I waitlisted a room but it is now available online!

[DougK]

I had waitlisted a room at BLT for December. It was for only two nights because we already booked the other nights of our trip but at the time we booked the final two nights were not available. Anyway today I checked and my room is still showing as waitlisted BUT when I searched for rooms they came up as available! So I booked it and afterwards I cancelled my waitlisted room.

So I was wondering how could this have happened? I thought they would try to fill any waitlist requests before they became available online.

Before anyone asks I assure you it was the exact same resort, dates, room type and view, I triple checked.

Does anyone have any insight into this?

 

[wilkeliza]

I had waitlisted a room at BLT for December. It was for only two nights because we already booked the other nights of our trip but at the time we booked the final two nights were not available. Anyway today I checked and my room is still showing as waitlisted BUT when I searched for rooms they came up as available! So I booked it and afterwards I cancelled my waitlisted room.

So I was wondering how could this have happened? I thought they would try to fill any waitlist requests before they became available online.

Before anyone asks I assure you it was the exact same resort, dates, room type and view, I triple checked.

Does anyone have any insight into this?

What website were you checking? I don't know if this can happen at BLT but I know at the other DVC resorts if you check online later but not through DVC rooms may show up because if a DVC member uses their points for something else and BLT is their home resort Disney has to open up a room that is the value of points that member used to the general public in order to make their money for what the DVC member traded. If the room was showing up on the general public buying website that is the most logical reason. This is why even though a resort may not be at 100 percent you can't always use your DVC points at them. So maybe someone at BLT traded their points for a Disney Cruise or something similar and Disney released that room you want to the general public to make their money from the Cruise they just let a DVC member trade their points for.

 

[Annielkd]

One question. Were you looking on the DVC site? If so.... I have NO idea. I always get a waitlist prior to seeing it available.

 

[tjkraz]

The wait list match process runs in a batch. It isn't realtime.

The batch process allows multiple cancellations to be bundled to match a single wait list request. However it does have the disadvantage of leaving rooms exposed to immediate bookings for several hours.

If all had worked as the system is designed, your nights would have been booked a few hours later via the wait list and you never would have known otherwise.

 

[DougK]

What website were you checking? I don't know if this can happen at BLT but I know at the other DVC resorts if you check online later but not through DVC rooms may show up because if a DVC member uses their points for something else and BLT is their home resort Disney has to open up a room that is the value of points that member used to the general public in order to make their money for what the DVC member traded. If the room was showing up on the general public buying website that is the most logical reason. This is why even though a resort may not be at 100 percent you can't always use your DVC points at them. So maybe someone at BLT traded their points for a Disney Cruise or something similar and Disney released that room you want to the general public to make their money from the Cruise they just let a DVC member trade their points for.

One question. Were you looking on the DVC site? If so.... I have NO idea. I always get a waitlist prior to seeing it available.

I guess I wasn't clear, I was on the DVC website and I booked the room using points even though it was still showing up on my waitlist. That is why it is confusing. I do understand they keep rooms for cash buyers also but this was definitely the DVC website.

 

[DougK]

The wait list match process runs in a batch. It isn't realtime.

The batch process allows multiple cancellations to be bundled to match a single wait list request. However it does have the disadvantage of leaving rooms exposed to immediate bookings for several hours.

If all had worked as the system is designed, your nights would have been booked a few hours later via the wait list and you never would have known otherwise.

It sounds like you have knowledge of the process so this seems logical. Obviously what you said in your final sentence would be true UNLESS someone else had come along and booked the room before the batch ran. I'm not upset about it since I got my room anyway. Also I do understand no system can be perfect. Thanks for your answers everyone.

 

[tjkraz]

It sounds like you have knowledge of the process so this seems logical. Obviously what you said in your final sentence would be true UNLESS someone else had come along and booked the room before the batch ran. I'm not upset about it since I got my room anyway. Also I do understand no system can be perfect. Thanks for your answers everyone.

Yes, that's very true. Technically someone could have booked the two nights before the wait list batch ran.

But like I said, if they did wait list matches in realtime it could prove very difficult to ever get a match of more than a couple of nights. Imagine that you were waitlisted for 7 nights. Someone calls and cancels 3 of those nights. It's not a 100% match to your request so those nights continue to filter down the wait list until a 100% match is found.

However, if a second member calls 2 hours later and cancels the other 4 nights, theoretically when the batch is run all 7 nights will be available and your trip will be matched.

These sorts of multiple cancellation scenarios happen often, particularly at 7 months when folks start swapping resorts.

Like you said, no system is perfect. I'm sure DVC execs debated the pros and cons of multiple approaches before going forward with this one. For what it's worth, in almost 10 years I have about a 90% success rate with the wait list. I only remember one time where I didn't get what I wanted (a BLT Studio within 3 months of the resort's original grand opening.)

The natural response is to think that some hard-to-obtain dates/resort/view will be quickly gobbled up within minutes of a cancellation, and never make it to the wait list. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

 

[DougK]

Yes, that's very true. Technically someone could have booked the two nights before the wait list batch ran.

But like I said, if they did wait list matches in realtime it could prove very difficult to ever get a match of more than a couple of nights. Imagine that you were waitlisted for 7 nights. Someone calls and cancels 3 of those nights. It's not a 100% match to your request so those nights continue to filter down the wait list until a 100% match is found.

However, if a second member calls 2 hours later and cancels the other 4 nights, theoretically when the batch is run all 7 nights will be available and your trip will be matched.

These sorts of multiple cancellation scenarios happen often, particularly at 7 months when folks start swapping resorts.

Like you said, no system is perfect. I'm sure DVC execs debated the pros and cons of multiple approaches before going forward with this one. For what it's worth, in almost 10 years I have about a 90% success rate with the wait list. I only remember one time where I didn't get what I wanted (a BLT Studio within 3 months of the resort's original grand opening.)

The natural response is to think that some hard-to-obtain dates/resort/view will be quickly gobbled up within minutes of a cancellation, and never make it to the wait list. But that doesn't seem to be the case.

I really appreciate your insight on this process.

I have only been DVC for a few years but so far my waitlist experience has been good, I have gotten nearly everything I have asked for. Right now the only thing I am waiting for is this: we are staying at Boardwalk for 5 nights in mid December in a Studio and I have a Garden/Pool view. I am waitlisted for the same resort, same nights, same room type but with a Boardwalk view. It is even the exact same amount of points.

I always thought that someone would have to cancel all 5 nights for me to get that but I now see the nights can come from several cancellations as long as they are all available at the time the batch is run. So it gives me some hope at least. From what I can tell the Garden/Pool view could be pretty nice so we will be happy even if we don't get the Boardwalk view but I would still like to have it come through if possible.

 

[journ116]

I had this happen to me about a month ago:

I waitlisted a studio at Boardwalk-standard view for 4 nights. Randomly, I was checking to see if ANY of the nights had opened up and low & behold the entire reservation was available!

For fear of losing my current reservation (because I didn't have enough points to keep my current ressie and book BWV), I called DVC directly. As we spoke, the rooms "disappeared" in a matter of seconds. I'm assuming other people got their waitlist.

I was surprised to even see those rooms available (even it was for a matter of minutes)!

FYI: I'm still on the waitlist for a studio at BWV!

 

[tecowdw]

I had wait listed a room at BLT for December. It was for only two nights because we already booked the other nights of our trip but at the time we booked the final two nights were not available. Anyway today I checked and my room is still showing as wait listed BUT when I searched for rooms they came up as available! So I booked it and afterwards I canceled my wait listed room.

So I was wondering how could this have happened? I thought they would try to fill any wait list requests before they became available on line.

Before anyone asks I assure you it was the exact same resort, dates, room type and view, I triple checked.

Does anyone have any insight into this?

I've had a wait list to add a night to my existing Kidani reservation (my home resort). It's been active for several weeks now. After reading this thread this evening, I thought I might check on line availability for that single date. What do you know - it was available!! My wait list didn't fulfill itself yet.


Fortunately I had enough points to book that day and cancel the wait list. This is just so frustrating though. Especially since I only needed one day and I'm still 6 months out. I can understand the batch processing but it seems it could be done a bit more fairly. Perhaps, not allowing the new availability to show up for booking until AFTER the next wait list batch processing. That way the wait list could have a priority over new reservations. Even deeper, home resort wait list could be given priority over non-home resort wait lists <7 months.
Seems fair to me that way!

 

[tjkraz]

I can understand the batch processing but it seems it could be done a bit more fairly. Perhaps, not allowing the new availability to show up for booking until AFTER the next wait list batch processing.

If they did that, you'd have a large number of rooms with no wait list requests caught up in this queue and unavailable to members.

Let's assume you want to book 5 nights at BLT. Three are available. The other two are showing unavailable but only because they are caught in this temporary wait list queue. There is no wait list match for those two nights, but they are still stuck in this "might be a wait list match" temporary queue. As a result, you aren't seeing adequate availability for the nights you are seeking.

You COULD wait list and ultimately get those nights. However, we all know that members don't wait list for every single preferred destination. The limit of 2 active wait lists restricts flexibility and many members would prefer to go with the sure thing rather than rolling the dice on a wait list.

There's never going to be a perfect system. Understanding how the system works and doing what's best to maximize your chances is always the best formula for success.

 

[tecowdw]

If they did that, you'd have a large number of rooms with no wait list requests caught up in this queue and unavailable to members.

Let's assume you want to book 5 nights at BLT. Three are available. The other two are showing unavailable but only because they are caught in this temporary wait list queue. There is no wait list match for those two nights, but they are still stuck in this "might be a wait list match" temporary queue. As a result, you aren't seeing adequate availability for the nights you are seeking.

You COULD wait list and ultimately get those nights. However, we all know that members don't wait list for every single preferred destination. The limit of 2 active wait lists restricts flexibility and many members would prefer to go with the sure thing rather than rolling the dice on a wait list.

There's never going to be a perfect system. Understanding how the system works and doing what's best to maximize your chances is always the best formula for success.

I aree there is probabaly no perfect system. I just know when I need only one night and I can see it's avialable, I beleive it should be filled! Or at least let me click a button to have my waitlist checked immedietly! I'd at least feel better about the process.

 

[SBL]

Hi-- I have been all over the DVC site and can't seem to find the info where they list the room available? I currently have two reservations and am willing to cancel them if I can be assured that I can get my rooms in the resort that I want (BWV, Beach Club of BLT) for 5-7 consecutive days from December 1-12. The problem is that I have to release my reservations (which I'm now trying to sell bc I can't use them, but they are very premium rooms) to get on a waitlist, and I do not want to borrow points from 2013.

Any help is much appreciated!!

 

[tecowdw]

You need to be logged into your personal account on the DVC Member website.
https://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/register/guestLogin?id=GuestLoginPage

From there, you can click on the "Vacation Center" link on the right. Once you are there, you will be presented with your vacation information overview. You can review existing reservations, completed reservations and all your waitlist activity.

To check room availability, you must begin a new reservation using the "Book Now" link on the left. Once your dates and guest information is entered, you will be presented with the room availability. The only caveat is that you must have the points available, either current use year or next use year, in order to see the availability.

You can even manage your waitlists via the Vacation Center. Sadly, you can't "force" a waitlist to fulfill if you see the room available. If you did see it, you would have to book the room separately, cancel the waitlist and then have Member Services combine the reservations into one.

 

[new to disney timeshare]

What website were you checking? I don't know if this can happen at BLT but I know at the other DVC resorts if you check online later but not through DVC rooms may show up because if a DVC member uses their points for something else and BLT is their home resort Disney has to open up a room that is the value of points that member used to the general public in order to make their money for what the DVC member traded. If the room was showing up on the general public buying website that is the most logical reason. This is why even though a resort may not be at 100 percent you can't always use your DVC points at them. So maybe someone at BLT traded their points for a Disney Cruise or something similar and Disney released that room you want to the general public to make their money from the Cruise they just let a DVC member trade their points for.

 

[new to disney timeshare]

I have just started reading through some of these posts to see if there are some unwritten rules to this reservation game. I call it a game as i really am starting to believe you are going to stay where DVC says you are going to stay. I am a brand new member having just paid $26K for my units and then a month later getting a bill for another thousand dollars for maintenance. I have just tried multiple times to use my points by trying to book on line, only to get waitlisted each time. Multiply requests, different dates, different resorts and waitlisted each and every time. How is this possible? The funny part is I could stay at Saratoga Springs each and every time but no where else. I am not talking about 3 or 4 requests in prime times, i am talking like 20 in times that show in the book to be the slowest, i.e. lowest point cost. I have gotten on the phone with member services and they have been no help what so ever, in fact even transfering me to member services saying i could sell my units, esentially hanging up on me by transfering me to a unanswered line. i havent even had a chance to use any of my units and they are happy to help me sell them.

i have gone to disney resorts probably 40 times or more over the years, i have been a great customer and spent a lot of money down there. i thought DVC would be a nice thing for my kids to have. i was wrong. i was shocked at the attitudes and complete lack of help in getting bookings from DVC. It is almost impossible to use these units without doing multiple bookings nine months in advance. That wasnt what we were sold and frankly i am pretty unhappy about it. What did i do wrong? i didnt pay all this money to be treated like they are doing my a favor by letting me stay at a resort i have no interest in staying at. The hotels are all slow during the times i am trying to book the timeshares, no problems getting in anywhere if i want to pay for the room. Not all the timeshares can possibly be entirely full each and every time i ask for. i take that back, there was one night available for one of the multiple periods i requested. impossible.

i am just totally disallusioned with how i have been treated versus how nice they were when i bought the units. Has anyone experienced anything this bad? is there any secret handshake that i need to know. I am so upset and unhappy about this. i really feel taken.

 

[journ116]

I have just started reading through some of these posts to see if there are some unwritten rules to this reservation game. I call it a game as i really am starting to believe you are going to stay where DVC says you are going to stay. I am a brand new member having just paid $26K for my units and then a month later getting a bill for another thousand dollars for maintenance. I have just tried multiple times to use my points by trying to book on line, only to get waitlisted each time. Multiply requests, different dates, different resorts and waitlisted each and every time. How is this possible? The funny part is I could stay at Saratoga Springs each and every time but no where else. I am not talking about 3 or 4 requests in prime times, i am talking like 20 in times that show in the book to be the slowest, i.e. lowest point cost. I have gotten on the phone with member services and they have been no help what so ever, in fact even transfering me to member services saying i could sell my units, esentially hanging up on me by transfering me to a unanswered line. i havent even had a chance to use any of my units and they are happy to help me sell them.

i have gone to disney resorts probably 40 times or more over the years, i have been a great customer and spent a lot of money down there. i thought DVC would be a nice thing for my kids to have. i was wrong. i was shocked at the attitudes and complete lack of help in getting bookings from DVC. It is almost impossible to use these units without doing multiple bookings nine months in advance. That wasnt what we were sold and frankly i am pretty unhappy about it. What did i do wrong? i didnt pay all this money to be treated like they are doing my a favor by letting me stay at a resort i have no interest in staying at. The hotels are all slow during the times i am trying to book the timeshares, no problems getting in anywhere if i want to pay for the room. Not all the timeshares can possibly be entirely full each and every time i ask for. i take that back, there was one night available for one of the multiple periods i requested. impossible.

i am just totally disallusioned with how i have been treated versus how nice they were when i bought the units. Has anyone experienced anything this bad? is there any secret handshake that i need to know. I am so upset and unhappy about this. i really feel taken.

I have to agree: my husband and I had stars in our eyes when we purchased the minimum points at AKKV 4 years ago, thinking we could actually stay at any DVC property on points at the drop of a hat...we'd have better luck winning the lottery. However, to be fair to our sales rep, he did tell us that once our 11 month booking window opened up, get on the phone and book (or the 7 month window at the other resorts)!

We try to stay during what is considered "off-season" and plan our vacations months in advance, because DVC is not conducive to last-minute planning. I feel DVC membership is "a planners" plan (which I am). Ah well, at least we've gotten our monies worth since joining! The thought of paying $500+/night for a 2-bedroom at a Disney Villa is nauseating...but "spending" 32 points for that night is not (mental game).

I am sorry that you haven't had a great experience so far...but you wouldn't have joined if there wasn't an inkling of delight in the thought of being a DVC member and using those points to stay in deluxe villas or taking a guided adventure to somewhere tropical. If the customer service continues to be poor, ask to speak to a manager or some "higher-up" and express your concerns; or politely excuse yourself and call back to speak to another rep.

For example, a month ago I called to modify my upcoming resort reservation (it was impossible to do online), and got a not-so-knowledgeable-very-hard-to-understand rep. About 3 minutes into the conversation I said, "I'm sorry, I forgot how to pronounce your name [rep repeats it 2 x's]...Well, I'm going to look over some dates and talk to my husband. I do thank you for your time [insert name]." I immediately called back and got a much more helpful rep to which I respond, "Thank you [insert name], you have been much more helpful than the rep I had 5 minutes ago." If they ask for a name, I'm prepared (it also helps that I know the rules of booking).

I sincerely hope that you have a better experience when booking your next vacation!!

 

[LuvtheGoof]

The only caveat is that you must have the points available, either current use year or next use year, in order to see the availability.

This simply is not true. I only have a few points left for 2013 (already made my ressies), yet I can go and look for availability at my home resort at 11 months, and all of the rest at 7. I just looked a few minutes ago, and had no problem using the on-line reservation system to check availabilty for multiple rooms.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I have just started reading through some of these posts to see if there are some unwritten rules to this reservation game. I call it a game as i really am starting to believe you are going to stay where DVC says you are going to stay. I am a brand new member having just paid $26K for my units and then a month later getting a bill for another thousand dollars for maintenance. I have just tried multiple times to use my points by trying to book on line, only to get waitlisted each time. Multiply requests, different dates, different resorts and waitlisted each and every time. How is this possible? The funny part is I could stay at Saratoga Springs each and every time but no where else. I am not talking about 3 or 4 requests in prime times, i am talking like 20 in times that show in the book to be the slowest, i.e. lowest point cost. I have gotten on the phone with member services and they have been no help what so ever, in fact even transfering me to member services saying i could sell my units, esentially hanging up on me by transfering me to a unanswered line. i havent even had a chance to use any of my units and they are happy to help me sell them.

i have gone to disney resorts probably 40 times or more over the years, i have been a great customer and spent a lot of money down there. i thought DVC would be a nice thing for my kids to have. i was wrong. i was shocked at the attitudes and complete lack of help in getting bookings from DVC. It is almost impossible to use these units without doing multiple bookings nine months in advance. That wasnt what we were sold and frankly i am pretty unhappy about it. What did i do wrong? i didnt pay all this money to be treated like they are doing my a favor by letting me stay at a resort i have no interest in staying at. The hotels are all slow during the times i am trying to book the timeshares, no problems getting in anywhere if i want to pay for the room. Not all the timeshares can possibly be entirely full each and every time i ask for. i take that back, there was one night available for one of the multiple periods i requested. impossible.

i am just totally disallusioned with how i have been treated versus how nice they were when i bought the units. Has anyone experienced anything this bad? is there any secret handshake that i need to know. I am so upset and unhappy about this. i really feel taken.

A few questions for you. What is your home resort? Have you tried booking between the 11 month and 7 month window at that resort? What dates are you looking to book, and at which resort? When you say "units" are you referring to the points that you receive each year?

You made a statement that you might be trying to book during the "lowest point cost" time. This is usually in early December, and members fill up these dates in a hurry at the 11 month window, because it is a VERY popular time to go. Crowds are lower at WDW, and the points cost less, so the rooms fill up quickly. If you are just now trying to reserve a room for that time, then yes, SSR may be your only choice, and not for much longer, as it will get close to capacity then as well. The hotels show plenty of rooms, since it is a slower time for them.

The DVC resorts are designed to be at close to 100% occupancy all year, so the 11 month window is very important for booking the busier times. I am sorry that your DVC sales rep didn't seem to explain this better during the presentation. DVC is not geared towards people taking last minute vacations. We plan ours out at least a year or more in advance, and book the day the window opens. We have always gotten the resort we want, since we know that certain resorts will already be full before we get to book (think Beach Club or Boardwalk during Food & Wine, if you don't own there, chances are you won't get to stay there at that time).

I hope you do not think that I am picking on you. Lots of people come here after buying, and find out that they missed certain crucial pieces of information that may have helped in their decision to buy or not. The DVC sales reps are not perfect, but I have not heard of one intentionally misleading someone to make a sale. I hope yours didn't. Good luck!

 

[WWWD]

Remember, with DVC becoming more popular, it's important to buy where you want to stay. Don't expect to buy a cheap contract at SSR and never stay there. We bought resale at BC because we love the resort and only have to "compete" with BC owners until the 7 month window - gives us more time to narrow down a vacation date if needed.