OKW in Early December - How hard to book?

[Dis13]

How difficult will it be to book a 2 Bedroom and 1 Bedroom at OKW in early December at the 11 month window? Is it necessary to book day by day? Thanks!

 

[Chuck S]

I've booked early to mid December the last few years, either a one bdrm or a studio at OKW, and I've never booked day by day.

 

[OKW Lover]

You won't have any problem getting OKW in early December at the 11 month window. Save yourself the extra effort of calling a day at a time.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I agree...No need to call day by day at the 11 month mark.

 

[keliblue]

I agree...No need to call day by day at the 11 month mark.

What about at the 7th month mark ? and does that apply to most resorts in Early December or jut OKW? We really have our hearts set on a trip every other year to VWL in early December. I am guessing that we should make VWL our "home" resort when we buy Re-sale if we have our hearts set on December pre holiday travel?

 

[Simba's Mom]

What about at the 7th month mark ? and does that apply to most resorts in Early December or jut OKW? We really have our hearts set on a trip every other year to VWL in early December. I am guessing that we should make VWL our "home" resort when we buy Re-sale if we have our hearts set on December pre holiday travel?

I don't know about now, but a couple years ago, I forgot to call right at the 11 month window, and it was 10 months and 3 weeks by the time I remembered. At that point, there was availability (at least in studios) at only 2 resorts. Fortunately one of them was where I wanted to stay.

 

[mikesmom]

What about at the 7th month mark ? and does that apply to most resorts in Early December or jut OKW? We really have our hearts set on a trip every other year to VWL in early December. I am guessing that we should make VWL our "home" resort when we buy Re-sale if we have our hearts set on December pre holiday travel?

VWL is THE hardest to book in December because of all the great Christmas theming. It's also a pretty small resort so I would say it would be extremely difficult to get at the 7 month mark.

Your strategy to buy in to insure access in December is a pretty good one.

 

[keliblue]

VWL is THE hardest to book in December because of all the great Christmas theming. It's also a pretty small resort so I would say it would be extremely difficult to get at the 7 month mark.

Your strategy to buy in to insure access in December is a pretty good one.

Thanks so much, I think we will stick to our plan and wait out the perfect VWL contract

Merry Christmas

 

[JimMIA]

What about at the 7th month mark ? and does that apply to most resorts in Early December or jut OKW? We really have our hearts set on a trip every other year to VWL in early December. I am guessing that we should make VWL our "home" resort when we buy Re-sale if we have our hearts set on December pre holiday travel?

I think you'll find all of the WDW DVC properties difficult to book between Thanksgiving and mid-December at the seven-month mark. Agreed VWL and BCV will be the toughest because of their size, but all could be tough.

Early December is probably DVC's busiest time, for exactly the reasons you want to go then -- cheap points costs, holiday decorations, holiday events, etc, etc.

I'm often a contrarian on the "buy where you want to stay" cliche, but yours is one situation where I think it definitely makes sense. If you are going during a busy time and you'll be disappointed if you have to "settle" for somewhere else, AND you have the ability to book more than seven months out, I'd certainly "buy where you want to stay."

But remember, if you can't book more than seven months out, it doesn't matter what your home resort is because "points is points" at the seven-month mark. There's no such thing as a "home resort advantage" at seven months.

 

[rwatterson]

I have booked day by day for a grand villa over christmas and New Years - but we stayed at Hilton head o for 2 days enroute then VB then over to OKW on Boxing day - so that was a day by day booking - and MS made it very easy and all was great

Bob

 

[keliblue]

I think you'll find all of the WDW DVC properties difficult to book between Thanksgiving and mid-December at the seven-month mark. Agreed VWL and BCV will be the toughest because of their size, but all could be tough.

Early December is probably DVC's busiest time, for exactly the reasons you want to go then -- cheap points costs, holiday decorations, holiday events, etc, etc.

I'm often a contrarian on the "buy where you want to stay" cliche, but yours is one situation where I think it definitely makes sense. If you are going during a busy time and you'll be disappointed if you have to "settle" for somewhere else, AND you have the ability to book more than seven months out, I'd certainly "buy where you want to stay."

But remember, if you can't book more than seven months out, it doesn't matter what your home resort is because "points is points" at the seven-month mark. There's no such thing as a "home resort advantage" at seven months.

Thank you so much !! One more question if I may, If you own at one resort, can you add on or buy a minimal amount of points thru Disney at another resort ??

 

[Simba's Mom]

Thank you so much !! One more question if I may, If you own at one resort, can you add on or buy a minimal amount of points thru Disney at another resort ??

Sure can! We've got 210 points at OKW, then added 100 points at BCV, mostly so I can go in a studio in early December.

 

[dsneygirl]

We stayed at OKW in early Dec 2005. We only closed on our contract in July so it was only about 4.5-5 months out. We got a studio with no problem.

 

[LisaS]

Thank you so much !! One more question if I may, If you own at one resort, can you add on or buy a minimal amount of points thru Disney at another resort ??

Yes you can add on points at a different resort. For example, you could own a master contract of 150 points at OKW and add on 50 points at BCV. At 11 months from your check-out date, you could book OKW using your 150 OKW points and BCV using your 50 BCV points. At 7 months from checkout, you could combine the OKW points and BCV points and use all 200 points at any resort, subject to availability.

The smallest add-on you can purchase is 25 points if paying cash or 50 points if financing. A 25-point add-on won't go very far but with banking and/or borrowing, you can accumulate 50 points to use every other year or 75 points every third year.

 

[jekjones1558]

One additional note regarding add-ons through Disney: If you buy less than 150 points, the add-on must have the same use year as your master contract whether it is for the same resort or a different resort.