Trouble booking 7 months out?

[bnewman27]

I'm looking into buying a DVC resale. I was planning on having BWV as my home resort, until another member advised me to buy into SS instead. The membership would last 12 years longer, the price per point would be less, and the annual dues would be less. His home resort is SS and he has never had a problem getting a 1br villa at the other resorts at the 7 month out point. Outside of Christmas week, has anyone had trouble getting a reservation at a resort that was different than their home resort? Thanks for your help!

 

[tink_n_pooh]

I've never had a problem getting a one-bedroom at 7 months out, then again we almost always go in the value season. Last year we had an issue finding exactly what we wanted at about 2 months out but never had a problem at 7 months out

 

[granolacruncher11]

Buy where you want to stay! That is the recurring advice given to potential owners and I wish I would have listened!

 

[bobbiwoz]

Just where do you want to stay? If you're happy with anything other than SSR, you could be alright. If you have to have a particular resort, you may not be. Plus, 1 bedrooms seem to book last, they cost more than studios, and still only hold 4 in most cases. MS will let you book 5 in them, but in the resorts that don't have the sleeping chair for that 5th person, housekeeping will not provide bedding for the 5th.

Bobbi

PS. We have a bid in for SSR points as an add on. We will use these points most frequently at SSR, for a treehouse, but we will also try to use some of the points at other resorts at the 7 month mark. There will be lots of competition for the other resorts at 7 months. If you really want to stay at another resort, I would not buy SSR points if I were you.

 

[mccathy]

We like boardwalk too, but just bought at Bay Lake. My reasoning was - if I can't get boardwalk I'd want Bay Lake because of location. We love the fact that we can get to at least two parks from each resort without a bus. At SSR you will not have that option - it's buses for all!

I couldn't justify paying $106/point for boardwalk via Disney when you can get it at resale for around $80/point. If you've got the cash to do it that way - do it! Otherwise, I'd advice buying SSR or BLT via Disney for the financing option.

 

[n2mm]

It is not easy to get BCV or BWV at the 7 month window during Oct/Food and Wine. Also, it is nearly impossible to get any resort during the first 2 weeks of December booking at the 7 month window. During those 2 times I always choose one of my homes and book at the 11 month window. Other than that, I don't travel during Christmas, Easter, July 4th, Memorial Day weekend, NYE. So I can't comment on those. Calling after the 7 month window opens, I have found availability at OKW and SSR for short planned trips. I called this week for the first week of May, and got into the BWV standard view (which is a harder reservation to get during the 7 month window). I was lucky.

 

[DebbieB]

If you want the boardwalk view at BWV, I would buy there. That's why I did. It can be hard to get at 7 months. You probably would be able to get pool/garden at 7 months most of the year.

 

[El&Asmom]

In our experience, it seems one bedrooms are much easier than studios or 2bds. We just booked a pool view at BWV for a 2bd the third week of April. We wanted a boardwalk view or SV but it wasn't available. BCV 2bds weren't available either. We're waitlisted for the other views at BWV.
Last year during the same week, we had basically every choice at every resort except CL at AKV available in a 1bd.

FWIW, we have had great success with waitlists, especially if you book right at the 7m window. However as already mentioned, if you HAVE to have a specific room at a specific resort every time you travel, buy where you want to stay.
We haven't met a DVC we didn't like, so we're fine with SSR and booking either there or another resort if we want to try something new.

(ETA: Our WL for a BW view came through last week!)

 

[crisi]

Look at it this way - when BWV was built they sold enough points to BWV members to fill the resort. At that time there were less than 100,000 members.

There are the same number of rooms at BWV (actually a few more from when they converted the sales center, but they sold points for them) and now 400,000 members - and more resorts yet to open.

So the 50,000 or so DVC members who can book up BWV get a priority window. At seven months - 350,000 more people can book there. While there are plenty of people who prefer other resorts, there are a lot of people who occasionally want to stay at BWV.

Answer - at the smaller resorts people DO have problems booking seven months out (we always book eleven months out and have always stayed 'home.' But plenty of people do have luck as well. If your heart is set on staying at a location - or if you want a popular time (obviously, a lot of people want to be near Epcot for F&W), you are well served buying your points there. If you aren't so picky, SSR is a great value.

 

[danielle782001]

I have had trouble booking the first two weeks of December three years in a row and this year we could not get Thanksgiving week at 7 months.

 

[suzyqqq27]

Boardwalk is our home resort and we always stay in October during Food and Wine Festival. This year, I couldn't even get what I wanted before it opened up at the 7-month window. I had to wait for my husband's schedule to come out before I booked so I wasn't at 11 months out but still at like 8 or 9 months before it opened up to all DVC members and I was still waitlisted for our first night's stay. The waitlist never came through by the way.

I would buy at Boardwalk if you want to stay at Boardwalk.

Suzanne

 

[tjkraz]

I still think that "DON'T buy where you DON'T want to stay" is the best advice for most members.

Many DVC members plan more than 7 months in advance and will book their Home just to lock-in a set of dates and a room. Then at 7 months you can try to move elsewhere.

If you're of the mindset that any trip spent at SSR would be a disappointment, then don't buy there. Period. On the other hand if you don't mind keeping the SSR reservation on the rare occasion that another resort is not available, then there's nothing wrong with owning SSR.

It's also worth nothing that One Bedroom villas are reportedly among the last rooms to fill up on average. A couple posters here have mentioned repeated success booking 1B villas at 7 months. I wouldn't count on that same success translating to Studio or 2B villas.

You also can't count on getting the hard-to-book room categories at 7 months. At BWV, the Standard View and BoardWalk View are rarely available at 7 months. It's usually the Garden/Pool View available at 7 mos.

 

[dclfun]

I agree that it will become harder and harder as time goes by to get a non-home resort at 7 months out, just due to increasing numbers of members and their desire to also get a non-home resort. Many people bought at SSR thinking that they'd get another resort at 7 months out so will all be trying along with you. I also agree that getting a 1 bedroom at 7 months out is MUCH easier than getting a studio or 2 bedroom. It's even harder to get grand villas at 7 months since they are more limited. When I called to get one at OKW ( one of my "homes") for the week before Christmas right at 11 months out, I got the last one, for instance. AKL concierge is extremely hard to get even at 11 months out, if you think you'd like to stay there but not own there. So...think about whether or not you'd be satisfied if all that was available was SSR, think about the size villa you'd want, and the times of year that you prefer to travel. I still say buy where you want to stay but if you're flexible and don't mind SSR, then it IS a good value for your money.---Kathy

 

[laura-k]

Buy where you want to stay! I also believe that it's only going to get harder to book at the 11 month window as the membership grows and they also want to try different resorts every year -Look how hard it is sometimes to even get a ADR on the day you want.
So my advice would be the same as some of the pp only buy at SSR if you will be genuinely
happy there and not be let down if you can't book elsewhere at 7 months-
Good Luck !

 

[Donna M]

We own at SSR and have found it easier to get a 2bd at VWL and BCV in the past three years than it was in the past. We also got into BLT. We have gone the third week in Feb. and the 26th of Dec. We have also stayed in OKW and AKV without any problem.

I think when you go plays a key in your availability. We have always enjoyed our SSR stays too.

 

[1pirate1princess]

We just closed on an SSR resale (bought there for the same reasons you listed)....We just booked VWL for Marathon week, less than 4 months out (we do have to 'change' room categories while there) - But I think that's pretty good

 

[eporter66]

We have never had a problem getting a 1 bedroom at seven months out. As you can see from my signature below, we almost always get a 1 bedroom for our trips. Almost all or our trips have been in the fall, so with the kids in school, this might be an easier time. Also - we did have success in 2006 booking a 1 bedroom at BWV's during F&W Fest at the 7 month window

I will say this - I always book at SSR for the 11 month window. We love SSR, but just want to try all the other resorts.

You will read over and over again on the boards that you should buy where you want to stay the most. We did not follow that advice because at the time SSR was a great price for us ($79 a point), and how can you really go wrong in WDW???

So far - we are extremely happy with SSR and our membership. I can't see complaining about luxury accomodations for a WDW vacation. But - I would say that if you really like a certain hotel/resort, look into buying at that location, then you will have everything you are looking for and no compromise.

 

[Sandisw]

I think it is hit or miss, depending on the time of year you are going. But, if you are willing to be "okay" with staying at whatever resorts are available at the 7 month mark, then buying SSR because it is less expensive is a good idea.

If, you are going to want BWV all (or most of the time) and will be disappointed if it doesn't happen, then I would not buy SSR.

To me, saving money is important but not if you are going to be disappointed in your purchase a few years down the road because you are not getting what you want because you thought it would be easy.

 

[Golden Rose]

We keep considering an add-on at SSR, but we bought where we most wanted to stay first. Of course, the main reason we're considering that add-on is that DM and her DH absolutely loved SSR when we stayed there on developer points. They are big golfers and they enjoy DTD, so they just fell in love with it. They keep asking me to use my AKV and BWV points to book them golf vacations at SSR.

We're taking them to WDW this month and staying boardwalk view BWV and savannah view at AKV-Jambo, so I'm hoping they'll see the benefits of our home resorts and quit begging for SSR again!

Seriously, buy somewhere you would be happy to stay some of the time. Yes, you'll be able to get other resorts sometimes, but probably not all the time, particularly if you want to go at high demand DVC times.

 

[Pakey]

I have had problems booking at the 7 month window for either BCV or BWV (I have the points to book at 11 month window but usually can't plan my vacations that far in advance). Twice I have even been unsuccessful getting in via a waitlist.

We enjoyed SSR when Pleasure Island was there and it's a nice resort, but I'm very glad that I own more points at BCV. If I had to sell one of my 3 contracts, I would definitely get rid of SSR first.

I would not buy at a resort I did not want to use.