Hi all...
Haven't been thinking much about our contract but now that the deadline is drawing near (submitted for ROFR on 05/21) I'm getting antsy! Really hoping this works out...and if it does then I'm anxious to book a trip! We were hoping to do a big family trip in Jan 2014....anyone have thoughts on what our chances would be of getting a GV the first or 2nd week of Jan, or 2-2 bed units....we aren't picky on where we stay!
Thanks for listening
It may be tricky, but if you're willing to take Saratoga, it may be doable to get a Grand Villa, especially if you're willing to supplement with a day or two of cash booking (which will be eye-popping cost, let me tell ya).
If you're willing to use a cash reservation as a supplement or backup, call in now and make a room-only reservation for the entire time you might be going. Those reservations can be canceled or changed with no penalty all the way up to 5 days before arrival, so that's your backup/fillin reservation. Once you get all the
DVC rooms you can get, you can shrink that down to fill in the gap or extend the beginning or end.
We're trying to book out a Grand Villa around XMas, and were in the same situation. We didn't get our points until about 3 weeks into the 7-month booking period, and of course when I finally got the member ID and checked availability there was nothing with more than 2 days consecutive at any resort, though we could get any room at Saratoga other than a Grand Villa or treehouse for 7 consecutive days. So I booked a few single days and waitlisted some other days, and started checking the web site every day.
After two days I saw 5 days in a row at Saratoga and booked that. Now all I need is a day or two on either end to have our booking squared away, so I have two one-day waitlists on the two days I think are most likely to open up. In a pinch, I'll shrink our backup cash reservation to one or two days and have them link it with the DVC reservation. It can't be linked such that the reservation is truly continuous, but usually you can avoid moving rooms, and all you have to do is go get new room keys when the reservations switch over, assuming you have booked exactly the same room type with both cash and DVC.
One thing to know is that for some reason Grand Villas don't show up on Disney's online cash reservation system, but if you call they may have them, usually at Saratoga and/or Old Key West.
Good luck! Don't despair! One way or another there will be some rooms available.
