DVC Availability & Busy times

[Jfine]

Hi! I know this topic gets mentioned often, but I'm trying to really understand it. We're wanting to buy DVC resale. The issue is that there's not a resort we have to stay at. In fact we plan on staying at all of them eventually. We'll probably primarily go in October, December and February. However even that's not set in stone (next year we're going in June). We'll want a studio except for when extended family come along. It sounds like studios go quickly? Will we always be stuck at our home resort? Or will we have a realistic chance to get into the more popular resorts? Thanks for any insight!

 

[chalee94]

We'll probably primarily go in October, December and February. However even that's not set in stone (next year we're going in June).

early december is probably THE peak season for DVC bookings. all of fall is fairly busy, so oct will be relatively tough due to food and wine at epcot - especially at BCV and BWV.

february (non-holiday periods) and june should be a little easier, but you'd still do best if you were online at exactly 7 months out when your booking window opens.

here is a good thread for more details:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3281173

i would not buy at a resort that i didn't want to stay at. DVC is "easiest" when you buy where you want to stay and book at 10-11 months out.

you can look at the DVC resource thread below and see that SSR is 3x larger than BLT and 4x larger than BCV. a lot of people have bought into SSR and assumed they would never have to stay there. the math simply doesn't support that. especially as owners at other resorts become more savvy about booking early and renting their pts at a premium if they don't use them. i would at least "buy where you don't mind staying"...

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2823943

 

[DenLo]

You might want to check out this thread as it will answer a lot of your questions: Everything You need to consider when deciding on your home resort

At the seven month mark it wil be harder to get rooms for longer vacations of a week to 10 days from mid September through the first weekend of January (the Disney Marathon weekend). Although there could be gaps of 2 or 3 nights that the homeowners didn't book and you might get them at the 7 month mark. These weeks are the busy time period for DVC reservations. Members often book them at the 11 month mark using their home resort advantage. However, even owners decide to switch from one resort to another at the 7 month mark. So often a couple days after the 7 month mark, rooms suddenly open. So many will wait list for those popular resorts hoping the member cancels their home resort reservation. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. For the first 2 weeks in December, it is very doubtful you will get a reservation at the 7 month mark.

So my advice is buy where you want to stay. If you will be unhappy with staying at your home resort for October through early January, then reconsider your purchase.

 

[DenLo]

I finally found another excellent thread that should help the OP:

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3281173 Be sure to check out drusba's post 3. And some of the other posts following it have some good advice as well.

 

[disneynutz]

Hi! I know this topic gets mentioned often, but I'm trying to really understand it. We're wanting to buy DVC resale. The issue is that there's not a resort we have to stay at. In fact we plan on staying at all of them eventually. We'll probably primarily go in October, December and February. However even that's not set in stone (next year we're going in June). We'll want a studio except for when extended family come along. It sounds like studios go quickly? Will we always be stuck at our home resort? Or will we have a realistic chance to get into the more popular resorts? Thanks for any insight!

You may think that you know what you want but you may not.

We loved the MK for years, now we enjoy the less crowded Epcot more.

We bought BLT, thought we would love it, we don't.

We have stayed at all of the WDW resorts many times and now only really care for VGF, VWL, and BWV even though we also own AKV, BLT, and BCV.

Buy where you love to stay or be prepared for occasional disappointment. Disney is pulling out all of the stops to increase attendance and DVC historically has a 98% occupancy rate already. All of the new buyers not staying at their home resorts are competing for reservations.

Bill

 

[disprincess2213]

You might want to check out this thread as it will answer a lot of your questions: Everything You need to consider when deciding on your home resort

At the seven month mark it wil be harder to get rooms for longer vacations of a week to 10 days from mid September through the first weekend of January (the Disney Marathon weekend). Although there could be gaps of 2 or 3 nights that the homeowners didn't book and you might get them at the 7 month mark. These weeks are the busy time period for DVC reservations. Members often book them at the 11 month mark using their home resort advantage. However, even owners decide to switch from one resort to another at the 7 month mark. So often a couple days after the 7 month mark, rooms suddenly open. So many will wait list for those popular resorts hoping the member cancels their home resort reservation. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. For the first 2 weeks in December, it is very doubtful you will get a reservation at the 7 month mark.

So my advice is buy where you want to stay. If you will be unhappy with staying at your home resort for October through early January, then reconsider your purchase.

This raises a question for me.... is it difficult to get a LONG vacation (7-10 days at one resort) the first few weeks of December or is it hard to get ANY vacation at that time? Is is easier (or more realistic) to get 4 straight days than to get 7 or is it just ANY amount of days in general? Is availability during these peak DVC times dependent on length of stay or just the time in general? I have been wondering this!!
I saw in drusbas post that weekdays fill faster than weekends and certain rooms/views book first during peak season, but if only traveling for 4 nights, is there a better chance of getting a room at a near park resort than if you were to try to book 7 nights?

 

[chalee94]

This raises a question for me.... is it difficult to get a LONG vacation (7-10 days at one resort) the first few weeks of December or is it hard to get ANY vacation at that time?

DVC is a points-based system that allows people to book individual days. so as the resorts book up (which drusba's data shows happens for most all of the wdw resorts in early dec except SSR before the 7 month window opens), you may find stray days here and there but it will always be harder to string together a long stay. (some have noted that thursdays can be a particular challenge as they get picked up by both weekday DVCers - who book sun-thurs stays for the cheaper point costs, and long weekend DVCers - who want thurs-sat stays.)

for example, i booked a timeshare stay for 7 nights at a marriott near wdw for november and wanted to add a day or 2 onsite at BWV to try the epcot area. at 2-3 months out (very last minute), everything was booked up for the nights i wanted. but i put in a waitlist and kept checking the website daily, and within a couple of weeks, i was able to book a night for BWV that popped open but had not been picked up by the waitlist yet.

...which is all a long way of saying that if you want a day or 2 here or there on short notice, it's a hassle but it's definitely possible. but had i been trying to get even 3-4 days together at the same resort, SSR would have been my only option (and even that looked pretty iffy.)

if you own where you don't mind staying and book at 10-11 months out, DVC is almost always really easy. you can book or waitlist an alternate resort at 7 months out and if it comes through, you are golden. if not, you are still onsite at a resort that makes you happy.

but if you own at a resort you don't particularly like, trying to book early december at 7 months or less can be very frustrating. some people claim they always get what they want at 7 months out - the pros will be online at 8am ready to grab what they want and enjoy the game of stalking the website daily to piece together a stay day-by-day (and maybe that describes your style). but if you do a search, you will find numerous examples of those who have been aggravated by their inability to get what they want (and many of those posters have sold their DVC as a result).

 

[chainkid]

To me its pretty simple. If you are going to vacation primarily during the most sought after dates by DVC members(sept-Jan) then you need to think long and hard about which resort you would like to be at for 90% of the time. You will need to book at 11month window to get much of anything. If you can't book at 11 months out for this time frame you are going to find some disappointment headed your way. Everyone gets lucky once in awhile and finds availability where they least expect it but more often than not for last minute trips you are going to find only SSR,OKW and or AKV open if that. If you are flexible with dates places can open up but I wouldn't want to spend thousands of dollars on a chance I might get something I want. If you haven't visited the resorts then its a real gamble. What I love might be something you hate and buying without staying at a resort is filled with buyers' remorse.

Best advice I ever got was try them out before buying and buy where you feel you want to end up most of the time with no regrets. The one time I deviated from this rule I ended up selling .

 

[disneynutz]

I don't understand the advice contrary to buying where you love to stay.

If a buyer buys where they love to stay they are pretty much going to get to stay where they want, when they want no matter what changes Disney makes to increase attendance or how many people become DVC owners.

Buying anywhere else is a crap shoot. Waitlists, checking availability daily, staying at another available resort. You might be able to get your dates but you might not. At one point in time Disney's Christmas season was at Christmas now it starts right after Halloween which is now several weeks long. Star Wars, walks, races, F&W, F&G, who knows what Disney will add to increase attendance and how it will shut out DVC 7 month bookers.

Bill

 

[supersnoop]

I don't understand the advice contrary to buying where you love to stay.

If you don't book 7+ months in advance anyway, then it doesn't matter where you buy. Or, if you buy somewhere you don't mind staying, then you can book at 11 months and change to something "nicer" at 7 months if available.

It comes down to a trade-off between cost and flexibility. How much is your flexibility worth? How flexible are you willing to be to save up-front and long-term costs?

 

[bookem]

I want to try all the resorts, so the home advantage didn't mean much to me. I'd rather save some $$$ now and yearly with SSR. Plus if everything else is booked solid, is SSR really a "bad" place to stay. I would still prefer it over most of the value resorts. Buy where you want to stay?? I want to stay in Disney, so I guess I did buy where I wanted to stay!

 

[dsnydaddy]

If you don't book 7+ months in advance anyway, then it doesn't matter where you buy. Or, if you buy somewhere you don't mind staying, then you can book at 11 months and change to something "nicer" at 7 months if available.

It comes down to a trade-off between cost and flexibility. How much is your flexibility worth? How flexible are you willing to be to save up-front and long-term costs?

I have to agree. We are looking to buy at a resort that we don't mind staying at. But I'd really like to spend some of my time at the Aulani. Points there are expensive and besides I'll also be using my points a goodly amount of time at WDW. Since I'll not have the 11 month advantage at Aulani, it really doesn't matter so much where I do buy so I'm buying at what I believe to be the most cost effective resort that I like.

 

[skier_pete]

Hi! I know this topic gets mentioned often, but I'm trying to really understand it. We're wanting to buy DVC resale. The issue is that there's not a resort we have to stay at. In fact we plan on staying at all of them eventually. We'll probably primarily go in October, December and February. However even that's not set in stone (next year we're going in June). We'll want a studio except for when extended family come along. It sounds like studios go quickly? Will we always be stuck at our home resort? Or will we have a realistic chance to get into the more popular resorts? Thanks for any insight!

As others have mentioned early December is very popular and you are likely to have to book at your home resort at > 7 months out if you want a studio or else stay at SSR. The week before Christmas seems to be more open and able to get in various resorts. Christmas week again becomes hit and miss...harder to get in.

October books up fast as well, but there's a little more flexibility here (except forget the BCV and BWV).

February you are OK, except if you are talking about Presidents week. Actually, Presidents Weekend itself is not bad, but it's the weekend after that which is the Princess marathon weekend. We were thinking of going Feb 2016, so I tracked Feb 2015 at the 7-month mark very carefully, and the Thursday & Friday of that week was booked up EVERYWHERE except SSR before the 7-month mark.

I want to try all the resorts, so the home advantage didn't mean much to me. I'd rather save some $$$ now and yearly with SSR. Plus if everything else is booked solid, is SSR really a "bad" place to stay. I would still prefer it over most of the value resorts. Buy where you want to stay?? I want to stay in Disney, so I guess I did buy where I wanted to stay!

The point of the "buy where you like" is more "buy where you are satisfied staying". We bought our first contract earlier this year at AKV, because we know we like staying there, and if we are going at a time of year where we can't get in anywhere else, we are fine with it.

I would like to eventually get additional points, so when we used our first points this past month, I was happy that we were "stuck" with SSR. (FYI to others - at the 5-month mark the ONLY availability for mid-October across all of DVC was a 1-bedroom at SSR.) I wanted to see the resort for myself to see if I would buy added points there someday. In my opinion, I liked the resort OK - and it certainly was much nicer than staying at a value or a moderate, but I didn't really like it all that much. It was just way to massive and spread out for my tastes and I think the theming is BLAH. So personally, I think I would be not that likely to buy there just to save a few hundred dollars a year on dues.

 

[twoj]

Keep in mind that the annual dues are what will
Cost you more over time. I recently purchased BLT points for a few reasons. The annual dues were reasonable compared to the others. Also there are studios up to grand villas.

I had added on to my beach club points and wanted to own at a resort with grand villas. You can always book Saratoga springs so why not pay a few dollars a point today to have some sort of booking advantage? See what your break even point is in simple dollars with the annual dues. That might put it in perspective

 

[jodiey]

Boy after reading this thread I almost don't want to look into buying dvc anymore. It sounds like more of a hassle than what it's worth.

 

[vicki_c]

Boy after reading this thread I almost don't want to look into buying dvc anymore. It sounds like more of a hassle than what it's worth.

I don't get how what has been posted here equals "more hassle than it's worth". I guess if your original thought was that you could stay anywhere at any time with any amount of notice, yes. But timeshares (of any kind) don't work that way.

 

[CarolMN]

Boy after reading this thread I almost don't want to look into buying dvc anymore. It sounds like more of a hassle than what it's worth.

Most of the posters who post "negatives" here, really just want buyers to make informed choices. Educated, informed buyers will be much happier with their purchase.

You did say "almost", so I think that you are actually glad to know ahead of time what you may be getting into.

FWIW, we've been members since 1999 and still think it's a good value for us, but I know it doesn't work for everyone. Best to know if it will work well for you before you commit thousands of dollars!

 

[skier_pete]

Boy after reading this thread I almost don't want to look into buying dvc anymore. It sounds like more of a hassle than what it's worth.

I don't get how what has been posted here equals "more hassle than it's worth". I guess if your original thought was that you could stay anywhere at any time with any amount of notice, yes. But timeshares (of any kind) don't work that way.

jodiey - on your side of things...yes DVC does require a lot more organization and advanced planning. If you are the type to want to book your travel on short notice (< 7 months) unless it is 2-3 day blocks you are looking for, then DVC may not work well for you.

At certain times of year it is VERY popular and the rooms book up very quickly. As has been stated, those times of year are typically early October - beginning of January, beyond that certain RunDisney events, and certain holidays (4th of July for example). At these times of year, you are probably "stuck" booking your home resort prior to the 7-month mark, especially if you want a studio room.

But the remaining 7-8 months of the year there is a lot of availability if you book at the 7-month mark. Then, the longer you wait after 7-months, the less is available.

This is why DVC is a boon to Disney. They get to pre-sell their properties for the next 40 years, and are basically guaranteed "full" occupancy, because the owners already have the points, and generally are going to use them to stay on Disney property.

The advantage for us as the consumer is a long-term advantage in that we get to have a long-term cost savings over paying full price. If you are regular Deluxe hotel occupier, the savings would be HUGE, even buying direct from Disney. For those that stay moderate (like we typically did) the savings is more in the long term: 8-10 years down the road.

This is in part why while DVC occupancy stays high, the Deluxe resorts are struggling to fill rooms.

In turn though for those cost savings you (1) pay a large fee up front and (2) have to deal with the hassle of thinking a lot more about how to book your stays.

A comment to what Vicki-C said: We bought into DVC earlier this year when I discovered the resale market. I then discovered that other timeshares are available on resale, and can had for very little money up front. Since we bought into DVC I have looked into other timeshares, and I have to say, Disney's system is MUCH easier than most timeshare systems. Most of these other systems completely baffle me to the point I am leery of buying into them. DVC on the other hand is pretty straightforward, you have a certain # of points, and you can use them however you want.

 

[DebbieB]

Boy after reading this thread I almost don't want to look into buying dvc anymore. It sounds like more of a hassle than what it's worth.

I've been a member 15 years, couldn't be happier. I always plan at the 11 or 7 month mark and have always got what I wanted. Stayed at all the WDW DVC resorts except SSR with my BWV points.

 

[dsnydaddy]

I've been thinking of buying into DVC since 2007. I've been crunching numbers nearly constantly since and usually walked away thinking that it was "more trouble than it's worth." I've came to an abrupt change of mind as my children are getting older and staying in a small Hotel room with them sharing a bed is becoming less and less an option. Besides, I'm a compulsive planner on vacations. I have them mapped out for the next 4 years. So this year came to the realization that DVC will work out for me.