Busiest times of year for DVC reservations?

[ImaDisneyFan]

Which are the quietiest (easiest) and busiest (toughest) times of the year to make DVC reservations, in general? I know that the busy DVC times do not necessarily coincide with the busiest WDW times, but I don't know much beyond that.

In other words, what are typically the easiset times of the year to get what you want?

Thanks for your help and advice!

 

[cobbler]

Basically any low point season is going to be rough. I can tell you the two largest times that "I think" are critical for booking at 11 months are:
Food and Wine festival
The first two weeks in December

 

[bpmorley]

I got this from the 2007 passporter. They lump Deluxe resorts & DVC together.
Looks like 1/1 to 2/14, 7/8 to 10/4 & 11/25 to 12/19 are the slowest.

 

[mikesmom]

Passporter is TOTALLY wrong on the 11/25 to 12/19. One of the busiest times for DVC are those first 2 weeks in December.

If I had to pick dates I would say January After school goes back and before Martin Luther King day. February and March until you start hitting the Spring breaks (which depends on Easter). Early May. August & September (the Southern schools start back to school as early as Aug 10th so that travel lightens up). Once you hit Oct 1 it gets pretty tough (sometimes impossible) right 'til January.

 

[bpmorley]

Passporter is TOTALLY wrong on the 11/25 to 12/19. One of the busiest times for DVC are those first 2 weeks in December.

Passporter did right by us last year. So I'm gonna stick to their info. And the first 2 weeks of december are pretty dead. We got a ressie about a month out last year.

 

[tigger2on]

We also went a few years back during the first week of Dec. and found it quiet compared to May.
However, I was able to book a GV @ OKW at 7 months out for May 2007. I have always been told it's hard to book a GV @ OKW due to low points.
In fact, we've been in early Nov., mid-Sept., early & mid-May, early Oct and early Dec., and we have never found it overly busy. I think early Nov. was the busiest as it was close to Rememberance Day/ Jersey Week.

 

[Deb & Bill]

After Jan 1 (and not around marathon time - usually the first weekend in Jan), until later in Jan, maybe even early Feb. Once you hit Spring Break time, it gets booked fast. Early May might not be to bad, even early June. Then it gets tough until mid Aug until about the end of Sept. Then from Oct to the end of Dec if very tough.

 

[MommaX03]

I was under the impression from these boards by all the threads on December waitlists and the lowest point values that the first two weeks of December are booked up early.

 

[CarolMN]

Passporter did right by us last year. So I'm gonna stick to their info. And the first 2 weeks of december are pretty dead. We got a ressie about a month out last year.

The parks aren't very busy during that time, but the DVC resorts are running at full occupancy! If wait to book much past the 7 month window, you'll be on the waitlist for sure!

FWIW, I think the OP wants to know when it's tough to get a DVC resort reservation on shorter notice, not when the parks are busy or dead. I agree with you that the times Passporter lists are among the least busy for the parks (except I think all summer is pretty busy in the parks).