VGC 7 month booking availability

[MukilteoSailor]

We are in the process of buying our first property at Aulani. We are on the West Coast so we are interested in also booking at VGC as well. Does anybody have experiences on their success (or lack of) with booking VGC at the 7 month window? We are looking at probably booking the Studio/1B Villa during our stays. Our stays would also fall around the Adventure and Choice seasons.

Any feedback would be great.

Thanks.

 

[disneydenisel]

There are some threads around that talk about this. The consensus is that if you call at 7 months out when MS opens, you will have a good chance of getting a villa. There seems to have been a lot of success at 7 months so far, so good luck!

 

[DebbieB]

I just came back. I booked May 1 to 6 at the 7 month mark for a studio.

The lower point seasons are actually the most popular for DVC bookings.

 

[mdsd8700]

Agreed that the general opinion is that if you call at 7 months you should be able to get a reservation. We went in July of last year and called just past our seventh month mark and there were no studios available but we got a 1 bedroom but had to change our dates by a day.

Good Luck!

 

[IandGsmom]

We own at VGC but used our SSR points to book a stay over Thanksgiving for later this year. I booked a studio at 7 months no issue

 

[mickeytai]

How about a 7 month for a 3 nights studio stay in VGC in June? Is it hard to book?

 

[tjkraz]

Agreed that the general opinion is that if you call at 7 months you should be able to get a reservation.

Not sure how accurate that conclusion is since even you admitted that you couldn't get either the room size OR exact dates that you wanted.

I would caution anyone against buying elsewhere with the intention of frequently using points at VGC. Future availability is a complete unknown. Now that VGC has been sold out for 9 months, I have heard a LOT of stories of folks buying into other resorts (Aulani, SSR, etc.) in hopes of getting into VGC at 7 months. That increased competition, combined with what will certainly be increased popularity of DCA, doesn't bode well for 7 month reservations. Going forward, some will be successful but many more will not.

 

[cerilene]

I tried booking first thing in the morning exactly 7 months out for 3 days in December and they were booked. My wait list has yet to come through.

 

[PoohNFriends]

I just came back. I booked May 1 to 6 at the 7 month mark for a studio.
The lower point seasons are actually the most popular for DVC bookings.

We were there those exact same dates in a 1 BR, maybe we were neighbors? We were in 2514.

Not sure how accurate that conclusion is since even you admitted that you couldn't get either the room size OR exact dates that you wanted.

I would caution anyone against buying elsewhere with the intention of frequently using points at VGC. Future availability is a complete unknown. Now that VGC has been sold out for 9 months, I have heard a LOT of stories of folks buying into other resorts (Aulani, SSR, etc.) in hopes of getting into VGC at 7 months. That increased competition, combined with what will certainly be increased popularity of DCA, doesn't bode well for 7 month reservations. Going forward, some will be successful but many more will not.

We own some VGC points but decided to change our reservation from a studio to a 1 BR around 6 months before our trip we just took and was able to do so without a problem. However, I agree with Tim that as popularity for Aulani, western DCL cruises, and DCA increases there will be many times everything will be booked at 7 months.

 

[Kathymford]

I own at VGC, but haven't booked at my 11 month window. We are local, so we do a lot of relatively last minute stuff. I have gotten 3 reservations so far (I'm still a newbie), 2 of them on wait list. We go for the studios, which in my opinion are more difficult to get.

So I think it also depends on which size unit you are looking for. Both times I've had to wait list, there was a 1 bd available. I'm guessing it's because units are a lot more points here than in FL?

 

[kjd469]

Booked a studio last June for 5 nights at the 7 month mark, and this June for 3 nights at the 7 month mark...no problems at all.

 

[monami7]

We tried to book for last August at 7 months out. Could notget anything. We paid out of pocket. Then came home and added 160 vgc points to out 240 at ssr. We plan on going every 2 - 3 years and never want to stay anywhere else.

 

[jerseygal]

Loved Disneyland when we stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel a few years ago...Villas were almost complete then and I would love to go back possibly next August!Obviously, I would try 7 months to the day...Would need a 2BR Villa.... What a beautiful property! Just LOVED THE WEATHER OUT THERE!

 

[jaysonleah]

We just got back from a trip May 5-8th which was actually booked at less than 6 months and were able to get a 2 bed place no problem

 

[MukilteoSailor]

Thank you everybody for sharing your experiences.

I know it is not a guarantee to get a room but wanted to see how successful people have been. I am looking forward to Aulani and staying there but we do frequent DL being from WA. This is also the reason why we are buying direct on our first contract. I like the flexibility that using points for DL Hotels provides. While not the best use of points it is a good fall back.

We will probably looking for a VGC resale in the future too

 

[DebbieB]

We were there those exact same dates in a 1 BR, maybe we were neighbors? We were in 2514.

We were in 6504.

 

[BriarRose59]

We booked March 4-13 this year at 7 months with no problem. I called on the first day but was only able to book 7 nights which seems to be the norm now. I just had the same problem for Christmas 2011. Anyway, I called each day and added another night and got all the nights we needed in a 1 bdrm. Since there are 2 full bathrooms, it worked great for my DH, 2 adult DD's and me. We had a wonderful view of the lake in California Adventure so we watched the show every night from our balcony.

 

[kikiq]

We live in SoCal and attempted to use our SSR points to book specific weekends at VGC for a year. Then last year decided to add on enough points to book those dates at 11 months. If you want specific dates, booking 7 months can be iffy. If you are flexible in your dates and kind of villa, it seems to work for those folks.

 

[PoohNFriends]

We were in 6504.

Nope not neighbors, and totally jealous of the awesome view you must have had!!

 

[CarolynK]

Another waitlist here--we called March 19 for a 4-night stay beginning August 3rd in a 1-BR and only the 3rd was available. So, we have been waitlisted for 2-1/2 months, still no luck. I have even called MS periodically to check on just adding the night of the 4th, also no luck. Granted, I didn't call at 7 months, but last year we stayed at VGC for a week (also 1-BR) during spring break and had no problem getting that (ok, I did call exactly at 7 months for that).
I am learning that we need to plan better for VGC in future!