First time visiting during the Holidays

[LoKiHB]

We are planning on heading down for the Holidays next year. Our plan is to arrive The Saturday after Thanksgiving and spend a week at WL (Our favorite DVC property).

Having never visited during the Holidays, I'd like to know what the best plan of action is. Our Home Resort is AKL. I know we can book there 11 months in advance so we won't have any problems securing a reservation for the week, but we REALLY want to stay at WL.

Hoping all you seasoned DVC vets can give us some hope...

Are we going to be out of luck if we make a reservation 11 months out for AKL and then call to switch to WL at the 7 month mark? Will all the WL villas be gone as soon as the window opens? We aren't looking for anything special, a deluxe studio is all we need...

Any advice (or reassurance) would be greatly appreciated!

 

[kbonner]

I would go ahead and book at the 11 month window and try to switch at the 7. I think you will be able to find something, if nothing else you could probably get at least a split stay.

 

[drusba]

You better book AKV 11 months out to assure you have something. The time you are talking about includes time in the first weeek of December and is the highest DVC demand time of the year, outpacing even Christmas week, and, except for a stray day or two, the near park resorts (including VWL) tend to be gone before 7 months out. Many of the room categories in the near park resorts fill right after the 11 month window opens and resort owners can be blocked if they do not book early. Even AKV can have problems at 7 months out and thus you do not want to risk having no reservation until the 7 month window opens and your option at the time when you want to make a switch if something else does open is to call and make the change because you do not want to risk canceling your AKV reservation on line and then trying for another because between the time you cancel and try to book whatevever you saw open has a real risk of being filled by someone else, paritcularly for that time of year, and you could end up with no reservation.

 

[chalee94]

Having never visited during the Holidays, I'd like to know what the best plan of action is. Our Home Resort is AKL. I know we can book there 11 months in advance so we won't have any problems securing a reservation for the week, but we REALLY want to stay at WL.

book at jambo house - it is at least more similar to WL in feel with the main lobby and all.

i am with drusba: don't get your hopes up for a switch at 7 months and be careful not to lose what you have at AKV.

the distance from MK is kind of a bummer, but jambo house is amazing during the holidays.

 

[sophia315]

We are going that same week this year. We were able to book at our home resort at 11 and switch to AKL at 7 months. We were unable to secure anything at WL for that week.

A family member owns at WL and did a check for us after the 11 month mark (we thought about it too late but we were going to buy/trade with them for WL of they could secure a reservation but even then at around 10 month it was already booked up for that week.

I am sure others have different experiences but this was my experience for 2014.

Good luck!!

 

[Nanajo1]

I think the bus to MK from AKL is not longer than the bus to MK from the BWV. We felt the bus service was great.

 

[tlh]

I thought the bus service at AKL was great, but what I didn't like was at BWV and having to stop at all the other resorts. This was during our stay this past March our first DVC stay.

 

[lovewdwdvc]

I would book at 11 months but not book more points than I need for the reservation that I want. That way you will not end up with points in holding.

 

[Pirate Granny]

We own at VWL and had a 7 night trip booked in mid December at 11 months. At 9 months hubby questioned why we weren't staying the fri/sat, so I got on line, and no studios were left. (Didn't want to wait list)...so waited until 7 months and booked those two and then an additional night at AKV savanna studio...we get a split stay to check out some of the neat tours offered ... Hoping that they continue to offer to all AKV DVC guests, and not just concierge guests!

So, I would rent points (and in turn rent out your AKV points) if your heart is set on VWL, it's truly beautiful at Xmas, which is how I got hubby to purchase more resale points there, just for our holiday visits! that first visit I had to adjust my dates to what nights were available at 7 months to switch our stay..only got 5 nights and that was three years ago! But it was after Thanksgiving and ran into that first week of Dec for one or two days. So it can be done with a little bit of luck

 

[skier_pete]

I would say based on the time of year the likelyhood of getting into WLV for the full week is very slim. You might be able to do a split stay. I am with most posters saying you should book at AKV to be sure you have a place to stay. You probably could get into SSR and OKW at the 7th month mark, but anywhere else is going to be very, very tough.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

As others have said, make a back-up reservation at your home resort at 11 months. Get online immediately when the web site opens on your 7-month window and hope for pixie dust. Unfortunately, the chances are pretty slim, so expect to have to wait list. And then, the chance for that to come through will also be a long shot.

VWL is a small resort, and is very, very popular whenever the Christmas decorations are up. Unless you're booking during the 11-month home resort advantage, it's extremely difficult to get a room. Here's hoping you find a big ol' bucket of pixie dust to prove me wrong, though!