How long for the Poly to be solidly booked for summer '15?

[thisismyusername]

We are headed down in a week and a half (early March), and planned to meet with our DVC guide then to make a decision about adding on a small contract at the Poly. Do you think that it will be too late to make a reservation at the Poly in the summer (4 nights) by early March? If so, is there anyway to speed the process up now that we've pretty much decided to buy an additional contract? (e.g., If we told our guide today via phone that we wanted a new contract, how long is the process between saying "we'd like to do this" and being able to make a reservation? Is there any benefit to meeting with our guide at Disney vs. purchasing over the phone at home?) Thanks for any insight: When we bought VGF we were on vacation, and our next planned vacation wasn't until a year later, so we had no worries about the resort booking up quickly.

 

[ziravan]

Buy today, book tomorrow.

Open booking ("7 mo window" where any DVC member can book the next 7 months) is Wed. Not nearly all units are declared.

My guess is summer will be booked pretty solid by close of business Wed. Specifically, my guess is that hundreds of people will be chasing dozens of reservations on Wed.

Tell your guide that you are specifically buying today so that you can book before Wed. He should be able to make it happen. My guide told me that IF I buy by Tues, he could almost certainly get my points posted on Tues.

 

[thisismyusername]

Good to know! Thanks! Do you think that's also true if you finance? (We'll be using my husband's bonus in March to pay it off.)

 

[ziravan]

I think it shouldn't matter. We mentioned financing for same reason (pay off in a few months), and our guide didn't seem to think this changed the equation.

 

[dizfan]

When we bought BLT in 2009, our guide was able to get us a room at BLT during early December. Many on the boards were reporting no availability at the time.
Since the resort only has 1 longhouse declared, DVC reservations can only use that number of rooms in those room type categories. This should be about 72 lake view and 72 standard view rooms. (We will not know for certain that it is 72 lake view rooms in Moorea until people stay there)

If you wait and your guide is able to use a room from their undeclared inventory, it's likely to be standard view.

No one can guarantee this except your guide at the time you buy the points. He/she would need to make some calls to make this happen. My experience (and others) is that it can happen.

 

[nalajms]

Why not just book on Wednesday with the points you currently have? And after you purchase Poly, assuming it's the same UY and membership, then reallocate points? If you have to borrow then just bank the points from the new contract.

 

[ziravan]

When we bought BLT in 2009, our guide was able to get us a room at BLT during early December. Many on the boards were reporting no availability at the time.
Since the resort only has 1 longhouse declared, DVC reservations can only use that number of rooms in those room type categories. This should be about 72 lake view and 72 standard view rooms. (We will not know for certain that it is 72 lake view rooms in Moorea until people stay there)

If you wait and your guide is able to use a room from their undeclared inventory, it's likely to be standard view.

No one can guarantee this except your guide at the time you buy the points. He/she would need to make some calls to make this happen. My experience (and others) is that it can happen.

I don't know how this sort of thing is different from guide to guide, but I was told when I asked about this last week that while a guide could help a new member make a ressie, they couldn't do so for an existing member.

I specifically asked if he could help make a ressie if I bought after open booking on Wed. Answer: No.

 

[dizfan]

I don't know how this sort of thing is different from guide to guide, but I was told when I asked about this last week that while a guide could help a new member make a ressie, they couldn't do so for an existing member.

I specifically asked if he could help make a ressie if I bought after open booking on Wed. Answer: No.

This could be their new policy. It certainly was not their policy when the economy was hurting.

 

[ziravan]

Spoke with my guide this morning. I asked about getting points before Wed. He said for as little as a $500 deposit (down payment would have to be forthcoming), they could set things up and deliver same day points.

BTW, my DW and I pulled the trigger on a 168 point guaranteed F&W week lake view this morning. Points will be up today for 2014 points and this Nov's fixed week should be set.

 

[thisismyusername]

Why not just book on Wednesday with the points you currently have? And after you purchase Poly, assuming it's the same UY and membership, then reallocate points? If you have to borrow then just bank the points from the new contract.

I want to do a split stay with Poly and VGF, and if I give up the VGF reservation to make the Poly reservation, I'll never get that reservation back after I get the Poly points. We weren't in a rush to buy Poly UNTIL I found out that they're doing a loaded contract. That would allow us to stay both places this summer. I don't know if I want to borrow into '16 with my VGF points since we likely wouldn't be able to stay there next year on points without the 11 month booking advantage.

 

[nalajms]

I want to do a split stay with Poly and VGF, and if I give up the VGF reservation to make the Poly reservation, I'll never get that reservation back after I get the Poly points. We weren't in a rush to buy Poly UNTIL I found out that they're doing a loaded contract. That would allow us to stay both places this summer. I don't know if I want to borrow into '16 with my VGF points since we likely wouldn't be able to stay there next year on points without the 11 month booking advantage.

If I understand you correctly, you have say 6 nights booked in the summer at a VGF studio. Would like to have the first 3 nights at Poly.

Then I would call Wed to switch 3 nights to Poly, keeping the VGF for the last 3. The points would be the same so you wouldn't need to borrow. Buy the Poly add-on when you get there in March. Get the 2014 points, call MS and have them reallocate the points for summer so that the 3 nights at Poly are using the 2014 points from the Poly reservation.

The point is you're booking Poly after the 7m window. They can reallocate points from different contracts without issue. They shouldn't be able to switch points from the VGF reservation because you booked prior to 7m window.

Or are you hoping to add more nights to your summer? In which case, you'll want to buy that add on quickly.

 

[ziravan]

If I understand you correctly, you have say 6 nights booked in the summer at a VGF studio. Would like to have the first 3 nights at Poly.

Then I would call Wed to switch 3 nights to Poly, keeping the VGF for the last 3. The points would be the same so you wouldn't need to borrow. Buy the Poly add-on when you get there in March. Get the 2014 points, call MS and have them reallocate the points for summer so that the 3 nights at Poly are using the 2014 points from the Poly reservation.

The point is you're booking Poly after the 7m window. They can reallocate points from different contracts without issue. They shouldn't be able to switch points from the VGF reservation because you booked prior to 7m window.

Or are you hoping to add more nights to your summer? In which case, you'll want to buy that add on quickly.

There's a very good chance that if you jump into the fray Wed, you can come out with what you want. No guarantees. That said, it will be a Black Friday free-for-all getting through and getting what you want on Wed. Expect > 1 hr phone wait.

That's fine. But. If you're adding on anyway, and the only issue is you were going to wait till March because you'll be there and it'll be convenient, then I'd suggest it'd be MORE convenient to buy by phone today or tomorrow and casually make your summer changes before all heck breaks loose on Wed.

 

[thisismyusername]

Yes, sorry, I wasn't very clear: We want to add more nights onto our summer vacation.

Yep; I think I need to get on the phone with my guide, who hasn't called me back from this morning. Is there a general number to sales office so I can see if he's around today or if there's someone I can talk to? I am feeling time is of the essence right now.

 

[dizfan]

Spoke with my guide this morning. I asked about getting points before Wed. He said for as little as a $500 deposit (down payment would have to be forthcoming), they could set things up and deliver same day points.

BTW, my DW and I pulled the trigger on a 168 point guaranteed F&W week lake view this morning. Points will be up today for 2014 points and this Nov's fixed week should be set.

Congratulations!

I think you will be very happy with the fixed week lake view during that time of year. IMHO, it's going to be extremely difficult to get lake view during the last 3 months of the year (MNSSHP, F&W, MVMCP).

 

[ziravan]

Congratulations!

I think you will be very happy with the fixed week lake view during that time of year. IMHO, it's going to be extremely difficult to get lake view during the last 3 months of the year (MNSSHP, F&W, MVMCP).

We picked week 44 on cusp of Oct/Nov because it will be MNSSHP some years, and MVMCP others.

And of course, F&W every year.

We're excited.

 

[thisismyusername]

Well, we wound up with more VGF points as it was the only convenient way for me to get '14 points. (They wouldn't do a June UY for me with Poly--only April since that's what we have currently--and April UYs do not come with '14 points. I think I could have pushed for the June UY at the Poly, but managing two different contracts sounded like a pain, and I think that additional VGF points will likely be a better investment long-term anyway since we have more flexibility with our room types. Plus, we bought a much smaller contract than we normally would have just so we could keep our options open at the Poly just in case we find that it's impossible to book there without ownership.) Anyway, I am hopeful we'll get what we want on Weds morning. #crossingfingers

 

[ziravan]

Well, we wound up with more VGF points as it was the only convenient way for me to get '14 points. (They wouldn't do a June UY for me with Poly--only April since that's what we have currently--and April UYs do not come with '14 points. I think I could have pushed for the June UY at the Poly, but managing two different contracts sounded like a pain, and I think that additional VGF points will likely be a better investment long-term anyway since we have more flexibility with our room types. Plus, we bought a much smaller contract than we normally would have just so we could keep our options open at the Poly just in case we find that it's impossible to book there without ownership.) Anyway, I am hopeful we'll get what we want on Weds morning. #crossingfingers

LOL I just realized that we were emailing, too. I didn't put two and two together with your username. Too funny. Congratulations! Welcome Home. Again. And, enjoy your upcoming trip!

 

[thisismyusername]

LOL I just realized that we were emailing, too. I didn't put two and two together with your username. Too funny. Congratulations! Welcome Home. Again. And, enjoy your upcoming trip!

LOL, I didn't realize it either until you mentioned the fixed week. Congratulations to you, as well! And thank you again!

 

[dizfan]

Well, we wound up with more VGF points as it was the only convenient way for me to get '14 points. (They wouldn't do a June UY for me with Poly--only April since that's what we have currently--and April UYs do not come with '14 points. I think I could have pushed for the June UY at the Poly, but managing two different contracts sounded like a pain, and I think that additional VGF points will likely be a better investment long-term anyway since we have more flexibility with our room types. Plus, we bought a much smaller contract than we normally would have just so we could keep our options open at the Poly just in case we find that it's impossible to book there without ownership.) Anyway, I am hopeful we'll get what we want on Weds morning. #crossingfingers

Congratulations on your VGF addition.

FWIW, there are others who have forced the issue for PVB and were able to get a contract with a different UY so they received 2014 points.

 

[thisismyusername]

Congratulations on your VGF addition.

FWIW, there are others who have forced the issue for PVB and were able to get a contract with a different UY so they received 2014 points.

Yes, she told me she could talk to a supervisor and see if I could get a June UY, but she noted the hassles with managing two different contracts, and I decided that it would likely just be easier to stick with VGF points. This gives us more flexibility at the Grand to upgrade to a larger room/better view if necessary, whereas, to me, there's no motivation to own a large contract at the PVB since I know a bungalow is never going to be a reality for us, and since we're enthusiastic split stayers and never stay any longer than 4 nights at one resort. We only bought half the points we were originally targeting, so we haven't necessarily ruled out getting a super small PVB contract, either. At what point do you think they'll start offering an April UY with the last year's points? Should I be targeting early 2016?