Harder to book at 7 mo window?

[Plutofan2]

As more and more members are added it appears to be harder and harder to get rooms at the smaller resorts like Boardwalk, Beach club, and Wilderness Lodge. This past June we booked at the Beach club day by day and a lot of rooms were already taken. Has anyone else also noticed this? Has anyone noticed if it is getting any harder for your waitlist to come through at these resorts? Until they build some new high demand DVC resorts, like a monorail resort, you really need to consider buying where you want to stay and planning ahead. Any thoughts? Just thought that this might be a good topic so that people understand about the difficulty in getting in at the smaller resorts.

[Stimpy]

Thats why we bought at BCV. We could have purchased at BWV and SSR but since BCV was our personal fave we went with that. It was a hard decision, 10 extra years with SSR or more of a guarantee that we get the location we love.

Even with the 11 month window I have had to call day by day to get ressies at our home resort for the more popular DVC times. (ex. early Dec) I tried to switch our Nov ressies from BCV to BWV at the exact 7 month day and couldn't.

I've personally not used the waitlist yet but it seems to work out pretty well most of the time.

[Deep-Thots]

I just booked a standard studio for one night and a 1BR preferred view for 7 nights at BWV during the F&W, 6 months out. :idontgeti

YMMV.

And in responding to this thread, please remember that resort bashing is to be avoided. Please see FAQs and Community/Posting Guidelines for further info. Thanks!! :)

[Blue&Gold]

Only time will tell whether this is truly a trend or a collection of anecdotes. As I believe there will continue to be new resorts developed, the dynamic will always be changing.

Also not to be overlooked is the fact that Disney is nearing the end of a huge promotional TV and print ad buy to push DL's 50th...

The only constant is change.

[AFMom]

We were able to switch from SSR (2bdrm) to OKW for the 1st week of Dec - and I didn't call day by day. We love SSR - but the in-laws wanted to try out OKW. I realize OKW has more inventory - so that probably helped - but I think it has always been the case that you'll have to be flexible with anything but your home resort......

[rantnnravin]

If one is always going to use the 11-7 month reservation window, then yes, BWYWTS is the rational conclusion. You are only "competing" with fellow residents. (it follows the same logic that if you must have a MK view at CR, then you should book a MK view tower room, rather than *hope* that your reservation i "upgraded" to that view at check-in) buuuuuut...... if you don't care about all that and just want to be on property, it doesn't really matter where you buy/reserve then, does it?
But at 7-months, i don't think there has ever been any kind of guarantee that you would be able to book at *any* resort, as you are then "competing" with all DVC members. (It only matters WHEN you reserve - because in both cases - DVC and CRO - there always stands the chance that the resort is sold out.)
That being the case, then perhaps, yes, the greater the number of members, the greater the competition for rooms. But that assumes that everyone is competing for the same rooms during the same time period. :teacher:

[withdisneyspirit]

Aren't I lucky that OKW is my favorite resort and where I own :woohoo: I will probably try others in time (we loved HHI!!) but I will always be happy to stay at OKW :beatinghe :goodvibes

[Deep-Thots]

Only time will tell whether this is truly a trend or a collection of anecdotes. As I believe there will continue to be new resorts developed, the dynamic will always be changing.


The only constant is change.

Good points. It's conceivable that DVC's next two resorts will be smaller and "connected" with a park (this guess is based solely on [probably] bogus info from my guide -- that AKL [most likely] or Contemporary would be one of the next DVCs). This would certainly change the dynamic of the 7-month window, especially since people seem to either *love* or *hate* the idea of a DVC at one of those resorts.

That "change" stuff sure is a pain in the rear, isn't it?? ;)

[Plutofan2]

I just booked a standard studio for one night and a 1BR preferred view for 7 nights at BWV during the F&W, 6 months out. :idontgeti

YMMV.

And in responding to this thread, please remember that resort bashing is to be avoided. Please see FAQs and Community/Posting Guidelines for further info. Thanks!! :)

Wow that is great. We were also lucky to get Beach club at 7 months out and a Grand Villa at HH 7 months out.

[cruise-o-matic]

We've had good luck so far booking at 7 months out...but I do it day by day.

There is a lot of focus on the size of SSR and the influx of new members buying into SSR means more competition at 7 months out.

But it's the ripple effect of SSR on the resale market that I think is the key. Over the past couple of years, the prices of the smaller resorts, BCV/BWV/VWL, and the growing waitlist for these resorts thru DVC....BCV in particular....have risen dramatically.

So what you have are more "gotta/wanta/needa/havea" buyers into these resorts for the 11 month booking advantage. Now there are a higher % of owners competing amongst themselves from 11-7 months, leaving fewer available rooms when the 7 month window opens for everyone else.

[Plutofan2]

Hopefully when the announce the next DVC resort it will be in high demand and help to easy the deamnd for the smaller resorts.

[greenban]

We've had good luck so far booking at 7 months out...but I do it day by day.

There is a lot of focus on the size of SSR and the influx of new members buying into SSR means more competition at 7 months out.

But it's the ripple effect of SSR on the resale market that I think is the key. Over the past couple of years, the prices of the smaller resorts, BCV/BWV/VWL, and the growing waitlist for these resorts thru DVC....BCV in particular....have risen dramatically.

So what you have are more "gotta/wanta/needa/havea" buyers into these resorts for the 11 month booking advantage. Now there are a higher % of owners competing amongst themselves from 11-7 months, leaving fewer available rooms when the 7 month window opens for everyone else.

I completely agree with cruise's logic here. I believe more inventory at 'the big three' is being reserved during months 11-7, leaving less available at 7 months, and I believe the high demand weeks are the first to go:

President's Week, Easter/Spring Break, Thanksgiving, December 1-14, Xmas-New Years week.

Yes this is only anectadotal, but it IS what I have experienced.

-Tony

[granny]

....you really need to consider buying where you want to stay and planning ahead. Any thoughts?
When I bought into DVC, the advice I received was to buy where I wanted to stay the most. Since WL was a location with a lot of strong emotional ties for my family, buying VWL was an easy decision. We knew if we only stayed there every year for 40 more years (at the time), that would be all right with us!

When we knew we needed more points, we purchased a resale at BWV. We enjoy that resort a lot, and wanted the "best shot" at Standard View rooms and Boardwalk View rooms.

I agree completely that if someone regularly books less than 7 months out, there is no difference in any DVC resort and you might as well purchase the one with the best value in purchase price and maintenance fees.

But for us, BWYWTS was excellent advice. To me, it comes down to this....

I view BWYWTS kind of in a similar view as insurance. True, someone may own DVC and never have a problem in 36 years getting into the DVC resort of choice within the 7 month mark. That could very well happen. But I didn't want to spend three more decades hoping that I could get something I really wanted at the 7 month mark, or playing the waitlist game.

So for us, buying where we know we will be happiest to stay made a lot of sense, even if it doesn't get a lot harder to book our home resorts of BWV and VWL. But for others, it may not be as important and I say more power to them.

For us, BWYWTS provides a peace of mind. And that's a huge part of any vacation experience. :)

[mushu]

Why I bought at BWV.