The issue is not whether
DVC has an off season but what are chances of getting things at 11 months out and then 7 months out. Be aware that if you wait much past the 7 month window, you can end up with few choices any time of year. In fact if you wait until 3 months out you will very often find your only remaining choice is SSR although there are also many times when OKW or AKV is still open then.
If you book exactly 11 months out at home resort, you will usually get what you want except for a risk otherwise for AKV concierge many times of year, and also AKV value and BLT standard during first week of December and Christmas week (respectively DVC's highest and second highest demand weeks of the year and a time when getting something like AKV value can depend on whether you are on-line to book exactly 11 months out at 8 a.m. Eastern time and whether your attempt to reserve is accepted by the Disney server before many others doing the same at precisely that time).
There are certain units that are hard to impossible to get many times of year 7 months out regardless of whether it is a busy or not so busy DVC time: AKV concierge and value rooms, BLT standard, BWV GVs and BWV standard and boardwalk view rooms, and OKW GVs at the Hospitality House area (a booking category). Also, BCV studios and 2BRs and BLT Theme Park view studios and 2BRs can be gone more times than others but nowhere near as often as the above. Treehouse villas at SSR used to be hard to get units at 7 months but beginning Jan 2013 the point cost for them increased about 15% year round and they have been open at 7 months out all year thus far.
To a certain extent DVC has two seasons. The first begins after Marathon weekend in Jan and ends just before Food & Wine begins in late Sep. The second begins at the end of Sep and ends just after Marathon weekend. During that first season you can usually find at 7 months out anything except for those hard to get rooms mentioned above and that even includes around holiday time. Moreover, during some times in that Jan to Sep period, such as late Jan to mid-Feb, late Feb to just before mid March, last week of April, some times in May, July and Sep, you even have a fair chance to get some of those hard to get rooms at 7 months out, except AKV concierge and usually not AKV value or BLT standard.
End of Sep through Marathon weekend in Jan is different. The week before Thanksgiving week and the third week of Dec are usually pretty good 7 months out but the rest can be difficult for anything at a near park resort -- BLT, BCV, BWV and VWL. Sometimes you can find BWV pool/garden, BLT lake view, and VWL but less so BCV or BLT theme park view except that 1BRs tend to be open longer than others. Also, once you get to first week of Dec, you can even lose the opportunity to get AKV standard and savanna view at 7 months out. That is the busiest week of the year, followed by Christmas week and the second week of Dec.
