reservations 7 months out

[dwight16]

So ever since they opened up online reservations i check from time to time even when i have no intention of booking mostly to see what demand is for future reference. some things i notice and wonder if others have seen the same thing.
this is for most times obv its not a 100% fact

first the major resorts (BWV, BCV, BLT, VWL) unless you book sat to sat or sun to sun you seem to be mostly out of luck. forget about a wed to wed trip.
right now on oct 17th 2013 pretty much every single room is booked. part of me finds that unbelievable. i get its food and wine and 2 of those resorts are close to epcot. at times they make it seem every single room is booked across all resorts. that i dont buy at all unless its a major major Holiday.

the last few weeks of AUG seem to be very wide open across all the majors and minors.

now i have no idea how many members there are across the system and what % of them are using online booking. part of me again thinks that would be less then half.

i also have a gripe about the points for rooms and this might be why singles are a lot harder to get 7 months out. If you are traveling with 5 to 8 people its cheaper to get 2 singles then one two bed room i also feel all 1 bed rooms should sleep 5 what do you do if you have 3 kids? 2 rooms or a 280 point week?

i also think most people have 100 to 200 points and are there for priced out of 2 bedrooms unless they are borrowing or banking. i guess what i am saying is i would hope they would concentrate on building more singles in any future spots. i know they wont but one can hope....

 

[Deb & Bill]

When DVC resorts are sold out, they are expected to be at 95-97% occupancy. And the rest are sold to guests using Disney Reservation Center.

October to early January is a very busy time for DVC members with Food & Wine Festival, Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Parties, Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Parties, all the various holidays, Jersey Week, annual member meeting, parade filming, etc.

What you call a single, do you mean a studio? Studios only sleep four plus one under the age of three. DVC knows the best mix of lockoffs, dedicated, etc, based on experience. I'd never be happy in a studio and prefer a one bedroom villa for the two of us. I bought my points so I could stay in a one bedroom villa instead of a studio.

 

[gardenia]

Two things that cannot be stressed enough about DVC: first, buy where you want to stay. Second, buy the number of points you will need to accommodate your entire family as they grow (those babies become gangly teens pretty fast). If you buy too few points, at a resort you don't want to book, then you'll never be happy with DVC.

 

[DebbieB]

So ever since they opened up online reservations i check from time to time even when i have no intention of booking mostly to see what demand is for future reference. some things i notice and wonder if others have seen the same thing.
this is for most times obv its not a 100% fact

first the major resorts (BWV, BCV, BLT, VWL) unless you book sat to sat or sun to sun you seem to be mostly out of luck. forget about a wed to wed trip.
right now on oct 17th 2013 pretty much every single room is booked. part of me finds that unbelievable. i get its food and wine and 2 of those resorts are close to epcot. at times they make it seem every single room is booked across all resorts. that i dont buy at all unless its a major major Holiday.

the last few weeks of AUG seem to be very wide open across all the majors and minors.

now i have no idea how many members there are across the system and what % of them are using online booking. part of me again thinks that would be less then half.

i also have a gripe about the points for rooms and this might be why singles are a lot harder to get 7 months out. If you are traveling with 5 to 8 people its cheaper to get 2 singles then one two bed room i also feel all 1 bed rooms should sleep 5 what do you do if you have 3 kids? 2 rooms or a 280 point week?

i also think most people have 100 to 200 points and are there for priced out of 2 bedrooms unless they are borrowing or banking. i guess what i am saying is i would hope they would concentrate on building more singles in any future spots. i know they wont but one can hope....

I think they have addressed the 5 in a 1 bedroom by putting the sleeper chair into the newest resorts and OKW. They also have an unwritten rule to allow 5 in the others but no bedding or linens for the 5th person. A 2 bedroom has much more square footage than 2 studios, thus should be more expensive. For example, at BLT a studio is 339 square feet, a 2 bedroom is 1152, over 3x.

 

[drusba]

I have tracked 7 month availability for more than a year. Conclusion: there are two general demand seasons:

(a) End of Sep to Tuesday after Marathon weekend in Jan during which it is often difficult to find things at the near park resorts (BCV, BWV, BLT and VWL) although you can often find just 2 or 3 days or get lucky for more particularly if looking for 1BR. There are a few weeks during that time, third week of Nov, third week of Dec and time between Jan 3 and the Thursday before marathon weekend when it becomes fairly easy to get a near park resort, at least BWV pool/garden, BLT lake view and VWL. On the other hand, for time during first half of December and time from about Dec 23 to Jan 2, you will need a lot luck finding anything at a near park resort and even AKV can be gone the first week of Dec (DVC's highest demand week of the year.)

(b) Tuesday after marathon weekend in Jan to just before end of Sep during which you can usually get something at a near park resort, at least BWV pool/garden, BLT lake view, or VWL, and often BCV, and that includes holidays during that time. During some of that time, such as late Jan and first half of Feb, days at end of Feb through much of March unless Easter is in March, last week of April, and much of Sep, BWV standard and boardwalk view might be open, and even some of those times AKV values may be open).

The reasons end of Sep to just after marathon weekend in Jan is DVC highest demand quarter are likely many but undoubtedly include: (a) Food & Wine from end of Sep to just before mid Nov, (b) Mickey's Halloween party during part of Sep to end of Oct, (c) Thanksgiving and Christmas season for decorations and Christmas events, (d) points are lowest to second lowest of year except for few days around Thanksgiving and Christmas week, (e) weather is ideal during most of that time; (f) except for Thanksgiving time and Christmas week, crowds, though often heavy, are not out of control and not as large as spring break weeks or summer; (f) DVC has now been around long enough that there are now a large number of owners who no longer have to follow school schedules for vacations.


Other than Jan and Sep, the rest of the year has high point costs (even May is higher than than anything in the fall), long periods with large park crowds (spring break weeks and summer), and often higher prices for such things as airfares, rental cars, and recreational activities (e,g, Mid Jan through April is excessively high time for golf rates).

 

[dwight16]

so your saying the less stress times are Mid Jan to end of September? i have always felt may and September were the times to go.

 

[drusba]

"Stress" is a broad issue. If less stress in being able to get a reservation at a near park resort at 7 months out then that Jan through Sep time is it and May and Sep are very good times for that. Moreover, May and Sep have very manageable park crowds if that is the stress to focus on. But Presidents week, spring break weeks (after first week of March until fourth week of April), and summer weeks (mid-June to mid-Aug) can have large and stressful park crowds, something that is generally avoided in the fall except for Thanksgiving time and Christmas week.

 

[dwight16]

Thanks for your input I am trying to target times to go. I was leaving towards those two months.

 

[Kedw32]

We are looking to go around a 3 week time frame in sept. We are very flexible with these dates. We are only looking for a 5 night stay. Our re sale purchase is in the final stages. We are open to staying anywhere and our home is AKLV. What are the chances we will get in somewhere?

 

[dwight16]

Really good you can get full weeks at bw and wilderness and bay lake. When I looked last week tons of September dates where open.

 

[CarolMN]

We are looking to go around a 3 week time frame in sept. We are very flexible with these dates. We are only looking for a 5 night stay. Our re sale purchase is in the final stages. We are open to staying anywhere and our home is AKLV. What are the chances we will get in somewhere?

Excellent. I think you will even have a few choices, although the least expensive booking categories will probably be gone. Hope to welcome you home very soon.