Problems booking at 7 month window

[kniquy]

I am heavily researching before purchasing a DVC. I am curious as to what issues people have encountered when trying to book a resort (other then their home resort) at the 7 month window. We are pretty flexible and would probably want to try to stay at different resorts each visit. I am looking at costs and it seems that the cost per point varies considerably (I have seen vero beach at $52 pp and VGF close to $150).

i guess what i want to know is -- are there usually major head aches when trying to book at 7 months?
are there certain resorts that pretty much are not available at 7 months? I am guessing that the time of year would make a big difference too. Just want to hear some of your experiences and frustrations.

 

[WWWD]

Depends on a lot of factors. We have been lucky at the 7 months window, but most required split stays - which we're fine with so we can try different resorts. Now don't expect it to be easy to get into Beach Club or BoardWalk during Food and Wine Fest if you don't own there.

Remember DVC can be busy at different times of the year than the parks. DVC'ers like to maximize their point usage and will go when their points get them more days (see point charts). Also, studios will go faster than one/two bedrooms at many resorts, because studios take a lot less points.

So buy where you don't mind at all staying there if you can't get into something else at the 7 months - there's a reason some resorts cost a lot less than others on the re-sale market (demand and size of resort). Also, buy enough points to have some flexibility in your vacation plans - look at various resorts, time of year you want to go, room type and length of stay to get a good idea of how many points you will need (again see point charts).

We called right at the 7 months mark and got a one bedroom at Grand California Resort for 6 nights this past July during Disneyland's 60th anniversary. And, many people say this is a hard resort to get into.

I will say there hasn't been a DVC resort that I didn't like. They each have their own character, but I am partial to our home resort of Beach Club Villas.

 

[Disneykidder]

It really does depend on resort, size of accommodation and time of year. VGF is difficult to get in at 7 months as there are not many units. BCV is also difficult to get into. SSR and OKW almost always have availability.
The best way is to really buy where you'd like to stay the most so you get that home advantage. When purchasing resale, take into consideration how many years left are on the contract and also price per point of dues.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

We own at OKW, but have only stayed there once. We always go in July as I am a teacher. It's a pretty busy time of year. We have stayed at BLT twice, BCV, WL, AKV, Poly & BWV. We choose to do split stays to try out different resorts, but we could have gotten our entire stay in each place if we had wanted to. The only time I was wait listed and didn't get what I wanted was a club level AKV studio. We are a family of three & always book a studio with some type of view. I've never tried to get a standard view, but I hear that's more difficult. I hope this helps!

 

[kniquy]

Thank you all for your input. So I sat down with a calendar to figure out the time of year so hopefully some of you have had experience with booking at the 7 month mark in these time frames. We are not really the type to stay at one place every visit so even if we were to have OKW or SSR for our home resort we would likely want to try various places.

Of course the times when we really can go as a family would be prime times like February school vacation usually around the 20th, which I think coincides with a Disney road race. April school vacation around the 18th. We would like to do Mid May, but that might be tough with the kids missing school (not a huge fan of that) and my time other option would be the first week of December (for my birthday).

Any input on your 7 month booking experience is appreciated. We are very flexible as to where we stay so that may help us out.

 

[RoadTrip]

I prefer traveling at non-peak times. I hate both hot weather and large crowds so I usually visit at non-peak times. I have never had a problem booking at the 7-month window, although I've heard that the Grand Californian can be troublesome. Fortunately my very favorite DVC Resort is the Boardwalk, and that is my home resort. When I have taken trips on short notice I've never had a problem securing a last minute reservation at either Old Key West or Saratoga Springs. Although not convenient to parks and very spread out, I think both are excellent resorts. Old Key West has the largest rooms and requires the least points, so that is usually my "go to" resort for a last minute trip.

 

[MaxsDad]

We have owned for 8 years at AKV. We have stayed at every WDW DVC resort except SSR. We have been fortunate to get our 7 month request.

From what I have seen the really hard request to get are club rooms at AKL, standard rooms and 3 BR at BWV, treehouses. I suspect 3 BR at OKW can be tough.

 

[Disneykidder]

I'm also a teacher so I need to travel during the Summer and school breaks. Those are peak times. I've stayed at BLT, VGF, AKV, VWL, VGC and BWV. All were gotten at the 7 month mark but BLT. (One of our homes--when we stayed at VGF it wasn't our home yet) We are a family of 5, so we need 1 bedrooms from now on so we are not on top of each other. All of the above were studios except VGC which was a 1 bedroom. Some of these were split stays as well. It's a great way to experience more resorts and also brings a different leg to the trip. My point is that I have not had difficulties getting what I wanted at 7 months except for BCV. I could not get that two times.

With that said, I'm going in April and want BCV for 7 nights. Night number 2 is not available. We really want that resort so we will waitlist the one night and hope it comes through. If not, we will end up with a split stay or just do Poly (our second choice) the whole week. (not doing BCV for one night, somewhere else and then back to BCV for the next 5)

 

[Garfield]

Home resort is SSR, have stayed there maybe 25% of our trips. Rest have been at other WDW DVC resorts. We usually get 2BR villas and BCV seems to be the hardest to get for us. I may find it hard at times to get the lower point/view rooms at BWV and AKV at 7 months, but usually one of the other category of rooms is available. We travel mostly in May, but also have traveled in March, June, July, October, November and December. We also stay an average of 10 days and have had to do a split stay of 5 days at each resort due to lack of availability for all 10 days.

You also mentioned what you have seen for the price per point on resale contracts. I would advise to also look at the cost of the yearly maint. fees per point at each resort. VB is low price per point to buy, but is usually the most expensive MF's per point. If you own the contract for a long time, these fees could cost you more than your original purchase price.

 

[Vipor51]

I think in the general terms in which you are asking the right response is that you never know what the avalability will really look like. There are tons of variables here. Just make sure you purchase where you would prefer to stay.

 

[LuvtheGoof]

So was it easy to get monorail resorts 7 months out when not ya home resort in school holidays? Could you get 2 weeks? Thanks

You really need to rethink your expectations. It is extremely doubtful that you will get any resort for 2 weeks at the 7 month mark in August. The only way to get 2 weeks will be at your home resort at the 11 month mark. Just the reality of it.

 

[Vipor51]

I couldn't agree more with the above post.

 

[slappy magoo]

I am looking at costs and it seems that the cost per point varies considerably (I have seen vero beach at $52 pp and VGF close to $150).

Just don't forget about the maintenance fees. Right now a GF owner pays $2.37 less per point in maintenance fees than Vero Beach. Considering how much more money GF resale points are, it's still not a bad deal to buy those Vero Beach points. But bear in mind, the maintenance fees probably won't rise at the same amount. I'd argue the standalone DVC properties (Vero Beach, Hilton Head, Aulani) will probably see maintenance fees rise at a higher rate because at the Disney World DVC properties there is already a city-sized apparatus in place to maintain the WDW facilities anyway, which to some degree results in less cost to maintain the properties.

BUT...

Saratoga Springs owners pay $2.71 less per point in maintenance fees than Vero Beach right now. Old Key West pays $2.07 less. Those resales are routinely in the low-to-mid 80s.
200 Vero Beach points @$52pp = $10,400.
200 SSR points @$82pp (per one of the current listings at the Timeshare Store) = $16,400.

A difference of 6 grand.

But you'll pay $542 more in maintenance fees the first year alone if you buy @ Vero Beach versus Saratoga Springs. If the difference in maintenance fees remains the same (and again, I'd suspect Vero Beach will be raised higher, faster) then in 11 years the total difference that you paid is wiped clean and Vero Beach will start to be a more expensive investment. For a reference, in 2004, when Saratoga opened, fees were $3.80 per point there and $4.67 at Vero Beach. In 12 years, that spread went from .87 per point to 2.71, more than triple the difference.

(Meanwhile the difference to buy into Grand Floridian vs. Vero Beach means the point where the fees overcome the savings is over 4 decades in the future. I'm not even sure a Vero beach contract lasts 40 more years at this point!)

Saratoga might be the better value, if your plan is to buy resale but always try to book at WDW, outside your home resort at the 7 month window.

Speaking of which, I'm a Saratoga owner. Since buying, I've taken 6 trips to WDW and 3 trips to Hilton Head (and used points once for a trip to San Francisco). Only one of those 6 WDW trips were we unable to get the resort we wanted at the 7 month window (assuming we tried to get a different resort in the first place), that was a trip in early December of 2008, which is a very popular time for DVC members as points values are low but the parks are decked out for the holidays.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Depends on the resort, I have been pretty successful getting long stays at the 7 month point. Only place Ive ever struggled to get is WL, but even then I managed 10 or 11 days.

 

[PineapplePrincess]

How long are your stays for? Ever 2 weeks?

We stay for 10 days each trip. This coming July we got GFV lake view and BWV boardwalk view.

 

[jpittore1]

We've been very lucky and have always received our 7 month request when staying at a different resort (including Disneyland) and we go over spring break or the first week of June

 

[Simba's Mom]

We've been members for 14 years, and the only 11 month necessities for us have been Beach Club Villas and value villas at AKV-Jambo. Also, a few times our waitslist has come through just before 30 days, like 34 or so. The CMs have told us that often, people just don't get around to canceling until real close to that "dreaded" 30 day mark when their points would go into holding. I remember one time I'd wanted to surprise DH and had waitlisted for a special treat (I don't remember which). At 32 days, I gave up and told him-"Well, I tried but...." Then the next morning the waitlist came through. You just never know!

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

So have u got 10 days on monorail resorts during busy seasons?

Never tried, Mrs Sak hates the Contemporary. We stayed at the Poly three times I think 3-4 nights a time then switched elsewhere, but this was before the rip off villas were built. Why the obsession with 14 nights straight how many times can you go to he MK anyway, just split your stay between resorts if its a must do to stay at a monorail resort.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Just really like these resorts...

Love (d) the Poly, GF is nice but not my tastes. The Contemp has the view and the Calli Grill but ts not exactly charming. Prefer the lodges out of all resorts. But seriously consider splitting your stay its no real hardship to swap, but I suppose its a bit of a nause having to do to lots of Fast Pass and dinner ressys.