how early to book?

[dbdisney]

Do you find that you must book by a certain time to even have availablity? I know the 12 month/7 month thing. When we had talked to someone briefly at Disney recently he said that you could book something like a week in advance. I find this hard to be true, and remember reading something here about that not being true. But realistically how late can you book? We are thinking of buying and would like to go to Disney this Thanksgiving. If we were to buy, would that even be possible? I usually book our spring trips in the fall. Is that possible?

 

[Granny]

Actually, the home resort gets to book at 11 months from check out, not 12 months. Everyone else gets a shot at it at 7 months.

There have been many people who reported success in getting last minute reservations, especially in the non-crowded times of the year. If you don't care where you stay, it helps a lot.

Thanksgiving through New Years is one of the busiest times of the year for DVC members. So booking that time period a few weeks out could very well be difficult.

Booking a spring trip in September is probably no problem unless you're talking about Spring Break period. If you want to book then, you should really aim for the 7 month mark at the latest, IMHO.

 

[tjkraz]

If you can book before the 7 month window opens, you'll have the best shot at booking your home resort.

If you don't mind where you stay, most people seem to agree that you can get a room SOMEWHERE on short notice. OKW has over 500 rooms, and is often the last to fill up. In a year, SSR will have about 600 rooms, and by virtue of being so large, will also be one of the last to fill.