a few questions...

[1911]

first is about booking a reservation,do you need all the points required for the reservation at the time of booking or by some later date? (ie: the points will hit your account when your use use year comes around after the booking but before travel)

the second...
we travel typically in the summer (june,july,aug) do to school but we are also at the mercy of my wifes schedule.she never knows when her vacation time will be for the next year until october or november and then has to "bid" for the dates she wants or what are left after the higher seniority/rank have picked.some times she has to take may or september also.
obviously we cant realistically book at the 11 month window.How hard would it be to score a studio for a week @ 6-9 months out? I understand this is highly dependent on what resort we want to call home or stay at.
I'm just looking for generalities at this point as I am trying to factor every thing into my decision if ownership is right for us.

 

[Smilelea]

1) Points must be available for when the stay is to occur. When you actually make the booking is irrelevant as far as this goes.

2) As you said, very dependent on both where and when. Your summer dates are considered DVC low season so you will have better selection then than say the last 3 months of the year. You would typically have some success with the bigger resorts; SSR, OKW, AKV. Smaller resorts and higher demand studios would be far less likely. You would have to get lucky to get BWV standard, BLT Standard, AKV Club, for example.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

For your first question, I will give you an example. My “use year” is June. That means on June 1st of each year, I get access to my points for that year. So, Lets assume that today [July 25, 2018] I want to book at my home resort for June 25, 2019. Let’s also assume I have used up all my points for this year. I can still go ahead and book my reservation today for my stay eleven months away because the travel date is after June 1, 2019 when my new points are allocated even though I don’t have any points available to me at this time. As long as my travel date is June 1, 2019 or later, I have access to the next years points. Oh goodness…I hope I am explaining this clearly.


As for the second question, booking at OKW and SSR and AKV is usually not too hard on short notice. There are peak times like the fall [because Food and Wine Festival, Mickeys not So Scary Halloween Party] and Christmas, dates around marathons and the weeks surrounding Easter where it can be hard to book. One thing we like to do when we are not certain of our dates is book when we think we can go. Then, if it does not work out, you can cancel 31+ days in advance with no penalty. Just remember if you borrow points to make a booking, they remain in that use year that you brought them into when you borrowed.

We have found that BW, BC, BLT, POLY and GF can be harder to book on short notice [not impossible, but harder]

**edited typos for clarity....

 

[BillPA]

As noted, you need the points WHEN the trip starts, not when you book. Be sure to BANK any points from this year into next year if you need to use them for that trip. Also banking is NOT reversible, once banked or borrowed, the points must remain in the 'new' UY.
Summer is NOT an extremely high demand time for DVC.

Check this link for the trend of what is available:
https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...rooms-june-2018-update.3689931/#post-59393366

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

I love that with DVC you can "bank "points you did not use into the next year to use them later.....or.....you can borrow from the next year if you need to use them now.....it adds to the flexibility of the program. As for us, we are ALWAYS borrowing....lol!!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would add, if you are regularly potentially booking inside 7 months, you should steer away from buying retail points and strongly, strongly consider resale. Retail at CCV is to pay a premium for a home resort priority you (seemingly) will rarely get to use, and paying for the most expensive points to not use home resort, and generally stay at OKW, SSR or AKV (all of which can be had for significant savings on the secondary market) is not a good value.

 

[1911]

I would add, if you are regularly potentially booking inside 7 months, you should steer away from buying retail points and strongly, strongly consider resale. Retail at CCV is to pay a premium for a home resort priority you (seemingly) will rarely get to use, and paying for the most expensive points to not use home resort, and generally stay at OKW, SSR or AKV (all of which can be had for significant savings on the secondary market) is not a good value.

exactly my thoughts, home resort advantage while nice does not look possible for my situation at present. it also looks like I would be potentially walking my reservation every year based on availability.this would narrow my field of choices in my mind financially to buy one the 3 you mentioned.
I have no problem with staying at any dvc resort.

 

[disneynutz]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 or before 7 months.
Buy resale if you can.
If you buy additional contracts, keep the same UY and names on deeds.
After buying resale, if you intend to buy a small direct contract for the perks, buy now before the minimum increases.
DVD/DVC marketing can change the perks at any time.
Perks and policies tend to change when management changes and DVD/DVC upper management just changed.
Expect to spend more on Disney vacations after you buy DVC.

Points can only be banked during the first 8 months of your UY. Your UY is not a calendar year. Points need to be available during the dates of your stay, not when you make the reservation. Banking moves points one UY forward, borrowing moves points one UY back. Banking and borrowing are final transactions and can not be reversed.

Bill

 

[southerngirl528]

For your first question, I will give you an example. My “use year” is June. That means on June 1st of each year, I get access to my points for that year. So, Lets assume that today [July 25, 2018] I want to book at my home resort for June 25, 2019. Let’s also assume I have used up all my points for this year. I can still go ahead and book my reservation today for my stay eleven months away because the travel date is after June 1, 2019 when my new points are allocated even though I don’t have any points available to me at this time. As long as my travel date is June 1, 2019 or later, I have access to the next years points. Oh goodness…I hope I am explaining this clearly.


As for the second question, booking at OKW and SSR and AKV is usually not too hard on short notice. There are peak times like the fall [because Food and Wine Festival, Mickeys not So Scary Halloween Party] and Christmas, dates around marathons and the weeks surrounding Easter where it can be hard to book. Once things we like to do when we are not certain of our dates is book when we think we can go. Then, if it does not work out, you can cancel 31+ days in advance with no penalty. Just remember if you borrow points to make a booking, they remain in that use year that you brought them into when you borrowed.

Very good explanation of the OP's questions, IMO. I especially agree with the 2nd paragraph about "book when (we) THINK (we) can go". That is VERY good advice. The only caveat I have on that is not to borrow points to do this if you are not certain you will either travel those dates, or would do other dates in the SAME use year, as borrowing is a very final transaction.

 

[mustinjourney]

one thing you could also do is book a week, during your home priority window, when you think she'll be able to get off from work. If it works, bonus. If it doesn't, no big deal. You just cancel the reservation and then book whatever you need.

 

[1911]

how are room requests handled? do you stand a better chance of getting it than the rack rate side which is a crap shoot? we have been 4 times and never even gotten close to our request.

 

[disneynutz]

how are room requests handled? do you stand a better chance of getting it than the rack rate side which is a crap shoot? we have been 4 times and never even gotten close to our request.

The room assigner at the resort fills requests. DVC or cash are done by the same person.

Bill

 

[1911]

thank you Bill, It's good to know to not have any more expectations than the cash side of things.

 

[BillPA]

requests are requests, no guarantee and not likely you will get what you want. Everyone requests for the best location or view, so 90%+ will not get what they want.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Simple requests are easier than multiple, complicated requests. High floor, low floor type requests.

 

[1911]

are you able to put a minor on the deed? if I buy I would like to put my daughter on it.
what are the rules regarding transfering points? I know you can only transfer out one time per year, but how about transferring points in?

 

[Disney_Alli]

are you able to put a minor on the deed? if I buy I would like to put my daughter on it.
what are the rules regarding transfering points? I know you can only transfer out one time per year, but how about transferring points in?

You can only transfer ONCE per use year either in OR out - not both.

 

[Deb & Bill]

are you able to put a minor on the deed? if I buy I would like to put my daughter on it.
what are the rules regarding transfering points? I know you can only transfer out one time per year, but how about transferring points in?

You really don't want to put a minor on the deed even if they did let you. I don't believe they will allow it.

If she needs to apply for any loans, the ownership of the timeshare counts against her. Plus if she gets into financial trouble or other trouble, the timeshare becomes an asset that might need to be sold.

 

[1911]

You really don't want to put a minor on the deed even if they did let you. I don't believe they will allow it.

If she needs to apply for any loans, the ownership of the timeshare counts against her. Plus if she gets into financial trouble or other trouble, the timeshare becomes an asset that might need to be sold.

thank you for the reply, I was wondering how she could take ownership of it if she wanted to in case of ...

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You cannot put a minor on the deed. Minors cannot sign contracts or agreements.