Question for you DVC owners

[SteveW8002]

My family and I have been going to Disney about 1.5 times/year, for the last several years. We've stayed at both moderates and deluxe. Our children are 11 and 13; I foresee us going to Disney at least annually for quite awhile. We usually travel there in the summer/fall.

I am considering a Key West or Saratoga Springs resale. We've stayed at both and I like the point price. My question is: if I can book at any resort 7 months out, why would I spend more money on say Wilderness Lodge as opposed to Key West? Do available rooms get booked that fast?

Thanks so much!

Steve

 

[bighoo93]

My family and I have been going to Disney about 1.5 times/year, for the last several years. We've stayed at both moderates and deluxe. Our children are 11 and 13; I foresee us going to Disney at least annually for quite awhile. We usually travel there in the summer/fall.

I am considering a Key West or Saratoga Springs resale. We've stayed at both and I like the point price. My question is: if I can book at any resort 7 months out, why would I spend more money on say Wilderness Lodge as opposed to Key West? Do available rooms get booked that fast?

Thanks so much!

Steve

It all depends on the resort, the room type, and the time of year. Length of stay, too, I suppose. For example, if you are going to want a 2 BR Club level room at AKV, better own points there to have a shot. You want a 1 BR at OKW? Just buy the cheapest points because you can always get that. Boardwalk view studio at BWV in July? You're probably OK at the 7 month mark. But in December? Need the home resort booking window.

Wilderness Lodge is among the easiest resorts to book for any room type at any time of year. I wouldn't pay extra to get the home resort booking window there unless you expect to go during the Thanksgiving through New Year's period.

 

[disneynutz]

If 7 month availability wasn't an issue than everyone would own OKW or SSR.

If you truly don't care where you stay and you won't be disappointed if you don't always get your resort/room request then buy OKW/SSR.

After years of WDW vacations, we have found that the honeymoon is over and the spending time in the parks has become not as important as before. The resort and room are very important to us now and 3 of the 6 resorts that we own are keepers.

Bill

 

[Deb & Bill]

That's the thing. You can't get everything at seven months out. Lots of categories, villa sizes, locations are booked before seven months out.

Plus the really hot properties will be booked at eleven months out. Such as AKV Concierge villas (only five two bedroom lockoffs at Jambo House), theme park view at BLT, almost any resort during the first week of January, BWV/BCV from late September through mid-January. And GVs get booked early, especially the OKW GV because they require fewer points than any other. If you want the BW view at BWV, you need to own there. If you want the value villas at AKV, you need to own there. If you want the Beach Cottage at VB, you need to own there. If you want VWL for Christmas holidays, you need to own there.

Smart owners book their home resort at eleven months out so they aren't shut out, especially for the busy times.

 

[MoreTravels]

When the kids are older, they may not want to do Disney Parks. They may want to hang out by the pool, visit Kennedy space center, join the thrill rides at Universal.

So it's not worth the extra cost for points if you don't need to be adjacent to Magic Kingdom.

 

[Andrew015]

Wilderness Lodge is among the easiest resorts to book for any room type at any time of year. I wouldn't pay extra to get the home resort booking window there unless you expect to go during the Thanksgiving through New Year's period.

I definitely do not agree with this statement. VWL is the smallest of all DVC resorts, and getting exactly what you want at the 7 month window is by no means a slam dunk, especially during peak seasons. The easiest resorts to book are typically the larger ones, such as SSR and OKW. Owning where you want to stay (and thus getting the 11 month booking window) gives you the best chance of getting exactly what you want.

 

[bighoo93]

I definitely do not agree with this statement. VWL is the smallest of all DVC resorts, and getting exactly what you want at the 7 month window is by no means a slam dunk, especially during peak seasons.

At what times during the year (besides the one that I specifically mentioned in my post that you disagreed with) do you think it would be difficult to get the VWL room you want at the 7 month mark?

 

[bighoo93]

That's the thing. You can't get everything at seven months out. Lots of categories, villa sizes, locations are booked before seven months out.

Plus the really hot properties will be booked at eleven months out. Such as AKV Concierge villas (only five two bedroom lockoffs at Jambo House), theme park view at BLT, almost any resort during the first week of January, BWV/BCV from late September through mid-January. And GVs get booked early, especially the OKW GV because they require fewer points than any other. If you want the BW view at BWV, you need to own there. If you want the value villas at AKV, you need to own there. If you want the Beach Cottage at VB, you need to own there. If you want VWL for Christmas holidays, you need to own there.

You definitely hit on some of the most difficult rooms to get without home resort booking. Resort, room type/view, time of year. Except for a very few examples (e.g., AKV Value and Club, BLT Standard, Christmas/New Years and Thanksgiving anywhere), you have to specify each of those variables to define the availability. Boardwalk view isn't necessarily difficult to get much of the year, particularly if you are willing to book a 1 BR. Similar story for BLT Theme Park, although interestingly I've found that 2 BR is actually slightly easier than 1 BR in that case.

That's why I always suggest that people think in more detail about their travel plans and preferences. Maybe you need that home resort booking advantage, and maybe you don't. If money is no object, buy all the points you want at all the resorts you like, and you're covered. For the rest of us, more information is power!

 

[DizBub]

At what times during the year (besides the one that I specifically mentioned in my post that you disagreed with) do you think it would be difficult to get the VWL room you want at the 7 month mark?

Funny thing, we have stayed at all WDW DVC resorts except VWL. We go all times during the year except summer (June, July, Aug) and I have never been able to string 7 nights together at VWL at 7 months.

To the OP, if you aren't real picky about where you stay buying resale at OKW or especially SSR would be your best value. SSR because it has a longer contract life. We own at BLT and BCV and have spent most of our stays other places booking at 7 months.

 

[rowlands57]

As some have said your trips will change over the years. At this point in my ownership my two adult children lvoe being close to EPCOT for the evenings. Lot's of places to dine and have an adult beverage and then a quick walk back to the BCV where we own points. It makes the evenings much more relaxing and we never thought of this scenario when we bought our points originally.

I suppose that you can get the BCV at 7 months at times, but it seems that when we go we are grateful for the 11 month window. For example, my daughter is running the Marathon this coming January and we are at the BCV to be near the finish line and I am pretty sure we'd have had issues at 7 months for that.

Good luck with your choice as I'm sure you will like the membership regardless of where you purchase.

 

[bighoo93]

Funny thing, we have stayed at all WDW DVC resorts except VWL. We go all times during the year except summer (June, July, Aug) and I have never been able to string 7 nights together at VWL at 7 months.

I was able to book any room type I wanted at the 7 month mark for a full week at VWL any time June through September, and mid-January through March. The only times I could not get a full week in any room type at VWL were Thanksgiving week and New Year's week. Perhaps some weeks in April and May will prove similarly challenging, I haven't tried those yet.

 

[Andrew015]

At what times during the year (besides the one that I specifically mentioned in my post that you disagreed with) do you think it would be difficult to get the VWL room you want at the 7 month mark?

Depending on the type of room that you are looking for, and the number of consecutive nights, I think ANY time of year could be challenging at VWL. Are you looking for a studio? If so, there are only 20 of them for the entire resort. Compare that to SSR (432 Lockoff rooms that can be booked as either a 1BR or a Studio) and OKW (230 Lockoff rooms that can be booked as either a 1BR or a Studio), and you can see why VWL is anything but easy to book at 7 months out.

If you are only trying to string 3-4 nights together, you might be OK at the 7 month window, but I wouldn't count on it, and I certainly wouldn't be giving this out as "sound advice" for someone to potentially base such a signficant purchase off of. Just my $.02.

 

[bighoo93]

Depending on the type of room that you are looking for, and the number of consecutive nights, I think ANY time of year could be challenging at VWL. Are you looking for a studio? If so, there are only 20 of them for the entire resort. Compare that to SSR (432 Lockoff rooms that can be booked as either a 1BR or a Studio) and OKW (230 Lockoff rooms that can be booked as either a 1BR or a Studio), and you can see why VWL is anything but easy to book at 7 months out.

If you are only trying to string 3-4 nights together, you might be OK at the 7 month window, but I wouldn't count on it, and I certainly wouldn't be giving this out as "sound advice" for someone to potentially base such a signficant purchase off of. Just my $.02.

So, how do you explain the fact that I was able to book a full week at any room type at VWL at the 7 month mark throughout all of June, July, August, September, February and March, plus the second half of January (I did not attempt during October or the first half of November, so I don't know about that time)? And, BTW, during the times not mentioned, I could usually get a 1 BR for a full week, and sometimes a studio. And further, for a majority of those weeks where a full week wasn't available, I could get 6 nights for any room type, so depending on when your start/end times were, a full week would still have been available. Maybe I was just lucky? Everyone will make their own decision based on their own preferences, I just thought it might be helpful to include my experience in the conversation.

One thing you could do is go check right now and see if you can reserve a full week at VWL at any room type from 3/28-4/4 (today's 7 month mark). I already know the answer because I checked this morning, but for those who aren't inclined to trust me (and because I do not want to give away any information about current availability), you might find it more compelling.

 

[timandjanl]

If 7 month availability wasn't an issue than everyone would own OKW or SSR.

If you truly don't care where you stay and you won't be disappointed if you don't always get your resort/room request then buy OKW/SSR.

After years of WDW vacations, we have found that the honeymoon is over and the spending time in the parks has become not as important as before. The resort and room are very important to us now and 3 of the 6 resorts that we own are keepers.

Bill

What are the 3 for you?

 

[dmunsil]

Are you looking for a studio? If so, there are only 20 of them for the entire resort.

There are 20 dedicated studios plus 45 lockoffs. So there are 65 studios. If you only count dedicated studios, then most of the resorts have 0 studios.

Not that I disagree with your basic point. If someone's favorite resort is VWL, it would be valuable to own there. Not essential depending on how flexible they are, but certainly valuable.

 

[Andrew015]

So, how do you explain the fact that I was able to book a full week at any room type at VWL at the 7 month mark throughout all of June, July, August, September, February and March, plus the second half of January (I did not attempt during October or the first half of November, so I don't know about that time)? And, BTW, during the times not mentioned, I could usually get a 1 BR for a full week, and sometimes a studio. And further, for a majority of those weeks where a full week wasn't available, I could get 6 nights for any room type, so depending on when your start/end times were, a full week would still have been available. Maybe I was just lucky? Everyone will make their own decision based on their own preferences, I just thought it might be helpful to include my experience in the conversation.

One thing you could do is go check right now and see if you can reserve a full week at VWL at any room type from 3/28-4/4 (today's 7 month mark). I already know the answer because I checked this morning, but for those who aren't inclined to trust me (and because I do not want to give away any information about current availability), you might find it more compelling.

No need to get chippy with me. I'm not trying to ruffle your feathers. Rather, I'm just trying to point out that your previous statement, " Wilderness Lodge is among the easiest resorts to book for any room type at any time of year", is simply incorrect. Just because you have had luck in the past, and because you can book VWL today at the 7 month window, doesn't mean that is the gospel for everyone. I own at VWL, and at the 11 month window, I could not get 2 studios for 9 nights this past May. I ended up having to do a split stay (7 nights at VWL, 2 nights at BLT). And May is by no means the busiest time of year at WDW. Fact of the matter is, VWL is the smallest DVC resort, and as a direct result, is not the easiest to book as you mentioned. If you were referring to SSR or OKW, I wouldn't have taken issue with you, because generally speaking, few people have trouble getting whatever they want at these two resorts at the 7 month window (aside from Christmas).

 

[Andrew015]

And for the record, I checked availability for 1 week in a studio in March at Today's 7 month window, and this is what I found:

 

[Andrew015]

There are 20 dedicated studios plus 45 lockoffs. So there are 65 studios. If you only count dedicated studios, then most of the resorts have 0 studios.

Not that I disagree with your basic point. If someone's favorite resort is VWL, it would be valuable to own there. Not essential depending on how flexible they are, but certainly valuable.

Point taken, and to be fair, I should have included the lockoffs in my post. But this still gets my point across, that 65 rooms is still a far cry from the 432 at SSR

 

[eliza61]

My family and I have been going to Disney about 1.5 times/year, for the last several years. We've stayed at both moderates and deluxe. Our children are 11 and 13; I foresee us going to Disney at least annually for quite awhile. We usually travel there in the summer/fall.

I am considering a Key West or Saratoga Springs resale. We've stayed at both and I like the point price. My question is: if I can book at any resort 7 months out, why would I spend more money on say Wilderness Lodge as opposed to Key West? Do available rooms get booked that fast?

Thanks so much!

Steve

It depends on your comfort zone Steve, the below is just my philosophy on vacation.

with kids, work and a couple of dogs my real life is stressful and hectic so the last thing I want to do is "worry" about getting or not getting the room that I want.

Resort pick has always and will always be important to me. Now it sounds like your family really doesn't care where you guys stay. for me it's make or break. I've never been one of those people who say "I don't care where I stay as long as I'm at Disney" or "I'm only in the room to shower and sleep".

Now unlike bighoo, I have had many (5 to be exact) times when I tried to book a weeks stay at wlv's and had absolutely no luck. last year I wanted a holiday stay, tried to waitlist it day by day and ended up at Saratoga springs.

So I live by the mantra, buy where you want to stay the majority of time.

I'm debating purchasing a Grand Floridian add on because I know I want to stay there and I simply don't want to worry about whether or not I get the room and at 150 bucks a point there are definitely cheaper places to buy into.

 

[lovin'fl]

We bought 200 OKW points in 2006 because it was the cheapest WDW resort at that time (SSR was selling new at about $95pp). We added on a few times since (125 HH and 100 AKV points). But with our OKW points we have stayed at BWV twice, VWL (over 4th of July week no less), BCV, SSR, HH (in July) and VB (in Aug)...and of course OKW a few times. And a few months ago we booked BLT for Oct (F&W...booked SSR and could have booked VWL. Waitlisted BLT and BWV and a week or so later got the BLT WL...1st time using WL). Also a few months ago, we booked AKV with our new AKV points and added a room at 7 months out for MIL and FIL using our OKW points (standard view 1BR for 12/20-12/25).

The toughest was trying to get the exact dates in July at HH (we just had to tweak our dates) and getting into BCV. We also have never been able to get standard view at BWV or BW view...it's always been pool/garden view. And we have looked for super last minute (like 4-8 weeks out) trips a couple times with no luck getting what we wanted (so we just canned the idea).

All in all we've been pretty happy with what we've been able to book. We have our order of preference, for sure (luckily SSR is at the bottom and we own OKW and like it there, so we always try to book there at 11 months out and then switch to our most preferred that's available at 7 months out). Our AKV is new and I think I'll like having those points for booking the cheaper costing value or standard view. And we own at HH because we plan to go there every other year (to save on airfare and park ticket costs of WDW trips) and it's tough to book HH in the warmer months and over holidays. All 3 that we own are the cheaper deals going. Right now HH is probably the cheapest buy in (just costs more in MF). OKW and SSR are pretty comparable and AKV is just a bit more (for buy in only) and a great deal for a newer resort). I do think a lot about adding on some BWV points...we love that location and would love to be able to get the standard view villas and save points. But, I think we're good for awhile and I want to see how our 1st stays at BLT and AKV go.

Good luck in deciding which way to go OP. Happy hunting for your perfect contract!