DVC question from a non-DVC person

[acjsmom]

I am sorry if this is not in the right forum. Please feel free to move it.

This past April, we stayed at Bay Lake Tower as non-DVC members. We loved it! We are thinking about going back next year to Disney. We have been checking, and BLT does not come up online on reservations now. I know it was new this past year.

My question is, does Disney close DVC resorts to non-DVC people after a while? I am thinking that maybe they have it open for a while after it is first open to try to recruit members, but then close it after a while.

Thanks for the info.!

 

[drusba]

Disney always retains ownership of a certain portion of the resort and it also gets additonal use as members trade out to elsewhere, so answer is no to any closing out the resort to rentals through Disney. However, as the resort sells out, Disney will usually have fewer rooms on average per night to rent than while the resort is still being sold. Don't know why you cannot get it to come up on Disney's rental site. However, one possibility is that you are trying for time for which all rooms are already booked, a possibility for last two weeks of April 2011 since Easter is April 24 and the two weeks around Easter are the second and third most crowded weeks of the year.

 

[vicki_c]

No there are usually always some rooms available through regular Disney bookings @ the DVC resorts. How many and what type just depend on what type of room, time of year, how much of the resort is sold - many factors.

 

[Best Aunt]

If you go to disneyworld.com, and type in your dates, there is a pull-down menu where it says RESORT HOTEL. The menu is set to NO PREFERENCE. If you click on it, you scroll down past Disney's Deluxe Resorts and then it has Disney's Deluxe Villa Resorts. The villa resorts do not seem to be listed in any particular order. Bay Lake Tower at Disney's Contemporary Resort is listed.

I have definitely seen availability at BLT on the website. Last month I was looking at March 2011. But as others have said, we don't know what dates you are checking. Some times of year are extremely popular and may be sold out.

 

[rlovew]

It also depends on if you are trying to book a discount on the room- even if they have a few rooms if they find they can sell them without discounts/specials they wioll not make them available for specail rates.