Buy where you want to stay in a studio?

[justme0729]

Ive read somewhere that studios are getting harder to book at 7 months and that one bedrooms are getting easier. Instead of using the idea of “buying where you want to stay,” does this mean I should be buying where I want to stay in a studio?

For example, I like BLT and GF but I prefer GF’s studios. I’m thinking I should buy at GF so I can stay in a GFV studio but I could probably book a one bedroom at BLT- note I’m traveling during holidays like Christmas break, spring break, thanksgiving break, or June which could make availability harder than normal. I have been nervous to think about buying at Poly because there aren’t one bedrooms but with this thinking, I could buy at Poly because I like their studios and then book a GF or BLT one bedroom at 7 months. I know it’s not guaranteed and I wouldn’t be upset to stay in a GF studio if a one bedroom isn’t available elsewhere but is it likely to work if I book at 8am at 7 months? Does anyone think this isn’t a good way to approach this?

 

[PatMcDuck]

Others here are more expert, but I thought you were somewhat on the right track, until I read you want to book holidays, and the most popular school break times of the year. BLT is not easy to book at 7 months during those times, none of the resorts you prefer are easy during those periods IMHO. I seem to see Poly studios at 7 months, because that is almost all they HAVE there (except the bungalows of course), but I am never looking to book at those super busy times.

 

[aoconnor]

Holidays will be challenging to switch anywhere at 7 months. As DVC continues to get more expensive, more and more people will only be able to afford buying enough points for studios which will place further strain on availability. I would buy where you want to stay for studios, or buy a cheaper resort with enough points for one bedrooms where you'll have a better shot at switching.

 

[disneynutz]

Studios and two bedroom lock-offs need to book early. One bedrooms follow. If you expect or enjoy booking what you want and not playing the resort lotto, buy where you love to stay. DVD adds millions of points into the system with each new resort. Many will buy at the new resort intending to never stay there and they will be watching the clock to book other resorts at 7 months.

Bill

 

[a742246]

If you are planning to book a studio for the Holidays, I would go with the resort that has built the most studio rooms. In your case I believe BLT will have the most studio rooms available. Just about all the major holiday's you will need the home week advantage and you should book them at the 11 months 8:00am est window.
Note: Christmas week at GF and Poly sold dedicated weeks so that will limit that supply of studios.

So in your case "Buy where you what to stay in a studio" is correct.

 

[The Jackal]

I would agree that if you would like to stay at a VGF You would need to buy there. The resort is relatively small and fills up fast. Could a day here or there for studios be found there? Yes, could a whole week be found there? Possible during the slow DVC season. BLT is much larger and has 3 different catagories of rooms, standard, lake view and theme park view. If you want to book the fewer point standard view studio, you need to own there. Usually lake view is the most available at 7 months. If your intentions are to get a 1 bedroom, most properties will have some availability at 7 months.

 

[Bing Showei]

With most studios (outside of OKW, SSR, AKV-Kidani, maybe PVB), you need to have home points there year-round. This is especially true for VGF and BLT Standard View.

At most resorts you won't have much trouble with 1BRs anywhere outside of Thanksgiving Day, and the first two weeks of December at the 7 month mark. The exceptions being at BLT Standard View (year round) and Theme Park view around 4th of July. @skier_pete will have some charts out later this year that highlight that well, but his charts from 2015 largely hold true today for the studios (and in some cases have become increasingly more difficult to book @ even the 11 month mark) https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...tudios-some-1-bedrooms-prepared-2015.3419112/.

In the end, you have to figure out what your tolerance level is for uncertainty. Some people adapt really well. They own at SSR (where you will unquestionably get the most bang for your buck), and book at 7 months, 6 months, whenever, and roll with it. If they end up at SSR, they're totally fine with it. Others stalk the RAT at the 11+1 month mark, walk reservations (sometimes unnecessarily), and are devastated that they can't book their home resort at the 10-month mark. Most people fall somewhere in between.

If you have your heart set on any particular place for a studio, buy in there and book at 11 months... in some cases at 8am on the dot. If you're planning to use your points to frequently stay elsewhere I would advise against buying enough VGF points to get a 1BR at BLT. At 7 months, points are all the same and $90/SSR point is a much better proposition than $160/VGF point.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

BLT Studios that are not Standard View are not that bad from mid-January to late August, although some holidays in that low demand period might still be a challenge. From late September to marathon, I would not expect to get BLT Studios without owning.

In general, while VGF studios can be had without home resort in the low demand period, getting a full week can sometimes be a challenge without a waitlist, and I would not expect to regularly book VGF outside of home resort.

I would also say that BCV studios without home resort will be a challenge year-round. They're getting harder. BWV Pool/Garden are still often available in summer, but I think trend is against this being reliable for the next 5-8 years.

 

[skier_pete]

As @Bing Showei says - we are finding that studios are getting harder to get and 1-bedrooms are getting easier. In general - most resorts (except SSR, OKW, AKV-Kidani) are tough to get in at 7 months from Oct 1st until after the marathon in January. The rest of the year varies by the popularity of the resorts. Of the resorts you list, VGF studios are actually pretty hard to get year-round at 7 months. BLT Lake View is not so hard to get studios, and especially 1-bedrooms. Poly is pretty easy to get at 7-months except when you get into the "popular" season. SO if you want to stay at VGF studios - that would be the best place to buy.

 

[justme0729]

If you are planning to book a studio for the Holidays, I would go with the resort that has built the most studio rooms. In your case I believe BLT will have the most studio rooms available. Just about all the major holiday's you will need the home week advantage and you should book them at the 11 months 8:00am est window.
Note: Christmas week at GF and Poly sold dedicated weeks so that will limit that supply of studios.

So in your case "Buy where you what to stay in a studio" is correct.

I hadnt thought about dedicated weeks before. Does anyone know how many studios could be reserved for the dedicated week? I don’t want to buy at GF if we are limited mostly to holidays and there aren’t any rooms left.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I hadnt thought about dedicated weeks before. Does anyone know how many studios could be reserved for the dedicated week? I don’t want to buy at GF if we are limited mostly to holidays and there aren’t any rooms left.

Up to 35% can be sold as a dedicated week. I don't think any weeks at VGF hit that threshold, but it's such a small resort even 10% hurts everyone else's chances.

 

[ziravan]

3 strategies to buying:

1. Buy where you want to stay.

2. But where you don’t mind staying (in case you can’t move at 7 months).

3. But cheapest combo of price/length/MFs. (Everybody agrees that’s SSR.)

You’re suggesting a combo of 1 and 2 (strategy 1 for when you want studios and 2 when you want 1brs.)

I think for now this strategy will work. Mostly. Especially if 1brs are a luxury and not sometimes a necessity. Also, it’s a more workable strategy if you’re willing to hunt downstream from the near park resorts from time to time:

For example, if you’re willing to book a 1br at OKW from time to time, you might benefit from both more availability and cheaper cost per night.

The bottom line is that we don’t always plan 7 months in advance. If we’re desperate to have a specific location/category at 4 months, we’re going to be disappointed. If we’re flexible at 4 months, including willing to split our vacation into multiple resorts, we can always make something work.

So. The real answer to your question is how flexible are you? If you have at least some flexibility, then you have a good plan.

If not, you don’t.

 

[thelionqueen]

All good replies here, but I'll echo some. If you have a set time of travel and know where you will want to stay most of the time, book there unless you're very flexible and don't mind spending a lot of time (potentially) getting in somewhere else. If location and travel time are you priority (and not money) then buy where you want to stay, which I would think is GFV. If you're flexible and more concerned getting the best points for the best price, buy SSR. I wouldn't suggest buying BLT as their studios are abysmal.

 

[kboo]

One thing you might want to run the $$ on - BLT usually comes in 2nd on "cheapest to own" when you factor in MFs and length of contract. It *may* be that if you get a super good deal on BLT points, it may be as good as an average or ok price on SSR points, and since you're saying you really like BLT, that may not be a bad choice either. Holidays are tough but I got a 2br std over thanksgiving (not the whole week) without walking by being on at 8am on the dot at 11 mo. the 2br std costs fewer points than a 1br tpv at that time. And now I don't have the 7mo switching anxiety. (1br LV were also available last week, but they are only 36 points cheaper over 5 nights)

 

[skier_pete]

One thing you might want to run the $$ on - BLT usually comes in 2nd on "cheapest to own" when you factor in MFs and length of contract. It *may* be that if you get a super good deal on BLT points, it may be as good as an average or ok price on SSR points, and since you're saying you really like BLT, that may not be a bad choice either. Holidays are tough but I got a 2br std over thanksgiving (not the whole week) without walking by being on at 8am on the dot at 11 mo. the 2br std costs fewer points than a 1br tpv at that time. And now I don't have the 7mo switching anxiety. (1br LV were also available last week, but they are only 36 points cheaper over 5 nights)

One thing people often don't factor in when purchasing is the actual cost of staying at the resorts. They factor in the cost of points at one resort versus another, but they don't think about the fact for instance a night at Copper Creek studio might be 16 points per night, and the same night at VGF is 22 points per night. BLT becomes a "value" not just by price and length of contract, but by the fact that it has the option of the cheaper "standard" price point - which many resorts don't have. Now admittedly you have to work as a owner sometimes to get that price point, but on a year where you are trying to stretch your budget, it's nice to have the option to stay in a cheaper Point-Per-Night room. While VGF has two points (Standard and Lake) they could be qualified as only "high" and "higher". The Poly as well.

 

[kboo]

One thing people often don't factor in when purchasing is the actual cost of staying at the resorts. They factor in the cost of points at one resort versus another, but they don't think about the fact for instance a night at Copper Creek studio might be 16 points per night, and the same night at VGF is 22 points per night. BLT becomes a "value" not just by price and length of contract, but by the fact that it has the option of the cheaper "standard" price point - which many resorts don't have. Now admittedly you have to work as a owner sometimes to get that price point, but on a year where you are trying to stretch your budget, it's nice to have the option to stay in a cheaper Point-Per-Night room. While VGF has two points (Standard and Lake) they could be qualified as only "high" and "higher". The Poly as well.

Agreed - and standard at any time at BLT is often tough to get for that reason. Our first 2 stays on points at BLT will be in standard villas. While there are usually plenty of LV villas available, it is worth working out the $ cost for the # of points to stay in LV vs. staying in std view at least part of the time if BLT is your home resort.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Ive read somewhere that studios are getting harder to book at 7 months and that one bedrooms are getting easier. Instead of using the idea of “buying where you want to stay,” does this mean I should be buying where I want to stay in a studio?

For example, I like BLT and GF but I prefer GF’s studios. I’m thinking I should buy at GF so I can stay in a GFV studio but I could probably book a one bedroom at BLT- note I’m traveling during holidays like Christmas break, spring break, thanksgiving break, or June which could make availability harder than normal. I have been nervous to think about buying at Poly because there aren’t one bedrooms but with this thinking, I could buy at Poly because I like their studios and then book a GF or BLT one bedroom at 7 months. I know it’s not guaranteed and I wouldn’t be upset to stay in a GF studio if a one bedroom isn’t available elsewhere but is it likely to work if I book at 8am at 7 months? Does anyone think this isn’t a good way to approach this?

You probably won't get a GF studio at seven months out. If you want a GF studio most of the time, that should be number one. As for the BLT studio, they are far too small and tight for more than two people or two adults and one tiny kid.

We love the GFV one bedrooms, but limit our nights there because they are so point expensive. I can stay in an OKW one bedroom for almost half the points (and I love OKW so it wouldn't be a problem for me).

From Sept to mid-Jan, it's getting harder to change your reservation at seven months out. So for your Christmas and Thanksgiving trips plan on staying where you booked at 11 months out.