A frequently asked question

[theoarn]

Hello
I am sure that this has been asked before by many others. But I didn't find the answer exactly. So I will ask it again.
My wife and I are seriously considering a DVC membership but I have 1 hedge.
Because of my occupation and just my nature in general I am normally not able to plan vacations very far in advance. I think the farthest out I have planned a vacation that I was able to make it to was about 5 months but my normal SOP is about 60 to 90 days out. We normally make our trips to DisneyWorld in OCT and JAN
Would I be able to get DVC reservation this close in or should we consider something other than DVC. Also we like staying at a variety of Resorts on Disney.
Thanks
Theo

 

[dvcjim]

Hello
I am sure that this has been asked before by many others. But I didn't find the answer exactly. So I will ask it again.
My wife and I are seriously considering a DVC membership but I have 1 hedge.
Because of my occupation and just my nature in general I am normally not able to plan vacations very far in advance. I think the farthest out I have planned a vacation that I was able to make it to was about 5 months but my normal SOP is about 60 to 90 days out. We normally make our trips to DisneyWorld in OCT and JAN
Would I be able to get DVC reservation this close in or should we consider something other than DVC. Also we like staying at a variety of Resorts on Disney.
Thanks
Theo

IMO DVC will/can work for you. But I wouldn't buy SSR or AKV with plans of booking into VWL/BCV/BWV at 3 mths out.

As DVC continues to build larger resorts that are NOT a 5 min stroll away from the front gate of a park, more and more preasure will be placed on the smaller resorts in better locations.

The people who own BCV/VWL/BWV have in the past waited until 6-7 mths out to make a reservation, and seldom had a problem, unless they were seeking Easter/Christmas/wine , but as DVC becomes more mature and the nature of the new resorts changes, you will see the typical owner of the "little 3" that happen to be the most popular, plan further and further in advance and book trips as often as possible at the 11 mth window.

I never used to make plans until I got to 6-7 mths, I now book at 11 mths out. I got shut out one time by waiting until 7 mths, and it won't happen again.

But like I said, DVC is great, and I think you will love it. Just don't buy SSR or AKL thinking you are gonna call 3 mths out and get into the Beach Club. That will not be the norm as DVC gets bigger and bigger.

Now without all that being said, SSR is a GREAT vactaion spot, a wonderful resort, and staying there 75% of the time for some people is fine, and fits what their goals are with DVC.

I would not buy DVC with plans of trading into other time shares or staying at hotels. IMO that is a very very poor use of $.

 

[Monte Cristo]

But like I said, DVC is great, and I think you will love it. Just don't buy SSR or AKL thinking you are gonna call 3 mths out and get into the Beach Club. That will not be the norm as DVC gets bigger and bigger.

Even if he were a Beach Club Member, at 3 months, his points would be the same as any of the resorts. Meaning, it wouldn't matter if he were Beach Club or VWL, trying to get into Beach Club at the 3 month window home resort doesn't mean anything. Correct?

 

[tiggercrew]

I can't speak personally for the times that you normally travel as I have only been in October once and never in January, but I would think that as long as you are not trying to get into the smaller resorts during the most popular times (like F&W Festival, Spring Break, Christmas, etc.) you would be able to find something. Also, if you are willing to be flexible with where you stay (which it sounds like you would if you are willing to try different resorts) you probably won't have a problem.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[dvcjim]

correct.

He needs to know that if he plans trips at 3 mths out the majority of time he will be hard pressed to obtain bwv/bcv/vwl.

BUT if he is ever able to plan further in advance (job change, gift to someone else,retired) if he expects to stay at the "little 3", he should buy there.

 

[jdvm]

In 15 years of DVC membership. I've NEVER made a reservation more than a couple of months out. I've spent a lot of time on waitlists but I've never had to sleep in the car!!
John

 

[Miz Diz]

I made reservations on Dec 1 and got 2 nights at SSR the week before Xmas. I wanted 4 nights, but SSR only had the first 2 nights avail, but OKW had the last 2 nights available. So you can get last minute requests as well, but may have to switch resorts. I also booked a trip for April 1 in Dec, but could only get OKW for the entire stay. Again - SSR had availability, but not for all the days I wanted.

 

[dvcjim]

In 15 years of DVC membership. I've NEVER made a reservation more than a couple of months out. I've spent a lot of time on waitlists but I've never had to sleep in the car!!
John

how often do you get your first choice of resort and room type?

also do you consider what happened in 1999 a good gauge of what things are like in 2007, now that we have half of the DVC rooms at resorts that are seldom peoples #1 choice?

 

[theoarn]

Those were all good replies. Thank you.
On our (well mine not my wife's) first trip we stayed 2 nights at Grand Floridian in what I believe would be called a Dormer room the and 3 nights at Animal Kingdom. Not because of any scheduling problems but because I wanted to get a chance to experience both lodges. The experience went very well as the Cast of Grand Floridian had our bags transfered to Animal Kingdom during the days while we were visiting the Magic Kingdom.
IF we had to split a stay as a DVC member would or could we get the same service?
Theo

 

[nono]

how often do you get your first choice of resort and room type?

also do you consider what happened in 1999 a good gauge of what things are like in 2007, now that we have half of the DVC rooms at resorts that are seldom peoples #1 choice?

Well, I guess JDVM's and my first choice isn't yours. Good thing, which is why we can get in just a couple months out! (booked in Nov for 3 weeks in Jan). Just got back. Great trip.

 

[DVC Grammy]

Hello
I am sure that this has been asked before by many others. But I didn't find the answer exactly. So I will ask it again.
My wife and I are seriously considering a DVC membership but I have 1 hedge.
Because of my occupation and just my nature in general I am normally not able to plan vacations very far in advance. I think the farthest out I have planned a vacation that I was able to make it to was about 5 months but my normal SOP is about 60 to 90 days out. We normally make our trips to DisneyWorld in OCT and JAN
Would I be able to get DVC reservation this close in or should we consider something other than DVC. Also we like staying at a variety of Resorts on Disney.
Thanks
Theo

Since F & W and January are our "must-do" trips, we generally book them pretty far in advance.......BUT........that's just for securing a reservation only. There have been times where we've called to change resorts, dates, etc. within 6 months. We've even called within a month out to make a separate "emergency reservation"teeth if one of our grown kids or friends want to join us. We haven't had a problem yet, but that's probably due to being flexible with locations and willingness to do "split-stays". We enjoy all the DVCs at WDW and have always been able to get reservations somewhere at those times (fall and January). As long as you don't require specific rooms (standard at BWV, or BWV views, for instance) and are fine with any of the DVC resorts, DVC could easily work for you.

 

[photobob]

I think that your concern is quite legitimate. During times that you can only make reservations 60 days out you may not get exactly what you want so you may have to be willing to take what is available and waitlist for what you want. If that is acceptable to you then I'd say go for it..

 

[dvcjim]

I think that your concern is quite legitimate. During times that you can only make reservations 60 days out you may not get exactly what you want so you may have to be willing to take what is available and waitlist for what you want. If that is acceptable to you then I'd say go for it..

good advice.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Remember, too, that 60 days out DVC turns available booking over to CRO to rent out. That reduces your availability.

 

[Slakk]

how often do you get your first choice of resort and room type?

also do you consider what happened in 1999 a good gauge of what things are like in 2007, now that we have half of the DVC rooms at resorts that are seldom peoples #1 choice?

Exactly where do you get your information? Because you have likes does not mean others agree. Many people enjoy OKW and SSR...My last choice would be BWV so I guess I am not part of your survey.

 

[Lady V]

Exactly where do you get your information? Because you have likes does not mean others agree. Many people enjoy OKW and SSR...My last choice would be BWV so I guess I am not part of your survey.

oh-you missed the survey as well?? well...must have been one heck of a survey!!

 

[Disney Doll]

If you are not hell-bent on staying at any specific resort, generally the times you want to go lend themselves to booking a bit more "last minute".

The Beach Club Villas and the Wilderness Lodge Villas are the smallest of the resorts, so they will fill up more quickly, based on sheer numbers of rooms alone primarily, and secondarily because of the popularity of the 2 locations (Beach Club close to Epcot/MGM and Wilderness Lodge close to the MK). That doesn't necessarily mean they are the "best" resorts. It means they have locations that are popular for some, maybe not so popular for others. Believe it or not, there are folks that don't like the hustle-bustle of that Boardwalk area.

It has been my experience that all of the DVC properties are lovely, and each has their pros and cons. Ultimately though, there really isn't one that is a bad place to stay.

We have owned since 1997, and I have booked DVC as late as 3 weeks before my travel date, and that was in June for Old Key West. In the 9 years we have owned, there was only once when I was not able to book anything at all, and that was during Spring Break time when I was trying to book for my 21 year old nephew and we essentially decided to gift it to him about a month before Spring Break. Hey...we knew it was a longshot and he was just as happy at Pop Century!

I will reiterate my initial responose...as long as where you stay isn't a huge issue to you, so much so that it will make or break your enjoyment of your vacation...then I think you would be safe in assuming that you could buy into the DVC and book the way you need to...on relatively short notice. That being said, I would look into points at OKW via the resale market, because they are uually the least expensive to buy and have the least expensive maintenance fees. OKW rooms are the largest size-wise of all the DVC properties. OKW is it's own entity, not connected to a hotel like BCV, BWV and VWL are. SSR is its own entity as well, but it's room sizes are not as large and the points/maintenance fees are more expensive.

 

[Miz Diz]

The experience went very well as the Cast of Grand Floridian had our bags transfered to Animal Kingdom during the days while we were visiting the Magic Kingdom.
IF we had to split a stay as a DVC member would or could we get the same service?
Theo

When we stayed at SSR in Dec, they would not transfer our luggage to Poly. We just packed up and went to Poly and Poly immediately gave us a room, even though it was 10 am.
I don't know if that is normal that they don't transfer the luggage. I was surprised.
They also would not deliver our luggage to our room on check in unless we were going with them - said they can't go in our room if we were not there.

 

[Boston5602]

When we stayed at SSR in Dec, they would not transfer our luggage to Poly. We just packed up and went to Poly and Poly immediately gave us a room, even though it was 10 am.
I don't know if that is normal that they don't transfer the luggage. I was surprised.

I hope this was a one time thing and not something about to become the norm!!

We mostly never switch resorts , but love having the option too with luggage transfer.