Be ready to book exactly at 8:00am, any availability remaining at 7 months at the VGC disappears literally in seconds.
I have to strongly agree with this. Having stayed at Grand Californian and booked at Grand Californian on multiple days, I can tell you that I have been online and watched most of the inventory disappear instantaneously. It is there for a few seconds, and then it is gone.
If it is important to you, try dry running it by signing on and going through the motions in advance, for several mornings, at exactly 8 AM Eastern time. In fact, your ONLY chance is usually to be already signed on, at the search page, and clicking the REFRESH page button right at the moment that the clock ticks over. To make it worse, I have HEARD that sometimes the computer will turn on the access a few minutes early. When that happens, only the people signed on and actively doing it will have a chance.
Grand Californian only has about 75 units, total, spread across the different categories. That is about 2 three-bedroom suites, 24 two-bedroom villas, 24 one-bedroom villas and 24 studios. If you get a "lock-off" unit, you are actually taking one of the one-bedroom units AND one of the studios.
In my experience, you are most likely to be successful if you go straight for a standard two-bedroom unit. And the studios go the fastest.
If you fail, IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO WAITLIST IMMEDIATELY! RIGHT THEN! Some people who are booked WILL change their minds and drop it. Waitlisting immediately puts you on the very top of that list. And it is something that a lot of people don't think of. They just get disappointed and 'go home.' Maybe they come back and wsitlist later. Getting at the top of the waitlist can be just as important as trying at the beginning. And, if you are on the very top, you are quite likely to eventually be successful.
IMMEDIATE WAITLISTING is probably one of the best tools that you can use when you are trying to make a reservation at any Resort that books out nearly instantaneously.
