Availability of 7-9 day stays at the 7 month mark

[ontheuptick]

Hello all -

My family has rented DVC points for a few years and have been slowly deciding to buy. I've been debating for a couple years on which resort to buy from, and still can't decide. A few things about us:

• We are a family of 6 so likely will be looking at 2BR most of the time
• I will not buy a resort expiring in 2042.
• We would be happy staying in many resorts. Our favorite is Boardwalk, but it's a 2042. We would be fine using our points at different resorts each time.
• We wouldn't want to get "stuck" at Saratoga or OKW every trip.
• We don't always go at the same time. Often we go spring break (late March through early April), but will go at other times too.
• My wife doesn't love split stays. We've done it multiple times, and she prefers to unpack and be there for the full trip.

I have been planning to buy at maybe the 2nd best Value, AKV. That would give us 11 month booking there, looking to switch whenever there was availability.

With all that info, at 7 months are we highly likely to have options for a full 7-9 day stay outside of our Home Resort and SSR?

If it is very unlikely that we would have options at the 7 month mark for a 2BR for a full 7-9 days without a split stay, then we better look at buying AKV, BLT, or somewhere else that we would want to stay often.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

First, to be very clear: At 7 months, you can only book up to 7 days. Booking additional days happens each subsequent day (7 months +1, 7 months+2) and because those additional days are still in home resort, they can dry up even if you already have 6-7 nights as of your 7 month mark.

In the fall, you would be booking mostly OKW and Saratoga. You might get lucky with AKV Kidani Savannah. Anything else will be hit or miss, have holes, or be full waitlist.

Mid-January through August, you would have reasonable odds at BLT Lake (not Standard), VGF, Boulder Ridge, possibly CCV, AKV, OKW, SSR. Riviera is a question mark and will be until at least 2023. BCV and BWV will remain challenging.

Poly Bungalows and CCV Cabins should be possible at 7 months most of the year.

Our favorite is Boardwalk, but it's a 2042. We would be fine using our points at different resorts each time.

Your odds of a 2BR for a week at BWV at 7 months is really not good, because every 2BR at BWV is a lock off. Every studio booking (well, near enough) takes a 2BR out of circulation. So 2BRs tend to be gone pretty quickly at 7 months, if they were ever there by that point.

 

[disneynutz]

Select the best UY for your vacation patterns.
Buy where you love to stay.
Book at 11 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 and price 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.

That being said, buy BWV if you want to be happy, you may sell it in five years and find a different resort that hakes you even happier.

Bill

 

[Deb & Bill]

All the two bedroom villas at Jambo House are lockoffs, so you might have the same problem at seven months out as with BWV. Studios gone, so two bedrooms are gone. But if you own there, you can book your stay at 11 months out. If you are talking about value villas at Jambo House, they often are walked by owners before 11 months out.

At seven months out, you probably won't get BWV standard two bedroom, SSR standard two bedroom. But you might get an OKW two bedroom. Nine nights at seven months out may be difficult.

Buy where you want to stay the most and book it at eleven months out. Otherwise, some times you might be doing split stays.

 

[kniquy]

A few things about us:

• We are a family of 6 so likely will be looking at 2BR most of the time
• I will not buy a resort expiring in 2042.
• We would be happy staying in many resorts. Our favorite is Boardwalk, but it's a 2042. We would be fine using our points at different resorts each time.
• We wouldn't want to get "stuck" at Saratoga or OKW every trip.
• We don't always go at the same time. Often we go spring break (late March through early April), but will go at other times too.
• My wife doesn't love split stays. We've done it multiple times, and she prefers to unpack and be there for the full trip.

I think you have answered your own question and I came to the same decision when i bought my first resale- we bought AK, because we had a budget to stick to so had to go with a less expensive resort, ruled out any 2042 contracts, didn't want to get stuck at SSR, although we would have been ok with OKW i felt that it was tougher to find the extended contracts.

AK is a great resort. If you stick with kidani for your 2BR then you will get the benefit of having 2 real beds (vs a bed and sleeper in Jambo) in one of the bedrooms and you will get 3 full bathrooms -- a god sent with you have everyone trying to get ready at one time.

As for availability it really depends on when you are looking. So for example i have been tracking 7 month availability and for today (looking at a stay starting 1/20/20) there were a fair number of 2 bedrooms around property. But if you were looking to stay between mid September and mid January then you would likely be out of luck except for SSR or OKW - this is the high demand DVC time. So if you do want to travel during this time then you book your home resort to secure something, then at 7 months get on the computer exactly at 8am and see if there is something else open. If nothing you can always put in a waitlist and hope something will open. Considering your typical time to travel (March-April) you could fair pretty good with getting into somewhere else.

It does go back to the motto of buy where you want to stay (or are at least ok with stay at).

 

[skippytx]

Piecing together longer stays like that is hard at the 7 month mark regardless of where you want to stay. Weekends book up faster, so you end up with holes in your plans. I was looking at availability for someone and they could get M-F no problem, but every Sat/Sun was booked.

I suggest your plan of buying AKV points and being able to book at 11 months, or buy SSR and get "stuck" there. It's a pretty nice resort all things considered. We got "stuck" there back in Feb for a trip we planned on 4 months notice and we had a nice time.

 

[crisi]

So here is the deal. Most people who bought at BWV or BCV - or any of the other resorts that have a premium - especially the 2042 resorts where the amortized price is way high - aren't stupid. They didn't buy their points to use them somewhere else. They bought them to use them at those resorts - so they book when their home resort booking window is open. By seven months, pickings are slim. Then these resorts are very popular with people who don't own there - a lot of people like BWV but didn't buy there - you wouldn't be alone in looking for those open rooms at seven months - you'll have lots of competition. Buy DVC with the intent of staying at the resort you bought at, and any time you get to stay somewhere else - especially BWV, BCV, VGF, VGC - to a less extent BLT, Poly, CCR and BRV - its a treat.

Even just a few years ago it was different, but as DVC adds rooms and more contracts turn over on the resale market from their original owners and owners themselves get more savvy, its changed and gotten harder with each year to sleep around.

 

[Frederic Civish]

Listen to this, because I just checked. Late January is one of the slowest seasons at Disney World. There is Marathon Weekend in the first half of the month, but after that, it is all Low Season.

However, if you go to the Online Reservation program RIGHT NOW, for exactly 7 months from today, January 21st, 2020 and you asked for one week, starting 7 months from today (which you SHOULD be able to reserve) and going forward, you find that: THE ONLY STUDIOS AT ANY RESORT IN DISNEY WORLD THAT ARE AVAILABLE FOR ALL THOSE NIGHTS, ARE THE STANDARD AND PREFERRED STUDIOS AT SARATOGA SPRINGS! EVERY OTHER STUDIO is not avail for today (Jan 21st), at ANY other resort. AND, all the other resorts also have other missing days going forward, besides today.

Do you know what this means? It means that if you wanted to plan a 7 day stay, in a studio at ANY resort, starting exactly at the 7 month window, YOUR ONLY OPTION IS SSR!

So, even the days of planning right at the 7 month window are pretty much GONE.

 

[Frederic Civish]

I own at AKL (and BLT and Poly). AKL is my favorite (in fact, I have one contract at Kidani and one at Jambo, not that it makes any difference at all which one I own.

I think that if you look at the price (only a tiny bit more than SSR and OKW) and the fact that it will last a few years longer than SSR (though the same as OKW Extended) you will see that it is an excellent choice from a financial perspective AND it is a resort that you will never regret, if you 'just have to stay THERE.'

Nothing else in the DVC Resale market gives such a nice mix of location, length of contract, and low cost. (Though I think BLT comes in as a pretty good second choice.)

 

[CarolMN]

All the more reason to buy where you want to stay unless you are willing and able to book one bedrooms at non-home resorts.

 

[Lclark5678]

First, to be very clear: At 7 months, you can only book up to 7 days. Booking additional days happens each subsequent day (7 months +1, 7 months+2) and because those additional days are still in home resort, they can dry up even if you already have 6-7 nights as of your 7 month mark.

In the fall, you would be booking mostly OKW and Saratoga. You might get lucky with AKV Kidani Savannah. Anything else will be hit or miss, have holes, or be full waitlist.

Mid-January through August, you would have reasonable odds at BLT Lake (not Standard), VGF, Boulder Ridge, possibly CCV, AKV, OKW, SSR. Riviera is a question mark and will be until at least 2023. BCV and BWV will remain challenging.

Poly Bungalows and CCV Cabins should be possible at 7 months most of the year.



Your odds of a 2BR for a week at BWV at 7 months is really not good, because every 2BR at BWV is a lock off. Every studio booking (well, near enough) takes a 2BR out of circulation. So 2BRs tend to be gone pretty quickly at 7 months, if they were ever there by that point.
[/

Are you not able to book more than 7 consecutive days at your home resort, more than 11 months out? Thanks!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Are you not able to book more than 7 consecutive days at your home resort, more than 11 months out? Thanks!

At 11 months out exactly, you can book up to seven nights at your home resort. Then you can add additional nights one per day. Same goes for non-home resorts at exactly seven months out. You can book up to seven nights and then add additional night one day at a time.

You can't book anything at all more than eleven months out from the start of your trip.

 

[Lclark5678]

At 11 months out exactly, you can book up to seven nights at your home resort. Then you can add additional nights one per day. Same goes for non-home resorts at exactly seven months out. You can book up to seven nights and then add additional night one day at a time.

You can't book anything at all more than eleven months out from the start of your trip.

Thanks!