I was able to piece together our Christmas trip at the 7 month window. I booked what I could then wait listed the rest. The extra nights came through in July. I'm still paying cash for 12/25 and 12/31 but I gave up those wait lists as other nights filled in and I ran out of points. I never bothered to check to see if those nights ever became available on points but we wanted views with lesser points. The ocean view rooms were available when I booked.