Last Minute Reservations

[Wislodgers]

We are going for our first DVC stay at the end of January. We may have to leave for Florida earlier than we thought(DH-Business). What I am wondering is if we end up in Orlando Fri instead of Sat, can I call MS a couple days before and see if there is any DVC availability? If not, I will see if we can get any kind of deal through Disney and pay cash.....I do not want to reserve a room for the Fri, because we will only know less than a week ahead of time if we will need the room!
A similar situation happened this summer and we got a good deal at AKL, savannah view room for $179. I had called 2 days before we were there. Any suggestions? Any luck with getting last minute rooms with DVC?

 

[rbuzzotta]

I have been in this same situtation as you. We fly on standby for free and often want to go to WDW at the last minute. It has worked out in some instances and not in others. This past summer I "gambled" and went on priceline.com and got a room at the Grosvenor for a Sat. night for $50. and that seemed to be above the rate most others have reported with Priceline.com.

The room was clean and since we only had to stay one night it was just fine. We saved the points and got an extra night on our trip. Also, when we checked into OKW the next day, it made me realize how lucky I am to have become a DVC member!!!!

Good luck and enjoy!

 

[Cinderelli]

We called a week out this past June and got a one bedroom at OKW for a few days the following week. More recently we had another WDW whim. Our kids had Friday, 10/19 off school, so first thing Thursday morning (10/18), I called MS to see if they had any availability for VWL for that night. They said come on over. We received a studio (which is what we wanted). I didn't even ask what other availability they had. They also told us that if we wanted to stay Friday night as well, we could. We decided to do that after arriving Thursday night.

As an aside, we loved the VWL. We can't wait to stay there again. It was absolutely beautiful. We own at OKW but would love to add points at VWL (when we win the lottery, ha!). The hallways were long, but my kids were enthralled by the thought of finding a hidden mickey. It made the walks enjoyable.

I think the in the off-season's you'll probably have more luck with the last minute reservations. Good luck to you!

 

[robinb]

If you don't mind staying off-site for that first night you can use Priceline. They even offer same-day bidding . Check out www.biddingfortravel.com for info on how best to bid.

 

[Wislodgers]

Thank-you for the responses! Our first choice will be to stay DVC, second choice will be to stay on-site, anywhere..... We stayed offsite for one night last summer, we got a military rate for Maingate Travelodge $29.00 a night it was O.K.(definitely not a Disney Resort!).......The next night we stayed at AKL all I can say is "WOW" what a beautiful resort! We can't wait until a January trip!!!!

 

[hoosiergirl]

We actually did that once--we were leaving OKW for home and my DH said, "Would you call and see if there is availability at HH for this evening? We'll take the long way home if it is!" There was a studio available! Then when we got there, we decided to see if we could even stay one more night! Yep! What fun that spur-of-the-moment extension was! (We called MS for the first night; the front desk at HH took care of calling them when we asked for the 2nd night.)