Considering purchasing BWV - How hard is it to get a GV for Christmas at 11-months?

[Disneymooner07]

We are *this* close to buying something but I just can't decide where!

We want to be able to reserve a Grand Villa for Christmas on occasion (maybe multiple times), so we're leaning toward AKV or BWV since they have Grand Villas and are not too badly priced on the resale market. My question is this: even if we own at BWV, is it still going to be nearly impossible to get a Grand Villa at Christmas since there are so few of them? If it's still going to be difficult to get a guaranteed BWV Grand Villa at that time of year, then should we just buy at AKV so we'll be have a much better chance of scoring a Grand Villa for Christmas?

[ToddyLu]

For the cost I would purchase points at the resort I liked best. You will have the contract for a very long time and things will change around the holidays for people through the years. It sounds like you really love BWV, so that is where I would buy. If you cannot get a GV then maybe 2-2 bedrooms. I was able to get 2 value studios 2 years in a row at AKV at my 11month mark.

[jekjones1558]

Originally Posted by Disneymooner07

We are *this* close to buying something but I just can't decide where!

We want to be able to reserve a Grand Villa for Christmas on occasion (maybe multiple times), so we're leaning toward AKV or BWV since they have Grand Villas and are not too badly priced on the resale market. My question is this: even if we own at BWV, is it still going to be nearly impossible to get a Grand Villa at Christmas since there are so few of them? If it's still going to be difficult to get a guaranteed BWV Grand Villa at that time of year, then should we just buy at AKV so we'll be have a much better chance of scoring a Grand Villa for Christmas?

GVs at BWV are usually hard to book, but your odds are very good if you go online at 7:00 ET at exactly 11 months. I have not booked a GV at BWV for Christmas but have booked for F&W, which is also a tough time. I had no problem. The views from the BWV GVs are fantastic. And LOTS of balcony space!

[Disneymooner07]

Originally Posted by ToddyLu

For the cost I would purchase points at the resort I liked best. You will have the contract for a very long time and things will change around the holidays for people through the years. It sounds like you really love BWV, so that is where I would buy. If you cannot get a GV then maybe 2-2 bedrooms. I was able to get 2 value studios 2 years in a row at AKV at my 11month mark.

It's funny, I'm actually pretty 50-50 on them. I see the pros and cons of each based on location, dining, rooms, etc. I think I would actually prefer BCV over both of them, but it doesn't have Grand Villas! I'm just a little worried that if we get BWV because it has Grand Villas and then it ends up really hard to actually book at Grand Villa, I'll be disappointed - if we just have to book a 2BR and a studio or something like that, then I might as well buy at BCV, right? So torn...

Originally Posted by jekjones1558

GVs at BWV are usually hard to book, but your odds are very good if you go online at 7:00 ET at exactly 11 months. I have not booked a GV at BWV for Christmas but have booked for F&W, which is also a tough time. I had no problem. The views from the BWV GVs are fantastic. And LOTS of balcony space!

That's very useful, thank you! I would definitely be booking online at the first possible minute - I guess I just worry that more than 7 other people will have the same idea What about Animal Kingdom Grand Villas (or Grand Villas at other resorts)? Do you think those are likely available at Christmas at the 7-month mark in case we buy at BWV but can't get a Grand Villa at Christmas, will it be possible to get a Grand Villa at another resort for Christmas?

[drusba]

Cannot guarantee the future but this year at 11 months out you could get a BWV GV for Christmas time. That is also true of AKV. That is generally true year round. The risk of being blocked out at 11 months out for a BWV GV is actually highest the first week of December. That week rather than Christmas week is DVC's highest demand week of the year.

[ELMC]

Originally Posted by Disneymooner07

That's very useful, thank you! I would definitely be booking online at the first possible minute - I guess I just worry that more than 7 other people will have the same idea What about Animal Kingdom Grand Villas (or Grand Villas at other resorts)? Do you think those are likely available at Christmas at the 7-month mark in case we buy at BWV but can't get a Grand Villa at Christmas, will it be possible to get a Grand Villa at another resort for Christmas?

I highly doubt that there will be any GV availability during Christmas week at the 7 month window.

One helpful tip...you can "walk" your reservation for your GV so you can actually book 7 days before your check in date. Then each day you will need to cancel the first day of your trip and add one day to the end. It's a decent amount of work, but you will most likely need to do this if you want to "guarantee" a GV during one of the busiest times of the year.

[drusba]

Also note for your decision-making the following about GVs in case you want to own at one place but get them at another once in a while. At 7 months out for about 85% of the year, BWV GVs are booked before 7 months out. The time they are available at 7 months out varies but it is usually latter part of summer (time during Aug to Sep) and sometimes early Feb or May. AKV GVs tend to be open at 7 months out most of the year except time from just before Thanksgiving through Dec is very difficult. OKW GVs are similar to that except the OKW GVs near Hospitality House (a booking category) tend to disappear much of the year by 7 months out. BLT GVs are usually open at 7 months out Jan through just before the end of Sep and then are very difficult the last three months of the year. You can get SSR GVs year round at 7 months out including Christmas week. Finally, some design issues. BWV has four single story and two two story GVs. The single story are the most impressive but it is not a guaranteed booking category. BLT's are all two story but are very impressive because of the floor to ceiling living room windows where the ceiling is very high. OKW and SSR are all two story. AKV Jambo are all single story and Kidani are two story and the building is a booking category. The Jambo GVs are in my view the best on site because they are single story, have huge porches overlooking the savanna, and even have a pool table.

[Disneymooner07]

Originally Posted by drusba

Cannot guarantee the future but this year at 11 months out you could get a BWV GV for Christmas time. That is also true of AKV. That is generally true year round. The risk of being blocked out at 11 months out for a BWV GV is actually highest the first week of December. That week rather than Christmas week is DVC's highest demand week of the year.

Ah, very useful information, thank you! I guess the lower points at the beginning of December are a huge draw. I have to admit, the points needed for a GV around Christmas kind of make my hair go I think I need to start setting my expectations for getting a GV more at other times of the year rather than Christmas!

Originally Posted by ELMC

I highly doubt that there will be any GV availability during Christmas week at the 7 month window.

One helpful tip...you can "walk" your reservation for your GV so you can actually book 7 days before your check in date. Then each day you will need to cancel the first day of your trip and add one day to the end. It's a decent amount of work, but you will most likely need to do this if you want to "guarantee" a GV during one of the busiest times of the year.

Thanks for the information! But I'm kind of confused by how "walking" your reservation works and how it helps? Sorry if this is a well-understood concept! I haven't heard of it until just now

Originally Posted by drusba

Also note for your decision-making the following about GVs in case you want to own at one place but get them at another once in a while. At 7 months out for about 85% of the year, BWV GVs are booked before 7 months out. The time they are available at 7 months out varies but it is usually latter part of summer (time during Aug to Sep) and sometimes early Feb or May. AKV GVs tend to be open at 7 months out most of the year except time from just before Thanksgiving through Dec is very difficult. OKW GVs are similar to that except the OKW GVs near Hospitality House (a booking category) tend to disappear much of the year by 7 months out. BLT GVs are usually open at 7 months out Jan through just before the end of Sep and then are very difficult the last three months of the year. You can get SSR GVs year round at 7 months out including Christmas week. Finally, some design issues. BWV has four single story and two two story GVs. The single story are the most impressive but it is not a guaranteed booking category. BLT's are all two story but are very impressive because of the floor to ceiling living room windows where the ceiling is very high. OKW and SSR are all two story. AKV Jambo are all single story and Kidani are two story and the building is a booking category. The Jambo GVs are in my view the best on site because they are single story, have huge porches overlooking the savanna, and even have a pool table.

WOW!!! That is an amazing amount of information! Thank you!!

[jekjones1558]

Just one correction: there are FIVE single story GVs at BWV as well as the two GVs that are 2 story.

[Deb & Bill]

How often do you really plan to try for a GV? Sometimes too much closeness can get a little overbearing. in 15 years of DVC we got a GV once, for a graduation trip from HS for our son and eight of his friends (we went along too). It was good from the standpoint of being able to keep track of the kids, but sometimes, I would wish for a one bedroom villa for us.

So consider multiple smaller villas as well to keep the family sane.

[ELMC]

Originally Posted by Disneymooner07

Thanks for the information! But I'm kind of confused by how "walking" your reservation works and how it helps? Sorry if this is a well-understood concept! I haven't heard of it until just now

Sorry I wasn't clearer. There is a popular misconception that the 11 month mark from your check in day is the earliest that you can book a reservation. That's actually not entirely true the way the rules are set up now. Instead, the earliest you can book a reservation is 11 months plus 7 days. (The catch is that you can't book your entire stay at once). I'll explain what I mean.

So let's say that you want to stay in a GV from December 7-14. If you don't "walk" your reservation, you would call MS on January 7 and book your entire stay. However, there is a catch. There is a chance that even though you went on at the first possible minute at the exact 180 day mark, all of the GVs have been booked. This is because people who are staying earlier may have already booked all of the available GVs because Dec 7 is at the tail end of their reservation.

So instead, you call up MS on January 1 and book a 7 night reservation starting on December 1 and ending on December 7. That is the earliest possible day that you can make a reservation for Dec 7 and it is a full 7 days earlier than people who don't walk their reservation can book that room. So now you have a reservation for 6 nights you don't want and 1 night that you do. So the next day you go online and book a reservation for Dec 8. Now you have the first two nights of your reservation booked at the very earliest possible moment that you can. Then when MS opens, you call them up and cancel your reservation for Dec 1 (last I checked you can't cancel one night of a multi night reservation online. If I'm wrong someone please correct me.) You do this each day for 7 days and you have booked reservations for each of the 7 nights of your stay at the earliest possible moment.

I hope this makes it clear, please let me know if you still have questions.

[gatorgirl02]

Originally Posted by jekjones1558

GVs at BWV are usually hard to book, but your odds are very good if you go online at 7:00 ET at exactly 11 months. I have not booked a GV at BWV for Christmas but have booked for F&W, which is also a tough time. I had no problem. The views from the BWV GVs are fantastic. And LOTS of balcony space!

Just a quick note, online booking opens at 8:00 am EST, not 7:00 am.

[zavandor]

Originally Posted by ELMC

So instead, you call up MS on January 1 and book a 7 night reservation starting on December 1 and ending on December 7. That is the earliest possible day that you can make a reservation for Dec 7 and it is a full 7 days earlier than people who don't walk their reservation can book that room. So now you have a reservation for 6 nights you don't want and 1 night that you do. So the next day you go online and book a reservation for Dec 8. Now you have the first two nights of your reservation booked at the very earliest possible moment that you can. Then when MS opens, you call them up and cancel your reservation for Dec 1 (last I checked you can't cancel one night of a multi night reservation online. If I'm wrong someone please correct me.) You do this each day for 7 days and you have booked reservations for each of the 7 nights of your stay at the earliest possible moment.

You cannot add a night to an existing reservation online, you have to call MS for that too.
Since the room is locked for the 7th, none can book it for the 8th. You can wait the 7th to call MS and cancel and then book 6 nights. Software glitches apart.

[ELMC]

Originally Posted by zavandor

You cannot add a night to an existing reservation online, you have to call MS for that too.
Since the room is locked for the 7th, none can book it for the 8th. You can wait the 7th to call MS and cancel and then book 6 nights. Software glitches apart.

Sorry I wasn't clearer. What I meant was that you book a stand alone reservation for that day. My understanding is that MS can connect all of your reservations at the end provided that you reservations are for the same type and size of room.

As far as the second part about the room locking, that's a good point. Do you really trust the system to work that way though? It makes me a little nervous.

[jekjones1558]

Originally Posted by gatorgirl02

Just a quick note, online booking opens at 8:00 am EST, not 7:00 am.

So right. I am in Central time zone and meant to type 7:00 CT or 8:00 ET. Thanks for correcting this!!!