Wait list for Thanksgiving

[ANG]

7 month booking window opened for us this morning (Thanksgiving trip). WL, BWV, BC, AKL, and BLT are all full! I know it's a popular time but darn are we bummed. We just purchased more points so we couldn't have booked at our home (BLT) before now. We had to settle with OKW.

We are on the wait list for almost all if them. Anyone have positive stories about the wait lists?

[Christine]

Bummer! I've had success with a 4th of July wait list VERY close to the date (when ppl give up their reservation before penalty) but thanksgiving week may be tricky.
ill keep my fingers crossed!

[Priority Four]

I actually had a waitlist come through one day in advance at Christmas. We were already on the road. Your chances are probably pretty good.

[faline]

We once had to "settle" for Old Key West when we were hoping to get into either Boardwalk or the Beach Club. We were very glad we ended up at Old Key - it was the perfect spot for our group of four adults and one active little boy.

That said, you still have the possibilities of having a wait list come through. On our last trip, we wanted to check out Grand Floridian but it was not available and neither was Bay Lake tower which would have been our second choice. We booked a Animal Kingdom Kidani Village. When Bay Lake Tower came through, we came the wait list for the Grand Floridian open and that came through a short while later.

[HiHoKermitTheFrogHere]

When you say those villa locations are all booked, do you mean that they are entirely booked, or only the room type you requested (i.e., one bedroom)? If the latter, you might consider checking availability of a larger room type. The smaller rooms tend to book faster. If one is available, it would be more points, but if you have them (and you mentioned that you just bought more points), maybe you are willing to use more points on a larger room to get the location you'd prefer.

During Thanksgiving week 2013, we stayed in one of the four grand villas at BWV. My wife booked it right at the 11-month window, but if I recall correctly, the grand villas and the two-bedroom villas didn't book up immediately like the studios and one-bedroom villas. (We had 10 people; thus, the grand villa. I'm sure you don't need a space that big nor do you want to use that many points. But perhaps a two-bedroom villa is an option, if available?) I don't want to get your hopes up, but just thinking outside the box.

[VWL Mom]

I do hope your favorite waitlists come through but I wouldn't feel bad about OKW. Like Faline, we "settled" for OKW in August and would not hesitate to stay there again. The one bedroom was quite large and the views overlooking the golf course were lovely.

[Basket Mommy]

I actually had a waitlist come through one day in advance at Christmas. We were already on the road. Your chances are probably pretty good.

How is that possible? The only choices I've been given for waitlists to close are 31 days before your arrival or 7 days before. I didn't think they approved waitlists past 7 days before your arrival.


We once had to "settle" for Old Key West when we were hoping to get into either Boardwalk or the Beach Club. but it was not available and neither was Bay La

We went to Disney World right before T'giving 2014 (checked out the day before and went to our home resort on HHI for Thanksgiving.) We had booked a 2 BR at SSR but waitlisted the 3 BR at OKW, which we ended up getting about 2 weeks after booking SSR in June. We loved OKW (our first time there) and found the 3 BR to be way more room than our family of 6 needed (2 adults, 4 kids aged 17, 14, 12 and 10). We like the resorts that have separate buildings so you can park right in front of your room. The bus stop was super convenient, too. I'd not hesitate to stay at OKW again. In fact, I just booked another pre-Thanksgiving trip yesterday and tried to get either a 2 or 3 BR at OKW again and neither were available. I ended up getting a 2 BR at Kidani and did 2 waitlists - one for VGF and the other for BLT. Crossing my fingers.

[ANG]

When you say those villa locations are all booked, do you mean that they are entirely booked, or only the room type you requested (i.e., one bedroom)? If the latter, you might consider checking availability of a larger room type. The smaller rooms tend to book faster. If one is available, it would be more points, but if you have them (and you mentioned that you just bought more points), maybe you are willing to use more points on a larger room to get the location you'd prefer.

During Thanksgiving week 2013, we stayed in one of the four grand villas at BWV. My wife booked it right at the 11-month window, but if I recall correctly, the grand villas and the two-bedroom villas didn't book up immediately like the studios and one-bedroom villas. (We had 10 people; thus, the grand villa. I'm sure you don't need a space that big nor do you want to use that many points. But perhaps a two-bedroom villa is an option, if available?) I don't want to get your hopes up, but just thinking outside the box.

We have booked a 1 and 2 bedroom.

[HiHoKermitTheFrogHere]

We have booked a 1 and 2 bedroom.

Maybe check availability of a grand villa at BWV? I think that sleeps the same number of people as a 1- and 2-bedroom combined, right? Maybe it isn't available at this point, but it can't hurt to check.

[Priority Four]

How is that possible? The only choices I've been given for waitlists to close are 31 days before your arrival or 7 days before. I didn't think they approved waitlists past 7 days before your arrival.

That's right! I remembered that wrong. The waitlist expired and we just kept calling for a ressie the last week. We were driving from Texas and I called in the morning one day before our check from Mississippi in and a studio had opened up.

[Checkers]

Good luck with your wait lists. As already mentioned, OKW is a beautiful resort (one of our "homes") and I don't think you will be disappointed if the wl doesn't come through.:mickey: