I get to make my first DVC reservation- anyone else?

[rentayenta]

I get to make my first WDW DVC reservation in 92 days!!!!! We are planning for 8-11 days in the THV!!! I am looking at another DVC resort for the last 3 nights if our friends leave before us; maybe SSR, BCV, or BLT.


Anyone else getting excited to make their first DVC reservation? Where and for how many days?

 

[bangzoom6877]

YES!!! I am making my first DVC reservation in 9 days!! On August 13th I will be booking our stay beginning July 13, 2010 at BWV, our home resort. We will be staying for 10 nights, so I will have to book the first 7 nights on August 13th, then call each day after that for 3 days to get the rest of the nights added onto the reservation. We are so excited!!

We bought the DVC membership almost a year ago, shortly after we returned from our first family trip to WDW with our 2 little boys (they are now 2 and 4 years old). We decided to buy DVC to make some wonderful family memories through the years as the boys grow up. It's the one place DH and I can see ourselves going with the kids over and over and not getting bored.

I know my trip is still far away, but it feels that much closer now that we are going to be booking real soon! Then I will be waiting for our ADR window, but it is not until mid-April. For the last trip it was 180 days out, I miss that!

Enjoy!!!

 

[rentayenta]

YES!!! I am making my first DVC reservation in 9 days!! On August 13th I will be booking our stay beginning July 13, 2010 at BWV, our home resort. We will be staying for 10 nights, so I will have to book the first 7 nights on August 13th, then call each day after that for 3 days to get the rest of the nights added onto the reservation. We are so excited!!

I just read about be able to book only 7 nights and then add on accordingly. Does that mean we have to call daily to keep adding on? I guess MS will get to know us. How exciting for you- the BWV is so cool!!!

We bought the DVC membership almost a year ago, shortly after we returned from our first family trip to WDW with our 2 little boys (they are now 2 and 4 years old). We decided to buy DVC to make some wonderful family memories through the years as the boys grow up. It's the one place DH and I can see ourselves going with the kids over and over and not getting bored.

That was our thinking too. I wish we would have bought sooner!

I know my trip is still far away, but it feels that much closer now that we are going to be booking real soon! Then I will be waiting for our ADR window, but it is not until mid-April. For the last trip it was 180 days out, I miss that!

Enjoy!!!

The time will fly by! I liked the 180 days too! I guess most are not uber planners like we are here.

Enjoy too.

 

[bangzoom6877]

You have a few choices when making a reservation through MS that is longer than 7 nights. Your choices for doing this at your home resort are:

1. Call 11 months before check-in date and make the reservation for the first 7 nights; then call each day thereafter until you have your complete desired number of nights.

2. For a 10-night reservation as an example: Call MS 11 months before check-in date and reserve 7 nights. Wait another 3 days to add the remaining 3 nights for a total of 10 nights.

3. For a 10-night reservation as an example: Wait until 3 days after your 11-month window begins. Make the entire 10-night reservation at one time.

I am choosing the first option because I am neurotic when it comes to vacation planning and trying to get what I want, and that option seems the best for me. I'm home for the summer (teacher), so I definitely have the time to call MS at 9AM for a few days in a row. I also do not mind doing this at all, actually it's kind of exciting for me!

Yes, I am an "uber planner" as you said! DH is not into vacation planning, most times it's "Where are we eating tonight and at what time?"!! He leaves it up to me, which I also like. I enjoy doing the planning. However, when we were buying the DVC membership, we looked at everything together to decide how many points we needed, which home resort we prefer (since we book so far in advance anyway, so home resort was important to us), time of year we prefer to go, etc.

It's nice to know there is a great community here of really terrific people that share the same interests in planning their trips to WDW!

 

[CindeBella]

It is exciting, isn't it? We just made our first reservations 2 days ago. We're staying @ BWV in a 2 bedroom villa with a boardwalk view for 7 nights in May.

I agree, time will fly by and your trip will be here in no time! You will most likely be thinking about dining reservations and events/activities to plan next.

Happy planning!!

 

[rentayenta]

You have a few choices when making a reservation through MS that is longer than 7 nights. Your choices for doing this at your home resort are:

1. Call 11 months before check-in date and make the reservation for the first 7 nights; then call each day thereafter until you have your complete desired number of nights.

Gotcha

2. For a 10-night reservation as an example: Call MS 11 months before check-in date and reserve 7 nights. Wait another 3 days to add the remaining 3 nights for a total of 10 nights.

3. For a 10-night reservation as an example: Wait until 3 days after your 11-month window begins. Make the entire 10-night reservation at one time.

I am way too hyper for that.

I am choosing the first option because I am neurotic when it comes to vacation planning and trying to get what I want, and that option seems the best for me. I'm home for the summer (teacher), so I definitely have the time to call MS at 9AM for a few days in a row. I also do not mind doing this at all, actually it's kind of exciting for me!

I will also choose option #1. I find it exciting too.

Yes, I am an "uber planner" as you said! DH is not into vacation planning, most times it's "Where are we eating tonight and at what time?"!! He leaves it up to me, which I also like. I enjoy doing the planning. However, when we were buying the DVC membership, we looked at everything together to decide how many points we needed, which home resort we prefer (since we book so far in advance anyway, so home resort was important to us), time of year we prefer to go, etc.

Planning is really part of the fun for me as well. We sound similar in our vacation roles.

It's nice to know there is a great community here of really terrific people that share the same interests in planning their trips to WDW!

Agreed. The DIS rocks!

It is exciting, isn't it? We just made our first reservations 2 days ago. We're staying @ BWV in a 2 bedroom villa with a boardwalk view for 7 nights in May.

I agree, time will fly by and your trip will be here in no time! You will most likely be thinking about dining reservations and events/activities to plan next.

Happy planning!!

Congrats! Sounds terrific! The Boardwalk looks amazing especially at night!

 

[Disney Princess]

Congrats on those first ressies! We made ours in February - but I didn't get to call. I had an 8:00 class to teach (central time) and we wanted to make sure we got Standard view at BWV, so DH got to call. Of course now that we have these points sitting around for "free" and we plan on buying APs, we wanted to squeeze in another trip. I got to make the call last week for our "spur of the moment" going in next JUNE trip. It was so fun. We got the confirmation letter in the mail and I happily put it into my DVC planning notebook that I made. I also adjusted our Excel sheets that I am using to keep track of points and our cost analysis. Such fun times! I hope each of you enjoys your calls that are coming up. Good luck in getting what you want.

 

[bangzoom6877]

Congrats on those first ressies! We made ours in February - but I didn't get to call. I had an 8:00 class to teach (central time) and we wanted to make sure we got Standard view at BWV, so DH got to call. Of course now that we have these points sitting around for "free" and we plan on buying APs, we wanted to squeeze in another trip. I got to make the call last week for our "spur of the moment" going in next JUNE trip. It was so fun. We got the confirmation letter in the mail and I happily put it into my DVC planning notebook that I made. I also adjusted our Excel sheets that I am using to keep track of points and our cost analysis. Such fun times! I hope each of you enjoys your calls that are coming up. Good luck in getting what you want.

Thanks! This is so exciting!!

 

[rentayenta]

Congrats on those first ressies! We made ours in February - but I didn't get to call. I had an 8:00 class to teach (central time) and we wanted to make sure we got Standard view at BWV, so DH got to call. Of course now that we have these points sitting around for "free" and we plan on buying APs, we wanted to squeeze in another trip. I got to make the call last week for our "spur of the moment" going in next JUNE trip. It was so fun. We got the confirmation letter in the mail and I happily put it into my DVC planning notebook that I made. I also adjusted our Excel sheets that I am using to keep track of points and our cost analysis. Such fun times! I hope each of you enjoys your calls that are coming up. Good luck in getting what you want.

Excel planning sheets? Care to share? How lucky to squeeze in 2 trips!!!!

 

[Disney Princess]

Excel planning sheets? Care to share? How lucky to squeeze in 2 trips!!!!

Oh I can share - that my Excel knowledge is very basic. I don't know how to use formulas and such, and I am too lazy to look it up. I just have a chart tracking all my points. For each use year, I put the points into the available point column, then I subtract when I make a reservation. I also chart banked points (with confirmation #) and reservations (with confirmation #). That way I keep track of how many points I should have. It is very basic, and I made it sound so formal. It is just my way of keeping track. Does that make any sense?

The cost analysis sheet is more exciting. I have a column of our expenses (original purchase, and yearly MFs). Then I have three other columns - what it would cost to pay cash at the deluxe resort (in our case BW), what it would cost to pay cash for our villa (BWV - studio), and what it would cost to stay at the cheapest value price I can find for our exact dates. I want to see how long it takes us to "recover" our money. I know we aren't necessarily SAVING money since I can't justify $3000 for a 5 night stay, but it makes me feel good to see how many trips we'll need to break even. The value column is just to show that I eventually will be better off with DVC (I can see the trend already), but we'll have had more years of accommodations at the DVC resorts instead!

 

[Disney Princess]

Excel planning sheets? Care to share? How lucky to squeeze in 2 trips!!!!

I will try and show you an example - but please don't laugh at my inexperience with Excel. It works for me.

Call me REALLY embarrassed now - how do I go about attaching an Excel document? I seem to be a bit slow.

 

[rentayenta]

I will try and show you an example - but please don't laugh at my inexperience with Excel. It works for me.

Call me REALLY embarrassed now - how do I go about attaching an Excel document? I seem to be a bit slow.

Don't be embarrassed, I think it's cool! I am a computer dummy unless it's a message board or Appleworks document. I have wanted to put the numbers in and figure out the real total cost with fees etc but every spread sheet I have seen is too intense for me. And I love the cost comparison idea!!!