Booking at 7 month window

[vacay77]

None of the WDW DVC resorts are my home resort but I'm going to try to book a stay at the 7 month window. Does anyone suggest a particular strategy - for example, what time can I book it 7 months out? I'm MST so I'm not sure what time in the morning I can try booking it.

 

[CarolMN]

Online windows open at 8 am Eastern. MST is 3 hours earlier, so 5 am MST.

AFAIK, Arizona is the only Mountain state that doesn't go on daylight savings time, so you must be in Arizona, right?

 

[Marionnette]

None of the WDW DVC resorts are my home resort but I'm going to try to book a stay at the 7 month window. Does anyone suggest a particular strategy - for example, what time can I book it 7 months out? I'm MST so I'm not sure what time in the morning I can try booking it.

Oine booking begins at 8:00 AM Eastern Time. MST is 2 hours behind, right? So your go time would be 6:00 AM MST.

As far as strategy is concerned, choose all of the resorts that you are willing to stay at when you do your search for your dates.

ETA: @CarolMN is correct about MST and EDT. It's 3 hours difference not 2.

 

[vacay77]

Online windows open at 8 am Eastern. MST is 3 hours earlier, so 5 am MST.

AFAIK, Arizona is the only Mountain state that doesn't go on daylight savings time, so you must be in Arizona, right?

Yes, that's correct! LOL. I don't do well with time change!

Oine booking begins at 8:00 AM Eastern Time. MST is 2 hours behind, right? So your go time would be 6:00 AM MST.

As far as strategy is concerned, choose all of the resorts that you are willing to stay at when you do your search for your dates.

Thank you! I'm been scoping the resorts out that are currently available. I'm not holding my breath that my first choice will still be available by then so I'll have a backup and another backup.

 

[Stargazer65]

I'm confused, isn't MST only 2 hrs different from EST?

 

[Stargazer65]

Oh wait, I guess we're throwing DST differences into the mix as well.

 

[vacay77]

I'm confused, isn't MST only 2 hrs different from EST?

It depends on the time of the year. Sometimes we are 2 hours behind and the rest of the year, we are 3 hours behind. I'm looking during the month of March.

 

[Stargazer65]

It depends on the time of the year. Sometimes we are 2 hours behind and the rest of the year, we are 3 hours behind. I'm looking during the month of March.

Yes, I get that now. It's kind of like when I lived in Hawaii, we never did DST there, so I was either 5 or 6 hours difference from the east coast.

 

[n2mm]

You can at least take a look prior to see what’s available before your booking morning. Hopefully it’s not during the 2-3 day shut down.

 

[vacay77]

You can at least take a look prior to see what’s available before your booking morning. Hopefully it’s not during the 2-3 day shut down.

No, thank goodness!

 

[DannysMom]

I would definitely preview availability on the day or two leading up to your booking date. From there make a priority list of resorts, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th choices.

On the morning that you book, if you are able to snag something generally regarded as tough to grab, make the reservation with just you as the lead guest, and add the rest of your party after the booking has been completed. Those couple of minutes saved not entering the whole party’s personal info could be the difference in you grabbing the room or someone else booking it out from under you, if there is only 1 room available. Good luck.

 

[vacay77]

I would definitely preview availability on the day or two leading up to your booking date. From there make a priority list of resorts, with 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th choices.

On the morning that you book, if you are able to snag something generally regarded as tough to grab, make the reservation with just you as the lead guest, and add the rest of your party after the booking has been completed. Those couple of minutes saved not entering the whole party’s personal info could be the difference in you grabbing the room or someone else booking it out from under you, if there is only 1 room available. Good luck.

Thank you! That is a great tip.

 

[Sandisw]

To add you can get on to the system and search. Few minutes before as well.

So you can log on about 10 minutes early, do the search, choose the resort and then wait to hit the book button when the clock turns!

This gives you a chance to review before potentially losing out at a resort on your list.

Even once booked, check an hour or so later because others changed home resort bookings so somethings not there to start can indeed be there a little while later!

 

[Stargazer65]

It also just so happens that on the day when I will to be making a 7 month reservation, booking doesn't start until 9 AM EST. There won't be an official announcement, but you have my word that there is a one hour booking delay for everyone that day...yes, definitely wait until 9AM before you log on on that day.
(I forget which day that is right now, but I'll check my reservation and let everyone know which day that is, so you don't waste your time, and you can spread the word)

 

[vacay77]

To add you can get on to the system and search. Few minutes before as well.

So you can log on about 10 minutes early, do the search, choose the resort and then wait to hit the book button when the clock turns!

This gives you a chance to review before potentially losing out at a resort on your list.

Even once booked, check an hour or so later because others changed home resort bookings so somethings not there to start can indeed be there a little while later!

This is great! Thank you for the tips

It also just so happens that on the day when I will to be making a 7 month reservation, booking doesn't start until 9 AM EST. There won't be an official announcement, but you have my word that there is a one hour booking delay for everyone that day...yes, definitely wait until 9AM before you log on on that day.
(I forget which day that is right now, but I'll check my reservation and let everyone know which day that is, so you don't waste your time, and you can spread the word)

Good luck to the both of us

 

[Deb & Bill]

MST is two hours earlier than EST. CST is one hour earlier and PST is three hours earlier. Other time zones I'm not so sure about.
So 8AM ET, 7AM CT. 6AM MT and 5AM PT. If you live in an area that doesn't change for Daylight Savings, you'd need to adjust the time.

And if Florida ever changes to DST all the time, we are all screwed.

 

[Jodie0705]

OMG I’m still waiting for ROFR status and now all this booking stuff… it’s like the Hunger Games!! Gonna have to get a few squeezy balls to work on my dexterity! LOL

 

[Kyle&Fam]

@vacay77 how did it go? Did you get what you wanted

 

[vacay77]

@vacay77 how did it go? Did you get what you wanted

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out. By the time the 7 month window rolled around, all of my top choices were unavailable. I ended up booking a stay at CBR because I have a free night due to a snafu from a previous stay. And even then, I had to cancel because I started a new job and wasn’t going to have enough vacation time. Just wasn’t meant to be, I guess.