Booking window?

[Bell2000]

HI, My wife and I just bought in at SSR. When we went through our tour we wanted BCV or BWV but they are sold out, but he said as long as we book 4-5 months out we shouldnt have a problem getting a room at either one. Some people on here have said they had problems getting rooms 6-7 months out. Can you book 4-5 months out and get what you want?
I know we need to be open with our dates and places, but or main travel time is late may through mid August, we have two in young boys in school.
Thanks for any help
Also, with RCI, is it easy to book what you want or do you have to jump through hoops? I know some people who have RCI and they say its very hard to get a Disney room.
Thanks again

 

[adminjedi]

IMHO, if you want a room, book the first day of your booking window - for resorts other than your home resort, that is 7 months. The longer you wait, you reduce your odds. The odds fluctuate based on resort, date, and other people's interests. Kind of like entering the lottery - the odds are worse if more people play.

You could waitlist with Disney for BCV or BWV contracts direct, or you could consider resale.

 

[juncker]

Certainly the more time that you allow, the better chances, and choices you will have.

Even travelling in the summer when kids are out of school, I would expect very few times that you would have no choices available at the 4-5 month mark. Many times I would only expect AKV, OKW or SSR (larger resorts) to have availability, but they are great resorts. It would be more difficult to get some of the more difficult room categories with a shorter window, but I wouldn't expect to be completely shut out of any options with that timing.

Best bet is to book your home resort at the 11 month mark and then call at the 7 month mark looking to switch it. However, you can find examples posted on these forums of people calling on their way down to Orlando that have been successful in getting last minute rooms. Plan when you can, but don't fret too much.

Note - it's a different story at certain times of the year (i.e. Christmas/New Years/Easter, ....) These you had better be on the phone exactly at the 7 or 11 month mark.

 

[Bell2000]

Thank You, We had thought about booking at 11 months and then changing it at 7 months if we could, but we didnt know if they would frown on that.


One other thing, we heard of people spliting time, if we had to split our time between resorts how do we get our bags to the new resort? They dont have buses that run from one resort to another.

Thanks for all your help

 

[Robin"D"]

Has any booked thropugh RCI using points?
Did you use a RCI book? if so where diod you get one?

thx

Robin & Angel "D"

 

[deebits]

If you switching resorts, all you have to do is bring your luggage to bell services and let them know what resort you are changing to. They will get your luggage to the new resort. All you then need to do is go to DTD or one of the parks and get on the bus to your new resort to check in.

I would tend to think you have better chance in the summer getting BWV then BCV at 4-5 months out. The first resort we purchased was SSR and we still have yet to stay there. So far there has always been another resort available at the 7mths for us to change to.

 

[deebits]

Has any booked thropugh RCI using points?
Did you use a RCI book? if so where diod you get one?

thx

Robin & Angel "D"

We tried a few times to book RCI and was never able to get a room. We have now given up and just pay cash for the rooms.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'm afraid your guide did not give you good information if they indicated you could book BWV or BCV easily 4-5 months out whenever you wanted to. If those are the places you want to stay and you are still in the period you could rescind on the SSR purchase you should really consider doing that unless you will be happy with the idea that you may not get in to BCV or BWV. I am not saying it won't happen but it's not something you should be counting on.

DVC will sell you BWV or BCV but you may have to wait for the points and you will pay more for them than SSR. Or you could buy resale although those points will now come with some useage restrictions but you can still use them for RCI currently.

 

[Lynne M]

I'm afraid your guide did not give you good information if they indicated you could book BWV or BCV easily 4-5 months out whenever you wanted to. If those are the places you want to stay and you are still in the period you could rescind on the SSR purchase you should really consider doing that unless you will be happy with the idea that you may not get in to BCV or BWV. I am not saying it won't happen but it's not something you should be counting on.

DVC will sell you BWV or BCV but you may have to wait for the points and you will pay more for them than SSR. Or you could buy resale although those points will now come with some useage restrictions but you can still use them for RCI currently.

This.

If you really, really want to stay at BCV or BWV, you need to buy there, and you can. If you're still able to rescind your SSR contract, I'd advise doing that, and either telling your guide you want to wait for BCV/BWV points, or better still, looking for BCV or BWV contracts on the resale market.

It's not frowned upon to make a reservation at your home resort at 11 months and change it at 7 months; the problem is going to be lack of availability at your desired resorts at 7 months. You might be OK at BCV or BWV at 7 months during the May-August period, it's not one of the particularly popular times for DVCers. But I would absolutely call right at the 7 month window, no way would I wait till 4-5 months out.

It's very difficult to get BCV or BWV at 7 months for travel from the beginning of October through the end of the year. If you ever see your travel periods changing to include those dates, it's especially important for you to buy where you want to stay.

 

[chalee94]

I'm afraid your guide did not give you good information if they indicated you could book BWV or BCV easily 4-5 months out whenever you wanted to. If those are the places you want to stay and you are still in the period you could rescind on the SSR purchase...

i agree with this.

keep in mind that your DVC "guide" is just a disney-code word for "salesperson." they will tell you what it takes to get a sale, not necessarily give you the whole truth.

some people have gotten BWV or BCV on 4-5 months notice, but that probably won't work more often than not. lots of people bought SSR with the idea that they would never have to stay there. the math on that simply doesn't work...

 

[scauzilloc1121]

We own SSR and have stayed there but we also have had no problem booking other resorts as well. We did an AKV at last minute last weekend and got in right away. We also just did OKW and that went through too and that is for July 3 - 5. I just booked 4 days at HHI for Sept.30 - Oct.3 and had no issues either. Like someone else said, it is the luck of the draw. On a side note, a friend that owns in SSR has yet to stay there as well. She has stayed at BWV BCV and BLT without any time on the wait-list and she booked a month or 2 in advance.

 

[Bell2000]

If you switching resorts, all you have to do is bring your luggage to bell services and let them know what resort you are changing to. They will get your luggage to the new resort. All you then need to do is go to DTD or one of the parks and get on the bus to your new resort to check in.

I would tend to think you have better chance in the summer getting BWV then BCV at 4-5 months out. The first resort we purchased was SSR and we still have yet to stay there. So far there has always been another resort available at the 7mths for us to change to.

Great help.. Thank You for all the info.

Not that SSR would be a bad place to stay, we just didn't want to always stay there.
Thanks again.

 

[Sammie]

The thing is that at 4-5 months out, for one day, yes you could probably get BCV or BWV.

Can you get a week, when you want it at either at 4-5 months, very unlikely.

Also you have learn about peak times for DVC bookings which do not match peak park times.

Summer months are easier to get for DVC because points are high, crowds are high and temps are high.

October during Food and Wine are very hard to get at BCV and BWV as are early December.

 

[Bell2000]

Thanks for the help everyone. We were thinking about getting out of it, but after hearing from everyone I feel better about it. We like SSR but also really like AKV,BWV and BCV so we just wanted to know we have a chance at staying in one of those resorts.
Thanks again everyone.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Thanks for the help everyone. We were thinking about getting out of it, but after hearing from everyone I feel better about it. We like SSR but also really like AKV,BWV and BCV so we just wanted to know we have a chance at staying in one of those resorts.
Thanks again everyone.

I disagree with the recommendations that you recind your SSR contract, but only because it sounds as if you're not dead set on always getting into BWV or BCV. If you're okay with booking SSR at the 11 month mark and being happy there if nothing is open at the 7 month mark, you'll be fine. SSR is one of our home resorts, and we love staying there. I don't consider it a "fall back" resort. We travel during the same period you discuss, and have been able (over the years) to spend a week in every one of the WDW DVC resorts. No, I didn't always find the exact resort/room we were interested in at the 7-month mark. Those were the years we kept our home resort reservation and enjoyed the stay at SSR.

Now, if I've misread your post and you really do want to stay at the Epcot resorts more often than not, owning where you want to stay is your best bet. That's the reason we added on at BCV, and later added on at BLT. If, however, you're just hoping to use your points to try out all the different options, I think you're all set.

 

[Bell2000]

Now, if I've misread your post and you really do want to stay at the Epcot resorts more often than not, owning where you want to stay is your best bet. That's the reason we added on at BCV, and later added on at BLT. If, however, you're just hoping to use your points to try out all the different options, I think you're all set.

Your right, we have been to WDW 5 times in the last 7 years and always stay in different place. SSR is nice, we just heard you should try not to stay in the carousel and paddock areas, , we guess its just a longer walk to everything? We really like staying at different resorts, we just still want the option of other places. Thanks

 

[disneychic]

IMHO, if you want a room, book the first day of your booking window - for resorts other than your home resort, that is 7 months. The longer you wait, you reduce your odds.

Agreed

 

[bobbiwoz]

At 4-5 months out, it doesn't matter where you own. If you do want to book BCV your best chance is at 7 months out if you don't own there. Are you only able to book 4-5 months out?