A list for Claire . . . .

[rlmas]

My wish list...

1. Rooms designed and maintained to the highest standards.
2. More resorts outside the parks to increase variety.
3. More equality when trading out - points should have the same value relative to the cash price of the item being traded for. For example, the DCL trades yield less value than others. The traded points are all worth the same and should have the same trading power regardless of what is being traded for.

Anything else more than the above is just icing on the cake.

 

[GBBTomorrow]

I agree with so much of what's been said here regarding cleanliness and maintenance, but the one smaller detail I'd like to "second" is the request to upgrade the bedding. I seek out Westins for the Heavenly Bed, and even the bedding at a Hampton Inn is fluffy and welcoming these days. The thin, flat bottom sheets that don't seem to stay tucked for even one night are frustrating, as well.

Good luck to our new leader. I'm so glad we bought DVC, and would make the same decision again.

 

[Longhairbear]

Online Resort Reservation Availability chart would be my request.
We are lucky we can be flexible about vacation dates, but we still have to have back up plans when calling MS. Staying at WDW is never a problem, as we can always find a resort vacancy, but that is not true at DLR. At least not as easy.
We are canceling our annual Oct. trip to WDW, and want to use the points in CA. We don't own at VGC, so we have to abide the 7 month rule. Also we live close to DLR and could do trips there at the spur of the moment. We live close enough that we don't have to stay overnight, but that is so much fun to do. Fill a cooler with groceries, cook on the gas grill, sip cocktails on the balconies. Plus also bringing along friends to stay on the couch etc.
Now we have coming a full use year of points to use at DLR, and I'll have to plan out dates 7 months ahead at VGC with only 50 units. We could book the hotels, but if we had to cancel, the points can't be used at the villas as they become reservation points. I do use the reservation thread here, and it is a huge help.
I am almost certain DVC does not want to publish their vacancies, but it sure would help us if they did.

 

[Dizny Dad]

Claire,

In following this thread, I found a lot of good ideas, some ideas that made me roll my eyes, many I never thought about. Yup, clean rooms, nice beds, etc. is top on the list as we did buy into “DELUXE” accommodations. It used to be that when people found out we had bought into the Disney Vacation Club, they were envious. I want that back.

But I think what does come through load and clear for me is that we just WANT THE MAGIC BACK!

Good luck to you and your staff. We place our trust in you to make a difference; and we’ll give you the time to do it.

 

[thebigman65]

Claire,

In following this thread, I found a lot of good ideas, some ideas that made me roll my eyes, many I never thought about. Yup, clean rooms, nice beds, etc. is top on the list as we did buy into “DELUXE” accommodations. It used to be that when people found out we had bought into the Disney Vacation Club, they were envious. I want that back.

But I think what does come through load and clear for me is that we just WANT THE MAGIC BACK!

Good luck to you and your staff. We place our trust in you to make a difference; and we’ll give you the time to do it.

I agree completely. Clean well maintained Resorts and Rooms and excellent service from Disney and it's CM's are at the top of my list. Pay attention to those core things and you will be all good!

 

[Snurk71]

By the way, I've only had 5 DVC stays (BLT-2, BCV, VB, VGC) and a whole lotta cash stays, and haven't had anything bad regarding housekeeping or room/resort amenities in my DVC stays so far. Room was ready early a couple times, a little late once, had a wet spot on the carpet once (assuming from cleaning). I consider that pretty normal - nothing to complain or stomp my feet about.

I'm just sharing my expectations regarding what I purchased.

 

[going/again]

but for the most part it's probably going to come down to staffing--or lack therof.

Some people want housekeeping to take a complete room inventory, report issues to maintenance and have replacement kitchen utensils delivered when needed. Those are sound expectations, but they all take time--time that apparently the housekeepers don't have at present.

While I do agree with a lot of what you write, I'm finding it hard to understand the above 2, the lack of staff I certainly dont get when DVC lets CRO book rooms those guests get mousekeeping every day, so is that at a reduced clean up for owners.

If they have time to do mousekeeping every day for paying guests then they certainly should have time to do owners rooms fully, ready for arrival, after all its the owners that have paid for this in their dues.

 

[Mkrop]

1. Discount on MYW tickets

2. Meal Plan Discount....20%????

3. The ability to book DVC rooms that are available for $$ with points....nothing more frustrating than that.....

Everytime we try to book, we can not seem to get what we want...it is extremely frustrating.

Wanted to use our points in CA, nothing was available.

Going to FL in Dec, got something but we are waitlisted for what we really want.

Calling a million times is annoying.

 

[TagsMissy]

The AP discount is great but we don't generally get there 2x in a calendar year making the pass worth it... as others have mentioned a discount on regular passes would be fantastic

 

[Mai Ku Tiki]

I posted my real WISH LIST early in this post...but in reading thru the thread, it seems to me to boil down to this:
DVC Owner/Members are asking to be RESPECTED & RECOGNIZED... Respected as the FIRST CLASS DISNEY FANS we are who purchased DELUXE accommodations for the duration of our contracts & Recognized for the fact that we chose a DISNEY timeshare because the Disney brand (& DVC in particular) has always promised to deliver the MAGIC!

Each of us may have DELUXE preferences, but DISNEY knows EXACTLY how they treat Deluxe guests & Deluxe guest rooms!

Each of us may differ in how we define "THE MAGIC" but DISNEY knows EXACTLY what we are talking about!!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Everytime we try to book, we can not seem to get what we want...it is extremely frustrating.

Wanted to use our points in CA, nothing was available.

Going to FL in Dec, got something but we are waitlisted for what we really want.

Calling a million times is annoying.

The very nature of timeshares (and a major reason why the economics can work out for buyers) is that rooms are used very efficiently.

In a traditional weekly timeshare, each "villa" is is sold 50 or 51 times in one-week intervals, and one or two weeks are set aside for annual major maintenance. Essentially, the system calls for 100% occupancy except for villas that are offline for maintenance. Owners who reserve as soon as possible get the weeks they want. Other owners get what's left over -- or can find no availability at all.

By using points instead of weeks, DVC members have more flexibility than traditional timeshare owners. But ultimately DVC works like a timeshare because DVC is a timeshare.

DVC members who book their home resort at 11 months can usually get exactly what they want at their home resort. DVC owners who wait too long get what's left over -- or can find no availability at all.

What solution would you propose to make it possible for any DVC member to get anything they want, regardless of when they call for reservations?

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

I posted my real WISH LIST early in this post...but in reading thru the thread, it seems to me to boil down to this:
DVC Owner/Members are asking to be RESPECTED & RECOGNIZED... Respected as the FIRST CLASS DISNEY FANS we are who purchased DELUXE accommodations for the duration of our contracts & Recognized for the fact that we chose a DISNEY timeshare because the Disney brand (& DVC in particular) has always promised to deliver the MAGIC!

Each of us may have DELUXE preferences, but DISNEY knows EXACTLY how they treat Deluxe guests & Deluxe guest rooms!

Each of us may differ in how we define "THE MAGIC" but DISNEY knows EXACTLY what we are talking about!!

No, a lot of people want "extra"

I find this thread hysterical since it's "We want stuff that Disney never ever gave us, never ever promomised us etc"

Sure, clean, friendly etc.. are to be expected.

But "discounts" "Upgraded fancy bedding" "fancy shampoo" "more availaiblity" (Are they suppose to build and not sell so we can just get what we want at anytime?) "better resturant avaliablity" (gee. let's just build and maintain resturants just for us...) "better trading power" (Well, that's market driven and if other folks don't want to use our timeshare then we need to face facts and quit acting like a magic wand will fix it)

And of course we want her to do all this while lowering our dues!

This really has nothing to do with "Magic" but with "entitlement"

 

[chalee94]

"Upgraded fancy bedding"

a lot of the requests are silly, but quality bedding (with appropriate thread counts) at a "deluxe resort" doesn't seem that out of line...

 

[Mkrop]

The very nature of timeshares (and a major reason why the economics can work out for buyers) is that rooms are used very efficiently.

In a traditional weekly timeshare, each "villa" is is sold 50 or 51 times in one-week intervals, and one or two weeks are set aside for annual major maintenance. Essentially, the system calls for 100% occupancy except for villas that are offline for maintenance. Owners who reserve as soon as possible get the weeks they want. Other owners get what's left over -- or can find no availability at all.

By using points instead of weeks, DVC members have more flexibility than traditional timeshare owners. But ultimately DVC works like a timeshare because DVC is a timeshare.

DVC members who book their home resort at 11 months can usually get exactly what they want at their home resort. DVC owners who wait too long get what's left over -- or can find no availability at all.

What solution would you propose to make it possible for any DVC member to get anything they want, regardless of when they call for reservations?

Having rooms available! Dont book them for cash if a member would like to book it.

We bought at BLT, on the 11 mo mark we struggled to get what we wanted during the timeframe we can go, we managed by doing a split stay and on a ground floor room during record low temps, that was absolutely freezing.

Called at 7mo mark to get Grand CA, gave them 2mos of time we could go, nothing!

We realized that BLT is not for us but we are stuck now, so at the 7mo mark we once again tried to get BCV, had to take BWV with a split stay.

We have called when we are suppose to, we dont have that much flex time as to when we can go, or want to go, like I have no desire to go in the summer. Why was I assured there would be no problems booking at those windows, I am not trying to get at the last minute.

They lost our business in CA, we booked elsewhere and therefore wound up eating offsite too.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

a lot of the requests are silly, but quality bedding (with appropriate thread counts) at a "deluxe resort" doesn't seem that out of line...

You have to pay for it! (And have you stayed at Disney "deluxe resort" LOL! THey don't provide this so why would you suddenly expect DVC to provide it. You have to remember that Disney "deluxe" means "high prices" not "high quality")

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Having rooms available! Dont book them for cash if a member would like to book it.

We bought at BLT, on the 11 mo mark we struggled to get what we wanted during the timeframe we can go, we managed by doing a split stay and on a ground floor room during record low temps, that was absolutely freezing.

Called at 7mo mark to get Grand CA, gave them 2mos of time we could go, nothing!

We realized that BLT is not for us but we are stuck now, so at the 7mo mark we once again tried to get BCV, had to take BWV with a split stay.

We have called when we are suppose to, we dont have that much flex time as to when we can go, or want to go, like I have no desire to go in the summer. Why was I assured there would be no problems booking at those windows, I am not trying to get at the last minute.

They lost our business in CA, we booked elsewhere and therefore wound up eating offsite too.

This is a prime example of the "we want it all on tihs board"

This poster wants "no cash rooms so I can always stay where I want when I want it"

Another poster wants "better trades"




If you want to use the cruises, the other resorts etc then you have to accept that these have to be PAID for. DVC, Disney Resorts, the Hilton in NYC etc... don't want "pixie dust" they want $$$$$. And where does DVC get $$$ to pay them. They sell that "room" that you points would have been used for to the public.

Actually the "resale restrictions" may help here. Those folks won't be trading.. reducing the need for DVC to have "cash" ... Of course they will be booking those villa so.....

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Having rooms available! Dont book them for cash if a member would like to book it.

I can understand why people are frustrated when they can't get a DVC reservations with their DVC points, but the dates they want at the resort they want are available for cash.

There's a logical explanation, but DVC needs to do a better job explaining why there's sometimes cash inventory when there's no points inventory.

As I noted earlier in this thread, "cash inventory at DVC resorts primarily represents inventory that has already been used by DVC members to book DCL cruises, other Disney Collection vacations, Adventurer Collection, and Concierge Collection. That means that DVC needs to recover $$$ by renting that inventory out for cash through CRO."

If you think about the cash inventory as former DVC points inventory that's already been booked by DVC members for DCL cruises and such, then it's really not much different than points inventory that's already been booked by DVC members for DVC resort stays. In both cases, the DVC inventory has been booked by DVC members and is no longer available new DVC bookings by other DVC members.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

a lot of the requests are silly, but quality bedding (with appropriate thread counts) at a "deluxe resort" doesn't seem that out of line...

I agree. Guest expectations legitimately change over time.

When OKW opened, the villas had VHS players. Now they have DVD players. Blu-Ray players are probably next. And eventually they'll probably have high-speed "cloud" media connections when streaming replaces any sort of tapes of discs.

When OKW opened, the entrance security gate was only manned at night. In the post-9/11 world, it's manned 24 hours.

Most lodging chains, even many low-end chains, have upgraded their bedding over the past decade. Disneyland in California (including DVC Grand Calif. Villas Resort) has participated in this trend. All WDW resorts -- DVC and all categories of regular WDW resorts -- need to participate too. Guests expect it.

These are examples of adapting to changes in reasonable expectations over time. It's part of what it means to stay competitive and to take care of guests.

On the other hand, there are plenty of unreasonable expectations in this thread too. For example, I wouldn't expect any discounts that primarily reduce revenue, rather than driving new business. And I wouldn't expect costly "perks" that raise dues.

 

[Mkrop]

This is a prime example of the "we want it all on tihs board"This poster wants "no cash rooms so I can always stay where I want when I want it"

Another poster wants "better trades"




If you want to use the cruises, the other resorts etc then you have to accept that these have to be PAID for. DVC, Disney Resorts, the Hilton in NYC etc... don't want "pixie dust" they want $$$$$. And where does DVC get $$$ to pay them. They sell that "room" that you points would have been used for to the public.

Actually the "resale restrictions" may help here. Those folks won't be trading.. reducing the need for DVC to have "cash" ... Of course they will be booking those villa so.....

Really???? bc I have said nothing about wanting discounts and I have not complained about clean rooms, ours have always been clean (BLT had the worn furnishings that I had read about here) but it was clean.

But why would I not complain if I spent money on a vacation and then when I called to book said vacation at the time frames the company said to, I am NOT able to take said vacation...when I was told during the sales pitch that it would not be an issue! Tons of availablility, they said, no problem.

It should not be this difficult to book a room!

If wanting it all is wanting a room when my family wants and can vacation is wanting it all...then maybe I got sold a bill of goods.

 

[Mkrop]

I can understand why people are frustrated when they can't get a DVC reservations with their DVC points, but the dates they want at the resort they want are available for cash.

There's a logical explanation, but DVC needs to do a better job explaining why there's sometimes cash inventory when there's no points inventory.

As I noted earlier in this thread, "cash inventory at DVC resorts primarily represents inventory that has already been used by DVC members to book DCL cruises, other Disney Collection vacations, Adventurer Collection, and Concierge Collection. That means that DVC needs to recover $$$ by renting that inventory out for cash through CRO."

If you think about the cash inventory as former DVC points inventory that's already been booked by DVC members for DCL cruises and such, then it's really not much different than points inventory that's already been booked by DVC members for DVC resort stays. In both cases, the DVC inventory has been booked by DVC members and is no longer available new DVC bookings by other DVC members.

I get the explanation and thanks for providing it. It still does not limit the frustration that when we call, we are locked out of the places we would like to stay when our rep said that it would be no problem, to go to CA, or booking at another resort at 7mos if we didnt want BLT. We asked about owning at BW or BC and of course he wanted to sell BLT and said we would have no problem. He said it would be no problem to travel out west. We havent own DVC for long and yet we have never had an easy time booking what we want depsite using their guidelines when calling.