7 month reservations

[saceo17]

Hello everyone,

My family is contemplating the purchase of a DVC contract within this upcoming year. One of our main concerns/questions is the liklihood of receiving a reservation at a "non-home resort" 7 months out? The resorts in question are:

Beach Club, Board Walk, Animal Kingdom, and Wilderness Lodge.

Thank you for your help!!

 

[luvindisneyworld]

Well it is getting harder and harder to get rooms within the 7 month window. I swear we have never had any problems getting rooms before at about 5 months out or less thats not the case anymore. I am seeing them fill up quicker and quicker now and it is getting harder and harder.
So I would say that I would choose to buy whichever resort you will most likely book the most at so you can have the 11 month booking window, especially if you are wanting BCV or VWL.
Now if you dont travel at the busy times of year then you might be okay but I wouldnt bet on it though.

 

[DVC Mike]

One of our main concerns/questions is the liklihood of receiving a reservation at a "non-home resort" 7 months out? The resorts in question are:

Beach Club, Board Walk, Animal Kingdom, and Wilderness Lodge.

One common phrase you'll hear many DVC members repeat is "Buy Where You Want to Stay". As DVC expands beyond WDW, it will become increasingly difficult for non-owners to book high-demand WDW resorts such as Beach Club Villas.

If you really love a particular resort, then buy into it. There are some people who have a particular fondness for a resort and really want to stay at that particular resort, and they would be unhappy if they were not able to book there. These folks should buy where they want to stay, provided that they can reliably plan and book to take advantage of the 11-month home resort booking advantage.

 

[abner1776]

From your question, I can naturally assume that you are probably buying at SSR and the reason why it is becoming so difficult to book non-home resorts at the 7 month window...is SSR.

This is not a knock on SSR..it's just a fact...SSR is far larger than the other resorts and while a nice resort, owners at SSR want to stay at other smaller more intimate resorts like VWL and BCV especially at the holidays and school vacation weeks. The larger number of SSR owners just makes it that much more difficult to book the smaller resorts at the 7 month window but it depends upon when you want to stay at the other resorts. I own at VWL and have had no problems booking a studio at BCV or BWV at the 7 month window but maybe I was just lucky.

SSR is still not sold out so until SSR is sold out the problem is not going to get better...it's only going to get worse.

 

[crisi]

I think the question is bigger than what you are asking.

For instance, if you are looking for a BWV Grand Villa on New Years Eve, owning BWV and calling on Feburary 1st is absolutely necessary.

If you want "any old room at BWV" - don't care if its preferred view and a studio or one bedroom would both wor?k and are calling six and a half months out and going "sometime in the summer" with some flexibility in dates - you'll probably be able to get in sometime.

If you call at four months, not really caring where you stay, you never know - sometimes you'll be offered a Boardwalk Standard View room - rarely, but it isn't unheard of.

It will be less of a problem if you are willing to wait list than if you aren't. It will be less of a problem if you are flexible. It will be less of a problem if you are willing to call day by day at seven months than if you wait three weeks to make one phone call.

So no one can say "it will definately be a problem" or "it won't be a problem" and any guesses on how much of a problem it will be has many variables.

 

[Coach Rick]

All very valid advice here, but I will add my .02c.

As soon as 2 years ago we had absolutely no problem booking anywhere at 7 months, or even less. One year we booked at VWL at Thanksgiving in August, and got a studio without issue. This year, if it had not been that we bought an additional contract at AKV we would have been shut out from any resort at for the same time period. And I started calling in April. As mentioned the AKV save us as we could book there before non AKV owners could. So as most here have already said, buy where you want to stay, but if you don't care, which quite frankly, ANYWHERE in DVC is far better than just about anywhere else, then go for it.

BTW, I recently booked 4th of July about 2 months ago, and although I could only get into SSR, I did get in for what is generally a very busy time. So SSR with it's size may have caused some issues, but it has also solved some too.

 

[DVC 1998]

We own at Boardwalk. Just received our confirm for a dedicated 2 bedroom Aug 10-19 at OKW. Were wait listed for HH area. Just came through. Booked trip about 2 weeks ago at five months. Wife makes reservations, never had a real problem getting reservations, occasionally waitlisted at busy times including two Christmas trips, always came through

 

[jaimeadk]

I have two questions along these same lines:

1) We are looking to buy a 225 point contract at AKV directly from Disney. Would it be beneficial to buy a 160 point contract at AKV and then three 25 point contracts (possibly through resale) at perhaps HH, VB, and Wilderness Lodge so that they will also be in our 11-month window if they all have the same UY. Is that how it would work?

Also. . .

2) If you book at your home resort 11 months out to guarantee a trip but would like to try a different resort and at the 7 month mark make that reservation, do you have to have enough points to make both reservations or can they check and see at the 7 month mark if there is availiblity and if so cancel your home resort ressie?
Thanks!

 

[CarolMN]

I have two questions along these same lines:

1) We are looking to buy a 225 point contract at AKV directly from Disney. Would it be beneficial to buy a 160 point contract at AKV and then three 25 point contracts (possibly through resale) at perhaps HH, VB, and Wilderness Lodge so that they will also be in our 11-month window if they all have the same UY. Is that how it would work?

It depends on how you plan to use the 25 point contracts. Only the 25 points can be used to make a reservation before the 7 month window opens at HH, (or VB or VWL). If your vacation is going to take more than that, you'll still have to wait until the 7 month window opens to use your AKV points at HH (or VB or VWL). Some members buy small contracts at another resort and then use banking and borrowing to visit HH (or VB or VWL) every other year or every third year. Takes a little more effort to manage that scenario to avoid losing a few points here an there, but it can be done.

Some posters recommend you buy smaller contracts even if they are all at the same home resort. It gives you flexibility in the event you need to sell some points and for those who want to leave DVC to their children, it's a way to leave whole contracts to each child. (Apparently some people's adult children have trouble sharing, LOL). Also it seems that smaller contracts sell more quickly and bring a premium per point (as compared to larger contracts).

Also. . .

2) If you book at your home resort 11 months out to guarantee a trip but would like to try a different resort and at the 7 month mark make that reservation, do you have to have enough points to make both reservations or can they check and see at the 7 month mark if there is availability and if so cancel your home resort ressie?
Thanks!

Yes, at 7 months you can ask if there is availability for what you want and if the answer is yes, MS can cancel the home resort reservation and book the other resort. This will work with waitlists, too. For example, if you reserved AKV at 11 months and at 7 months called to change to the VWL, but found VWL sold out, you could ask MS to waitlist it for you. MS can set up the waitlist (per your request) to cancel the AKV reservation if the VWL waitlist comes through.

 

[jaimeadk]

Thanks for the info. Didn't know the 25 point contracts can only use the 25 points at that resort 11 months out. Makes sense though.