Off-season - What is it really?

[HayGan]

OK, forgive a somewhat DVC newbie but what is really considered off-season for the DVC resorts? I know each resort has some special differences (BWV and BCV for F&WF, etc.) and that what is off-season for DVC may not be off-season for the parks (early Dec in particular.) DH and I have been discussing when we really want to take our DVC vacations each year and availability of different resorts is one of the factors that we would like to work into the equation.

So what do you understand the off-seasons to be?

 

[drusba]

January 25 to 26.


Just joking but "off-season" is a difficult concept to apply to DVC because there is fairly good demand all year. What you have are: (a) highest demand times when it can be difficult to get anything unless you reserve during the 11 month window and as close to 11 months out as you can: all of December, first few days of January when they fall within the holiday break, the two Easter weeks, Presidents' week, time around July 4, Thanksgiving time; (b) high demand times but still possible to get many things 7 months out, although it will depend on resort (BCV and VWL often not available) and room size (studios disappear faster than others): October and early November, Memorial Day, Labor Day and Martin Luther King time, March and April for weeks other than the two Easter weeks; (c) reasonable demand times when many things can be had 7 months out (but caveat for VWL and BCV): summer months except time around July 4, most of May, January through second weekend (Marathon); (d) fairly easy times when 7 month window is usually good for reserving many things and even possible to get things on fairly short notice: about half of January (after Marathon weekend but not including MLK time), early and late Feb, most of Sep.

Other considerations: don't bank on getting a Grand Villa or AKV concierge unless you call exactly 11 months out; BWV standard view and boardwalk view is very often going before the 7 month window; OKW and SSR are generally the easiest to get at 7 months out.

 

[Deb & Bill]

January 25 to 26....

Early May is sometimes a good time to get something. Also late August. Oct to mid-Jan may be hard to get with Food & Wine Festival, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Marathon.

Basically, when the kids are in school, it's a bit easier.

 

[Dean]

Most of Jan, early Feb, May, Sept and early Oct are relatively off season other than the associated holidays. Early Dec is not nearly as high of demand overall as some would leave you to believe but it is not as low as the rest of Disney or Orlando and does seem to have gotten more popular in the last couple of years. Some resort will be easier than others for these and some of the busier times. There are no guarantees and this could change over time. I think anyone who plans well ahead and knows the system well can do well for most options most of the year. Xmas and Easter are about the only times you are likely to have little choices if you plan for other resorts exactly at the 7 month window and use the waitlist. There are certain room types you should not count on though (sometimes even if you own at that resort), these include the 2 Q dedicated 2 BR at BCV, any GV, standard view at BWV and concierge at AKV.

 

[Starr W.]

Early May is sometimes a good time to get something. Also late August. Oct to mid-Jan may be hard to get with Food & Wine Festival, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Marathon.

Basically, when the kids are in school, it's a bit easier.

We've had pretty good luck with MLK weekend(kids are off Fri-Mon), so we fly down on Thursday pm. At the 7 month mark I have been able to get a BCV 2br(not the one with 2 queens) and a BW view 2br. DH had to do the call last June and the only type of 2br not available was AKV CL.

 

[mlacreta]

I think mid-late september is a great time to go. The lines at the parks are small and we have had no trouble getting reservations at 7 months out for that time. Including the Ded. 2 bed. at BCV that has been mentioned. (This time around we have been able to book THV and AK value 2 bed.) Although last time we checked in they had said only the lock off was available but I protested citing the fact that I had several young children and felt it would be a safety issue and low and behold..it became available! That's not so important to me now since they are older though! Also in september I find it is still plenty warm enough to enjoy the water parks if you are into them but not every day is sweltering and with the shorter lines most of the time you do wait in the shade and the few times we used the resort pools they were never crowded.

 

[HayGan]

Thanks for all the input!

With our boys getting older we are starting to become limited in the times we can go. We love the begining of Dec but do find it a bit cool for water parks/pools. Although, the feel of WDW at the holidays just can't be beat! We have also gone in May, October and August. Out of those three (and especially since we dealt with Fay in Aug) I think we would likely pick Oct. This will be our first time in June so we are all anxious to see how we like it - especially DH and his dislike of extreme heat/humidity.

I always wonder what people are refering to when they talk about always going in the off-season. It just seems like there really is no true off-season anymore

 

[mlacreta]

You are right..there is no true "off season" but there are some times that are deffinately ALOT less crowded than others. We love september right after labor day cause most families have just started school back up and there really are very few lines. Fairly easy to get a bus although the parks aren't open as late. We have 4 (soon to be 5) kids and find the lesser crowds are worth having the kids miss a little school over! Plus of corse the points to stay are less as well so we can stay longer than if we went another time of year! Their teachers probably aren't thrilled with them missing the first two/three weeks of school but we don't go every year and we think it deffinately is worth the sacrifice!