Is there any "low demand time" for DVC vacationing?

Granny

Yeah, I'm a guy
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Just called today (4 1/2 months out) to request a 2BR Savanna View at AKV-Kidani for January 3-8. No dice for all the dates.

AKV-Jambo....no dice.
VWL....no dice.
Back to AKV trying for 1BR....no dice.
Try other view types at AKV Kidani or Jambo....no dice.

The best I could book was AKV-Kidani 2BR for three nights January 3-6 (Mon thru Thursday) and waitlist Thursday & Friday nights.

I know, I know....book at 7 months and problems solved. But I was really surprised to find such a lack of availability for those dates at a resort that size. I thought that if I had any problem it would be with the first few dates, not the last two which include a Friday.

Got me to thinking...is there such a thing as a DVC slow time anymore? With the aging of the boomers and more retirements, it seems that it is getting harder to book even traditional slow times.

I don't know if the waitlist will come thru...I've never had success before in five tries. But regardless, I'm wondering what the slow times would be anymore? I don't really call 4 1/2 months out a "last minute" type of trip.

Anybody else having trouble booking historically slow booking periods with this kind of lead time?
 
I believe that is the Marathon weekend, so might be your availability problem. Can you get SSR or another resort and then just stay on the waitlist? VWL is always difficult to get, so no huge surprise there.

The slowest DVC times are the most expensive times for points (excluding holidays) so it seems summer times you can get a little more availability, the lower point times seem busier.
 
Some schools are still out during the 1st week of January.

You might have a little better luck the next week.

Good Luck!
 
I believe that is the Marathon weekend, so might be your availability problem. Can you get SSR or another resort and then just stay on the waitlist? VWL is always difficult to get, so no huge surprise there.

The slowest DVC times are the most expensive times for points (excluding holidays) so it seems summer times you can get a little more availability, the lower point times seem busier.

See, that's part of my point. Disney has done such a tremendous job of filling the down times with marathon weekends, flower festivals, wine & food festivals, Star Wars weekends, and on and on. And for whatever reason, it seems that DVC owners seem to be able to go during low point and slower seasons that the cash guests may not.

I agree that summer weeks seem to be the easiest to get any more. I guess that's a function of people hating the heat and possibly increased willingness to pull kids out of school for trips? I don't know, just thinking out loud. :confused3
 

Some schools are still out during the 1st week of January.

You might have a little better luck the next week.

Good Luck!

Thanks for the good luck wish. Unfortunately, we don't have any flexibility with dates. I'm thinking SSR or OKW may be available but the main purpose of this trip is to get my older daughter to experience AKV which she's been begging for (she's a college student). :)
 
I just called today at our 7 month window and got a 1 bedroom at Beach club. They said they had plenty of availability.
 
I hope you get your waitlist and I think you will. Last year we were waitlisted for 5 nights which included Marathon weekend for a 2 bedroom dedicated at BLT. We got it, afterabout a month on the waitlist.

Bobbi:goodvibes
 
I never have any problem with AKL during the month of April and OCT.. maybe bec. everybody is wait listing for BWV,BC,WLV area for the events.


I hope you get your waitlist and I think you will. Last year we were waitlisted for 5 nights which included Marathon weekend for a 2 bedroom dedicated at BLT. We got it, afterabout a month on the waitlist.

Bobbi:goodvibes

:wave:
 
Pick the hottest months, throw in the possibility of hurricanes, add a few very large tour groups, daily thunderstorms with intense lightning, large crowds and higher points, and you get the times least desireable to DVC members.
 
Pick the hottest months, throw in the possibility of hurricanes, add a few very large tour groups, daily thunderstorms with intense lightning, large crowds and higher points, and you get the times least desireable to DVC members.



Don't forget free dining. :rotfl2:
 
Just called today (4 1/2 months out) to request a 2BR Savanna View at AKV-Kidani for January 3-8. No dice for all the dates.

AKV-Jambo....no dice.
VWL....no dice.
Back to AKV trying for 1BR....no dice.
Try other view types at AKV Kidani or Jambo....no dice.

The best I could book was AKV-Kidani 2BR for three nights January 3-6 (Mon thru Thursday) and waitlist Thursday & Friday nights.

I know, I know....book at 7 months and problems solved. But I was really surprised to find such a lack of availability for those dates at a resort that size. I thought that if I had any problem it would be with the first few dates, not the last two which include a Friday.

Got me to thinking...is there such a thing as a DVC slow time anymore? With the aging of the boomers and more retirements, it seems that it is getting harder to book even traditional slow times.

I don't know if the waitlist will come thru...I've never had success before in five tries. But regardless, I'm wondering what the slow times would be anymore? I don't really call 4 1/2 months out a "last minute" type of trip.

Anybody else having trouble booking historically slow booking periods with this kind of lead time?
I believe that DVC has experienced beetter than expected short notice availability and 7 month availability due in part to members being passive in reserving far enough in advance and in a small part due to extra availability related to those exchanging out for cash type options. I think this has changed over the years as expected but faster than it was prior due to the affects of SSR on the system leading to a domino affect.
 
We've been lucky getting into BWV, SSR, OKW and AK at very short notice, (under 3 months), in Sept and Jan,(MLK weekend).
 
IMO, these time periods take the longest to fully book up (and some never do):
  • September
  • May
  • mid-January to Mid February
  • Summer months
Holiday weeks and weekends within those time frames tend to fill more quickly than the rest of the days, though.
 
The way DVC is set up, every single room should be occupied every single night, with the exception of those out for maintenance, etc. The only question is *how fast* they book up. For any "event" (like the marathon weekend), things will tend to fill more quickly than not, particularly at the more popular resorts. And, yes, Disney has done a pretty good job of creating an "event" most every few weeks or so.

In this specific situation: I'm not a big fan of moving during my trip, so I might be inclined to book something you can get for the entire duration, and then use your two waitlist slots for the two room categories at AKV that have the most inventory and would work for you.
 
Pick the hottest months, throw in the possibility of hurricanes, add a few very large tour groups, daily thunderstorms with intense lightning, large crowds and higher points, and you get the times least desireable to DVC members.

:thumbsup2 That just made my day!
 
IMO, these time periods take the longest to fully book up (and some never do):
  • September
  • May
  • mid-January to Mid February
  • Summer months
Holiday weeks and weekends within those time frames tend to fill more quickly than the rest of the days, though.
I would put summer as booking much earlier. I'd expect Oct & Nov (outside the holiday) to book slower than summer. It will vary by resort, mostly due to Food n Wine. Early June and late August will be slower as well but not mid summer.
 
IMO, these time periods take the longest to fully book up (and some never do):
  • September
  • May
  • mid-January to Mid February
  • Summer months
Holiday weeks and weekends within those time frames tend to fill more quickly than the rest of the days, though.

My experience leads me to agree with Carol. I might also add late August to the list. And I think that the 2011 points charts will make weekends book up more quickly.
 
IMO, these time periods take the longest to fully book up (and some never do):
  • September
  • May
  • mid-January to Mid February
  • Summer months
Holiday weeks and weekends within those time frames tend to fill more quickly than the rest of the days, though.

I would put summer as booking much earlier. I'd expect Oct & Nov (outside the holiday) to book slower than summer. It will vary by resort, mostly due to Food n Wine. Early June and late August will be slower as well but not mid summer.

My experience leads me to agree with Carol. I might also add late August to the list. And I think that the 2011 points charts will make weekends book up more quickly.

I guess one thing I should have noted was that I am talking about booking at WDW resorts other than SSR or OKW. My guess is that I could have gotten one of those for my dates but didn't want to stay at either this trip.

As for summer months, I tried to book in April this year for an early August trip and had only SSR and OKW to choose from.

Dean said:
I believe that DVC has experienced beetter than expected short notice availability and 7 month availability due in part to members being passive in reserving far enough in advance and in a small part due to extra availability related to those exchanging out for cash type options. I think this has changed over the years as expected but faster than it was prior due to the affects of SSR on the system leading to a domino affect.

I think there is something to what you are saying. And I'm stressing to my wife that we really need to work on planning a little farther out than four months. My guess is that I wouldn't have had to waitlist for AKV if I had tried at the 7 month mark.

For some reason I have in my head that with more DVC owners retiring, some of the "low point" seasons are getting a little more demand as vacation timing becomes more flexible. Makes me wonder if it will become such that Disney looks at seasonal re-allocations somewhere down the road. :confused:
 

















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