Complicated booking scenario - help!

[qwerty2k]

Hi All,

I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to DVC bookings — I’ve only used my points once so far, and that was just at my home resort. I have an August Use Year and currently have 164 points in my current year (14 banked from last year), plus 150 points in each of the next two years.

We’re planning a trip either end of July/early August or end of October (I suspect July/August might be better for availability/viability). Our group will be: me, my wife, our two kids (6 & 4), my parents, and my mother-in-law.

Because of our points situation, my plan was to book 2 studios at VGF (our home resort) at 11 months as a “safety net” in case we can’t ultimately book what we want. Then at 7 months, I’d try to switch to 3 studios at AKL (preferred), but we’d also be open to SSR or OKW depending on availability.

The tricky part is the August Use Year if we travel at the end of July. For example, I’d want to book 3 studios at AKL (standard view):

• Wed Jul 29 – Sat Aug 1, 2026 (3 nights) → 43 points per studio
• Sat Aug 1 – Sat Aug 8, 2026 (7 nights) → 100 points per studio
  

Can I book that as one continuous reservation even though it crosses into a new Use Year? Or would I have to book it in two parts, and then have Member Services link them? My main concern is avoiding a room move within the same resort.


The reason we’re leaning toward end of July is that we’ve found some good flight prices from the UK, and we’d also spend 4 nights at Pop Century (cash) beforehand to make it a full 14-night trip. Plus, I wondered if late July might be slightly less hurricane-prone than mid/late August (does it rain any less than August?).


If we went the last two weeks of August instead, I assume this Use Year problem would disappear, since I could just bank my current points and borrow from the future year, making it simpler to book as one block?


So I guess my questions are:

• Is it actually possible to do what I’m describing at the end of July with the Use Year split?
• If it is, is it worth the extra hassle, or would late August be the more straightforward option?
• Is booking 3 standard studios at AKL/SSR/OKW doable at 7months and whats the best process to check availability before i cancel my 2 VGF studios?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[toesmom]

Hi All,

I’m a bit of a newbie when it comes to DVC bookings — I’ve only used my points once so far, and that was just at my home resort. I have an August Use Year and currently have 164 points in my current year (14 banked from last year), plus 150 points in each of the next two years.

We’re planning a trip either end of July/early August or end of October (I suspect July/August might be better for availability/viability). Our group will be: me, my wife, our two kids (6 & 4), my parents, and my mother-in-law.

Because of our points situation, my plan was to book 2 studios at VGF (our home resort) at 11 months as a “safety net” in case we can’t ultimately book what we want. Then at 7 months, I’d try to switch to 3 studios at AKL (preferred), but we’d also be open to SSR or OKW depending on availability.

The tricky part is the August Use Year if we travel at the end of July. For example, I’d want to book 3 studios at AKL (standard view):

• Wed Jul 29 – Sat Aug 1, 2026 (3 nights) → 43 points per studio
• Sat Aug 1 – Sat Aug 8, 2026 (7 nights) → 100 points per studio

Can I book that as one continuous reservation even though it crosses into a new Use Year? Or would I have to book it in two parts, and then have Member Services link them? My main concern is avoiding a room move within the same resort.


The reason we’re leaning toward end of July is that we’ve found some good flight prices from the UK, and we’d also spend 4 nights at Pop Century (cash) beforehand to make it a full 14-night trip. Plus, I wondered if late July might be slightly less hurricane-prone than mid/late August (does it rain any less than August?).


If we went the last two weeks of August instead, I assume this Use Year problem would disappear, since I could just bank my current points and borrow from the future year, making it simpler to book as one block?


So I guess my questions are:

• Is it actually possible to do what I’m describing at the end of July with the Use Year split?
• If it is, is it worth the extra hassle, or would late August be the more straightforward option?
• Is booking 3 standard studios at AKL/SSR/OKW doable at 7months and whats the best process to check availability before i cancel my 2 VGF studios?

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Yes can be booked as one continuous reservation but you will have to be careful which points are used for the booking when you do it online, or with member services. If you are not too familiar with online booking you could call member aervices.

 

[Cyberc1978]

1. To have a booking crossing a UY you need to call member services and have them create the booking, you can't do that your self.
2. Its more hassle as you would need to call MS to make any date modifications for a reservation crossing the UY, otherwise its not.
3. If you are a little tech savvy you can see how many rooms are available for a any given date, for any room and resort. There is a guide of the sort here on DIS. Otherwise you can always call and ask.

 

[Moonspinner]

You can book it yourself but it will be separate reservations. If you speak to the front desk at your resort about having separate reservations, they will let you stay in the same room. Most of the time, they’ve already noticed your split reservation and arranged it for you to stay in the same room. We’ve never had to move rooms because of a split reservation for the same room.

 

[AstroBlasters]

Using GF points to stay at SSR or OKW @ 7m…. yikes!

 

[Memorymakerfor4]

Definitely call Member Services for this booking, they can override the split stay thing that happens because of different use years. While traveling at the end of your use year isn't ideal, it sounds like you'll lose a few points if you don't.

 

[paults]

if your not comfortable booking then let MS do it. I had to call once to cross a UY and was no problem

 

[Sandisw]

Only MS can make them one reservation and I think you even have to then call at 7 months to switch them by calling them as well.

Waiting until Aug 1st for the whole trip makes it easier but the 14 banked 2024 points would be lost as they expire before then.

Based on your AKV situation, I am seeing you’d need 129 points to use at the end of the 2025 UY. You can use the 14 banked 2024 UY, and then need 115 2025 UY points.

You’d need to then bank 35 2025 UY points into the 2026 UY.

That gives you 185 in your 2026 UY…since you want to use 300 for your Aug dates, you’d need to then borrow 125 from your 2027 UY.

The riskiest part is that the 115 2025 UY points for end of July dates would be lost if you had to cancel or change after the March 31st 2026 banking deadline.

 

[sndral]

When I booked across my use year I booked the nights in my old use year online, waited an hour until MS opened & then had them complete the booking adding the nights that were in the new use year.
If you check historical availability https://dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables you are more likely to find availability at 7 months for a summer stay than for an October stay.

 

[qwerty2k]

Thanks for the replies everyone. Much appreciated.