7 month window

[tubtruck]

Much is talked on here about which resort to buy at or is it best to go for the cheapest deal. It obviously depends on the persons date requirements. Myself I always go in the summer between around the 20th July and am always back home by 1st September. I normally look to go to Florida for around 2-3 weeks. Given that my DW is a school teacher this fits in with her work and given that she is only 30 it is a lot of years before we envisage that anything other than this time of year will be suitable for us. A great deal of people talk about how important it is to choose which resort to buy I would agree with this only if you intend to stay at peak times such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, F&W etc. Myself wanting to stay at none peak times I have had no problems booking at the 7 month window into any accomodation that I wanted. I am staying sun-fri of my first week in BWV standard studio, 2nd week sun-fri WL studio and 3rd week sun - thu in BCV studio. None of these reservations were required to be booked on a day to day basis. On each of the weekends I am staying for cash in the Poly as I found a good deal and wanted to be on the Monorail for part of my stay but didnt fancy GF prices again this year and was also able to get better value from my points by doing this. From what I have experienced this year booking, think hard about where you buy, I own at the longest time available resort with the lowest annual dues yet still get to go and stay at the so called hardest to book resorts which are more to buy, more annually to own and have a shorter ownership life than mine.
The key to where to buy is not just where you like staying but also when you want to actually stay there.

 

[crisi]

Although, you have to be careful for long term changes.

When we purchased BWV, Food and Wine started in mid-October. We travel in early October. So we were going at a great time to get BWVs - it was more a September booking pattern than an October booking pattern. Moreover, it was just a great time of year - low crowds. That changed a few years ago, and now our normal pattern is right at the peak of F&W madness.

Now, its possible our long term booking patterns will change (likely in fact - we only have a few more years until the "late August so the kids don't miss school" years). Our resort preference may change as well. So between what Disney will do over 40 years, and what you may do over 40 years, you need to be aware that things are not guarenteed to remain the same.

 

[Christopher5927]

I was interested to read the OP's view on booking at 7 months. It has made me rather less concerned about swapping resorts. We bought into SSR and have two weeks booked in a 1 bedroom August 9 -23. We wanted to change to 8 nights VWL, one night offsite then 5 nights BCV. I called Member Services on January 10th to ask if day by day booking was advisable and I was told definitely, as things were booking up fast. On the 11th I called for the second night at VWL and was told that day by day was not necessary as availabilty looked good at all resorts! Who in Member Services do I believe? At the moment I have 4 nights at VWL. Tomorrow, I will try for another 3 (As Member Services were shut Sunday and today) and then try for the final night on Wednesday! Then, next week I will try to get 5 night BCV. Now - any advice out there - do I book day by day, or at the end of the 5 days!!! I agree that it can take up a lot of time with member services, but I would like to get what I wanted. I would be interested to hear other people's views on this.

 

[crisi]

I was interested to read the OP's view on booking at 7 months. It has made me rather less concerned about swapping resorts. We bought into SSR and have two weeks booked in a 1 bedroom August 9 -23. We wanted to change to 8 nights VWL, one night offsite then 5 nights BCV. I called Member Services on January 10th to ask if day by day booking was advisable and I was told definitely, as things were booking up fast. On the 11th I called for the second night at VWL and was told that day by day was not necessary as availabilty looked good at all resorts! Who in Member Services do I believe? At the moment I have 4 nights at VWL. Tomorrow, I will try for another 3 (As Member Services were shut Sunday and today) and then try for the final night on Wednesday! Then, next week I will try to get 5 night BCV. Now - any advice out there - do I book day by day, or at the end of the 5 days!!! I agree that it can take up a lot of time with member services, but I would like to get what I wanted. I would be interested to hear other people's views on this.

My advice is to weigh the bother against the stress. Chances are good that if you get on the waitlist, whatever you want will free up before your trip - but that if you want the optimal spot on the waitlist, or less chance of ending up there, day by day is preferable.

 

[disgirl]

In about little over a week I will be trying to get a BCV studio for a few days end of Aug. and a 1 bedroom for a few days also end of Aug. I am hoping we will be ok. In 2003 and 2005 we got studios at the BCV at exactly 7 months with no problems and last year we got a 1 bedroom at BCV (4th of July week) with no problem, so I am hoping (fingers crossed) we will have no problem again this summer. Oh, we did not call day by day and was not planning on it this summer either. I hope I am doing the correct thing.

Christopher, good luck with your plans. Based on my past experiences I would say no you do not have to book BCV day by day for August, especially since it seems that your dates will be around the 18-23, if I am understanding your plans correctly. Many schools will be back in session at that point so I think this would help with availability. JMHO based on my past experiences, but with so many more members joing each year, I guess things could change. Good Luck with whatever you decide.

 

[Inkmahm]

The OP has a point. You need to look at your own travel patterns to know if purchasing a given resort is important or not. Personally, wild horses couldn't drag me to Florida in June -August because of the HEAT. I own where I do because I travel in the spring and in early December. For me, it was worth buying VWL and BWV as that is where we love to stay.