I knew Oct to Dec was busy, but WOW!

[kniquy]

I booked my first week after thanksgiving trip (11/27 - 12/1). We own AKV and decided this time to book Jambo side standard studio. I was somewhat up in the air if we were going to go or not. I bit the bullet and decided to book as soon as the 11 month window opened (which was on 12/27). Just for giggles i checked our dates the other night and there was only partial availability - I thought AKV usually had pretty good availability or that they would at least be open closer to the 7 month mark. I'm glad i booked when i did and didn't ponder our decision.

I'm guessing once 7 months opens up people move and availability changes but, I'm just excited to take our daughter for the first time for the holidays as it is so magical.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

People may move. Look at RAT. Gotta be places to move to.

 

[CarolMN]

There is still full availability for standard studios at Kidani. It's just the Jambo building that has some nights missing during that date range.

 

[disneynutz]

As more people buy DVC, more will book. Might be at their new home resort at 11 months as a new buyer or at other resorts at 7 months.

Bill

 

[BWV Dreamin]

People are booking earlier and earlier. Now the larger resorts are becoming unavailable before the 10 month booking time frame. Wow. I think the word is out about walking.

 

[Sleepy425]

Oct 2016 we weren't able to book a 2BR at the 7 month mark and our waitlist never came through. This is what inspired us to buy AKV points. It's getting harder and harder to get into there when we want to go. I booked Oct 25-27 in a studio at Jambo for this year as soon as our new contracted loaded on Dec 12, and last I looked one night is no longer available. I know you can still get into Kidani, but for a quick trip in a studio it makes more sense to be by the QS for me.
I often see people say not to bother buying at AKV because you can just switch at seven months, but it is getting harder and harder to do that during certain times of the year.

 

[CarolMN]

Oct 2016 we weren't able to book a 2BR at the 7 month mark and our waitlist never came through. This is what inspired us to buy AKV points. It's getting harder and harder to get into there when we want to go. I booked Oct 25-27 in a studio at Jambo for this year as soon as our new contracted loaded on Dec 12, and last I looked one night is no longer available. I know you can still get into Kidani, but for a quick trip in a studio it makes more sense to be by the QS for me.
I often see people say not to bother buying at AKV because you can just switch at seven months, but it is getting harder and harder to do that during certain times of the year.

Not that hard if you want a savanna view. Most of the rooms are from that booking category.

 

[DougEMG]

I'm amazed at just how hard it is getting to book. A friend of mine just asked me what was available in a studio in Oct. Other than the usual suspects like SSR, AKV and OKW with BLT lake view having good availability, it was impossible to find 7 days in a row for the entire month and that is 8.5 to 9 months in advance.

SSR – any nights
AKV – savanna view – any nights
AKV – standard view - 22 consecutive nights
OKW – any nights
BLT – standard – only 6 nights
BLT – lake – 24 consecutive nights
BWV – garden – 3 consecutive nights
CCV – 4 consecutive nights
POLY – 4 consecutive nights
VGF – 2 consecutive nights
BRV – 6 consecutive nights

 

[quandrea]

I agree. For October, we book at 11 months exactly and plan to stay put. No shifting come seven months.

 

[Sleepy425]

Not that hard if you want a savanna view. Most of the rooms are from that booking category.

True. I should have noted that it was standard that has been booked up.

 

[jodifla]

I'm amazed at just how hard it is getting to book. A friend of mine just asked me what was available in a studio in Oct. Other than the usual suspects like SSR, AKV and OKW with BLT lake view having good availability, it was impossible to find 7 days in a row for the entire month and that is 8.5 to 9 months in advance.

SSR – any nights
AKV – savanna view – any nights
AKV – standard view - 22 consecutive nights
OKW – any nights
BLT – standard – only 6 nights
BLT – lake – 24 consecutive nights
BWV – garden – 3 consecutive nights
CCV – 4 consecutive nights
POLY – 4 consecutive nights
VGF – 2 consecutive nights
BRV – 6 consecutive nights

Thanks for the reminder! I need to book our October trip now. Luckily we like OKW.

 

[kristenrice]

Oct 2016 we weren't able to book a 2BR at the 7 month mark and our waitlist never came through. This is what inspired us to buy AKV points. It's getting harder and harder to get into there when we want to go. I booked Oct 25-27 in a studio at Jambo for this year as soon as our new contracted loaded on Dec 12, and last I looked one night is no longer available. I know you can still get into Kidani, but for a quick trip in a studio it makes more sense to be by the QS for me.
I often see people say not to bother buying at AKV because you can just switch at seven months, but it is getting harder and harder to do that during certain times of the year.

I'm planning a 7-night stay which was originally going to be a Fri-Fri trip. Then, I realized that I may not be able to get a night flight to Orlando after school on Friday, meaning we will have to come down on Saturday. I'd already booked the Fri-Fri in the standard studio at Jambo House, and I have enough points to add the extra night in case we decide to do Sat-Sat instead, but lo and behold, that last Friday night is now unavailable. I had two options...I could book a value studio at Jambo (same building, but it would leave me with 2 straggler points that would end up going to waste) or I could book a standard studio at Kidani (requiring a move for one night, but using up exactly the number of points that I have). I opted to book the studio at Kidani and I waitlisted the one night at Jambo. It's not a huge deal to move for one night since it will make it much easier to do the final pack to go home. I'm holding out hope that at 7-months, I can move our last three nights (Tue, Wed, Thu....or Wed, Thu, Fri) to Copper Creek. The kids really want to stay there and so do I. Right now, I just really hope that SWA comes out with their schedule before our 7-month window opens (March 23), but I don't think it's going to happen.

 

[keishashadow]

I booked my first week after thanksgiving trip (11/27 - 12/1). We own AKV and decided this time to book Jambo side standard studio. I was somewhat up in the air if we were going to go or not. I bit the bullet and decided to book as soon as the 11 month window opened (which was on 12/27). Just for giggles i checked our dates the other night and there was only partial availability - I thought AKV usually had pretty good availability or that they would at least be open closer to the 7 month mark. I'm glad i booked when i did and didn't ponder our decision.

I'm guessing once 7 months opens up people move and availability changes but, I'm just excited to take our daughter for the first time for the holidays as it is so magical.

It's a lovey time to visit, enjoy! I dilly dallied booking for the first week in December and not seeing any category that interests me in any of my 'homes', including AKV

True. I should have noted that it was standard that has been booked up.

Only last few years have I run into consistent issue with Standard studios booking up quite so soon. I lol when people suggest booking a savanna or 1 BR. When you are flexible to travel & have an APH burning a hole in your pocket, you often need to stretch your points to go-round. I specifically bought/added onto my points there to do multiple trips a year there in Standard or Value.

I'm planning a 7-night stay which was originally going to be a Fri-Fri trip. Then, I realized that I may not be able to get a night flight to Orlando after school on Friday, meaning we will have to come down on Saturday. I'd already booked the Fri-Fri in the standard studio at Jambo House, and I have enough points to add the extra night in case we decide to do Sat-Sat instead, but lo and behold, that last Friday night is now unavailable. I had two options...I could book a value studio at Jambo (same building, but it would leave me with 2 straggler points that would end up going to waste) or I could book a standard studio at Kidani (requiring a move for one night, but using up exactly the number of points that I have). I opted to book the studio at Kidani and I waitlisted the one night at Jambo. It's not a huge deal to move for one night since it will make it much easier to do the final pack to go home. I'm holding out hope that at 7-months, I can move our last three nights (Tue, Wed, Thu....or Wed, Thu, Fri) to Copper Creek. The kids really want to stay there and so do I. Right now, I just really hope that SWA comes out with their schedule before our 7-month window opens (March 23), but I don't think it's going to happen.

Are you saying you could book value for the full tripor just the one night?

Good luck, more than a few members are likely going to vye for CCreek. Have WL in place, no luck yet.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I was wait listed for a couple of days at the Poly for the first week of December. I stalked the website and was able to get the wait list down to 1 day but got really nervous about getting it. So I noticed that the 2nd week was available so I actually moved my trip to the 2nd week of December so now I no longer have to worry about it. The Poly is my home resort and I missed my opening window by 2 days. Anybody know of an app that would help me keep track of that in the future?

Since then I've decided I want to squeeze in a few days at the end of September. I booked for the Poly again since I'm not at the 7 month window for another resort and am wait listed on one of the 4 days. I couldn't figure out why until I found out that there is a Moonlight Magic event that one day. I really hope I can get a room for that one night - it's right in the middle of the trip. I'll just keep stalking the website plus hoping that someone moves from the Poly to another resort for that one night when their 7 month window opens.

I always figured that the Poly had so many studios that I'd never have a problem getting in when I wanted. Boy was I wrong about that!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I always figured that the Poly had so many studios that I'd never have a problem getting in when I wanted. Boy was I wrong about that!

About a quarter of the points attached to Poly units attaches to bungalows. But not a lot of people bought points to regularly book bungalows. So there are a lot of points vying for the same studios, above and beyond points attached to them, even when you don't look at demand seasons and how some dates have higher demand than others.

This may end up even worse at Copper Creek. I think people who buy for studios at CCV may end up having a lot of problems with that, given how many poi ts attach to cabins there, and a relatively low total number of studios (78 or so, including lock-offs).

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I always figured that the Poly had so many studios that I'd never have a problem getting in when I wanted. Boy was I wrong about that!

And you won't - except for trying to book the absolute busiest DVC times. The first week in December. Wine and Dine weekend - especially during Jersey Week. Race weekends (perhaps). Otherwise the DVC events were announced several weeks ago and people book up that night pretty quickly after that. If there wasn't that event then I sincerely doubt the September dates would have been an issue even with an 8 month booking.

 

[crazywig]

The Poly is my home resort and I missed my opening window by 2 days. Anybody know of an app that would help me keep track of that in the future?

There is a free app called DVC Calculator that not only calculates points needed per stay but also the 11/7 month windows and 180/60/30 day windows as well.

 

[jerseyduke]

About a quarter of the points attached to Poly units attaches to bungalows. But not a lot of people bought points to regularly book bungalows. So there are a lot of points vying for the same studios, above and beyond points attached to them, even when you don't look at demand seasons and how some dates have higher demand than others.

This may end up even worse at Copper Creek. I think people who buy for studios at CCV may end up having a lot of problems with that, given how many poi ts attach to cabins there, and a relatively low total number of studios (78 or so, including lock-offs).

BINGO!!!!

The Poly is about 4 million points, about 1 mil of which are for the Bungalows.

WORST CASE: every contract sold was sold to someone planning to use the points for a studio, which basically equates to selling 480 studios when they only provide 360 to book.
Of course, theoretically the reverse COULD be true, they sold 80 bungalows worth of points but only provide 20 for booking.

The reality is PVB has 3 million studio points, and disney probably sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 3.5 million points that people intend to use on the studios. That is going to lead to some shortages at times despite the large number of studios.

On another note, I have a Boulder Creek contract that I purchased specifically for December use, as my other contract is at VGF, and due to the small number of studios, I can not rely on that at all for December, I did notice this year that booking for Dec. 2018 at BC did fill up a lot quicker than it did last year.

 

[iheartglaciers]

This may end up even worse at Copper Creek. I think people who buy for studios at CCV may end up having a lot of problems with that, given how many poi ts attach to cabins there, and a relatively low total number of studios (78 or so, including lock-offs).

I agree that this is going to be worse for CCV. Numbers wise, there's so many less studios... but I would also imagine given the prestige and nostalgia of Poly, more people would spring for enough points to afford Bungalows there v. Cabins at CCV. If I didn't think booking studios was going to be a problem at CCV, I'd have already bought there... Who wants to be shut out at their own home resort at 11 months?

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I agree that this is going to be worse for CCV. Numbers wise, there's so many less studios... but I would also imagine given the prestige and nostalgia of Poly, more people would spring for enough points to afford Bungalows there v. Cabins at CCV. If I didn't think booking studios was going to be a problem at CCV, I'd have already bought there... Who wants to be shut out at their own home resort at 11 months?

Were I in the market for CCV and wanted a studio, I'd buy a fixed week. No question.