Booking boardwalk if not homebase?

[Kimknight11]

My boyfriend and I are looking to buy. We currently live in florida and can take off to go to the resort at anytime. Our favorite disney times are oct-nov and march-may. It is so much cheaper to book somewhere like vero beach or saratoga springs. Would it ever be possible to book the boardwalk if we choose either one of this home resorts?

 

[pinklotusflower]

For the Oct-Nov trips you would need to book at 7 months and even then may not get what you want, I've just looked at availability for Sept-Dec for the different accommodation types and there is only an odd day left.

 

[supersnoop]

My boyfriend and I are looking to buy. We currently live in florida and can take off to go to the resort at anytime. Our favorite disney times are oct-nov and march-may. It is so much cheaper to book somewhere like vero beach or saratoga springs. Would it ever be possible to book the boardwalk if we choose either one of this home resorts?

For October, you might be able to book a one-bedroom pool/garden view room at 7 months. DVC does not work well unless you plan 8-12 months ahead of time.

 

[cvjw]

It has gotten to the point that if you want to stay at BWV or BCV during Food and Wine, you need to own there. You might get lucky at the 7 month mark and book a larger villa, but it is getting harder and harder to do.

You would have better luck booking at BWV during the spring - excluding the super busy spring break weeks.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

As you mention Vero Beach, it's also really important to note that cost-per-point at buy-in is only ONE of the costs of DVC. You also have to consider the annual dues.

Vero Beach has some of the highest annual dues per point - for 2016, it was $8.0846. By comparison, Saratoga is $5.4391, and BWV is $6.1753.

If we look at 100 point contracts, an average contract for Vero Beach will run about $65/point, Saratoga will be $90/point and BWV $100/point.

So your initial outlay for each would be:

• VB: $6500
• Saratoga: $9000
• BWV: $10000

However, then your annual dues, without adding in annual increase, would look like this:

• VB: $808.46
• Saratoga: $543.91
• BWV: $617.53

At those rates, it takes less than 10 years of ownership for the Total Cost of Ownership of Vero Beach to exceed that of Saratoga, and roughly 18 before Vero Beach exceeds the cost of ownership of Boardwalk. Those estimates do not include raising dues (which will occur); 1.5% of Vero Beach's dues will increase more quickly than 1.5% of either BWV or Saratoga.

If you want to book in October-November, though, your Vero Beach points are most likely to get you Saratoga, maybe Animal Kingdom, or Old Key West. So especially when you look at Saratoga, you would be paying a premium in just a few years for Vero Beach points to stay exactly where you'd stay in October-November with Saratoga points, only without an 11-month booking priority on WDW property.

That said: If you want to stay at BCV or BWV in the fall, buy there.

 

[ktmo]

We just became members at BCV in December. My contract had points expiring at the end of May, so I "had" to book a quick trip. We were there for Mother's Day weekend. We were inside 7 months and I couldn't book BCV, but was able to book Boardwalk view at BWV (no standard views available).

As others have said, fall will be more difficult, but we had good luck for spring.

 

[crisi]

We just became members at BCV in December. My contract had points expiring at the end of May, so I "had" to book a quick trip. We were there for Mother's Day weekend. We were inside 7 months and I couldn't book BCV, but was able to book Boardwalk view at BWV (no standard views available).

As others have said, fall will be more difficult, but we had good luck for spring.

That was good luck - its rare that Boardwalk view is available for long at all once the seven month window opens regardless of the time of year.

KimKnight, over the years we've taken numerous polls on the topic and Boardwalk and Beach Club owners are among those most likely to book their home resort - and stay there. People with those resorts tend to be loyal to home. Since DVC sells enough points to book the resorts, that means that the rooms available at seven months are somewhat less as a percentage of total rooms than at some of the other resorts (notably SSR, VAKL and OKW). There will usually be some rooms available - even during Food and Wine some people are able to book at seven months - but for most of the year, demand for those rooms exceeds the supply - sometimes before, usually within a few days of, but occasionally a few months after - the seven month window opens.

Whether any member has luck switching resorts depends on a lot of factors - when you go - what you are trying to book - and how flexible you are willing to be. If you have to move once or twice during your vacation - or take a one bedroom when you were hoping for a studio - or move your vacation by a few weeks - you are likely to have more luck (although not assurance) than someone who can only has points for a BW Standard View studio, only has vacation time scheduled for a specific week, and won't move during the stay.

 

[drusba]

From the Monday after marathon weekend in Jan to late Sep is DVC's low to moderate demand time at WDW. During that time it is usually easy to get BWV pool/garden view rooms at 7 months out; standard or boardwalk view are far more iffy although they can sometimes be found during that period. Risk of not getting BWV at all at 7 months out is somewhat high during that time only for the Princess half mararthon weekend in February and now the Star Wars half marathon weekend in mid-April.

For late Sep to marathon weekend in Jan, you should plan on owning BWV and using the 11 month window if you want to be able to get BWV, or any near park resort, on any regular basis. The DVC demand at WDW during that time makes the rest of the year look like the slowest of off-seasons. Example: during first half half of March, you can sometimes find BWV standard and boardwalk view studios open for a week at 7 months out. In October and Nov, BWV standard and boardwalk view studios are often filled in less than a minute after the 11 month window opens for online reservations at 8 a.m. eastern. Pool/garden view tends to last longer but at 7 months out it is usually also gone except that 1BRs (usually the last to go) can somethimes be found.

As to buying Vero or SSR, SSR would be the choice if you want something less expensive than others to buy and use it to switch resorts at 7 months out during that mid-Jan to late Sep time. Vero has very high dues that could eventually eat up any cost savings you get in purchasing and has an earlier end date of January 2042 (SSR is 2054).

 

[Deb & Bill]

My boyfriend and I are looking to buy. We currently live in florida and can take off to go to the resort at anytime. Our favorite disney times are oct-nov and march-may. It is so much cheaper to book somewhere like vero beach or saratoga springs. Would it ever be possible to book the boardwalk if we choose either one of this home resorts?

Buy Vero Beach if you want to stay at VB (like book a beach cottage). Buy SSR if you want to stay at WDW, but don't mind just getting SSR if you can't book anything else at seven months out.