UY question

[Durrantl]

Hello. We are looking to purchase our first DVC contract. I have watched blogs, read and I feel like there is still so much to learn prior to purchase. I am still confused about the UY that we should choose. Last night I read a post about walking reservations and I am now even more confused. We want to vacation after Christmas (over New Years) each year. Occasionally we will travel in Mid May. We want BLT as our home and I know this is a hard to get location over New Years. Would you recommend a Jan UY since that is 11 months out, or a later UY and "Walk the reservation", which sounds risky and like a lot of work, but I also acknowledge that I do not know a lot about UY except booking at 11/7 mo windows. Any thoughts on what UY we should look at?

 

[fumanchu2488]

December would be your best UY.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

If you might want to start your NY visit in Dec.- you should consider Dec or Nov. That would still cover May vacations. You can bank the 1st 8 mos of the use year.

 

[MICKIMINI]

There is no such thing as a November UY. December is what will work for you.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

There is no such thing as a November UY. December is what will work for you.

oops! Of course!

 

[Lori Duck]

BLT owner here! Welcome home!
Your use year is not extremely important (I have found) because you can borrow excess points you need from the next use year. (Presently you can borrow 50% of next use year's points.) Use year is just the month your points are loaded into your account (and presently made fully available if like me you borrowed half of them!) Walking a res is apparently frowned upon by members on this board, and I've never done it.
Booking your home resort right at the 11th month date is the way to go. For example, if you need December 27 to Jan 1, get online and book it the preceding January 27th in the AM. (11 months prior to your arrival)
Other more experienced DVC owners can no doubt tell you more and send you info links.

 

[RoseGold]

The UY doesn't matter as much as the math. I'd take Aug, Sept, Oct, Dec. any of those would work for May/Dec, mostly Dec travel schedule.

January is the opposite of what you want, because your December trip is at the very, very end of your UY. If something happens, it's too late to bank those points. With an August UY, you have until end of March to bank those points into next use year. So, if you canceled in October, you can just bank into the next year.

I have October UY, and I do find it confusing sometimes because your UY doesn't match the calendar year. Aug/Sept might be easier in that way!

 

[Spinster Travel]

UY is when your annual allotment of points is put into your account. It has nothing to do with the 11 month advantage, so you can have a December UY and still book 11 months in advance of that. December is the best UY for you.

 

[Durrantl]

Thank you everyone! This was very helpful. It is obvious we have a lot to learn still.

 

[KTownRaider]

My two cents- Based on your stated Dec/Jan/May annual travel, October or December UY would appear to be your best options. There are only 8 UYs to choose from, and I don't believe there is a Nov or Jan UY, so those aren't even options (I think May and July are the other non UY months). Both Oct and Dec UYs have banking deadlines that go through May (May 31 for Oct UY, and July 31 for Dec UY), and being able to bank your points into the next UY IF your May vacation plans get cancelled would seem prudent to me.

One other note, if you're planning to buy BLT resale, it can be useful to understand the UY distribution of points, as it may be indicative of what you'll see offered in the resale market. This link is a few years old now, but gives you a rough idea of BLT (and other resorts) UY distribution. You'll see February UY is by far the most popular an Oct UY, the least. https://www.dvcnews.com/dvc-program...ear-distribution-charts-updated-february-2018

Of course, if you go direct, Disney will give you whatever UY you want.

DVC is a complicated product. There is a tremendous amount of information to digest and understand. Take your time. Even when you understand the ins and outs, I've found often that my initial inclinations eventually resulted in a different decision after mulling things over. Good luck in whatever you decide!

 

[Sandisw]

There is no UY that works for all the months of the year but having one that is well suited for you current travel is important.

You want to travel as closely as you can to the beginning of a UY to give you flexibility or still bank points or change your trip to later.

Prior To covid, people always said that they never cancel so no big deal. Then the resorts shut down and people were faced with losing points. DVC made some expeditions but that doesn’t always happen.

IMO, knowing you want from late Dec until May travel, Oct and Dec UY are ideal.

UY plays no role in the booking. No matter the UY you can book 11 months in advance. It’s just the UY the trip falls in simply determines What points are eligible for the trip.

For example, the worst UYs for you Dec trip are Feb and March. If you had to cancel or change, you’d only have January to reschedule for February and through February for March. and because you would be past banking deadline those points would be lost if you could not go or there was nothing available for dates when you could.

 

[10CJ]

I agree with the others. I would avoid Feb and March UY and would try for Oct or Dec. What size room are looking at typically booking?

 

[Durrantl]

I agree with the others. I would avoid Feb and March UY and would try for Oct or Dec. What size room are looking at typically booking?

I agree with the others. I would avoid Feb and March UY and would try for Oct or Dec. What size room are looking at typically booking?

We are thinking a 2 Bedroom every third year and a studio other years. this may vary as our kids are getting older but we do not have grandchildren yet.

 

[Marionnette]

I would lean toward an October UY vs. December in case you ever want to travel at Thanksgiving or walk a reservation into early December. As others have pointed out there is no November UY, nor is there a January one.

 

[CarolynFH]

Hello. We are looking to purchase our first DVC contract. I have watched blogs, read and I feel like there is still so much to learn prior to purchase. I am still confused about the UY that we should choose. Last night I read a post about walking reservations and I am now even more confused. We want to vacation after Christmas (over New Years) each year. Occasionally we will travel in Mid May. We want BLT as our home and I know this is a hard to get location over New Years. Would you recommend a Jan UY since that is 11 months out, or a later UY and "Walk the reservation", which sounds risky and like a lot of work, but I also acknowledge that I do not know a lot about UY except booking at 11/7 mo windows. Any thoughts on what UY we should look at?

This thread will probably be helpful to you, as it has been to many others: Understanding Use Year.

 

[sethschroeder]

You should look to October or September.

You get a longer runway to walk a reservation and with May you are still 4-5 months out if canceling your reservation 31+ days out from that May reservation so they can bank points.

If they get put in holding for some reason then summer is going to be one of the easiest to get rent out last minute likely based on availability being easier but number of guests to WDW being higher.