Christmas 2018 Advice

John Nielsen

Earning My Ears
Joined
Dec 14, 2017
Our family has been to Disney 10 or so times over the past 25 years. We have adult children now and want to make one final family trip before our kids start their own families. We are planning for next Christmas.

We have stayed at only Moderate resorts over the years, staying at least once at each one. However, our go to has always been POFQ.

This time we are thinking about trying to secure a DVC. I'm really looking for any advice people are willing to share. Starting with: do I have any chance of securing 7 nights at a DVC during that time of year? We are currently considering the following (we'll likely get 3 studios):

BW
BC
BL
Poly

We've considered a Grand Villa at OKW but have gotten mixed reviews on transportation. We generally head to the parks at open but also park hop and will take breaks midday and return at night for fireworks, etc.

Any thoughts are greatly appreciated (including those that tell me I'm crazy for even thinking I can get a DVC during this time period).

(Can't believe I'm just now finding this bulletin board)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Might want to include how many family members are in your family and what room type your looking for in your post. Christmas time at DVC you'll need 11 month out to book. So your starting your search at the right time.
 
You would need to be booking at 11 months. You would also need to be budgeting for BWV Preferred or BLT lake View -- not Standard at either. Poly has the most studios of the resorts on your list, but is hardest to find the points needed for 3 studios.

Also worth mentioning that BLT studios sleep 4, and the other resorts you mention sleep 5.

The biggest issue is going to be the number of points required. A rental agency is going to be very cautious about booking this, because none of us can see how many studios are available, just that there is at least one. They tend to try to keep all of a single booking's bookings with a single owner, so you'll be looking at needing several hundred points in a single transaction.
 
Matty, thanks for the suggestion...there are six of us (spouse and myself, two adult children, and then two grandparents). Each group of 2 will need their own room (for various reasons).

aurora, can you expand on your comment regarding there not being "standard" at BWV or BLT?

I will most likely go through one of the resellers (suggestions here are appreciated as well). The cost of the Poly might be out of our range but I'm still keeping on my list as it's my mothers favorite. From what I'm seeing the cost is in the range or what it will cost to stay at POFQ (which is likely our default) so I figure I'll at least give a DVC a shot.
 


BTW, I was at OKW last week, and there weren't any bus issues during the trip, except for a disabled bus that blocked one of the bus lanes at Hospitality for a while. Which could have happened anywhere. So all the busses had to use the lane normally used by Magical Express. I really like the new time boards at the resort bus stops with the bus arrival times updating in real time via GPS. I wish they would do that at the parks.
 
aurora, can you expand on your comment regarding there not being "standard" at BWV or BLT?

There are three bookable view categories at BLT: Standard (cheapest), Lake View, and Theme Park. Standard is a small category and books up very quickly. Getting 3 via a single owner on the first day of booking is unlikely. Th

There are three bookable view categories at BWV: Standard (cheapest), Pool/Garden, and Boardwalk View. P/G and BW are the same points. Standard is again a small category, and getting 3 for Christmas will be impossible for pretty much anyone. P/G is the largest category and thus the most easily booked.

In general, renters have the best shots at large categories during high demand periods, because owners tend to have to be online at 7:59AM to get a few of the room types, and we can only book one at a time. I would be surprised if a BWV owner could get 3 Standard Studios during fall for ANY dates, for self or renter. Same with BLT Standard Studios.
 

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