Busiest times for DVC

[DCLBACH]

what are the the busiest seasons for booking at DVC? I'm sure Christmas is an obvious, but what else?

 

[CMNJ]

Actually according to longtime DVC owners it is from late sept through MLK weekend in January. Most of that time (except Christmas, thanksgiving, and New Years) is the two lowest point seasons to travel. Couple that with cooler weather, special events like hard ticket parties/F&W, and (typically) lower park crowds.
Often it is difficult to book near park resorts at 7 months (when home resort period ends) during this time frame as a result.

 

[rlovew]

Even within that time period there are some times that are even busier than others- the second week of Dec generally books up fastest of every week of the year, followed by the 1st week in Dec, and then Christmas week but there are a number of holiday weekends in Oct and Nov that can be fully booked before the 6 month mark. The other times that tend to be very busy are the Princess Marathon Weekend in Feb. In general any time with very low points tends to become more popular as many DVC members are not beholden to school schedules.

Again it sometimes depends on what you are looking to book- some rooms are almost impossible to get year round.

In general if you are okay with a 1 bedroom at SSR you can book a last minute room (within 2-3 months or less) through most of May, June, July, and August- although many rooms get booked up earlier at the 4th of July time.

In general timeshares are expected to be fully booked year round so as you get closer to any given date the ability to book that date should get harder and less types of rooms should be available.

 

[bwvBound]

Adding to above ... different DVC properties have different surges in booking patterns. The beach resorts are busy in the summer, those connected to Race events are jammed when RunDisney is nearby, the Epcot resorts are jammed during Food & Wine, etc.

 

[ACJT]

Is Easter weekend a big deal at DVC?

 

[hakepb]

Is Easter weekend a big deal at DVC?

In general, yes.
I think it's below Christmas and Fall demand, but above 4th of July.

I would have thought that the earlier Easter in '16 would mean less availability than is currently showing right now.

 

[disneynutz]

IMO it's best to consider the entire year as busy for DVC. DVC maintains a 98% occupancy rate and Disney continues to come up with events, runs, themes, celebrations, not counting that MVMCP will soon be starting in August.

Bill

 

[drusba]

Since the resorts fill or come close to it almost year round, busy is defined not by whether rooms eventually fill but how fast they fill once the 11 month reservation window opens and then what is still avaialble at 7 months out when members can reserve at resorts other than the one they own. DVC's low to moderate season at WDW begins the Monday after marathon weekend in January and ends just before the last weekend in Sep. During that time, even during holidays, you can usually find near park resort rooms such as BWV pool/garden view, BLT lake view, VWL, Poly, and VGF (except for studios) open at 7 months out and BCV is also avaialble much of the time other than holidays and special weekends.

The high season (and it is a very significant difference from the rest of the year) is late Sep through marathon weekend in Jan. During that time, getting anything at near park resorts becomes difficult at 7 months out and even 1BRs (usually the last to go) can often disappear. That last quarter has certain extremely high demand times when there is a real risk of not getting certain room categories even at 11 months out at near park resorts such as VGF studios, BLT standard view, BWV standard and boardwalk view (Poly is still an unknown), and even AKV and OKW have some risk of disappearing for some days before 7 months out: (a) first week of December, the highest demand week of the year; (b) Christmas week and second week of December which are close to tied for second for highest demand weeks; (c) Thanksgiving Tuesday through Friday; (d) four weekends (and by weekends I mean Thurs through Sun) -- marathon weekend in January, Columbus Day weekend, the weekend after Columbus Day, and the weekednd in the first part of Nov when the Wine & Dine race occurs. The two highest demand nights of the year are NYE and the Friday of that Wine & Dine race weekend in Nov when even SSR can disappear before 7 months out.