What is your favorite Use Year ?

[TinkAgainU]

I'll start - and lead with now I'm thinking of my family inheriting (and trying to keep it simpler for them) - I far prefer just having ONE use year. There are enough challenges with deadlines, booking priority dates, banking and borrowing, that multiple use years are too much to explain to them lol. If you need a spreadsheet, it's too much for my family

At first I liked my OCTOBER use year - seemed handy for Halloween and Christmas trips since we love the decor. No downside to that choice for me.

I eventually went with MARCH use year for everything. Again, because it worked well with the holidays, but gave me both January and February (great weather) to use the points if I had to cancel a December trip. The true deciding factor for me was the October 31 banking deadline that comes with a MARCH use year -- if I've not booked points for a Halloween or Christmas Trip by 10/31 Halloween (super easy date to remember) then I bank the points. Only challenge is that sometimes it's hard to find a March resale I like - seems it was not the most common at some resorts.

What did you pick, and why? Any regrets?

 

[LittleBitGoofy]

We travel to WDW October through May, so Oct UY was perfect for us. With the heat June through Aug and then Sept is still in hurricane season, we've traveled much less in those four months.

 

[RuntheMouse]

We went with August for the majority of our points. We travel in the fall and winter and August covers that for us. We don’t often travel during surface of the sun season so the March banking deadline works well for us. If we add on anymore, it will be in this UY.

We did add a small February contract for a maybe every other year early May trip and we have a baby December contract to supplement our marathon weekend/maybe May trips as a split stay.

 

[juliebee]

I'd say December is the worst, and of course that is what I have and would not pick again. We like to travel to WDW in December, so everyone said get a December use year. Wish we had gone for October or September use year to allow for easier walking the reservation when necessary. If we get another contract, I'm avoiding December use year and will be purposefully getting a second use year. No need to double down on a use year I don't like.

 

[JackosinDIS]

I'd say December is the worst, and of course that is what I have and would not pick again. We like to travel to WDW in December, so everyone said get a December use year. Wish we had gone for October or September use year to allow for easier walking the reservation when necessary. If we get another contract, I'm avoiding December use year and will be purposefully getting a second use year. No need to double down on a use year I don't like.

Yes this is important, and something that no one tells you when you first buy!

 

[JackosinDIS]

Mine is June. It’s pretty good for our summer trips and for marathon weekend in Jan. it’s not perfect for our May trips as these often fall last week in May first week in June so span 2 UYs. The plus side is that I have the option of using 4 years worth of points for those trips if I ever fancy it (with the downside of it being right at the end of the UY, so I’m losing those points if I need to cancel last minute!)

 

[intamin]

Went with April even though there aren't that many of us. We love the weather and point charts for early May. Spring time is a great time to be Disney but I don't want to be at Disney during Spring Break. I also wanted to make sure we could do December trips which April also covers. As much as I hate being in Florida during the summer because of the heat, there is a good chance with us having kids in the near future that is when we will be there because of our kids' schedules so I took that into mind as well.

 

[CarolynFH]

We didn’t choose our UY, it was assigned to us, but September has turned out to be pretty much perfect for us. We’ve used our points in June exactly once, and that was because we brought some good friends whose work schedules set the dates. Otherwise, it’s exceedingly unlikely that we’d book May through August, and actually I don’t like September either due to the hurricane threat (both in Orlando and where we live).

 

[TinkAgainU]

I'd say December is the worst, and of course that is what I have and would not pick again. We like to travel to WDW in December, so everyone said get a December use year. Wish we had gone for October or September use year to allow for easier walking the reservation when necessary. If we get another contract, I'm avoiding December use year and will be purposefully getting a second use year. No need to double down on a use year I don't like.

If thinking Sept/Oct I'll share we had a September and I (expensively) dumped it after needing to use up points at one year end - July or August - found WDW in Summer was Not a fun trip for me - but I admit I'm a wuss about heat/humidity and either Florida Summers are warmer or I'm just less tolerant (or both lol). Of the Sept/Oct options, I'd lean towards October for that reason.

 

[atthebeachclub]

December works well for me, but that’s because I am pretty unlikely to travel in the fall or in December. I actually think October is a better use year on the off chance I chose to travel then, it just is unlikely I would.

 

[juxtapose]

We just bought and went with March. We travel in Mar-Jun or Oct-November so nothing was really perfect, but it seemed close enough as Mar-Jun seems to be more common for us currently.

 

[SugarSweetLee]

We travel to WDW October through May, so Oct UY was perfect for us. With the heat June through Aug and then Sept is still in hurricane season, we've traveled much less in those four months.

Same for us. We asked for October when we acknowledged the months we prefer to visit central FL are really only late Oct-Feb or so. Those also align with the race weekends I like to participate in for the time being (Wine & Dine, Marathon, Princess).

 

[OKW Lover]

I have an October use year. No particular reason other than my friend also had that when we bought. That was in 1995 at OKW. Since then I've added on several times at other resorts but kept the October use year because I didn't want to have to track different contracts and associated deadlines.

 

[TinkAgainU]

I have an October use year. No particular reason other than my friend also had that when we bought. That was in 1995 at OKW. Since then I've added on several times at other resorts but kept the October use year because I didn't want to have to track different contracts and associated deadlines.

Matching family or close friends can be super helpful in planning.

 

[jolynne28]

I’ve yet to figure out the perfect UY, and we have 2. My husband’s job makes Dec-Feb travel a pita, but I do like to sneak in an early December weekend at WL with our Oct. SAP. We use our Feb contract for early June, and are currently shopping around for a 3rd. I don’t even care so much about the UY and would take on a 3rd for the right contract/deal at a resort we don’t currently own at. I have had zero issues planning-managing since each contract has a specific purpose and we never try to combine the points.

 

[supercarrie]

We have a February use year, which works well for our planned spring travel, but in hindsight I wish I had gone with October. Spring is the most pleasant time of year at WDW, and subsequently has such a high point chart relative to Jan 1-30 or early Dec. I'm still early into the ownership game, but realizing that some years I'd prefer to travel over winter to maximize the points charts. (I'll likely never travel Sept. 1-30th due to the heat and my busy period at work.)

Not a big deal, as we don't often cancel our planned trips, and it won't hold me back from booking a trip in winter, but if I had to do it all over again, I would have picked a different UY.

 

[Sprinkles&Sprints]

I feel like I’m taking the easy way out bc we also have two - December and June - to have the whole year covered . With school schedules, our WDW traveling is pretty predictable - March, August, December (and potentially a June trip to a non-WDW destination like HH, DL or AUL). I’m not a fan of traveling after the banking deadline so two made sense for us.

 

[Sandisw]

We have three..June, Aug, and Dec…and they all serve their purpose well…so all my favorite!!!

 

[TCRAIG]

I have 5 UYs - almost added a 6th but the deal fell thru. I use April for May trips, June for fall trips and Oct for Dec trips…then Dec and Sept for Hilton Head Memorial Day and Labor Day long weekends.

 

[RWeThereYetJJ]

When I bought into DVC, I did a big analysis of UYs and ranked them from best to worst in various categories. Oct UY has the coolest temperatures during the banking window of all use years, but the most expensive point seasons.

I have Feb and Oct UYs. The Oct UY works well for the fall, winter, and spring school breaks along with most holidays. The Feb UY covers the summer months for when extended family school breaks do not align. The Feb UY allows me to worry less about losing points if a take a trip outside the Oct banking window. Also, if I need extra points during the winter or spring break seasons, the banking windows of both UYs overlap from Feb to May. That gives me comfort when I transfer points. So long as I cancel 31+ days out, I still have time to bank Oct UY points.

One other thing I wanted to mention. I do not think of Oct 2024 UY as 2024 points, I view them as 2025 points because 9 months of the 2024 UY are actually in the 2025 calendar year. Do Dec UY owners think like this as well?