How far ahead do you plan?

[RuntheMouse]

We have 3 UY’s.

The bulk of our points are in 1 UY and I plan those trips 12+ months out.

The other 2 UY are small contracts and one is for a F&G weekend trip and the other is for a spring/summer trip. Those may or may not happen in any given year so I “plan” those but they might get moved or canceled so never set in stone.

 

[AnnaS]

For many years DVC trips have been twice a year. Spring and Fall. These are planned 11 months in advance.

Might skip one of those trips if a big trip is added that year which is planned more than a year in advance (Italy/Cruise, etc.). (Thinking of a cruise again in 2026/it has been a while).

 

[DebbieB]

Which days in December 2025 for VGC are you looking at? That's when we're thinking as well! Seems so far away!

Week of December 7

 

[ClaraOswald]

Week of December 7

Same!

 

[Ruttangel]

Well, to get a AKV-V studio or Club Studio I will start stalking from 1st March 2025 to look at 1st Feb 2026 (Feb UY) and try to start a walk which I will then need to push it to actual date Aug 2026

If not it’s back to just picking dates up behind the walkers

Sad thing is, I love the challenge

 

[Disdreaming479]

I have two trips planned for 2025. My solo in January is planned for 2026 and BEYOND but the family is unpredictable if we need a studio or 2 bdrm for spring break (or summer). I had both booked for 2025 but let the studio go today. 2027 I’m expecting to have a college graduation and high school graduation so I plan to get a two bedroom plus a studio at BLT hopefully. That’s as far as I plan. Family time will be in transition starting in 2027.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

We're definitely planners. Our spreadsheet goes to early 2027. We also do an more expanded family reunion type trip every 5-7 years, and those require even more long-range planning so we tuck away the proper number of points at the location we're going to visit. We love DVC and the flexibility, but have made the absolute best use of it by planning 1-3 years in advance.

 

[ClaraOswald]

You guys are so high tech with your spreadsheets and formulas and stuff. I'm over here just penciling things out, basically. (Though I am using my Kindle Scribe...ha!)

 

[AstroBlasters]

I made a rule for my 3 person team that only one person can be out of the office at a time.

Because of that I need to block time off of my work calendar as soon as I can to allow the other team members flexibility in their vacation planning.

A lot of it is also based on the school calendar.

We know in advance when Fall Break, Winter Break, Spring Break, Summer Break 3 day weekends are…. so that gives us a good idea of when we will be traveling.

My team members have very young children and aren’t ruled by the school calendar yet.

 

[Leight19]

Haha so I plan at high level about 2 or 3 years in advance. I have two contracts I own with two use years and a third contract that co-own with parents and sister. Basically I plan that far in advance to know what points I’ll be using when at high level to ensure don’t run out or end up with leftover points. Once we get to 11 months I’m already booking home resort with plan for 7month switch. I’m an engineer and math nerd so my ultimate goal is to hit where all 3 contracts are good point wise with the home resort booking and the 7month desired switch in various iterations so I usually even have that planned year out lol. I also feel like a winner when I hit a reservation that is the exact points I need to use in the year to bank all points over lol.

 

[mikeuno]

We usually book DVC resort stays 11 months out.

Headed to Vero Beach (Nov) and Hilton Head (early Dec) for first time this year!

 

[RichVIII]

It has changed over the past 10ish years of ownership for us. The more points you add, the more flexible you can be and the more you tend to go. With a Dec UY, it took me at least three years to figure that out with points that really come for the next year. We were far more regular when our DD was younger - Holiday trips and F&G trips. Now, with crazier schedules, trips to other places (demand of my DW), and just life, we still try to put at least two things on the books at 11 months, but it has gotten harder. We seem to always be in borrow mode, so I hope we don't leave anything behind. ha ha ha

 

[KPeterso]

Creature of habit here. I book about the same times/weeks each year.

• early March - WDW - book AKV studio around 10-11 months out, try to change at 7 months
• early May - Disneyland - VDH studio - book 11 months out
• mid July (few days around Disneyland's birthday 7/17) - VGC studio - booked 11 months out
• mid September - WDW for nearly 2 weeks - book 1 bedroom at 7 months
• mid November to early December - VGC studio - booked 11 months out

 

[ClaraOswald]

I'd say about a year or so. lol

Case in point, this thread is old & i keep adding to it, and getting nervous to be ready when the 11 month day hits that I'm ready & know which order to book things with which points, etc.
https://www.disboards.com/threads/planning-a-dvc-trip.3952226/page-4#post-65792712

I feel like I need a thread where I mull over different trips and count out the points and just try to figure it out. I mean, I do that on my own but maybe if other people see it, they can give me better ideas. I can already tell I'm going to end up with excess BRV points some years and I'm unsure what to do about that. I guess we could bump up to a 2 bedroom but I'd rather not. Or maybe try to get into a more expensive resort at the 7 month mark? But my husband is a creature of habit and I don't know if he'll want to stay anywhere else.

 

[marmentrout85]

When looking at your points...how far ahead do you tentatively "plan" your trips?

I honestly feel like this would be easier if A) we had a LOT of points and B) we went more often. (Two things that won't be happening at this point.)

We plan to go to WDW 2 years in a row and then skip a year. And then likely continue that pattern for a while. For DLR, we plan at least once every 18 months. But sometimes trips may be only 6 months apart. Sometimes 12 months. It just depends. And because of that, it's making my head explode a bit trying to plan things out so that we don't end up short one year or have too many extra.

So I've basically written out different options/ideas from now until about 2031. But I KNOW it will all change so it's probably pointless. But it helps my anxiety to have some ideas on paper anyway. Though I'm kind of running into a "too many points" situation some years with our BRV points.

Anyway....do you guys just plan a year at a time? Do you think ahead a few years? Or are you a completely normal person who just flies by the seat of their pants? ,

As of right now I'm trying to assess our point situation for a tentative May 2026 trip following a December 2025 trip which we plan on booking that will be using up more points from larger room categories. Then we still have to account for our usual trip in Nov/Dec down the line in 2026. I have a feeling we might need some more points by then so naturally I'm still compulsively checking resale contracts almost daily lol

 

[alexeis]

I love spreadsheets. I have three that I use, a yearly overall view of the various vacations forcasted out to 2049, a monthly look at the most current reservation with dining/plans and then a tabulation of each contract points with usage banking/borrowing. Mostly book a home resort at 11 months and then change if another resort looks promising (and then add on there if DH approves)

 

[Chili327]

I feel like I need a thread where I mull over different trips and count out the points and just try to figure it out. I mean, I do that on my own but maybe if other people see it, they can give me better ideas. I can already tell I'm going to end up with excess BRV points some years and I'm unsure what to do about that. I guess we could bump up to a 2 bedroom but I'd rather not. Or maybe try to get into a more expensive resort at the 7 month mark? But my husband is a creature of habit and I don't know if he'll want to stay anywhere else.

Yes I definitely know what you mean.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/planning-a-dvc-trip.3952226/page-4

 

[kgou]

Do you use anything besides spread sheets?
Like https://dvctripplanner.com it seems to be the best I can find, but I wish I could do a few things differently.
I’m not very good with spreadsheets so I’m always looking for other options.

I've never seen this site before! Thanks for sharing. Been mulling over a Thanksgiving 2025 trip and this makes things a bit easier to visualize.

 

[Dobermanns]

My DVC spreadshhet (one tab for each home resort) is currently populated through 2028 UY. So usually 3-4 UYs out, 3 for the older or simpler contracts/home resorts and 4 for the newer or multi-UY home resorts.
Since I bought DVC primarily for runDisney, trip dates are known and booked 11-months in advance (well except the new Halloween races at DLR was announced inside 11-months and we are past the 11-month window for next year’s if they keep the same weekend and no dates announced yet). So I booked 2 weekends at VDH as placeholder. I seldom switch resorts at 7-months.
AUL has turned into its own beast since we are doing two trips a year now (plus a 3rd solo trip) and getting accustomed to OV 1-bedroom so I don’t have enough points to book all at 11-months. Thankfully it’s the most available villa type at 7-months so I am mapping out which WDW home resort points to use at AUL until I buy more points there
I track purchase price plus annual dues, minus discounted (CM, AP, MK, AUL specials) rack rates to see when the remaining balance turns green
Prior to retirement, seeing all the trips booked brought relief to my stressful work life. Now the work stress is gone but the ensuring elderly parents care has taken over so it’s even more important.

 

[Chili327]

I've never seen this site before! Thanks for sharing. Been mulling over a Thanksgiving 2025 trip and this makes things a bit easier to visualize.

Yep, It’s super helpful, but it’s more designed to help allocate your points for the year rather than split stays in one trip.
I made a few suggestions that might help, but the changes might also ruin the purpose of the site the way it works right now… but yes very helpful to see it all in one place.