How to check DVC availability if you are not a DVC member

[CarolinaGuy21]

Hey everybody,

We are tying to book a trip at AKL in a studio with a Savannah view and I have a few questions

1) I was wondering if there was a website where I could check availability if I’m not a DVC member?
2) if I rent DVC points to book a trip can I add a meal plan later? (Trying to spread out the cost)
3) how far out do you nornall have to book an AKL studio with a Savannah view? I read 9 months and wanted to see if that was true.

Thanks for the help! This board is always extremely helpful

 

[bluejasmine]

You can add a DDP later you do need to book 11-9 months ahead of time AKL is very popular DVC next to Poly.. There is no way for you to check if your not a DVC owner unless you know somone who is and can check, or go through a broker like DVC Rental Store

 

[eric1985]

I'm a DVC member....I own at Poly though. You can book at your home resort 11 months in advance, 7 months for other resorts. What dates are you looking for?

 

[CarolinaGuy21]

I'm a DVC member....I own at Poly though. You can book at your home resort 11 months in advance, 7 months for other resorts. What dates are you looking for?

We actually don’t have hard dates set that we want to go. We are saving and putting money away every week. We will probably have enough saves up in June or July to book. We would like to go in October but know that may be too short notice if we are booking in June or July

 

[dansdad]

We would like to go in October but know that may be too short notice if we are booking in June or July

Definitely.

 

[CarolinaGuy21]

Yeah we may shoot for March or April 2019 (maybe Star Wars will be open by then anyways)

 

[eric1985]

I only see two consecutive days with a Savanah view in October 2018. You might consider a split stay.

 

[buzznina]

Yeah we may shoot for March or April 2019 (maybe Star Wars will be open by then anyways)

This would be your best bet if you want AKV, or technically any of the popular DVC resorts. In the past, SSR and OKC are the 2 that seem to be the last to get booked.

 

[CarolinaGuy21]

I only see two consecutive days with a Savanah view in October 2018. You might consider a split stay.

Thanks for checking! We are probably going to take the first full week we can

 

[Roxyfire]

Yeah we may shoot for March or April 2019 (maybe Star Wars will be open by then anyways)

Disneyland's is slated for Summer of '19, WDW is slated for late '19. But it might not be a bad idea to get there before it becomes incredibly busy.

 

[sndral]

I'm a DVC member....I own at Poly though. You can book at your home resort 11 months in advance, 7 months for other resorts. What dates are you looking for?

FYI checking specific dates for DVC availability is frowned upon on DIS primarily because availability can and does change in an instant. Generally the last quarter of the year is tough to get and studios are toughest to get.
Regarding AKV specifically, Jambo fills up faster than Kidani. Not sure whether savanna view or standard view fill first since we book at 11 months and usually opt for savanna view.
If you want to add the dinning plan later I’d mention that when you rent your points as I believe the owner will have to do that for you & I think it needs to be done @ least 48 hr.s before arrival.

 

[FSU Girl]

There’s always booking the room for cash instead of points. I only book DVC rooms for cash, but it will be more expensive. Upside is these rooms are usually available way closer to the date you want and if you want to cancel you get your money back, there’s a lot more flexibility instead of renting points.

 

[Ben E N]

There’s always booking the room for cash instead of points. I only book DVC rooms for cash, but it will be more expensive. Upside is these rooms are usually available way closer to the date you want and if you want to cancel you get your money back, there’s a lot more flexibility instead of renting points.

Yeah but the downside is how much more expensive they are. Most people looking to rent are doing so to save money on premium locations. Not knocking those who do book with cash, but when I was looking to rent, paying the mouse directly was never an option.

 

[larissawbb]

Yeah but the downside is how much more expensive they are. Most people looking to rent are doing so to save money on premium locations. Not knocking those who do book with cash, but when I was looking to rent, paying the mouse directly was never an option.

Sometimes the price comes out to close to the same for one bedrooms. Renting points for studios is much cheaper than cash.

 

[ScubaCat]

Yeah it depends. The cash price is 25% off rack rate so that's what you're working with in terms of that comparison.

 

[kat_lh]

We were only able to get two nights at AKL Kidani for a 1 bed room (we wanted a studio) for our October trip. We booked right at the seven month mark. At that time, the resort with the most studio space was BCV.

(We aren't owners, we went through a service)

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Even owners can't see how many units are available.

If you want October, you really need to be booking 11 months out. Spring is better, but I wouldn't drag my feet past 7 months for studios.

 

[rwdavis2]

In 2016 we rented points for a Boardwalk Villa room to what worked out to be $243 a night.

 

[CarolinaGuy21]

There’s always booking the room for cash instead of points. I only book DVC rooms for cash, but it will be more expensive. Upside is these rooms are usually available way closer to the date you want and if you want to cancel you get your money back, there’s a lot more flexibility instead of renting points.

Yeah, we though about saving up extra and booking with cash but the difference was a lot. It was like a $3,500-$4,000 difference