New member - freaking out!

[Nanabug02]

Hi everyone!

I am a new DVC member as of Friday, 6/20.....DH and I had been talking about it for a little while and we signed the papers on Friday while we were down at WDW on a trip.

Any-who, I was really excited...but, I got on the DVC boards and have been reading all day, and now I'm freaking smooth out!

All I'm reading is talk of how difficult it is to get the reservations you want. All this talk about booking day to day, and now the new reservation system. We bought in at the new AK villas, although that isn't my favorite area. I was always under the impression (and they told us) that we shouldn't have problems staying at the other DVC resorts too. Is this not the case? We would definitely like to stay at the WLV and try BCV too.

It is just my DH and I, so we will staying in Studios. We don't travel during the holidays, usually in May and early June, or in October. We usually stay 8 to 9 nights.

Please give it to me straight. Financially, its a good idea for us, since we go every year. But, I don't want every vacation to be some stressful competition, like its sounding on here, just to get a reservation.

I'm freaking out.....someone out there, please respond!

Thanks!!!!

 

[Laxmom]

I think it is too early to speculate on the new system yet. We can make assumptions but we also assumed the system wouldn't change and look where that got us.

I wouldn't panic. If you are flexible with either your dates or where you stay, I dont' think you will have any problems. Of course I am a new member as of this week also but I have been lurking for over a year and we have been talking about it and toured twice over 7 years. I called on friday in the hopes of getting anything for our precruise stay over Labor Day. I just figured a holiday, three day weekend, 2 months notice - it is not going to happen. I would have taken the crappiest room on property and considered myself lucky! KWIM? We got a 2 bedroom at VWL; our dream stay! There isn't a resort that my kids would rather be at.

So relax, don't worry about stuff that hasn't happened yet and just bask in the moment! Your a DVC member!! Doesn't it feel great?

 

[justjudy]

We have been members since 2002 and have never had a problem getting our first choice of DVC resorts. Of course, it does depend on when you are travelling and how far in advance you call. We usually travel in early September and late January and stay in a 1BR. I've made those reservations anywhere from 11 to 7 months out.

 

[bookwormde]

The good news is that for the majority of reservations the changes do not have a big impact. It is only the high demand times (NYE-Christmas, Thanksgiving etc), accommodation sizes (OKW GV) and other specialties (Boardwalk view and Concierge at AKL) which have just gotten a lot harder to get for people who book shorter reservations and have less home points to roll their reservation to the one they really want.

Unfortunately it does impact me as I do OKW GV for 5 weekdays and an occasional NYE and the week after.

So unless you fall into one of more of these categories I would not worry to much.

bookwormde

 

[moredisneyplease]

Dont be freaked out!! We've never had a problem getting in a resort. maybe it wasnt our first choice but there's no resort i can complain about!

 

[Chuck S]

Given your normal travel habits, you may have difficulty booking BCV in October because of Food and Wine. Remember the VWL is the smallest DVC resort at WDW, so booking there has always been hit & miss. However, use the waitlist if it isn't available when you call. And as always, plan as early as possible. Early planning has always been the key to DVC. You will likely get what you want much of the time, but not all the time.

 

[PSC]

It sounds like you are suffering from a bit of buyers remorse. The months you will be doing your primary traveling are not the busiest months. If you can plan 11 months or 7 months in advance you will have a good chance of getting a studio at one or more of the resorts you want. It is true that studios tend to be booked before 1 bedrooms because of the lower cost per night and the fact that they both sleep 4. If you can't make your plans until a month before your desired trip, then you will most likely have to settle for whats available. At the end of the day you'll still be staying at a great room at Disney and over the years you'll be saving $ on that room as well!

You have to take into account the fact that most of the people on the DIS are "power users" and will work the system to their advantage (please don't take that as a bad comment), but that these power users are only a small percentage of the total community. At the end of the day, most everybody is very happy with their DVC.

 

[Goofy's apprentice]

Take a deep breath...relax....you will have plenty of wonderful vacations.

The great thing about these boards is that every change gets analysed to the nth degree. That is also the difficulty with these boards. The posters really have a lot of experience and collectively can see all the possibilities behind every change. However, I believe the average DVC'r doesn't have that level of sophistication. That means the boards will help you take full advantage of your new purchase.

We own at SSR and have enjoyed all the DVC resorts except for AKV. It is true that you should plan as early as possible. Use the waitlists, they can be very successful.

MS is very helpful. Reading the boards you will know the questions to ask.

Welcome home !!

 

[stampkim1]

I understand your freakin' out, I too have been reading everything I can find on different sites for the past few days and it all seems so complex in getting reservations. What I have noticed is that every post I have read...they all seem happy with the DVC program in general. I am glad I am not use to the old way of booking as I will not notice the change.(the only advantage to being a newbie...haha) I just hope it is all that it seems to be and was presented to be at wdw.

Has anyone ever gone to a ski resort in Colorado? How long in advance did you need to book for Christmas break?

Thanks to all of you who help answer questions!
Kim

 

[TisBit]

Don't freak out....we don't even know how these changes will really impact DVC. While there are a lot of people screaming "the sky is falling", the truth is we just learned about this change and in great Disney fashion, we now must wait to find out what all the ins and outs of the changes will be. I think it will not impact or have very minimal impact on most members and will really only impact those that routinely book day by day....

 

[CarolAnnC]

Please feel free to continue the discussion on the New Reservation Policy over on This Thread Thank you