why 11 months?

[shpdem]

My wife asked me this and I didn't have an answer for her. Why are dvc members only allowed to book 11 months in advance when noon dvc member can book same resort over a year in advance. I understand the 7 months part but not 11 months.

 

[nalajms]

non dvc member can book same resort over a year in advance.

I don't believe that's true. Our friends booked VGF for Christmas/New Years 2014 through Disney. They were able to book through 12/31, but I was able to book 1/1 and on before they could.

 

[chalee94]

Why are dvc members only allowed to book 11 months in advance when noon dvc member can book same resort over a year in advance.

yeah, pretty sure this is not true.

(and booking the hotel side of the beach club resort more than a year out is not the same as booking BCV more than a year out.)

 

[shpdem]

At dvc resorts is there adv allotment for regular guests that dvc members can't book?

 

[shpdem]

I know irs not true right now bc they haven't opened bookings up for next year but in May or June when they open it up then they could book a 1br at blt anytime of the year for 2016

 

[DebbieB]

Rooms that can be reserved through CRO are in a separate inventory, they are not owned by the members. They typically become available around 10 months.

 

[skier_pete]

You are making the assumption that DVC and the hotel are the same thing. Yes, there are times you can book a hotel room more than 11 months in advance. There are also a certain # of villa rooms they have to set aside for hotel guests, this is the law that they have to do this. However, the hotel guests booking are NOT occupying rooms that would be taken by DVC members.

 

[chalee94]

At dvc resorts is there adv allotment for regular guests that dvc members can't book?

not exactly.

disney still owns a lot of points themselves, due to unsold pts and pts that they have ROFRed or foreclosed on. they can make reservations and sell them for cash, just like other DVC owners.

but i have not seen any evidence so far that they can book their rooms any farther in advance than other DVC owners.

 

[a742246]

I don't know how Disney is handling fixed weeks, but that may be a reason for the possibility that your friend was able to book beyond 11 months.

 

[Sandisw]

You are making the assumption that DVC and the hotel are the same thing. Yes, there are times you can book a hotel room more than 11 months in advance. There are also a certain # of villa rooms they have to set aside for hotel guests, this is the law that they have to do this. However, the hotel guests booking are NOT occupying rooms that would be taken by DVC members.

Not exactly...Disney does retain part ownership of the resort and those rooms are there for Disney to do with what they want, but many times, they are there for things like maintenance issues. But, I don't believe they are required by law to retain ownership so they can rent them to non-DVC guests. In addition, there is DVC inventory that is sent to Disney for cash paying guests. It happens when DVC members choose to use their points outside DVC for certain things, like cruises. This allows Disney to get cash for the room so they can turn around and pay for the trade. They are also allowed to take unreserved rooms at 60 days out. If they do this, any money earned is given back to DVC as breakage.

 

[drusba]

The 11 month rule itself was chosen long ago when DVC started. It could just as well have been 12 months or 10 months or even less. When OKW opened the windows were actually 11 months for owners of OKW (called the Disney Vacation Club at the time) and 10 months for owners from other DVC resorts. But of course at the time there were no owners of other DVC resorts. By the time that event finally occurred, they changed it to 7 months, and it has been 11 for home resort and 7 for others ever since. It continues to be that way because it works well and DVD has no logical reason to change it.

Guests have long been able to book the regular Disney hotels more than 11 months out. I remember seeing a story that menitoned that reservations for New Years Eve, Dec 31,1999, started to be made as early as 1988. Though you may reserve far out, you cannot lock in price when booking more than a year out.

Officially, the DVC resorts cannot be booked by cash paying guests more than 11 months out. DVD retains ownership in a certain percentage of each resort which it can rent, and it gets other points to rent via members trading out, via foreclosures and via exercise of right of first refusal. However, according to the official documents, DVD, in reserving rooms using the ownership interests and points it has, is required to follow the same booking rules that DVC members must follow, i.e., it is not supposed to book at a home resort more than 11 months out.

That is what DVD is supposed to do. Whether it always does is subject to question. A couple years ago I believe I caught it trying to lock up rooms for rentals more than 11 months out. At exactly 11 months out I checked AKV for availability of a GV at Jambo starting the Saturday before Thanksgiving to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Strangely, I found the Saturday through Tuesday open but the Wednesday and Thanksgiving Thursday were full for the Jambo GVs. That is impossible if someone is following the 11 month rule. The only way those dates could be filled exactly 11 months out from the Saturday before Thanksgiving, is for all the days from Sat through Tuesday to also be filled. I emailed Members Services and Member Satisfaction about the issue. I got the standard email that my email was received and they would get back to me. They never got back to me. I emailed again following up on the same question. They never got back to me on that one either. The next year I did not see the Jambo GVs disappear for those Thanksgiving dates before 11 months out.

As to the comment above that DVD is required by law to retain ownership of a portion of the resort, that is not actually correct but as a practicable matter it is correct. DVD was not legally required to retain any ownership interest, but it had to so it could exercise complete control over the resort, including requiring as part of the sale to members that the members agree to transfer to it their rights to vote on any proposals at board meetings or any issues concerning management of the resort.

 

[hakepb]

I believe OKW used to have an advanced (13 month?) "lottery" for some high season bookings (like Christmas)
That practice was discontinued, but was still mentioned in my SSR contract as a possibility.

I'm guessing 12 mo was ruled out as a possible choice since many guests would be on vacation while booking next years trip.
13 mo would mean you are in packing mode for this years trip so I guess 11 mo sounded easier?

 

[Dean]

Rooms reserved on points but owned or contracted by DVD or DVC should not be available more than 11 months out, the same booking rules as members have. Unsold and undeclared inventory could be available more than 11 months out. They could anticipate inventory and go ahed and give someone a cash reservation.

 

[skier_pete]

That is what DVD is supposed to do. Whether it always does is subject to question. A couple years ago I believe I caught it trying to lock up rooms for rentals more than 11 months out. At exactly 11 months out I checked AKV for availability of a GV at Jambo starting the Saturday before Thanksgiving to the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Strangely, I found the Saturday through Tuesday open but the Wednesday and Thanksgiving Thursday were full for the Jambo GVs. That is impossible if someone is following the 11 month rule. The only way those dates could be filled exactly 11 months out from the Saturday before Thanksgiving, is for all the days from Sat through Tuesday to also be filled.

I just noticed this today in a minor way. I was flipping around the resort availability tool for January 8th, and I noticed that a Standard View at BLT was showing available on January 8th (exactly the 7 month window) and NOT on January 9th...this seems like it should be impossible to happen. (It has since changed to now unavailable on BOTH days.)

Anyways, I would doubt it is intentional.

In your case, I would've called them directly rather than e-mailed. I would have been curious to see a real explanation for that. I have racked by brain for a possible scenario that could cause days later than the 11-month mark to be booked with days earlier not booked, but I can't come up with any. (Unless its like VGF has and there are week-long blocks booked, but they didn't do that at AKV.