Five Easiest DVC Resorts to Book
I hate to tell you this, friends, but the secret is out. Many people know about the greatness of the Disney Vacation Club program.
Over the past few years, finding availability has grown more challenging, especially at the most popular resorts.
That’s why I often look at the guaranteed reservations at DVC Rental Store rather than checking the official DVC site.
Sometimes, I want to book my own dates, though. So here are five of the easiest DVC properties at Walt Disney World to book.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom Villas
I’m not using any sort of precise formula here. Instead, I combined my knowledge of recent vacation bookings with a modest experiment.
All I did was log into my DVC account and check several random dates, all of which required stays of at least four nights.
My thinking here is that I knew what three of these options would be. I would let fate decide the rest. And I won’t lie.
Two of these results somewhat surprised me. So I did a bit more testing to verify, but the results came back similarly.
Yes, Animal Kingdom Villas is definitely one of the three where you have the best chance of getting a DVC reservation lately, though.
Part of the reason is readily apparent. This resort consists of two destinations, Jambo House and Kidani Village.
Across these two campuses, Animal Kingdom Villas offers as many as 708 rooms of availability.
What’s especially good about this place is that you can find a DVC Points range to suit your travel needs.
Options range from Value Accommodations to Savannah Views to Kilimanjaro Club Concierge level.
Bay Lake Tower at Disney’s Contemporary Resort
Let me add a caveat here, as I’m confident you just arched an eyebrow.
My family stays at two resorts more than the rest, and they’re both on this list.
In my experience, you can book a Bay Lake Tower room, especially if you plan ahead and keep trying if the room is not available initially.
For whatever reason, I’ve found Lake View rooms, particularly Studios, more prevalent than standard rooms.
In fact, during my experiments, Bay Lake Tower listed availability each time…but only for Lake View in Studios. The One-Bedroom Villas had more options than just Lake View, though.
Obviously, the resort will sell out long before your arrival date due to its prime location. Therefore, persistence is key to booking within the seven-month window.
Disney’s Old Key West Resort
Here’s another place that’s relatively easy to book. Due to its extensive inventory of 750+ rooms, Old Key West will frequently show availability after almost everything else has sold out.
In addition, you’ll looooove staying here due to the ample size of the rooms. I’m perfectly happy in a Studio, but the One-Bedroom Villas are massive in size.
The standard floorplan for a One-Bedroom Villa includes 1,0005 square feet of space. I can think of several Orlando townhomes which are that size or smaller.
So, you’re doing well at Old Key West. However, Hospitality House rooms prove the most challenging to book as your vacation date approaches.
Please keep that in mind as you manage your expectations.
Disney’s Polynesian Villas & Bungalows
Here’s the real shocker on the list. Many of us perceive the Polynesian as the class of the Walt Disney World DVC resorts.
Sure, Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa garners most of the attention. From a DVC perspective, it remains a challenging booking, though.
The inventory will remain limited until the current building, Big Pine Key, returns as DVC housing this summer.
Even then, the immense desirability of the Grand Floridian may make availability scarce for the time being.
Meanwhile, sitting right down the road is the Polynesian, my favorite Disney resort.
Shockingly, you can often book a room at the Polynesian within the seven-month window.
I speak from plenty of experience here, but the Polynesian also showed availability on almost all nights of my test.
The high DVC Points cost at the Polynesian may push some guests toward other inventory options instead. It’s totally worth the extra points/money, though!
After your first stay here, you may not want to spend the night anywhere else!
Disney’s Saratoga Springs Resort & Spa
Okay, you knew this one would make the list. We all accept the deal here.
I don’t think I’m going out on a limb to say that most people don’t have Saratoga Springs at the top of their DVC list.
The odds state there’s only a one in 12 chance anyway since that’s how many DVC properties are at Walt Disney World.
In practice, the number may be even lower. Still, people love Saratoga Springs for what it is, a relaxing hangout spot with an ideal location for Disney Springs fans.
Despite its greatness, most of us pick Saratoga Springs because nothing else has availability. For whatever reason, it ordinarily has rooms when nothing else does.
That’s what happens when a resort offers 1,300+ rooms in inventory.
Saratoga Springs is often the DVC resort you can rely on when you have no other options. For that, we should all be grateful.
Start planning your next Disney vacation TODAY! Book your next Disney vacation visit by browsing our current DVC Confirmed Reservation Specials, or use our DVC availability tool to see if the dates for your vacation are available. From there, you can start the booking process and one of our team members will reach out to assist!
