What is your favorite Use Year ?

[TexasJedi]

I really debated between April and December based on our preferred travel habits.

May would have actually been our preferred UY, but of course, it's not an option. Ultimately we went with April, which is perfect for our typical May/June trips.

Having December being after the banking window isn't ideal because we do like to take trips during the holidays too.

While the common advice here is to stick with one UY for simplicity, I think if we ever do add a second contract at a different resort, we'd probably do December to open a bit more flexibility for how we like to travel.

 

[juliebee]

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.

that is a great point. I don't see myself going to WDW in the summer either. Thanks for the advice!

 

[pinkxray]

I picked October, which I love so far. We typically travel in Nov or Dec. I’m also a RunDisney fan so it covers all the race dates. Pretty much the only 2 months I don’t want to go to FL are Aug and Sept. As our kids have been getting older, we have started to add June and July to the mix which I didn’t expect when buying. I guess this is a little risky since we are past our banking date if we need to cancel but we are typically using every point we have and never get to bank.

I think April probably would have worked well for us too. The only issue I have with Oct. is it’s a little harder to find what I’m looking for if buying resale and it’s usually a couple dollars more than other use years. However, I have sold a few Oct. contracts and was able to get a decent amount for them when others weren’t selling so it all evens out.

 

[WDWEPCOT]

Sept I had June dumped on me by Disney with another contract I had and didn’t care for having two use years and June really didn’t cause any issues with my travel plans I just didn’t like having multiple use years I’d take Oct if I had to have multiple not June fits better

 

[Disdreaming479]

I have Dec and Aug, which both work well for current Jan, March, and June use with teenagers. Hopefully in the future I’ll be a Disney Grandma and get to go during the holidays with littles.

 

[Simba's Mom]

My favorite is the one we've got-August. When we bought, they just told us that August was the Use Year they were selling, and it never occurred to me to ask if we had a choice. I'm not even sure I knew what "use year" meant. But in the 23 years, we've been members, we've always been happy to have an August Use Year.

 

[TheDailyMoo]

February and June here. I am in the camp, like some others here, of liking multiple UYs. Each contract I own is large enough for a whole weeklong trip (usually) and as I'm searching for other contracts I am looking for other UYs. I like the flexibility of having points spread out through the year to use on multiple trips.

 

[Chili327]

3 UY, June, Sept and Oct. I started with a June BRV because it was the perfect contract for me to “test” out D.V.C. I then added VGC (to June) and sold the BRV when I realized Sept or Oct was better for WDW, so now I keep west coast in June (& if I ever added more VGC, VDH or Aulani), because I can handle 100+ degrees without humidity and I’ll keep WDW in Sept because I can’t CANNOT handle 84 degrees WITH humidity. lol
Also I have 2042 (BWV) in Oct, and would be good with adding any other east coast 2042 to Oct… unless I buy a bigger BWV in Sept first and sell out of Oct.

In the end, I plan to visit WDW (at most) twice a year, once for holidays (Halloween-Xmas), then again in winter to early spring (Jan-Mar), and Sept UY works fine for all of that, so Sept is what I’ve decided to stick with for now and any future contracts.

So I guess Sept is my fav?

 

[Girlstar30]

My favorite would be one that doesn't exist which is May. It would cover May trips (great weather, no crazy crowds yet, low point chart) it would cover the cheapest month to travel and halloween (September) and it would cover December for holiday trips. This would be perfect for me, but since it doesn't exist then none I wouldn't like April cuz it doesnt cover Christmas travel and I wouldn't like June because I don't like traveling in the summer and when schools out and it wouldnt cover may. I'm going to have February which covers May and September and hopefully December will go through and I'll have covered christmas in that way. If I could do it all over i suppose i would settle for April as my ideal. At least I could do christmas in November and have the rest covered.

 

[Girlstar30]

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.

So you find it hard to get what you want in December because of all the walkers? That sucks, never thought about that

 

[juliebee]

So you find it hard to get what you want in December because of all the walkers? That sucks, never thought about that

it's hard to get reservations in December because it's a very popular time of year to go, especially at my home resort Boulder Ridge.

 

[Kailunkat]

I have June, August and September. I do think September is my best fit, but it bums me out that the resale volume for September is almost nonexistent. I’m not super attached to August, it’s not 100% ideal but also not terrible. I would trade the June in for August or September in heart beat, it by far the least usable for me - if the right replacement contract ever comes along, I probably will!

It seems like December and March have the most resale contract volume. I assume because people think they should buy the month they want to visit in?

 

[Ronaldo17]

We have Feb and June which have worked well for us

 

[Disney.dad]

My favorite would be one that doesn't exist which is May. It would cover May trips (great weather, no crazy crowds yet, low point chart) it would cover the cheapest month to travel and halloween (September) and it would cover December for holiday trips. This would be perfect for me, but since it doesn't exist then none I wouldn't like April cuz it doesnt cover Christmas travel and I wouldn't like June because I don't like traveling in the summer and when schools out and it wouldnt cover may. I'm going to have February which covers May and September and hopefully December will go through and I'll have covered christmas in that way. If I could do it all over i suppose i would settle for April as my ideal. At least I could do christmas in November and have the rest covered.

April would actually cover Christmas still decently. Banking deadline is 4 months prior. 4 months prior is Dec 1st. You don’t want to cancel within 30 days or are in holding anyways so you would have to cancel by end of Nov. if you do have to cancel there is a good shot at renting a reservation in Dec, early due to points chart or late due to nuts demand and if not you have Jan, Feb, and March to use holding points up or rent for some value.

 

[Wedgeout]

Started with resale BCV in 2020 and the April UY found us. Turned out to be perfect. Added direct OKW and VDH to same April membership. WDW travel mostly May and December with some April and September. Took a trip to Aulani during an April and will pick that time of year again to go back. April UY covers some good point chart months. Plus if a December trip would need canceling, keeping points out of holding, have the banking deadline of November 30. My risky months are January-March. Have used points during that period but so far only at VDH. Living an hour away, Disneyland has always been my home park.

 

[MagicDVC]

My favorite is the one we've got-August. When we bought, they just told us that August was the Use Year they were selling, and it never occurred to me to ask if we had a choice. I'm not even sure I knew what "use year" meant. But in the 23 years, we've been members, we've always been happy to have an August Use Year.

Same thing happened with us and we’ve added to the Aug UY. It was perfect for us and all the times we like to travel to Disney.

 

[Dis507]

September for us. We love to travel in the fall/winter months and it works out perfect that we get our points for that season right on time and what ever we have left over we bank in the spring. I work very hard at making sure that we have never (yet) had to borrow from the coming year.

 

[Girlstar30]

April would actually cover Christmas still decently. Banking deadline is 4 months prior. 4 months prior is Dec 1st. You don’t want to cancel within 30 days or are in holding anyways so you would have to cancel by end of Nov. if you do have to cancel there is a good shot at renting a reservation in Dec, early due to points chart or late due to nuts demand and if not you have Jan, Feb, and March to use holding points up or rent for some value.

Yes then this would have been my best case scenario

 

[TinkAgainU]

This is all fascinating - I believe we now have great reasons for every single Use Year, and great reasons both for-and-against multiple Use Years lol. Kinda like how if you ask for a favorite resort, every resort has a loyal following, or people love different ones at different times of the year and different times of their life. If I asked about split-stays, I bet we'd get Really good reasons for both approaches to that also. Love how DISBOARDS let you see things thru different (admittedly, mostly mickey shaped) glasses!

 

[Girlstar30]

This is all fascinating - I believe we now have great reasons for every single Use Year, and great reasons both for-and-against multiple Use Years lol. Kinda like how if you ask for a favorite resort, every resort has a loyal following, or people love different ones at different times of the year and different times of their life. If I asked about split-stays, I bet we'd get Really good reasons for both approaches to that also. Love how DISBOARDS let you see things thru different (admittedly, mostly mickey shaped) glasses!

I'm looking forward to four waitlists with two UY if mine goes, I do think that's a nice advantage especially for last minute Disneyland trips being a local in my case I'm not sure but if it also allows me to buy more OTU points then that would be the icing on the cake