# Am I the only one having issues with the new 2 waitlist policy?



## FLDVCFamily (Nov 6, 2009)

We recently had to bank DVC points for the first time ever.  We live a whopping 1.5 hour drive from Disney, so you can see why having the points to bank is odd.  Anyways, we found it impossible to get the 2 bedroom that we needed for Thanksgiving despite trying from a pretty early date (granted, not 11 months out, but early).  

I actually think that we would have gotten our 2 bedroom if we were still allowed to waitlist all of the resorts.  Being limited to 2 waitlists caused us to have to call frequently to see if there was anything available.  We grabbed 1 night at SSR but the other 2 nights never came up on the waitlist.  We banked the points right before our banking deadline and now we have no idea what we will do with them next year seeing as we can't seem to get what we need anymore.  Again, we never had this issue until they limited members to 2 active waitlists at any given time.  We're giving DVC one more year and then selling our points if we continue to have this problem.  Does anyone else really hate the new 2 waitlist thing?

FWIW, we just got the nights that we were looking for in a 2 bedroom at Bonnet Creek for a fraction of our yearly Wyndham points allottment  We may just sell DVC and buy more really cheap Wyndham resale contracts since BC is just as good if not better than DVC.  Between DVC switching over to RCI and putting out inventory for trade that I can't get as a member and then reducing us to 2 waitlists to boot I think we may give up and sell our DVC points.  I used to be such a DVC fan but I'm losing the love.


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## Carl D (Nov 7, 2009)

When you book a busy holiday you may very well need to book closer to the 11 month window. How far out did you try to book? SSR should not be a problem for any time of year if you book close to 11 months.

To your original question, no, I'm not a fan of the new waitlist protocol. I have never used it, but it looks like they screwed it up.  

Bottom line- Book early and there will be no need to be concerned about waitlists.


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## littlestar (Nov 7, 2009)

That's great that you were able to grab Bonnet Creek. We're supposed to stay there in May and I'm excited about comparing it to DVC. I guess if you like Bonnet Creek as well as DVC it would sure free up a lot of cash to just sell the DVC and buy Bonnet Creek instead.   When you say you got Bonnet Creek for a fraction of your yearly points, did you get a break on the points required for the Thanksgiving reservation by booking within 60 days of check-in? 

My SSR waitlists have always came through for me so far. I figure it's big enough that I've got a decent shot at it. *But *I haven't waitlisted a holiday week since the changeover to RCI or the change to the DVC waitlist. There does seem to be a lot more complaints from members not being able to book stays which is really quite sad.


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## Twinkstarr (Nov 7, 2009)

Carl D said:


> When you book a busy holiday you may very well need to book closer to the 11 month window. How far out did you try to book? SSR should not be a problem for any time of year if you book close to 11 months.
> 
> To your original question, no, I'm not a fan of the new waitlist protocol. I have never used it, but it looks like they screwed it up.
> 
> Bottom line- Book early and there will be no need to be concerned about waitlists.



I book SSR at the 11 month window for Thanksgiving and haven't had a problem with a 2br or a GV.
This will be our 4th Thanksgiving at SSR and haven't had a problem.

I've not used the new waitlist, though I might have to try it at 7 months for MLK weekend 2011 because I want a MK view 2br at BLT. But to better my chances I will be on the phone 9am on whatever date my 7 month window opens. 

I even get 2brs at VB(only 18 dedicated 2brs) for Easter with no problem, but I do call at 11 months.


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## FLDVCFamily (Nov 7, 2009)

littlestar said:


> That's great that you were able to grab Bonnet Creek. We're supposed to stay there in May and I'm excited about comparing it to DVC. I guess if you like Bonnet Creek as well as DVC it would sure free up a lot of cash to just sell the DVC and buy Bonnet Creek instead.   When you say you got Bonnet Creek for a fraction of your yearly points, did you get a break on the points required for the Thanksgiving reservation by booking within 60 days of check-in?
> 
> My SSR waitlists have always came through for me so far. I figure it's big enough that I've got a decent shot at it. *But *I haven't waitlisted a holiday week since the changeover to RCI or the change to the DVC waitlist. There does seem to be a lot more complaints from members not being able to book stays which is really quite sad.



We own 203K Wyndham points (bought resale for $700 on Ebay, LOL!).  We are definitely in the 60 day window for Thanksgiving but I'm not sure if it was reduced points or not.  Thanksgiving is already low season at Bonnet Creek, though.  Our 4 nights in a 2 bedroom at Thanksgiving only cost us 62,500 points and one of those nights was an "expensive" Friday night!

We're heavily considering selling DVC at this point.  The move to RCI, the limitation to 2 active waitlists and our sudden inability to book 2 bedrooms at 7 months have rendered DVC pretty useless to us.  I could rent the points out for a few years and hope that DVC becomes more member-friendly but I didn't buy the points to rent them out.  If it weren't for our love of Vero we would have sold our points already due to the aforementioned changes.  

FWIW, we did book our Thanksgiving trip at 11 months at Boardwalk but we booked a 1 bedroom.  Once our baby started needing to sleep separately from our older child, we discovered that we would need a 2 bedroom.  This happened at around 7 months out and yet our waitlists never came through.  I did manage to get that 1 night at SSR in a 2 bedroom but the other nights never came through.  We got Bonnet Creek for 4 nights in a 2 bedroom though so it's all good.  I hope that we have better luck with DVC next year.  If not, we're selling


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## Carl D (Nov 7, 2009)

I'm sure you will have better luck next year since you will know right at 11 months that you will need a 2br. Remember, reservations get exponentially more difficult at 7 months.


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## FLDVCFamily (Nov 7, 2009)

Carl D said:


> I'm sure you will have better luck next year since you will know right at 11 months that you will need a 2br. Remember, reservations get exponentially more difficult at 7 months.



I agree that we will probably get our 2 bedroom at 11 months.  I also think that we will remain limited to staying at Boardwalk as a result, since getting reservations a 7 months with such limited waitlisting is pretty tough in my experience.  

Also, we live locally and like to go on short notice.  I have noticed that that is getting more and more difficult too.  More often than not we've been ending up at Bonnet Creek lately.  We always really loved DVC, so I still hope that they return to their more user-friendly ways.


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## elaine (Nov 7, 2009)

*very tough for AKL*

since Jambo and Kidani are separate and there are diff. views, just WL one view for J and K takes 2 WL. Unlike OKW, VWL, SSR, etc. where you could say "any 1 BR"  you can't do that at AKV.


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## littlestar (Nov 7, 2009)

I'd say you'd definitely free up a lot of cash if you decide to sell the DVC points and use Wyndham Bonnet Creek instead for short notice trips. When we stay at Bonnet Creek in May, it will be interesting to compare Bonnet Creek with DVC. I've heard Bonnet Creek is a more dense resort, but I like the look of the lazy river pools and the location next to Carribean Beach. I wonder how close the new Waldorf and Hilton hotels are to Bonnet Creek? Have you stayed since those opened in early October? 

When we go to Bonnet Creek in May, I'm going to try using the shuttles and report back on how long the waits are and how the shuttle compares to Disney onsite. When we were at SSR last week I heard people griping about 40 minute waits for the Magic Kingdom on the Halloween party nights. We had to leave some people at the Springs bus stop because the bus was just too full. Our longest bus wait for any park was about 20 minutes, though, so we must have lucked out.


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