Book at Home resort now or wait until 7 mo mark for other resort?

[R3D STAR]

Hey everyone,

My DW and I are in a big planning phase. We recently locked up a trip to DLP, and now we're considering booking a stay for our 2 year anniversary/SW weekends trip.

Here's the thing....

Our home resort (AKV) has availability for the 8 days we're interested in visiting, so we can book that now. However, we'd like to try out the BW because we've never stayed there before.

Would you recommend just locking up our 8-day stay at AKV or do you think it's worth waiting another few months to see if we can stay at BW?

If we were able to reserve at AKV, what are the chances of changing those reservations in a few months when the 7-month mark hits for other resorts?

(Full disclosure: We'd have to borrow from our 2014 UY in order to do so.)

Cheers!

 

[Breyean]

Is there any reason not to book your home resort now to make sure you have a place to stay, then in a few months see if there is availability at another resort?

That's what we do. Make sure you have a reservation first. Then when the 7 month mark comes up you don't have to worry about getting shut out everywhere.

 

[R3D STAR]

Is there any reason not to book your home resort now to make sure you have a place to stay, then in a few months see if there is availability at another resort?

That's what we do. Make sure you have a reservation first. Then when the 7 month mark comes up you don't have to worry about getting shut out everywhere.

Thank you! Definitely tempted to do that. Is it difficult to change reservations down the line? (Using the same points from one res to book a new one, I mean)

 

[deb010305]

If you only have enough points for one ressie, you would need to cancel the first before booking the new one. We did this for our stay at BWV this past April. We had booked SSR (our home resort) at 11 months, and at 7 months I cancelled it online and booked BWV.

 

[R3D STAR]

If you only have enough points for one ressie, you would need to cancel the first before booking the new one. We did this for our stay at BWV this past April. We had booked SSR (our home resort) at 11 months, and at 7 months I cancelled it online and booked BWV.

Fantastic! Were there any fees or penalties for cancelling?

 

[Breyean]

Fantastic! Were there any fees or penalties for cancelling?

No. This is a pretty common practice because it's a great way to cover yourself by having a reservation in hand, yet be able to try a different resort, if available.

 

[R3D STAR]

No. This is a pretty common practice because it's a great way to cover yourself by having a reservation in hand, yet be able to try a different resort, if available.

You guys are amazing. Thanks for the help. We JUST locked it down.

 

[Breyean]

You guys are amazing. Thanks for the help. We JUST locked it down.

That's great. Hope you have a good time.

Now, to throw another wrinkle at you, since you're staying for 8 nights, another option you might want to consider at 7 months, when you try to switch resorts, is to consider a split stay. Say 4 nights at AKV and 4 at BWV (or some other resort).

We've done 3 resorts in a 9 night stay. We find it to be fun to try the different resorts and think of each as sort of a new vacation. A lot depends on what you prefer, being all settled in your room for the duration (esp with smaller kids) or if you don't mind packing up and moving.

This way, you might not be able to get 8 nights at 7 months at your other choice, but you might get 3 or 4 and be able to try it.

 

[R3D STAR]

I think that's a great idea. My DW and I have only stayed at AKV and SSR, so we're definitely interested in trying the other resorts. So splitting things up would be pretty cool.

And hey, if all else fails we wake up and see some animals on the Savanna. Last time we stayed at AKV, we stayed at Kidani with a standard view. This booking is for Jambo house with a Savanna view. So it'll be new to us in that respect.

 

[parlay]

We like to split our stays too! Its so easy getting Bell Services to send your luggage to your next hotel. The only drawback is not having a room from the time your check out to the time the next one is ready.

 

[drusba]

As to chances of getting BWV, you don't give general time period you are focusing on but it sounds like you are talking sometime during May, June, or July, in which case you should easily be able to get BWV pool/garden view at 7 months out but boardwalk or standard view rooms will likely be difficult.

 

[Kidanifan08]

Hey everyone,

My DW and I are in a big planning phase. We recently locked up a trip to DLP, and now we're considering booking a stay for our 2 year anniversary/SW weekends trip.

As to chances of getting BWV, you don't give general time period you are focusing on but it sounds like you are talking sometime during May, June, or July, in which case you should easily be able to get BWV pool/garden view at 7 months out but boardwalk or standard view rooms will likely be difficult.

I read the quote above as indicating Star Wars weekends as their timeframe. I was hoping you would come along and comment on BWV availability during SWW. Are the weekends harder to get due to this event? Are there certain room types that are more difficult due to this event?

 

[Breyean]

We like to split our stays too! Its so easy getting Bell Services to send your luggage to your next hotel. The only drawback is not having a room from the time your check out to the time the next one is ready.

We just drop off our bags at Bell Services and head out to the parks for that "moving day".

By the time we're ready to call it a night, we just have to remember which bus to board to which resort!

 

[drusba]

I read the quote above as indicating Star Wars weekends as their timeframe. I was hoping you would come along and comment on BWV availability during SWW. Are the weekends harder to get due to this event? Are there certain room types that are more difficult due to this event?

As to Star Wars weekends in 2013, you would have had problems at 7 months out getting usual suspects that are gone many times of year (AKV concierge and value, BWV standard and boardwalk view, BLT standard, BWV GV, and OKW GV at Hospitality House) and also a problem getting a BCV studio and a BLT theme park studio for Memorial Day weekend and the last Star Wars weekend in June; both of those were otherwise open outside those weekends