Is it possible to book last min??

[Lorilais_mommie]

one of drawbacks my DH and I read about upon joining DVC was that last min trips are impossible..
We are big planners, so this was not a big deal for us..

However it got me wondering why??
Why is it impossible?
Is that ALL resorts are ALWAYS full?
Or is it b/c DVC opens the villas to other paying guests if DVc memebrs have not booked them..

Also is really impossble that we never be able to book a DVC a week out? Even if the room is open. Just seems like a waste..

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

No, it's not impossible. What it can be frustrating is if you purchase believing that it will be possible to book whatever you want anytime - or that there will always be last minute availability every day of the year. That is usually what is being referred to and there definitely have been posters who have appeared complaining about DVC because they couldn't do that last minute or even several weeks in advance booking.

 

[DebbieB]

I once got a night at BCV about a week out but it was early February. Add-on to a business trip. I wanted to do it another time for mid-October about 3 weeks out, nothing available, any resort, any room size. I used my points at POFQ (before the fee).

 

[pmaurer74]

I wondered the same thing. I will be getting my points literally probably a few days before our next trip.

 

[Lynne M]

Oh, no, if there are rooms available, you can certainly book them, even same-day.

A few things contribute to this. First, timeshare owners tend to book farther in advance than hotel guests. Also, since DVC owners tend to be experienced WDW travelers, they're aware of the times and situations where very early booking is necessary. And, by design, timeshares run at higher occupancy rates than hotels.

All of that adds together to mean that while you can sometimes book last minute at a DVC resort, your chances aren't as good as they would be at a hotel. And for certain room types, or times of year, it's next to impossible to get a last minute reservation. Club level villas at AKV Jambo, for instance. Or grand villas at BWV. Or VWL from Thanksgiving to Christmas.

With DVC, last minute often means piecing together a bunch of reservations. For instance, I've had to take three nights in a studio at VWL, and 1 in a one bedroom.

 

[joannjoe]

Usually you can get something unless it's a special event weekend that might be tougher

 

[Deb & Bill]

Timeshares are usually meant to be 95% or better occupied. When a resort is sold out, that means all the points are accounted for, for every night, every villa. So that means people book earlier to get what they want. If you try to book last minute, like the day of or a few days before, you might get a night here, a night there, etc. But probably not multiple days in a row. And some nights might be missing on a points stay. You'll see cash nights available on Disney Reservation Center, but those are not available for points. And since usually those you see on DRC are what DVC is using to recover the costs of a member's cruise or other non-DVC trip (the member traded points for a non-DVC stay). You can't use those points twice. Rooms are left vacant and not turned over for points.

At 60 days out, any available inventory is usually turned over to DRC to sell for cash. They might bring those back if someone wants a points stay, but not always.

Hotels might need to offer a sale to get guests to stay. But DVC could stay empty and they still get money via Annual Member Fees.

 

[supersnoop]

DVC is a timeshare. It's not like a hotel where they build to support the peak times. They sell the entire property to be full 98% of the time. So, every empty room is an owner who's losing their points that year. How many owners do you think are willing to lose their points?

 

[MikeyNS]

It can be tricky, but not necessarily impossible. I remember one trip where we were staying in a studio and were walking around DTD discussing how we would like to move up to a 1BR. I walked over the the payphone and called member services, asked if there was room available at our resort (SSR, so I didn't think it would be a problem), and there was. Walked back to the resort and checked in to our 1BR and moved our stuff out of the studio, all within an hour.

 

[rlovew]

It can happen and is much easier to find between Jan and early Sept than the last quarter of the year. You need to be willing to be flexible on room size and resorts and if you want more than a couple of nights possibly be able to do a lot of moving between villas. We did book studio stays at SSR and inn rooms at Vero beach the week before memorial day at less than a week out when we suddenly needed to be out of our house for tile to be laid down.

 

[Physics Guy]

Been stalking availability and this morning just grabbed a 1BR at BCV for this coming Wednesday night (there was also a studio available at the time I called). There has been availability at SSR and OKW throughout the coming weeks as well.

 

[ziravan]

We decided to take a last min Aug trip. I've been stalking the RAT (resort avail tool) for a week now.

I've pieced together 2 nights at OKW 1BR Hospitality House, 2 nights at BCV studio, and 2 nights at AKV Savanna studio.

Lots of hopping, but 2 days at SAB, so we're happy. Still stalking the RAT for something better, but happy.

 

[Lakegirl]

It can be done but as others have said, it may take work, stalking the website and not always getting what you want.

 

[DVC Mike]

I think SSR is usually available outside of peak usage periods.

 

[spiceycat]

okw, ssr and akv - the 3 biggest dvc resort at wdw will sometimes be available - now getting one night at the other places do happen - actually a lot. but unless you live in Florida fairly close - last minute trips are hard.

there was one day at GFV and 5 days at SSR - for August, 2015 - of course it takes time and patience - you can't trust the boards to see these - they are generally last minute cancelations. so you need to do it yourself. got a Polyn for sept earlier in July - it was on the date of MSSHP.

so it is possible - but it is also hard and most times if you want a certain resort or a certain day - forget it - do the 11th month thing then change if you can

 

[melissafox18]

We booked just over 60 days out and the only full availability was at SSR, so we booked it. I stalked and stalked and found all but one night at BWV (1BR standard view) and waitlisted the last night - a Saturday. In less than a week, we had our complete stay. I know it was a huge chance on our part and it could have ended up as 3 separate stays but we ended up in our preferred resort in a very tight turnaround. That being said we're not staying during a super popular time: Right after Labor Day before F&W.