what should I do...no availability in June at VGC

[letitsnow]

So I called MS today to try to make reservations for June. They do not have any available. Should I just make reservations at the Disneyland or Paradise Pier hotel? I want to make use of my annual passes. Should I use my points or just pay out of pocket for a room at the Howard Johnson for $115/night?

If you do stay at the hotel do you get maid service daily?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yes, you would get daily maid service at the hotels. As far as what to book that'll depend on what value you place on your points and how many points it requires for DLH or PP. HoJo's and other's are so close that the difference in location is next to nil.

You won't get the Magic Morning entry though if you stay off site with your AP. If you are at one of the on-site locations you will. That will be a difference if that's important to you.

 

[letitsnow]

we really want to go because we will be celebrating my daughter's high school graduation and my son's 9th birthday will be the same day. we have never stayed at the disneyland or the paradise pier hotel. for the dates i'm looking at it will be 72 points for Disneyland hotel or 66 points for Paradise Pier. We just bought into DVC and this would be our first trip.

How does the waitlist work? If I don't get that is it pretty easy to book the DL or Paradise Pier hotels?

The other factor is since I have an August UY I have to bank my points by the 31st of this month. Will I be able to use the points I banked? or is that the rule of 4?

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

we really want to go because we will be celebrating my daughter's high school graduation and my son's 9th birthday will be the same day. we have never stayed at the disneyland or the paradise pier hotel. for the dates i'm looking at it will be 72 points for Disneyland hotel or 66 points for Paradise Pier. We just bought into DVC and this would be our first trip.

How does the waitlist work? If I don't get that is it pretty easy to book the DL or Paradise Pier hotels?

The other factor is since I have an August UY I have to bank my points by the 31st of this month. Will I be able to use the points I banked? or is that the rule of 4?

When you waitlist you can set it up to check until 31 days out or 7 days out from your stay. All the nights for your waitlist must be available at the same time in order for it to fill. You might want to give it a try for a few weeks and see if you luck out getting into VGC. I think you'd be ok in waiting a short time to book DLH or PP.

I've had decent luck booking DLH and PP on shorter notice of just a couple of weeks but they do only make available to DVC a limited amount of inventory so there are no guarantees on anything being available that close to check-in.

You will not be able to used any of your banked points for the reservation but you could always borrow points from your 2010 UY. And you can set up the waitlist to do that if you decide to go ahead and bank the points. Once you bank those points go into your next UY and cannot be retrieved. You do luck out in that the rule of 4 does not apply to DL hotel reservations. If it did then you would have to book the room by the 31st or you wouldn't be able to do it with points.

Personally I think that getting the VGC room for June at this time has a low chance of happening. But all it takes is one person to cancel what you are looking for and to not have other's on the waitlist in front of you so it's not impossible. Since you really want to go at that time I'd probably try a waitlist until the end of the month. If it hasn't filled then I'd book one of the hotels on points with my current points and bank the remainder. Or - I'd set up the waitlist to go up to 7 days out. On the 31st I'd bank my points if it hadn't filled and tell them to borrow if the waitlist fills. Then I'd book a cash room someplace and cancel if the waitlist comes thru. Some of this decision depends on what plans, if any, you have for next year's points.

 

[wbl2745]

How does the waitlist work? If I don't get that is it pretty easy to book the DL or Paradise Pier hotels?

The other factor is since I have an August UY I have to bank my points by the 31st of this month. Will I be able to use the points I banked? or is that the rule of 4?

I'm hardly an expert, but since you just purchased, you may have until July 31 to bank your points. I had the same question and confirmed this both with my "guide" and with Member Services. This only applies to your first year and I would call Member Services to confirm for yourself. The person at Member Services I spoke to said that some of the newer employees there don't know about the "first use year" exception and if they say that you can't do this, ask to talk to a lead.

Regarding wait listing, my understanding is that they will leave you on the wait list until either 30 days or 7 days before the requested reservation, based on your input. If you made reservations at the Disneyland Hotel or at Paradise Pier make sure that you could cancel at 7 days before the reservation. Then make your DL and PP reservations and wait list for VGC. If you get into VGC, then cancel your hotel. Make sure that if you use points at DL or PP that you understand what happens if you cancel. If they get put into the holding account, you'd have to use them before July 31. I'd call Member Services and run through the various scenarios with them to make sure that you don't get stuck.

Regarding the Disneyland Hotel and Paradise Pier, I've stayed at both. Perhaps Paradise Pier has upgraded recently, but other than the early entry to the parks, I don't see the value in PP. It really didn't impress me. The Disneyland Hotel is nice, but a really long walk from the parks at the end of the day.

Hope things work out!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Keep in mind that if you book DLH or PP on points those immediately become reservation points. If you cancel the hotel room b/c your waitlist came thru those points could not be used for the VGC rooms. They could only be used for another reservation outside of the DVC resorts and they would have to be used by July 31st. If you decide to book DLH or PP on points just plan on staying there and skip the waitlist.

 

[bumbershoot]

Keep in mind that if you book DLH or PP on points those immediately become reservation points. If you cancel the hotel room b/c your waitlist came thru those points could not be used for the VGC rooms. They could only be used for another reservation outside of the DVC resorts and they would have to be used by July 31st. If you decide to book DLH or PP on points just plan on staying there and skip the waitlist.

Exactly!

Once you decide to stay at DLH or PPH (PPH is my personal fave, after now staying at all 3 onsite hotels), just stop thinking about the villas. Because the points will be changed, and the points for DLH/PPH cannot be used for any villas, and no points stays can be booked at the hotel-side of the Grand anymore.

I, personally, would probably just lock it up at DLH/PPH now. Time is getting short and it would make me too nervous.

Then again, HoJo is nice, if you have use for your points next year if you bank them! Are you making sure to get any discounts you can get? Entertainment Rate seems unlikely for June, but they have Disney fan (aka, call them and say you're a member of the disboards, or at least two other disney fan message boards) discount and a fabulous AP holder discount as well! Choose the one that gets you the most discount and is available, and make sure you're getting the lowest price.

The walk from the HoJo parking lot to the esplanade vs DLH at the big hat through DTD to the esplanade is just about the exact same distance, around .47 mile. In case you didn't know.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We called to book for a June stay at VGC last January and were told there was no availability. Like you, we have an August UY, so we figured we could stand to WL until the end of March, then needed to find a room somewhere. It turns out that our WL came through the same day!

While this was certainly unusual, I would do the same in your case: WL until the end of this month and hope for some pixie dust. In the meantime, book HoJos if it is compeltely refundable or just wait.

And mark a big red X on March 30 on a calendar you see everyday to remind yourself that you need to bank your points by March 31 (or use some of them by then to book at the PPh or DLH and bank the rest).

If your WL has not come thru by then, you should also cancel you WL by March 31. Otherwise, MS will borrow the points from your 2010 UY if the WL comes thru after March 31. Which may still be okay if your alternative is a cash reservation somewhere, but not so good if you are already booked using points at the DLH or PPH.

Best of luck -- Suzanne

 

[sierranevada]

I called in December and for my 5 day June ressie and was waitlisted and one day at a time, each night cleared so it is worth a try. I would not worry about booking DLH or PPH this far out - there should be plenty of time.

 

[franandaj]

I'm in a similar situation as you are, trying to get a studio on June 1&2, except I don't have any points left for this UY! (well I banked 6)

Actually as I was responding to this thread, I hopped over to DVCMember.com and my waitlist came through today!

I put in the waitlist on March 3, so that wasn't a bad wait! Personally I would put in the waitlist with this year's points, make a CRO reservation somewhere that you know you could cancel. Then on the 30th, bank this year's points (unless you can get the 1st year exemption) and get back on the waitlist borrowing from next year. But again this depends on what you plan to do with your points next year.

You didn't mention what type of room you were trying to get, or how many nights, but the point cost at the Hotels is a minimum of 4-5 more points per night than a studio. Probably OK for one or two nights, if you wanted to lock it in, I can understand that. It would be a shame for your first stay to be at a hotel and not at "home".

 

[bumbershoot]

The wildcard here, though, is the new World of Color stuff. That's right around its opening time.


Our first use of points was DLH concierge (way back in May, when you could still book concierge level with points), and it was great! Not a horrible thing, at least to us. Second use of points was at GCH (way back in October when you could still use points at GCH, LOL). Let's go back to...I prefer PPH to any of the onsite hotels.

The villas are sweet (at least the models), though, that's for sure!

 

[CrazyDuck]

Call your guide and ask her if she han help you book a room in June!

 

[letitsnow]

I am waitlisted for a 1 br for June 13-16. We are just going for a few days and will be back in November. We just have to decide on the week before or the week after thanksgiving. I can't believe how mAny more points it is for Friday/Saturday!

Thank you for all the suggestions. Hojo's does have the entertanment rate only on the 13th and $120 fr the other 2 nights s I guess the next ? Is do we pay cash at hojo or use points At the other dl hotel or paradise pier. How do you put a value on the points? Cash ressie for those dates for parAdise pier is $175/night.

Thanks again in advance!

 

[actnkidz]

Just wanted to let you know I will be cancelling my reservation at vgc june17-21 in a studio in case you are waitlisted for these ones . I will call sometime this week

 

[letitsnow]

i added to be on the waitlist for a studio also...i really wanna stay at home for my first stay. i was able to get the week before thanksgiving for a 1 br. just debating on the week before or after thanksgiving...what do you suggest?

 

[franandaj]

The Christmas decorations start going up around the week before Thanksgiving, the week after they will probably be completed whereas they might not be all the way done the week before. If that is at all a consideration to you...

 

[CrazyDuck]

The Christmas decorations start going up around the week before Christmas, the week after they will probably be completed whereas they might not be all the way done the week before. If that is at all a consideration to you...

I think they go up the week before Thanksgiving...

 

[franandaj]

I think they go up the week before Thanksgiving...

That's what I MEANT to say, I edited my post correctly! DOH!