Disney Collection

[Tdisney]

Does anyone know if you can book the Disney collection resorts online ?

Also is there a limited number of rooms available for points ?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Does anyone know if you can book the Disney collection resorts online ?

Also is there a limited number of rooms available for points ?

No. You have to call to do that. MS is open right now if you want to call.

 

[Tdisney]

Deb and Bill,

I know you responded to my rant about reservations the other day. From what I have found out after talking to several member services at DVC, I think you were saying the same thing. If you convert what membership services calls your "membership points" to "reservation points" to make a reservation at a non DVC resort, Disney essentially then turns around and sells them as a reservation to someone else wanting to stay in a villa on a cash reservation. However the question is does disney pull those points from DVC's points availability or cash availability ? My understanding from membership services is that it is from "points" . You seem to know a lot about this, so is this assumption correct. If so, then why does DVC have a limited number of "cash reservations" ? It would seem if there is availability through Disney for non DVC members then why not for DVC members who are willing to pay cash ? The only thing I can think of is that there is a limited inventory that DVC has to rent out as cash, and that when someone converts their points to stay in a non DVC resort, those points are then turned around to purchase the cash reservations away from DVC.

 

[DebbieB]

Availability is limited. Before VGC opened, I wanted to stay on points at GCH and the Disney website showed room availability. When I called to book it on points, they said it was not available for points, only a limited amount of rooms are available for points at the Disney Collection hotels.

 

[Tdisney]

DebbieB,

I am sorry, I should of clarified. I know this started out about Disney Collection but I am referring to DVC resorts when talking about availability. Deb and Bill responded to an earlier post that is now locked, so I was responding to her. But I agree with the Disney Collection, DVC has a limited number of rooms to convert from membership points to reservation points. Which is understandable. My complaint is that why is a DVC member limited to book cash reservations through DVC at a DVC resort when there is availability. I was told by membership services when I bought that a perk for membership was that if you could not book on points you received a discount for cash ressies, but not that there was a limited amount through DVC. When I am looking at Disney online reservation I am seeing availability for cash but when booking through DVC for cash ressie, they say there are none. So either there is a glitch on Disney's end or DVC has a limited number they can book with cash. Which leads me to my question if Disney runs out of inventory for cash ressie at a DVC resort can they dip in DVC inventory, sort of to speak ? To me it seems Disney should have a very limited number of rooms to rent out for cash at a DVC resort, not the other way around.

 

[DebbieB]

DebbieB,

I am sorry, I should of clarified. I know this started out about Disney Collection but I am referring to DVC resorts when talking about availability. Deb and Bill responded to an earlier post that is now locked, so I was responding to her. But I agree with the Disney Collection, DVC has a limited number of rooms to convert from membership points to reservation points. Which is understandable. My complaint is that why is a DVC member limited to book cash reservations through DVC at a DVC resort when there is availability. I was told by membership services when I bought that a perk for membership was that if you could not book on points you received a discount for cash ressies, but not that there was a limited amount through DVC. When I am looking at Disney online reservation I am seeing availability for cash but when booking through DVC for cash ressie, they say there are none. So either there is a glitch on Disney's end or DVC has a limited number they can book with cash. Which leads me to my question if Disney runs out of inventory for cash ressie at a DVC resort can they dip in DVC inventory, sort of to speak ? To me it seems Disney should have a very limited number of rooms to rent out for cash at a DVC resort, not the other way around.

DVC does limit the number of rooms available for cash reservations to members. I believe those rooms come from points inventory and DVC only releases them for cash if they expect them to not be needed for points reservations.

Rooms CRO has comes from the non-points inventory, which is separate. CRO can only dip into DVC points inventory at 60 days or less, which is known as "breakage". You will see "breakage income" as a credit on the DVC dues budget.

 

[Tdisney]

Debbie it would seem to me however if a member is trying to rent them on points then they should release them instead of making a member pay for them with cash. I am going to start a new thread on this after talking to member services for several hours on what I learned.

 

[Lynne M]

I'm going to copy what I posted on the Resorts board earlier today, I think it will be helpful:

There are a number of ways that DVC villas can become available for cash reservations; this might help understanding what's in CRO inventory, and when.

1. Disney retains ownership of a small percentage ( less than 10%) of inventory at each resort. These can be used to swap villas out for maintenance, etc. If not needed, they go to CRO to be reserved for cash.

2. If a resort is being actively sold - like, for instance, BLT - inventory that hasn't been sold yet goes to CRO to be reserved for cash. The amount of open inventory dwindles as the DVC continues to sell ownership interests in the resort. There were once a lot of BLT villas available through CRO; it's much less nowadays.

3. When members trade out of DVC - for instance, book cruises on DCL or resort stays at non-DVC resorts like YC or GF - the destination resort or cruise line expects to be paid in cash for their stay. DVC sends a villa of comparable value at the member's home resort over to CRO to be rented for cash. That money is used to pay for the member's cruise or resort stay.

4. At 60 days out, if villas at a DVC resort have not been booked yet by members, they become 'breakage inventory' and are sent to CRO for cash reservations. The money received is used to offset member dues. If, in that last 60 days, a member attempts to book one of these villas, they can be taken back from CRO and made available for that member to reserve.

These are the ONLY ways that a DVC room becomes available for a cash reservation. To directly answer your question, no, CRO absolutely cannot just take villas from the member inventory if someone calls up wanting a cash reservation. They don't own the villas in the member inventory, and they have no access to it. Just like any other room type on property, if all of the 2-bedroom savanna view villas at AKV that CRO has access to (from the list above) get booked up, that's it, they're just not available anymore.

Another way to look at it is, CRO does not take villas from DVC. DVC decides which villas go to CRO.

 

[Lynne M]

Debbie it would seem to me however if a member is trying to rent them on points then they should release them instead of making a member pay for them with cash. I am going to start a new thread on this after talking to member services for several hours on what I learned.

See my list of ways villas can get to CRO, above.

For item 4 - breakage inventory - those villas can be brought back into member inventory, and are, if a member requests them. They are owned by members.

For items 1, 2 - Disney owned inventory - why should they just give us villas that they own, with no compensation?

For item 3 - inventory being used to pay for exchanges - if you don't allow this, you lose your ability to exchange your points for things like non-DVC resorts at WDW.

Let's say you book the Poly on points. The Poly wants money for that room you'll be staying in. Points have NO value to the Poly. So, in order to get them the money for your stay, DVC has to take a villa reservation that's comparable to the cost of your Poly stay out of member inventory, and send that villa over to CRO, who rents it for cash, and the money goes to the Poly. That villa MUST be rented for cash - it can't go back into the member inventory for some other member to rent for points - because then the Poly won't get paid.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Debbie it would seem to me however if a member is trying to rent them on points then they should release them instead of making a member pay for them with cash. I am going to start a new thread on this after talking to member services for several hours on what I learned.

What is available for points is what has been sold to members as points. So if there are 100,000 points available for a small resort and DVC sells 90,000 points, that leaves DVC 10,000 points to sell for cash. They can't use those for points stays because they haven't been purchased yet and they don't represent anyone's points. Those belong to DVC and not to the members. DVC can do anything they want with those. But if they need funds to pay for salaries, for utilities, for maintenance, they need member dues for the points sold and cash for the unsold points.

Points can only be used for the inventory that has been sold to members. In this example, DVC would have 90,000 points inventory to rent to members for points and 10,000 points inventory to rent out for cash. Cash is cash and points is points.

 

[Tdisney]

Thanks Deb and Bill, that is a nice explanation. But what about a DVC that is sold out, such as BCV ?

 

[Deb & Bill]

Thanks Deb and Bill, that is a nice explanation. But what about a DVC that is sold out, such as BCV ?

Use the same analogy. Say BCV has 150,000 points total. 140,000 have been sold and 10,000 retained by DVC for breakage (they need to take a few rooms out for maintenance for a period of time or renovations). That leaves 140,000 points to use for points stays. BUT, a few BCV members have decided to go on the DCL for a trip. They trade out 20,000 points for the trip. So DVC takes the lodging those 20,000 points represents and gives it to Disney Reservation Center to sell. Once DRC sells the lodging the give DVC a majority of the funds back (they keep a portion for their work) and then DVC hands over the cash to DCL to pay for the members' cruises.

Or a BCV member failed to pay their dues for the entire year, so DVC foreclosed on the points, those go into the breakage inventory, not points inventory because they technically aren't owned any more.

Or DVC did not pass on Right of First Refusal and bought the points back when a member chose to sell his/her BCV contract. Those go back into the DVC non-points inventory until they are sold to a new member.

But if at 60 days out, DVC has some points that weren't used by members for a reservation, they can give them to DRC to sell so they aren't left wide open. And if a member wants a last minute reservation at BCV, like 30 days out, and some of that lodging is still available, DVC can call some back to make a reservation for a member.

 

[Tdisney]

Lynn M

I guess my question to you as well, what about resorts that are sold out. Does Disney keep some of the points and not put up for resale ?

Because I have tried to add on at the BC through Disney and have been told several times that until they get points off right of refusal from resale they do not have any to sell.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Lynn M

I guess my question to you as well, what about resorts that are sold out. Does Disney keep some of the points and not put up for resale ?

Because I have tried to add on at the BC through Disney and have been told several times that until they get points off right of refusal from resale they do not have any to sell.

Other than breakage inventory, they should have no inventory at that point. They have to maintain 2-5% to take villas out of inventory for maintenance. Think of about a year ago. At OKW, they were taking multiple buildings out of inventory for a few weeks while they did renovations. They can't just eliminate my points there and say, so sorry, D&B, no vacation for you this year. They have to use their breakage inventory or any points they have gotten back and not resold.

 

[crisi]

Lynn M

I guess my question to you as well, what about resorts that are sold out. Does Disney keep some of the points and not put up for resale ?

Because I have tried to add on at the BC through Disney and have been told several times that until they get points off right of refusal from resale they do not have any to sell.

BCV may be the only resort that is sold out, and I really doubt it is for all use years. Because of the economy, disney has had a lot of foreclosures.

But there is also the issue of unpaid dues. If you own your points, Disney doesn't foreclose on you for non payment of dues, but they will move the points into the "non points reservation" inventories. If you want to use your points, Disney will have you get current on dues, but I remember one thread where they didn't make them pay back dues. There are probably a lot of points currently in this category. I'd guess that in addition to job loss, you see dues and membership languish in cases of death and divorce as well during the time things are in chaos after such life events.

There are functionally a ton of reasons Disney themselves may own the points and the members may not use them. And when Disney has possession of the points, it is their decision to off them for a cash discount to members, hand them to CRO, or let the room sit empty.