BWV Waitlist

[TheSilverTherapist]

(I originally posted this in the BWI/BWV Resorts thread, but this may be the better place for it).

My parents were generous enough to lend us 50 DVC points which were exactly enough to spend 5 nights in a standard view studio at Boardwalk in September. The bad news was, only 4 of the nights we were able to go were available.

Luckily, we were able to get in at our backup at OKW which considering my history there is pretty awesome in its own right. But my wife kind had her heart set on BWV so we got ourselves on the waitlist.

My question is, what are our odds of getting into BWV for the last week in September before the Food and Wine festival? (Thursday will be our last night there, we're flying out late Friday evening, the first day of Food and Wine).

Do they not book every single studio available until they have a good idea for just how many two-bedrooms are going to be needed? (Since the studios are the second bedroom for those). I'm just sorta curious. OKW would not be disappointing, but BWV would be extra special.

 

[darkwing818]

(I originally posted this in the BWI/BWV Resorts thread, but this may be the better place for it).

My parents were generous enough to lend us 50 DVC points which were exactly enough to spend 5 nights in a standard view studio at Boardwalk in September. The bad news was, only 4 of the nights we were able to go were available.

Luckily, we were able to get in at our backup at OKW which considering my history there is pretty awesome in its own right. But my wife kind had her heart set on BWV so we got ourselves on the waitlist.

My question is, what are our odds of getting into BWV for the last week in September before the Food and Wine festival? (Thursday will be our last night there, we're flying out late Friday evening, the first day of Food and Wine).

Do they not book every single studio available until they have a good idea for just how many two-bedrooms are going to be needed? (Since the studios are the second bedroom for those). I'm just sorta curious. OKW would not be disappointing, but BWV would be extra special.

Hard to say. In the past we've wait listed for a studio at BWV & BCV for first 2 weeks of October or the last week of September,and have been the switched to either, probably more than half the time (6 or 7 times over the last 10 years or so). Good luck

 

[tjkraz]

September, before F&W, is pretty slow so that definitely helps.

But here's something to consider. DVC will not match your waitlist request unless all 5 days open up simultaneously. You said that 4 of the 5 are available now. Those 4 nights could easily be booked by another member while you are waiting for your 5th night to open up.

What you may want to consider is booking the 4 BoardWalk nights that are available now and just go on the waitlist for the one missing night. It's much easier to get one night off the waitlist than it is to get 2, 3, 4 or 5 nights, assuming another member books those other dates.

There is obviously some risk involved in that approach, so you'll have to decide if you are comfortable with it or not.

If all of the 4 available nights happen to be in a row (i.e. Sunday - Wednesday), you could always keep OKW for the one night as a backup. You may have to switch resorts, but again, waitlisting one night would have a higher degree of success than 5 nights.

If the missing night is in the middle of the trip, you could still book a split stay with 2-3 nights at BW and the rest at Old Key West.

Ask yourself if spending SOME time at the BoardWalk is worth the inconvenience of having to switch resorts mid-trip. Some people despise split stays while others love the variety it offers.

I can tell you that only about 20% of the BoardWalk is Standard View--could be as little as 20 Studio villas. In order for your waitlist to be successful, you're counting on one of those parties to cancel their reservation. Hard to predict odds of that happening.

Good luck.

 

[DebbieB]

Boardwalk has alot of dedicated studios, which are not part of 2 bedrooms, those are booked first. I'm not sure at what point they decide to start booking the lockoffs.

Is the one night you are missing in the middle? If it's at one of the ends, I would book the 4 nights and waitlist the 5th. If you waitlist the whole thing, all 5 nights have to become available at the same time.

 

[TheSilverTherapist]

Thanks for the input everyone. Lots of things to consider.

 

[cwdefouw]

There are potentially 39 standard view studios counting all dedicated units and the studio lockoffs. Your chances should be good, but F&W has become extremely popular, and the SV units go quickly. I would book the 4 nights that you can then waitlist the 5th night as previously suggested. Get a backup accomodation, (OKW or SSR) in case the waitlist doesn't come through. Worse comes to worse, you just have to move for the one night. Hopefully that missing night was not in the middle of the stay. Or you can give the wait list a limited time and then try to get something else for the whole stay, likely SSR by that point.

 

[VLee]

We waitlisted for Sept 11 and booked the 12th - 16 to guarantee a 4 night stay. Our standard view waitlist for that one night became available yesterday, so we dropped the last night. I had booked a boardwalk view however just in case we did change our vacation dates, knowing we might have to move. I also dropped it today.

 

[minnie mouse]

I would say your chances are pretty good. My wait list has always come through for Boardwalk. On was on a wait list for one night for two months and it finally came through yesterday. I called yesterday to switch resorts because I had to bank my points that I was going to use. So I asked before I made the final switch and my one night on the wait list and they told me it was available. I was so excited that it came through because I really didn't want to change resorts half way through my trip.

 

[rlovew]

If the night you are waiting for is the last night it has a much slimmer chance of coming through than if it earlier in the week. That would be people arriving for the start of the food and wine festival that have the studio and I feel are less likely to be waitlisted for something else or to cancel a trip planned for an event.

 

[antree]

I hope you were able to at least book the first 4 night and wait list the last. I just checked and that week is booked. Remember for next time, book what is available if you can get most of your nights straight through, wait list the remaining days and book a back up for those remaining days. If your wait list comes through they will cancel the reservations at your back up hotel. Wait listing one night is a better chance then a whole week.