7 Month Availability for Disney Vacation Club Resorts: August 2023 | DVC 7 Month Booking Window

[@nycp1969]

Hi, Jacqueline--I left this info on the Month 35 Stats video. Maybe you didn't see it? Here's Riv's 7-month availability (August 14-21) as of the evening of Saturday, Jan. 14, when I looked it up: Full Availability: Preferred view deluxe studio; Standard and Preferred view one-bedroom; Standard and Preferred view dedicated two-bedroom; Preferred view two-bedroom lockoff; Three-bedroom Grand Villa. Partial Availability: Standard view deluxe studio--2 nights; Standard view two-bedroom lockoff--2 nights; Tower Studio--1 night Things are looking pretty good at Riv!

[@PixieDustPhD]

Ah thanks so much, Peter! I did see it in the creator update and had intended to copy/paste it over to this video and pin the comment, but got wrapped up in some last minute "urgent" work requests right before I needed to leave for the airport so didn't have the opportunity. This is what I get for thinking I'll have a peaceful travel morning lol (well, and filming/editing videos in advance of posting). Thanks as always for doing this! So good to see Riviera availability being pretty decent. Overall honestly availability seems pretty good... seems like we might be out of the days of super difficulty based on the extra points from the shut down being in the system. Hooray!

[@nycp1969]

@@PixieDustPhD Anytime! It's fun to take a look. Yeah, the thing with Riv is the difficulty getting a standard deluxe studio because they seem to have miscalculated the allure of...um...seeing fireworks from your balcony! Were they trying to go for a French thing? I could totally see the French not wanting to look at "un parking" and overlooking the fireworks view thing! I really hope the points pool is over. So many things are now unpleasant at WDW (like I didn't notice my April trip is during a blackout period for Annual Pass--ouch!) it'd be nice to have more flexibility at the 7-month mark. My Riv points are stuck there obviously, which I don't mind, but it's nice to take my AKV points to a monorail resort sometimes or, maybe someday, to a Grand Villa at OKW.

[@PixieDustPhD]

@@nycp1969 LOL the upcharge for the preferred view is just... rough. I wonder how much of the deluxe studio inventory is considered standard view? It might also just not be very many rooms... BLT is like that for sure. Oh no blackout times! Yikes! It does seem like more 7 month flexibility is happening though...? Qualitatively at least. Like I'm so used to even 1 bedrooms at like Copper Creek and Beach Club being gone gone gone (much less the studios, yikes), but ya it seems to me to be slightly less chaotic now. And the VGF has been SURPRISINGLY open in my opinion. It seems that glut of resort studios did them a world of good (though, I'm fairly sure I'd still prefer an actual deluxe studio personally). We haven't heard yet when the Disneyland DVC Tower will go on sale, but if memory serves I think Riveria went on sale like late March or early April. And I'm still like pretty dang certain I'm going to buy into the Disneyland DVC Tower... so then I'll have who knows how many more (unnecessary hahaha) points to play with at the 7 month mark... should be fun!!!

[@nycp1969]

@@PixieDustPhD So fun! You'll be a blue card member! I briefly considered getting 160 or so points directly from Disney for a GF contract because the price difference between resale and direct was almost nothing. This was before the direct price increase. But FOMO is not a good enough reason and yeah, GF is rather available. I think with the resort studios the inventory is up there with BLT and Riv. It's no longer a tiny DVC resort. I've stayed in both the resort studio and deluxe studio and while I preferred the luxury of the resort studio, the deluxe studio had a much better view and was somehow more comfy. But I think I'll stick with the resort studio. I think with a better room assignment it will ultimately tick more boxes. For Riv inventory, I think it's reasonably the same between standard and preferred, since it's just about whether it's front of back facing. However, there are preferred rooms on the first and second floors, but standard doesn't start till the third floor, so yeah, preferred view has more overall.

[@PixieDustPhD]

@@nycp1969 Well TBD on the blue card lol. Really depends on the points price / points chart / discounts available on how many points we buy. I imagine I'll want at least 75, but 150 is a lot! Especially when we already own 90. Though I guess maybe we could buy in to the Disneyland Tower and sell the BLT contract... idk. Im pretty attached to BLT at this point hahah. Wow it's kind of unbelievable to me that you can pay for a preferred room and still be on the first floor! I get what you're saying // makes sense based on the layout, but dang I would be mad if I got like second floor for preferred (I assume there might be some folks who like the first floor for ease of access reasons, but who likes the second floor?!)

[@sassyetc]

The summer months have been wide open lately. Good update.

[@PixieDustPhD]

Yes! It's been such a shift from even just five years ago or so. Really interesting to see those tides change >.>

[@dory7000]

I really appreciate these 7 month DVC availability videos. Helpful not only for people that have bought into DVC, those looking to buy, but also for those that like renting DVC points!

[@PixieDustPhD]

Oh for renters too, good point! Im glad you appreciate them :) I definitely like being helpful, but these are kind of boring for me to film/make/edit haha. But I know it's of value so I'll keep plugging along now and again for sure. I really appreciate the positive feedback !

[@jeffburkitt8582]

“Let’s leave Florida and head over to Hawaii”…..you convinced me. Let’s do it.

[@PixieDustPhD]

LOL if only it weren't a 10 hour flight from me. Someday someday when I'm back to west coast living (or at least like... mountain west haha)

[@tutuluvsminnie7129]

There is so much more availability in 2023! Gives me a better feeling about my DVC contracts. I would like to stay at a few different resorts every year.

[@PixieDustPhD]

It has been SO good thus far. I am really pleased. I bought in during the pandemic so all I've ever known is the extra points in the system from the shut down... this honestly is so much better than it was haha. I hope you get to bounce around resorts like you're wishing!

[@ScottJR7302]

Thank you for this, not many people do these sort of videos. Now subscribed! Buying VGF next month for 15 night in sept and 8 night stay in Jan each year. As a UK visitor, was interested in availability, but it seems at 11 months out I should not have any issues booking my stays, I hope… haha

[@PixieDustPhD]

Cheers, Scott! Thanks. It's definitely kind of laborious and boring content to make, but it is EXACTLY the kind of stuff I wanted to see before I bought into DVC, so I'm happy to pay it forward. Ooohhh 15 nights! WOW. That's gonna be so fantastic. At 11 months you should be totally fine. I will say that VGF seems overly open right now because I believe they declared all of the Resort Studios (when by sales they don't actually have to declare all those rooms yet), but still... 11 months I would not be worried.

[@sheilaa1333]

We recently had to change our February trip to July and I panicked thinking there would be nothing left. We usually go President’s Day week or spring break which are busy, so I was pleasantly surprised at the availability - and the points charts are so much lower that we were able to extend to nearly two weeks. Not thrilled about the heat, but with the extra days we can spend afternoons at the pool and have the same amount of park time overall. I was even able to switch our Kidani room in February to Jambo house, get the same GF lagoon view resort room (our home resort) and add on a few nights at the Boardwalk to end the trip.

[@PixieDustPhD]

Oooh yeah President's Day and spring break are really tough to snag, I'm glad you found success with July though! Really other than July 4th the past couple years at least July hasn't been too bad. Which is funny because I feel like for a long time growing up, summer was THE crowded time at WDW. I guess people aren't as willing to put up with the intense heat anymore (me either, haha)! But even with the heat, nearly two weeks woohoo! And definitely just plan to escape the parks during the heat of the day and hang out at the pool or in the room. It's gonna be amazing! Thanks for sharing, Sheila :)

[@nycp1969]

Good switch! I find the experience at Jambo House superior to Kidani. You don't have to worry about being on a low floor and the lobby is so much nicer. Personally, though, I think Kidani's pool is better and if I'm in a one or two-bedroom, I'm definitely going for the extra bathroom at Kidani. Have a great time! I'll be at Jambo for one night during Presidents' Day Week.

[@shannonnash5063]

The Wednesdays being gone at VGF looked odd but then I remembered extended hours at Magic Kingdom are usually on Wednesday. I guess people want to take advantage of those extended hours. Although I didn't notice it at BLT.

[@PixieDustPhD]

Ooooh good point about the extended hours! But ya didn't seem like a theme at Poly or BLT or even CC/BR. I honestly don't know how to explain it unless Thursday is suddenly a very popular day to fly home (which I know is true in the business world, but DVC/vacation seems like it would be a bit different haha ... though I guess Thursday is the last night of the "week night" points rate.... I don't know, it's strange and let's leave it at that lololol)

[@HeyDennisOfficial]

I was wondering if this year’s August 2024 coming up soon?

[@PixieDustPhD]

Hi Dennis! thanks for inquiring. TBH these videos are not on any type of schedule and kind of fully just depend on if I have the time to crank out a recording, edit, upload, and captions/description session all within a couple of days. My workload lately has not been conducive to this, so I don't anticipate one of these anytime soon. That being said, if you have specific questions about availability just let me know what resort(s), room size, and rough dates and I'm happy to pass info along!

[@HeyDennisOfficial]

@@PixieDustPhD no worries, I fully understand, I’m in the same boat here with making videos. It’s definitely a process and time intensive, specially with all the specifics you put on there. I’ve been eyeing purchasing a contract and debating between resorts, so I’m curious about true availability at 7 and 11 months. I imagine history tends to repeat itself in a pattern for some of the bookings. Thanks for the great content, keep up the great work!

[@PixieDustPhD]

If you give me the room size you’d be targeting (and ideally the top handful of resorts you’re thinking, or at least some that are eliminated from contention lol) I can definitely give you some data and generalizations!

[@HeyDennisOfficial]

@@PixieDustPhD​​⁠I’m eyeing AKV and GFV as a home resort. If I purchase now on resale closing will likely be until March and August availability, when we usually travel will be gone. No worries and thank you, we’ll likely have to bank until 2025. Thank you for offering to help, I greatly appreciate it!

[@PixieDustPhD]

@@HeyDennisOfficial Ahh okay well very very generally speaking, AKV will have better 7 month availability than VGF. If you do not have a car with you though (your own or a rental), a LOT of the AKV availability is in Kidani and thats definitely a long/sprawling resort, so some people really hate it. The parking situation at Kidani is arguably the best on property though. You can park super close to your room (or an elevator to your room), often in a partially covered area. So I do like to prompt people to consider if they'll have a car or not when thinking about AKV (Kidani in particular). But yeah for any purchase where you wont have points til March and want to stay in August, I would count on booking SSR or OKW (or maaybbbe Kidani), and then put yourself on the wait list for what you really want and hope it comes through. Long term though both AKV and VGF are amazing choices! very different vibes, but both awesome. Keep me posted! Excited to hear what you land on :)