Easiest time of year to get a 1 bed/studio at Villas at Grand Californian?

[snoopy5386]

Trying to figure out how we are spending our points for the next couple of years and it is looking like a trip to Disneyland is in our future in 2014. We are flexible on when we travel and I want to book a 1 bedroom or studio for probably 3-4 nights at the Grand Californian. What is the best time of year to try and get a room at the 7 month mark?

 

[Cinderpamela]

Good question, studios are harder to get than 1 bedrooms for sure so just know that going in.

I have been checking on and off for the last year or so and it seemed like if you were right at the 7 month mark it wasn't too hard to find openings in say Jan-May and then all of a sudden when Junes booking window hit it has been booked almost solid.... and probably will be through the summer.

This past fall when I was looking it was pretty open at 7 months in September but started to get more iffy on availability around the race weekends and then Halloween especially on the weekends... weekdays seemed easier. Then beginning of November was making me nervous as it was seeming to be popular... I was approaching the dates we wanted (Nov 23-27). But then about mid November it seemed to open up again and I was able to snag our 1 bedroom right at the 7 month mark. Later in the day it was all booked up.

It really made me nervous... much more so than WDW because at least at WDW you can always go to another resort. The only fallback you have at DL is to book a reg room with your points, and use a lot of points for just a regular hotel room... with no washer dryer or kitchen.... boy does DVC spoil us or what!?

 

[Starr W.]

We just got back from a stay in a 2br 2 weeks ago. While tracking the 7 month window, I saw all sizes of VGC villas available, when looking right when the booking window opens.

 

[snoopy5386]

That's a great idea to track myself. I will have to do that! Just trying to plan out our points so if we can't get a room I can still bank that year's points and not be stuck with points I would lose if I can't use them there.

 

[zavandor]

We just got back from a stay in a 2br 2 weeks ago. While tracking the 7 month window, I saw all sizes of VGC villas available, when looking right when the booking window opens.

I have the same experience, but I also noticed that availability can go away VERY fast (sometimes it's a matter of minutes). So be ready online to book exactly at 7 months 8am.

 

[DieHardJoe]

I did what another poster mentioned and that was to start tracking ahead. By that I mean go in now and see what's available 7 months out. And since you're not planning your vacation until 2014 you'll be able to see just how difficult it might be to get the accommodations you want. Again, as someone alluded to, there is no predicting the future. You might look ahead 7 months from today and see rooms available, but try that next year for 2014 and there's nothing.

But just to give you our experience - We were planning 2 weeks in California this past Sept with a somewhat flexible schedule. We finally decided on the stretch of 5 days we wanted at GVC and I went online at 8:00 at the 7 month mark back in February and got the 5 days. I don't remember the exact timing, but a couple days later we needed to revise a reservation for earlier accommodations in San Diego before we drove up to Disney, and when I went back to drop the first day at GVC and add one at the end, there was nothing available. But I did wait list the day I wanted to tack on the end and I got it about a week or so later. But as many people have mentioned on these Boards, your experience today is not a predictor for the future. Good luck with your planning, and I hope you get exactly what you want!

 

[PoohsFan1]

I have the same experience, but I also noticed that availability can go away VERY fast (sometimes it's a matter of minutes). So be ready online to book exactly at 7 months 8am.

That is what I did for our June trip. I found out from these threads that Studios are the ones that book up the fastest so on the day of our 7 month booking window, I was up bright and early doing online check-in. I was able to secure 7 nights without any problems. However, I had to go back into the online booking (needed to check on a date) and most of the days that I had booked earlier that morning were already booked up. Thankfully when I called the next morning, I was able to secure our 8th night .