Hey There, Hi There, Ho There, Benita!
You are as welcome as can be! Thank you so much for stopping by planDisney. As a Disney Vacation Club Member for the last 22 years, I love helping fellow Members plan flexible, affordable vacations year after year.
It sounds like you are trying to use your Disney Vacation Club Points to book a stay at one of the
Disney Vacation Club Resorts in Disneyland, California. Benita, there are two DVC properties at Disneyland -
Disney's Grand Californian Resort and
The Villas at the Disneyland Resort.As a reminder, you can book your
Home Resort beginning 11 months from your desired check-in date, and all other Disney Vacation Club Resorts for eligible Members can be booked beginning 7 months from your desired check-in date. Based on the dates you are planning to travel, you would be in your 7-month window. If you are only seeing Waitlist options when trying to book at these Resorts in your DVC dashboard, then it means they are fully booked at the moment (likely by Guests who booked in either the 11-month booking window or closer to the 7-month window).
So, you have a few options. First, you can join a
Waitlist. Eligible Members can join a Waitlist up to two times in a Use Year (so you can put in two Waitlist requests). The important thing to know, though, is that there is no guarantee that you'll be moved from the Waitlist, and there is no way to know where you are on the Waitlist or if you will be moved off of it. Additionally, if you go on a Waitlist and then make another booking at an available Resort, should you make it off the Waitlist, you will be automatically booked into that reservation, and any simultaneous reservations you are holding will be automatically canceled. So if you decide at any point that you don't want to be on the Waitlist, then I recommend taking yourself off so you don't get a "surprise." This happened to my parents when they forgot they were on a Waitlist and got moved from it.
Alternatively, you can keep checking back daily (even twice daily). Inventory changes regularly, and sometimes within the same day, as Guests' plans change and they get moved off Waitlists. This is my strategy when I want to use my Vacation Points at a Disney Vacation Club Resort, but do not see availability. In fact, it is how we secured a one-bedroom stay at a Disney Vacation Club Resort just two months prior to our vacation. Availability literally changed from morning to afternoon, and we booked the stay as soon as it became available.
Lastly, you could look to see if you could use your Vacation Club Points for a non-Disney Vacation Club Resort, such as Pixar Place or The Disneyland Resort. To check this availability, you can call
Member Services. The Point Costs vary, depending on the time of your vacation and room type, and it would be a traditional hotel room rather than a DVC room. But you can use your Vacation Points at Disney Resort Hotels that are not Disney Vacation Club properties. It just takes a bit of magic on the part of Member Services, but it is an alternate option.
I hope this helps you, Benita! If you have any further Disney Vacation Club questions, stop back here to see me, and I'll be so happy to help you.
Magically Yours,
Keri