[B]Does Disney blackout days to promote certain resorts?[/B]

[rugman1969]

Funny,
Trying to book for December because I'm finally at the 7 month window, and it seems every 2 and 3 bedroom for any week in december is unavailable for the whole week EXCEPT Saratoga Springs. So, for sheets and giggles, I checked in November also. Same thing. Does Disney hold back availability at other resorts to try to force members to stay at Saratoga? Thinking back to other times when I was trying to reserve a room, , it always seems that Saratoga has rooms available for a whole week at almost any given time, but no other resorts do. Any thoughts? It's not as if I'm going at a busy time. i am trying to go at some of the listed slowest times of the year for Disney...before thanksgiving or before christmas.

 

[jekjones1558]

Funny,
Trying to book for December because I'm finally at the 7 month window, and it seems every 2 and 3 bedroom for any week in december is unavailable for the whole week EXCEPT Saratoga Springs. So, for sheets and giggles, I checked in November also. Same thing. Does Disney hold back availability at other resorts to try to force members to stay at Saratoga? Thinking back to other times when I was trying to reserve a room, , it always seems that Saratoga has rooms available for a whole week at almost any given time, but no other resorts do. Any thoughts? It's not as if I'm going at a busy time. i am trying to go at some of the listed slowest times of the year for Disney...before thanksgiving or before christmas.

Ah, but DVC "busy" times are NOT the same as busy times at other Disney resorts. The beginning of December is actually the BUSIEST DVC time, partly because point costs for rooms are so low. Members also love the holiday events and decorations. November weather can be pretty awesome and point costs for rooms are low then as well.
Because SSR is so large the odds of having availability there at any time are pretty good, so your experience is not really surprising at all.

 

[rugman1969]

Ah, but DVC "busy" times are NOT the same as busy times at other Disney resorts. The beginning of December is actually the BUSIEST DVC time, partly because point costs for rooms are so low. Members also love the holiday events and decorations. November weather can be pretty awesome and point costs for rooms are low then as well.
Because SSR is so large the odds of having availability there at any time are pretty good, so your experience is not really surprising at all.

So does that mean that parks are busy also? Accdording to all of these sites, beginning of november and december are slow times for parks

 

[jekjones1558]

So does that mean that parks are busy also? Accdording to all of these sites, beginning of november and december are slow times for parks

Parks are generally not crowded. DVC rooms only account for a small portion of the rooms at WDW so even if every one of them is full the overall impact on park attendance is not huge. I do think that some December events, like MVMCP and Candlelight Processional, ARE busy even when general park attendance isn't very high.

 

[tjkraz]

Saratoga Springs is the largest DVC resort. It's 4-5 TIMES larger than several other DVC properties at Walt Disney World. So, yeah, it's usually the last one to fill.

Like Jean said, December may be a slower period as a whole for WDW but DVC owners often exhibit different trends in their bookings. Between the low point costs, holiday decorations, moderate weather and--yes, lower crowds--early December is among the most popular times for DVC owners to visit WDW.

 

[chalee94]

here's one useful thread that discussed trying to book december at 7 months out:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2919467

you can also check out the DVC resource thread (stickied at the top of the forums) to get a sense of how large SSR is as a resort:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2823943

for example:

VWL - 20 Dedicated Studios - 27 Dedicated 1Bdrm - 44 Dedicated 2Bdrm - 45 Lockoffs - 0 Grand Villas = 136 Villas / 181 Max. Available

BCV - 36 Dedicated Studios - 20 Dedicated 1Bdrm - 78 Dedicated 2Bdrm - 74 Lockoffs - 0 Grand Villas = 208 VIllas / 282 Max. Available

SSR - 0 Dedicated Studios - 0 Dedicated 1Bdrm - 360 Dedicated 2Bdrm - 432 Lockoffs - 60 THV - 36 Grand Villas = 888 Villas / 1320 Max. Available

given that SSR is almost 3 times as large as VWL and BCV put together, you have the beginnings of a math problem.

also, you can take a boat from the VWL to the MK, or you could walk to epcot from BCV, while SSR has only buses. that means SSR is also less in demand than many other resorts.

so it's not like DVC regulates how many people wind up at SSR when they are not booking within their home resort window...

 

[CarolMN]

To book any night at the smaller resorts in December at 7 months, you pretty much need to do it exactly at 8 am on the day the window opens. Wait even a few minutes and the near park resorts (BCV, BWV, BLT, VGF & VWL) will be gone. The lower cost options for BWV, BLT & VGF are almost never an option at 7 months - the owners book them at 11 months. Ditto for the theme park view at BLT and the Boradwalk view at the BWV.

OP - Book SSR and waitlist. You might get lucky. If the waitlists don't work, you'll still have a good time. SSR is a beautiful resort and you may find you enjoy it more than you think. Good luck!