changing resorts after making res @ home

[crazy4claspooh]

Hi there we are starting to plan for our next trip to wdw back home. We need a 2 bedroom 2 adults 4 kids our home resort is WLV and we will have 311 points at that timing. We are looking at booking at WLV then changing to either Sarrasota or Old Key West to get the most days in our stay. Has anyone changed ressies after booking going to another resort? Is it easy to do? Any other suggestions you guys always have good advice. Thanks!!

 

[BillPA]

That is done all the time. Make your reservation at "home" then at 7 months, switch to where you would like to try, knowing you have a place to stay if it doesn't work out. OKW, being the largest DVC, is fairly easy to get into, even at 7 months. Unless you are looking for the 1st 2 weeks of December or other peak time, you should not have any problem.

 

[crazy4claspooh]

Thank you!! Do we need to book at the home resort using less days or a smaller unit? Exp. WLV 1bed then go to OKW 2 bedroom or would it have to be WLV less days then add on days at OKW?

 

[DebbieB]

When you switch reservations, you are cancelling the original reservation and rebooking, so it doesn't matter how many nights or size unit you booked originally. Booking at 11 months gives you a backup plan in case the other resort is not available at 7 months. One thing to watch for - if your new reservation is less points, make sure you have enough time to use or bank the extra points.

 

[gopherit]

We do this all the time -- we just never fully make up our minds WHERE we want to stay, I guess!

One possible pitfall to remember: points used. As someone else noted, make sure that if your new ressie will "save" you points, if you aren't planning to use your saved points immediately (i.e., by staying extra nights!) you need to be within your banking window to "save" them. Similarly, if you should ever borrow points for your original ressies, and then the second ressie is fewer pts, SOMETIMES the MS will send some of your current year pts forward into the next year, but the main lesson here is that borrowed pts STAY in the year they were borrowed into. You don't mention borrowing any, so this won't be a problem with this ressie, but it's something to keep in mind if you ever do!

 

[sheryl0521]

This just happened to me. I booked BCV for April 2004 at the 11 month window (May 2003). I had to borrow 5 - 2005 points for this original ressie. At 7 months (Sept '03), I switched the ressie to BWV standard view and saved 30 points (yippee!). MS told me she will apply the 5 borrowed points first towards my new ressie and would not lose them.

Hope this helps.

Sheryl

 

[dvcgirl]

We have done this as well. And the good news for you is that OKW at the seven month mark is generally easy to get. OKW is the easiest to book by far in fact. So going from VWL to OKW should be a snap....from VWL to SSR may be difficult as its so new.

 

[married@wdw]

I just did this on Monday -- went from OKW studio to BWV standard view studio in mid-May. It really was a piece of cake -- I was on the phone for less than 10 minutes (we were on vacation on the Jersey shore so I was on my cell at a restaurant at 9 a.m.). It really is a piece of cake.

A few notes:
Make sure to watch your points carefully. If you're going to save points when you change the reservation, you want to make sure MS uses borrowed points first.
Make sure your original reservation is big enough to hold everyone in your party. While I imagine it rarely happens, the last thing you want is to end up not being able to get a room anywhere at 7 months that will hold you all. So decide what you want and book it, then if you can save points later, great! If not, at least you've got a room and you can go on a waitlist.
Think about how to handle the reservation -- calling day by day or just once on the last day of the 7-month window. I waited until the last day and didn't have any problems, but in busier seasons, it might be tougher.

Good luck!

 

[crazy4claspooh]

Thank you everyone once again very helpful!! I have 11 pts that I banked from this year. We will have another 150 from Aug 2004 use year and then we will be borrowing 150 from 2005 pts. We will have to buy 1 pt to make our ressie. Can't wait till we get there!!!