I was worried but availability is promising! Brand new member

[kniquy]

I just recently received my member number and of course out of curiosity i started looking at the resort availability tool. From everything on here that i have heard about booking availability I was worried that if we had to plan last minute (2-5 months out) that there would be nothing available. I just randomly looked at the room type that we would need and could afford (1 or 2 BR) and even as late as 2 months (looking Feb school vacation) we could piece a trip together -- that being with a lot moving around. Not my cup of tea but doable.

Looking at 4 months out - our kids april vacation - there was plenty of full availability as well as almost complete availablilty except for a day or two. A little movement might be fun!!

Looking 5 months out - memorial day weekend - There still was plenty of availability and even good partial availability.

This puts a little ease to my mind. I know we are not going until 2018 and going to our home resort AKV. That seems to be one of the resorts with better later availability for the rooms we will need.

Happy to be officially part of the DVC family!!

 

[jmassey1samchi]

welcome aboard! I am just finishing my first year as a dvc'er, and I too am nicely surprised at the availability of short notice bookings. I find there is generally something available 30 days out or so, especially if you are flexible. There are definitely times when you will need to use your 11 month booking time for akv, and that is mostly he value studios, which doesn't seem to be what you need. I was actually there last Saturday night, and come time to leave on sunday, there was both a standard and savannah view studio available. If I were able to do a same day booking I would have stayed another night!
congrats to you, and may you have many great vacations to come!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Keep in mind that the availability for the first 9 months of the year differs greatly compared to the last 3 months. That is when it becomes much more difficult to locate rooms last minute without piecing together a night or two here and there.

 

[YourEveryDayAdam]

I will say that as a DVC member there are certain TYPES of reservations that are always hard to book and certain TIMES of year that are always hard to book. In general, if what you're trying to book is outside of those types and times, you shouldn't have much problem finding a place to stay...Especially if you're flexible in dates and/or where you stay.

Animal Kingdom Concierge rooms, Boardwalk View Rooms, most rooms at Grand Floridian, and Treehouses tend to be difficult to book regardless of the time of year. Studios and Grand Villas tend to be more difficult to book than 1 & 2 bedrooms.

Busy times of year that can be difficult to book are: December (all month), Most holidays, Food & Wine Festival (especially Epcot area resorts), and Flower and Garden Festival (especiall Epcot area resorts).

I'm sure I missed a time of year or two that are tough. Outside of the difficult times of year, you should almost always be able to find something at SSR or OKW even just a couple of months out. A lot of stuff also remains open well past the 7 month window at a lot of resorts. All of the above rules do have a few exceptions as well.

Having been a DVC member since March 2009, I can say that i've never had a problem getting SOME kind of reservation whenever I wanted one. I had to be flexible on where I stayed...even if it means "slumming it" at OKW or SSR.

(I also wouldn't call OKW or SSR "slumming it"... they are both VERY nice resorts and I love them both.)

I am lucky in that the times of year I tend to travel (June, September/October) tend to have no problem with availability. I do sometimes go during early December, but I know I need to book that one VERY early.

 

[crisi]

Its expectations and flexibility. If you expect to get exactly what you want every time - it isn't a good program for you. If you can be flexible, are willing to move around, aren't picky about resort - you can usually make something work - even on short notice (although certain times of year, anything at all on short notice, even if you are willing to move around, will be difficult).

 

[kniquy]

"slumming it" at OKW or SSR

Funny! The one and only DVC that we stayed at was SSR via rental. It was nice and we could stay there if that was the last resort, but we did not want that as our "home". I think DVC will work nicely for our family because we are pretty laid back and we don't "have" to stay at the best of the best all the time. I think our home resort AKV will be just fine if we have to stay there. We are excited about seeing all the properties and can see how a split stay will almost feel like a second vacation within one.

 

[T00dles]

Well, first of all welcome home! I agree with what other people have said but I'd also like to add that you definitely have an easier time getting a 1 or 2 bdrm booking on short notice than a studio.

My first (and so far only) trip to AKV was booking a 3 bedroom savanna view maybe 6-8 weeks out. It was there...then it wasn't...then it was! So magic does happen. Don't forget about wait listing. It can help find you that day or two you need to put everything together.

And I kinda like a split stay myself. The fresh room is nice and its also nice to use different locations to take advantage of easy transportation.

 

[pinklotusflower]

Welcome I managed to book a two week trip in September to SSR by wait listing various days and we had one night that didn't come through on wait list but at check in we got that night. I do think it depends where you want to stay and the type of accommodation you want to stay in as we had a one be but there was very little studio availability and not enough to make a full trip. It's definitely worth wait listing and checking regularly for availability to get all your nights at the same resort.

 

[disneynutz]

Availability today is more difficult than prior years. Disney is busy creating more reasons to vacation at Disney which will impact reservations with runs, meets, extended celebrations, lands, Disney's goal is to fill the place every day. DVC is designed to maintain a 98% occupancy rate and can shift inventory to Disney for cash reservations 60 days prior to check in.

Bill

 

[DebbieB]

I've been a member since 1999 and have never not been able to get what I want at either 11 or 7 months. That being said, my fall vacations are always at my home resort, BWV, and booked at 11 months. My non-home resort vacations at 7 months have been mostly in the spring or early summer. I got a VGF studio for May last year and got Poly for next May at 7 months. April, May, June is much easier to get than October, November, December. Two years ago I was able to pull together a BWV garden view at about 2 months out for mid November by using wait list and stalking the website looking for open nights.

 

[Dean]

Its expectations and flexibility. If you expect to get exactly what you want every time - it isn't a good program for you. If you can be flexible, are willing to move around, aren't picky about resort - you can usually make something work - even on short notice (although certain times of year, anything at all on short notice, even if you are willing to move around, will be difficult).

I agree though it really depends on where you are from a membership or potential membership standpoint. It's possible to get something much of the time if one is very flexible (most DVC members aren't even when they say they are) but it does add an element of risk. IMO that risk is enough to make owning with that as a large part of the plan an unreasonable situation.

Funny! The one and only DVC that we stayed at was SSR via rental. It was nice and we could stay there if that was the last resort, but we did not want that as our "home". I think DVC will work nicely for our family because we are pretty laid back and we don't "have" to stay at the best of the best all the time. I think our home resort AKV will be just fine if we have to stay there. We are excited about seeing all the properties and can see how a split stay will almost feel like a second vacation within one.

They are different. IMO it's the location rather than the structures and to a small extent, the amenities, that make them different. They are certainly more of a moderate location.

 

[crisi]

I agree though it really depends on where you are from a membership or potential membership standpoint. It's possible to get something much of the time if one is very flexible (most DVC members aren't even when they say they are) but it does add an element of risk. IMO that risk is enough to make owning with that as a large part of the plan an unreasonable situation.

Which is why both of us tend to be a little more negative on the subject of availability when talking to a potential member, and a little more positive about it - with the flexibility caveat - when talking to someone who has already jumped in. (Its the same thing with using your points to cruise or for some other option - don't buy to do it, but if you have the points and that's what you want to do with them.....)

Me, I wouldn't want to own if I were looking at moving around to piece together a stay - especially if it was year after year. I want to take my vacation the week I want to take it, not slide it a few weeks to get a room. I'm happy with staying at my home resort almost every time and we always plan a year out. I don't want to "slum it" at OKW or SSR - I know they are the favorite resorts for a lot of people, but not mine. I recognize that I am not a flexible person, so my DVC planning has got to take that into account.

 

[Dean]

Which is why both of us tend to be a little more negative on the subject of availability when talking to a potential member, and a little more positive about it - with the flexibility caveat - when talking to someone who has already jumped in. (Its the same thing with using your points to cruise or for some other option - don't buy to do it, but if you have the points and that's what you want to do with them.....)

Me, I wouldn't want to own if I were looking at moving around to piece together a stay - especially if it was year after year. I want to take my vacation the week I want to take it, not slide it a few weeks to get a room. I'm happy with staying at my home resort almost every time and we always plan a year out. I don't want to "slum it" at OKW or SSR - I know they are the favorite resorts for a lot of people, but not mine. I recognize that I am not a flexible person, so my DVC planning has got to take that into account.

I totally agree, this was a well worded post.