How late can you wait to rent points?

[Nutbean]

We are a group of eight (2 adults, 6 kids between 3-17) hoping to go to Disney in late 2013.

I'm planning on waiting until July/August to see if Disney offers any discounts (free dining ideally) to stay onsite for November/December. If they don't (rumour has it that they will be at the very minimum, cutting back) I believe it makes sense financially for us to rent DVC points.

I saw on David's DVC rental a guideline as to how soon you should reserve and I'm not overly optimistic that there would be much left for a November/December (would even consider January) stay come July/August.

We would need either 2 studios or 1 two bedroom. The resorts that fit our budget are BW, OKW and AK.

For those of you in the know...

1. Will we be pretty much out of luck for any of these options with only 3-4 months lead time?
2. Timing aside, which of those three would you most recommend?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sammie]

BW will be hard to get during that time period if you wait, chances for AK are probably the best, with OKW being the 2nd hardest. SSR would be easiest but even then that late you might not get all your dates without wait listing.

Nov and early December are very popular with DVC members and most book at 11 months out and definitely by 7 months out. January is less popular time to go.

 

[cvjw]

I'm assuming that the resorts you chose were because of the lower point costs of the standard view villas? Standard views at BWV and AKV are usually picked up by owners at the 11 - 7 month window because of their lower point costs, and the fact that they represent a small number of villas at the resorts. You might have a better shot at OKW, since the whole resort has the same point costs for villas.

 

[LisaS]

The resorts that fit our budget are BW, OKW and AK.

I'm curious, were you looking at the least expensive options at BWV and AKV, namely the Standard View at BWV and the Value rooms at AKV? If so, they get booked up very quickly once the 11-month window opens because they are such a bargain.

 

[CarolMN]

Except for a few of the more expensive weekend nights, the standard view studios and 2 bedrooms at BWV are already booked up for late November/early December dates. Same is true for the 2 bedroom Boardwalk view villas.

Best to plan on Pool/Garden view if you want BWV. Most of those will be gone soon after the 7 month window opens.

Based on my own experience, David's advice is right on target.

IMO, you'll need to decide if location is more important than free dining well before any discounts are announced. Find out what is being offered to UK visitors. Those discounts are usually announced well in advance and can be used to predict what might be offered to domestic visitors later in the year.

Good luck!