Question for BLT Home Resort Owners

[Luv2PixieDust]

I am currently trying to book a room at BLT during a typically slower time of year (week after Thanksgiving). We are using points from a different home resort so we had to wait for the 7 month window and are having an exceptionally hard time trying to line everything up (dates, views and room size).

Then the thought occurred to me...if I bought a package as BLT as my home resort and tried to book at the 11 month window would I not have any issues? I am considering purchasing one but would be much more frustrated experiencing these difficulties if it were my home resort.

Maybe if I purchased 25 points from a resale company for various home resorts I would have even more flexibility?

Any insight would be appreciated.

 

[WsPrincess]

From what I have read anything from Thanksgiving until Christmas is a busy DVC time since the crowds are lower, the decorations are up and the points are lower so even though it is a slower Disney time, it is not for DVC.

Also, I don't think small contracts would solve your issue. You only can book at 11 months with the points you have at that resort. So if you had 25 points at BLT you would only be able to book with 25 points, the rest would have to wait until 7 months since they would be from a different home resort.

Good luck.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I am currently trying to book a room at BLT during a typically slower time of year (week after Thanksgiving). We are using points from a different home resort so we had to wait for the 7 month window and are having an exceptionally hard time trying to line everything up (dates, views and room size). ...

Your first misconception. The week after Thanksgiving is not a slow week for DVC. In fact, from the first of October through the WDW Marathon in January is a busy time for DVC. It may be a slow time for WDW, but not for DVC.

 

[chalee94]

Also, I don't think small contracts would solve your issue. You only can book at 11 months with the points you have at that resort. So if you had 25 points at BLT you would only be able to book with 25 points, the rest would have to wait until 7 months since they would be from a different home resort.

this is correct, too.

just because i buy a 25 pt BLT contract does not mean that i could start using my OKW pts to jump in front of BLT owners at 10-11 months out...

if you want to book BLT at 11 months out, you need the right currency: BLT pts. doesn't matter what other kinds of pts you own.

most posters here on the DIS try to encourage newbies to buy where they want to stay to avoid these sorts of issues. but at this point, your best bet is to ride the waitlist and hope for the best...

 

[Luv2PixieDust]

If BLT is your home resort have you had any issues booking a trip 11 months out?

 

[suncup1225]

Even if you own at BLT you may not be able to get a reservation from Food and Wine time through January booking out at the 11 month window...trust me this was our experience.

 

[chalee94]

Even if you own at BLT you may not be able to get a reservation from Food and Wine time through January booking out at the 11 month window...trust me this was our experience.

really? were you looking for standard or theme park view, or couldn't find even a lake view villa at 11 months out?

 

[ELMC]

I am currently trying to book a room at BLT during a typically slower time of year (week after Thanksgiving). We are using points from a different home resort so we had to wait for the 7 month window and are having an exceptionally hard time trying to line everything up (dates, views and room size).

Then the thought occurred to me...if I bought a package as BLT as my home resort and tried to book at the 11 month window would I not have any issues? I am considering purchasing one but would be much more frustrated experiencing these difficulties if it were my home resort.

Maybe if I purchased 25 points from a resale company for various home resorts I would have even more flexibility?

Any insight would be appreciated.

Buying at the resort you want to stay at is the best way to avoid the issues that come with trying to book at the 7 month window. However, this assumes that you have enough points from that resort to pay for the entire stay (you can use your AKV points at BLT before 7 months). I'm not sure if I can post a link, but there is information out there that outlines how far in advance you need to book certain rooms at certain resorts. In your specific case, most of BLT frequently fills up prior to the 7 month window.

Basically, there are resorts that you need to own at if you want top choice of accommodations. There are other resorts (such as SSR, OKW and AKV if you don't want value studios or concierge level) that seem to have more availability at the 7 month window. There's plenty of information about it on here as well. Good luck!

 

[jstarcze]

If BLT is your home resort have you had any issues booking a trip 11 months out?

I can't talk about the week after Thanksgiving, but for the last couple of years I've had no problem booking the week before Thanksgiving at the 11 month mark. The Park decorations are up and typically they are in the process of setting up the resort decorations during this week.

 

[DizBub]

We own at BLT and for the last 3 years I have been able to get a dedicated 2 bedroom/standard view for 7 nights at the beginning of F&W. I call at exactly my 11 month window. So far, so good.

I have heard of people having to waitlist even at 11 months for BLT.

 

[ELMC]

We own at BLT and for the last 3 years I have been able to get a dedicated 2 bedroom/standard view for 7 nights at the beginning of F&W. I call at exactly my 11 month window. So far, so good.

I have heard of people having to waitlist even at 11 months for BLT.

As a new BLT owner I have wondered about this. What is the timing required to get what you want? Do you need to book within minutes of the 11 month window opening? Or hours? Or days? How close to the optimal booking time (the very second your 11 month window opens) do you need to be in order to get what you want?

 

[RobDoc]

...Maybe if I purchased 25 points from a resale company for various home resorts I would have even more flexibility?

Any insight would be appreciated.

If you purchase 25 points at BLT (or any other DVC resort) you would only be able to use those points 11 months ahead. Non-Home points can still only be used 7 months ahead.

With a 25 point contract, you could make reservations using up to 75 points every three years with banking and borrowing.

 

[drusba]

You should try to book standard view exactly 11 months out, in the morning as early as possible; likely it will be there for some days into the 11 month window but for that one you do not want to risk it. Theme park view is generally available for some time after 11 month window opens and sometimes even open at 7 month window and lake view is very often still open at 7 month window. Theme Park view seems to have followed a pattern where when the resort opened, you had to rush to get it and call exacttly 11 months out to have a chance, but now it seems to remain open for quite some time, likely reflecting the growing disenchantment with the point cost because of a problem that many have mentioned: that a number of the theme park view rooms, particularly in the lower floors, do not deliver the expected fantastic view but instead give you a great view of the Contemporary parking lot.

 

[DizBub]

As a new BLT owner I have wondered about this. What is the timing required to get what you want? Do you need to book within minutes of the 11 month window opening? Or hours? Or days? How close to the optimal booking time (the very second your 11 month window opens) do you need to be in order to get what you want?

I start calling about 2 or 3 minutes til 8:00 am (since I live In IL) right at the 11 month mark. Gotta account for those automated prompts . Of course, I am trying to get the standard view. This year Sept 29 - Oct 6 standard view is 278 points. Lake view is 310 (my exact allotment of BLT points) and MK view is 376 points. I am not willing to spend 98 points extra to look at a parking lot, even if I had the points to spend. Standard is hard to get because there are so few of them. I guess I have been lucky so far. Not sure how I will fare in the future with on-line booking in play.

 

[rlovew]

I have booked either the week of or the week after Thanksgiving every year since BLT opened. On the 2 times I called within minutes of opening on the 11 month day I was able to get the last standard view studio for my dates. Last year (booking for 2011) I called later in the day on the 11 month date and was able to book a TPV but standard was gone and LV was of course still available- I decided to just try a TPV and didn't waitlist standard view but I could not get it with a 1 day delay.

 

[bigdave10000]

I bought at BLT so I could book value studios. I haven't had a problem booking at 11 months for weeks in September or January.

 

[BrerNashville]

I called two days after the 11 month window for a 1 BR std view at BLT for the first weekend in December and one of the nights was booked solid. LV was available well after the 11 month mark, though. Hopefully, it won't be quite as bad as they have moved more units into the std view category.

 

[mdsd8700]

We own at BLT and booked a standard studio exactly at 11 months for the weekend of Thanksgiving 2011 without any problems.

We then decided to switch to a one bedroom at at 10 months out but there were no standard 1 bedrooms available at that time. We booked LV and waitlisted the standard. The WL took just over a week to come through.

Later our plans changed again and hoped to add guests to our trip. We called exactly at the 7 month mark and switched from BLT to a 2 bedroom BWV.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Even if you own at BLT you may not be able to get a reservation from Food and Wine time through January booking out at the 11 month window...trust me this was our experience.

I'd bet that you are only talking about Standard view and that is quite different than being shut out of booking BLT at the 11 month mark. I also have not been able to get that right at 11 months although always for the first week of Dec. But MK views have been open for a little period and Lakeview most certainly available at any 11 month window.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

If BLT is your home resort have you had any issues booking a trip 11 months out?

I've never had any problems so far