Still up in the air question

[Corwin12]

I read a lot about waiting lists and such on these boards. Is it easier for a regular guest to book a stay at one of the DVC resorts with little notics than it is for DVC members? The reason I ask this is that I was seeing what was avialble in march and I had no trouble booking a 10 night stay at Boardwalk. I didn't confirm it, I just wanted to see if it was available. Is this normal? I thought this was a hard resort to get into with short notice.

 

[RobDoc]

When DVC members use points for non-DVC options (like Disney Collection, Concierge Collection, Disney Cruise Line, etc.) the points used are transferred to CRO to make cash reservations at DVC resorts. This is how the non-DVC options are "paid" for and is what makes that system work for members.

Once the points have been used for non-DVC options, the rooms that are reserved using them are no longer available to members to reserve using points. There are often rooms available online or thru CRO when there are none available in the member inventory.

 

[skibum]

But at a much higher cost.

 

[tjkraz]

I read a lot about waiting lists and such on these boards. Is it easier for a regular guest to book a stay at one of the DVC resorts with little notics than it is for DVC members? The reason I ask this is that I was seeing what was avialble in march and I had no trouble booking a 10 night stay at Boardwalk. I didn't confirm it, I just wanted to see if it was available. Is this normal? I thought this was a hard resort to get into with short notice.

As Doc said, the DVC rooms available to CRO are few and far between. And the reason that you often see them available to reserve is the price. Read up on DVC point renting and you'll see that it's pretty easy to get a DVC room for a fraction of CRO prices. DVC villas sit in CRO inventory for long periods due to their high price and lower-price alternatives for getting the EXACT SAME ROOM.

Also, when you looked up the room, are you certain that you were looking at the BoardWalk VILLAS and not the BW Inn? Disney owns about 500 inn rooms at the BW that are not part of DVC.

 

[3DisneyKids]

It depends on the time of year. You can go through CRO and get rooms (at the hefty rack rate) fairly close to travel time (unless during Christmas week amd April vacation week), whereas booking on points you usually have to plan out further in advance. However, it all depends...I booked BWV on Oct. 30 for Jan. 22...and I had my choice of all of the DVC resorts at that time. However, I could never call at 3 months out and get BWV or BCV during F&W. Room size is also a factor.