Best chance for a waitlisted studio for weekend in late October

[Anthony Vito]

We just bought into CCV and have some extra points to use, so my wife and I are trying to plan a weekend to go without kids. Since there's no availability in the fall, we were thinking of next winter, but the new Extra Extra Magic Hours they're offering has me really wanting to try to go in late October. In seeing some recent photos of Magic Kingdom during sunrise, it was something I figured we'd never see since we'll almost certainly never go the week of Christmas or Easter. These early hours they're offering change that a bit.

So, we're thinking of the last weekend in October, 10/25 - 10/28. This would be the first time making a reservation with points and also the first time trying to waitlist. Ideally we'd like to be in a resort close to either MK or EP.

What studio reservations would give us the best chance of being able to have something come through for that weekend? We'd of course love something that was a decent value (BWV standard view seems great, but I realize that makes it very unlikely as well).

 

[Kaufeegurl]

Oh my gosh - I JUST grabbed a studio at the Poly for those exact dates 3 weeks ago. You need to stalk! A lake view studio for 25th-27th popped up and I couldn't grab it fast enough. 3 days later I was able to grab 27th-28th in a standard. I waitlisted that standard reservation to be replaced with a lake view so my daughter won't have to move. You should waitlist a lake view studio at BLT for MK area and a Garden/Pool View for BWV in the EP area. These resorts/categories have the most studios and a better chance to be filled. And remember to STALK!!!! You can find room inventory at dvc info . com.

 

[Anthony Vito]

Thanks! What's the best way for "stalking?" I'm new to the DVC member site - is it just plugging in the dates and refreshing/searching again? Is there a better way of viewing it?

 

[Kaufeegurl]

yep. that's it!

 

[sarah4770]

Your best chance for a waitlist to come through are the resorts with the largest number of studios and lowest demand. Saratoga and old key west are probably the resorts where you are most likely to have a waitlist come though. You can always check availablilty periodically and switch resorts should another one become available.

 

[The Jackal]

If you just bought direct and never made a reservation , call DVC and they can make you a Welcome Home reservation and they could have more options for you. This is reserved for newcomers who have never made a reservation. Congratulations on the purchase and years of enjoyment.

 

[sarah4770]

I'm not sure that would work anymore. It used to be that your guide could pull a reservation from your home resort at the time of purchase direct from Disney, but at my last purchase, my guide said they can't do that anymore.

 

[sarah4770]

Also, OP, not sure if you are aware that you can have 2 waitlists. For example you can waitlist at Saratoga and at the Poly for the same trip. Whichever comes through first will cancel the second waitlist.
After your waitlist comes through, you can still waitlist for your preferred resort.
I always think though, that it is better to waitlist for something that has a high likleyhood of coming through, so that at least you have a place to stay.

 

[crvetter]

I'm not sure that would work anymore. It used to be that your guide could pull a reservation from your home resort at the time of purchase direct from Disney, but at my last purchase, my guide said they can't do that anymore.

This very much still happens. I had it offered to me in November when I bought and others on the boards have posted it happening. What they cannot do however is guarantee it will be your home resort, that there is availability, or for the size of room you want. But they will try everything possible. However if you make any reservation or waitlist of any kind they cannot help with the welcome home visit anymore.

 

[Anthony Vito]

Well I made two waitlist requests, so I guess I'm too late to call MS and try for a Welcome Home visit. Wah Wah.

I waitlisted Poly and BWV Garden view.

My wife was reading that if single days become available somewhere, you should grab them and then start to piece together the trip if other single days become available. Will doing so cancel the waitlist requests?

 

[crvetter]

Well I made two waitlist requests, so I guess I'm too late to call MS and try for a Welcome Home visit. Wah Wah.

I waitlisted Poly and BWV Garden view.

My wife was reading that if single days become available somewhere, you should grab them and then start to piece together the trip if other single days become available. Will doing so cancel the waitlist requests?

It won’t cancel your waitlist. However, it could put you in a place that you wouldn’t have enough points to meet the waitlist and hold those nights. So what I do in this situation is chat MS and ask them to update the waitlist to cancel all the rooms I’m holding during the window I’m waitlisting, freeing up the points, if the waitlist comes in. So I grab one night during my waitlist period I have them add it to the rooms that the waitlist should replace. The next day I add another I have it notated to replace both night now. Hopefully that makes sense. It’s just important because if the waitlist comes through and you don’t have the points they just don’t fill it and if you set it up to borrow points you’ll all the sudden have a lot of points in your current use year.

 

[sarah4770]

This very much still happens. I had it offered to me in November when I bought and others on the boards have posted it happening. What they cannot do however is guarantee it will be your home resort, that there is availability, or for the size of room you want. But they will try everything possible. However if you make any reservation or waitlist of any kind they cannot help with the welcome home visit anymore.

Well ... I guess my guide told me a fib.

 

[Anthony Vito]

Thanks for the help everyone. I wish I'd tried to do the Welcome Home visit through the guide for the first time, but I'd already waitlisted so wasn't sure it was going to be worth trying. I was able to grab SSR for the dates I wanted, albeit by getting one night then the other two nights separately. I'm guessing Member Services can combine this into one reservation. I'm also going to keep trying though for a Magic Kingdom or Epcot resort. Thanks all for the insight!

 

[crvetter]

Thanks for the help everyone. I wish I'd tried to do the Welcome Home visit through the guide for the first time, but I'd already waitlisted so wasn't sure it was going to be worth trying. I was able to grab SSR for the dates I wanted, albeit by getting one night then the other two nights separately. I'm guessing Member Services can combine this into one reservation. I'm also going to keep trying though for a Magic Kingdom or Epcot resort. Thanks all for the insight!

Yeah chat with MS they will issue a request for them to be combined takes up to 24 hours to process. As long as they are the same room type and booking category there should be no problem.

 

[Anthony Vito]

I have a related question that might be more appropriate for its own post, but will put here in the mean time:

Because we got our 2018 points which are now banked and will get our 2019 points in October, we currently have 4 times as many points as we need for that weekend. Since we have more than enough points right now, can I book other rooms during that same weekend without dropping the current reservation in an attempt to put together a weekend reservation at another resort? If so, then there would be no issue dropping un-needed reservations and just getting the points back, right? For example, right now there is one night open at AKL, and I'm considering grabbing in case others open we might prefer staying there over SSR. Also, certainly if nights open at an Epcot or MK resort, I want to grab what I can to try to build something there. Obviously this is not too common since having this many points is probably a luxury I will not have in the future, but the double points to start with helps me out.

 

[crvetter]

I have a related question that might be more appropriate for its own post, but will put here in the mean time:

Because we got our 2018 points which are now banked and will get our 2019 points in October, we currently have 4 times as many points as we need for that weekend. Since we have more than enough points right now, can I book other rooms during that same weekend without dropping the current reservation in an attempt to put together a weekend reservation at another resort? If so, then there would be no issue dropping un-needed reservations and just getting the points back, right? For example, right now there is one night open at AKL, and I'm considering grabbing in case others open we might prefer staying there over SSR. Also, certainly if nights open at an Epcot or MK resort, I want to grab what I can to try to build something there. Obviously this is not too common since having this many points is probably a luxury I will not have in the future, but the double points to start with helps me out.

You can do this yes. However, if you cancel the reservation using your banked 2018 points you'll have those sitting in your account not assigned to a reservation. It is then important once you finalize your trip that you call MS and ask them to assign any banked points to the final reservations.

Also make sure you have enough points to cover waitlists if you start piecing together other stays, else your waitlists will fall off instead of being fulfilled if the points weren't there when a room opened.

Be aware of your banking deadlines to bank the 2019 points and the requirement to cancel 31 days out from checkin to avoid the points going into holding.

 

[Anthony Vito]

Thank you!!!

 

[Anthony Vito]

I'm sure it'll be quite a while before I get the hang of this. I already am a little worried about having the banked points and new points in there, etc., so I will definitely call MS then at the end to make sure I did it all correctly. Thanks for the help! The more I do all of this, the more I'm glad that we purchased a Guaranteed Week at CCV (Week 48), since as long as we keep that reservation (December 2020 will be the first one though), we don't have to worry about any of this finagling.

 

[gharter]

Good luck. Studios during F&W are difficult to get after the 7 month mark. Your best bet is a large resort with less demand. OKW and Saratoga usually.
They do come up as people change plans, but they also tend to get taken very quickly.
As pp mentioned, wiatlisting can work, but keep stalking and its a matter of luck.

 

[cvjw]

Put in a waitlist for the poly for October 27-29 a couple weeks ago. Came thru yesterday. Maybe you will also have good luck with your waitlist!