DVC when is it busiest?

[hsc3boys]

We are new to DVC and just wondering if there is a thread about the busiest and quietest times for booking.
As we are from the UK we will be booking from 7-14 night stays which I suspect will be harder than short stays.

What times of the year are best avoided? Which resorts get booked up first?

 

[chalee94]

the short answer is early december and the quarter that starts with epcot's food and wine festival and ends with the holiday in mid-january.

the cheaper villas and the resorts closer to the parks get booked up first. resort size is also an issue.

for more details, check out drusba's post in this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/threads/an...vailability-for-days-7-11-months-out.3281173/

 

[com_op_2000]

DVC is designed to booked at 98% every night of the year.
That said there are busy and very busy periods (as PP stated):
Very Busy: Mid-Sept through Mid-Jan
Busy: Mid-Jan through Mid-Sept except around the holidays when it goes back to Very Busy
The smaller resorts BCV, VWL, and GFV and the resorts closest to the parks BWV, BLT, and most likely PVB will fill up faster than the three largest resorts at WDW OKW, SSR, and AKL.

 

[skier_pete]

Since you are an owner - here's what you should know about booking. (You didn't mention where you own, so I will generalize.)

Generally at the 11-month mark you can get into most room categories at your home resort (wherever you own) at any time of year. The exception to this are the "low point" category rooms (Value rooms at AKV, standard rooms at BLT and BWV) and also VGF studios, which all book very quickly. Pretty much everything else you can get to at 11-months or slightly less. Some resorts will fill up faster than others, but if you book close to 11 months at your home resort, you are quite likely to get in.

At the 7-month mark is when you can book across all DVC properties. At the "very busy" times of year, a lot of these properties will already be filled. (Oct-Dec being the main one, holidays, and also during any marathon weekends, such as the last weekend in February when the princess marathon occurs.) The rest of the year, you can generally book at quite a few resorts at the 7-month mark. Some resorts are super popular with non-owners, such as Beach Club, and as such when there IS availability at 7-months, it goes very quickly. However, there is generally always SOMETHING available at 7-months, even if it's OKW,, SSR or AKV (the easiest to get into resorts). The closer you get to your dates after 7-months, the less availability. Early December and then October/November are the worst for being gone close to 7-months. Some times of year (early/mid September, late January) are actually usually pretty available even down to 3-4 months.

Hope that helps!

 

[hsc3boys]

Thank you everyone, it's a real help. We like going around 20th October, so it looks like we will be staying at our home resort, which is fine.
However over time, we would like to stay at other resorts as well, so will have to think about visiting during less busy times of the year. Now I am aware when its more likely we can book at other resorts , I know when to consider going.

Great info in the thread you gave me the link for.