Most Difficult DVC Rooms to Snag and Tips for Booking

The amazing thing about DVC is that there are so many different options for everyone. Despite the variety of villas, some DVC rooms are much more popular than others. Some are difficult to book not only because of demand, but also lower inventory. Join us as we discuss some of the most difficult DVC rooms to score and tips for a successful booking experience.

Value and Concierge Villas at Animal Kingdom Villas, Jambo House

For owners at Animal Kingdom Villas, the value and concierge villas are some of the most sought after prize. The value rooms offer a nice sized room (barley noticeable that it’s smaller) for minimal points. It is without a doubt one of the best DVC values around and a great way to stretch your points further. If you get lucky, some even have a savanna view. Concierge villas are the only DVC rooms to offer club level amenities and are also a great value for points when compared to the cash rates for these club level accommodations.

Although Animal Kingdom Villas is a large resort, both of these sought-after room categories are super limited. There are only 18 total (8 dedicated and 10 lock off) value studios. You’ll find 10 one-bedroom value rooms that also can become two-bedroom lock-offs. Concierge rooms have even less inventory. There’s 5 studios and 5 one bedrooms that also serve as two-bedroom lock offs.

Standard View Villas at BoardWalk and Bay Lake Tower

There are only 30 standard view studios at Bay Lake Tower all of which are part of a lock-off. There are 15 dedicated standard view studios at BoardWalk and 37 lock off standard view studios. While these aren’t actually the rooms at these resorts with the lowest inventory (theme park view at BLT and boardwalk at BoardWalk have less rooms), in our experience the standard views are harder to get at these two resorts. This is for one main reason, the points are the cheapest way to stay at either of these resorts. The standard view one and two bedrooms at these resorts can also be difficult to snag, but studios will be the most challenging.

Studios at Grand Californian, Beach Club, and Copper Creek

The studios are these three resorts are tough to land because of the low inventory and high demand. Grand Californian is a hard resort for all categories, but studios will be the hardest due to being the lowest in point costs. There are only 23 lock-off studios at this resort. Beach Club also sees high demand within the DVC community due to it’s location and Stormalong Bay. At 74 lock-off and 36 dedicated studios, it can be a challenge mostly for non-owners of the resort.

Copper Creek has the same challenges of low inventory with only 36 lock-off and 42 dedicated studios. The biggest factor at Copper Creek is that the high point costs of the cabins allowed DVC to sell an excess of points at Copper Creek, but a majority of those point owners are wanting to book studios. This puts more stress on the studios at Copper Creek making them more difficult to book for not only non-owners of this resort, but owners as well.

Grand Villas, Two Bedroom, and One Bedroom Villas at Villas at Disneyland Hotel

While there is a decent amount of studio inventory at the new Villas at Disneyland Hotel, the other booking categories are fairly limited. There are supposedly only 20 two-bedroom and 19 one-bedroom villas. Grand Villas will be nearly impossible to score with only 2. At the time of the Grand Opening, only one Grand Villa was completed and in operation. This inventory will make these categories difficult to book.

Original Villas at Grand Floridian

With the addition of Big Pine Key to Grand Floridian, getting a Resort Studio hasn’t been too difficult since there are 200 of them. However, the influx of new owners has created some challenges for getting into the original villas building. Grand Floridian had low inventory in this area to begin with. There are only 30 standard view and 17 lake view lock-off deluxe studios and six Grand Villas as an example.

Tower Studios at Riviera

Tower studios at Riviera are a sought after category due to the point savings compared to other room categories at this resort and location. Being on the skyliner and potentially having a view of Spaceship Earth is definitely appealing. There are only 24 of these rooms, with 3 on each floor 1-8. Some of the higher floors can definitely see fireworks.

Hotel Rooms at Aulani

There are only 8 hotel rooms at Aulani that belong to the DVC inventory and they are the best value on points for staying there and go super fast. It seems odd to have 8 hotel rooms designated as DVC rooms. From our understanding (someone correct me if this is false), there was a Grand Villa on the first floor that was taken out to put in the quick service location, Ulu Cafe. Because of this, the hotel had to give back the space to Disney Vacation Club and the result was that they gave us 8 hotel rooms.

Tips for Booking These Hard to Get Categories

• If you are an owner of the resort, we recommend booking online at 8am sharp at the 11 month window. If this doesn’t work for you, set a waitlist and check the system for openings often. The home resort window is one of your best options for picking up one of these rooms, especially as some members will book early and change plans and there are less members vying for these rooms in the home resort window.
• If you are looking to snag one of these categories at 7 months, you will first want to make a go at the 7 month booking window.
• If the 7 month booking window doesn’t pan out, always set a waitlist and keep checking the system regularly.
• If you can be flexible in your dates, you have a better chance at chasing down some availability, keep checking for the best opening. If possible, wait to book airfare and other plans until you have nailed down your room.
• You will always have better probability of landing a one-bedroom over a studio and booking during higher point seasons.
• The more you check the system on your own (also called stalking the system), the better your odds are at grabbing something someone else canceled. The time period surrounding the 31 day window is a great time to be checking a lot since this is the due date to cancel before points go into holding.

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