No Villa Rooms Available !!!!

[fairytale]

Hiya Guys

Can anyone please help me?

We are "hoping" to stay at WDW this coming October for 3 three weeks.

We are family of 6 been my DH and I with our four young children, all under 6.

Ideally we were wishing to stay at either BCV or Saratoga Springs but can still not get any availability.

It maybe different for you guys in the US but having spoken to DIsney Reservations they have confirmed to me that Villa accomodation does not become available until at least six months before if not 4 months or 2.

I cant possible take the risk in waiting to get a Villa property, in the worst case senario, 8 week s before we are due to travel.

My only option I feel would be to book a WL Cabin, but my concerns here are the distance from all the Parks, having to rely so heavily on the Buses but most importantly how spacious these lodges are for a family of 6, especially if we have to keep changing the sofa into a bed everyday, now I maybe now been picky but that will drive me crazy

Any ideas anybody !!!!!

Thank you ao much.

 

[eliza61]

I would check the dvc forum. If you don't mind renting points (which is way cheaper) the dvc owner can book 7-11 months out. Please read the renting guidelines to make sure you understand how it works. for many people (myself included) this is a wonderful way to get villa lodgings.

 

[spiceycat]

you don't get daily housekeeping.

every 4 days you get trash & tidy - they take out the trash and give you new towels.

every 8 days you get a full cleaning.

if you want a villa now for 3 weeks your only hope is to rent points. and you need a renter with a bunch of points.

OKW and AKV are a little cheaper - but it sounds like money is not an issue with you.

good luck!

kept in mind each Fri/sat say are expensive and I mean expensive.

 

[LilGMom]

FWC cabins aren't really that far from everything. You can take a short boat ride to MK from FWC or take a short boat ride from FWC to CR to hop on the monorail. My ILS stay at FWC for all of their trips and they've never said anything bad about it. We took our two kids (6 & 2) over there and our kids loved everything that FWC had to offer. They loved the pony ride, the atmosphere, the bikes, the playgrounds and asked why we didn't have a camper to stay in too. If you are set on getting a villa but can't book until much closer to your travel dates but want to guarantee that you have something that will accommodate your family size you might want to go ahead and consider booking the cabins and then keep calling back to check on the various villas. Being a family of six you'd have to get at least a two bedroom villa and the last part of the year is pretty popular with DVCers and getting a two bedroom for three weeks might be tough.

As far as having to make the sofa every morning, I believe the bed in the living room is a pull-down murphy bed so you could just throw the blanket/sheet on the bed, fold it up into the wall and be done with it. The sofa beds in the villas would require more 'making up' before they could be folded each morning.

Good luck.

Adding:
Did some quick figuring assuming the first full three weeks of October (Oct. 5 - 26) in order to rent a two bedroom villa at SSR you'd have to find someone with at least 710 points (I'd love to have that many points!)

To pay for SSR through CRO would be $630/night (plus tax). To stay at FWC it would be $299/night (weekdays) & $314/night (weekends). I took those prices from AllEars so they are probably pretty accurate.

 

[abner1776]

With 6 people, it sounds like you are looking for a 2 bedroom villa as I do not believe a 1 bedroom would be large enough. A 2 bedroom villa for 3 weeks in October is a lot of points, so the rent board is probably your way to go.

If you want to book these weeks now, you will have to find someone who owns at either SSR or BCV since you are still outside the 7 month booking window. I would not wait too long because once you get inside the 7 month booking window, it will be difficult to find a 2 bedroom villa at SSR and even more difficult at BCV.

I am not sure where the 4 month or 2 month availability issue comes into play because DVC only works on the 11 month and 7 month booking windows concept.

At this point your issue is not so much availability as it is finding someone with enough points.

 

[CoolPool]

How about booking two rooms in a regular old resort? At least it could be a "place-holding" booking until your other options open up later. A room-only booking means you don't have to make a deposit. It can be your back-up plan in case you can't get a villa and it sounds like you are aren't enamored of a fort wilderness cabin.

Request connecting rooms.

 

[Disney Doll]

You probably can'rt book before 7 months in a DVC resort because the DVCers get to book at 11 and then 7 month windows. They probably like to give the 7 month DVCers a chance to book for a month before they open it to the public.

As far as BCV in october....forget it. It's a small resort and everyone wants to be there because of proximity to the F&W Festival at Epcot. You'll have a better shot booking at SSR.

I have to say, the FW cabins sound like a good deal too.

 

[ElizabethB]

Call back and speak with another CM. I booked our October 08 stay in a one-bedroom villa at BWV through CRO 6 weeks ago. We'll be there for the Food and Wine Festival. We are not DVC members.

We book through CRO rather than renting points because we like daily maid service, turn down service, the ability to cancel up to 5 days before arrival and the fact that we don't have to deal with a stranger when spending upwards of $3,000.

It is particularly hard for me to believe there are no SSR two-bedrooms available. We stayed in one the last weekend of September last year. Not only was there a lot of availability around that time, there was so much availability that I had no problem booking it on an airline discount.

Call back and speak with another CM.

 

[mcorbo]

Try calling back, there is a limitation on line of booking only 2 weeks, for a 3 week vacation you would need to split it into 2 reservations. I checked on line, and it shows availability in a 2 bedroom at SSR from 10/3--10/17 and from 10/17-10/31

 

[fairytale]

Call back and speak with another CM. I booked our October 08 stay in a one-bedroom villa at BWV through CRO 6 weeks ago. We'll be there for the Food and Wine Festival. We are not DVC members.

We book through CRO rather than renting points because we like daily maid service, turn down service, the ability to cancel up to 5 days before arrival and the fact that we don't have to deal with a stranger when spending upwards of $3,000.

It is particularly hard for me to believe there are no SSR two-bedrooms available. We stayed in one the last weekend of September last year. Not only was there a lot of availability around that time, there was so much availability that I had no problem booking it on an airline discount.

Call back and speak with another CM.

Thank you all for your advice.

I feel its us in the UK taht struggle with getting these reservations.

I did try to speak to the US direct but they stated that they cannot offer 21 day deals and include the special prices we get on the passes.

I'm starting to sway towards FWL cabins now.

 

[cmmc]

I'm no expert but maybe the problem is 3 consecutive weeks in the same villa.

If you're open to moving to another villa, Disney apparently makes it easy, bell services will move your bags for you. You can also get put on a waitlist to try and stay in the same room.

When we booked our 2 bedroom villa at BCV for a 6 night stay, 6 consecutive nights were not available - we booked the first 5 nights in a dedicated 2 bedroom and got put on the waitlist for the 6th night. In the meantime we had a reservation for the 6th night in a lock off (a studio and 1 bedroom with a connecting door), but still at BCV.

Some people like to split their stays so they can save money, experience the difference in the various resorts. Here's a link to one trip report where the family did this http://tagrel.com/TR/Aug2007/index.shtml

They also have a great slide show of Stormalong Bay, the pool that BC and YC share. http://tagrel.com/Tours/Flash/sab.shtml

 

[Claire L]

DVC is getting busier and with SSR nearly sold out rooms for cash will become more difficult especially for 3 weeks. Have you considered the All Star Suites, they take up to 6 in two rooms with two bathrooms and a wet bar area?

Prices for the All Star Suites are between $184 and $220 a night plus tax for your dates compared to $255 - $324 plus tax for a Fort Wilderness Cabin or $530 to $630 plus tax at SSR for a 2 bed villa.

Also the points if rented for 3 weeks would be about 765 and not many people have contracts with that many points and if so it would be about $10 - $12 a point ie $7650 - $9180.

Just to add if you book room only with Disney you can buy your passes where ever you want, it only becomes a problem if you want the DDP.

Claire

 

[Lynne M]

Let me explain how DVC villas come to be available to the general public, I think it might clear up some of the questions that have been posed here.

For each DVC resort, Disney maintains ownership of a small portion of the resort villas, less than 10% of the total inventory. They do this so that they maintain flexibility if they need to take villas out of service for maintenance reasons. If they don't need to take villas out of service, these villas go to CRO to be sold to non-members.

ALL other inventory at the resort is owned by DVC members, and will not be available for non-members to book through CRO, except under the following circumstances:

1. If a member 'trades out' of DVC and uses their points to stay at non-DVC accomodations, this is paid for by taking an equivalent villa to what they would have been using, and selling it to CRO to be booked by the general public.

2. If a villa still isn't booked by a member at 60 days out, it goes to CRO to be sold. However, I believe that these can still be pulled back into DVC inventory if a member wants to book something last-minute.

If the resort is only partially sold, like SSR, Disney will also rent out the portion of the inventory that they still own through CRO. That's why there's a bit more availability for SSR, and why that availability is slowly dwindling as more members buy SSR.

So, long story not so short.....the great majority of DVC villas are owned and booked by the membership. Only a small portion of any DVC resort's inventory ever makes its way to CRO to be booked by the general public.

OP, your problem in booking really doesn't have anything to do with where you live. I think it's the fact that you're trying to book three weeks. There's a small amount of villas available to begin with, your odds of finding a villa open for three straight weeks are pretty slim.

 

[cwt580]

by the way WL does not have cabins. Ft wilderness(campground) has the cabins. from what i understand they may be a little smaller than what you may want.

Wilderness Lodge has villas also!!!!!

 

[ElizabethB]

I agree. Split your 3-week reservation into 2 sequential reservations of, say, 11 days and 10 days, and you may well find availability. We've done this before. You have to re-check in for the second reservation, but we've never had to move rooms.

 

[SueM in MN]

I agree. Split your 3-week reservation into 2 sequential reservations of, say, 11 days and 10 days, and you may well find availability. We've done this before. You have to re-check in for the second reservation, but we've never had to move rooms.

If you do make reservations for 2 stays, ask to have the 2 reservations linked together. There is still a chance you will need to move, but less chance if they are linked than 2 separate reservations.

 

[MinnieGirl33]

I am not sure where the 4 month or 2 month availability issue comes into play because DVC only works on the 11 month and 7 month booking windows concept.

Disney Parks & Resorts own a very small percentage of the DVC resorts so only a minimal number of accommodations are availabe through WDWTC (depending on resort size).

At the 60 day mark, DVC turns unbooked rooms over to WDWTC.

 

[LSchrow]

personally, i would split the vacation, with 2 different resorts, renting points. you are more likely to get what you want/need by doing a split, and booking with 2 different DVC members (the likehood of finding a single member with that over 700 points to rent is extremelly low). pls look at the rent/trade board ~ reading & understanding the FAQs thoroughly.

the hardest villas to book during oct would be anything in the EPCOT area (BCV & BWVs) b/c of the F&WF, so concentrate on that portion first.
once you have that ressie booked, look for another DVC member to book the balance of your vacation.

renting points will save you a substantial amount of money (& will afford you the opportunity to book now, whereas CRO has more limited inventory). also, changing resorts for longer stays is great, imho. each resort has multiple, unique offerings (atmosphere, location, amenities), & trying two different ones can really enhance your stay.
have a wonderful time
laurie s