Chances?

[Song of the South]

There used to be (and may still be but my search yields loads of Trip Reports rather than cold, hard data!) a thread/website/blog that tracked 7 month availability. Does is still exist? Is there such thing as 7 month availability at this point? Have you been fortunate or unfortunate at 7 months recently?

We own at BLT. Love BLT. Want to stay at AKV in 2019. I'm trying to decide if I'll be okay at 7 months for January (2bed, sav 7-9 days) or need to transfer points in. Alternately, I could do a cash reservation through MS.

Thoughts?

Thanks for the help strategizing.
SotS

 

[BillPA]

Here's a link: but the data is not current.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/p...tudios-some-1-bedrooms-prepared-2015.3419112/

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I would also warn that marathon is later next year.

 

[kboo]

@skier_pete @Bing Showei may have some more info...

 

[skier_pete]

The availability tables are only really for studios and we are updating more with 1-bedrooms, but not planning on including 2-bedrooms specifically.

If you are looking for a 2-bedroom Savannah View, you probably will have no problem getting one at Kidani anytime in January. Jambo would like be difficult during the marathon (10th-13th) which will also be MLK weekend, as Jambo does not have any dedicated 2-bedrooms - they are all lock-offs, so when the studios are gone, the 2-bedrooms are also gone. Past that weekend, you can probably get one at Jambo also. (I am making the assumption that you can get the 2-bedroom for the marathon - I don't have any data to support this, but there are a LOT of dedicated 2-bedrooms at Kidani.)

 

[Deb & Bill]

The availability tables are only really for studios and we are updating more with 1-bedrooms, but not planning on including 2-bedrooms specifically.

If you are looking for a 2-bedroom Savannah View, you probably will have no problem getting one at Kidani anytime in January. Jambo would like be difficult during the marathon (10th-13th) which will also be MLK weekend, as Jambo does not have any dedicated 2-bedrooms - they are all lock-offs, so when the studios are gone, the 2-bedrooms are also gone. Past that weekend, you can probably get one at Jambo also. (I am making the assumption that you can get the 2-bedroom for the marathon - I don't have any data to support this, but there are a LOT of dedicated 2-bedrooms at Kidani.)

MLK holiday in 2019 is Jan 21.

 

[skier_pete]

MLK holiday in 2019 is Jan 21.

Wow - that's late. I always thought it was weekend closest to 15th. My bad.

 

[BillPA]

Holidays and Observances: 2019
Jan 1 New Year's Day
Jan 21 Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Feb 14 Valentine's Day
Feb 18 Presidents' Day (Most regions)
Apr 13 Thomas Jefferson's Birthday
Apr 21 Easter Sunday

May 12 Mother's Day
May 27 Memorial Day
Jun 16 Father's Day
Jul 4 Independence Day
Sep 2 Labor Day
Oct 14 Columbus Day (Most regions)

Oct 31 Halloween
Nov 11 Veterans Day
Nov 28 Thanksgiving Day
Dec 24 Christmas Eve
Dec 25 Christmas Day
Dec 31 New Year's Eve

 

[Deb & Bill]

Wow - that's late. I always thought it was weekend closest to 15th. My bad.

It's the third Monday in January.

 

[Song of the South]

Thank you for the help! I'm going to chance it! I will set a reminder on my phone for the 7 month window. Fingers crossed.

Thanks again!
SotS

 

[zavandor]

It's the third Monday in January.

And marathon is the previous week end.

 

[drusba]

MLK day is always the third Monday in Jan and thus it can fall anywere from Jan 15 to Jan 21 (it was the earliest it could be this year and will be the latest next year). Many sometimes wonder why the marathon seems real close to Jan 1 one year and then not real close another because they assume its schedule is determined based on nearness to Jan 1, but instead it is always the weekend before MLK weekend. They would never put it on MLK weekend in WDW because MLK weekend is always when the Stars Wars race weekend occurs in California.

If looking for nine days that include marathon weekend in Jan, your best shot at an AKV 2BR will be a dedicated savanna view room at Kidani, which has been open in the past for that time; all other two bedrooms at AKV have had days filled for that time period before 7 months out for the last three years. If looking for time in Jan that begins after marathon weekend, all two bedrooms other than value and club level at Jambo will likely be open. The foregoing assumes that Disney does not announce a Moonlight Magic night for January before June 1. If that occurs, it is likely that particular night will fill for all rooms before 7 months out.

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

Marathon is Jan 9-12. MLK is Jan 21 in 2019.

But, Ak is large and you have both Kidani and jambo to pick from so hopefully it works out. Just be on line at 8 am eastern time SHARP to do your booking and set up your wait lists (both of them) asap if you cant get what you want. Good luck!!

 

[skier_pete]

MLK day is always the third Monday in Jan and thus it can fall anywere from Jan 15 to Jan 21 (it was the earliest it could be this year and will be the latest next year). Many sometimes wonder why the marathon seems real close to Jan 1 one year and then not real close another because they assume its schedule is determined based on nearness to Jan 1, but instead it is always the weekend before MLK weekend. They would never put it on MLK weekend in WDW because MLK weekend is always when the Stars Wars race weekend occurs in California.

If looking for nine days that include marathon weekend in Jan, your best shot at an AKV 2BR will be a dedicated savanna view room at Kidani, which has been open in the past for that time; all other two bedrooms at AKV have had days filled for that time period before 7 months out for the last three years. If looking for time in Jan that begins after marathon weekend, all two bedrooms other than value and club level at Jambo will likely be open. The foregoing assumes that Disney does not announce a Moonlight Magic night for January before June 1. If that occurs, it is likely that particular night will fill for all rooms before 7 months out.

Nice summary! @drusba is the only one that I would say with confidence knows more about resort availability than myself.

 

[HLShone]

There used to be (and may still be but my search yields loads of Trip Reports rather than cold, hard data!) a thread/website/blog that tracked 7 month availability. Does is still exist? Is there such thing as 7 month availability at this point? Have you been fortunate or unfortunate at 7 months recently?

We own at BLT. Love BLT. Want to stay at AKV in 2019. I'm trying to decide if I'll be okay at 7 months for January (2bed, sav 7-9 days) or need to transfer points in. Alternately, I could do a cash reservation through MS.

Thoughts?

Thanks for the help strategizing.
SotS

if you log into the actual DVC member website there is a resort availability tool that will show you exactly what is and what is not available for at least 1 yr ahead of time
also, not sure how it all works, but I've read about people "walking" into their reservation_something about booking days before you actually want then cancelling and adding on at end of trip-seemed to work for some people