Last minute trips

Lakegirl · Mar 25, 2015

Everybody is always talking about booking at the 11 & 7 month mark, does anybody have any success stories to share about pulling off a great last minute trip? How far out? What time of year and where did you stay???

disneynutz · Mar 25, 2015

IMO availability has gotten worse in the last couple of years. Think about it, Disney is adding new owners every day and those folks are now booking at 11 and 7 months.

I would not buy for last minute trips unless you really don't care where you stay and even then availability for the dates you want might be difficult.

:earsboy:

Bill

rlovew · Mar 25, 2015

We had a very nice last min trip at SSR and Vero Beach booked 2 days ahead of check-in when we needed to have our floor retiled and weren't given warning. This was at the end of May 2013.

Minniesgal · Mar 25, 2015

It can be done if you travel out with peaks and really don't care where you stay but it's not the best use of the system.

bobbiwoz · Mar 25, 2015

When they announced the Frozen activities last summer, I knew we had to go. We had a great 3 night weekend at SSR booked about 4 weeks before the trip.

Not last minute, but in Late January, early February I booked a 4 night trip for us in a studio for April. The 4 night waitlist for a studio came through. We'll be at BWV for F & G! At 11 months out, I had booked a 2 bedroom at BWV for a Gal's trip. I had to cancel for health reasons, and was thrilled I was able to get something before my 2 knee replacement surgery at the end of April!

Dawn68PA · Mar 25, 2015

We just became members in December and wanted to go in January. January was booked solid but we got the first week of February at SSR and had a blast at our home resort!

automaticsoap · Mar 25, 2015

I just booked a short last minute 2-night stay for early May this afternoon! It's a split stay, which isn't ideal for such a short trip, but it gives me a chance to stay at two resorts I haven't stayed at before. I was going down for a weekend visit to see some family and decided to take a couple of days off work to spend at WDW before my AP expires. :banana:

I also was able to book a breakfast reservation for Be Our Guest and easily got the FP+ I wanted!

cvjw · Mar 25, 2015

We decided after Thanksgiving last year that we wanted to go to Disney on December 18th - 22nd (less than a month out). I looked at the availability tool, and there was nothing available in a 1 or 2 bedroom for our dates. I started checking the availability tool multiple times per day and picked up days as they became available.

I could have had a 2 bedroom at SSR, OKW, BLT, or VGF for our dates. Other resorts had a few dates open up, but not the whole time. It was weird, but in all the time that I checked the availability tool, I never saw an opening for Jambo House, or Wilderness Lodge.

We decided on a split stay at SSR and BLT. We got great dining reservations and even got FP+ reservations for the Mine Train.

It was a fantastic last minute trip.

Lakegirl · Mar 25, 2015

Those are some great stories!!!

River Country · Mar 26, 2015

I tried 2 months in advance of F&W half marathon weekend last year and there was nothing for more than 1 night at OKW and another at SSR it was really nothing available. So it really depends on time of year.

Gillyrose779 · Mar 26, 2015

I rent points but was able to get 3 nights lake view studio at BLT exactly 2 months out for the first weekend in Feb.

3 months out I was also able to book a studio for 3 nights at Vero for Thanksgiving followed by 3 nights in a 1 bedroom at SS.

4 months out I got 2 nights in a 1 bedroom savannah view at AK but could have had a week if I wanted it. This is for our upcoming trip in May/June.

I only plan vacations 4-5 months out so I guess I always fall into the "last minute" category. We are flexible so that always helps.

OrangeCountyCommuter · Mar 26, 2015

4-5 months is not "last minute" in my book... calling from the airport is last minutes (and yes I have done that)

While at least one respected poster on here will call me "insane" I use a lot of points with very late bookings.

A couple of things

1. No you aren't getting BCV or standard view BWV etc..your best options are SSR, AKV and OKW (OKW is last due to the low points)
2. You may have to waste points. No I don't "need" a one bedroom but those are often easier to get then studios.
3. Weekends are easier then weekdays. Late February booked Fri-Sunday nights at OKW for March 13-16.
4 Events have an impact. Food & Wine, Marathon Weekend etc.. much tougher!
5. Use the waitlist. If I can get one or two nights I book them and waitlist. For the OKW trip in March I originally booked Friday and Saturday, waitlisted Sunday and just a few days later it cleared. IMHO waitlists for one day are much easier then the "all or nothing"
6. Have a backup plan. for the trips where I am really late (like calling from the airport) I am fully prepared to check into a Lake Buena Vista area hotel and be happy (I am not HAPPY if I have to pay Disney hotel pricing for the quality they provide LOL!)

wallygirl · Mar 29, 2015

We're DVC newbies (or hopefully will be)! Waiting on ROFR and want to plan a trip with our banked points once everything goes through. Is there anyway to check out availability calendar before we officially become members or find out member perks? We have lots of flexibility but realistically think we will be booking 4-6 weeks out for a stay sometime in the month of July. Advice on anything we should do now so we can book as soon as sale goes through?

com_op_2000 · Mar 29, 2015

When I talk about last minute, I am talking 15 minutes before checking in:
DW and I several times have been at DTD for the day and decided we wanted to stay the night. Called the resorts directly (back before MS was open on Sundays) or MS and checked in within 15 minutes.

How about day of:
We went to AKL for two nights the weekend before our 28th anniversary.
Due to a work schedule change on Thursday I wound up with an unexpected three day weekend this weekend. DW and I woke-up at 5am, while still in bed talking about our anniversary, which is this actually this weekend, and we decided we wanted to go to MK today, instead of yard work (which we had planned on). We got our to-go-bag and cooler in the car, stopped by the bank on the way through Orlando, and headed for MK. Called MS at 9 and booked a room at BLT for the night. Checked into the resort at @11 and the room was ready. That night we went to TOTWL to see the fireworks.

Kimly · Mar 29, 2015

We live two and a half hours away, we book last-minute, like "going in five days" last-minute all the time. We got Labor Day weekend last year with three weeks notice a 1-bedroom at AKL. We did it in Sep 2014 and got BWV standard on a weekend during F&W that was the Disney gods smiling down on us. We also got BLT for one night in Oct 2014, then the next night we stayed at GFV. We had VWL in Jan but I cancled it because we had just spent like 11 days at DW in Dec. BUT two weeks ago we tried to get DVC but everything was totally booked, so we paid cash and stayed at Port Orleans(LOVED so much) and AoA(which I'll never stay at a value again, I've gotten to spoiled.)

So yeah it can happen, more likely than not you will be switching rooms every day, but it isnt that big of a deal when you are only there for a weekend. And you get to try out all the resorts, it's kinda fun.

CMNJ · Mar 29, 2015

wallygirl said:
We're DVC newbies (or hopefully will be)! Waiting on ROFR and want to plan a trip with our banked points once everything goes through. Is there anyway to check out availability calendar before we officially become members or find out member perks? We have lots of flexibility but realistically think we will be booking 4-6 weeks out for a stay sometime in the month of July. Advice on anything we should do now so we can book as soon as sale goes through?

As far as finding room avail there is no way to check if you aren't a DVC member (have to login to your dvc account to access room avail tool). As for perks at WDW we get a discount on annual passes and a couple dollars off tickets to water parks and disney quest. I think in the past they also gave a couple dollars off hard ticket events like halloween and christmas parties but those tickets aren't on sale yet for this year. We also get 10-20% on certain table service restaurants (not a ton but a decent #) and 10% off merchandise at all disney owned and operated stores at WDW. We also can book rooms at dvc resorts at a discount for cash (subject to avail)-it is generally 25% i think. There are also some other small perks/discounts that you might find interesting but I think the ones I mentioned are the big ones most people utilize for WDW. There are disneyland perks as well but i haven't really looked at them much.

Lakegirl · Mar 29, 2015

These are all so interesting!!!! So nice to hear!!

wallygirl · Mar 30, 2015

Great info! Thanks for the help. We're just hoping to get anywhere for 3-4 nights at the end of July.

Hogzilla · Apr 16, 2015

This is great stuff ..... thanks to those with stories. We just got started on another resale contract that has 200 points banked from 2013, so they need to be used by fall of this year. I don't expect to have those points available until ~7/1 and I was hoping to use them during the last week of July. If that doesn't work, I can rent them for something later I guess. I will let you all know how it goes. Hoping we can find something and we're open to anything and probably looking for a 1 BR.

Lakegirl · Apr 17, 2015

Would love to here your story Hogzilla. I am waiting to go through ESTOFFEL, and then closing. We want to go end of August so I'm hoping there will be something available.

Last minute trips

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