Do you have any questions about the DVC 7 month booking experience? Let me know! And if you've gone through this before how do you feel about it? Not gonna lie it was kind of stressful for me!
Haha, yes I'm definitely aware I talk fast, and there was a ton to cover in this video! I just didn't want it to be 45+ minutes long, so ya sometimes people need to slow it down or pause and rewind, etc. Thanks for watching and adjusting your speed settings to make this work for you!
Alrighty - I went down a deep 3 am rabbit hole of these videos last night. THANK YOU for sharing your dvc dissertation 🤣🤣 This is absolutely amazing. Your type A vibes are inspirational and incredibly helpful!!! In another video you talked about wanting to see exactly how the booking works prior to buying - you are a HERO for providing this and other resources for others - okay done gushing for now, bless you!!! What a hot dog channel 🌭
Cheers, Amanda - wow! I'm so happy it was helpful for you and lol "DVC dissertation" I absolutely love that term. And but SERIOULSY I don't understand why DVC doesn't have like a dummy website login for prospective customers (or maybe they do but it's just very well hidden?) for folks to play around in the interface. It's kind of a big deal if you don't wanna be on the phone with DVC cast members every time you want to book or do anything! It seems so obvious. But I will say as a "content creator" (I cringe at considering myself that, but whatever) this video took a LONG time to make. The behind the scenes ones are tough because my DVC membership ID, last name, phone number, email, reservation numbers, etc are plastered all over these pages so it's a lot of time going literally frame by frame to block out that information. But honestly it is proving helpful to folks like you so it's totally worth it. And hearing kind comments like this definitely makes me feel like it was time well spent! It's sounds like you are doing just a TON of digging into DVC -- if you ever have any questions please don't hesitate to drop a comment on whatever video and I'll do my best to help you out! Thanks again for the kind words =]
Hi Marlene, thanks for the kind words! I’m glad you found this helpful. If there’s other topics you’d like help exploring definitely let me know. Thanks again for watching and commenting your feedback!
Love your videos thanks. The whole thing seems quite stressful - So, I was planning on booking my original stay in two chunks, (say 5 nights and 5 nights) at my home resort, because apparently this means you can manually change these reservations online at 7 months without calling member services? As I'd be looking to stay at two different resorts for 5 nights each. But does that mean I need to check for availability 7 months before that first 5 days exactly and then again 7 months out for the second 5 days? I hope that makes sense! Also, I'd love you to do more availability videos - maybe looking at availability for one and two bedrooms at 7 months. Anyway, thanks for your help!!
It feels a lot like the Advance Dining Reservation day in terms of stress, yes haha. Like in the end it will probably work out eventually; is it all going to work out that first day things open up though? Ehhh probably not. For your question, I'm going to try to be concrete here for clarity. If I am misinterpreting your situation please let me know! You are able to modify a reservation that you've made without calling member services, yes. For example, I can't recall if I went over this in this video, but I believe we had made a 3 night Saratoga Springs reservation and then we called member services because we needed to buy a few one time use points to make another 1 night reservation, which we ultimately planned for at Beach Club but made it at Saratoga originally. In this case, had it been 3 nights Saratoga and 1 night Saratoga you can go in to each reservation individually to modify it on your own without calling member services. What actually happened with us was my partner called to buy the one time use points and the Cast Member offered to combine our 3 nights and 1 night into a single 4 night reservation (and my partner didnt know better to stop them from doing that lol), so then when we went to revise it to 1 night at Beach Club and 3 nights at BoardWalk we modified the Saratoga 4 nighter to the 3 night BoardWalk (in reality, a Cast Member did this for us via the waitlist), but then since there wasn't another reservation for the one night we just made a new reservation for Beach Club. That was a lot of words... basically if you book al 10 nights as one single reservation at your home resort, you CAN modify that to a 5 night somewhere else, but then you'll end up relinquishing the other 5 nights from your first booking. Of course you'll get your points back so can go in and book a new reservation no problem without contacting member services. For booking the two 5 night stays: So say your home resort is Bay Lake Tower, and you want to stay 5 nights at Poly and 5 nights at Beach Club. Then 11 months before the first chunk of your desired stay you can book the 5 nights at Bay Lake Tower, then 5 days later you can book the second 5 night chunk stay at Bay Lake Tower. Then yes, since these are separate reservations, your 7 month window opens up on different days. So 7 months prior to your first check in date you can modify the Bay Lake Tower to the Poly (if its available, or go on the waitlist and tell the Cast Members to replace your BLT reservation for the Poly). And then subsequently five days later you will be able to do the same thing for your second check in day, that second 5 night stay. That was probably more than you asked for... I tend to get verbose when I want to explain something clearly. I hope that helped! And again if I misunderstood your question please let me know more details and I'll get you a more relevant answer. Thanks for the feedback about the 2 bedrooms live look in -- I'll put it on the list!
Wow. Such great information I wouldn’t have even thought to ask. So far I’ve waitlisted one vacation (Dec with just my husband) and am trying to decide if I want to brave the heat of august to do a week with the kids (using our points plus some money we sunk into a vacation during covid that we can use as well). Looks like there is still availability at AKL which I think we’d all like. Decisions, decisions!
Oooohh yay trip with your husband - that sounds lovely! August is... rough. Ive been in September and that was a lot, August is surely worse. But that being said I mean if thats when you can go that's when you can go! Just plan to take breaks and stay hydrated!! AKL is really nice, I like it a lot. Honestly if you have a rental car I think it's a fantastic resort. The biggest bummer is the location, but a rental car helps out with that plenty. Keep me posted on your plans, Johna! So incredibly happy you've got your points to use now!!!
@@johnaesposito1737 Yeah! If you do it I would definitely go for the Kidani side for the parking situation (Jambo is just in the main lot). Depends on what villa size you are looking at though, since there is actually some pretty real differences between square feet in the same villa size for Kidani and Jambo. But yeah if you have a car I think youll have a wonderful time at AKL!!
@@PixieDustPhD yes. I really want to do a dedicated 2 bedroom since at kidani it has 3 bathrooms and (my understanding) 3 real beds. However, two studios is a lot cheaper. Because of that and lack of availability I may do a split stay, half in studios and half in a 2br, maybe waitlisting to go all 2 br if that works out. Not sure yet. I realize the clock is ticking on availability though so I’d better go for it. Although, if it isn’t available then it wasn’t meant to be and maybe I’ll do a shorter family trip in January (avoiding pulling girls out of school for too long) when the weather isn’t 🥵.
Oh. And I realize I could just book something then cancel if needed, but that isn’t the case with the credit I have at the point rental place (which will be a significant portion of the trip). They were generous to let us have the credit but made it clear that next time we book we won’t get to cancel.
If I have two reservations booked at my home resort but am hoping to modify them into one reservation at 7 months at a different resort can I do that online?
Yes for sure! You'll just modify the one you want to, and change up the resort (pending availability, of course). If the new resort reservation requires more points you will need to have those available to you!
Oh wow.... what an interesting question! I don't think I've ever thought about how I feel, just because it's been a policy the entire time I've known about DVC so just accepted it as fact. Ummm... I don't mind it honestly. I think the timeshare aspect is fundamentally different from a hotel in that it does cater to folks who plan ahead, and the idea is your plans are a bit more cemented (compared to the flexibility of a hotel booking). I see it as a way to dissuade people making "just in case" type bookings to then cancel relatively short term, which in my head kind of makes the landscape a little bit more fair for everyone. But I don't know, that's just my gut reaction and not a deeply formed thought. What do you think??
@@PixieDustPhD ya fairness is an issue. I'm in a pretty good situation where i can play with it quite a bit. like the trick where people can slide their start date after booking as long as the points are the same. things like this i am very interested in.
Yeah, "walking" a reservation. I don't have particularly strong feelings about that but a lot of people in the community do haha. TBH I have found if you're able to plan 11 months in advance, with very rare exception (peak holiday time looking at low inventory rooms), walking really is not necessary. But everyone has their own experiences, for sure!
How much was the one time use points? Are they available every year? Is is that hard to book? Pretty much impossible if I book 3 to 4 month before my date?
Hey Jason! Here's some answers to your questions: 1) Right now, one time use point at $19 per point and you can buy up to 24 each Use Year. The price is of course subject to change. 2) One time use point have historically been available I believe, yes. Though I do not recall reading about them in my ownership contract... I am not a legal expert in timeshares, but to me this does imply that in the future DVC may retain the right to take away one time use points. That being said, the point directly make them money (easy money at that, too), and because each member can only buy a handful the one time use points don't run the risk of flooding too many points into the system to make it untenable. I would be surprised if they ever took them away! 3) Is DVC hard to book in general? If you routinely plan your vacations 11+ months in advance then not at all. Your home resort priority makes it very easy. Other resorts open up to you at the 7 month booking window. For this, if you are a bit picky (have only ONE room type at ONE resort you want for EXACT travel dates you can't move, and you want to stay more than a few nights in a row) then it can be challenging. But if you are moderately flexible booking at 7 months is very doable, and for some resorts even 5 to 6 months in advance. I have a couple of videos showing you the 7 month booking window. Here's a look at 7 month availability for Sept 2022: ua-cam.com/video/Z0dzwtBmjq8/v-deo.html And here's a look at 7 month availability for early December 2022: ua-cam.com/video/zq6ikcTKFYg/v-deo.html 4) At 3 to 4 months in advance it gets considerably challenging, though it will matter when you're traveling (busy times like holidays or runDisney weekends, etc will be about impossible). Again, if you are flexible with your dates, resort, room size, and willing to do split stays (i.e., change rooms every night if needed) you can string something together often, but it probably won't be ideal. Here I was looking about 3 months out for a night in February: ua-cam.com/video/GOiZlUH7kX0/v-deo.html Note that DVC does have a waitlist, so you can always put yourself on the waitlist for nights. But it's never guaranteed that you'll match off the waitlsit, and the waitlist is a literal line so the earlier you join the better. You can learn more about that here: ua-cam.com/video/TKLJ9UnbNwg/v-deo.html I hope that's helpful!
Hi Your channel dropped into my news feed and it is so good 😄 I’m a UK DVC member so great to link in Simple question - I have banked points to be used by the end of the current use year I’m planning to make a reservation now and then modify at the 7 month window in August . Will DVC use the banked points for the modified reservation first and therefore the points from my current use year will be returned to the account ( I plan to bank most of them for next year )? Hope that makes sense and really helpful before I go online 😄
Hi Kathleen! Thanks for the kind words, and woohoo on your DVC membership! I'd love to try to help you out but first I want to let you know I have yet to have banked points myself, so don't have first hand experience doing this. But I do know the rules pretty well. And second, I think I may need a bit more detail to fully understand your question. Do you only have one contract? So you have banked points from the prior Use Year at your single home resort, and you are going to book your home resort at 11 months out with a mix of all your banked point and a small amount of current points (which you plan to modify at 7 months, to a stay that will cost less points)? If so, you can use your banked points to make that initial 11 month reservation. Then when you go to modify it at 7 months you should again get to choose the point allocations, so then use using your banked points first, and having your current use year points return to the current use year. (Also I am assuming your 11 month and 7 month reservation would be for a trip where the trip falls within your current use year so those banked points don't expire -- you seem to be on top of that aspect though!) If you have multiple contracts this gets trickier, as banked points retain their home resort for that 11 month window time frame. If you do have multiple contracts if you wouldn't mind sharing more concrete details I can probably help out in less vague terms! Let me know if I am misunderstanding anything about your situation, or if I can clarify anything I said!
@@PixieDustPhD Thanks - that’s helpful - just about to make a reservation at the 11 month window - for March ( Spring break time !!! ) so there might not be too much choice at the 7 month window 😄. We’ve been members since 2002 and it’s interesting and good that DVC is evolving . Well I think so 😂 You probably know but if there’s any UK perspective you’re interested in I might know x
@@kathleengormley4354 Oh wow 2002! You got in early! Your monetary value is MASSIVE, good for you. I haven't been paying attention for nearly that long, but even since I have been (~2016 or so) it has definitely been changing. I can't imagine the changes since the early 2000s... feels like it might be day and night haha. Thanks!! I'll definitely let you know if there's anything UK specific I'm curious about!
Congratulations on a diligent job! It's very helpful to see the 7-month booking process in action. I like that you don't have to stay committed to your original reservation, which seems like something Disney would require. Like you, I'm a detail-oriented person who would envision various scenarios and be persistent about tinkering with my reservation (and probably enjoy the process.) The resort hopping is an interesting option. This is something that would not work well for people traveling with children, and I think it's something that would appeal more to younger adults in general. I'm 51 and while I'd be OK with it personally, I can't see asking my similarly aged friends or my 75-year old mother to do it, and these are the people I'd be traveling with (not at the same time, mind you!) I know Disney makes it relatively easy as they deliver your luggage, but check in and check out can be a bother. I am very impressed by the availabilty you found at the 7-month mark. I wonder how this would look at other travel times and, especially, in the months going forward as more and more DVC owners want to return to WDW and attempt to redeem points banked during the pandemic. It will be interesting to see how Disney deals with this problem. I see a limit or end to one-time use points. I also predict more contracts on the resale market as people with little travel flexibility get fed up with paying dues for something they can't use easily.
For sure split stays aren't for everyone, but I want to try to make the most of my points and certainly now when availability seems higher than usual it feels great to grab Beach Club and cheap BoardWalk, lol. Yeah I really feel like 7 month availability lately has been quite unusual, as you pointed out, due to the pandemic. Also once they un-restrict borrowing points (it's 50% right now instead of 100%) I wonder/am nervous about availability. I don't personally see them limiting one time use points. In the scheme of things, 24 points per year per contract is such a small amount (max 3 nights, really, in many instances not even 1 night hahah) and it's easy cash for them, and it's pretty popular/they know the members love it. I'm not sure if that's written into the fine print of the contract ownership also... if it is, obviously it can't easily be changed like those incidental member benefits. The resale market has been absolutely wild lately and I am not even going to bother trying to predict anything there haha. And yeah the flexibility is nice. Just note if you borrow points to make a reservation even though that reservation is "flexible" you can't "unborrow" the points... so you want to make sure whatever you end up borrowing you will use!
@@PixieDustPhD Borrowing points is way off my radar since I don't actually have points yet! I really wonder how the resale market will be, going forward. Hopefully in my favor! I will reach out to you as I get closer to my purchase time. I want to know how much wiggle room is expected between the stated price on resale sites and the actual price paid. I hear about prices for AKV, OKW and SSR, my most likely home resorts, that are considerably lower than what I see on resale sites. My gut tells me that prices have not shot up that much in the last few months, but stranger things have happened!
@@nycp1969 Prices right now are WEIRD. I admittedly dont really track AKL/SSR/OKW, but like BLT prices have shot up a ton the past handful of months and I have no idea why. I'm hoping things will settle back down before it's time for you to buy! You should check out the DVC Resale Market blog -- at least one a quarter, but usually one a month, they post their resale data. Now, that's only one site, and prices for contracts vary a ton pending on how many points they're for, but it's a really helpful guide in my opinion to know what is/is not a "good" price! Here is their June 2021 blog and you can see average prices by resort going back the past year: www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/dvc-resale-average-sales-prices-for-june-2021/
@@PixieDustPhD Hmmm...I wonder if there is a seasonality thing. Maybe a purchase in the winter months is more advantageous than one in the summer months? I also wonder if people will be selling more in the months to come when, as I expect, booking will become more difficult as people attempt to use banked points and possibly can not.
Do you have any questions about the DVC 7 month booking experience? Let me know! And if you've gone through this before how do you feel about it? Not gonna lie it was kind of stressful for me!
So much information that I had to slow the video down at x.75 speed
Thanks for the content! 👍
Haha, yes I'm definitely aware I talk fast, and there was a ton to cover in this video! I just didn't want it to be 45+ minutes long, so ya sometimes people need to slow it down or pause and rewind, etc. Thanks for watching and adjusting your speed settings to make this work for you!
I’m not a DVC member, so this is very helpful. Thanks.
Cheers, Jason! Thanks for watching and for the kind words. I hope your DVC exploration proves fruitful!
Alrighty - I went down a deep 3 am rabbit hole of these videos last night. THANK YOU for sharing your dvc dissertation 🤣🤣 This is absolutely amazing. Your type A vibes are inspirational and incredibly helpful!!! In another video you talked about wanting to see exactly how the booking works prior to buying - you are a HERO for providing this and other resources for others - okay done gushing for now, bless you!!! What a hot dog channel 🌭
Cheers, Amanda - wow! I'm so happy it was helpful for you and lol "DVC dissertation" I absolutely love that term. And but SERIOULSY I don't understand why DVC doesn't have like a dummy website login for prospective customers (or maybe they do but it's just very well hidden?) for folks to play around in the interface. It's kind of a big deal if you don't wanna be on the phone with DVC cast members every time you want to book or do anything! It seems so obvious. But I will say as a "content creator" (I cringe at considering myself that, but whatever) this video took a LONG time to make. The behind the scenes ones are tough because my DVC membership ID, last name, phone number, email, reservation numbers, etc are plastered all over these pages so it's a lot of time going literally frame by frame to block out that information. But honestly it is proving helpful to folks like you so it's totally worth it. And hearing kind comments like this definitely makes me feel like it was time well spent!
It's sounds like you are doing just a TON of digging into DVC -- if you ever have any questions please don't hesitate to drop a comment on whatever video and I'll do my best to help you out! Thanks again for the kind words =]
Thanks for the video, so helpful as a new dvc member
Hi Marlene, thanks for the kind words! I’m glad you found this helpful. If there’s other topics you’d like help exploring definitely let me know. Thanks again for watching and commenting your feedback!
thx for step by step! u r the best mind reader ever!
You’re welcome Rosy! I am so glad we do often seem to be on the same page, haha. Thanks for watching and commenting 😀 I appreciate you!!
Love your videos thanks. The whole thing seems quite stressful - So, I was planning on booking my original stay in two chunks, (say 5 nights and 5 nights) at my home resort, because apparently this means you can manually change these reservations online at 7 months without calling member services? As I'd be looking to stay at two different resorts for 5 nights each. But does that mean I need to check for availability 7 months before that first 5 days exactly and then again 7 months out for the second 5 days? I hope that makes sense! Also, I'd love you to do more availability videos - maybe looking at availability for one and two bedrooms at 7 months. Anyway, thanks for your help!!
It feels a lot like the Advance Dining Reservation day in terms of stress, yes haha. Like in the end it will probably work out eventually; is it all going to work out that first day things open up though? Ehhh probably not.
For your question, I'm going to try to be concrete here for clarity. If I am misinterpreting your situation please let me know!
You are able to modify a reservation that you've made without calling member services, yes. For example, I can't recall if I went over this in this video, but I believe we had made a 3 night Saratoga Springs reservation and then we called member services because we needed to buy a few one time use points to make another 1 night reservation, which we ultimately planned for at Beach Club but made it at Saratoga originally. In this case, had it been 3 nights Saratoga and 1 night Saratoga you can go in to each reservation individually to modify it on your own without calling member services. What actually happened with us was my partner called to buy the one time use points and the Cast Member offered to combine our 3 nights and 1 night into a single 4 night reservation (and my partner didnt know better to stop them from doing that lol), so then when we went to revise it to 1 night at Beach Club and 3 nights at BoardWalk we modified the Saratoga 4 nighter to the 3 night BoardWalk (in reality, a Cast Member did this for us via the waitlist), but then since there wasn't another reservation for the one night we just made a new reservation for Beach Club. That was a lot of words... basically if you book al 10 nights as one single reservation at your home resort, you CAN modify that to a 5 night somewhere else, but then you'll end up relinquishing the other 5 nights from your first booking. Of course you'll get your points back so can go in and book a new reservation no problem without contacting member services.
For booking the two 5 night stays:
So say your home resort is Bay Lake Tower, and you want to stay 5 nights at Poly and 5 nights at Beach Club. Then 11 months before the first chunk of your desired stay you can book the 5 nights at Bay Lake Tower, then 5 days later you can book the second 5 night chunk stay at Bay Lake Tower. Then yes, since these are separate reservations, your 7 month window opens up on different days. So 7 months prior to your first check in date you can modify the Bay Lake Tower to the Poly (if its available, or go on the waitlist and tell the Cast Members to replace your BLT reservation for the Poly). And then subsequently five days later you will be able to do the same thing for your second check in day, that second 5 night stay.
That was probably more than you asked for... I tend to get verbose when I want to explain something clearly. I hope that helped! And again if I misunderstood your question please let me know more details and I'll get you a more relevant answer.
Thanks for the feedback about the 2 bedrooms live look in -- I'll put it on the list!
Awesome video!!!
Thanks for tuning in and commenting your support! It means a lot!
Wow. Such great information I wouldn’t have even thought to ask. So far I’ve waitlisted one vacation (Dec with just my husband) and am trying to decide if I want to brave the heat of august to do a week with the kids (using our points plus some money we sunk into a vacation during covid that we can use as well). Looks like there is still availability at AKL which I think we’d all like. Decisions, decisions!
Oooohh yay trip with your husband - that sounds lovely! August is... rough. Ive been in September and that was a lot, August is surely worse. But that being said I mean if thats when you can go that's when you can go! Just plan to take breaks and stay hydrated!!
AKL is really nice, I like it a lot. Honestly if you have a rental car I think it's a fantastic resort. The biggest bummer is the location, but a rental car helps out with that plenty.
Keep me posted on your plans, Johna! So incredibly happy you've got your points to use now!!!
@@PixieDustPhD ya. We’d drive and the underground parking at Kidani (?) I sounds like a win in august.
@@johnaesposito1737 Yeah! If you do it I would definitely go for the Kidani side for the parking situation (Jambo is just in the main lot). Depends on what villa size you are looking at though, since there is actually some pretty real differences between square feet in the same villa size for Kidani and Jambo. But yeah if you have a car I think youll have a wonderful time at AKL!!
@@PixieDustPhD yes. I really want to do a dedicated 2 bedroom since at kidani it has 3 bathrooms and (my understanding) 3 real beds. However, two studios is a lot cheaper. Because of that and lack of availability I may do a split stay, half in studios and half in a 2br, maybe waitlisting to go all 2 br if that works out. Not sure yet. I realize the clock is ticking on availability though so I’d better go for it. Although, if it isn’t available then it wasn’t meant to be and maybe I’ll do a shorter family trip in January (avoiding pulling girls out of school for too long) when the weather isn’t 🥵.
Oh. And I realize I could just book something then cancel if needed, but that isn’t the case with the credit I have at the point rental place (which will be a significant portion of the trip). They were generous to let us have the credit but made it clear that next time we book we won’t get to cancel.
If I have two reservations booked at my home resort but am hoping to modify them into one reservation at 7 months at a different resort can I do that online?
Yes for sure! You'll just modify the one you want to, and change up the resort (pending availability, of course). If the new resort reservation requires more points you will need to have those available to you!
how do you feel about borrowed points being set to current use year when cancelling?
Oh wow.... what an interesting question! I don't think I've ever thought about how I feel, just because it's been a policy the entire time I've known about DVC so just accepted it as fact.
Ummm... I don't mind it honestly. I think the timeshare aspect is fundamentally different from a hotel in that it does cater to folks who plan ahead, and the idea is your plans are a bit more cemented (compared to the flexibility of a hotel booking). I see it as a way to dissuade people making "just in case" type bookings to then cancel relatively short term, which in my head kind of makes the landscape a little bit more fair for everyone. But I don't know, that's just my gut reaction and not a deeply formed thought. What do you think??
@@PixieDustPhD ya fairness is an issue. I'm in a pretty good situation where i can play with it quite a bit. like the trick where people can slide their start date after booking as long as the points are the same. things like this i am very interested in.
Yeah, "walking" a reservation. I don't have particularly strong feelings about that but a lot of people in the community do haha. TBH I have found if you're able to plan 11 months in advance, with very rare exception (peak holiday time looking at low inventory rooms), walking really is not necessary. But everyone has their own experiences, for sure!
How much was the one time use points? Are they available every year? Is is that hard to book? Pretty much impossible if I book 3 to 4 month before my date?
Hey Jason! Here's some answers to your questions:
1) Right now, one time use point at $19 per point and you can buy up to 24 each Use Year. The price is of course subject to change.
2) One time use point have historically been available I believe, yes. Though I do not recall reading about them in my ownership contract... I am not a legal expert in timeshares, but to me this does imply that in the future DVC may retain the right to take away one time use points. That being said, the point directly make them money (easy money at that, too), and because each member can only buy a handful the one time use points don't run the risk of flooding too many points into the system to make it untenable. I would be surprised if they ever took them away!
3) Is DVC hard to book in general? If you routinely plan your vacations 11+ months in advance then not at all. Your home resort priority makes it very easy. Other resorts open up to you at the 7 month booking window. For this, if you are a bit picky (have only ONE room type at ONE resort you want for EXACT travel dates you can't move, and you want to stay more than a few nights in a row) then it can be challenging. But if you are moderately flexible booking at 7 months is very doable, and for some resorts even 5 to 6 months in advance. I have a couple of videos showing you the 7 month booking window.
Here's a look at 7 month availability for Sept 2022: ua-cam.com/video/Z0dzwtBmjq8/v-deo.html
And here's a look at 7 month availability for early December 2022: ua-cam.com/video/zq6ikcTKFYg/v-deo.html
4) At 3 to 4 months in advance it gets considerably challenging, though it will matter when you're traveling (busy times like holidays or runDisney weekends, etc will be about impossible). Again, if you are flexible with your dates, resort, room size, and willing to do split stays (i.e., change rooms every night if needed) you can string something together often, but it probably won't be ideal.
Here I was looking about 3 months out for a night in February: ua-cam.com/video/GOiZlUH7kX0/v-deo.html
Note that DVC does have a waitlist, so you can always put yourself on the waitlist for nights. But it's never guaranteed that you'll match off the waitlsit, and the waitlist is a literal line so the earlier you join the better. You can learn more about that here: ua-cam.com/video/TKLJ9UnbNwg/v-deo.html
I hope that's helpful!
Hi
Your channel dropped into my news feed and it is so good 😄 I’m a UK DVC member so great to link in
Simple question - I have banked points to be used by the end of the current use year
I’m planning to make a reservation now and then modify at the 7 month window in August . Will DVC use the banked points for the modified reservation first and therefore the points from my current use year will be returned to the account ( I plan to bank most of them for next year )?
Hope that makes sense and really helpful before I go online 😄
Hi Kathleen! Thanks for the kind words, and woohoo on your DVC membership!
I'd love to try to help you out but first I want to let you know I have yet to have banked points myself, so don't have first hand experience doing this. But I do know the rules pretty well. And second, I think I may need a bit more detail to fully understand your question.
Do you only have one contract? So you have banked points from the prior Use Year at your single home resort, and you are going to book your home resort at 11 months out with a mix of all your banked point and a small amount of current points (which you plan to modify at 7 months, to a stay that will cost less points)? If so, you can use your banked points to make that initial 11 month reservation. Then when you go to modify it at 7 months you should again get to choose the point allocations, so then use using your banked points first, and having your current use year points return to the current use year. (Also I am assuming your 11 month and 7 month reservation would be for a trip where the trip falls within your current use year so those banked points don't expire -- you seem to be on top of that aspect though!)
If you have multiple contracts this gets trickier, as banked points retain their home resort for that 11 month window time frame. If you do have multiple contracts if you wouldn't mind sharing more concrete details I can probably help out in less vague terms!
Let me know if I am misunderstanding anything about your situation, or if I can clarify anything I said!
@@PixieDustPhD Thanks - that’s helpful - just about to make a reservation at the 11 month window - for March ( Spring break time !!! ) so there might not be too much choice at the 7 month window 😄. We’ve been members since 2002 and it’s interesting and good that DVC is evolving . Well I think so 😂
You probably know but if there’s any UK perspective you’re interested in I might know x
@@kathleengormley4354 Oh wow 2002! You got in early! Your monetary value is MASSIVE, good for you. I haven't been paying attention for nearly that long, but even since I have been (~2016 or so) it has definitely been changing. I can't imagine the changes since the early 2000s... feels like it might be day and night haha. Thanks!! I'll definitely let you know if there's anything UK specific I'm curious about!
Congratulations on a diligent job! It's very helpful to see the 7-month booking process in action. I like that you don't have to stay committed to your original reservation, which seems like something Disney would require. Like you, I'm a detail-oriented person who would envision various scenarios and be persistent about tinkering with my reservation (and probably enjoy the process.) The resort hopping is an interesting option. This is something that would not work well for people traveling with children, and I think it's something that would appeal more to younger adults in general. I'm 51 and while I'd be OK with it personally, I can't see asking my similarly aged friends or my 75-year old mother to do it, and these are the people I'd be traveling with (not at the same time, mind you!) I know Disney makes it relatively easy as they deliver your luggage, but check in and check out can be a bother. I am very impressed by the availabilty you found at the 7-month mark. I wonder how this would look at other travel times and, especially, in the months going forward as more and more DVC owners want to return to WDW and attempt to redeem points banked during the pandemic. It will be interesting to see how Disney deals with this problem. I see a limit or end to one-time use points. I also predict more contracts on the resale market as people with little travel flexibility get fed up with paying dues for something they can't use easily.
For sure split stays aren't for everyone, but I want to try to make the most of my points and certainly now when availability seems higher than usual it feels great to grab Beach Club and cheap BoardWalk, lol. Yeah I really feel like 7 month availability lately has been quite unusual, as you pointed out, due to the pandemic. Also once they un-restrict borrowing points (it's 50% right now instead of 100%) I wonder/am nervous about availability. I don't personally see them limiting one time use points. In the scheme of things, 24 points per year per contract is such a small amount (max 3 nights, really, in many instances not even 1 night hahah) and it's easy cash for them, and it's pretty popular/they know the members love it. I'm not sure if that's written into the fine print of the contract ownership also... if it is, obviously it can't easily be changed like those incidental member benefits. The resale market has been absolutely wild lately and I am not even going to bother trying to predict anything there haha.
And yeah the flexibility is nice. Just note if you borrow points to make a reservation even though that reservation is "flexible" you can't "unborrow" the points... so you want to make sure whatever you end up borrowing you will use!
@@PixieDustPhD Borrowing points is way off my radar since I don't actually have points yet! I really wonder how the resale market will be, going forward. Hopefully in my favor! I will reach out to you as I get closer to my purchase time. I want to know how much wiggle room is expected between the stated price on resale sites and the actual price paid. I hear about prices for AKV, OKW and SSR, my most likely home resorts, that are considerably lower than what I see on resale sites. My gut tells me that prices have not shot up that much in the last few months, but stranger things have happened!
@@nycp1969 Prices right now are WEIRD. I admittedly dont really track AKL/SSR/OKW, but like BLT prices have shot up a ton the past handful of months and I have no idea why. I'm hoping things will settle back down before it's time for you to buy! You should check out the DVC Resale Market blog -- at least one a quarter, but usually one a month, they post their resale data. Now, that's only one site, and prices for contracts vary a ton pending on how many points they're for, but it's a really helpful guide in my opinion to know what is/is not a "good" price! Here is their June 2021 blog and you can see average prices by resort going back the past year: www.dvcresalemarket.com/blog/dvc-resale-average-sales-prices-for-june-2021/
@@PixieDustPhD This is great data! Thanks! I'm going to take a look now.
@@PixieDustPhD Hmmm...I wonder if there is a seasonality thing. Maybe a purchase in the winter months is more advantageous than one in the summer months? I also wonder if people will be selling more in the months to come when, as I expect, booking will become more difficult as people attempt to use banked points and possibly can not.