Planning a Trip for Dec 2024 - Availability Question

[Cyran]

Hey all,

Looking to get a little advice / thoughts from the community as I work to plan a trip for the first week of December 2024. My home resort is BLT so I know I can do the 11 month there obviously, but I'm trying to gauge what folks think the availability will be as I head into that window. I'm looking at a 2 bed villa, and I know lake view has a lot more inventory, but what are the odds of a standard being available compared to the lake?

Beyond that, looking at the 7 month window, I'd be looking at BRV, CCV, BWV, Riviera, VGF, BCV or Poly for either two studios or a 2 bed villa, depending on the resort. Obviously the 11 month window is the ideal choice, but just trying to gauge what people think might be available.

The dates I'm looking at are 12/1/24 to 12/7/24 (6 nights). I know that's a lot of info to sift through but any opinions anyone can provide would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

 

[mamaofsix]

Hey all,

Looking to get a little advice / thoughts from the community as I work to plan a trip for the first week of December 2024. My home resort is BLT so I know I can do the 11 month there obviously, but I'm trying to gauge what folks think the availability will be as I head into that window. I'm looking at a 2 bed villa, and I know lake view has a lot more inventory, but what are the odds of a standard being available compared to the lake?

Beyond that, looking at the 7 month window, I'd be looking at BRV, CCV, BWV, Riviera, VGF, BCV or Poly for either two studios or a 2 bed villa, depending on the resort. Obviously the 11 month window is the ideal choice, but just trying to gauge what people think might be available.

The dates I'm looking at are 12/1/24 to 12/7/24 (6 nights). I know that's a lot of info to sift through but any opinions anyone can provide would be much appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Looks like your odds are a lot higher with a lakeview 2 bedroom at BLT for that time of year: https://www.dvchelp.com/page/bay-lake-tower-availability-charts

Of the other ones you listed for 7 months, Riviera Preferred View actually looks the most available. The others are all pretty slim pickings for that week: https://www.dvchelp.com/page/riviera-resort-availability-charts

 

[CarolMN]

If you want BLT standard, my advice is to walk it a few days. Start the Friday or Saturday after Thanksgiving and IMO, you should be able to get it.

It is very unlikely that you will be able to switch to BWV, as all the 2 bedrooms are lock offs. Studios for that week will probably be gone or extremely limited even before the 7 month window opens.

 

[Cyran]

Thank you both! The information is super helpful and I wasn't aware of the DVChelp site but it's great for what I need!

Regarding the walking, do I need to have enough points to book the entirety of my stay or can i just do a few and then add on when I move the dates? Also, do I have to call in on that or can I do it online? Research for this trip is honestly the first I'd heard of walking so still figuring out some of the nuances of it.

 

[Sandisw]

Thank you both! The information is super helpful and I wasn't aware of the DVChelp site but it's great for what I need!

Regarding the walking, do I need to have enough points to book the entirety of my stay or can i just do a few and then add on when I move the dates? Also, do I have to call in on that or can I do it online? Research for this trip is honestly the first I'd heard of walking so still figuring out some of the nuances of it.

You can do a few and move that way..just have to do it more often.

It will work online unless you are crossing your UY and then it requires MS when you walk over that.

 

[Cyran]

You can do a few and move that way..just have to do it more often.

It will work online unless you are crossing your UY and then it requires MS when you walk over that.

I appreciate the additional info! If you don't mind, I'd like to walk through my logic based on points and dates and if you can advise if it checks out, it would be amazing.

I'll have 210 points available total using 24 and borrowing from 25. I won't cross use years (Feb) but will be borrowing, not sure if that impacts anything. So if I ultimately want Sunday, Dec 1st until Saturday the 7th, I'd do the following in order to walk:

Starting by reserving Saturday, Nov 30th through Tuesday, December 3rd (should be 179 total points). The next day, log in and move the start date to Sunday the 1st and have it run through Thursday the 5th (should be 210 total points). Then I need to rent points for the final day which I'd either just hope for a one night standard or have to move myself to a lake for the one night. Not ideal, but not that dramatic.

Does that sound right or is there something I'm missing or a better way to go about it for ease and efficiency?

 

[Pens Fan]

Here are a couple of websites that claim to show historical availability. I cannot speak to their overall accuracy but I've found the first one at least to be pretty much inline with our own (limited) experiences. I haven't really used the second one that much. But it gets mentioned a lot on here.

https://www.dvchelp.com/

https://www.dvcfieldguide.com/availability-tables

 

[Sandisw]

I appreciate the additional info! If you don't mind, I'd like to walk through my logic based on points and dates and if you can advise if it checks out, it would be amazing.

I'll have 210 points available total using 24 and borrowing from 25. I won't cross use years (Feb) but will be borrowing, not sure if that impacts anything. So if I ultimately want Sunday, Dec 1st until Saturday the 7th, I'd do the following in order to walk:

Starting by reserving Saturday, Nov 30th through Tuesday, December 3rd (should be 179 total points). The next day, log in and move the start date to Sunday the 1st and have it run through Thursday the 5th (should be 210 total points). Then I need to rent points for the final day which I'd either just hope for a one night standard or have to move myself to a lake for the one night. Not ideal, but not that dramatic.

Does that sound right or is there something I'm missing or a better way to go about it for ease and efficiency?

Yes, that sounds correct! If you get worried, you can always start sooner.

The few times I have walked, I have monitored things a few weeks out. If it seems like things are going to be difficult, then I snag it when I can, and walk it for longer.

 

[maui22]

We have owned at BLT since before it opened. Definitely noticing the SV have become more difficult to book. More times of the year require walking reservations for studio and 2BR SV.