Are we the ONLY ones who book at 1-2 months?

[JGR]

My family could never plan a vacation 11 months out...it is just not in me. I have a hard time with 7 months...
We usually book our WDW vacations at 6 weeks - and believe it or not - we usually get sort of what we wanted. We have stayed at BCV the last four trips and my husband and I just booked BWV during food and wine. I am not sure why - but, at 11 months out there is just no way we could plan it. Our meetings and kids and schools...it just seems crazy to plan that far in advance for us. If we end up at OKW WE LOVE IT...we like SSR too our home resort. But, BCV has our heart and we usually stay there even at 1-2 months.

 

[Melynny]

Well, we do both. And it works pretty good for us. We plan some and some we do last minute. I'll even call and just say "what do you have for the 2nd week in October.. studio..?" We won't even have anything in mind and we just take what the reps offer up first. I know, it sounds kind of strange, we love all the resorts and usually it's somewhere different than we have stayed the last time.

If I know that there is a special time that I want to travel, which is usually around thanksgiving and Christmas, then I make reservations in advance, but usually not 11 months. And I have also been known to call on my arrival day and do a big switch... I really do love the flexibility of DVC. It fits in nicely with many different travel styles.

 

[vicki_c]

Well if you "just" booked BWV for Food and Wine, I'd say you are very lucky. I tried to get 3 nights @ ANY DVC (studio or 1 BR) for 10/31-11/2 and there was no available anywhere for those 3 nights.

We book our trips @ 11 months out whenever possible.

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

We book at 11 months and I love the planning that goes along with it. It's fun to try and change the reservation at 7 months too. I like the anticipation of vacation.

 

[ShuisFan584]

I've never booked at 11 months out and I don't even think I've ever booked at exactly 7 months out. I have booked plenty of our vacations close to 7 months out. But I did book one of our vacations at less than 2 months out and we were lucky to get a studio at VWL with no problem.

 

[JGR]

Maybe someone had cancelled at BWV right before I called and it had not matched up with a waitlist. I would say that was pure luck....

 

[Granny]

Are we the ONLY ones who book at 1-2 months?

We have had problems booking what we want with less than a four month lead time. We generally don't want SSR or OKW as a first choice so obviously that narrows the playing field considerably.

We are currently waitlisted for 3 nights in early January...could only get SSR when we called in August. And we haven't had any luck with waitlists yet.

I think if you are okay with any DVC resort, you will often be okay with relatively short notice reservations (aside from the big peak seasons like Christmas week).

I'm glad you have been happy with your results and wish you continued success with your late bookings.

 

[dizmom2mwjk]

We have a family of 6 and live in a smaller community...airfare is extremely expensive, so we fly on frequent flier miles...that means we have to book our flights close to a year in advance if we are going to get 6 FF seats on the same flight....also less options for rooms...can't stay in a studio or 1BR, wether we are using DVC (we are not members, but my BIL is or sometimes we rent pts.) or staying in regular rooms (usually have to get a suite at a deluxe to accommodate our family).

The only time I have been able to book less than 7 months in advance was a mother/daughter only trip and we stayed at PopMo and were rarely in the room anyway, so it didn't really matter! I think I booked 2 mos. in advance... And we had a BLAST!!!

 

[bgraham34]

So of my trips so far have been 1-2 months out. I did have to waitlist for a day on them though.

 

[marycoajou]

We have always booked 7 months or more in advance. It's great that you have been able to get what you are looking for so close to your trip.

 

[JLitfin]

I'm a 11 month planner, always reserve our DVC at the 11 month period, until this upcoming trip.

This was a first for me, I had our trip all planned, reserved our DVC at BLT at the 11 month period, airlines booked on SW, car rental reserved and a couple of APRs.

The other day we found out that our son's college baseball team will be in Orlando over Presidents weekend, a couple of weeks after our trip is complete. We decided to change everything so we can be in Orlando at the same time and to support his team. Yesterday I cancelled our whole trip and rebooked for the new dates. I could only get BLT for the first 5 nights (didn't have all 8 nights available) and then we'll go off site for the last 3 nights of our trip. Which is fine since we'll be attending baseball games instead of going into the parks. I was so glad we booked our flights on SW, it was so easy to change our flights for the new dates without any additional fees. The only problem, I can't find a car for about the same price as the one I booked for the January trip, plus I couldn't get LeCellier APR for dinner, but did reserve for lunch.

DVC is wonderful that way, it was so easy to rebook the whole trip, so we can be in Orlando at the same time as our son's team.

 

[Disneywedding2010]

I book at 11 months out mainly because it gives me time to get everything else planned at a leisurely pace. If I were to book any sooner then that I'd be pulling my hair out. The only exception to this rule of mine is the trip I just booked today (7 months and a few weeks) from our arrival date in May. This is only because we couldn't decide if we wanted to stay at our home resort or another DVC. Originally, we were going to stay at BCV but yesterday I completely changed my mind and decided we'd just stay at BLT (home resort).

I just got off the phone with MS and I was able to get the dates I wanted except the first night. So in a few weeks at the 7 month window I will call and make that 1st night at BCV.

 

[JWG]

Your booking needs probably play into the "3rd" best time to book. 1st) 11-month home resort 2) 7-month window open opportunity 3) on the back of cancellations

You appear to try and book right when reservations need to be canceled without losing points or having points "locked down" in holding. You may have been lucky to have swooped in and taken advantage of that.

BCV at the 30-60 day mark is unique. We've never been successful trying to get in there. Though, to be fair, haven't tried more than a handful of times.

 

[princessbride6205]

I've actually been feeling frustrated the past few days and wondering if DVC and our jobs were a good fit. Recently our busy season at work has stretched to be nearly the whole year (DH and I work for the same company). January used to be a safe bet as a slow time, but even that took until yesterday to be approved by our bosses. We've also ended up with more short-term projects and shifting schedules on long term projects, along with fewer staff...you get the idea.
At 4 months in advance, we tried to book our October trip at any studio for 4 nights and couldn't get anything (well, got 2 of the nights at OKW and wait list for others never came through). Yesterday I tried to book at 3.5 months out for our January trip - wanted any studio except SSR for Jan 9-16th. Nights were available but nothing for all 7 nights. We are not split stay people (we keep trying it and every time say never again), so I was bummed.

Luckily both these trips are a go. We booked October on an AP rate at a moderate and did some creative booking to stay at AKV for the whole January week (1st night Kidani, next 5 nights Jambo, last night Jambo on cash). If our waitlist for the first night comes through, we will have the exact reservation I wanted all along, so I guess things aren't so bad.

I'll just keep my fingers crossed that we can continue to book something and be able to use and enjoy DVC.

 

[Disneywedding2010]

I also was going to add (forgot to earlier) that the other reason I don't wait down to the wire to book is because although I like OKW and SSR I don't want those to be my only options. I like to change things up every time we go and I try not to go to the same resort twice in a given 12 to 18 months. Also like another PP stated I don't like split stays either. I'd like to stay in spot and enjoy my vacation and not have to worry about moving every few days or what have you.

 

[JGR]

Thanks for all of the information...from the looks of things - I have been lucky. I bet I am getting in on the cancellation part of the deal and have not even thought about that. I bet my luck will run out sometime and we will not get to go...luck has a way of doing that.