Floridians who own DVC points

[ryguy]

In the last year we have moved to Florida and have been thinking about DVC and if it would work for our travel style. The stumbling block in which I don't have an answer is how does DVC work for those of us who live close by and take weekend trips. We would go 3 or 4 weekends a year, and we usually book our trips a month or two out. Sometimes a little longer depending on the booking window for a certain hotel deal.

So my question is how does the process work for people like me? What resorts usually are available a few months out? Seems like 11 and 7 months are the key times to book, but I just don't think I would book that far in advance. We would avoid the major holiday times and busy seasons since we really don't need to go during those times. We like September-January and Late April and May. We really don't go the rest of the year.

I am assuming I would have zero chance to get anything other than the lower tier resorts like OKW or Saratogoa booking so close to travel. Correct??

Does where you have your home resort help with last minute bookings? For example if I own at BLT would I have a higher priority last minute over someone who owns at SSR who is looking to get a room at BLT?

Does use year matter to someone in our position?

We would probably buy 150 points on the resale market, we like AKL or OKW and would probably make one of those our home resort. Or should we buy at a more popular resort like BCV, because they are harder to book than AKL, OKW, and SSR.

Hopefully someone else was in a similar position as us and can answer some of our questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

RyGuy

 

[LuvtheGoof]

In the last year we have moved to Florida and have been thinking about DVC and if it would work for our travel style. The stumbling block in which I don't have an answer is how does DVC work for those of us who live close by and take weekend trips. We would go 3 or 4 weekends a year, and we usually book our trips a month or two out. Sometimes a little longer depending on the booking window for a certain hotel deal.

So my question is how does the process work for people like me? What resorts usually are available a few months out? Seems like 11 and 7 months are the key times to book, but I just don't think I would book that far in advance. We would avoid the major holiday times and busy seasons since we really don't need to go during those times. We like September-January and Late April and May. We really don't go the rest of the year.

I am assuming I would have zero chance to get anything other than the lower tier resorts like OKW or Saratogoa booking so close to travel. Correct??

Lower tier? Wow! We own at SSR, and would never consider that "lower" tier. Just because it isn't a monorail resort doesn't make it lower tier. It is still a deluxe resort with deluxe resort amenities.

Anywho, AKL usually has lot of availability as well, but if you only plan a few months in advance, then yes, you will be staying at SSR and OKW a lot, but even those fill up as well.

Does where you have your home resort help with last minute bookings? For example if I own at BLT would I have a higher priority last minute over someone who owns at SSR who is looking to get a room at BLT?

Sorry, us rabble that own at SSR have just as much of a chance after the 7 month mark than anyone that owns there.

Does use year matter to someone in our position?

Probably not. It really should not make a huge difference.

We would probably buy 150 points on the resale market, we like AKL or OKW and would probably make one of those our home resort. Or should we buy at a more popular resort like BCV, because they are harder to book than AKL, OKW, and SSR.

Hopefully someone else was in a similar position as us and can answer some of our questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

RyGuy

You should always buy where you want to stay, though remembering that you will not have any advantage once the 7 month window opens. It will only help between 11 - 8 months. It is true that BCV and BWV are exremely hard to book for non-owners at certain times, but it can be done.

Don't mean to be snarky, but when you make disparaging remarks about resorts that people love (we LOVE SSR and OKW), you are bound to get some negativity. DVC is really built for making reservations from 7 - 11 months in advance. You have to understand that as Disney adds more DVC rooms, there are more owners looking to book those hard to get rooms, and people that don't like to plan months in advance, are simply going to be out of luck.

 

[GoofGoof]

I never tried to book a room that close to my stay date, but one thing to consider is DVC has the ability to transfer unused DVC rooms to the cash room inventory at the 60 day mark. In other words, if there are some rooms unbooked by DVC owners using points once they hit 60 days prior to check in those rooms can be transfered to the hotel side of Disney's business and rented for cash. Not sure how often that happens, but it's an option that they have.

 

[Seanual757]

I am a local only about 20 minutes from WDW. We are AP holders and we decided back in March to purchase DVC @ GFV 200 points a year.
I have not booked out that early but I did check two weeks ago for memorial day weekend and several resorts were still available. The only time you might have a problem are holiday weekends or during special events, If you choose to book during those times.

 

[Master Yoda]

We had a similar travel pattern when we looked at DVC around a decade ago and we could simply not get the numbers to work out.

Weekend stays cost more points than weekdays, we were more than content with moderate resort accommodations, and the system was just not set up to be a value or work with the local weekend warrior types.

In the end, we were much better off booking regular rooms using AP, Florida resident and/or general public discounts.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

I am a local only about 20 minutes from WDW. We are AP holders and we decided back in March to purchase DVC @ GFV 200 points a year.
I have not booked out that early but I did check two weeks ago for memorial day weekend and several resorts were still available. The only time you might have a problem are holiday weekends or during special events, If you choose to book during those times.

His issue is that he didn't want to stay at the "lower tier" resorts, like SSR or OKW all the time. Both of those, and frequently AKL are available on short notice. Most others are not.

 

[Minthorne]

You could buy where you want, book several weekends at the 11 month mark and as long as you cancel them before the 31 day mark you would get the points back. Then use year will come into play as you need to make sure points you cancel are still bankable before they expire. Be theoretically you could keep a rolling set of reservations that you make at 11 months and either choose to keep or cancel before 31 days. At 31 days or less any points that are returned from a cancelled reservation become restricted to their future use so you want to avoid that.

 

[MMDVC]

The one thing about DVC is your needs will change throughout your ownership years and you have options to make changes . I know if I was a "local" I would automatically book certain holidays at the 11 month window. I would def want to be there for Easter Sunday , July 4th, Halloween, and New Years Eve at BLT!
Unfortunately I am not a local and have used points for next use year already! Darn.

 

[ryguy]

Many thanks for all your thoughtful responses!!

As far as "lower Tier" description, simply looking at the resale market there appears to be quite a big difference in price and inventory between those units attached to a Deluxe hotel and those that are not.

From what I can tell all DVC rooms are pretty much the same as far as amenities. So like in most real estate cases Location seems to be the determining factor on the secondary market when it comes to price. Hence why I made the statement "Lower Tier". Maybe that was the wrong choice of wording.

It was not meant to be disparaging, personally OKW is one of my favorite Disney resorts!!

 

[LuvtheGoof]

Many thanks for all your thoughtful responses!!

As far as "lower Tier" description, simply looking at the resale market there appears to be quite a big difference in price and inventory between those units attached to a Deluxe hotel and those that are not.

From what I can tell all DVC rooms are pretty much the same as far as amenities. So like in most real estate cases Location seems to be the determining factor on the secondary market when it comes to price. Hence why I made the statement "Lower Tier". Maybe that was the wrong choice of wording.

It was not meant to be disparaging, personally OKW is one of my favorite Disney resorts!!

No problem. We love OKW and SSR. Of course, we loved our stay at VGF as well! You are absolutely correct that location plays a big part in resale value to some. Monorail resorts, followed by EPCOT resorts, then AKL and VWL, and finally SSR and OKW, which are the only 2 totally DVC resorts. VB and HH are the cheapest, but they have the highest maintenance fees due to hurricanes.

It is a bit strange that places like the BCV have actually gone up in the resale market over the last few years, even though they have some of the earliest end dates. You would think that as there are fewer years to use the points that the resale price would go down, but they are very popular, so the price stays higher. Of course Disney having ROFR helps keep the prices up and somewhat stable as well.

Good luck with your decision!

 

[LSUmagic]

DH and I live at 90 miles away from WDW. We have been DVC members since 2013. We make weekend/1 night trips all the time and several of them are last min (2 mo - 2days out). You have to remember that SSR, BCV, and OKW are the larger resorts. Larger resorts=more rooms. We have yet to have a problem booking last min at one of the those. The new/smaller DVC resorts (Poly, BLT, GF) usually don't have much available last min. Sometimes you can get lucky. You can also book a resort and have a wait list booking for the same time. Ex: book a weekend at SSR and have a wait list for BLT. If room at BLT becomes available, you will be moved there.

Your home resort doesn't help you with last min booking. All it does is help you by getting the 11 mo booking window as opposed to the 7 mo booking window. They wont kick someone out for you or move you up the waist list simply because its your home resort. So if you are a last min booker, where your home resort is wont matter at all.

The use year has nothing to do with booking windows. It only affects when you can use/bank/borrow your pts.

I can tell you we are a little over 2 yrs in and have never regretted our decision to buy.

I hope some of this helped. Good Luck!

 

[LAKid53]

The one thing about DVC is your needs will change throughout your ownership years and you have options to make changes . I know if I was a "local" I would automatically book certain holidays at the 11 month window. I would def want to be there for Easter Sunday , July 4th, Halloween, and New Years Eve at BLT!
Unfortunately I am not a local and have used points for next use year already! Darn.

Between vacations and a member only cruise, I've used my points for both 2015 and 2016. I think I need to purchase more, lol.

 

[LAKid53]

In the last year we have moved to Florida and have been thinking about DVC and if it would work for our travel style. The stumbling block in which I don't have an answer is how does DVC work for those of us who live close by and take weekend trips. We would go 3 or 4 weekends a year, and we usually book our trips a month or two out. Sometimes a little longer depending on the booking window for a certain hotel deal.

So my question is how does the process work for people like me? What resorts usually are available a few months out? Seems like 11 and 7 months are the key times to book, but I just don't think I would book that far in advance. We would avoid the major holiday times and busy seasons since we really don't need to go during those times. We like September-January and Late April and May. We really don't go the rest of the year.

I am assuming I would have zero chance to get anything other than the lower tier resorts like OKW or Saratogoa booking so close to travel. Correct??

Does where you have your home resort help with last minute bookings? For example if I own at BLT would I have a higher priority last minute over someone who owns at SSR who is looking to get a room at BLT?

Does use year matter to someone in our position?

We would probably buy 150 points on the resale market, we like AKL or OKW and would probably make one of those our home resort. Or should we buy at a more popular resort like BCV, because they are harder to book than AKL, OKW, and SSR.

Hopefully someone else was in a similar position as us and can answer some of our questions. Thanks in advance for your help.

RyGuy

We live just a few miles away. We've used points for long weekend trips and week long trips.

We've stayed at SSR several times and it is a lovely resort. And you cannot beat the proximity to DTD - the walk along the river is lovely in nice weather. And unless it's holiday season (Thanksgiving/Christmas) you can usually find a room there.

Use year really doesn't matter. And it will be determined by the points you buy at a particular resort. I bought points at WL in May. My use year is February. However, if you purchase points in a resort after the window for banking expires, Disney will make sure you aren't penalized.

The only priority your home resort will give you is the 11 month booking window. Once you get to that 7 month window, you will have the same priority at that resort as any other DVC member.

One thing you need to remember about purchasing points on the resale market, not through DVC. Those points will not be available to use for special events, like member only cruises, etc.

 

[LSUmagic]

Between vacations and a member only cruise, I've used my points for both 2015 and 2016. I think I need to purchase more, lol.

We have debated on buying more. They seems to go so quickly

 

[Josh Qualls]

We use to goall the time at least once a qtr for weekend trips or middle of the week.we tride that all this year and was unable to book amy rooms. Called DVC and they said there is no low time anymore they are always busy. We would fly southwest from fort myers,fl for 30 to 40dollars each way buy southwest does not fly that route. Have been very disappointed the past two years. DVC said book your weeks when so you will have them then find the dates you like and wait until you stay to cancel what you booked first I think that is not a right way to do this as it puts everyone on a wait list. Buy the way just purchased a meal at contemporary and the machine had a electronic notices that i had four refills until 8:30 started meal at 6:45pm