Possible to Book 2-3 Months out?

[Teepsman]

My wife and I are thinking very seriously about joining DVC, but want to be sure that this is right for us.

We travel on off-peak seasons, such as January-March, and August-early December. Our favorite time to go is January or the first week of December - sometimes both! We have no children.

We generally book our WDW vacations 2-3 months in advance.

We generally don't care which resort we book, as they are all acceptable to us (even the value resorts).

QUESTION: Will DVC allow us to continue this style of travel?

I have read a lot of messages about planning trips 7 months in advance. That probably won't work for us due to my unusual work schedule. Could you help us decide? We really appreciate your input.

 

[Chuck S]

DVC works best when you can plan early. Thanksgiving to New Years is a very popular DVC booking time, and Member Services phone lines are basically overwhelmed right at the begining of the 11 month booking window for that period. January through March will be easier to book, as long as you aren't too picky about which DVC resort you stay in. The smaller resorts, VWL, BCV and BWV will always be the most difficult to book, larger resorts like SSR, OKW and AKV (when completed) will probably be easiest.

If you are within the last 4 months of your use year, you will not be able to book a non-DVC resort. You can stay at a non-DVC on points during those last 4 months, but the reservation must be made prior to the 4 month window, so last minute non-DVC stays will not always be possible.

 

[ZekeKelso]

You need to look both at the situation today, and where things will be over the next 30+ years. Clearly the trend is toward it being more difficult to book at the last minute. Will that continue?

If it were me, I wouldn't buy into DVC if I knew I would only be able to book 2-3 months in advance. That's not to say it's impossible to have a great DVC experience, or I know it will be a disaster - just that I wouldn't do it.

How inflexible is your work schedule? If it the kind of thing where you will have no idea when you might be able to get away until the last minute, that's one thing.

But if it kind of thing where you can plan it out in advance, and just might have to cancel - or a situation where you know you can take one of two weeks, but don't know which it will be, then DVC works better. The cancellation penalties can be very forgiving, IF you properly plan things out.

 

[crisi]

More questions to ask yourself:

How will you handle banking or using your points as your use year expires? - if you have points left over at the end of your use year that have gone unbanked, they will be lost. Point planning will be a bear.

Are you comfortable moving from resort to resort? Sometimes rooms will be available, but your get three nights at SSR in a one bedroom, a night at OKW in a studio, and a night in BCV in a one bedroom. That's possibly worst case, but DVC members travelling with short notice have moved multiple times in a trip. Availability can get spotty.

 

[CarolA]

I do this all the time. There are a few consideraitons. Are you willing to "waste" points LOL! I am staying in a one bedroom in a few weeks. Do I need that much space - no. I had a three night stay. Called and got the middle night in a 1 bedroom at SSR. No other options. So I decided to take it and cross my fingers, waitlisted nights on either side. Got the third night yesterday. I will probably just stay at the local Marriott the first night and cancel the waitlist.

I already had points in holding so if one of the two nights hadn't cleared I probably would have cancelled the middle night and put them back in holding.

Now I have no problem staying off site if I can't get a DVC. (I have also used points for mods but with the $95 booking fee that's equal to the price of one offsite night so... it's not quite as good a deal LOL!)

Now I think your BIG problem there is that early December time frame. DVC members LOVE it and it can be hard to book.

 

[Teepsman]

This is great info - thanks! We hadn't considered the possibility that we would have to move in the middle of our stay. I hate to sound snobby, but that would be a buzz-kill for us. We don't care what resort we stay in, but moving multiple times in a trip sounds like a major hassle. We didn't realize that the villas were so full - every time we tour WL or BW, we find them deserted!! So we thought that booking wouldn't be difficult, since we never saw any guests walking the halls of the Villas.

My work schedule is that I don't know if I can get away until the last minute. As the owner of the law firm, I have the least amount of freedom.

The more we read, the more we realize that this probably isn't the best investment for us. Its a shame, because we really want to do this. However, with such booking issues, it sounds like more frustration than anything else. Any thoughts?

I had another question: does time of year really matter? We travel during Adventure or Choice seasons. Since the point-cost to stay is cheaper during that period, one would think that there's more availability. Is that true?

Finally, I noticed that Hilton Head and vero Beach points are much, much cheaper than WL or BW. They may expire sooner, but is there any other reason why?

Thanks again for all your thoughts and assistance!

 

[crisi]

I had another question: does time of year really matter? We travel during Adventure or Choice seasons. Since the point-cost to stay is cheaper during that period, one would think that there's more availability. Is that true?

Finally, I noticed that Hilton Head and vero Beach points are much, much cheaper than WL or BW. They may expire sooner, but is there any other reason why?

October and December are notoriously hard to book short notice - both are Adventure or Choice. January over marathon is tough, but late January is more open, as is September. Cheap points mean frugal DVC members flocking to fill DVC resorts - particularly when the weather is great and Disney is having events to fill slow seasons (F&W, early Christmas decorations, Star Wars Weekend).

Vero and HH are not at WDW. Vero has much higher dues as well. But if you can't plan 7 months in advance, it doesn't matter where you own (as long as you are willing to pay the dues) - If I couldn't book more than 7 months in advance, I'd look for an OKW resale, low buy in, cheap dues.

There were a few recent threads about the $95 booking fee for non-DVC resorts. Used to be that people who couldn't get a DVC resort could stay at POR or something - it wasn't a great value in terms of points, but it added short term flexibility. Now they have a $95 fee to do that and a lot of short term bookers are upset with the change since it really limits what you can do economically short term. They are interesting reads regarding short term booking.

 

[Caskbill]

...I had another question: does time of year really matter? We travel during Adventure or Choice seasons. Since the point-cost to stay is cheaper during that period, one would think that there's more availability. Is that true?

Finally, I noticed that Hilton Head and vero Beach points are much, much cheaper than WL or BW. They may expire sooner, but is there any other reason why?

Some of the more popular times for DVC does not coincide with the most popular times for WDW itself. Many DVC owners actually prefer to travel off season because both the crowds are lower, and the point requirements are lower. For example, the 1st two weeks of December are Adventure Season, but they are probably the 2nd most popular dates. (THE most popular date is NYE).

While January is also adventure season, the 1st couple of weeks see high DVC usage. It tapers off for the last half of the month.

September is still pretty good, but again DVC members like those low point 'deals'.


HH and VB points generally sell for less because the 11-month window is only good at those resorts. Many really prefer to stay at WDW and it's best to have a resort there that you can book during the home resort priority window. With HH and VB you can't book until the 7-month window and then you are competing with a lot more people. Also the maintenance fees are higher because of the 'risks' (Think hurricanes). Over time these higher dues offset the initial savings.

If HH or VB are your destinations, then they are great resorts. If you want some dates at HH during the summer, it's best to own there. If you want a beach cottage at VB, it's best to own there, again so you have the 11-month home resort booking priority window.