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Yellowstone

geist1223

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Yea we went and planned a trip to WM West Yellowstone for 9/8-15/18. Got a 2 Bedroom and a 3 bedroom. It will be 4 years since our last trip to Yellowstone by the time of this trip. All 3 kids, 2 DILs, and 2 granddaughters. Last time we were by ourselves.
 

NHpauls

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Geist: did you do an on-going search to get the WMark? Or do your own constant searching?
 

geist1223

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I did my own search 13 months in advance to the day. I set up the search under saved searches the night before. Then I signed on at 5:59am. At 6am I hit Book it. This got me my 3 bedroom unit. Then all the 2 bedrooms were gone. So that night I set up a 2 Bedroom saved search. The next morning I again signed on at 5:59am and hit Book it at 6am and got my 2 bedroom but off by a day. So I then put in 2 Wait List Requests. One for a week to match my 3 bedroom dates and 1 for 1 day to match my 3 bedroom dates. Then next day I got an email that my 1 day Wait List was available. So I called and added the start date to my 2 bedroom reservation to match my 3 bedroom request and dropped off the last day of my 2 bedroom reservation. So I ended up with a 2 Bedroom and a 3 bedroom reservations for the same 7 days. You can do a less that a 7 day Wait List Request at 13 months when there are no units of the type you want at 13 months minus a day.
 

exyeh

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"You can do a less that a 7 day Wait List Request at 13 months when there are no units of the type you want at 13 months minus a day."
geist1223, my experience is different. when I asked for a waitlist with less then 7 days (say 4-7 days), the system won't let me. Is there a specific circumstance it will work?
 

Passepartout

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I did my own search 13 months in advance to the day. I set up the search under saved searches the night before. Then I signed on at 5:59am. At 6am I hit Book it. This got me my 3 bedroom unit. Then all the 2 bedrooms were gone. So that night I set up a 2 Bedroom saved search. The next morning I again signed on at 5:59am and hit Book it at 6am and got my 2 bedroom but off by a day. So I then put in 2 Wait List Requests. One for a week to match my 3 bedroom dates and 1 for 1 day to match my 3 bedroom dates. Then next day I got an email that my 1 day Wait List was available. So I called and added the start date to my 2 bedroom reservation to match my 3 bedroom request and dropped off the last day of my 2 bedroom reservation. So I ended up with a 2 Bedroom and a 3 bedroom reservations for the same 7 days. You can do a less that a 7 day Wait List Request at 13 months when there are no units of the type you want at 13 months minus a day.
This should be reposted to all newbies who want/need specific sizes/seasons in hard-to-book resorts or areas. It ain't as easy as picking up the phone and making a reservation. PLANNING is the key. There is a learning curve to getting what you want.

Jim
 

geist1223

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When I asked to do the 1 day Wait List the VPC Counselor said I could not do it until the 10 month Booking Window. I asked to speak to a Supervisor. I explained to the Supervisor what I wanted to do. The Supervisor checked and verified there were no 2 Bedrooms available for the date I wanted. This entitled me to do the Wait List for 1 day.
 

geist1223

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When I first called VPC the Counselor said I could not do a 1 day Wait List until the 10 month Booking Window. I asked to speak to a Supervisor. I explained to the Supervisor what I wanted to do. The Supervisor verified there were no 2 bedroom units available for the time period in question. This entitled me to do the 1 day Wait List even though it was 13 months minus 1 day.

The no cost WM Wait List is a fantastic tool that a person needs to learn how to use. An Account can have up to 4 Wait List Requests pending at any given time. The Wait List Request can be very specific - a certain day or days, in a named Resort, in a certain sized Unit. Or it can be more general - 1 to "X" days, in a 1 bedroom or larger, on Maui, during "Y" month. With 8 weeks notice by using the Wait List I was able to put together a week at Kihei in a 3 bedroom Condo. The days kind of dribbled in until I had 7 consecutive days.
 

geist1223

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"You can do a less that a 7 day Wait List Request at 13 months when there are no units of the type you want at 13 months minus a day."
geist1223, my experience is different. when I asked for a waitlist with less then 7 days (say 4-7 days), the system won't let me. Is there a specific circumstance it will work?

The day or days can not be available. So if you are looking for 4 days and 1 or 2 are available you have to book those 1 or 2 days and then Wait List the remaining days. Also I do not try and do this with the Online Wait List System but by calling in to the VPC and many times a Supervisor has to get involved.
 

WinniWoman

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I did it the easy way. I rented from another owner for the exact dates I wanted. Easy Peasy.
 

geist1223

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I did it the easy way. I rented from another owner for the exact dates I wanted. Easy Peasy.

But the original owner had to be able to get the Reservation in order to rent to you. Almost all of the Rentals are by Megarenters that through a variety of tricks using multiple Accounts monopolize West Yellowstone to the detriment of all other WM Owners. This is especially true for the 2 and 3 bedroom units during the summer. The WM BOD has enacted several rule changes to try and slow down the Megarenters. These include changes in # of Wait List per owner (from 8 to 4), Group Reservations, limitations on transfer of Points among Owners (2X your Account size In/Out), and no Transfer of Housekeeping Credits. While we object to most of these changes (never rented in or out Points and never rented out a Reservation I have made) as restrictions on our free use of what we purchased the Membership and BOD is still waiting to see if any of these changes slow down the Megarenters.
 

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I especially oppose this rule "no Transfer of Housekeeping Credits". This is just another way worldmark makes money on us. This transfer of token has nothing to do with the mega renters making money on worldmark accounts.
 

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But the original owner had to be able to get the Reservation in order to rent to you. Almost all of the Rentals are by Megarenters that through a variety of tricks using multiple Accounts monopolize West Yellowstone to the detriment of all other WM Owners. This is especially true for the 2 and 3 bedroom units during the summer. The WM BOD has enacted several rule changes to try and slow down the Megarenters. These include changes in # of Wait List per owner (from 8 to 4), Group Reservations, limitations on transfer of Points among Owners (2X your Account size In/Out), and no Transfer of Housekeeping Credits. While we object to most of these changes (never rented in or out Points and never rented out a Reservation I have made) as restrictions on our free use of what we purchased the Membership and BOD is still waiting to see if any of these changes slow down the Megarenters.


I rented in September, but this was a number of years ago- like 2011. I do not believe she is a "mega renter"- just a Worldmark owner who lives in Montana and has a lot of points and does rent out some of them each year. I called her a year ahead of time because I know how timeshares and exchanging work- so she could book it. I looked on Redweek and saw her ad. I didn't pay any housekeeping charges. We did have to pay for internet. There is always the option of renting directly from the resort itself, which is what we did this past June in Colorado. Yeah- it was expensive but still worth it.
 

WinniWoman

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But the original owner had to be able to get the Reservation in order to rent to you. Almost all of the Rentals are by Megarenters that through a variety of tricks using multiple Accounts monopolize West Yellowstone to the detriment of all other WM Owners. This is especially true for the 2 and 3 bedroom units during the summer. The WM BOD has enacted several rule changes to try and slow down the Megarenters. These include changes in # of Wait List per owner (from 8 to 4), Group Reservations, limitations on transfer of Points among Owners (2X your Account size In/Out), and no Transfer of Housekeeping Credits. While we object to most of these changes (never rented in or out Points and never rented out a Reservation I have made) as restrictions on our free use of what we purchased the Membership and BOD is still waiting to see if any of these changes slow down the Megarenters.


I rented in September, but this was a number of years ago- like 2011. I do not believe she is a "mega renter"- just a Worldmark owner who lives in Montana and has a lot of points and does rent out some of them each year. I called her a year ahead of time because I know how timeshares and exchanging work- so she could book it. I looked on Redweek and saw her ad. I didn't pay any housekeeping charges. We did have to pay for internet. There is always the option of renting directly from the resort itself, which is what we did this past June in Colorado. Yeah- it was expensive but still worth it.
 

carl2591

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Yellowstone is a destination we have in mind when we hit the road full-time RV in 2.5 yrs. My MIL work there in the reservations in the Mammoth office and while the job was so so she loved the park. This was 7years ago and she did that twice and Glacier once after she retired at age 62 from Local government in NC.

I hear folks say all the time they do a place and don't go back.. what a loss as most the the NP's are HUGH and in a month you can only really see a 1/10 of the park. We plan to RV and timeshare along the way taking advantage of last min, extra vacations and using TPU's from unit we own in Surfside Beach SC which affords some 63 points per year.

Guess we need to hurry as Yellowstone if the top of a huge volcano that is slated to go off in the next year or 10,000 years.. LOL

Looking forward to Beartooth and chief Joseph drives.. they look amazing for sure.

thanks for your update and glad you had a nice time.
 

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Carl, your RV plans sound great! Especially the part about taking the time to really explore the parks vs. just driving through. That's the beauty of retirement--you can actually take the time to really see the parks if you want to.
 

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I hear folks say all the time they do a place and don't go back.. what a loss as most the the NP's are HUGH and in a month you can only really see a 1/10 of the park.


I've been to Yellowstone many times - easily more than a dozen since the early '70s. One year we stayed in an RV Park near Hebgen Lake, just north of West Yellowstone, for three weeks. We drove our Jeep into the Park every day, all day, and explored *everywhere*. We still didn't see it all. To do a "one and done" on any location, especially as big a place as Yellowstone, is doing a great disservice to that location.

On the other hand, if the travel list is a mile long and not enough time to see everything, well, choices have to be made. So rather than saying one visit is enough, I'd just cycle the list and add that location back in at the end, and let it perk up to the top again. It could take awhile, but would be better than never going back.

Dave
 

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While the giant crowds of summer and difficulty in parking at the major attractions is a bit off-putting to me, an unforgettable experience is Yellowstone in Winter. The thermal features are still active, the elk, bison, wolves and other wildlife are active and near the water and roads. You have to go with organized groups and the numbers of snowmobiles are limited each day. The machine rental comes with full suits, boots, helmets (warm) and a guide. Yellowstone in Winter is a special place.

Jim
 

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You have to go with organized groups and the numbers of snowmobiles are limited each day. The machine rental comes with full suits, boots, helmets (warm) and a guide. Yellowstone in Winter is a special place.

Jim

You don’t have to go via snowmobile. You have at least two other options. From the north in the winter, you can drive to Mammoth Hot Springs and stay at the Mammoth Hotel and explore from there. They kept the road to Cook’s City, MT open during the winter, a very interesting drive. You can also take various snowcoach tours, snowshoe, cross country ski, etc.. From the south you can take a snowcoach to Old Faithful and stay at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Lots of exploring and activities available from here too.
 

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You don’t have to go via snowmobile. You have at least two other options. From the north in the winter, you can drive to Mammoth Hot Springs and stay at the Mammoth Hotel and explore from there. They kept the road to Cook’s City, MT open during the winter, a very interesting drive. You can also take various snowcoach tours, snowshoe, cross country ski, etc.. From the south you can take a snowcoach to Old Faithful and stay at the Old Faithful Snow Lodge. Lots of exploring and activities available from here too.
Yes, I've done Yellowstone in Winter both ways. I just happen to prefer driving my own sled to riding in a track equipped van. Personal preference.
 

Timeshare Von

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I highly recommend the cross country road trip. I'm doing my third from Wisconsin to Yellowstone in about a week.

AND . . . I just returned from my FOURTH road trip to Yellowstone. I have a new found respect and appreciation for West Yellowstone, since I found it to be conveniently located to the west side of the park . . . especially the thermal features like Norris & Old Faithful (which is where I was actually staying).

I also did an overnight at the KOA in Cody (my second visit there). As always, a very nice RV/camping location that provides the perfect launch into the park!

I'll be writing more of a trip report as a separate topic shortly.
 
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