2 BDRM Villas availability question from a Newbie

[DonkeyHoTay]

Greetings! Just signed my new/direct contracts today and already have questions for this forum!

I bought 1,100 points because I expect a lot of my frequent stays (we're local in south Florida) will necessitate larger accommodations for our family of 6 (plus 2 small 20lb dogs whenever we can bring them). So, my theory is the 2 bedroom villas will be more available to book (can be flexible with WDW resort location) than the studio room options, which I assume will always be in highest demand. Thus, I will have more options (generally speaking) when it comes to finding reservations (even last minute?) larger accommodations that sleep at least 6. If you have comments on this theory, they would be appreciated!

Incidentally, a main draw for us are the Ft Wilderness cabins (newly renovated?) so we expect to stay there most often with the dogs in tow!

Maybe instead of 2 bedroom villas (or whichever similar product will accommodate 6) I should look for multiple studios reasonably close together?

Very glad to be part of this forum, and so very glad to be part of DVC after 45 years of visiting Disney.

Thanks for reading this!

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Greetings! Just signed my new/direct contracts today and already have questions for this forum!

I bought 1,100 points because I expect a lot of my frequent stays (we're local in south Florida) will necessitate larger accommodations for our family of 6 (plus 2 small 20lb dogs whenever we can bring them). So, my theory is the 2 bedroom villas will be more available to book (can be flexible with WDW resort location) than the studio room options, which I assume will always be in highest demand. Thus, I will have more options (generally speaking) when it comes to finding reservations (even last minute?) larger accommodations that sleep at least 6. If you have comments on this theory, they would be appreciated!

Incidentally, a main draw for us are the Ft Wilderness cabins (newly renovated?) so we expect to stay there most often with the dogs in tow!

Maybe instead of 2 bedroom villas (or whichever similar product will accommodate 6) I should look for multiple studios reasonably close together?

Very glad to be part of this forum, and so very glad to be part of DVC after 45 years of visiting Disney.

Thanks for reading this!

Wow welcome home! And what an entrance! You’ve just joined and you’re already a member of the 1000 point club, well done! What is your home resort(s)??

2 bedrooms usually have a bit more availability than studios but they’re quickly the next room type to book up, especially standard view because the point charts aren’t so much more in comparison to the 1bdrm and they fit more people unlike a 1bdrm which usually sleeps the same as a studio (and in some cases even less than a studio).

Since you’re a Florida local, will you be using your points more last minute or do you think you’ll plan most of your trips within the home resort priority window? If the former, your best bet will likely be try for a 2bdrm (resorts like Saratoga, Old Key West and Animal Kingdom will have more availability in those categories) and if not you might have more success with 2-1bdrms since 1bdrms are usually the last room type to go. If you tend to plan a bit more ahead, you should have no problem booking a 2 bdrm in your home resort and then attempting to switch into other resorts at the 7mo mark.

The cabins will be pretty available outside of the fall/holiday season and since they sleep 6 and currently can have up to 2 dogs, that would be probably the most ideal for you. And honestly, with how good those point charts are, you could even book 2 cabins for more room and still come in with less points used than many 2bdrms require.

Have so much fun planning and playing with your new membership! Being a DVC member has really changed how we do Disney for the better in every way and even though you’re clearly a WDW veteran, I know it will add so much more magic to your trips now, too.

 

[DonkeyHoTay]

Wow welcome home! And what an entrance! You’ve just joined and you’re already a member of the 1000 point club, well done! What is your home resort(s)??

2 bedrooms usually have a bit more availability than studios but they’re quickly the next room type to book up, especially standard view because the point charts aren’t so much more in comparison to the 1bdrm and they fit more people unlike a 1bdrm which usually sleeps the same as a studio (and in some cases even less than a studio).

Since you’re a Florida local, will you be using your points more last minute or do you think you’ll plan most of your trips within the home resort priority window? If the former, your best bet will likely be try for a 2bdrm (resorts like Saratoga, Old Key West and Animal Kingdom will have more availability in those categories) and if not you might have more success with 2-1bdrms since 1bdrms are usually the last room type to go. If you tend to plan a bit more ahead, you should have no problem booking a 2 bdrm in your home resort and then attempting to switch into other resorts at the 7mo mark.

The cabins will be pretty available outside of the fall/holiday season and since they sleep 6 and currently can have up to 2 dogs, that would be probably the most ideal for you. And honestly, with how good those point charts are, you could even book 2 cabins for more room and still come in with less points used than many 2bdrms require.

Have so much fun planning and playing with your new membership! Being a DVC member has really changed how we do Disney for the better in every way and even though you’re clearly a WDW veteran, I know it will add so much more magic to your trips now, too.

We bought OKW because of, what seems to me, amazing incentives on new points.

We think we'll have a mix of pre-planned and last minute, but our proximity allows for flexibility no matter what.

Very interesting observations on the 2 bdrms booking fast AND that the 1 bdrms are the last to go... excellent insight!!!!

I understand the cabins are not for everyone, but they sure are for us! Crazy lucky that our preferred destination also has attractively low point requirements.

I feel so blessed to finally be part of DVC - it already feels magical and we only just signed the deed today!

Thanks so much for your detailed reply and sharing your valuable insight!!!!!

 

[bobbiwoz]

@DonkeyHoTay, Welcome Home! I hope you sometimes plan a GV. Those OKW point charts are wonderful!

 

[crisi]

BWV two bedrooms are all lockoffs, so when studios are gone, two bedrooms are gone. That means that two bedroom availability at BWV at the seven month window goes fairly quickly - since the studios all disappear.

The dogs can't stay at the DVC resorts (other than, IIRC the Ft. Wilderness cabins), which it sounds like you do understand, but just in case.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

We bought OKW because of, what seems to me, amazing incentives on new points.

We think we'll have a mix of pre-planned and last minute, but our proximity allows for flexibility no matter what.

Very interesting observations on the 2 bdrms booking fast AND that the 1 bdrms are the last to go... excellent insight!!!!

I understand the cabins are not for everyone, but they sure are for us! Crazy lucky that our preferred destination also has attractively low point requirements.

I feel so blessed to finally be part of DVC - it already feels magical and we only just signed the deed today!

Thanks so much for your detailed reply and sharing your valuable insight!!!!!

Nice! You got one heck of a deal for direct points! I’m SO tempted by the OKW offer right now I’ve talked to my guide twice about it lol but we’re still holding out for more RIV and Poly points (I will probably regret not jumping on this offer though lol)

Truthfully, if you can be flexible, you can really make these points work for you in the best way, even for last minute trips. And it seems like you can be being local. It’s gonna be fun!

The thing with 2bdrms is that they’re only slightly more points (relatively speaking) than 1bdrms but sleep nearly double the people so anyone traveling with more than 4-5 need to jump up to a 2bdrm and the Grand Villas, while amazing, are often out of reach since they’re really point heavy so for many 2bdrms are the only option. You’ll still be able to snag some at the 7mo mark in some of the resorts but mostly in the preferred view category, which luckily you have enough points to work with that.

And I think cabins are really cool and it’s super lucky they’re the ideal room for you guys, you’ll really be able to maximize your points there. And I know some don’t love the idea of having the bunk beds in the main bedroom but (assuming your family breakdown is 4 kids + parents) you can have all 4 kids in the bedroom and mom and dad can sleep on the Murphy bed in the living room so you have your privacy and are closer to the bathroom…or again, get 2 cabins and spread out-you’ve got the points!

 

[NVDISFamily]

I bought 1,100 points

Congratulations and welcome home!

Sorry if this was already mentioned or asked in another spot. If you purchased one large contract and you are still in your cooling off period I would very much hope/recommend you split that out into a bunch of smaller contracts. Would help in adjusting in the future if you ever need to right size anything. Hopefully your guide was looking out for you and already had you do this or you had done your homework on here and knew that already. Please ignore if so....

For an answer to your question. With your pool of points you likely will have no problem finding at least a few good options in all but the craziest seasons. You should even be able to stalk and find some rooms at hard to find spots like the Grand Cal and Beach Club if you work the system at 7 months. Only a few one off rooms like AKV Value and Club level 2 BRs may be hard. I've gotten lucky and been able to swap into Beach Club and VGC at 7 months with non home-resort points. Sadly with Beach Club I needed two rooms so that was a bit harder but at least I got one. Other resorts have good options for at least a few days at 7 months but you should move quick. I'm usually going in Summer time (late June/July).

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Just to emphasize in case you are within a period to cancel, the only DVC units in which you may bring your dogs is Ft. Wilderness.

Dogs are against the DVC site rules in contract.

 

[DonkeyHoTay]

... If you purchased one large contract and you are still in your cooling off period I would very much hope/recommend you split that out into a bunch of smaller contracts. Would help in adjusting in the future if you ever need to right size anything. Hopefully your guide was looking out for you and already had you do this or you had done your homework on here and knew that already. Please ignore if so....

Great recommendation and one I had not thought of until the Guide suggested it during the process. With four kids, we wanted ease of options on gifting the contracts and multiple contracts (250/250/250/250/100) would facilitate disposition in the future. Also, if circumstances change in the future I have to wonder how marketable a gigantic 1100 point contract at OKW will be on the resale market instead of 5 smaller ones?

 

[DonkeyHoTay]

Just to emphasize in case you are within a period to cancel, the only DVC units in which you may bring your dogs is Ft. Wilderness.

Dogs are against the DVC site rules in contract.

Yep - guides were very clear about that going in. Perfect synergy for us because we really like Ft. Wilderness as a resort.

 

[CarolynFH]

Also, if circumstances change in the future I have to wonder how marketable a gigantic 1100 point contract at OKW will be on the resale market instead of 5 smaller ones?

An 1100 point contract will be much harder to sell than 5 smaller ones. 250-point contracts will actually linger a little longer than 100 point contracts. Look at it from the prospect of the buyer having to come up with many more thousands of dollars at one time to buy 1100 points than to buy 250 points. The other benefit to splitting your purchase into multiple smaller contracts is that you can sell just one or two contracts if you need to, rather than having to put all 1100 points on the market at the same time. We have two 150-point contracts, and it's possible we might want to sell one of them since we don't need as many points now that we're empty nesters.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Great recommendation and one I had not thought of until the Guide suggested it during the process. With four kids, we wanted ease of options on gifting the contracts and multiple contracts (250/250/250/250/100) would facilitate disposition in the future. Also, if circumstances change in the future I have to wonder how marketable a gigantic 1100 point contract at OKW will be on the resale market instead of 5 smaller ones?

Smart move!

 

[DonkeyHoTay]

An 1100 point contract will be much harder to sell than 5 smaller ones. 250-point contracts will actually linger a little longer than 100 point contracts. Look at it from the prospect of the buyer having to come up with many more thousands of dollars at one time to buy 1100 points than to buy 250 points. The other benefit to splitting your purchase into multiple smaller contracts is that you can sell just one or two contracts if you need to, rather than having to put all 1100 points on the market at the same time. We have two 150-point contracts, and it's possible we might want to sell one of them since we don't need as many points now that we're empty nesters.

Agreed - it's one more reason I was happy to split the contracts into 5. In retrospect, I could have just bought 11 contracts at 100pts each too, but at some point the incremental closing costs for multiple contracts does add up.

 

[CarolynFH]

Agreed - it's one more reason I was happy to split the contracts into 5. In retrospect, I could have just bought 11 contracts at 100pts each too, but at some point the incremental closing costs for multiple contracts does add up.

Oh yes indeed, 5 contracts makes much more sense than 11!

 

[CastAStone]

Maybe instead of 2 bedroom villas (or whichever similar product will accommodate 6) I should look for multiple studios reasonably close together?

If you book 2 studios they will typically only be proximate to each other by random chance. DVC isn’t particularly good about accommodating “near each other” requests.

 

[NVDISFamily]

Great recommendation and one I had not thought of until the Guide suggested it during the process. With four kids, we wanted ease of options on gifting the contracts and multiple contracts (250/250/250/250/100) would facilitate disposition in the future. Also, if circumstances change in the future I have to wonder how marketable a gigantic 1100 point contract at OKW will be on the resale market instead of 5 smaller ones?

Awesome. I'm glad your guide took care of you with that. Although I'm sure you like me hope to hold on to these points for a long time it's just better to have that flexibility if you need it.

I'd also invite you to come and share your story of joining the 4 digit (1,000 point+) club here (https://www.disboards.com/threads/dvc-1-000-point-club-2024.3940252/) if you feel like doing so

 

[crisi]

If you book 2 studios they will typically only be proximate to each other by random chance. DVC isn’t particularly good about accommodating “near each other” requests.

And this is something else to be aware of if you are still in the "rescind" period. Some people - maybe you, maybe not - have high expectations for what DVC is. Its a timeshare. Rooms are not cleaned every day. They get pretty worn between refreshes. You don't always (or in my case almost never) get your requests - including rooms close to one another, room requests, location requests and view requests. Availability can be spotty - especially popular resorts at popular times (studios do go first fairly universally - but you have to be lucky to snag ANY room at the Grand Californian seven months out - and not surprisingly - a LOT of members like the Epcot resorts over F&W, even one bedrooms go quick). There are not club level rooms - except a handful which are nearly impossible to get. Rollaway beds are not available. DVC members seldom get great discounts (i.e. Free Dining isn't a DVC thing). And a lot of members feel that once Disney has your (significant amount of) money, they really stop caring about making it magical for you. To Disney, DVC is a business, and a lot of people really find that out when they become members.

Go in with your eyes open and DVC can be a delightful, value filled, proposition. Go in expecting it to be what it isn't and you can end up bitter.