. We drive about half way (10-11 hours or so, to northern N.C., exit 174 I think), stop for the night, and then leave early on Thursday morning. We'll probably arrive around 4 or 5 PM on Thursday.

We'll leave around 2 PM on Friday, drive about 1/2 way, stop for the night (Northern N.C., again, exit 121 I think?), and then continue early on Saturday morning. We get home around 5 or 6 PM on Saturday.

For me, it doesn't make any difference in "vacation time" as far as work goes, thanfully. I'm on salary, and I work a half day from home on our departure day. That works out really well for us.

 

[crisi]

Cheaper for us to fly four of us, even at $400 a ticket. My husband and I can both buy out unused vacation hours and that is significant.

 

[pilferk]

Cheaper for us to fly four of us, even at $400 a ticket. My husband and I can both buy out unused vacation hours and that is significant.

Really? I don't doubt it...that one extra ticket for us might be the sticker. If we'd only needed 4 tickets, it probably would have been close enough to consider flying.

It'll cost us, with food and hotel stays, right around $750 - $775 (that's at $4 a gallon, for gas), round trip, to drive down to Orlando. That's gas, food, hotel...everything. Even when we were looking at flying this past Janaury , for around $200 apiece (for 5 of us), the drive was quite a bit cheaper. The drive down, then, cost us $600....gas, one hotel stop as we straight shotted it down, and food.

PLUS we get the use of our car..which is sorta nice, especially when stocking our kitchen, etc. Heck, it's even nice not to have to depend on Disney transport when we want to eat at resorts, other than our own.

Again, though...DW is a stay at home mom...so no "use of vacation time" there. I, too, can do vacation time cash in....but as I pointed out earlier, for me it doesn't actually require me taking any more vacation time to drive.

 

[lsutigger2]

I'm from Louisiana andd I cancelled a Nov. 30 - Dec. 5 trip last week. It was a solo trip (driving wasn't an option) and I really couldn't make up my mind that I wanted to do that. But the real deal breaker was I wasn't finding airfare for less than $550/$600 and wasn't willing to pay that for a solo trip. I know trying to fly the Sunday after Thanksgiving wasn't the best day, but geesh -----

So, I guess someone got my studio at SSR for those days. Hope you enjoy your trip.