Anyone else getting a little annoyed?

[sparkyboy]

We are proud owners of SSR and enjoy staying at our HR. A vacation day at Disney is still better than a day in the mid-west.

 

[rowbear]

Don't forget the dense, overgrown, jungle-like vegetation.

To the OP's suggestion that offering hourly car rentals may be a solution...uh, they are...but daily rentals are generally cheaper. Just call the Disney operator, they will connect you with National/Alamo who will pick you up and take you to the car care center to get your car.

And again, traveling to other resorts using Disney transportation really isn't that bad, as long as you travel during park operating hours. One bus to the MK, then monorail or boat to any of the MK area resorts, and bus to Studios then boat Y/BC. The most inconvenient resort to resort transfer for a deluxe is SSR/OKW to AKL/AKV

Why would you bother with monorails or boats? One bus to MK or park closest to your destination and another directly to the resort. It would be faster but still requires a double hop and could cost quite a bit of valuable vacation time. That is why I taxi it because I don't want to spend a healthy fraction of my time waiting or riding on Disney transportation just for meals.

I was actually talking about renting directly from your resort (like you do the boats) to save on time.

 

[Sandisw]

I do think there are people out there buying in right now at SSR resale, because they are getting contracts at a great deal, with the plan to always try to stay elsewhere. I considered that myself. But I have also heard of some buying in or adding on at BLT, for the lower MF's, with the intention of staying elsewhere.

But isn't that one of the things many of us loved about DVC? Our ability to stay at places other than your home resort.

The more owners there are that want to stay at different places, the harder it is going to be getting rooms on short notice. But, what would be the alternative? Having them eliminate the option of staying elsewhere? That would be a disaster.

I personally bought BLT for this exact reason. I want to stay there and don't want to chance things at 7 months. Of course, I can book at 11 months since my vacation patterns will be the same for at least the next 10 years.

I do understand the OP frustration, but as long as DVC continues to grow and flourish, members will have to adjust. What was possible a few years ago, will not be the same in a few years from now. That is why many of us tell prospective members on these boards to 1. Buy where you want to stay and 2. planning in advance is the important to a DVC membership .

 

[rowbear]

I was scratching my head about this as well. I see a pot and a kettle

Whatever. I have gone over this enough times so that if you don't get it by now I am wasting my time. I still see SSR people defending themselves too which boggles the mind.

 

[theww228]

Exactly DVC could have built 2 or 3 resorts with the same number of rooms as SSR and the problem would be the same.

Actually, the problem wouldn’t be the same if Disney built 2-3 resorts with different themes and locations. I have no desire to stay at SSR and would get a cash reservation for a different resort before I would use my points at SSR. Let’s just say that there are 900 rooms at SSR. If SSR was built with 300 rooms and there was another DVC built with 300 rooms located on bay lake with a European theme and another 300 room resort built next to BB with a ski lodge theme there would be different choices of where to stay. I would maybe try to other 2 resorts. The THV have added a little variety to SSR, but overall it is pretty much the same.

I am not sure why Disney built the largest DVC resort with no main “draw”.

BLT is close the MK and on the monorail
WLV have a strong theme, close to MK
BCV close to Epcot & DHS, SAB
BWV close to Epcot & DHS, Boardwalk
AKV close to AK, savannah views, concierge
OKW has low points, bigger rooms, 2 beds in studio

What is the draw to SSR? DTD? Seems like a weak draw to me.

I am not complaining if SSR members book outside of their home resort (I would too if that was my home resort).

My philosophy is that Disney wanted to grow the DVC after OKW and they knew that they needed rooms in the locations that people wanted to stay (BC, BW, WL, AKL). After building these desirable locations then they could build SSR and draw people in with, “you can stay at all these other places”. Then they needed to boost the system with BLT to spark some new interest in DVC. They are saving the poly DVC for the future for the ultimate adrenaline shot to the DVC system.

 

[rowbear]

I do think there are people out there buying in right now at SSR resale, because they are getting contracts at a great deal, with the plan to always try to stay elsewhere. I considered that myself. But I have also heard of some buying in or adding on at BLT, for the lower MF's, with the intention of staying elsewhere.

But isn't that one of the things many of us loved about DVC? Our ability to stay at places other than your home resort.

The more owners there are that want to stay at different places, the harder it is going to be getting rooms on short notice. But, what would be the alternative? Having them eliminate the option of staying elsewhere? That would be a disaster.

Thank you for getting my point. Now if I could get everyone to understand that I want Disney to research the situation and try to make SSR as appealing to those that it does not appeal to for whatever reason maybe we could stop the slight dogpiling I seem to be going through.

I don't care where anyone stays but I would love it if everyone felt that one place was just as good as another so maybe the demand would be a little more equal. The fact of the matter is for everyone who is preaching the 7 month rule that rule is only true for a few properties and it not true for all because the demand is not the same across the board anymore. So sure in the end the answer is to book on the day of the 7th month if you want to go somewhere specific but that is a shame because it did not have to be that way. It wasn't before. If Disney isn't careful they will lose one of their marketing points.

 

[logan115]

Can hardly wait until we start getting the threads around there not being any THVs available at SSR because the SSR owners all book them prior to the 7 mo window

Chris

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I do think there are people out there buying in right now at SSR resale, because they are getting contracts at a great deal, with the plan to always try to stay elsewhere. I considered that myself. But I have also heard of some buying in or adding on at BLT, for the lower MF's, with the intention of staying elsewhere.

But isn't that one of the things many of us loved about DVC? Our ability to stay at places other than your home resort.

The more owners there are that want to stay at different places, the harder it is going to be getting rooms on short notice. But, what would be the alternative? Having them eliminate the option of staying elsewhere? That would be a disaster.

I personally bought BLT for this exact reason. I want to stay there and don't want to chance things at 7 months. Of course, I can book at 11 months since my vacation patterns will be the same for at least the next 10 years.

I do understand the OP frustration, but as long as DVC continues to grow and flourish, members will have to adjust. What was possible a few years ago, will not be the same in a few years from now. That is why many of us tell prospective members on these boards to 1. Buy where you want to stay and 2. planning in advance is the important to a DVC membership .

I agree 100%.

It's a numbers game along with many other things thrown into the mix.
Just looking at some of the posts you can see many owners of all resorts not staying at the home they bought into for many years.We have more owners so in turn places that are smaller will be tougher to get into .
To say that most ssr owners are not happy with the resort and are looking to change at 7 months is ridiculous.They are doing what I would guess 95% of all owners have done,try something different.
Proud owner here of SSR and AK and actually prefer SSR over the other 5 resorts we have tried so far.Doesn't mean we are not going to try all of them because that is part of the fun of ownership.
Ssr is not the problem of this,it is also not the cause of food quality going down around WDW,the big hat in front of grumans or contrary to popular belief,stitchs great escape or drees"Its Dangerous".

 

[gharrer]

I love ss but I have had no trouble getting the resorts at the 7month mark. Currently I have ressies at the treehouses(SS) but I also have 4 days at BLT. I had a lake view and switched to MK view. Last june I stayed at HH,also no problem. I always call at 7 months. That said, I wouldn't have a problem if I could only get SS or OKW, I love both and stay at both regularly. The one hard thing about DVC is that you have to plan ahead, and if not,the wait list often comes through Nancy

 

[Tumblwd501]

One of the things that are always exhibited in these threads is that people make the assumption along the lines of the following: "Because I prefer X, everyone else must prefer X, so because I do not prefer Y it was a huge mistake for Disney to build Y.". The fact is, there are actually different type of people out there. /SNIP

If I had a nickel for every post I read where anecdotal experience is taken for fact... well, I'd be able to afford a lot more DVC points!! lol

Thank you for getting my point. Now if I could get everyone to understand that I want Disney to research the situation and try to make SSR as appealing to those that it does not appeal to for whatever reason maybe we could stop the slight dogpiling I seem to be going through.

I don't care where anyone stays but I would love it if everyone felt that one place was just as good as another so maybe the demand would be a little more equal. The fact of the matter is for everyone who is preaching the 7 month rule that rule is only true for a few properties and it not true for all because the demand is not the same across the board anymore. So sure in the end the answer is to book on the day of the 7th month if you want to go somewhere specific but that is a shame because it did not have to be that way. It wasn't before. If Disney isn't careful they will lose one of their marketing points.

OP, I would disagree with your basic premise that your difficulty in getting a reservation on short notice is a direct result off SSR's lack of appeal. IMHO, this system works as Disney intended. Disney markets DVC as a flexible time share where one of the big selling points is the ability to book at other resorts other than your home resort. I would guess that your recent booking difficulties arise more from increased DVC membership, rather than a disproportionate number of SSR DVC'ers booking outside their home resort. And if that's the case, that is not something Disney is going to fix. I'm pretty sure they like having increased DVC membership.

As for getting everyone to view all the DVC resorts as equals, I don't see that happening. There are just too many people with varying tastes to account for. For instance, we have no desire whatsoever to stay at BCV or BWV. I have stayed at BC once and it did nothing for me. lol

 

[starbox]

If Disney is working perfectly, all resorts will be at 100% occupancy 365 days a year, restaurants will be completely booked throughout every day, and the parks will be running close to capacity.

What works as a business model and what we like as guests are very different things. We'd love empty parks, no waits, the ability to walk in and dine wherever we wanted, resort pools to ourselves. I remember taking my son to Disney 10 years ago and being able to walk up to CRT (then King Stefans) and make reservation for that night. Those days are gone (I'll be up at 7am tomorrow dialing for CRT....)

I think DVC has been IMPROVING its business model - evidenced by the fact that there is very little excess inventory ANYWHERE at ANYTIME. It's not like SSR (or anyplace else) is sitting half empty because nobody will stay there. Which is just what Disney wants - a nice couple hundred thousand repeat customers that consistently use their points to stay onsite.

The days of making any Disney reservation (CRO, Dining, Tours, Special Events AND DVC) at the last minute are gone. Look at the aggressive DRO promotions to keep the non-DVC resorts and restaurants filled to the brim. Disney's gotten very, very good at securing guests. I think that DVC will ideally (in terms of their business model) be running at or near 100% occupancy from 7 months out.

God forbid there's ever another crisis like 9/11 to bring those "glory days" of easy reservations back.

 

[TDC Nala]

Whatever. I have gone over this enough times so that if you don't get it by now I am wasting my time. I still see SSR people defending themselves too which boggles the mind.

Defending ourselves from what?

We can stay wherever we like assuming there is availability at 7 months. I've taken full advantage of that. Have I done something wrong when I've stayed somewhere other than SSR? Or BCV for that matter.

Apparently I should consider using all my SSR points at SSR only because it's the least popular resort, but it's OK for me to use my BCV points to stay somewhere other than BCV because that frees up rooms for those who didn't buy BCV.

 

[JoQuo711]

What is the draw to SSR? DTD? Seems like a weak draw to me.

I'm sure DTD is a draw for some, but there's also the on-site spa and adjacent golf course as well as the newly built treehouse villas. It's not for everyone, but then again neither are any of the other DVC resorts. I stayed there for the first time in May. Wasn't nearly my favorite Disney resort, but I did enjoy it, and I could easily see it being ranked up there among people interested in any of those things I listed.

 

[Jeremy&Susan]

Of course there are rooms available for cash and not points. Again, it is the only way for trades out of the DVC system for members to be viable. In theory, a member calls Member Services to stay at a non-DVC Disney Collection resort or use points for a cruise. DVC then takes those points, reserves a room at a DVC resort, and puts it up for a cash only reservation to pay Disney for the cruise or non-DVC resort room. It is much like when a member reserves a room on points, then rents the reservation to someone else, and uses that rental income for a vacation to another location.

Only in this case of cash reservations, Disney becomes a rental agent middle man to facilitate the trade out. They are not "taking away" a members room, they are renting the room on behalf of a member to use the money for the trade. Otherwise, member trades would not be possible at all.

At DVC resorts that are not fully sold, like BLT and AKV, those unsold points are still owned by the developer...they can be used as sales incentives (as in the case of the matching Developer Points promos) as give-aways or for cash reservations. Those points/rooms are not yet owned by members, and thus the equivalent reservations can not be made by members on points.

This argument has been stated many many times. The problem with the argument is that DVC is holding reservation times / days that are not spoken for with these "traded, swapped or owned points".

Imagine if you were to call at 11 months and hold a bunch of days at peak use times of the year for DVC members with all the points you had (some people have a bunch). On top of that you are holding these reservations for "potential renters" not actual planned vacations. You then decide over time that you no longer want those dates and give them up right before any penalties would kick-in.

You effectively block out others by speculating whether or not you will rent out these dates or use those dates. That is unfair and Disney is starting to actively track that and has threatened to stop that practice; that is for everybody except Disney.

Disney should treat their points just like everybody else who is not Disney. They have them, nobody is arguing that. They should however not be allowed to block off rooms for Cash or potential other vacation swaps (DCL, RCI or whatever) until they have an actual customer requesting those dates. Only at that time is when Disney should be allowed to check availability like everybody else who is an owner. Also those reservations would have to fall under the very same 11 / 7 rules we as owners need to abide by.
There should never be cash available reservations when people with points are told there is no availability, if all owners had the saem rules applied to them.

That is what would be fair.

However, Disney controls and leverages "their points" under far more questionable and ambiguous "rules" than the ones they impose on the general DVC Owner population. Not sure where my cotnract allowed that, but Disney seems to think their points are controlled by other rules.

And BTW we do not, have not and don’t foresee ever renting out any of our points, so this is in no way a post defending renters.

 

[CarolA]

Whatever. I have gone over this enough times so that if you don't get it by now I am wasting my time. I still see SSR people defending themselves too which boggles the mind.

HUH?

You have something like 38 posts.... If you thought that your arrival would suddenly make everyone "see the light" you are probably only going to be disappointed.

Simply because YOU don't like a resort does not make it bad. Seriously, just bizarre

 

[DVCGeek]

OKW is a horrible, nasty, disgusting 3rd world hotel style resort. Staying there may cause disease not to mention the vermon and aligator infestations. Stay away from OKW you will hate it !!! If you want to stay at a condo style resort SSR is the ONLY real choice for you. Boycott OKW !!!

Awesome post! You know, even though they haven't opened yet I have a feeling that BLT & VGC might be the same way...

 

[TBLaube]

We are new owners and are leaving in under two weeks (HURRAH!) for our first stay on developer points as SSR. The resort looks beautiful, although very big, and we are very excited to be staying there.
It is interesting reading the posts here and the lack of Disney magic in some people's words. I can understand what people are saying. It would be very frustrating to not stay at a desired resort due to maximum occupancy. I agree with a previous post regarding the blocking of rooms for cash patrons. That should not be acceptable. DVC members should have first access if a room is available.
I was very torn in my choice of a home resort. I absolutely loved the decor of AKL and loved our stay there a few years back. However, I used the logic that it would be woser to make BLT our home for availability reasons. We have stayed at WL, but couldn't see paying the rates for hte rooms at the other monorail resorts. Being military, we could also stay at Shades of Green, but it just isn't the same as staying at Disney Resorts.
We plan to try and stay at a different resort for our vacations, but we don't really care where we stay as long as we are at Disney on vacation. Of course, we are pretty easy going and enjoy staying at the All-Star Resorts too.
And yes we are excited to try out OKW. Our next trip will be checking out the Orlando area and not doing the disney parks (I can't believe I am actually doing this). We want to check out Universal and will rent a car for that trip. OKW would be great for this becuase we can get a two bedroom on less points and do a lot of cooking in the room. That is the great part. Ther eis something for everyone. And if worse comes to worse and I can only stay at BLT on each of my trips....well.....I can live with that.

 

[logan115]

We are new owners and are leaving in under two weeks (HURRAH!) for our first stay on developer points as SSR. The resort looks beautiful, although very big, and we are very excited to be staying there.
It is interesting reading the posts here and the lack of Disney magic in some people's words. I can understand what people are saying. It would be very frustrating to not stay at a desired resort due to maximum occupancy. I agree with a previous post regarding the blocking of rooms for cash patrons. That should not be acceptable. DVC members should have first access if a room is available.
I was very torn in my choice of a home resort. I absolutely loved the decor of AKL and loved our stay there a few years back. However, I used the logic that it would be woser to make BLT our home for availability reasons. We have stayed at WL, but couldn't see paying the rates for hte rooms at the other monorail resorts. Being military, we could also stay at Shades of Green, but it just isn't the same as staying at Disney Resorts.
We plan to try and stay at a different resort for our vacations, but we don't really care where we stay as long as we are at Disney on vacation. Of course, we are pretty easy going and enjoy staying at the All-Star Resorts too.
And yes we are excited to try out OKW. Our next trip will be checking out the Orlando area and not doing the disney parks (I can't believe I am actually doing this). We want to check out Universal and will rent a car for that trip. OKW would be great for this becuase we can get a two bedroom on less points and do a lot of cooking in the room. That is the great part. Ther eis something for everyone. And if worse comes to worse and I can only stay at BLT on each of my trips....well.....I can live with that.

Enjoy your trip (have a feeling you will), and thanks to you and all other members of the military for the service you do for the rest of us.

Chris

 

[kikiq]

I am not sure why Disney built the largest DVC resort with no main “draw”.

What is the draw to SSR? DTD? Seems like a weak draw to me.

We bought SSR because "OMG" we love SSR. The grounds reminded us of the condo complexes in Colorado we used to go to during the summer. Lots of open space, a "lake" to walk around, access to shopping and restaurants and then having a PGA golf course or a spa may not be a "draw" for you, but we saw SSR as way to vacation the way we like "condo style" and have Disney at our fingertips.

SSR "draws"
Plenty of outdoor activities for active families - tennis, bicycles as well as pools and community hall, lots of space
DTD
Major PGA golf course
complete spa
THV

Have we booked another resort 7 months or less? Yes, BWV. Only to see if we need to add on a small contract. Yes, AKV but it was the ONLY DVC studio available and I wanted SSR because it was closer to where we needed to go. SSR is not ALWAYS the only resort available

 

[Brian Noble]

You effectively block out others by speculating whether or not you will rent out these dates or use those dates. That is unfair and Disney is starting to actively track that and has threatened to stop that practice; that is for everybody except Disney.

I'm not aware of any policy or procedure in place that forbids speculative booking. Only renting for commercial purposes. At present, that is defined as 20 or more reservations in a single year on the part of an Owner, not for the Owner, Owner's family, or Owner's friends. So, it is entirely fair to book speculatively, because everyone can do it up to 20 times per year. The POS also has language that defines the Developer as an entity distinct from an Owner, and grants the Developer a different set of usage rights.

There was a nice discussion on these issues about a year and a half ago when the 20-reservation rule was announced.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1687889