Can DVC Work If You Don’t Plan in Advance?

The common advice you’ll hear from DVC Members is that DVC works best when you can plan your vacations far in advance.  After all, DVC Members can book as early as 11-months out from their check-in date.  If you don’t plan your trips at 11-months out, can DVC still work for you?  It can, but there are some caveats.

Be Flexible with Your Dates

The biggest way to improve your chances of using your DVC points without much advance planning is to be flexible with your vacation dates.  For example, while early December is extremely popular and hard to book, the summer months can be much easier.  Sometimes even moving your dates just a week or two can make all the difference with finding availability.   

Be Open to Any Resort

If you regularly plan your trips well under the 7-month mark, you aren’t likely to find a room at the more popular resorts like the Beach Club.  When looking under the 7-month mark, you’re most likely to find availability at the larger DVC resorts, such as Saratoga Springs, Old Key West, and Kidani Village at Animal Kingdom Lodge.  If you love all the DVC resorts and aren’t particular about where you stay, this can certainly work.

Kidani Village

Have Enough Points for More Costly Rooms

For DVC, the rooms that cost the least amount of points are the ones that book the fastest.  This is why some of the rooms with the better views are not as popular even though this may seem counterintuitive.  With this in mind, you are more likely to find last minute availability for the Preferred View rooms over the Resort View (formerly Standard View) rooms that cost fewer points.

Similarly, Deluxe Studios book up faster than One Bedroom Villas even though both units tend to have similar capacities.  Deluxe Studios can sometimes be worth half as many points per night as a One Bedroom Villa.  Having enough extra points can allow you to book the One Bedroom Villas that typically have better availability than Studios.  

Old Key West One Bedroom Villa

Consider Split Stays

When you book more last minute stays, it’ll be harder to find consecutive days at the same resort.  If you’re open to split stays in which you stay at more than one resort throughout the duration of your trip, you are more likely to be able to piece together a trip, even if it means only booking a night or two at each resort.

Be Persistent in Checking Availability

Above all else, keep checking availability.  Availability can shift, and you never know what you will find.  You may want to pay close attention to availability before the 30-day mark.  Some people will make their final modifications or cancellations by 31 days out in order to prevent any points from going into holding.  

Bottom line: DVC can work even for those who plan well under the 11-month (or even 7-month) mark.  However, the key to using your points last minute is flexibility in dates and accommodations and persistence in checking availability regularly if you don’t see what you want at first.  

Access all available Disney Vacation Club resale listings, or learn more about buying and selling with DVC Resale Market.