Do most DVC members know their exact dates or go based on availability?

[mort1331]

I guess I am in the minority. I have never booked more then 5 months out. We either travel sept/oct or march. This past sept I booked 2 weeks before because flight price was too good to pass up. When I got home from that trip I booked march of 2015 (ok 6months out) and was able to get both value and concierge at akl, but just last week wife wanted to change so we now have standard at blt for 4 nights and bc for 4 nights.
Our fall trips are easier with less crowds, but still haven't had issues with march break trips.

 

[bltpoppins]

We book 11 months out for the Friday before Xmas through Xmas Eve. Then, 6 weeks after that, a studio for DH and I for 4 nights. Then, 6 weeks after that, another studio for DH and I for 4 or 5 nights.
Do you see a pattern here…yep…get out of the snow! It works wonders!
Love our DVC!

P.S. We also book 11 months out for our F&W trip…or 7 months if we want to switch it up…HHI for example! Or VGC…or….

 

[Deb & Bill]

We're always planning ahead of time, especially for any Run Disney events. Now we like Flower & Garden and Food & Wine times. Plus we tie our Disney trip in with our south Florida beach trip. So we are planning a year or so out for each trip.

If we don't stay at our home resort, we book exactly at seven months out to get what we want.

 

[WDWLODGE]

We're new members but we just booked our 3rd DVC stay and each time we booked right at 11 months. Our 1st 2 trips we switched to a non-home resort right at 7 months. For our 2015 trip we plan to stay at our home resort.

 

[MinnieGi]

We also book at 11 months out. School schedules dictate our vacation schedule.

 

[JJSWDW]

We normally plan at 11 months out, 7 if we're switching resorts. A couple of times have done short notice trips but it's hit or miss.

 

[SusieBea]

I also book the first week in December at 11 months out. The rest we sort of just "wing" and are flexible.

 

[dsneygirl]

Definitely depends on the time of year. For the first 2 weeks of December, I book at 11 months. If we are going for F&W fest, I'll book at 7 months.

I've yet to do a spontaneous trip. I would like to do one of those when the airlines offers their special $59/each way fare and then see if I can get a ressie.

Exactly. We also are happy to stay a number of places (or do a split stay) so I may check at 7 months and see catches my eye.

 

[Kidanifan08]

We generally know when we can travel, since we are on the school calendar, so we usually book our home resort at 11 months and switch at 7 months. We like to use the CL and value rooms at AKV, so those really need to be booked at 11 months. We have done some shorter notice trips, and have gotten good options. For the first full week of December, we have booked at 11 months all three times.

 

[LSchrow]

our dates are somewhat flexible:
early-mid may for F&GF (using BCV & SSR points at 7 months)
early-mid oct for F&WF (using BWV at 11 months)
approximate dates are usually influenced by when our APs expire.

our one inflexible "option" is BWV BW view: if BW view is not available, we will change our dates
side note: we booked - at 7 months - a VGF studio for our first night in may, while there was significant availability. DD & i are excited to try it out (we've stayed at almost all WDW resorts)

our plan (within the next 6 months) is to sell off the BCV points to buy more BWV, as it has been getting increasingly difficult to book our coveted BW view even during the F&GF.

 

[christianweecare]

We plan far in advance. We are empty nesters so DH & I plan out our trips a year or two in advance.

 

[darkwing818]

historically, i've made reservations at 10-11 months out looking for specific dates.

this year, i've switched a little and am using pts to add extra days to offsite trips (or the occasional short trip to HHI in the shoulder season.)

We are much the same as above, 10 to 11 months out. In the past we were pretty sure when the girls fall break would be (actual date was posted about 9 months in advance). Lately we've been booking our DVC stays in accordance with Disney cruises, which are usually booked 18 months in advance. We've also booked DVC stays in accordance with the F&WF, we usually book 1st or 2nd week in October 11 months in advance & have always been able to attend.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Well, I'm new to this DVC game, but I've already got our dates set for December 2015 and January 2017. Mind you, I have tentative plans for my family's vacations through 2024 so....let's just say I'm the planning type.

 

[LynnH]

I was a teacher so I used to book trips primarily in the summer or during Spring break. Now my husband and I are retired and just go when we want. I have had no difficulty booking with only 2 months notice. We also LOVE SSR so that also helps with availability.

 

[jdkdorn]

My DH is required to have his time off request in by December each year for a corporate year that starts May 1st. Which means we always know our dates before we book. We usually take our DD college spring break just in case we want to go, a week in the summer, we never go to WDW in summer, a week in Oct for MNSSHP and a week in Jan for a trip before college starts again. Having DS still in middle school we can oull him out since he has high grades and gets his work done. The annual pass duscount really helped this year

 

[crisi]

Here is my hypothesis.

Disney appeals to planners...there are non-planners who love Disney, but in general we are a spreadsheet wielding, Fastpass using type of crowd who makes our dinner plans to go with our part plans months out to be able to make that reservation.

Disney appeals to families with children....again, there are retirees and the child free who love Disney, but I'd lay odds that most DVC members have to take into account SOME amount of school/sports schedule.

Add in the people whose vacation time is scheduled out months or more than a year in advance.

And my guess is that most people are making some sort of at least vague plans well before the seven month window. They may act on them by booking "home" and switching, or they may just see what's available at seven months.

However, there are still LOTS of people who don't, which means there is often some availability even at the last minute. Just not always what you want when you want it.

 

[jamala]

We are in the minority, we only know 60 days out when we can go. So we take what we can get. We just booked SSR for January. It is just the way my hubby's job works. We homeschool so that is not a problem with dates. We just got back 2 weeks ago and stayed at AK 1 bedroom and BLT studio.

 

[MountainMouse]

We are in the minority, we only know 60 days out when we can go. So we take what we can get. We just booked SSR for January. It is just the way my hubby's job works. We homeschool so that is not a problem with dates. We just got back 2 weeks ago and stayed at AK 1 bedroom and BLT studio.

Do you typically have to do split stays?

 

[jamala]

This time we did 3 nights at AK then a cruise then finished at BLT. In January we will be at SSR for the entire stay. We can't travel at all during May to September so we miss the busy summer months. And you could not pay my hubby to go during Christmas or Spring break month. We will have to do split stays sometimes but we don't mind. This was our 12th trip but only our second as DVC owners.

 

[jamala]

We did go last year the first week of December but not as DVC members and the crowd level was great.