Disney Vacation Club Waitlist | How the DVC Waitlist Works, Rules, & My Experience

[@PixieDustPhD]

Do you have any experience with the waitlist? Let me know! And spoiler alert for a future video -- I actually have TWO experiences with the waitlist now, so can double my anecdotal data power haha. If you have any DVC questions, as always, leave me a comment and I'll try to help out!

[@johnaesposito1737]

My points loaded today and today is my BIRTHDAY! Happy Birthday to Me!!! 🥳 🎂 🎉 🎈

[@PixieDustPhD]

@@johnaesposito1737 Oh my gosh I wish I could hit that "heart" button more. First, yayayay happy birthday! Second, FINALLY WOO! What an amazing gift. You'll have to keep me posted with what you decide to do with your points!!!

[@audreydoi485]

Love your quilt!

[@PixieDustPhD]

Ah thanks! It's over ten years old now and starting to have rips I can't repair which is a huge bummer, but it's gotten a lot of love over the years :)

[@AnaheimParkTourist]

You have the best DVC info and most thorough information that I have seen. Great video.

[@PixieDustPhD]

Aw thanks so much for watching, commenting, and the kind words!!! I try to be thorough haha. One of my least favorite parts of most DVC content is I feel like details I want to know are often missing... hoping to fill that knowledge gap for folks!

[@sassyetc]

DH and I became DVC members this week! We bought direct at RIV and couldn’t be happier to join the “club.” I’ve added a waitlist to one reservation & this clarified a lot! Thank you. Also, love the captions. DH is hearing impaired and so I notice captions (I always have them on). I find many KZbinrs overlook the importance of captions for inclusivity. Any who, thank you!

[@PixieDustPhD]

Oh my gosh, congratulations! So thrilled for you both. Hopefully your waitlist comes through, too. I've had good luck, but I've hardly used it at all so it's a small sample size haha. Oh good I'm glad the corrected captions are useful! Accessibility is really important to me and the auto-generated captions are .... not great. Better than nothing but certainly not sufficient in my opinion. I am always so disheartened at how many content creators truly cannot be bothered to care, even when I ask them to update their captions for accuracy (and to add things like punctuation, which is almost never auto generated). Thanks for the kind words - it takes extra effort on my part but it's fully worth it!

[@dianamitchell7128]

Good stuff as always, Jacqueline!

[@PixieDustPhD]

Thanks for the kind words, Diana! It's always good to get your feedback =]

[@SantiagoCano1516]

Great video. Thanks for the info. I prefer doing the manual check and I have always beaten my waitlists. I think you have better chances of getting the room you want if you check daily 2 times a day. I know many people might not have the time to do the manual checks but in my experience it gives you better chances of getting the room.

[@PixieDustPhD]

Yeah I agree... I am definitely that way about advance dining reservations and FP+s. The ~5-10 minutes per check feels totally worth it to me once you get your dream vacation, haha. Thanks for watching and commenting to letting everyone know your strategy! Sounds like you've done very well with the manual checks, woohoo!

[@roserose45]

great work btw, really enjoyed this video!

[@PixieDustPhD]

Aw thanks for the kind words, rosy. I appreciate it!!

[@cgarcia8289]

Thanks again for this amazing video!!! I used your wait list tips and snagged a boardwalk reservation this fall for my 20th Wedding Anniversary. Keep up the great work Pixie Dust PHD

[@PixieDustPhD]

Ooohh so happy this info helped out and you snagged a great BoardWalk reservation for your anniversary! That sounds super magical. Thanks for the kind words =]

[@insighteats3571]

Such a timely video... considering waitlist 2 nights for GF grand villa w/th of a sun-Friday stay....

[@PixieDustPhD]

If you are okay with spending the points if your waitlist request comes through it certainly cant hurt to put the request in! Crossing my fingers for you.

[@JenandJoeontheGo]

I really enjoyed this vlog. It was really informative, so thank you. :) Jen xo

[@PixieDustPhD]

Hi Jen -- thanks so much for the kind words! I hope you are feeling the missing Disney blues too much after your trip.

[@linmagination]

I constantly see questions about waitlists on DVC Facebook groups! I really need to check the Facebook group rules in the ones I'm in about posting external links because I'd 100% refer your channel! You always do an excellent job breaking down DVC policies and procedures. I always tend to get nervous about setting up waitlists because I am a worrier, haha. Most of the time they come through, especially if they're short 1-2 night stays. I have gotten lucky with Disney Grand Californian waitlists coming through, but never for a Studio. I've accepted that I'll likely never stay in a Studio there :( lol

[@PixieDustPhD]

Aw wow, even if you can't post links thanks so much for thinking of that -- that means a lot to me! I, too, am quite the worrier. Waitlists are obviously not preferred but sometimes thats your only shred of hope for a resort hahah. Good to know about Grand CA! I see so many conflicting reports about that. I would love to be able to stay there someday but given how popular it is in the teeny tiny amount of inventory I kind of feel like it will never happen... definitely not in a studio, like you said. And a 1 bedroom is just so many dang points! One of my friends is tentatively rescheduling their wedding reception to be in OR next year. If that happens I am toying around with the idea of tacking on a quick trip to DL, in which I might waitlist myself for Grand CA studio. And assuming the waitlist doesnt work out I will just book a good neighbor hotel as backup. It would be so cool to snag a room there though!

[@lilliandonaldsonstaff7075]

Not so sure about accuracy of consecutive night wait lists. I've done that without an issue. For example I asked for one night at the BC, and overlapped with two nights and the two night (that overlapped the first one night) came through.

[@PixieDustPhD]

Thanks for sharing, Lillian! I think it sounds like the situation you are describing is different from what I intended to communicate. Apologies if it was confusing. If I am understanding you correctly it sounds like you had say a Monday wait list for Beach Club, then a separate wait list for both Monday and Tuesday at Beach Club. I never asked DVC Cast Members about overlap like this; but they have all made it clear to me breaking up a single reservation into multiple (with no overlap) isn't allowed (or well, the system may let you do it initially but if your wait lists come through a cast member may cancel the request). So that would be more like if you wanted Monday through Wednesday at Beach Club, and you have two waitlists: one for Monday, and one for Tuesday and Wednesday. Please let me know if I misunderstood your situation though! Honestly this is al such a black box, the more we share and clarify for everyone the better the system can work for us all!

[@hshm1984]

Great tips - thanks for sharing. I have a question regarding DVC Waitlist Caveat "You must have enough points in your account". Does that include borrowing from the next use year? In my case, I have 52 points in 2021 and 100 points for 2022. The waitlist booking requires 86 points. Will the DVC cast member book it for me by automatically borrowing from 2022, or do I need to call them beforehand?

[@PixieDustPhD]

Hi there! Great question. So if you have points eligible to be borrowed when you go to add yourself on the waitlist there is a checkbox/drop down menu where you can authorize Cast Members to borrow those points on your behalf (and you can specify from which home resort contract, if you have multiple). You can see the actual interface for adding yourself to the waitlist starting around 9:44 in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/i5ScZ4idhql5fqc In your case, it looks like as long as you do authorize the cast member to borrow your vacation points you should be a-okay if your waitlist request comes through!!

[@katecollins5111]

This was a very helpful video. Thank you. Was curious, if a reservation got opened but was say 10 days long and I had a wait list that was seven would they give me the seven days and then release the extra days or does it have to be an exact match 10 days long and I had a wait list that was seven would they give me the seven days and then release the extra days or does it have to be an exact match ... 🤔

[@PixieDustPhD]

Oh that's an interesting question and to be honest I am not 100% sure. But I will tell you what I do know and caveat anything I'm less certain about. So FOR SURE they prioritize 100% matches. Meaning if someone had a 10 day reservation that they canceled and there was anyone in "line" via the wait list for 10 days that are those exact days that person (or those people) in that line would go first, in the order that they joined the waitlist (over you with 7 days, even if you joined the wait list before the 10 day people). Now here's where I'm less certain / this is not a 100% verified fact with DVC cast members: if no one is in that line for the 10 day reservation I honestly don't know if they would then look at people on the wait list for 9 days during that time period, then 8 days, then 7 days, etc. My hunch says... no? Like I think the reports that they are fed from the system are based on exact matches, so I would guess in the case where a 10 day was canceled and no one was on the 10 day wait list for those days that the inventory would just be released back for general booking on the website. Again, I'm not entirely certain. But the couple of DVC cast members I did speak to extensively about the wait list made the exact match seem quite important as that is what populated the report that they work with to then go ahead and do the bookings from the waitlist. Does that make sense? Let me know if it doesnt and I'll try to explain a different way. Sometimes I find communicating via comments to be a bit limiting (versus say talking in person ahah). I hope this helps!!

[@roserose45]

I've had both scenarios with waitlist. no emails or feedback then i call and they tell me waitlist is filled and they go ahead and add to my dashboard. 2. gets filled automatically

[@PixieDustPhD]

Oh wow! Thanks for sharing your experience. The waitlist situation can be so strange...! At least it sounds like you’ve mostly had good luck though!

[@DisneyMomma]

Brand new DVC member (resale BLT :) ). Got points 6 months out from 1 desired reservation and 8 months out from the other. Pieced together a 10 day split stay for 6 months out SS and AKL, working on BLT standard studio for 8 months out. My experience WL 1 nights to fill in gaps of what was available... they have not come through yet by stalking the DVC website I secured our reservation that is 6 months out and I am working on the reservation for BLT standard that is 8 months out. Hoping that I am able to grab the missing days for our BLT reservation when the 7 month switch occurs. Fingers crossed! I will stick to stalking though!

[@PixieDustPhD]

Oh my gosh, first congrats on your resale BLT contract Kristin!! That's awesome. So glad you have your points in time to snag up rooms for your two upcoming trips too. A split stay with SSR and AKL sounds awesome - I really enjoy AKL and think its a big underrated. And for the 8 months out one I definitely think you have a good shot at getting your desired room!! I noticed there was a lot of shuffling around of things starting just a few days prior to the 7 month mark, and for probably a couple weeks after that 7 month day hit. I think folks snag up what they can at 11 months as a "just in case", but then potentially hope to replace it with someone else at 7 months. (This is complete conjecture, of course I have no proof haha). Crossing my fingers for your BLT room for your later vacation. But yes double checking cant hurt. Good luck and keep me posted!!

[@johnaesposito1737]

If I really wanted the room I’d be doing manual checks definitely! Question, I probably just need to watch again to fully get it all, but did you say ... if you wanted a week and waitlisted a week and then checked and saw two days come available, could you book those two days but stay on the waitlist for the rest of the days and not lose your spot? (I guess this assumes you have points just sitting around available to both book with and to use for a wait list.) In any case, this is great content. So specific. Thanks!

[@PixieDustPhD]

Hi Johna! I didn’t address that exact scenario in this video but yeah I agree with you - if you had the points in your account you could book the days that became available and just leave your waitlist request be to keep your spot in line. The question becomes if you snag a few days do you wanna make a new waitlist request for the smaller amount of nights (that week minus the days you booked)? I do think shorter waitlist requests are more likely to come through, but losing your spot in line is also a risk. If you were still pretty far out from your trip I would probably make a new waitlist request for the lesser amount of nights personally, but that may honestly be something to call member services about and get some CM input! Thanks as always for providing your input, Johna! I’m always excited to see what you have to say 😄