The Queue – What It Means, How It Works, and What to Expect Next

Posted:  DVC Rentals Educational Tips

Welcome to the busiest booking season for our team here at David’s! 

Colorful fireworks fill the sky over Fantasyland and Cinderella Castle at the Magic Kingdom during the Happily Ever After nighttime show.

Each year, usually from about January to April (and sometimes even earlier or later), our DVCR team sees a huge spike in reservation request form submissions! This is when the 11-month booking windows begin opening for the next holiday season, New Year’s, some RunDisney Marathons, President’s Day, Valentine’s Day, Easter, and spring break – some of the most popular times to travel! 

A tall Christmas tree decorated with red bows is displayed at the Magic Kingdom under a sunny blue sky. Other Christmas decorations such as nutcrackers and garlands are seen on Main Street U.S.A. as well.

As a result, demand for DVC points increases significantly, and during our busy season, it’s pretty common for us to find that we have more requests on-hand than points available.

If you think of our rental process like a recipe, availability in the DVC inventory and point availability are the two main ingredients. If we’re missing one of those key ingredients, we can’t make the dish – at least, not right away! We need to wait for points to come back in stock, like a sold-out item at the grocery store.

The white entry doors to the Beach Club Marketplace are seen at Disney’s Beach Club Villas. Food items and candy are seen through the glass windows of the doors.

If your requested stay is available in the DVC inventory but we don’t have a DVC owner with points to complete your booking immediately, our team will be in touch via email to ask if you’d like to wait and see if points become available at a later time. AKA: Do you want to join the queue?

Disney’s Riviera Resort grounds are seen from a distance under a bright blue sky from a walking pathway near the resort’s Skyliner station.

If you opt to wait and see if points will become available later, our team will place your request in the appropriate queue based on the date that you originally submitted your request form to us. The specific queue that you join, however, will depend on a variety of factors.

For reservations 7-11 months in advance, DVC requires resort-specific points for booking. This means that our team needs a DVC owner who owns their contract at that specific resort to book your reservation. 

The light yellow and white exterior of Disney’s BoardWalk Villas is seen under a sunny sky. The word “Boardwalk” is spelled out in golden letters above the curved entry way.

For example, suppose it’s March 2026 and you’re trying to book a stay at the BoardWalk for December 2026. In that case, the owner who books your reservation must own their points specifically at Disney’s BoardWalk Villas to secure the stay.

If your request falls within that 7-11 month period, our team will then place your request in the queue for the specific resort you’re looking for in hopes that points will come in soon! 

The interior of a Deluxe Studio Resort View at Disney’s Beach Club Villas. The room is decorated in shades of soft blue and gray, with Donald Duck and seaside-inspired accessories and art.

Once travel dates are within 7 months, for the most part, DVC owners can then use their points to book at any of the DVC resorts (provided there’s availability in the inventory, of course!) Waiting in the queue for reservations that fall within 7 months of the time of booking isn’t as common, but it can still happen, especially in our busy season when points are flying fast!

A white towel rolled to make the shape of Mickey Mouse’s head is displayed on a bed along with a turquoise throw pillow featuring Mickey at Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

Now that we’re all up to speed on how joining the queue typically works, let’s talk about a few key things to remember if you find yourself waiting for points!

There are two top questions our team members are asked by guests trying to decide whether or not to join the queue: what number will I be in the queue, and how long will I have to wait? While we wish these questions had simple answers, unfortunately, there are several variables at play that make things a little more complex. 

A colorful carousel horse and penguin fountain inspired by the film Mary Poppins decorate the lobby seating area at the Villas at Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa.

Requests are filed into the queues based on the date the form was originally submitted to us. However, as each guest’s request in queue is unique (looking for a different number of points for different travel dates), our queues don’t follow the traditional linear structure you might expect.

Colorful Disney Skyliner gondolas travel along their cables through a blue sky with resort buildings and greenery below.

The number of points needed for a stay is determined by DVC based on the specific travel dates, resort/room type, and length of stay. This means that there is a WIDE variety of requests in each queue! While our team can give you an idea of how many guests are currently waiting in the queue, it’s challenging for us to provide exact numbers or statistics, because requests can enter and exit the queue in various orders and at different times.

Wooden steps lead down from a One Bedroom DVC Cabin at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort. Other cabins, golf carts, and trees are seen in the background.

When an owner signs up new points to rent with us, our team starts with the request that has been in the queue the longest to try to find a suitable match. However, that doesn’t always mean that the first request is the one that gets booked. It all depends on whether the stay that guest is looking for aligns with the owner’s points and how they must be used.

A covered grey stone and wood pathway lined with tropical landscaping, tiki torches and water features leads to the entrance of Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows at Walt Disney World.

For example, if the first request in the queue is for a stay at the Polynesian in November 2026 that requires 200 points, but the owner who has just signed up only has 150 points that will expire in October 2026, then that owner unfortunately can’t make the November reservation. Our team then proceeds to the subsequent request in the queue, in the order of submission, until we find a suitable match. This means that while there might be five requests filed ahead of yours, your reservation may still get booked before those others (or vice versa), depending on the details.

The monorail passes by the exterior of the Island Tower at Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows under a sunny, blue sky.

When it comes to how long a wait in the queue might be, this is another area where the variables make it challenging for us to provide specific answers or odds. While we wish we had a crystal ball to make predictions, we never know in advance when a DVC owner might list new points for rent with us, or just what points they might have to offer when they do! Some guests might wait several weeks or more, while others might wait just a few hours. 

Greenery, water, a fountain, and the pastel colored villa buildings are seen under a bright blue sky at Disney’s Old Key West Resort.

It’s also important to remember another unpredictable element: the DVC inventory. Our team works with the same inventory of DVC rooms as hundreds of thousands of Disney Vacation Club owners. We don’t have our own pool of rooms to book from, and regrettably, we’re unable to put rooms on hold. 

A blue circular sign reading “Disney Vacation Club. Welcome Home Disney Vacation Club Members” is displayed outside the entrance to Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort.

With so many DVC owners, the inventory can change frequently and quickly! Our team will monitor availability for your request as you wait in the queue, but we can’t guarantee that your selection will remain available until we can complete the booking. 

If your resort/room selection loses availability before we can secure your stay, we’ll be in touch via email to let you know as soon as possible and provide you with alternatives to consider at that time. It’s important to keep in mind, though, that our queues are different than a waitlist system. We can only keep requests with available selections in queue, and unfortunately, we’re unable to offer a waitlist for resorts and room types that are sold out.

A larger than life blue and silver wizard hat wrapped in gold stars displays a white circular sign for the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, California, with the resort exterior visible in the background.

Here are a few more tidbits that can be helpful if you find yourself deciding whether or not to join a queue:

  • Some resorts can have larger queues than others: For example, we typically have queues for super popular resorts like the Polynesian and Beach Club year-round, and they tend to be substantially larger than those for resorts such as the Animal Kingdom Villas or Old Key West. If you’re curious about which resorts have smaller or larger queues, let us know, and we’ll be happy to check that out for you, as queue sizes can certainly fluctuate! 
  • Larger resorts tend to have shorter queues: DVC memberships are sold based on how many rooms each resort has in its inventory to go around. As such, more DVC owners hold contracts at resorts like Saratoga Springs and Old Key West, which are larger in size. This means there’s typically more of these points available, so the queues tend to be smaller and see more frequent movement. 
  • We’re only able to place requests in queue for one resort, room type, and set of travel dates at a time. Due to the steps in our rental process and the high volume of requests we work with, we are unable to place guests in queue for multiple options simultaneously.  
  • We can change or cancel your request any time before we’ve sent you a confirmation number for your stay: If you decide that you want to consider a resort option that will require a shorter wait in queue (or potentially not require a wait at all), or that waiting in queue isn’t something you’re comfortable with, just let us know! If you have your heart set on one resort or room type, I usually recommend waiting in the queue for a bit to see if some magic happens, but we can explore other options or cancel your request and refund your deposit any time before your reservation has been secured if you change your mind! 

 

The interior of a Deluxe Studio Standard at Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa is seen. The room is decorated with light neutral colors and Disney horse-inspired art and accessories.

Of course, if you’re anything like me, a planner by nature who just needs to know (and who has waited in queue a few times for her own personal bookings!), we understand that waiting isn’t always the easiest! Just know that our team is always happy to help with any questions you have, will offer as much guidance as we can, and are all rooting for you to get booked asap! We’ve made countless DVC dream stays a reality over the years and hope to do the same for you, too!

~Stacy 

The sunrise paints the sky over Disney’s BoardWalk and Beach Club Villas with shades of blue, yellow, and orange as a small boat sails over Cresent Lake.

 

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