7 Month window is a scam

[gdrj]

I tried to book something at the 7 month window today (for October 18th). The 18th is full but the rest of my trip is available. DVC will not let me book the vacation and waitlist the one day. They said you have to have your first day available to book so I have to call back tomorrow. I am sure the 19th will be booked tomorrow. Why can't I book 6 days and just waitlist the first day?

What is is with people throwing out accusations? Scam because you don't understand the program or what your purchased? Others say Fake Tickets because tickets are late due to Fed Ex. Sometimes just sometimes it isn't the vendor, or the company, or Disney. Once in a blue moon it is us the customer who makes the error or don't follow a procedure. can you imagine

Read the site learn what you own. Call member services and speak to them and ask questions. When I first bought banking points, borrowing, and understanding what happens when I cancelled with borrowed points vs. current year use points was confusing. When I called I would explain my scenario, ask questions and make sure I understood. It was a me issue not a Disney Issue.

One thing I didn't say was it was a scam. Doesn't matter if its one day or three weeks away, 7 months is 7 months. If they allowed you to do that you would have an unfair advantage over the others who will be trying to book the 19th. You have an equal chance, if it is booked it is because others got online before you. There is FULL availability at 3 resorts during your stay, if the 19th is booked. I would book at another resort to make sure I had a place and work the wait list ( you want to learn how to do this effectively). I would also look at doing a split stay depending on your situation. You are going during Food and Wine and near Halloween. Busy DVC time frame.

 

[Minniesgal]

high demand time of year a lot of resorts are booked. This is why we all have home resort privilege. We bought where we want to stay so if we always have to stay at home resort thats ok.

You cannot book your second day is the first is unavailable as that is not within your 7 month window. Only owners can book mthat second day. This is not a scam it is the design intent of the system ie the way it is supposed to work. Owners would be upset if non owners were booking before 7 months opened up.

7 month window frequently works we have stayed at resorts not our own, but at peak times i wouldn't even try I'd just stay at home resort.

Bottom line is buy where you want to stay.

 

[River Country]

Everyone keeps saying buy where you want to stay, my philosophy is buy where you don't mind staying. I bought at SSR because of various different reasons that I wont go into right now, but I have stayed at BCV, VWL, BWV, OKW all booked at 7 months out I am planning a trip for the first week of November and would like to stay at OKW and the odds of it being available are good but there is no guarantee so I have my reservation booked at SSR where I have a priority in case I do not get the 7 month request. I can see your frustration with the VGC because its the only DVC resort in DL. But its not a scam.

 

[CMNJ]

Everyone keeps saying buy where you want to stay, my philosophy is buy where you don't mind staying. I bought at SSR because of various different reasons that I wont go into right now, but I have stayed at BCV, VWL, BWV, OKW all booked at 7 months out I am planning a trip for the first week of November and would like to stay at OKW and the odds of it being available are good but there is no guarantee so I have my reservation booked at SSR where I have a priority in case I do not get the 7 month request. I can see your frustration with the VGC because its the only DVC resort in DL. But its not a scam.

I think everyone simply keeps saying buy where you want to stay because the OP is trying to book an obviously popular resort (not sure if it was DL don't recall it saying in post) at a popular time and thinks it is unfair they can't trade in as they believed (or were promised). The way you put it is also a good idea (buy where you don't mind staying) BUT in this case the OP (and I suspect many others out there) incorrectly assume/believe that home resort priority doesn't matter that much-clearly it does if you plan to travel at busy times such as October. I personally think it is great that we can all trade into other resorts as we want to try several-but from researching here prior to buying I knew SSR wasn't the right resort for us-we may often travel in the fall and aren't that interested in bussing everywhere. SSR seems like a great resort that I would definitely consider if I wasn't planning on spending a lot of time at the parks but I just think so many people underestimate the importance of home resort priority and then are disillusioned when things don't break just right for them. SSR is a great way to get the most for your money BUT buyers (at the less popular/larger resorts) have to be happy with staying there if they can't trade out (as you are).

 

[River Country]

I Agree with the above post. Home resort priority is underestimated

 

[paults]

I tried to book something at the 7 month window today (for October 18th). The 18th is full but the rest of my trip is available. DVC will not let me book the vacation and waitlist the one day. They said you have to have your first day available to book so I have to call back tomorrow. I am sure the 19th will be booked tomorrow. Why can't I book 6 days and just waitlist the first day?

Not sure where you tried to book (DL or WDW and what resort) I also was blocked out yesterday for Oct 18th at BCV and the 19-20-21 st were open. I own at BWV. Not a scam like you think. All I did was try to get the 19-20-21st this morning at 8am on line and I got all three nts. Then I just waitlisted the 18th OCT right after I got the 19-20-21. I then went back to check if the 19th was still open and it wasn't anymore.
Did you try to book this morning for the 19th or not.
Please let us know

 

[bumbershoot]

You cannot book your second day is the first is unavailable as that is not within your 7 month window. Only owners can book mthat second day.

And, of course, booking at 11 months, if that first day is full, I can't book the next date. So it even works that way for owners at 11 months out. (I'm sure you know that, m'gal, but just stating it super-obviously LOL)

 

[Pennyguy23]

Love the title of this thread. Made my wife and I laugh out loud.

 

[florep1]

We're SSR owners. We booked our next trip at the 11 month mark so we could request the area we wanted. At 7 months, we switched our reservation to PVB. I really wanted to give it a try because I love the Poly but the construction scared me. We switched our reservation at 64 days out to an OKW grand villa. We've never stayed in a grand villa before so this is a new experience. We've also been lucky enough to be able to stay at VWL, BCV, and AkV despite those not being our home resort. Our next vacation will be in Aulani and it looks like availability isn't a problem for our dates so far. My point is, there is availability at 7 months or less, you just gotta keep trying. We also love SSR so if there isn't availability to switch, we're perfectly fine with staying at our home resort.

 

[keaster]

AKL is our home resort but so far we have been able to book GFV, BLT, Aulani and a treehouse at SSR all at the 7th month window. Our travel times are middle of March, end of August and sometimes mid June.

 

[disneynutz]

Buy where you love to stay or buy where you don't mind staying, that up to you. I didn't spend thousands and thousands of dollars to buy a home resort where I don't mind staying when buying your favorite resort won't really cost more over the term of ownership.

DVC is a very small piece of your commitment to vacation at Disney for the next 10- 50 years. Your cost for these vacations everything included can run you $300,000 during your ownership. For that kind of money, I want the best possible and I hate it when people post that they could only book a resort that they don't really care for, they had room issues, delayed check in, MB that didn't work, but hey we are at Disney!

Bill

 

[michelleiada]

I totally agree with the buy where you want to stay and book as early as possible. This is why they say DVC isn't for everyone. Definitely not for people who book last minute vacations...not that 7 months is considered last minute at all. I understand the op's disappointment but the rules are the rules. The more popular resorts book up quickly. Especially during F&W.

 

[Sandisw]

As everyone said, its not a scam but the way it works. You are allowed to book a reservation, for up to 7 days, 7 months prior to the check in date of the reservation. So, if the 18th is the date you want to check in, then if its available, you get to book days beyond that...if not, then you can't.

I think that the 7 month window is getting harder and harder to come by at some of the resorts because people want to be able to stay there. I agree that owning where you want to be is a good idea but I also know that some want to try them all. If so, then you have to accept that certain times of the year are going to be very difficult. October through the first week in January is a really, really popular DVC time so I think changing reservations to any of the near park resorts--BWV, BCV, BLT, PVB, VWL, or VGF, at 7 months is going to be very, very difficult. If you want to be at those during that time of year, then I think one needs to own there so you can take advantage of home resort time.

 

[EPCOTgrl1]

Why didn't you just book a different resort for the day that you needed to waitlist. I was just in the same boat for my trip in October. I booked Saratoga at 11 months for a 1 bedroom. After talking with the group that I would be traveling with we said we would try for AKL or at least a 2 BR somewhere. I was kept checking to see what rooms were open and what was blacked out. When I called DVC at 7 months they said I could waitlist the 1 day that I was missing but would have to book at another resort for that day. I opted to guarantee a 2 BR for my whole trip instead of moving hotels, but they did give me the option.

 

[hopare]

If you want to stay somewhere other than your home resort you need to be flexible. Otherwise by where you want to stay!!

 

[ziravan]

I bought at Poly. Booked for Sept. My work schedule shifted and I need to rebook for mid-Oct, now inside the 7 month window.

Dang!

Only found two of six days avail when I started looking (and one of those, the last day of trip, was still outside the 7 month window - which is why it was available for me to book).

Checked availability tool like 10X/day.

Found a third day in the middle. A fourth day that tied four days together. Fifth day.... This morning, sixth and last day.

I wouldn't expect that at an EPCOT resort during F&W. But. You can work the 7 month booking window.

 

[bwvBound]

Otherwise by [sic] where you want to stay!!

Very few households are in a position to purchase sufficient points for every type of stay they wish to enjoy: WDW, DLR, Vero, Hilton Head, Aulani and what ever lies ahead.

 

[Dean]

Maybe we need to modify the statement to be "Buy where you want to stay or be quiet when you don't get what you want at 7 months"?

Better yet that people understand what they're buying. The buy where you want to stay is really only helpful if you know where that is and either only want to stay at one resort or buy multiple resorts to reserve for different trips. That really is essentially almost NO new buyers and only a fairly small subset of experienced owners. I know I could buy SSR and stay at EVERY resort over time including VGF and Poly but most people want to have it easy with minimal risk. They often try once or twice around the 7 month window then give up and get frustrated. To be successful for higher demand times one has to have a strategy that includes aggressive use of the wait list and being willing to take a few days and work on the rest over time. The reality is that even owning a given resort isn't fool proof as is illustrated above. That's whey I think the fixed week option is a must for VGF & the Poly and OF at Aulani. In reality DVC isn't a good choice for anyone that can't plan at least by the 7 month window though I know there are some that make it work.

 

[SarahInMN]

Maybe we need to modify the statement to be "Buy where you want to stay or be quiet when you don't get what you want at 7 months"?

Agreed - I get being disappointed if someone can't switch to a non-home resort at 7 months. But to call it a scam? I find that somewhat offensive.

We bought at BCV for F&W. I booked F&W 2015 in early December 2014 for early November 2015 (i.e. at 11 months on the dot), got the entire 1 week 1Br that we wanted. Guess what? When we decided to add on 2 days, in early January, no more room at BCV. That's the way the cookie crumbles - even with home resort advantage at 10 months. On the plus side - this translates into staying in the Garden Cottages at Boardwalk for us pre BCV check in.

I do think people buying at SSR with the expectation that they can ALWAYS trade out at 7 months is setting people up for disappointment. I know that's what DVC sales tells people, it is what it is from a sales technique standpoint, but buyers really need to understand the system.

 

[midaroco]

Maybe we need to modify the statement to be "Buy where you want to stay or be quiet when you don't get what you want at 7 months"?

That wouldn't be required if the salespeople were honest about the fact that you will more than likely not be able to get into anything other than SSR/OKW in Nov - Dec. I know if I had been informed this, then I would have purchased where I would have wanted to stay 90% of the time.