Any idea why Disney offers the UY's that they do? February seems to be their current default month for BLT and AKV. Disney doesn't do anything without a good reason, I just can't figure out what it is. 
DVD people that I have asked give me the "I don't know why" with a smirk. 
Bill
I've always wondered how Disney came up with the concept of the Use Year. I don't know much about other timeshare systems, and virtually nothing about how timeshares were being operated in the late 1980s when Disney began designing the Disney Vacation Club. Was the Use Year a common industry concept at that time? Why does the DVC use eight UYs? Why not 12? Or why not just two or three?
As noted by a prior poster, it appears that DVD tried to have a fairly equal distribution of points by UY at OKW, the first DVC resort. Even HHI, the second DVC resort, has a fairly even distribution of points among six of the eight UYs. That the September and October UYs are the smallest at HHI might be reflecting the seasonal nature of that beachfront resort rather than an intentional design by Disney. But by the time BWV and VWL came online, DVD must have realized there was no need for an equal distribution of points.
I wonder if, back in 1990, Disney had a fear that if everyone got their annual allotment of points on January 1, they would be trying to use those points right away during the first half of the year. To counter this fear, Disney might have thought that a Member's UY would greatly influence when they booked their stays. If so, then it made sense to stagger the membership over the entire calendar year.
By 1995, after a few years of experience, Disney might have realized that Members' booking patterns aren't greatly influenced by their Use Years. A Member with a December UY might book an October stay as commonly as a member with a February UY might book a January stay.
So now, after 20+ years of booking experience behind it, DVD has realized that the concept of the Use Year is not as important as it first thought. That is why BLT and AKV can have their points heavily skewed toward a single Use Year at each resort. My guess is that VGF will also have one UY that will have over a third of VGF's total points.
As
disneynutz noted, currently DVD is placing most new Members' contracts in the February UY. But a couple of months ago the default UY was December, and a couple months before that it was August or October. After tracking sales for the last couple of years, I sense that DVD likes to offer new members UYs that are about 6 months in the past. In December 2009 and January 2010 DVD offered the February 2009 UY to new buyers as part of a "get two years of points" promotion. But offering almost a year's worth of points has actually been quite rare. Today is July 27, and I very seriously doubt that DVD would let a new buyer get an August UY with 2011 points if they are buying today.
Occasionally, at
D23 meets and other Disney get-togethers, Disney brings out a Disney Legend who talks about the good old days working with Mr. Disney, the making of a film, or the design of an attraction. Personally, I'd love to attend a session with the analysts and accountants who helped design the DVC. How did they come up with the concept of the UY? How do they create and manage a
point chart? etc., etc. It would be especially nice if the "Meet the DVC Analyst" session was held at the same time as the "Meet the Stars of The Avengers" session, because then I'd probably be all alone at the DVC session. Unless they offered free FastPasses at the DVC meet, in which case a few more people would show up.
As for other DVC properties I have no idea! Good luck finding what you are looking for
