Dh and I would like to see about our (me, dh, ds) staying at a dvc resort (paying cash not points, we're not dvc members) but calling and checking online yielded no availability. Do you think that is a reasonable expectation for something to open up? (preferrably at VWL)

My mom and my brother/his wife would like to go too. My mom has gone a couple of times with us before, and she is very laid back and just wants to stay wherever we stay (same room/villa). My brother and his wife are a young couple who likes thrill rides, and the night life, so I am wondering if it is wise to all stay in the same villa, or if it would be better to get connecting rooms or even stay at different resorts (or different sections of the same resort). DH and I don't drink or club, but I think my brother and sister-in-law would like PI/DTD as well as a faster pace through the parks. other than meeting for a few meals or photos, I don't really see us hanging out a lot.

I was hoping someone who has traveled with extended family before could give some insight as to what would be better. I have never traveled with my brother before since we're been adults (we of course went on vacations when we were kids, but I am hoping he'd have matured since the hours long car trips, lol) so I am sort of leery about just palling around at Disney, lol.

My biggie is wondering if some dvc rooms will open up for us though. I thought I was getting on booking early, but I guess not (or maybe I am too early??)

DVC rooms generally aren't available to non-members until Disney is certain members won't be using them. You'll find more availability as it gets closer to your trip. However, VWL is the smallest WDW DVC, so you may find nothing there. Your best bets will be OKW and Saratoga Springs.

I'd recommend your brother & SIL stay elsewhere. Saratoga Springs sounds great for them - they can walk over to Pleasure Island from there. If you will have grandma staying with you, any 2br villa will do - hopefully she'll want to share the 2nd bedroom with your son. If not, and you go with a 1br - you'll have them sleeping in your living room, and you'll only have 1 bathroom for everyone to share.

There aren't connecting villas at any DVC, other than a studio that connects to a 1br to create a 2br villa. If you're not planning to use the kitchen facilities and spend much time in the villa, you might want to book 2 connecting rooms at WL for your immediate family & mom, then switch over to the villa if one becomes available....assuming that's the resort you really want. You could consider a Wilderness Home at Ft Wilderness as well - they're much cheaper than a villa, but have room for your mom and a full kitchen. Those are not dvc, so you can book them easily!

We stayed at the cabins in Fort Wilderness this summer.

We had two, but all the kids chose to stay in one and DH and I had the other to ourselves.

We had a grocery delivery by Garden Grocer and it was really nice having a full kitchen.

So for me, having family in a room nearby would just mean that we could meet up easily. Like this summer the kids all went their own ways, but I saw them occasionally coming and going.

Saratoga Springs is our home DVC resort, and we stayed there for the first time last summer. It is an easy walk to Downtown Disney, which we did several times, often to grab a bus to another resort for dinner. If someone is willing to sleep on the fold-out couch in the living room, you could probably manage with a two-bedroom unit. But if some of you are night people, and others will be sleeping earlier, it may be better for the late nighters to get another room, perhaps a studio if they also want to stay at the DVC resort. The real question is, do you want and need the full facilities of a DVC villa? If you pay extra for a unit with a full kitchen, will you be eating some meals in your unit? How much time will you be spending at your resort? If it's basically a place to sleep, perhaps you would be better off just all staying in standard hotel rooms. This may also make accounting easier, as everyone would be responsible for charges for their own room. Some DVC owners will "rent" the use of their points, which works out to a lot less money, generally, than going through Disney, but the owner is the one who makes the reservation for you, so there is a trust issue; many people enter into contracts, but actually enforcing it if there is a problem could get costly and time-consuming. I did rent points from an owner, to stay at a studio at OKW, and it worked out well. At the market value of $10-$11 dollars a point, it was, essentially, like staying at a Deluxe resort for about the price of a moderate room. If you want a large unit, it may be harder to successfully rent enough points, and actually get a reservation for a two bedroom unit, unless the owner already had the reservation, and was not able to use it, for some reason. As a DVC owner, I will be using my points to share a villa with extended family members; I have a two-bedroom villa reserved for March, to share with my parents. It is probably harder to plan a vacation for a large group, at a DVC resort, if you are not an owner, unless you are prepared to pay quite a bit for the villa.

Where would I stay with extended family? Offsite at a vacation home.
More space for the money. There are lots available, and some of the prices per night are just amazing, compared with what you get onsite.

I'm looking at a vacation home for November. The really fun one that my kids like has its own hot tub and pool (heat included), an *incredible* game room, enough space to sleep 10 comfortably (and that's not putting kids on sofas), a kitchen (so we can eat some meals in), a washer/dryer (that's huge for me for a week), and is only a few miles away from the parks.

We are traveling with friends, so we need more space than just several hotel rooms.

Now, we're not going to spend all our time at WDW, so staying offsite makes even more sense, but the price and amenities offsite were compelling.