@KirbyAu, I've bolded an important key from zavandor's post. You responded earlier to my set of "survey questions" that "view doesn't matter." In reality, it does have an impact. The "least expensive views" tend to book first. So please be prepared (have sufficient point balance) to book the expensive views (high point value), however that definition relates to each resort. If you are prepared to book the more expensive units within a category, you have a better chance of booking the long stay with multiple units.
Yes, I did read where you've said that ... but Disney has such a strange and strong pull on us. It is so easy to ditch all your common sense and convictions in favor of the shiny bauble being swung gently in front of your eyes.
. This is the whole reason I posted here was to really getting to the root of my concerns, and I'm extremely happy people had blunt feedback on getting rooms 7 months out.
I don't think you'll have any problems getting something at 7 months out routinely for a studio(s) but it might be OKW/SSR as the only availability at times and likely not the cheapest rooms though you should be able to try most of the resorts over time, all if you open up to other options. Personally I'd start looking a 2 BR instead of 2 studios for 4 adults. IMO there's no reason to go retail here if you want to go, get studios and try the resorts. If you do decide on retail and there is a time of year you might go consistently I'd consider two guaranteed weeks at one of the newer resorts but you'll likely give up some of the incentives doing so. Another option is to buy 2 home resorts which will double your 11 month window options. You could buy SSR and save more but you might not have as many high end resort availability to you. BLT will be the second cheapest long term making the appropriate assumptions including dues and inflation.Well put. That is definitely what I understand about the responses in this thread and the most valuable piece of information I've accumulated from you guys.
Completely understandable. I'm a huge Disneyland fan as I've grown up having annual passes every year on top of going multiple times a month. In contrast to what you mentioned, funny enough, this thread has done the exact opposite for having me join DVC haha. Not only that, but definitely people seem a bit aggressive with me about my decision making on this thread when I already stated I knew little about availability for value/standard rooms (also somehow, probably may fault, went on a tangent about changing my mind on planning trips, the 150 BLT thing was going to be for biennial visits). Maybe it's the Disney passion at work! At this point, now that I've completely canceled all process of a DVC contract, I doubt we'll look into it again for a few years. I was hoping WDW could be a yearly or biennial vacation out-of-state we could do with DVC, but it seems just better to not worry about it and get whatever special room rates we can get (Dolphin for instance is $200 a night for rooms where even Port Orleans is like $400 a night!). The biggest concern with DVC is that if we don't choose a good home resort, it's going to be hard to get a room for 7-8 nights at for a standard view at a resort we don't own at... I'll look into DVC later on maybe and see if it is a better fit for us through resale or direct. I'm not ruling out direct because Disney seems keen to keep adding resorts (I believe they're added 6 in the last 10 years) and would like the options later if I purchased Direct. But resale is half the cost for what undeniably will stay as the top dvc resort offerings (how do you beat BLT, VGC, Poly, etc.?). Also member benefits don't mean anything to us.
If the overwhelming response here would've been "you shouldn't have trouble finding a couple of deluxe rooms between January and September at 7 months" (like a few have said, but others disagreed), I would've probably stuck with DVC, purchased direct, and been a owner
As I've followed your posts and gained a better understanding of what you are looking for I can't help thinking the best answer would be for you to buy a resale BLT contract in the 200-250 points range. It would allow you to stay at BLT every other year for around a week in 2 studios or a 2BR anytime but Xmas/New Years and the Easter Weeks. Longer if you find you like January at WDW.If the overwhelming response here would've been "you shouldn't have trouble finding a couple of deluxe rooms between January and September at 7 months" (like a few have said, but others disagreed), I would've probably stuck with DVC, purchased direct, and been a owner
