How hard to book at non-home resorts?

[gmboy95]

It is so true- BUY WHERE YOU WANT TO STAY!! You may get lucky once or twice getting the resort you want but with allllll of the new DVC that they are adding your chances are going to get slimmer and slimmer. With the 11 month advantage you would not have the stress of hoping to get a certain resort. JMHO!! Good luck!

With all the new DVC members aren't they also adding more capacity...they can only sell what they have available so it should only effect what resorts would be available as opposed to the actual inventory....right???

 

[luvindisneyworld]

I think they were saying that with DVC building in California and Hawaii.If you dont buy where you want to stay then you chances of getting something at the 7 month widow is getting slimmer.Because everyone will be doing it to.So the day of the 7 month window could be sold out if you didnt call very first thing.

With all the new DVC members aren't they also adding more capacity...they can only sell what they have available so it should only effect what resorts would be available as opposed to the actual inventory....right???

 

[Chic]

I also own at Saratoga and have never stayed there. Some people ask, why did you buy if you didn't plan to stay at Saratoga. Reason #1= lowest maintenance fees, Reason #2= Saratoga is a huge resort so I never have trrouble getting ressies at the 11 month window during any part of the year which includes Christmas and Spring Break, Reason #3= I have until 2054 until my contract expires so I'll be enjoying Disney until I'm 90 years young. After I make my ressies at the 11 month window, I call and change to another resort immediately at the 7 month window. If nothing is available at the 7 month window, I put myself on the waitlist and sit back and wait for the pixie dust. Example- I waitlisted a studio room at the Boardwalk for a trip in late June and 2 weeks later my wish came true. I've read too many times where people who own at Boardwalk call at the 11 month window to find that everything is already booked. Then the Boardwalk owners have to wait for the 7 month window to book another resort. I have always gotten my 11 month Saratoga ressies even during Christmas. When I first bought into DVC, it was July and I called to book during the Food and Wine Festival in October which is a very popular DVC time. I ended up staying at Old Key West but really loved this resort, I would definitely stay there agian. My suggestion is buy a longer contract with the lowest maintenance fees and be a Saratoga Springs owner.

 

[PinkTink63]

Thanks everyone for your responses. The other thing that the SSR contract has going for it right now is the 12 extra years on the contract. Besides location relative to the parks, I don't know if the other resorts are necessarily that much better than SSR. But then again, I've never actually stayed at any of these villas and can't speak from personal experience. Is SSR really as unpopular as some reports make it seem?

We bought SSR sight unseen, except for pictures. We had stayed at BWV and OKW and loved both of those. After buying SSR, I started reading all these negative reports on it and began to think, "Did I miss something? Could it really be that bad? Is this resort somehow substandard compared to the ones that we had stayed at?"

Well, our first trip home was last summer and we stayed in Congress Park with a DTD view! The resort is beautiful, the view was great, the food was good, and the pools wonderful! Yes, the resort is large and it doesn't have indoor hallways, but if that is a big concern to you, then you probably won't like it! We found the bus system quite good and the walk to DTD was quick and easy! If another 500 ft. of walking is going to kill you then I wouldn't suggest WDW al all! JMO

Every resort has their own appeal and there are plenty of people who love SSR!

 

[DVCSAMNH]

I own at SSR and it is my favorite resort. We stay there about 80% of the time. When I travel with DD26 she refuses to stay anywhere else. I do enjoy the occasional stay at BWV where I was able to get a standard view in early February. I was also able to snag NYE there in 2005 at about 5 months out. I waitlisted BCV for my son last year for May and it came through in about a week. I usually book 3-4 months in advance.
I personally would not have bought one of the older resorts(as gorgeous as they are) and lost the 12-15 years. My kids were adults when we bought and they were all onboard with eventual ownership. If they have to stay exclusively at SSR someday, none will be heartbroken.
You can book just about everything at the 11 month mark and most things at the 7 month mark. As long as I get a room, Yay!!!
Give me the extra years.

 

[rsinj]

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[gmboy95]

I think they were saying that with DVC building in California and Hawaii.If you dont buy where you want to stay then you chances of getting something at the 7 month widow is getting slimmer.Because everyone will be doing it to.So the day of the 7 month window could be sold out if you didnt call very first thing.

That is a good point....but i guess to this point I feel pretty good about being able to obtain a reservation at the 7 month window. However you may be right and if it changes, then i will be forced to stay at my home resort more often, I sure hope not!!

 

[gmboy95]

I also own at Saratoga and have never stayed there. Some people ask, why did you buy if you didn't plan to stay at Saratoga. Reason #1= lowest maintenance fees, Reason #2= Saratoga is a huge resort so I never have trrouble getting ressies at the 11 month window during any part of the year which includes Christmas and Spring Break, Reason #3= I have until 2054 until my contract expires so I'll be enjoying Disney until I'm 90 years young. After I make my ressies at the 11 month window, I call and change to another resort immediately at the 7 month window. If nothing is available at the 7 month window, I put myself on the waitlist and sit back and wait for the pixie dust. Example- I waitlisted a studio room at the Boardwalk for a trip in late June and 2 weeks later my wish came true. I've read too many times where people who own at Boardwalk call at the 11 month window to find that everything is already booked. Then the Boardwalk owners have to wait for the 7 month window to book another resort. I have always gotten my 11 month Saratoga ressies even during Christmas. When I first bought into DVC, it was July and I called to book during the Food and Wine Festival in October which is a very popular DVC time. I ended up staying at Old Key West but really loved this resort, I would definitely stay there agian. My suggestion is buy a longer contract with the lowest maintenance fees and be a Saratoga Springs owner.

I think this is great advice!!!

 

[Pootle]

I think it might be good advice providing you don't mind all the hullabaloo associated with the wait list, pixie dust etc. To me it would be too much hassle and more akin for waiting for codes to come out as they do on the Resorts board

People are far more likely to report their successes with the wait list than their failures. I've always liked Crisi's advice of 'Buy where you don't mind staying' even though I personally belong in the 'Own where I want to stay' group.

I just want to book my vacation all in one go; flights and DVC and it usually is 10-11 months out and because most of my points are at OKW, which I love, no problem. I do the 11 month out day-by-day thing when I want the Boardwalk view and that's about as difficult as it gets.

 

[Dean]

Have you found it to be very difficult to book at other resorts besides your home resort? We would mostly be looking at booking during either late August or during Christmas/New Years. I am currently debating a small (30 point) resale contract at SSR but I'm not sure about SSR. I've never actually seen the resort so all of my concerns are based on reviews and photos. My biggest concern is how big the resort seems and how far it is from the parks. I know that small contracts like this one are very hard to find, but should I hold off and wait for a similar contract at either VWL or BCV? Do these even come up? These two resorts just seem to be better situated than SSR. Or, the other option would be to save/wait for a small AKV contract. Sorry for all the questions!

Combining the issues of trying to deal with a small contract and trying to get something at Xmas at 7 months would not be my choice. Do remember though that the other resorts will be more points to reserve other than BWV standard view and AKV value, both unlikely to be available during your time unless you're the very end of August where they will be iffy, and OKW which is likely to be available. Also if you owned at a harder to reserve resort you would still be able to reserve SSR in all likelihood as it is far more likely to be available at 7 months compared to the other resorts mentioned. For those amount of points the up front costs and dues will not be really any different and the closing costs should be exactly the same.

 

[simba51104]

Thanks for all the good advice! I'm definitely convinced about getting a slightly bigger (50 points) contract since we'll need those points during Christmas. I'm also leaning towards either VWL or BCV as I love their locations. Also, I agree that these two will be a lot harder to book without the 11 month advantage whereas SSR seems to be big enough to always have availability. Of course there is also AKV...I think it'll come down to whichever contract becomes available first.

 

[crisi]

I think it might be good advice providing you don't mind all the hullabaloo associated with the wait list, pixie dust etc. To me it would be too much hassle and more akin for waiting for codes to come out as they do on the Resorts board

This is an important part of it. Some of us can handle wait lists and uncertainty and not being exactly where we want to be with flair and ease. And I don't. I stress and obsess and worry.

 

[DisneyRN51207]

I definitely recommend buying where you'd like to stay. It's nice to know that you have the home team advantage when booking your stay. We have some trips coming up that we're looking to swap out at the 7 month window but don't mind staying where we're at anyway. We have stayed at SSR (not our home resort) due to better availability when we book without prior proper planning and have loved it. The transportation times to the parks are not bad at all. The things about how WDW is laid out is that you feel like you're so much further away from certain things and you're not. To each his own.

 

[Island Mouse]

I called this afternoon to book a studio for my mom for early October. Today was exactly 7 months from checkout and the only resorts with studios available for my dates were OKW, SSR, and AKV savannah view. I intended to book OKW anyways because of the lower point requirements, I just asked what other resorts were available because I was curious.

I believe in the buy where you want to stay adage, and as a BWV owner, I booked a standard view studio there for myself for this October trip at the 11 month window.

 

[rstackjd]

On this same subject -

We are thinking about doing a GV trip in July-August '09 (posted about this before) and would like to stay at OKW becasue of the much lower point requirements (home resort is AKV - 405 points compared to 225 for OKW for five non-weekend days in late August).

But we are concerned about waiting for the 7 month window to open up since by then we probably couldn't get the home resort either.

Assuming we can be flexible in the specific travel week does anyone think we'll have trouble getting a GV at OKW in the 7 month window? Is it easier or harder if we are only doing a Sunday to Friday trip?

Thanks for all the good advice from this forum!