Disney Vacation Club’s booking windows open at 7 months and 11 months in advance of your check-in date, but sometimes you want to take a trip on shorter notice! It can be tricky to find availability within a couple months of check-in, but it’s definitely possible–especially if you have flexibility for your travel dates.
Last Minute Getaways
If you’re a Disney Vacation Club member, you can always login and browse availability using the booking tool. Additionally, Disney Vacation Club maintains a list of resort availability for stays in the next 60 days. If your travel dates are flexible, this is often the fastest way to browse availability to book directly through Disney Vacation Club. To access this page, navigate to the “Plan Vacation” menu tab and click “Last Minute Getaways.”
You will typically find the most availability at resorts with larger inventory; at Walt Disney World, this is often Saratoga Springs Resort, Old Key West, and the Animal Kingdom Villas.
But even if availability directly through Disney Vacation Club is slim, there are always confirmed reservations!
Book A Last Minute Reservation With DVC Shop
There are two ways to book last minute reservations with DVC Shop: Confirmed Reservations and Custom Rentals.
Booking A Confirmed Reservation
Sometimes Disney Vacation Club members book a vacation they are no longer able to take. Rather than cancel the reservation, that member can rent out their reservation to others. Anyone can book a confirmed reservation; you do not need to be a Disney Vacation Club member. Note that the member is renting out their exact reservation. You cannot modify the resort, room type, or dates. Ensure those factors work for your travel party before booking a confirmed reservation.
You can make special requests for room views or specific building locations, but only if those requests stay within the confines of the booked room category. For example, if you rent a confirmed reservation for a standard view Deluxe Studio at Bay Lake Tower a request for a room on floor 8 or higher would not be honored, since standard view Deluxe Studios are all on lower floors. Plus do note that even when requests made are possible for the booked room category, it is simply a request and not a guarantee.
Booking a confirmed reservation is a fantastic way to travel on shorter notice. DVC Shop consistently has far more availability through confirmed reservations in the next 60-90 days than you will find booking directly through Disney Vacation Club. The default view of the confirmed reservations sorts by check-in date, with soonest check-in date first. But you can filter the confirmed reservation listings to your liking–choosing specific resorts, overall price, date range, and number of nights. You can also sort by other metrics, such as number of nights, resort, room type, and price.
Prices for confirmed reservations are very competitive – they can easily save you 40% to 60% compared to the rack rate Disney would sell the reservation for. And DVC Shop keeps this confirmed reservations list up-to-date, adding new confirmed reservations all the time. While last minute availability may not get added routinely, if you are planning out further into the future be sure to check back often. New confirmed reservations 6+ months in advance are regularly listed, so your perfect vacation may be one booking away!
Booking A Custom Rental
If you cannot find a Confirmed Reservation that matches your preferences, you can search our Custom Rentals. Through Custom Rentals, you can book a stay for your desired dates and resort at a fraction of the normal price!
To book a Custom Rental, you will use DVC Shop’s Custom Rental search tool. In order to search for a Custom Rental, you will need to click on the Check Availability and Book Online Tab. The search tool on this page will allow you to select your preferred DVC Resort, room type, and travel dates. If there are not results from your search, the tool will pull up similar Custom Rentals and Confirmed Reservations.
At the time booking a Custom Rental, an initial 20% deposit of the reservation cost is required. Within 5 days of receiving your confirmation, an additional 50% is due. The remaining balance is due 120 days prior to check-in. Full payments are needed at time of booking for stays that are 50 points or less and stays made 120 days prior to check-in.
The prices charged to renters and paid to owners for custom bookings may fluctuate due to several factors. For information about how DVC rental pricing and payments work, visit our pricing page. If you are looking to rent points for Custom Rentals, you can also contact a rental associate for pricing information and points strategy.
Featured Photo: Emily Murray.
Written by
Jacqueline R.
Contributing Writer
Jacqueline is a PhD scientist with a passion for synthesizing detailed information in an understandable format. She is a Disney Vacation Club owner, overall Disney fan, and the primary content creator on the YouTube channel Pixie Dust PhD.
