Using points at Christmas

[4kidsandadog]

I had the luck of having two children born 5 days after Christmas (4 days apart)... they are both asking if we could spend Christmas, birthday, and New Year's at WDW next year (2006). Ordinarily we go in off-season to avoid crowds, but I'm willing to do this ... it just sounds like too much fun.

We are using our points (our home resort is SSR) for the first time for a short pre-cruise stay at BCV this September, so I am very new to the whole thing. If I were to book a 2BR at SSR at the end of January for Dec 23-Jan 2, what are my chances of being able to switch to BCV or Boardwalk at the 7-mo window? Or, if we are lucky enough to convince some friends to go along, getting a 3BR at OKW? I know this is bound to be a harder time to get reservations.

Karen

 

[Doctor P]

You won't know until you try, and it will depend on your dates. I would guess that a GV at OKW will be very difficult for that timeframe, but being able to switch in to BWV or BCV at the 7 month mark might work based on this year's experience. We were able to switch into BCV for 12/23 and 12/24 with no problem at the 7 month mark. However, it should be noted that those are Friday and Saturday nights this year and probably made things easier, but the CM indicated that there was some availability for Christmas time at BCV at the 7 month mark this year.

 

[PamOKW]

WIth patience, it may work out. You'll need to decide whether you might be willing to move around if you can't get all the nights in one location.

First, be sure to book your Christmas Week at SSR day-by-day when the window opens.

As soon as the 7 month window opens you'll want to do the same thing but may hit a roadblock of one or more days not being available.


New Year's Eve will probably prove to be the most difficult to book at the Epcot resorts and you should be prepared that it might not become available even if all your other nights come through.

It wouldn't hurt to try for the GV at OKW but many families have made Christmas at WDW a tradition and book the GVs every year. Your best shot for this change may be much closer to Christmas (September-November) when a family may find their plans changed at the last minutes.

I like the way your children think! As a NYE baby myself I can think of no better place to be for Christmas, NYE and birthday celebration than at the madness that is WDW at Christmas. (A warning -- weather at this time is totally unpredicable and completely changeable. You could be wearing your fleece jacket during the day and gloves and hats at night. Or, you could be in shorts and bathing suits --- it's even possible to do both on one week-long trip.)

 

[4kidsandadog]

Thanks for the helpful tips!! I am a total newbie at booking trips, so I am not sure I understand the day-by-day thing. Does this mean that I have to wait till 11 or 7mo from the last night of our stay to book all nights at once???

If we do get to get a 3BR (and that's very iffy; not sure if I can pin down another family to join us or not), I would have to do OKW, as that's about all we could afford pointwise. There are over 200 points difference between the grand villa there and at one of the Epcot Resorts.

The only reason I would switch our 2BR from SSR to BCV or BWV is so we would just have that extra convenience of being able to walk or water taxi to Epcot or MGM.

Oh, and I remember the weather differences WELL! We have had 2 trips in winter... one in the first week of December and one at the end of January. Plus, we lived in NW Florida for 5 years. Prepare for anything! (Oh wait... that sounds like the weather here; we had jackets on to watch the fireworks on the 4th!)

Karen

 

[Candace]

Just curious, why don't you book the Grand Villa at SSR? Aren't they less points than BWV grand villas?

 

[tamu91]

Day to Day reservation means you basically consider each day of your stay as a separate reservation.
So on Jan-23, you call MS and reserve one night for Dec-23. You mention your intentions to MS and your next calls might go little quicker. And on Jan-24, you call and reserve one more night for Dec-24 and so on until you get all your dates.

Get the reservation you need at your home resort first, where it be a GV at SSR, 2 bdrm or whatever else you need because getting one of the GVs during Christmas season at BWV will not be an easy task. But you never know until you try, right? You'll probably have to waitlist so call as soon as possible. Like PamOKW mentioned, I'll call day-to-day for that as well.

Good luck and come back and let us know

 

[4kidsandadog]

Just curious, why don't you book the Grand Villa at SSR? Aren't they less points than BWV grand villas?

You're right, they are.... but there is a difference of 200 points between SSR and OKW (OKW is fewer points). So on the off chance I needed a GV, I would definitely want OKW. If we stick with a 2BR, I'm hoping to move it to BCV or BWV for the convenience. Or maybe I'll split between SSR and VWL. I'm open to trying new experiences!!

Karen

 

[KANSAS]

are you sure, you want to go to wdw
over the holidays?

my friends, that have tired this, said the crowds are unreal and you spend the whole trip, standing in line to eat, go to restroom, go on rides,etc,etc

 

[4kidsandadog]

are you sure, you want to go to wdw
over the holidays?

If I only had 3 or 4 days, I wouldn't want to. But being there a week or more, I won't mind. There's no rush to see and do everything.

 

[PamOKW]

There's no rush to see and do everything.

That's right....you've got 49 more years to see what you miss this trip.

 

[Beca]

I would just caution you on bringing friends at that time of year. People who don't own at DVC vacation differently than those who do. We just took our dd best friend and their family in April. They just about wore me out!!! They were up early to do every early entry they could, and didn't want to go back to the room until the parks closed.

Now, my dd and I got a "virus" (we always seem to catch one) and we were EXHAUSTED (seriously, she slept in her stroller a lot, and I would fall asleep on rides). Our friends caught the virus as well, but it did not hit them until they got home. My friend sent me a note explaining what a great friend I was, because is she felt as tired at WDW as she felt the week after, she would've "ditched" me in a heartbeat!!! But, I really wanted the girls to spend time together...and, honestly....you're so tired in WDW...who can tell what's "sick" and what's just being tired (and getting old)!!

Anyway....my point is this....we have only been DVC members for a year, but already it has changed the way we vacation. We now have kind of a "We'll get there....sometime today...." attitude. Our friends looked at us like we were crazy...afterall, they were on a "Once every 5 years WDW vacation"....they wanted to go..go...go!!! I used to be that way until we bought into DVC.

But, at Christmas and NY's....that is a REALLY bad time to take people who do not make a "yearly pilgrimage" out of the event. Although we have not been in WDW on Christmas, we have been in DL on Christmas...and, let me tell you...it was CRAZY!!!!! DL "fast passes" IASW because the re-do it for the holidays. Fast passes for the day were gone before noon, and the crowds made walking thru the park similar to standing at a rock concert. It took us two hours to walk from the front gate to IASW to retrieve our fastpass for 9:00PM (this was 10 in the morning). Every line for every ride was a minimum 3 hr wait. So, we left....went to the Grand Californian...hung out and had a wonderful lunch. We got back into the park around 3 pm, made it back over to IASW by 5pm (another 2 hr walk) and immediately got a spot for the 7pm parade (although we were NOT able to get a front row spot...those had been taken since about noon....people just kept the same spot they had from the 3pm parade). We saw the 7pm parade, got in line for IASW (the fastpass line was over 2hrs long). Got out of IASW by 9:45, and made our way to the front gate (it took about an hour). So, in the course of the day, we rode IASW once and watched one parade....and, it took our whole day.

It was fine, but certainly not your ideal DL trip. I would hate for your friends to experience anything along the same lines and have them think "that" is WDW. People can also get very frustrated with crowds. If your friends are VERY frequent travelers to WDW (or, as you live in CA...if they've ever been to DL on Christmas Day) they would probably be okay...I just wanted to "warn" you a bit. Traveling with friends can always be a little "tricky"....traveling with friends at Christmas has the potential to be insane!!



Beca

 

[chipscinderelly]

We are going this year for NYE and we booked at our 11 month window day by day for SSR and then at the 7 month window we booked BCV day by day and had no problem. I did call to confirm it today as I had not received a confirmation and the CM remarked at how "lucky we were" for the BCV reservation. Honestly I do not remember it being that much of a hassle to book. I think Boardwalk is more challenging because of the standard view room point difference.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I would just caution you on bringing friends at that time of year. People who don't own at DVC vacation differently than those who do. We just took our dd best friend and their family in April. They just about wore me out!!! They were up early to do every early entry they could, and didn't want to go back to the room until the parks closed.

So true! We now have learned to invite occational guests for the begining of our trip, but keep a few days at the end just for us to relax before we go home!