Looking at renting DVC for our next trip. Going during off-season. I have a resort reservation through Disney as a back-up. Just curious about how much luck people have had getting their first request (or second). Anyone not been able to get something? Better luck near 11 months or at the 7 month mark, or no difference?
Where are you trying to stay? Most have good availability at 10-11 months out, though beach club is notoriously difficult as it’s very popular but one of the smallest. Standard views and studios also go much faster than upgraded views and 1 br it seems.
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We are trying for 1 night at Bay Lake and 6 nights at Beach Club. Went with a studio for the extra pull-down bed so our kids could have separate beds, but a 1-bedroom would work too. Went with Boardwalk as a back-up, but really want Beach Club for the pool and proximity to Epcot.
The most popular time for DVC is mid-September through January. Bookings is early December are notoriously hard to get at any resort after the home booking period.
In general, studios are the hardest room type to book.
For a late May trip, we were unable to get our first choice, AKL value studio, at 11 months because the broker (David’s) didn’t have an owner with the points. There are very few value studios and they typically book up in the first hour or 2 of the 11 month window opening. We were able to book our 2nd choice, a Boulder Ridge studio that day. Our other back-ups were BW and BC; we wouold have had to wait maybe a day to get points.
We booked through DVC Rental Store twice, first at BCV in 2017 and second at BWV in 2019 (both first choice resorts at the time). Both were booked at about 8 months out and were booked within 1 day the first time and about 3 hours the second time. Guess we got lucky and they had people with points available. Both stays were the first week of April, so during busy Spring Break. I did not want to wait until the 7 month mark as I felt like it would be too much of a gamble, and we really wanted those resorts due to location. I wasn’t ready to book at 11 months though, just wasn’t sure of our plans that far in advance. Both were studios with the 3rd bed, which works great so kids don’t have to sleep together. I preferred BCV to BWV, but not by much, they were both great stays. Good luck!
We were torn between Beach Club and Boardwalk for our stay in late Jan 2020. Given weather and a busy schedule, we didn’t expect pool to be a factor and it wasn’t as we never swam. The vibe of Beach Club seemed a bit better but we liked that Boardwalk was closer to Hollywood Studios (and while Beach is closer to Epcot, all the resorts are closer to Epcot then HS). In the end, we tried both resorts and tried both DVC and Dave’s and the 2BR we wanted came through via DVC at Boardwalk first (after maybe 2 days, about 8.5 months out). We were very happy with it and enjoyed the street performers, the Boardwalk lawn and community hall, and the easy walk to HS. If going in a warmer time of year, though, I think the pool at Beach Club would give it the edge but not enough to justify staying at Disney villa prices vs. renting points at Boardwalk, in my opinion. Good luck!
Are you looking for a 1 bedroom or a studio at Bay Lake?
A studio standard view will be very difficult to secure due to the limited supply. Definitely, try at the 11 month mark.
The 1 bedrooms tend to stick around a little bit longer. For a standard view, you should still put in your reservation at the 11 month mark. We got our 1 bedroom studio around 10 months out for our 2020 May trip.
For our May 2020 trip, we worked with the DVC Rental Store. We wanted a split stay between a BLT 1 bedroom (2 nights) and a Poly or BC studios (5 nights). We secured our BLT 1 bedroom first and were still waiting for home resort points at BC or Poly 10 months out. At this point, I switched my preferred resort to Boardwalk for a faster studio booking (this portion of our stay was over Memorial Day weekend and I was concerned about availability). Only Pool/Garden views were left for BW studios which I was okay with.
Those AKL value studios disappear in seconds after the booking window opens. In fact to be honest they’re often walked for several weeks beforehand. Even AKL owners find it hard to get one.
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We are hoping for a theme park view studio at BLT (a surprise for my husband since our kids don’t like fireworks and he never gets to see them).
I put our requests in right at the 11 month mark. Just waiting for an owner with points. Sounds like I should be able to get something. I just need to be patient, which is not easy for me.
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That room should be easier to book but what month are you saying “off-season”. In DVC terms I might think summer.
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We put in a request for 5 nights in a standard studio at BCV for late September 2020, right at the 11 month mark with DVC Rental Store…it came through in the end, but it took about 3 weeks. I’m also not good at waiting and kept checking back on the DVC availability page to see if it was still showing availability for my dates in order to keep my hopes. If your dates are flexible at all, have you looked at the dedicated reservations? I had secretly been wanting to plan a December trip as well before my annual pass runs out (talk about Disney math making me crazy) and I stumbled across a dedicated reservation on David’s for a BWV standard studio for early December, I knew it wouldn’t last long and convinced my husband that we couldn’t afford not to jump on it for that price…so, long story, by the end of the year I’ll be able to compare the two
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Early January. I used “off-season” to mean the cheaper seasons per the DVC rental calendars. I should have been more clear.
Early January is still peak time because of the races. And the cheaper times points-wise are the busiest for DVC bookings amongst those who can be flexible.
Do you know how your dates fit in with the race weekend? Pretty sure the races start on the Thursday all the way through to the Sunday. It used to be the first weekend after New Year, but this year it was pushed back, probably due to the way the dates fell. Next year New Year is a Friday, so I would expect the races to start on Thurs 7th. That weekend will be crazy busy for DVC.
January 3-10 so the last part will overlap with the races and the first might have some holiday visitors still. Not my choice. I wanted to go in February, but January worked best for everyone else (the rest of the group is not using DVC so not concerned about the larger group being able to find rooms).
Apparently there is availability the issue is finding the points right now. I know availability can change, but currently that is not the problem.
We aren’t that flexible as far as dates. A day or two on each end would be the most we’d want to move it around since we are doing a week in Orlando before the Disney portion and the kids have to get back to school. We’d be more flexible on the resort, room type, or doing split stays at 3 resorts if that made it easier. We loved AKL, but it is so far from the other parks that we wanted something closer this time. It would be fine to be at AKL for our AK days toward the end of the trip.
Fingers crossed. Still plenty of time. 
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We booked animal kingdom through DVC at 11 months out for Thanksgiving and we didn’t have any trouble. I think if going during a busy time of year you may want to look 11 months out.
BC is really high on my list too! Next May I’m hoping to do a split stay between BC and CC (our home resort). However, I am reconsidered BWV over BC after DH and I stayed at BWV last week. I think I would go crazy trying to keep up with my kids at BC’s pool and I don’t know that they are old enough for me to be comfortable not being able to see everyone. BW’s pool seems like it’d be way easier to keep tabs on everyone. Just food for thought.
Good point. Not too worried for us since my kids are not great swimmers yet (still learning) so they don’t go more than an arm length or two away while swimming. I could definitely see how it could be an issue. The pool at BC is almost like its own water park!
Just received an email. No more availability for Beach Club at almost 11 months out.
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Bummer. Sorry it didn’t work out.
Beach Club is a tougher one to get. And as a side note, I have no idea why they ask for a second and third choice. The last time I rented, I put in for Beach Club as primary, but Boardwalk as secondary. They told me I had to pick one as that’s how the waitlist works. I ended up giving up Beach Club because I knew there were far more Boardwalk studios (and they did eventually come through with Boardwalk). But why even ask?