booking at a non-home resort About This Page:

[ariel1]

Hi, all! We have been tossing around the idea of dvc ownership for quite some time and are sold on the idea but still have some decisions to make. We will probably buy a resale to begin with, and I was wondering how big a deal is that 4 month disadvantage when booking a non-home resort. We always go during slow to moderately crowded times of the year. I know it would be a problem trying to get something outside of your home resort during busier times, but how about September, November, or possibly early June? I love staying at the different resorts, so choosing one will be tough if it makes a big difference as far as availability. Thanks for your expert opinions!

[SHEANA1226]

It would depend on the time of year you are trying to go. I bought my contract through resale to start small after we pay that off we are adding more points.

[tjkraz]

September is unquestionably the easiest time to book. Between the start of the school year, the often summer-like temps and hurricane season, it's pretty slow at the DVC resorts. If you call 7 months out, I think you'll consistently have your choice of any resort.

November needs to be disected. The first week or so they usually have the Food and Wine fest at Epcot still going on. The Beach Club and Boardwalk are normally hard to book during the F&W fest due to their proximity to Epcot. At other resorts it's not too bad.

The middle of the month is fairly slow.

Then things start to pick-up the week of Thanksgiving. The entire period from Thanksgiving week thru New Year's you should probably act as if you'll never get anything but your Home resort.

Early June isn't too bad as long as you don't wait too long to book. You may not have your choice of EVERY resort, but you will still have multiple options at 7 months.

I think it's easy for people to get the wrong idea about booking DVC resorts. It's not as if you'll be pigeonholed into your Home 99% of the time. I think the hardest dates / resorts / room categories to book are:

* Thanksgiving to New Year's at any non-Home resort. Some resorts are literally booked solid 10 months out for these dates.

* Grand Villas at Old Key West pretty much year-round. There are only 27 of them and the points are very low. Very hard for non-owners to book these rooms.

* BWV and BCV during Food and Wine Fest. Not impossible to get at 7 months, but I wouldn't wait until 6 1/2 months out to call!!!

* Standard View and BoardWalk View rooms at BWV for much of the year. The standard view rooms have very low point costs and the guaranteed BW view rooms have arguably the best view among all DVC resorts. These two categories usually book much quicker than the Pool / Garden category at the BW.

* Coming soon: Concierge rooms at the Animal Kingdom Villas. There are only FIVE concierge units out of the 450+ they are building at the resort.

Aside from the above, I think if you call exactly 7 months out, you'll always have multiple options available to you. Wait longer and your options dwindle, but even then you never know. Last year I booked a Standard View room at the BoardWalk for 5 nights on about 4 months' notice. Go figure.

There's no simple formula to picking a Home resort. Personally I took the longest contract at the time (Saratoga Springs), which also happens to have the lowest dues. So far we've used our points to stay at 4 of the 5 on-site resorts (the fifth doesn't interest us). I'm really glad I didn't sacrifice those 12 years of ownership by purchasing elsewhere.

I think that picking a specific Home resort is only necessary for those who want to stay at a single resort ALL THE TIME (or at least a high percentage of the time.) Our mindset is such that even if we aren't able to book our first choice for one particular trip, we can always try next time. So far we have yet to be disappointed.

Good luck!

[ariel1]

thanks for the very detailed response. that's pretty much what i was thinking on most counts, but i wanted to hear it from someone who's been there/ done that. i know i didn't specifically ask, but i'm a little surprised that early december would be that tough to get (being in the thanksgiving-new years period). maybe it's just a very popular time for dvc owners. it didn't seem crowded at all to us on our last visit, but i'm sure the ebb and flow of the dvc owners could be a bit different than other disney visitors. thanks again!

[MEM]

Early December is a low points time with DVC which makes it a very popular time with DVC.
Mary

[Chris_Wangard]

We try to travel mid or off-season and have not has a problem getting non-home resort reservations. We do usually book right at the 7 month interval date to be sure. Nevertheless, I would recommend purchasing at the resort that you are MOST interested in and save the headache -- even if it costs a little more on the resale market.

[snoozin]

We often stay not at our home resort. And even when we wanted to go to Y2K, we were called 3-4 weeks out and asked if we still wanted a room.

It is best to book at your home resort, then put in a request for change to the one you want. We just reserved for someone, and initially it was split between 2 rooms, but put it on automatic waitlist, and they simply sent us an updated reservation form when the single room became available.

Automatic waitlist is great. People are changing their rooms all the time, so it's worth doing that.

GL... you'll love ownership... we have, since 1997!

[ariel1]

thanks, everyone! really good info.

[lauren71]

In the past, my family and I have gone to WDW the first week in December. But for the past two years, we have been unable to book anything in that first week at a non-home resort, and I always call the very 1st day of our 7-month window (we own at OKW but wanted to stay elsewhere). Two years ago, we couldn't get anything for the first week of December, but we able to book rooms for the second week. Last year again we got shut out of the first week--studio, 1BR and 2BR all booked. It was more than a bit frustrating.

The DVC person on the phone told me that that first week of December is becoming very popular, and in the future, I'd be better off booking 11 months in advance at my home resort and then calling at 7 months to see if any non-home resort rooms were available.

[RobDVC]

MouseFest and the DVC Owner's association meetings are usually scheduled for the first week in December, which makes non-home ressies hard to come by.
I've had no trouble booking at non-home resorts (Hilton Head for peak season - July)
(Beach Club for value season - late August), so I'm sure you'll be able to get non-home ressies more often than not for the times that you are talking about.

[mikki]

The more members DVC gets the more people there will be trying to get into non-home resorts. This will inevitably make it more difficult, even in off seasons, at the smaller resorts like BCV or VWL. If you like one place best then the 4 month window could be a big deal in the longer term.

[tjkraz]

Originally Posted by mikki

The more members DVC gets the more people there will be trying to get into non-home resorts. This will inevitably make it more difficult, even in off seasons, at the smaller resorts like BCV or VWL.

Adding new members to DVC also means adding new resort choices. The impact on availability at each resort will be constantly in flux, largely influenced by member demand vs. the resort choices available.

For instance, a certain portion of people who have BCV at the top of their list right now have already moved AKV to the top of the list. Even owners at BCV will be inspired to book outside of their Home more based upon the new location available.