How often are you NOT able to get into your home resort at the 11 month window?

[invalid_char]

I had pretty much thought that if you called exactly at the 11 month window that you should NOT have a problem getting into your home resort.

I have recently read several posts where people have done this and have not been able to get the dates they wanted. I thought there were supposed to be enough checks and balances that this would happen only extremely rarely, if at all.

Once our kids are in school, we will pretty much have to go during spring break. If we cannot go then, then we will likely not be able to go at all, and I will need to rethink our purchase because it will be of no use to us.

Can any veterans out there tell me how common it is to not get your res at exactly the 11 month window? Does it seem like this is happening more frequently and if so, why? (i.e. does DVC need to rearrange the point charts to reflect changing habits).

If I can't reliably get in at the 11 month window, then I can't really do this. :(

[EROS]

I can't speak for others, but we have NEVER had difficulties booking BWV at the 11 month window. If we are traveling there during peak season, I'll usually book day by day. We HAVE had trouble getting standard views there at even the 10 month mark.......those go quickly;) ;) ;) .......

[spruce]

We have alway gotten what we wanted without a wait list at the 11 month mark. When we book NYE week we call day by day. We also called each day when we wanted an OKW GV in Oct. Other then these times, we've called at the end of our reservation for all the days and never had any problems.
As for a reallocation of points,christmas, NYE, spring break, thanksgiving and the 1st few weeks of Dec (because the decorations are up and crowds are smaller) will always be busy at DVC no matter how many points it costs.
The "subject to availlability" worried me too when we bought but it hasn't proved to be a problem since I always book at 11 months trouble free......spruce

[DebbieB]

If you want to go during a popular time, you may want to do a day by day reservation to be sure to get it.

We stay at BWV the first or second week of December (1 bedroom). This is a popular time because it's in the lowest point season and the Christmas activities are in full swing. I had no problem calling at the 11 month mark of checkout for a preferred view in 2000. Last year I called for a standard view right at 9:00 on the 11 month mark of checkout and got it. However, people on this board posted that they called later in the day for the same dates and had to waitlist for some of the first days. So this year, I called day by day for a standard view and got it with no problem. After I made the last day reservation I asked the cm if it was really necessary to call day by day, he said for a standard view yes, for a preferred view no. OKW is easier to get because there are many more rooms, I've had no problem getting a reservation for May at 7 months.

[ncligs]

We have never had a problem at the 11 month window at OKW. Even for a GV. Also at HH we booked 2 GV's at the same time for this past July. We did call day by day for HH though.:D

[invalid_char]

Thank you both. This is very reassuring. From what you are saying it seems that, if you call day by day, there should not be a problem. I feel better now!

[drusba]

We have always gotten what we wanted at BWV calling between 10 and 11 months; have never done day by day. Times have included Easter, summer, and Thanksgiving.

[danky1234]

Originally posted by DebbieB
If you want to go during a popular time, you may want to do a day by day reservation to be sure to get it.

We stay at BWV the first or second week of December (1 bedroom). This is a popular time because it's in the lowest point season and the Christmas activities are in full swing. I had no problem calling at the 11 month mark of checkout for a preferred view in 2000. Last year I called for a standard view right at 9:00 on the 11 month mark of checkout and got it. However, people on this board posted that they called later in the day for the same dates and had to waitlist for some of the first days. So this year, I called day by day for a standard view and got it with no problem. After I made the last day reservation I asked the cm if it was really necessary to call day by day, he said for a standard view yes, for a preferred view no. OKW is easier to get because there are many more rooms, I've had no problem getting a reservation for May at 7 months.

Can you explain day by day reservation, i am unfamiliar with this. Thank you. A new DCV memeber:confused:

[Pluto4President]

I have never had a problem at the 11 month window.

Day by day means that you call and book one day at a time, 7 or 11 months prior to that check out day. This is sometimes done for holidays, or expected busy times.

I haven't had problems at 2 months out either. It just depends, as said, when you are trying to go.

[Uncleromulus]

We've been going both in May and in Sept. each year since 1992 and never had any problem at OKW when making reservations 11 months out.

[DebbieB]

I did day by day for December 7 to 13. December 7 checks out on December 8, so I called on January 8 for that night, then on January 9 added on December 8, then January 10 added on December 9, etc. It's a pain, but sometimes necessary to be sure to get what you want. For my May reservation at OKW at 7 months, I call on the first day and ask what availability looks like. They told me each time that there were plenty of rooms left, so I just wait until the last day and reserve all the nights.

[chris1gill]

We are on our fourth reservation & we've never had a problem booking day by day... this is a Standard view @ BW the first two weeks of December & over Thanksgiving as well... I don't think I've ever seen a complaint where someone calling day by day at 11 months out has had a problem... I have seen people that incorrectly did their math & were late in booking their reservation, thus resulting in their preferred resort not having availability... I've also seen occasions when the BW has sold out for early December at the 10.5 month mark... If you are going over school vacation, just plan on dialing at the 11 month mark at 9am....

[Happy Birthday Cat]

We have never had a problem and we book the most sought after days in the year. Because of school vacations we only go on Presidents' Week, Easter and Christmas/New Years. This has been for BWV and VWL. We do day by day calling to make sure all goes well. :)

[Richyams]

Using the eleven month window will always get you what you want.

Calling day by day is only required on a very tiny number of reservation types. You can always call at the end of your stay and book the whole thing at once.

The few exceptions are:

Standard View rooms at BWV at any time.

Grand Villas at OKW, these don't even need day by day calling anymore.

The first two weeks of December at BWV and possibly the new resorts.

Other than those cases, day by day calling is never needed.

[Lhargus]

I booked the first week of December at VWL at the 11 month window without a problem. I didn't need to use the day by day method. No problem.:cool:

[cswans]

"Grand Villas at OKW, these don't even need day by day calling anymore."

Do you mean that it is so easy to get GVs at OKW that you don't ever need to do day-by-day or that it is so hard to get GVs at OKW that it's not worth bothering to even try getting them day by day? I couldn't figure which way you meant it! Probably a lazy Sunday morning brain problem!

[Deb & Bill]

We have always gotten our home resort at 11 months out. For 2002 Christmas, my husband called each day for the reservation (we wanted 8 days in a studio at OKW). He got what we needed, but noticed that at times the wait was a bit longer. Usually he called first thing in thing in the morning and sometimes it took 15 times to get through to the calling queue. MS agreed that he should call day by day for Christmas.

If you had a problem getting in at 11 months. get on the waitlist or try exactly 7 months out to see if anyone is changing their reservation to a non-home resort.

We always call 11 months out, no matter if we are going during a busy time or not as busy time. It just makes sense to us.

[Deb & Bill]

Duplicate post. Sorry

[Stinson]

Never had a problem booking 11 months out with either Boardwalk or OKW. In addition, we've never had a problem booking any reservation seven months out, including some of the most difficult weeks of the year. Maybe we've just been lucky, but we've been there 17 times!

[littlestar]

Hi.

We're new members. We joined about a month ago.

We booked an October trip at nine months out at VWL. We also are going the week of March 11th for eight days at Old Key West.

We originally were going to split our stay between Old Key West and Caribbean Beach, but last week I decided I wanted to stay the entire time at Old Key West. The reservation at Old Key West was booked this way - (1) The first four days on our own points at about a two-month window (2) I got a DVC 25% discount and am staying on cash for the Friday and Saturday nights (3) I rented points from another DVC member for the last two nights (which were just rented on Friday, so that's at about the five-week booking window for those other two nights I needed).

[nuthut]

When I called at 9 am, February 1 I was able to confirm a standard view Boardwalk studio and then was called back by member services 10 minutes later to unconfirm. I now am holding a reservation for December 29 and check out December 31 and checking in January 1 and out the third. Yes, I am on the waitlist for a day right smack in the middle of my vacation. My suggestion is don't buy DVC as they are unable to fix this problem!!!!

[newt1912]

Originally posted by nuthut
When I called at 9 am, February 1 I was able to confirm a standard view Boardwalk studio and then was called back by member services 10 minutes later to unconfirm.. My suggestion is don't buy DVC as they are unable to fix this problem!!!!



Nuthut, please explain to us new members how something like this could happen. How could MS justify calling back 10 minutes later to unconfirm a confirmed reservation??????


Thanks - I still am learning a lot.

[nuthut]

As I understand it, the reason is that there are 32 standard view studios at the Boardwalk and at 9 am Feb 1 when member services opened there were 75 reps available to take calls. There were 60 members confirmed into the 32 studios and therefore they had to call 28 persons to unconfirm their reservations.


How about confirming studios for the 28 at the BCV for the requested nights at no extra point charge??????

[Deb & Bill]

If it is really important to you to be at WDW at the BW for NYE, why don't you change your reservation to a preferred view instead? It's a few more points, but if you really want to stay there, what's the diff? That would be better than a comp (which probably wouldn't happen) at the BCV. There's a whole bunch more preferred view studios than standard view - at least 4 times as many.

This problem isn't that much different from trying to get PS for Cinderella's Table except they tell you right away that they don't have availability. MS just doesn't have the need for the same equipment that they have at Disney Dining.

By the way, nuthut, how many ebay reservations are you selling right now? I saw one, but I didn't want to wade through all of the DVC vacations for sale on ebay.

[invalid_char]

Thanks again to everyone. This is all very re-assuring. It sounds like the DVC folks really know what they're doing.

nuthut-- in your case I would simply take the preferred view. I know it must be frustrating to not get exactly what you want, but you would still get to stay at your home resort. Maybe, if point cost is a problem, they can charge you the standard rate for the day you will be in a preferred room. If they are really feeling generous, perhaps they can put you up in a preferred room for the cost of a standard room for your entire visit.

I honestly don't see how they would be obligated to put you up in the BCV for free. Even if they did, that would not be fair to new BCV purchasers who cannot yet book there until March 6th.

Anyway, this seems like a highly unusual situation with a simple solution... certainly not enough to dissuade me from DVC.

Thanks again to everyone for their input.

[Lesley]

Several posts?

I thought I followed these boards fairly thoroughly and I only recall one poster saying that s/he didn't get VWL at the 11 month window....and from what I recall that poster never did give the details ie. what exact dates they had tried for and what exact dates they called. My thought on the whole thing was that it was likely an honest mistake and they actually hadn't called at exactly 11mo even though they thought they did....but I really don't know because the poster never gave details.

A few other posts I recall seeing had members who called a little later than 11mo and were waitlisted....

I have, so far, booked almost all my ressies day by day because they fit the general guidelines Rich mentioned....no problem at all getting what I wanted. I've also called twice for VWL ressies on shorter notice and had no problem..even for Thanksgiving. But with the short supply of standard views at BWV I think its wise to not always count on that....but if you look at it this way, we really are getting a break by having a lower point level standard view available at all.

I guess there's always a slim chance that everyone will want the same time/accomodations and a slimmer chance that they will all be on the phone at 9am booking day by day at the 11mo window....but I don't see that at all as the norm. Also, if it became a problem we'd probably see adjustments made to the point charts to redistribute the demand.

JMO

[TDC Nala]

and what about BCV? I am interested in staying there starting December 12 but I won't even be purchasing until April, and from what I understand the contract won't close until June. Will there be rooms left to book for December at all?

[Nickymouse]

When I call at 11 months, I never have a problem. One year, I called at around 10 months (it slipped my mind) and was unable to get what I wanted initially. I put myself on a wait list and eventually got what I wanted, a 1 BR. However, I was hoping for a standard view. I was put on a wait list for that too, and about 3 months before the trip, I got exactly what I wanted. If you want to avoid all the waitlisting, call at exactly 11 months and you will almost never have a problem.

[tripletvan]

There have been two occasions that we haven't been able to go home in the eleven month window. This April we are going home for the first time.