How hard is it to get BLT when it isn't your home resort?

[Jilian]

I am not yet a DVC owner but I've been researching it like crazy and love BLT. The problem is that on resales the prices are still so high and other resorts are going for close to half the price. I'm deciding between OKW and SSR and wanted to know if we have any sort of chance of ever getting a room @ BLT. We typically travel during Feb or March, our dates are flexible. We usually do 4 days; either Thurs-Sun or Fri-Mon so that is what we'd want to book for. We'd be looking for a studio or a 1 br. How hard would it be for us to get a BLT room on 7 mos notice? Do they allow changes once you've made a reservation? Would we be able to book @ our home resort at the 11 month mark and then check for BLT availability @ the 7 month mark and switch if there is availability?

Thanks in advance, this forum has been a wealth of info so far!

 

[bobbiwoz]

I am not yet a DVC owner but I've been researching it like crazy and love BLT. The problem is that on resales the prices are still so high and other resorts are going for close to half the price. I'm deciding between OKW and SSR and wanted to know if we have any sort of chance of ever getting a room @ BLT. We typically travel during Feb or March, our dates are flexible. We usually do 4 days; either Thurs-Sun or Fri-Mon so that is what we'd want to book for. We'd be looking for a studio or a 1 br. How hard would it be for us to get a BLT room on 7 mos notice? Do they allow changes once you've made a reservation? Would we be able to book @ our home resort at the 11 month mark and then check for BLT availability @ the 7 month mark and switch if there is availability?

Thanks in advance, this forum has been a wealth of info so far!

You CAN book your home resort and at 7 months change, or waitlist if what you want isn't available. You're allowed 2 active waitlists in a UY. I was able to switch to BLT for a January stay the one time I did waitlist for it.

Bobbi

 

[DenLo]

To date BLT has just over 96% of the villas declared and they are available for booking by all DVC members. Only 85% of the points at BLT have actually been sold. I got these figures from my dh, wdrl, who has threads on BLT's stats. Because of that difference between the available units and the points sold, right now it's easier to get into BLT at 7 months than many would think. As more points for BLT are sold and everything has been declared for use, then it might change. We own at BLT but we don't always stay there. It's the same for BWV, BCV and VWL and all of the DVC resorts. We were told we never could get in at BWV during F&W in October and we got a reservation within 2 days of WLing and a friend did too, same for BCV.

Standard view villas will be very difficult and impossible to get some months of the year. Some dates are harder to obtain for any type of view at 7 months like for Christmas Day week through New Years Eve and Easter. As long as you make a reservation at your home resort and then try to switch at the 7 month mark you're still covered for your vacation. Like others have said you can always waitlist for BLT too. That way if someone with a BLT reservation cancels you'll be on the list for an opening.

 

[K9pal]

Our home resort is SSR and we've stayed at BLT the past 2 Mays. Last year we booked a 1br standard view (4 nites) at 7 months, and this year we booked a 1br lake view (5 nites), again at 7 months. We were waitlisted this year for a standard view, but the waitlist did not come thru. We always begin our stays on a Sunday night.

We really like our home resort, but loved BLT. Since we don't have a lot of points, we won't be back to BLT for a few years. Sure enjoyed it tho!

 

[Lexxiefern]

I guess I have had bad luck! I have tried to get BLT a few times now and can never get more than 2 nights in a row. I am hoping in a few years it will be easier to book.

If you only want to stay at BLT, then I would buy there. If you are ok staying other places and trying for BLT at 7 months and only sometimes getting it, then buy somewhere cheaper. Good luck in your decision!

 

[mrsfascinating]

We are waitlisted for a lake view at BLT for the begining of december for 5nights and it hasn't come through yet. We are traveling with fellow DVCer's who own at BLT and thought It would be nice to be in the same hotel, but I am doubtful of that happening. Sooo we are currently at SSR and I am actually looking forward to it. We come to disney frequently and it is exciting staying in different DVC resorts( our home is BWV which we always transfer to 1/2 way through our stay). If you are set on staying most of the time at BLT then that is where you should buy. Also beware of the changes they have made to buying resale points you can not use them for everything as you can if you are buying new points. I think there is a post somewhere regarding the changes.

 

[drusba]

If you want certainty at BLT, buy there; if you want more than a slim to none chance of getting MK or standard view, buy there; if you are happy with lake view chances will likely be very good although not certain for the times you mention at 7 months out (unless you include Presidents' DAY weekend time or week before or of Easter in your choices for which the chances will be lower). However, you need to follow a key suggestion: call exactly 7 months out from date of arrival because what is avaialble can disappear quickly.

 

[jdmn2010]

I just called to change a reservation to BLT at the 7 month mark and was able to get half my stay changed with a little bit of pixie dust (there was a cancellation while I was on the phone that I was able to grab!). I am waitlisting for the second part of our stay to try to get in there, but I will say that it is a busy time of year for BLT so that is part of the problem.

I switched last year at the 7 month mark to BLT and had no problem with a reservation so you never know. The only way to guarantee would be to buy into BLT.

 

[DMKEDM]

I've booked BLT three times in the last year and a half--5 villas total (two of the trips involved taking friends and booking a separate villa for them). All were studio bookings. For 4 of them I got Standard View (one studio in April and 3 of 4 studios reserved in February) and the for the 5th (in Feb) I got Lake View...

The first Feb trip (which I wound up canceling (points went into holding) due to blizzards that canceled flights) I booked 5 months out...that was for Feb 2010. I'd reserved 2 SV studios. The April trip, also in 2010, I booked a SV studio about 6 weeks out...I don't remember now how close the April dates were to spring break, but I do remember thinking I'd gotten seriously lucky because of spring break timing). For this past Feb trip, I booked two studios (asked for both to be SV, but only one was available so the other was a LV) about 6 months prior to the trip. I did try to change dates on the 2/2011 trip at about a month out, but there was no availability for the change, so I just kept what I had...

I also tried to book an October, 2010 trip to BLT (two studios) about 4 months out--no availability on that trip (anywhere except SSR, which was fine w/us and that's where we went)...

So...whether I was just lucky, or because it was relatively early in BLT's "life" (and thus newly-declared inventory at various points in time might have helped), or because availability isn't as hard as we seem to think, I don't know. But that was my experience.

Good luck!

 

[Golden Rose]

We've tried to book it a couple of times at the 7 month point (7 months to the day), just to try it out. We've considered adding on there, but don't want to until we've stayed there at least once to see how we like the feel of it. We've never been able to get the days we wanted with any view, either room size we were looking for (studio or one bedroom.) Maybe we've just had bad luck, but that is how it has been for us so far.

If you want to stay there regularly, particularly during busier DVC times, you will probably need to buy there. Buying where you want to stay has always been good advice, but as DVC has grown, it has become more and more true. You can almost certainly get something other than your home resort at the 7 month mark, but you can't count on getting any particular resort. (The last time we tried to book something other than our home resorts and we tried to get BLT, we ended up with VWL, which we're very happy to try out.)

 

[Jilian]

Thanks everyone. We don't necessarily want to stay there all the time, we'd just like to be able to stay there sometimes and I wanted to see if that was even possible. I know it is newer and really popular. The part that we have going for us is that we live in FL and are passholders so we are really flexible with our travel dates so it sounds like we may have a chance to stay there. Now I need to go research the changes for resales!

 

[SINK]

When looking at resale, all relavent information should be taken into account such as the years remaining. BCV, VWL, BWV, non-extended OKW, VB, HH will expire in 2042, while BLT, VGC, SSR have longer expiration. And then there are annual maintenance. BWV is getting close to $6 per point per year and VB have exceed $6; while VGC is hovering around $4.

 

[mom3sonstt]

I tried to book 4 nights in a studio the end of August. I called about a month ago, before my friend was ready to commit. There was availability at that time. A few days later when my friend confirmed, only 3 of the nights were available. Ive called a couple times to see if they have opened up yet, and today I was able to get her all 4 nights with a lake view. I didn't have it on waitlist because I already had 2 active waitlists for our family vacation, so I don't know if her rooms would have come through earlier if I had it on waitlist or not.

 

[castleri]

Got three nights at BLT for the last week of August yesterday and am WL for the last two. Got the last two at AKV just in case they don't come through. This is for a 1 BR LV. You may not get exactly what you want but may be able to make something work if you are flexible and open to a possible split stay.

 

[csmommy]

We own OKW b/c of the price. We like it, but LOVE AKV & we enjoy split staying. Since 2007 we always book OKW at the 11 month mark & have never had a problem getting what we wanted at the 7 month mark. This August we are splitting between AKV & BLT. One thing we keep in the back of our minds is that if we do not get a to book at a different resort at the 7 month mark then OKW is just fine, but we have been lucky every time.

 

[daisyduck123]

Had no trouble getting a 1BR at 7 months out for last July.

 

[missycj96]

I got 10 nights in a mk view dedicated 2 br at 7 months for august. I also got over a week in a lake view studio last summer at 7 months. And I was able to book pres weekend in a studio and part of pres week last year in a studio at 7 months. I can't always get the view I want - as others have said standard is usually gone at 7 months and this is the first time I was able to get mk view. when I say at 7 months I mean exactly 7 months calling in the morning. You won't get exactly the view you want and may have to be flexible on date or unit size but you should be able to get something. I've never tried the true peak holidays and I'm sure that's another story in terms of availability.