Booking on relatively short notice???

[SarahInMN]

Hey y'all-

My husband and I will (hopefully) be closing in about 2 months on a Beach Club Villa. We already have a trip for January 2010 booked - airfare + yacht club rooms for 8 nights.

If we close in mid October and the DCV membership is transferred to us by the end of October, do y'all think we have a chance of booking at the Beach Club in January on (what seems to me) short such notice? Or is it fairly unpredictable? The reservation history forum gives me a sense of ultimately what gets booked but not when/how far in advance.

I'm an obsessive planner so this not knowing/not being able to book is driving me nuts!!

Thanks!

Sarah

 

[Sandisw]

I think getting a reservation on a few months notice at BCV will be slim. You should be able to find something and then can WL in hopes it comes through.

BCV is a small resort and from what I hear, the 11 month time frame is needed a lot, and that even the 7 months time frame can be hit or miss.

Though, I think that the end of January starts to slow down so maybe you will have luck.

Here is pixie dust that you do and congratulations on your new contract!

 

[SarahInMN]

Sandi -
Thanks for the congrats and pixie dust!!! Hopefully I'm not getting waaay ahead of myself here since the ROFR is pending.

Anyways...You confirmed my suspicions for early January - I'll just keep my fingers crossed that we can use the DVC in January. I do think though my inlaws might come down for a few days while we're there and I'm guessing we'd be able to use the "leftover" use year points for them for a few nights somewhere. (but boy I can't wait to be in control of all the points)

 

[cvjw]

We closed on BCV and VWL in August, and I called to try and move our September trip to either of these hotels. BCV was totally booked during our stay, VWL had availablilty, as did BWV and OKW. We choose BWV because it also has the great location for EPCOT and DHS. Even if BCV isn't available in January, something else probably will be!

 

[Golden Rose]

You may be able to get in somewhere... if you are willing to waitlist and run the risk of staying at one of the DVC resorts you find less desirable. We decided to take a "last minute" vacation at about 6 weeks out. I booked at SSR, the only resort available when I called, and waitlisted for either BWV or VWL.

We ended up with 5 nights in a one bedroom at the BWV in May on just under 6 weeks notice (the waitlist came through almost immediately), then added 1 night in a studio at BCV at about 4 weeks out.

We were very, very happy with our luck at getting our home resort at pretty close to the last minute... I know the common wisdom is that you can't do it, but we tried it and got lucky.

My advice would certainly be not to count on it... but don't rule out trying.

 

[SarahInMN]

CVJW-

Its great to know you found that kind of last minute availability, especially at Boardwalk! We love EPCOT so that's really our preferred place to stay. Hmm...maybe BWV for us in January!

Thanks!!

Sarah

 

[J and R's mom]

I'm not sure about early January at BCV. I booked a BWV--Boardwalk view--for a 3 night stay (a Thur-Sun) at only three weeks out back in 2006. But BWV is bigger than BCV (although the boardwalk view is typically hard to get).

We also booked a mid-May trip two months out at BWV--boardwalk view again--in a 1 br.

And strangely enough, I just booked an end-of-March 2010 stay (6 nights-studio) at BCV less than 7 months out and didn't have to wait-list (would have had to wait-list a couple of nights at BLT (MK view) or BWV (boardwalk view)).

Maybe you'll stand a better chance at getting a reservation this time though with BLT being so popular right now.

Congrats and good luck!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Hey y'all-

My husband and I will (hopefully) be closing in about 2 months on a Beach Club Villa. We already have a trip for January 2010 booked - airfare + yacht club rooms for 8 nights.

If we close in mid October and the DCV membership is transferred to us by the end of October, do y'all think we have a chance of booking at the Beach Club in January on (what seems to me) short such notice? Or is it fairly unpredictable? The reservation history forum gives me a sense of ultimately what gets booked but not when/how far in advance.

I'm an obsessive planner so this not knowing/not being able to book is driving me nuts!!

Thanks!

Sarah

If you cancel that reservation to use points, you'll have to do your own airline reservations.

As long as you aren't planning on going the first two weeks of Jan, nor MLK weekend time frame, you may be able to get something short notice.

 

[SarahInMN]

J and R's mom - Thanks for the time frame info! And excellent point re: BLT!

deb & bill - We always do the airfare separately so canceling the YC for a DVC ressie would be no big deal. We are though going in the middle of January - mid 2nd week and staying to the Friday pre MLK weekend. I'm not surprised BCV will be exceedingly difficult to get with relatively short notice but I guess I was optimistically hoping!!

It sounds like I need to start thinking Boardwalk in January!!!

 

[Deb & Bill]

Sorry, BWV is also going to be hard with three months to go. If you are going after Jan 10, you will have a better chance since the marathon weekend ends on Jan 10.

But if all you can get is OKW or SSR, both of them are wonderful resorts.