Should I rethink buying DVC?

[Caren]

In just a bit more than a month, we'll be staying in an AKL concierge room. I booked it from CRO 5 months out with no problems.

Because this looks like it will turn into an annual before-school trip and because we'd like more room, we had decided to buy into DVC while we're down there.

We had planned to buy a basic 160 points at AKL--enough for a 2-bedroom concierge room every other year, Sunday through Friday (when we usually travel anyway) with some to spare. Then, when BLT goes on sale, we were going to add enough points to book a 2-bedroom Magic Kingdom view (preferably concierge) on alternating years when we wouldn't be staying at AKL.

From reading these boards, I'm gathering that the rooms we were planning on are high-demand rooms we'll need a great deal of strategy and luck to actually book. Yeah, I know you can almost always get SOME room, but if we're going to get stuck in the outer reaches of Saratoga Springs, my feeling is we may as well skip the whole thing, suck up the extra cost, and book through CRO. We can always book two rooms for extra space. I'd far rather have a room in a location I want than have the extras of a DVC room.

What are my actual chances of booking the rooms we want in early August? Yeah, I know the BLT rooms don't officially exist yet, but take a guess.

 

[shellybaxter]

Caren - you are talking about buying points at the resorts you want to stay at so you will have the 11 month home resort booking window. If you call as soon as member services opens on the first day of the booking window you should have a pretty good chance at the room you want. You would only be "competing" with others who have home resort points at your resort that want the exact same room you want

 

[Starr W.]

Even with out this new policy, trying to book a 2br AKV concierge room at 11 months is a tough one.

Are you willing to be on the phone right at 9am at your booking window? Are you willing to waitlist?

Some one will correct me, but there are only 5 lock-offs for DVC in that catagory(so 5 2brs or 10 1br/10 studios).

 

[kgc07]

With the old booking rules you have a pretty good chance of booking an AKV concierge room if you called on the first day you could call to book the room and each day after until you got all of your days booked. Under the new booking rules that started yesterday noone is sure because we havn't had experience with booking concierge this way yet. BLT may not even have concierge available.

 

[CarolMN]

In just a bit more than a month, we'll be staying in an AKL concierge room. I booked it from CRO 5 months out with no problems.

Because this looks like it will turn into an annual before-school trip and because we'd like more room, we had decided to buy into DVC while we're down there.

We had planned to buy a basic 160 points at AKL--enough for a 2-bedroom concierge room every other year, Sunday through Friday (when we usually travel anyway) with some to spare. Then, when BLT goes on sale, we were going to add enough points to book a 2-bedroom Magic Kingdom view (preferably concierge) on alternating years when we wouldn't be staying at AKL.

From reading these boards, I'm gathering that the rooms we were planning on are high-demand rooms we'll need a great deal of strategy and luck to actually book. Yeah, I know you can almost always get SOME room, but if we're going to get stuck in the outer reaches of Saratoga Springs, my feeling is we may as well skip the whole thing, suck up the extra cost, and book through CRO. We can always book two rooms for extra space. I'd far rather have a room in a location I want than have the extras of a DVC room.

What are my actual chances of booking the rooms we want in early August? Yeah, I know the BLT rooms don't officially exist yet, but take a guess.

FWIW, if your family must have concierge service, DVC will be a frustrating purchase for you. (Don't buy it if that is the case). You will have great difficulty reserving concierge units at AKV.

There are only five 2 bedroom lock off units in the concierge category. Some of those (probably most) will be split up and rented out as studios and 1 Bedrooms. That category is very popular and IMHO, you will be disappointed in your quest for a reservation more often than not, even if you are willing to waitlist. Chances of getting all 6 nights in a 2 bedroom concierge unit are not in your favor, no matter what booking policy is in place.

We do not know if the BLT will even be DVC and assuming it is, we do not know if there will by any concierge category units. (Based on DVC's experience with AKV and the cost of adding the lounge & staff), I highly doubt it).

If you are OK with any other 2 bedroom category at the AKV, you will NOT have a problem if you book when your 11 month window opens. I believe the same will be true at BLT (if it's DVC and if they don't have a "specialty" category/view that only has a very small number of units).

If you book a non home resort at 7 months, it is possible that you will not get your first choice. That's a risk we all face, but if you buy where you won't be disappointed to "end up" and book before the 7 month window opens, you should be satisfied or even happy most of the time!

 

[Caren]

FWIW, if your family must have concierge service, DVC will be a frustrating purchase for you. (Don't buy it if that is the case). You will have great difficulty reserving concierge units at AKV.

There are only five 2 bedroom lock off units in the concierge category. Some of those (probably most) will be split up and rented out as studios and 1 Bedrooms. That category is very popular and IMHO, you will be disappointed in your quest for a reservation more often than not, even if you are willing to waitlist. Chances of getting all 6 nights in a 2 bedroom concierge unit are not in your favor, no matter what booking policy is in place.

We do not know if the BLT will even be DVC and assuming it is, we do not know if there will by any concierge category units. (Based on DVC's experience with AKV and the cost of adding the lounge & staff), I highly doubt it).

If you are OK with any other 2 bedroom category at the AKV, you will NOT have a problem if you book when your 11 month window opens. I believe the same will be true at BLT (if it's DVC and if they don't have a "specialty" category/view that only has a very small number of units).

If you book a non home resort at 7 months, it is possible that you will not get your first choice. That's a risk we all face, but if you buy where you won't be disappointed to "end up" and book before the 7 month window opens, you should be satisfied or even happy most of the time!

It would certainly not be the end of the world if we got a 2-bedroom savanna view instead of concierge. But as someone who's planning to buy DVC with very specific times and room types in mind, the conversations going on on these boards are definitely giving me pause. Tales of rooms lost because the person on the phone took too long getting member information. Tales of piecing together reservations at three different resorts. I don't want to play games, I just want to call and have some kind of a reasonable expectation of getting what I want--especially since they're making me plan 11 months ahead of time.

 

[TDC Nala]

I would not do it if I only wanted concierge. There are too few concierge rooms to be able to count on that.

I have been a member since 2002 and have never had the other types of problems.

 

[Starr W.]

It would certainly not be the end of the world if we got a 2-bedroom savanna view instead of concierge. But as someone who's planning to buy DVC with very specific times and room types in mind, the conversations going on on these boards are definitely giving me pause. Tales of rooms lost because the person on the phone took too long getting member information. Tales of piecing together reservations at three different resorts. I don't want to play games, I just want to call and have some kind of a reasonable expectation of getting what I want--especially since they're making me plan 11 months ahead of time.

When do you plan on going Caren?

I book Thanksgiving at SSR for a 2br at 11 months one call and done(3rd yr and no problem). I have done VB day by day for Easter for the past 2 yrs, but I think that might be overkill(every CM at MS told me to do it that way, as there are only 18 dediated and 36 lock offs).

Just switch my reservation for MLK(Thurs-Mon) to a 2br BW view.

The whole thing just bugs me as I hear about the new policy here on a message board, no official word.

 

[CarolMN]

It would certainly not be the end of the world if we got a 2-bedroom savanna view instead of concierge. But as someone who's planning to buy DVC with very specific times and room types in mind, the conversations going on on these boards are definitely giving me pause. Tales of rooms lost because the person on the phone took too long getting member information. Tales of piecing together reservations at three different resorts. I don't want to play games, I just want to call and have some kind of a reasonable expectation of getting what I want--especially since they're making me plan 11 months ahead of time.

If you book at 11 months you aren't going to have a problem.

The tales you have been reading are related to booking at 7 months or closer to the vacation date and most of them are from members who want to stay at the smaller DVC resorts (VWL, BCV & BWV) during popular times.

As long as you would be satisfied to stay in a non-concierge 2 bedroom unit at AKV and book at 11 months, you will NOT ever have a problem getting your reservation.

If you book on short notice or decide you want to stay in a standard view 2 bedroom at the BWV during October - December, then the "tales" apply.

 

[kgc07]

It would certainly not be the end of the world if we got a 2-bedroom savanna view instead of concierge. But as someone who's planning to buy DVC with very specific times and room types in mind, the conversations going on on these boards are definitely giving me pause. Tales of rooms lost because the person on the phone took too long getting member information. Tales of piecing together reservations at three different resorts. I don't want to play games, I just want to call and have some kind of a reasonable expectation of getting what I want--especially since they're making me plan 11 months ahead of time.

I'm probably the person you are talking about who lost the room yesterday because the MS person took to long. I don't think it is normal for them to take this long. I called the day before at 9 and was off the phone by 9:03. Yesterday I just got a bad one. It was 9:08 when she told me she didn't get the room. I called day by day at the 11 month window and didn't expect to have any problems. I'm sure I would have had the room if someone else answered the phone. Oh well, life goes on. If you are happy with a SV room, you should never have a problem getting it. There will be even better odds once Kidani opens (and you get an extra bathroom). The SV's in the SV rooms should be a lot better than the SV in concierge.

 

[CarolynMink]

Dear Caren,

If you know what you want and plan for it, you should be in good shape. I have been a member since 2005. We like to go in December which is a busy DVC time. I have never had a booking problem at the 11 month window. We are not however at AKL, we like VWL. Also we enjoy as part of the DVC staying at various resorts and enjoying the different experiences that

There are only a few concierge rooms at AKL and I am sure they will be in high demand. So, if you are not willing to be flexible at all you maybe disappointed.

 

[LisaS]

As CarolMN said, there are five 2BR lockoffs total and most of them are split up and rented as 1BRs and Studios. So it's quite possible that there may be only ONE 2BR villa available or at most TWO. The number of AKV owners grows every day so you have more and more people competing for one or two rooms!