UPDATED: Booking first trip home...please tell me if this is right

[bangzoom6877]

We are booking our first trip home for July 13, 2010. So I will be on the phone with MS at 9AM on August 13th, which is next Thursday!

Our home resort is BWV. We would like to possibly see some of the fireworks from Epcot from our room. We will be going for 10 nights. Here is what I am going to say on the phone for my request:

-1-bedroom standard view villa at BWV, preferably overlooking the bus stop, on as high a floor as possible (or should I just ask for top floor?)
-7 nights (can't book 10 at a time, will have to call back and add the other 3 nights)
-Use my banked points first for this reservation, then the 2010 ones, then borrow necessary 2011 ones to complete the ressie (we have 108 points banked, 150 available 2010 points and 150 points from 2011 available to borrow...the ressie will be 308 points total for the 10 nights but of course less for the first 7)

*Update: I have heard that rooms 4123 and 3123 are the best because they are large and have a great view of Epcot fireworks. Can I request as my first choice, one of these rooms and then as my second choice, any standard 1-br villa across from the bus stop on a high floor? Do they allow more than one request? I am wondering if they would only look at my first request and then the second one goes out the window, and since these are only 2 rooms, odds are they will be booked. Should I risk it and ask at check-in for 4123 or 3123 or should I risk it and ask now? What do you recommend?

They will ask me for the names and dates of birth of all the people staying in the room right? I am not adding on the dining plan yet. I will wait until April when I make my ADRs and then decide based on availability and things like that.

I will call each day after making the initial 7-night ressie, for 3 days straight, to add the other 3 nights. I know it seems like a lot of work but I will feel better if I add it day by day.

Does this sound right? Is there anything else I am missing that they will ask me or that I should tell them?

 

[ToddyLu]

I have heard about the 7 day rule. But we are going for 9 nights and when I spoke to MS there wasn't a problem.....now the MS call was actually done the morning of our purchase by our Guide transferring me and staying on the line in case I had questions. We are going Wed-Fri. I wonder if they gave us the 9 because we were new and it helped land the sale....

So we got 9 nights under one reservation.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I have heard about the 7 day rule. But we are going for 9 nights and when I spoke to MS there wasn't a problem.....now the MS call was actually done the morning of our purchase by our Guide transferring me and staying on the line in case I had questions. We are going Wed-Fri. I wonder if they gave us the 9 because we were new and it helped land the sale....

So we got 9 nights under one reservation.

Wow, maybe I should ask them first. Maybe I should let them know I would like to stay for 10 nights and see what they say. Anyone else experience this, being able to book more than 7 consecutive nights under 1 reservation?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Wow, maybe I should ask them first. Maybe I should let them know I would like to stay for 10 nights and see what they say. Anyone else experience this, being able to book more than 7 consecutive nights under 1 reservation?

We booked ten nights for last May/June. We had to make one call for the first seven nights, then added each additional night day by day. They told us when we called that we could only get 7 nights for the first seven nights of our reservation. If we had waited for three nights, we could have gotten all ten at once.

So you could wait until Aug 16 and get all ten nights at once.

 

[bangzoom6877]

We booked ten nights for last May/June. We had to make one call for the first seven nights, then added each additional night day by day. They told us when we called that we could only get 7 nights for the first seven nights of our reservation. If we had waited for three nights, we could have gotten all ten at once.

So you could wait until Aug 16 and get all ten nights at once.

Thank you for clarifying this. I will do what I said in my original post and call day by day.

 

[jekjones1558]

You will probably be asked for the addresses of everyone in the room. You will not be asked for birth dates, but you will be asked the ages of children. I would do exactly as you are doing by calling for 1 day at a time for the last 3 nights. It is worth the time involved to be able to guarantee the room for the whole 10 nights.
Be sure to tell MS on your first call that you will be adding additional nights and to hold the confirmation letter. Then when the whole reservation is complete, tell them to send the confirmation letter. Good luck with your reservation!

 

[bangzoom6877]

You will probably be asked for the addresses of everyone in the room. You will not be asked for birth dates, but you will be asked the ages of children. I would do exactly as you are doing by calling for 1 day at a time for the last 3 nights. It is worth the time involved to be able to guarantee the room for the whole 10 nights.
Be sure to tell MS on your first call that you will be adding additional nights and to hold the confirmation letter. Then when the whole reservation is complete, tell them to send the confirmation letter. Good luck with your reservation!

Thank you, I will inform MS that I will be calling to add 3 more nights. I don't mind spending the time involved to make sure we are in the same room for the whole trip...we aren't fans of split stays when we are in the same place. We feel more relaxed staying in the same room the whole time we are at WDW. We also want to make sure we get that standard view 1-BR so we have the space (kids can go to sleep and we can still stay up...they're little and go to bed earlier than we do) and so that we can use fewer points on the room than a preferred or BW view room.

Hopefully they will be able to honor my location request as well. Last year (before becoming DVC members) we stayed at Pop Century and I requested the top floor of the 50s section overlooking the lake so we could see the Epcot fireworks. They had the second floor ready at 10:30AM when we arrived so we took it to get into the room earlier. It was so wonderful to see some fireworks nightly in our pajamas! My sons were only 1 and 3 last summer so we did not go to any nighttime parades or fireworks at the parks. My older one loved the fireworks every night and as a matter of fact as I type this he is watching the video of last year's trip because he asked me specifically if he could see the Disney trip DVD fireworks part before he goes to bed tonight!

 

[jekjones1558]

When you check in ask if rooms 3123 or 4123 are available (odds are against it). If so you will get a very large living room and a huge balcony with a view of Epcot fireworks. Good luck!

 

[DebbieB]

I have heard about the 7 day rule. But we are going for 9 nights and when I spoke to MS there wasn't a problem.....now the MS call was actually done the morning of our purchase by our Guide transferring me and staying on the line in case I had questions. We are going Wed-Fri. I wonder if they gave us the 9 because we were new and it helped land the sale....

So we got 9 nights under one reservation.

Were you at the 11 (home resort) or 7 month window? The 7 day rule only applies at the window.

 

[ToddyLu]

We bought in June this year and had a trip planned for this Oct. So when we purchased the Guide patched us through to MS and they made the 9 night reservation using our points form 2008 and then we borrowed a few from 2009. So I didn't think anything of it until I saw where people were only getting 7 nights at a time. We cancelled our Pop reservations since we had the new ones on our points. I am sure it was a marketing ploy to get me excited and close the deal....worked for me....

So I guess we were in our 7 month window....did that make the difference, too. Like you can get more nights if you are within the 7 month window or do you think it was a clever marketing ploy disguised as a helpful Guide??

 

[rentayenta]

This is great info. We will be booking our first Disney DVC stay in 92 days!!!

 

[bangzoom6877]

When you check in ask if rooms 3123 or 4123 are available (odds are against it). If so you will get a very large living room and a huge balcony with a view of Epcot fireworks. Good luck!

Should I ask for one of those rooms when I make my reservation? Can I ask for room 4123 or 3123 and the second request is across from the bus stop, high floor? Will they take 2 requests? Or will this decrease the odds of getting the location across from the bus stop since these are only 2 rooms and odds are, they will be booked? Should I risk it and wait until check-in to ask or risk it and ask now?

I think I will also post this in my original post so everyone sees it.

 

[DebbieB]

I would put "across from the bus stop, top floor" first, then 3123 or 4123. I got 3123 one time, it was amazing! I requested one of those 2 the next time and we ended up down by Jellyrolls facing the canal and a dumpster! That was when the DVC office was still there and they used them for overflow for standard view. I asked if anything else was available and was told no. I kicked myself for not requesting across from the bus stop.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I would put "across from the bus stop, top floor" first, then 3123 or 4123. I got 3123 one time, it was amazing! I requested one of those 2 the next time and we ended up down by Jellyrolls facing the canal and a dumpster! That was when the DVC office was still there and they used them for overflow for standard view. I asked if anything else was available and was told no. I kicked myself for not requesting across from the bus stop.

OK, now I am worried that if I put 3123 or 4123 at all, I may end up not getting across from the bus stop. I just might wait until check-in to ask.

How is the view of the fireworks across from the bus stop, from other rooms? As long as my boys can see some of it, they will be ecstatic! So this is what I am aiming for.

 

[DebbieB]

We bought in June this year and had a trip planned for this Oct. So when we purchased the Guide patched us through to MS and they made the 9 night reservation using our points form 2008 and then we borrowed a few from 2009. So I didn't think anything of it until I saw where people were only getting 7 nights at a time. We cancelled our Pop reservations since we had the new ones on our points. I am sure it was a marketing ploy to get me excited and close the deal....worked for me....

So I guess we were in our 7 month window....did that make the difference, too. Like you can get more nights if you are within the 7 month window or do you think it was a clever marketing ploy disguised as a helpful Guide??

You were well within 7 months. The 7 day rule only applies when you are right at the window. Say I was checking in on 7/5/10, I could call tomorrow which would be exactly 11 months and book up to 7 nights, I could not book 9. If I wait until 8/7, that would be 2 days past the window, I could then book up to 9 (7 + 2).

OK, now I am worried that if I put 3123 or 4123 at all, I may end up not getting across from the bus stop. I just might wait until check-in to ask.

How is the view of the fireworks across from the bus stop, from other rooms? As long as my boys can see some of it, they will be ecstatic! So this is what I am aiming for.

That's a great area. I've stayed there 2 or 3 times, always had a great view on the 3rd or 4th floor. One time I stayed there they still had the Tapestry of Dreams Parade at Epcot, I could hear the music from the balcony (The American Adventure is straight ahead, behind the trees).

 

[bangzoom6877]

That's a great area. I've stayed there 2 or 3 times, always had a great view on the 3rd or 4th floor. One time I stayed there they still had the Tapestry of Dreams Parade at Epcot, I could hear the music from the balcony (The American Adventure is straight ahead, behind the trees).

Wow, now I am really excited!! I will definitely just request a high floor across from the bus stop. I will wait until check-in to request 3123 or 4123 if available but will not expect it to be available. I would rather have a better chance at getting the great view than getting a bigger room. The 1-BR will feel huge to us anyway, since last year before we were DVC members, we stayed at Pop Century! So this will be a great difference already!

How quickly does the middle of July book up for standard view 1-BR villas at the BWV? This is the only thing that worries me, as our points allow for a standard view 1-BR for 10 nights every other year with banking and borrowing and playing around with the points like that. Maybe I should only put my name on the reservation initially, then add the other 3 names when all is in place, to speed up the process when I call MS. Is this a good idea?

 

[jekjones1558]

I don't think you will need to worry about the few extra minutes involved with the names. One bedrooms are usually the last to book and the week you are going is not as busy as many other weeks. Good luck! I hope your trip is extra magical and that pixie dust is with you in getting a great location.

 

[CarolMN]

If you are worried, just reserve the 1 bedroom for yourself - a party of 1. You can call back later to add the other people and your request.

Buty I agree with Jean - if you call at 11 months you are not going to have a problem getting a 1 bedroom for July.

 

[bangzoom6877]

If you are worried, just reserve the 1 bedroom for yourself - a party of 1. You can call back later to add the other people and your request.

Buty I agree with Jean - if you call at 11 months you are not going to have a problem getting a 1 bedroom for July.

Thanks! I am less worried now! The only thing I was nervous about is that I am booking a standard view and I know these are in high demand because of the lower points "cost". That was one of the reasons we bought at BWV, because the standard villas are fewer points than other villas at other DVC resorts, and I know we have a much better shot at getting a standard view at 11 months out.