How do most people book ressies?

[kris10399]

DH and I just had an offer accepted today on an BWV resale. Not that we have sent our deposit in yet or anything but I 've got a question regarding making ressies.

How do most members book? Do you call day to day and book each day individually? OR do you call 11 months out (for a home resort) from your expected departure date?

Does that make sense or is it a stupid question? You might have to excuse some of my posts/questions..I am pregnant and the mind doesn't work as clearly!

 

[shellbelle1971]

Congratulations on your new additions--DVC & the new baby. How wonderful for your family!

How I make reservations largely depends on what I'm trying to get. If it's something relatively easy, where I know there will be plenty of availability (like OKW or SSR in a 1 or 2 bedroom and not holidays) I'll just wait until 7 months from our check out day.

If it's something hard to get, I'm on the phone in the wee hours of the morning, calling day-by-day to make sure we get what we want.

We also do quite a bit of last-minute, "see what there is available" travel; for that I just call whenever I know a trip is a possibility and book what I can get--usually OKW or SSR, which are both fine with us, as we love both of those resorts.

 

[Boston5602]

If I'm looking for something specific like standard view at Boardwalk to extend a vacation , I do day by day . I've done day by day one time and the rest I just called to book it all at once.

 

[Starr W.]

Congratulations on your new additions--DVC & the new baby. How wonderful for your family!

How I make reservations largely depends on what I'm trying to get. If it's something relatively easy, where I know there will be plenty of availability (like OKW or SSR in a 1 or 2 bedroom and not holidays) I'll just wait until 7 months from our check out day.

If it's something hard to get, I'm on the phone in the wee hours of the morning, calling day-by-day to make sure we get what we want.

We also do quite a bit of last-minute, "see what there is available" travel; for that I just call whenever I know a trip is a possibility and book what I can get--usually OKW or SSR, which are both fine with us, as we love both of those resorts.

We're like Shellbelle, I called at 11 months for SSR for Thanksgiving for a 2br, one call.

Now for Easter next year using our VB points, I have been calling day by day for a dedicated 2br since there are only 18 of those(2 more calls to go ). Other than HHI in the summer I don't think I would do day by day reservations anywhere else unless I was looking for a GV.

Trip we are leaving next Friday, we pretty much booked when the thought came to mind(late December) and had no problem getting a 2br at SSR and then decided a few weeks later to go on the waitlist for VWL or BCV, VWL came through in about 3 weeks.

But if you own at BWV and want a STD. view I would do day by day.

 

[Granny]

We go every summer and have never called day by day...and never had a problem booking at the 11 month window from the checkout date.

We booked for late December last year and booked that one day by day.

And no, it's not a bad question at all. My gut feeling is that the day by day strategy has spread to a lot more members thanks to the internet. But most members remain blissfully unaware. I feel for people who buy DVC and get frustrated year after year if trying to book at a hard to book time and getting shut out or on a waitlist.

 

[DVC Grammy]

ITA it depends on when, what and where you want. For F & W, when we're hardly in the room, I do a day-by-day for BWV standard. For Januarys, I might do a mix: day-by-day for any BWV stays (standard again, to save points) and then for the last week or so, take whatever non-Epcot location DVC is available. (Gives us the illusion of separate vacation spots ). And for F & G, I just do "gimme' something" around 3-5 months out.
My DH and I like all the DVCs in WDW. (We don't ask for BCV because a. the location is the same as BW, b. we're not "pool" people, so SAB isn't a draw, and c. before we joined DVC, YC/BC was our favorite hotel and we stayed there many times.)

 

[CarolMN]

Good luck on the ROFR - we love the BWV. Here's what I do:

If I want to book a standard view or a guaranteed Boardwalk view, I call day by day as soon as the 11 month window opens. Have always been successful, even when staying during the very poplar "early December" season, LOL.

For a PV, I just book as soon as I know the dates - usually at the 11 month window. I only make one call for a PV -Pool/Garden.

Have only used points to stay at one non-home DVC resort (VB). I just made one call at the 7 month window - didn't think a weekend in early December at VB would be tought to get (it wasn't).

Hope to welcome you home soon.

 

[Starr W.]

We go every summer and have never called day by day...and never had a problem booking at the 11 month window from the checkout date.

We booked for late December last year and booked that one day by day.

And no, it's not a bad question at all. My gut feeling is that the day by day strategy has spread to a lot more members thanks to the internet. But most members remain blissfully unaware. I feel for people who buy DVC and get frustrated year after year if trying to book at a hard to book time and getting shut out or on a waitlist.

Calling day by day for 2br dedicated at VB for either the week before or after Easter was suggested by MS when I asked the CM's opinion. I much rather just make one call and be done with it IMHO. But I really don't want to listen to DH if I had to waitlist for a night or 2 even with the 11 month window .

 

[Granny]

Calling day by day for 2br dedicated at VB for either the week before or after Easter was suggested by MS when I asked the CM's opinion. I much rather just make one call and be done with it IMHO. But I really don't want to listen to DH if I had to waitlist for a night or 2 even with the 11 month window .

Starr...I couldn't agree with you more. To me, calling day by day falls into the same thought process as "buy where you want to stay the most". Each of those strategies is basically setting up the best chances of getting exactly what someone wants.

 

[dianeschlicht]

We too just book at the 11 month mark of our total trip checkout day UNLESS...we are booking a GV or for a holiday period. Then we MIGHT call day by day, but I can honestly say, the only time I have actually done this is for our GV stays, and when we were booking over the New Year's holiday on the millennium.

We also do late planning trips, and have never yet had to waitlist. We don't tend to go during busy times.