? on home resort availabilty - kinda long

[DISNEMOM]

I have a ? for the dvc owners here - how do you feel regarding availability at your home resort, and also at another disney dvc property that is not your home resort? (since you only have the 7 months window) I was told by a guide that if you want to stay at a non - home resort, that you book at your home resort, and then transfer it to the one you want at 7 months. Is this what is normally done? I noticed another thread where everyone posts dates that are not available, and also being waitlisted. I wonder if alot of people have problems w/this alot? For example, If you want to go around the same time every year, say october, and own at boardwalk, is it difficult to get rooms because of the popularity of the food and wine festival? Just trying to sort things out, appreciate any responses!

 

[Chuck S]

You should not have problems booking at your home resort, if you book at the 11 month window...but there are a few rare exceptions...Chirstmas to New Years as other members can also use their home resort priority to book earlier then walk the reservation forward, since the "new" booking window is 11 months before check-infor up to 7 nights.

Non-home resorts can be "iffy", there is almost always availability at OKW and SSR. For the next year or so avalability will continue to be added at BLT until the entire tower is "declared" part of the condominium. BCV and BWV have limited availability at 7 months during Food & Wine.

But generally, between calling right at 7 months and using waitlists, you can usually get what you want.

 

[rlovew]

It can be hard to get certain room types at certain resorts at any/all times of the year.

AKV- concierge- there are 5 2-bedroom lockoffs- very hard to book- call at 11 months out
BWV- standard during food and wine/flower and garden- call within the first month of availablity
BLT- Standard- very hard- only 10% of the resort - I have been told at 11 months out I was getting the last studio.

Other than this - I try to reserve at my home resort and take whatever is available when I am booking on shorter notice- so far when I am not booking at BLT- I wanted OKW or SSR so I haven't had any trouble- when I had to change a reservation for January at AKV (in Nov) I was able to find availability for 2 different times to change my reservation(at AKV).

 

[paults]

I have a ? for the dvc owners here - how do you feel regarding availability at your home resort, and also at another disney dvc property that is not your home resort? (since you only have the 7 months window)I like it the way it is and never had any trouble getting something at 7 months and if not then I'll just stay at my home. I was told by a guide that if you want to stay at a non - home resort, that you book at your home resort, and then transfer it to the one you want at 7 months. Is this what is normally done? yes it's normal I noticed another thread where everyone posts dates that are not available, and also being waitlisted. I wonder if alot of people have problems w/this alot? For example, If you want to go around the same time every year, say october, and own at boardwalk, is it difficult to get rooms because of the popularity of the food and wine festival? for the F&WF you need to call at 11 months or shortly after to get what you want. If you want standard or boardwalk view studios you better book at 11 months. Just trying to sort things out, appreciate any responses!

First if you own at BWV and call right at 11 month you should have no problem getting what you want for F&WF. I do it every year and have never been shut out and I book 3,4,or 5 standard studios at a time.


A lot of us say you should buy where you won't mind staying all the time if you can't get what you want at 7 months. We own at BWV because we love it there.
Always book your home resort at 11 months and then if you want to change it at 7 months you can try. If nothing is available at least you have a ressie at home.

 

[timandlesley]

We have personally been VERY lucky with this. Yes, we have booked at our home resort (AKL) and sometimes we stay there because we DO love it, but for our October trip we wanted to try Bay Lake Tower and we were able to book it no problem at the 7 month window (now I DID call RIGHT at the 7 month mark), today I was able to score Boardwalk Villa's for food and Wine festival for this coming November so I've been THRILLED with the 7 month availability!
Lesley

 

[Sandisw]

Many owners do indeed book their home resorts at 11 months and then call a 7 months to switch to others if there is availablity.

For the most part, doing this will lead you something. However, depending on what you want, and when you want, you may or may not be able to switch. If it is popular DVC time, then it could be hit or miss. Or, if you are looking for a popular room view or type (ie: AKV conceirge, Boardwalk view), then you may be out of luck.

If you really have a preference on where you want to stay, then buy there to ensure that you will be able to book there. We bought BLT because that is where we wanted to stay, unless it was our choice not to. This summer, we booked all 6 nights at BLT and then traded 3 of the nights at 7 months to BCV. We had no problem getting the room (1st week in August). However, had it not been available, we would have been okay since we did have BLT booked.

If you are okay staying at any of the resorts, or don't plan on ever booking more than 7 months out, then home resort is of less importance, IMO.

As long as you are aware that there are times when staying at places other than your home resort might not happen, then choosing a home resort based on price can be a great option.

Good luck!

 

[Shleedogg]

I've had no problems booking AKV after 7 months, even getting a value at Jambo. DH was dragging his feet about planning our next trip, didn't want to book it or even talk about it until we had taken our March trip. So, we didn't even call to book until 8 months out. Apparently that's a big mistake for BLT. First call, no SV, but they had LV and MK. DH didn't want to borrow the extra 15 pts. Changed his mine, called back 2 days later and everything was gone, even 1 bedrooms. We wait-listed and have learned our lesson!

 

[jelwallace]

I have never had a problem getting exactly what I wanted at the 7 month window but I always call right at 9AM on the 7 month window and I have walked a reservation once at 7 months (Thanksgiving week) and I got exactly what I wanted. I haven't tried booking at my home resort at 11months and then switching over because my home resort is saratoga and I have always been able to book there (even a few months out) but if I had my heart set on a certain vacation time I would probably book at Saratoga and then tried to switch at 7 months knowing I had Saratoga as my back-up. At the 7 month window I have booked at Grand Californian, Vero Beach, Jambo at Animal Kingdom and Old Key West. Good luck with your reservations!

 

[DenLo]

We own at AKV and BLT. For our next trip in October, we originally booked the dates at BLT and AKV (a split stay) at the 11 month mark. Then at the 7 month mark we called and requested the same dates at BWV that we had booked at AKV. We could not get the first day at either BLT or BWV, so we wait listed that one day between the two reservations and it came through at BWV within a couple of days. We actually did a WL at both BLT and BWV hoping that one or the other would come through.

The above reservation was our first experience at WLing. And we may have used all of our pixiedust up in getting this reservation during the Food & Wine Festival. But by having our original reservation at our home resort, which is somewhere we like to stay, we would have been okay even if the wait list had not come through.

That is why I say buy where you want to stay, then during busy DVC times you can get a reservation at your home resort.

 

[Connears]

I have a ? for the dvc owners here - how do you feel regarding availability at your home resort, and also at another disney dvc property that is not your home resort? (since you only have the 7 months window) I was told by a guide that if you want to stay at a non - home resort, that you book at your home resort, and then transfer it to the one you want at 7 months. Is this what is normally done? I noticed another thread where everyone posts dates that are not available, and also being waitlisted. I wonder if alot of people have problems w/this alot? For example, If you want to go around the same time every year, say october, and own at boardwalk, is it difficult to get rooms because of the popularity of the food and wine festival? Just trying to sort things out, appreciate any responses!

I own at OKW(since 1994) and HHI since 2002,2010 (add-ons). I have never had a problem booking home resort of OKW at 11 months, even going xmas week for the last 5 years. I have been able to switch to BWV abd BCV at 7 months during June/July, but have not been able to switch at 7 months for xmas for the last 2 years(we had tried for AKL), but we love OKW so it was just to try something new. You definitley need to book at 11 months for HHI if you wish to go during June/July or august, but we have been successful at booking xmas week at less than 7 months at HHI. It really is a matter of when you go, what type of accomodation you want at the resort. We always book at 11 months at our home resort for xmas(OKw) and summer(HHI) and may try to switch at WDW, but it does seem it is harder at the holiday to do this. We love our home resorts so it is not a reall issue for us, but if you buy with hopes of another resort for each trip, I do think you may be disappointed.

Woohoo! Just saw it was my lucky 2,222 post!

Connears

 

[DebbieB]

I own at BWV and usually book at 11 months, mostly October or early December. I was able to switch to AKV Kidani savannah view studio last June at 7 months. I've never had a problem switching to OKW 1 bedroom in May. In over 10 years, the only time I was shutout was when I called about 3 weeks ahead for a Sunday night in mid-October as an add-on to a business trip, nothing was available anywhere.

 

[Dean]

I have a ? for the dvc owners here - how do you feel regarding availability at your home resort, and also at another disney dvc property that is not your home resort? (since you only have the 7 months window) I was told by a guide that if you want to stay at a non - home resort, that you book at your home resort, and then transfer it to the one you want at 7 months. Is this what is normally done? I noticed another thread where everyone posts dates that are not available, and also being waitlisted. I wonder if alot of people have problems w/this alot? For example, If you want to go around the same time every year, say october, and own at boardwalk, is it difficult to get rooms because of the popularity of the food and wine festival? Just trying to sort things out, appreciate any responses!

For certain unit types, resorts and times of year even the home resort priority can be difficult. Making an 11 mo reservation then trying to change over, waitlisting if not available, is the best approach. Other than the extremely difficult to get items, this approach will usually be successful.

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

well we have had all kind of problems @ our home resort
when we called & got right thru for our first time. of course,
our guide was out sick & even dvc wasn't aware of him
not being in. [ they told us he was "in" when we called.].

* what makes this interesting is how our original guide told
us if we ever had any problems call & he'll fixed it. he also
told us he would be with us for "years". [ he never made
it to our first time].


walking @ 7mos.. i don't get others telling it isn't worth doing this.
this makes no sense unless they are trying to "throw others off".
the way i see it, 7 mos. would be the best time to do it in order
to secure one of the "left over" resorts rooms. even if you
don't get it, then you have given it your best shot.

if anyone asking me, sure like some written rules & expectations
from the guides so they can't do the things that were done to
us.

 

[vicki_c]

I think people are saying that in most cases, you don't need to walk a reservation. We have switched resorts at 7 months 3 or 4 times in the last 2 years, including Christmas/New Year's week and Food & Wine, and never walked our reservation. There may be times that it's needed to make sure you get something specific, but we didn't find it necessary. It's not a big conspiracy of "old" members telling new members they don't need to, which it sounds like you're suggesting!

As to what your guide told you - sorry if you were misinformed. But guides don't have anything to do with making reservations. In a few cases, new purchasers have been able to get their guide to pull a few strings but it seems to be right then, when they are purchasing. As to the fact that he's not there anymore - oh well, people do quit their jobs -- not much anyone can do about that.

 

[DebbieB]

The problem with walking at 7 months is you could book a couple of days and then have days unavailable. If you are switching a reservation from your home resort, it would be risky if you starting cancelling nights on that reservation to free up points and then find you can't book all the nights on your new choice. If you have extra points available so that you don't have to cancel your original, then it might be worth it to try.

 

[Dean]

well we have had all kind of problems @ our home resort
when we called & got right thru for our first time. of course,
our guide was out sick & even dvc wasn't aware of him
not being in. [ they told us he was "in" when we called.].

* what makes this interesting is how our original guide told
us if we ever had any problems call & he'll fixed it. he also
told us he would be with us for "years". [ he never made
it to our first time].


walking @ 7mos.. i don't get others telling it isn't worth doing this.
this makes no sense unless they are trying to "throw others off".
the way i see it, 7 mos. would be the best time to do it in order
to secure one of the "left over" resorts rooms. even if you
don't get it, then you have given it your best shot.

if anyone asking me, sure like some written rules & expectations
from the guides so they can't do the things that were done to
us.

I'm curious as to what were the "things that were done to us"

 

[paults]

I'm curious as to what were the "things that were done to us"

just waiting for an answer too.

 

[Lil' Grumpy]

oh, so sorry. my observation came from reading other questions
about walking. every time, i noticed posters responding," it's a
waste to walk @ the 7mos.". however, i can't figure out why
even when they offered an explanation. instead, i think walking
would be best @ 7mos. since there would be very little inventory
available. sure it may not work, but walking @ 7mos would have been
your best chance to have changed resorts.


sorry to the original poster, leaving the main topic,

fyi,

our original guide made us promises based on his expectations.
the main one, we would never have a problem booking @ the 11mos.
however, when that didn't come true, he wasn't available.
and since then we have been handed off like a football.

furthermore, it has been a very frustrating experience with dvc's
operations. specifically, their lack of problem solving & corrective
measures. for us, we like to go back to our original meeting [ since
the ex-guide is still there, different department] and do a
telephone-conference.

frustrating, i think dvc feels offering "verbal support" is problem-solving.
we are seeking action & i think the best way is to have a meeting
with this ex-guide being present. [ to prevent misunderstandings]. &
i would like to have the job descriptions for guides to figured out if
we were told wrong from the start. anyway , that's where we are at.

 

[Dean]

our original guide made us promises based on his expectations. the main one, we would never have a problem booking @ the 11mos. however, when that didn't come true, he wasn't available.
and since then we have been handed off like a football.

I think most reasonable people who understood what they were buying into would have taken such promises with a grain of salt, esp a guarantee of a given reservation even at day one 11 months out.

 

[DISNEMOM]

Thanks to everyone for all the info! I'm going over everything and trying to make a decision. Still torn a bit on exactly what i'm going to do, but this info is very helpful!