Welcome home!
We take a two-week trip every summer with our
DVC. It's all about booking early and being flexible. You won't always get exactly what you wanted to book, so you need to plan accordingly.
Several ways to be flexible to make DVC work for you:
* Be willing to stay at a different resort than you might have wanted for a particular trip.
* Be willing to do a split stay (move resorts in the middle of a trip)
* Be willing to change the dates of a trip
* Be willing to pay for the occassional cash night if nothing is available on points
(The first two are part of our vacation planning on a regular basis. We almost always do a split stay, moving to a second resort for the second week. I've never had to change the dates of a trip because of availability -- knock on wood. Only once did I have to reserve nights with cash, and they later came through on a waitlist for points, so I was able to get a refund.)
Here are several key pieces of advice:
* First, buy your contract at a resort you love, at a destination you plan to visit on a regular basis (at least every 2-3 years). That way, if there's no availability to book a non-home resort at the 7-month point, the worst case scenerio is that you're "stuck" staying at a resort you love.
* Definitely do not buy a contract at a geographical location you do not want to visit regularly. (For example, don't buy at Alunai if the majority of your vacations will be to WDW. Don't buy at WDW if you really want to visit DLR every year. Don't buy at Vero Beach simply because the contracts are cheaper if you really want to stay at WDW.)
* You'll learn that there are certain times of year, certain resorts, and certain room types that are extremely popular. If you want in on those, you'll want to consider a contract at the appropriate resort. For example, Boardwalk Villas and Beach Club Villas are extremely popular during the Epcot Food & Wine Festival. If you know for a fact that you'll want to stay there for F&W, you'll probably want a contract at one of those two resorts. Concierge-level rooms at AKV are popular year round. You literally need to call exactly 11 months from check-in if you want any chance at snagging one. They're unheard of for a 7-month non-home booking. Standard view rooms, which require less points, are also popular, as is a Boardwalk view at BWV. Wilderness Lodge (and I'm assuming) Grand Floridian are very popular at Christmas because of their decorations. (You'll notice that many of us have contracts at multiple resorts for this reason.) In other words, buy where you want to stay.
* Before you add a second contract, I'll clarify a common misunderstanding on the home resort priority: if you own mulitple contracts, just because you own at a resort doesn't give you the 11-month booking priority for all your points. Only points on a contract for the specific resort you're booking can be booked at 11 months. For example, if you own at both BLT and SSR, you can only book BLT rooms with BLT points during the booking priority. Even though you're a BLT owner, your SSR points can't be booked there until the 7-month point.
* If the dates of your vacation are important to you, book something right at the 11-month window when it opens up. This will mean booking a room at your home resort. Book this even if you eventually want to try for a room at another resort. It's better to be disappointed to have to stay somewhere different than you'd planned rather than not being able to go at all. At the 7-month point, call to switch your reservation to the alternate location. Unless you do it within 30 days of your check-in, there is no penalty for cancelling a reservation at a DVC resort.
* Don't confuse the 7 and 11 month booking windows with your use year. One has nothing to do with the other. You can always book based on the booking window, and that's tied to your check-in date. You don't have to wait for the first day of your use year to have the points in your account to book with them. (It only matters that they're in your account on the night of the stay on which they'll be used.)
* That doesn't mean use year isn't important. Be careful about booking trips in the last few months of your use year. If you have to cancel for any reason, you'll have very little time to figure out a way to use the points before they expire.
* Use the waitlist system as a wish list, and don't count on waitlists coming through. If you know you absolutely do not want to have a spit stay, be careful about booking one in the hopes that a waitlist will come through. If, on the other hand, you view waitlists as nice-to-haves rather than a need-to-haves, you won't be disappointed. Always have a contingency booked in the event a waitlist doesn't come through.
* There are two separate inventories for points and cash rooms. If the DVC web site (or member services) tells you a room isn't available on a particular date, it just means it isn't available on points. You might be able to get that room for the night as a cash guest. This will mean going through a paperwork drill of checking out and back in, but may be more preferable than having to change rooms or resorts (or leaving earlier than desired). Member Services used to be able to link cash and points nights together under the same reservation if you booked everything through them. This allowed you to have a single check-in and would allow a dining plan to cover all nights. Unfortunately, since changes to the Disney IT systems a while back, they no longer allow this. There will be a check-out/check-in when you move between points and cash nights. The dining plans also do not carry over. There's no guarantee that you'll be kept in the same room, but the front desk will usually work with you to make this happen. You just need to discuss it when you initially check-in, and then again on the change day(s).
* Have the use of your points planned out well in advance. Set a calendar reminder every year on your banking deadline to remind yourself to check your account. Nothing's worse than losing points because you forgot to make that call.
* No, DVC members staying on points don't get free dining or other WDW promotions offered to those paying cash for their rooms.
Bill
