Concerned about DVC

[disneychic]

You asked so I will answer. We own 21 contracts at 6 different resorts. We vacation at WDW around 24 days per year.

Bill

#1. You are my hero

#2. Well said!

#3. To the O.P. Please Don't believe everything you read. We have been DVC members for 13 years and own contracts at 5 home resorts - one of which is SSR & We LOVE SSR.

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[Dean]

I was Online tonight searching for SSR bumper stickers, when I came across the latest trip advisor comments. I was so upset reading not one but several different family experiences from this August. The dream of owning a Disney timeshare only just became a reality and after reading the comments I felt as if my bubble burst. I did feel this so much for myself as for my DH. I cannot tell you how many years of talking, nagging, diagrams, videos, and time it took for me to finally convince him to purchase DVC. I can't tell you what my life would be like if we ever experienced some of the issues people have been having, not only at SSR but at OKW, etc. Based on their comments I wonder if it will be necessary for me to arrive a day earlier than my DH in order to insure that the accommodations are in good repair and clean.

Do you think DVC member services listens to members and reads sites such as Trip Advisor to help improve their service and customer satisfaction?
Sometimes I think they over saturate certain resorts with CM's and leave other resorts such as SSR to suffer.

I'm just hoping it's all good before my first trip in December and all future trips.


Sorry for all the gloom. I am just worried.

I don't know what your expectations are and areas that are important to you and your spouse, nor do I know what assumptions you've made. DVC is a top notch timeshare but all resorts and timeshares have issues and some buyers have unreasonable expectations. DVC does seem to have had a bad run lately on housekeeping and upkeep and that's on management. However, I'm not a big fan of tripadvisors.com, I don't think it's a good site for honest information and that goes double for timeshares. Assuming you have reasonable expectations, as I bet you do, everything should be fine and it's very likely you'll have a magical stay. Please let us know how it turns out.

 

[Idreamodisney247]

#1. You are my hero

#2. Well said!

#3. To the O.P. Please Don't believe everything you read. We have been DVC members for 13 years and own contracts at 5 home resorts - one of which is SSR & We LOVE SSR.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Originally Posted by disneynutz
You asked so I will answer. We own 21 contracts at 6 different resorts. We vacation at WDW around 24 days per year.

Bill

You are both my heroes!

 

[Idreamodisney247]

I don't know what your expectations are and areas that are important to you and your spouse, nor do I know what assumptions you've made. DVC is a top notch timeshare but all resorts and timeshares have issues and some buyers have unreasonable expectations. DVC does seem to have had a bad run lately on housekeeping and upkeep and that's on management. However, I'm not a big fan of tripadvisors.com, I don't think it's a good site for honest information and that goes double for timeshares. Assuming you have reasonable expectations, as I bet you do, everything should be fine and it's very likely you'll have a magical stay. Please let us know how it turns out.

Thank You. I will.

 

[zavandor]

I don't read Tripadvisor anymore. It's very easy to manipulate ratings: some agencies offer to hotel packages of good rating on Trip Advisor for a fee.
And I've read of people asking for a discount to hotel management when checking out threatening a bad rating on Trip Advisor otherwise.
Even if not perfect, I prefere expedia or booking.com for ratings. There only people who paid through the site can vote, so at least you are sure that everyone voting is real.

 

[ben1993]

I agree, take Trip Advisor with a huge pinch of salt, every hotel or resort has people whining about something, mostly things that they would have been prepared for had they done proper research, like the vast size of SSR and OKW, the resorts are big, you may have to walk a bit to a bus stop or the lobby... Big deal?

 

[babster462]

We have been members since 2006 and SSR is our home resort. We own 4 different contracts and they are all SSR. We love ,love, love SSR. We make 3-4 trips down a year and almost always stay at SSR. It is beautiful and spacious and does not have that crowded feel that some of the other resorts have. I love that you can walk to Downtown Disney because that gives you more eating options and things to do. You can also boat to Downtown Disney. I know that I can book the THV at 11 months out. They are awesome and very hard to snag at 7 months. I can also call at the last minute and can usually get a room at SSR because of its size. We have stayed at OKW several times and love it there too. All the DVC resorts are wonderful and I only have one regret- that we didn't buy sooner! Enjoy your trip and don't let the negative reports ruin it for you!!

 

[crisi]

I'm one who would rather stay home than stay at SSR. Fortunately, we own a resort we like, book there eleven months out, and aren't at a huge risk to end up at SSR. But that doesn't mean it isn't a good resort, it just isn't a resort to my own taste. And if I were to book it not understanding what it was, it would be disappointing to me. I'm assuming you understood what you bought, and have reasonable expectations. If those two things are true, you have nothing to be worried about.

Reasonable expectations however, can be tough. A lot of people expect Disney to be perfect. DVC rooms are occupied pretty much constantly. There may be some wear and tear, some stains on furniture - it happens when you have families in rooms. There may be a missing drawer pull (for us, there always is, its a game "find which drawer has the missing pull"), or a light with a dead lightbulb. Its Florida, it isn't unusual to find a some mold stains in the shower. Disney has yet to provide us with a wonderful mattress - we manage to sleep, but my husband and I often have to switch sides so he can find a spot where he isn't sleeping "in a trench," and the bedding - in comparison to most nice hotels now - is really sub par.

We spent three days in a regular hotel room over at Portofino Bay and moved directly to the Boardwalk. And Portofino Bay had much better bedding (mattress, linens, comforter). But it was all of us in one room - when we stay at a DVC resort, we stay there to have the kids sleep in a different room and give our family space. And for us, that's what makes a DVC resort worth it.

We've also stayed in a few other timeshare units when traveling. For a timeshare, in my experience, DVC mattresses and bedding are wonderful.

 

[Dean]

I'm one who would rather stay home than stay at SSR. Fortunately, we own a resort we like, book there eleven months out, and aren't at a huge risk to end up at SSR. But that doesn't mean it isn't a good resort, it just isn't a resort to my own taste. And if I were to book it not understanding what it was, it would be disappointing to me. I'm assuming you understood what you bought, and have reasonable expectations. If those two things are true, you have nothing to be worried about.

Reasonable expectations however, can be tough. A lot of people expect Disney to be perfect. DVC rooms are occupied pretty much constantly. There may be some wear and tear, some stains on furniture - it happens when you have families in rooms. There may be a missing drawer pull (for us, there always is, its a game "find which drawer has the missing pull"), or a light with a dead lightbulb. Its Florida, it isn't unusual to find a some mold stains in the shower. Disney has yet to provide us with a wonderful mattress - we manage to sleep, but my husband and I often have to switch sides so he can find a spot where he isn't sleeping "in a trench," and the bedding - in comparison to most nice hotels now - is really sub par.

We spent three days in a regular hotel room over at Portofino Bay and moved directly to the Boardwalk. And Portofino Bay had much better bedding (mattress, linens, comforter). But it was all of us in one room - when we stay at a DVC resort, we stay there to have the kids sleep in a different room and give our family space. And for us, that's what makes a DVC resort worth it.

We've also stayed in a few other timeshare units when traveling. For a timeshare, in my experience, DVC mattresses and bedding are wonderful.

I feel that way about HC units but not specific DVC resorts. Every resort has their detractors. From a system standpoint, it seems that a significantly larger % of members prefer to stay at other locations a significant portion of the time and this has an effect on the 7 month window options.

 

[Redbudlover]

I travel a lot domestic and international and use Tripadvisor often. I also own at 3 different DVC resorts. Tripadvisor attracts the complainers so when I use it i look for the places with high responses and fewest complaints. There are always those who hate any particular place. that said although I do own DVC and use is at least 3 times a year, I always pay for extra housekeeping as I like daily housekeeping. Anyone who wants it can have it - and it is still cheaper than a comparable hotel. Comparable though is the key word there. DVC units are NOT comparable to the deluxe rooms at the same resorts, unless they are brand new. The bedding, linen, and toiletries are not of the same high calibre. I sold my points at VWL after staying there 3 times with bad housekeeping, broken TVs, lamps, and phones - the last time nothing worked properly and housekeeping didn't take the trash when they replaced the towels. And it was dirty and looked worn. I love DVC at AKL on the other hand. But seriously would prefer a higher calibre of bedding and linens. Why do we have to have the cheaper stuff? So when I want a really deluxe Disney experience I pay cash - and get the duvets and nice toiletries and wonderful pillows that I prefer. DVC is great for what it is - it suffers, imho, from being over-hyped. For deluxe go cash deluxe. For really great go DVC...

 

[CRobin]

I travel a lot domestic and international and use Tripadvisor often. I also own at 3 different DVC resorts. Tripadvisor attracts the complainers so when I use it i look for the places with high responses and fewest complaints. There are always those who hate any particular place. that said although I do own DVC and use is at least 3 times a year, I always pay for extra housekeeping as I like daily housekeeping. Anyone who wants it can have it - and it is still cheaper than a comparable hotel. Comparable though is the key word there. DVC units are NOT comparable to the deluxe rooms at the same resorts, unless they are brand new. The bedding, linen, and toiletries are not of the same high calibre. I sold my points at VWL after staying there 3 times with bad housekeeping, broken TVs, lamps, and phones - the last time nothing worked properly and housekeeping didn't take the trash when they replaced the towels. And it was dirty and looked worn. I love DVC at AKL on the other hand. But seriously would prefer a higher calibre of bedding and linens. Why do we have to have the cheaper stuff? So when I want a really deluxe Disney experience I pay cash - and get the duvets and nice toiletries and wonderful pillows that I prefer. DVC is great for what it is - it suffers, imho, from being over-hyped. For deluxe go cash deluxe. For really great go DVC...

As far as your unfortunate VWL experience went, I have one answer - report it. Maybe you did and weren't satisfied with the response.

DVC never bills itself as The Park Place. In fact, all of the cash reservation literature calls DVC resorts "Home away from home". That probably doesn't translate as "best in class" to everyone (certainly not us). Nothing wrong with having higher standards though.....to each his own.

 

[hroyale]

I never read the reviews of the DVC units on trip advisor, although I do take what I read on there with a grain of salt. I found that if a particular review strikes a cord with me (either good or bad) that it's worth it to take the time to read other reviews by that poster.

That being said, we stayed at SSR one night for the first time this past summer. We needed to add one night and it was the only DVC with space left. I didn't expect much because of comments by others on these and other boards, even though I know several people who own and LOVE that resort.

We were pleasantly surprised by our experience. We had a car, but used the buses too. The buses were fast, the parking was nice and close, we were steps away from the new pool and the staff was great. Personally I prefer enclosed hallways so it won't move to the top of my list, but I will not hesitate to stay there again.

 

[Kims09]

As a fairly recent DVC owner (about 2 years) and someone who never stayed at a Deluxe resort before owning DVC, I don't think you will have any regrets. This is a much better way to vacation. I have not stayed at SSR, but that's on the bucket list. Yep, OKW is spread out, but we loved it there. I wouldn't worry about those reports you read; it will all turn out fine

 

[Deb & Bill]

I am a senior contributor on Trip Advisor. I have a post about OKW over there. I love OKW. I've had several helpful comments made on my OKW post. I usually try to post a report of every hotel I stay in. Most have been very positive, a few not as positive. Only two were more negative than positive.