Does DVC reserve the right to allow booking only at home resorts?

[dvc-NE]

I'll trade you a different booking window if you give me some of your additional 12 years. SSR owners DO have an advantage. A big one. You'll just need to wait thirty some years before you can laugh at the rest of us.

Crisi: I'd love a trade as you described. I'll be 83 when I can start laughing. One thing I like about SSR is the fact that my 9 year old son will be the beneficiary of our contract, which is intended to last till 2054. But I have 2 SSR contracts, one for 300 pts which will definately go to my son and a 100 pt contract which I would be willing to negotiate with you.

 

[jade1]

I don't follow. Why would someone whose home resort is
BCV have only a one month booking advantage? I always thought it was four months. By an 11/8 window I meant 11 months at home resort and 8 months at the others. Matt

The contracts state the home resort will always have at least a one month booking advantage (yes currently it is 4 months). You stated 35% of SSR points should be able to be used anywhere at 11 months-meaning the BCV advantage would be gone. Later you suggested "if it became a big issue" maybe an 11/8 and I assume that would gain SSR owners a slight advantage on whats left over from 11, 10 and 9 months which is a little more reasonable but I doubt the other owners would be for it, such as an OKW owner that may want BCV or VWL owner that may want BWV etc.

 

[dvc-NE]

The contracts state the home resort will always have at least a one month booking advantage (yes currently it is 4 months). You stated 35% of SSR points should be able to be used anywhere at 11 months-meaning the BCV advantage would be gone. Later you suggested "if it became a big issue" maybe an 11/8 and I assume that would gain SSR owners a slight advantage on whats left over from 11, 10 and 9 months which is a little more reasonable but I doubt the other owners would be for it, such as an OKW owner that may want BCV or VWL owner that may want BWV etc.

Since it's all hypothetical anyway, let's give OKW the 11/8
booking window also. Maybe DVC had enough foresight to
see that larger resort owners may be at a disadvantage, hence maybe that's why they provided for a one month variation between home and other resorts. After all, this is supposed to be a "club" but it does seem that some smaller resort owners can at times sound like they bought into one and only one resort at Disney. When I bought into DVC, I realized I had a home resort, but at the same time thought I bought into all of them. Am I off base?
Anyway, this is hardly a real problem when you realize all the problems the world is having and you put it in perspective. Matt

 

[jade1]

Since it's all hypothetical anyway, let's give OKW the 11/8
booking window also. Maybe DVC had enough foresight to
see that larger resort owners may be at a disadvantage, hence maybe that's why they provided for a one month variation between home and other resorts. After all, this is supposed to be a "club" but it does seem that some smaller resort owners can at times sound like they bought into one and only one resort at Disney. When I bought into DVC, I realized I had a home resort, but at the same time thought I bought into all of them. Am I off base?
Anyway, this is hardly a real problem when you realize all the problems the world is having and you put it in perspective. Matt

Maybe some DVC "owners" had enough foresight to see that larger resort owners may be at a disadvantage simply because of the one month variation between home and other resorts.

I realize there are bigger issues in the world, but this is a board to discuss these kinds of issues and I actually think you bring up some good points for discussion. I was mainly reacting to your suggestion that giving SSR owners 35% of thier points good at any DVC location at 11 months as "not hurting your feelings"-of course it wouldn't. As far as buying into all of them and being off base, why the larger resorts only? Didn't BWV/VWL buy into all of them also? What if you are a VWL owner and all of sudden OKW/SSR have gained a 1 month booking advantage everywhere but VWL? Would that hurt your feelings?

 

[Dean]

It wouldn't hurt my feelings any if DVC allowed Saratoga owners the ability to book say 35% of their points at any resort using an 11 month window. This would offset the lack of "home court advantage " that we currently enjoy. DVC probably wouldn't do something like that, but if it became a big issue maybe Saratoga owners could get a different booking window, say 11/8 perhaps. I do agree with tjkraz that CR would help out quite a bit, especially if 400 to 500 rooms were available.

First, this would not be permitted within the rules. Second, there MAY no "home court advantage" simply because SSR is currently easy to get at any time and will likely continue to be so. There may be exceptions such as the GV certain times of the year. However, I hear you saying that possibly SSR owners should get other benefits because the home resort priority will not be important, that is not a reasonable position IMO. If one wanted another resort, it might have been better to buy there. I think we're likely to have MANY posts over the next few years something to the effect "I own at OKW/SSR/HH/VB and I can never get in to BCV/BWV/VWL at the 7 month window". This has already started in a small way, one SSR is sold out and the owners have a couple of visits under their belt is when it will likely gear up for real. Even then, those that know how to work the system will be successful much of the time.

 

[jade1]

First, this would not be permitted within the rules. Second, there MAY no "home court advantage" simply because SSR is currently easy to get at any time and will likely continue to be so. There may be exceptions such as the GV certain times of the year. However, I hear you saying that possibly SSR owners should get other benefits because the home resort priority will not be important, that is not a reasonable position IMO. If one wanted another resort, it might have been better to buy there. I think we're likely to have MANY posts over the next few years something to the effect "I own at OKW/SSR/HH/VB and I can never get in to BCV/BWV/VWL at the 7 month window". This has already started in a small way, one SSR is sold out and the owners have a couple of visits under their belt is when it will likely gear up for real. Even then, those that know how to work the system will be successful much of the time.

Agreed Dean. This is also why CR/AK/GF/POLY are much better future DVC additions than EP and other offsite locations IMHO. This would help free up ressies for OKW/SSR owners at more smaller/closer to parks (monorail) resorts where EP types will just compound the problem.

 

[Dean]

Agreed Dean. This is also why CR/AK/GF/POLY are much better future DVC additions than EP and other offsite locations IMHO. This would help free up ressies for OKW/SSR owners at more smaller/closer to parks (monorail) resorts where EP types will just compound the problem.

I agree in once sense. The question though is better for who. IF DVC builds resorts in the future, it will be based on how they can make money as well as support their other companies. More destination resorts might be better for someone who bought SSR (or any other) just to get into the system or even those that want to try other resorts from time to time. But given that the primary focus of ANY resort should be the owners at that resort, and as long as there is a home resort window, it really doesn't matter that much either way to the owners OR to DVC. The only people who might lose out are those that bought primary to use points at certain resorts and those that can plan ahead of the 7 month window.

I can hear the screams in about 5-7 years when certain people can't get what they want. The cries of "but the salesman said", "I didn't understand", etc. We'll get to remind them all over again they should read and understand what the legal paperwork says as well as NOT to rely on what the sales staff say unless it's in specifically in writing.

 

[dvc-NE]

"My point is simply that there was never a point in time when DVC was able to say "here are the five options available at Walt Disney World--take your pick." Home resort is more of a function of time and place than conscious choice.

The fact that we all know DVC sells the program as a whole ("buy here, stay anywhere") also contributes to the situation. In the face of getting 12 additional years, why would a relatively ignorant buyer even consider getting points at OKW or BWV?

I'm not even entering into a debate of which resort is more popular / better / hard to get into. I just opining that only the most educated of first-time buyers would:

1) Know about the ability / significance of getting a specific Home resort on the resale market,
2) Know about the ability to buy points at "sold out" resorts from DVC, and
3) Know enough to really determine their favorite resort at the time of purchase." (QUOTE FROM TJKRAZ)


Jade1: I have said that I think everyone here on the forum is very helpful but this summary from tjkraz basically sums up this whole issue. I really don't care if someone owns 800 pts at BCV or BWV, more power to them. In my situation however, I know I would have done things somewhat differently if I had been able to investigate more than I did. My wife went on vacation and came back with a contract for DVC. I looked at it, liked the concept, and decided that we would be better served with more points, so I focused on how many points we should have. I think I made a good decision from that standpoint, but I was not aware of what I am now. Hindsight is always 20/20, so I now realize I would have probably still had a contract at SSR of 300 pts or so, and a smaller one at BCV or BWV. Having 400 pts at SSR is not a bad position to be in, it's just that I believe Disney leads you to believe your only or best option is the resort they are currently selling, whether it be BWV, BCV, SSR or maybe CR in the future. Matt

 

[Dean]

My point is simply that there was never a point in time when DVC was able to say "here are the five options available at Walt Disney World--take your pick." Home resort is more of a function of time and place than conscious choice.

They sold what they sold. Not having the other resorts to sell means nothing for the buyer other than they are guaranteed their home resort. DVC doesn't owe increased access because they couldn't or wouldn't sell you what you might prefer. Besides, all are available resale.

The fact that we all know DVC sells the program as a whole ("buy here, stay anywhere") also contributes to the situation. In the face of getting 12 additional years, why would a relatively ignorant buyer even consider getting points at OKW or BWV?

Likewise, this is not true. They offer and you buy. They make no guarantees about using the other resorts. If you buy what the sales people say without written backup, shame on you. You said it, ignorance. I know some have bought SSR simply for the extra years accepting the additional risks, a difficult decision I'd think.

1) Know about the ability / significance of getting a specific Home resort on the resale market,
2) Know about the ability to buy points at "sold out" resorts from DVC, and
3) Know enough to really determine their favorite resort at the time of purchase.

To me this would be the minimum of information prior to buying but I'd suppose it's not for most that actually buy from DVC.

 

[dvc-NE]

They sold what they sold. Not having the other resorts to sell means nothing for the buyer other than they are guaranteed their home resort. DVC doesn't owe increased access because they couldn't or wouldn't sell you what you might prefer. Besides, all are available resale.

Likewise, this is not true. They offer and you buy. They make no guarantees about using the other resorts. If you buy what the sales people say without written backup, shame on you. You said it, ignorance. I know some have bought SSR simply for the extra years accepting the additional risks, a difficult decision I'd think. To me this would be the minimum of information prior to buying but I'd suppose it's not for most that actually buy from DVC.

Dean: Thanks for the input, but those were all tjkraz's words from a previous post on this thread. I messed up on the quote issue, but I agree with every word he said. That's why I have spent some time on this forum, I've learned alot, you included. Thanks, Matt

 

[Daitcher]

Not to flame, and this is pure curiosity but why do most people think that is all SSR owners want to do, buy there only to always stay at BC or BWV?[/QUOTE]



No flaming here but I might be flamed)) The owners of small DVC Resorts are paranoid, period. Why should they worry? They still have the 4 month booking advantage to stay at there beloved resort. 7 month ressies are easy to get anyway. I always get what I want at 7 months. I just booked a trip to VWL in May at less than 6 months without a probelem. I also booked VB in May as well at less than 6 months. I own SSR and never stay there so I guess I am one of "those people" they talk about. DVC by nature is designed for people who plan well ahead. If you can't book at least 6 months in advance then the program isn't for you. Also if you book less than 8 months out your home resort is meaningless anyway. There is room for us all. I also don't feel guilty booking "other" resorts at the 7 month window. It is a right of the program at this point. The early bird gets the worm.


DAVE

 

[Daitcher]

I love my home resort, haven't stayed there yet. Have 12 more days before I can.



Be very careful with that line of thinking. We own SSR and really expected to love the resort. Guess what we didn't like it. You will not know how a resort "grabs" you or not until you stay there. SSR is visually nice but didn't have that warm feeling to me. I also like the full service hotel like DVC Resorts as opposed to the condo resorts of SSR and OKW. A few of the weaknesses as we see them: 1) no poolside dining. What were they thinking here? Do they want dripping wet people trudging into AP? This is so inconvenient to have to go into AP to get lunch. Even if you send one member of the family in there a few tables poolside ( maybe 4-6). 2) no room service. There are those nights after a long day that you do not want to eat out or cook in. Room service for us is a must. 3) For now no sit down restaurant. They are adding one however so this will help. 4) Small pool bar. The bar here is ridiculously small especaily when the resort is complete. Good luck elbowing through the crowds for drinks when this place is full. 5) Theme. We live in Saratoga Springs, NY for starters. It is a nice resort town but worthy of a DVC theme? I don't think so. Besides we do not want to travel all the way to Florida to see upstate NY landscaping. GIVE ME THE PALM TREES! There are more negatives also but my point is this: I truly hope you love this place but I wouldn't make any judgements until you stay.


DAVE

 

[Sammie]

I love my home resort, haven't stayed there yet. Have 12 more days before I can.



Be very careful with that line of thinking. We own SSR and really expected to love the resort. Guess what we didn't like it. You will not know how a resort "grabs" you or not until you stay there. SSR is visually nice but didn't have that warm feeling to me. I also like the full service hotel like DVC Resorts as opposed to the condo resorts of SSR and OKW. A few of the weaknesses as we see them: 1) no poolside dining. What were they thinking here? Do they want dripping wet people trudging into AP? This is so inconvenient to have to go into AP to get lunch. Even if you send one member of the family in there a few tables poolside ( maybe 4-6). 2) no room service. There are those nights after a long day that you do not want to eat out or cook in. Room service for us is a must. 3) For now no sit down restaurant. They are adding one however so this will help. 4) Small pool bar. The bar here is ridiculously small especaily when the resort is complete. Good luck elbowing through the crowds for drinks when this place is full. 5) Theme. We live in Saratoga Springs, NY for starters. It is a nice resort town but worthy of a DVC theme? I don't think so. Besides we do not want to travel all the way to Florida to see upstate NY landscaping. GIVE ME THE PALM TREES! There are more negatives also but my point is this: I truly hope you love this place but I wouldn't make any judgements until you stay.


DAVE

Have to ask based on your above comments, why did you buy SSR? It seems from what you stated you wanted, room service, pool side food service, larger pool bar, themeing, etc. you would have known prior to purchase this would not be a good match for your wants.

 

[jade1]

Not to flame, and this is pure curiosity but why do most people think that is all SSR owners want to do, buy there only to always stay at BC or BWV?

No flaming here but I might be flamed)) The owners of small DVC Resorts are paranoid, period. Why should they worry? They still have the 4 month booking advantage to stay at there beloved resort. 7 month ressies are easy to get anyway. I always get what I want at 7 months. I just booked a trip to VWL in May at less than 6 months without a probelem. I also booked VB in May as well at less than 6 months. I own SSR and never stay there so I guess I am one of "those people" they talk about. DVC by nature is designed for people who plan well ahead. If you can't book at least 6 months in advance then the program isn't for you. Also if you book less than 8 months out your home resort is meaningless anyway. There is room for us all. I also don't feel guilty booking "other" resorts at the 7 month window. It is a right of the program at this point. The early bird gets the worm.


DAVE[/QUOTE]

Really, May, isn't that normally booked solid at 11 months?

 

[evaready51]

We saw it, learned everything we could about it, loved it and bought it! If you don't like it then just DON'T stay there.

There are way too many people that complain about minutia on this board!

 

[athenna]

We saw it, learned everything we could about it, loved it and bought it! If you don't like it then just DON'T stay there.

There are way too many people that complain about minutia on this board!

/QUOTE]

I couldn't agree more, let the people that don't like it stay elswhere so I don't have to worry there's no room for me at ''home''

 

[cobbler]

I love my home resort, haven't stayed there yet. Have 12 more days before I can.



Be very careful with that line of thinking. We own SSR and really expected to love the resort. Guess what we didn't like it. You will not know how a resort "grabs" you or not until you stay there. SSR is visually nice but didn't have that warm feeling to me. I also like the full service hotel like DVC Resorts as opposed to the condo resorts of SSR and OKW. A few of the weaknesses as we see them: 1) no poolside dining. What were they thinking here? Do they want dripping wet people trudging into AP? This is so inconvenient to have to go into AP to get lunch. Even if you send one member of the family in there a few tables poolside ( maybe 4-6). 2) no room service. There are those nights after a long day that you do not want to eat out or cook in. Room service for us is a must. 3) For now no sit down restaurant. They are adding one however so this will help. 4) Small pool bar. The bar here is ridiculously small especaily when the resort is complete. Good luck elbowing through the crowds for drinks when this place is full. 5) Theme. We live in Saratoga Springs, NY for starters. It is a nice resort town but worthy of a DVC theme? I don't think so. Besides we do not want to travel all the way to Florida to see upstate NY landscaping. GIVE ME THE PALM TREES! There are more negatives also but my point is this: I truly hope you love this place but I wouldn't make any judgements until you stay.


DAVE

Well I did stay and I LOVED it. It was very nice. Some things that don't bother me are the pool bar. I don't drink so I don't really care. Poolside dining, eh, not my thing really. At this point anyway.

I loved the ease of getting to DTD by walking. I don't know but one of the things that irritated me the most with staying at other resorts is that you had to stop by West Side and Typhoon Lagoon on the way back. It drove me nuts! Now I don't have to worry about that

I have more but this thread isn't about that.

 

[Daitcher]

Have to ask based on your above comments, why did you buy SSR? It seems from what you stated you wanted, room service, pool side food service, larger pool bar, themeing, etc. you would have known prior to purchase this would not be a good match for your wants.

Why did I buy SSR? Simple, I trusted DVC would build a good, well layed out Resort. If not I knew that we will NEVER visit WDW at peak times. We also liked the extra 12 years. 7 month window has never been a problem for us. We seem to get what we want. Now for the room service issues: we have found that with our young son it is just too hard to eat out for all meals and we also don't want to have to cook on vacation( we do eat brakfast in). We like to grab food poolside and then have our son come eat when it is ready. Hauling him back to the room or going in dripping wet to AP seems a huge hassle and waste of time. Our son is 3, just turning 4( Dec. 19th) so when we bought in (before SSR was open) we didn't realize what a neccesity room service and poolside dining would become for us. We had no problem traveling somewhere to eat before he was born. We just feel vacation should be enjoyable for all of us. A 3 year old doesn't find sitting in a restaurant enjoyable. SSR isn't a bad resort it is simply that the condo resort is not appealing to us. The only place we like condo resorts is by the ocean. Happy travels all, wherever you stay.


DAVE

 

[gppnj]

Reading through this whole thread has been interesting. Something occurred to me that I don't think anyone has mentioned yet:

Right now, all points are equal at the seven-month mark. However, if getting into another resort at the seven-month mark becomes too difficult because of the quantity of people who are looking to switch, I think it's still possible for the owners at the smaller resorts to leverage their ownership at the smaller resort to give them an edge at booking another resort. I'll explain what I mean.

I own at VWL. Let's say I would like to stay at BCV during F&W. The most straighforward way of me doing that is to try to book at BCV once the seven-month window opens. (If I was smart, I'd have already booked at VWL for this time just in case I wasn't able to get anything at BCV at seven months out.) Unfortunately, once the seven-month window opens, I'd be competing with all other DVC owners.

There's another way I might try to get my BCV F&W reservation, though. VWL, where I own, seems to be a popular resort around the holidays. There might be a BCV owner who wants to stay at VWL during this time but would have difficulty doing so because of the competition at the seven-month mark from all the other DVC owners. What if, using my 11-month advantage, I book VWL for the holidays and trade that reservation for a comparable reservation at BCV during F&W, which the BCV owner got with his or her 11-month advantage? Of course, if I wanted to do this, I'd have no guarantee of being able to find someone who would be willing to make such a trade. Also, even if I did find someone, we'd have to work out a way of dealing with the disparity because it's unlikely that the two reservations would be for the exact same number of points. (We could probably get close, though.) In addition, such an arrangement would involve an element of trust between the two parties, but the risk is no greater than it would be for renting points, and members successfully rent points all the time.

I just mention this to illustrate that it's possible for people who own points at the more in-demand resorts to use their points to gain an edge at getting reservations at the other DVC resorts. I don't know that anyone currently does this, but so far, there probably hasn't been much need to do this. However, if the number of people clamoring for reservations at resorts other than their home resort continues to increase, such arrangements might start to become more common. And obviously, if people start doing this, it would become even more difficult for the people at the less-in-demand resorts to get a booking at the more-in-demand resorts.

 

[La2kw]

I'm pretty sure you would prefer the convenience that BCV and BWV have to offer, that's all. Matt

I'm not Cobbler, but I can say that it's not necessarily true that everyone would automatically prefer the "convenience" of BCV or BWV. I have stayed at all the DVC resorts more than once and I still prefer OKW first and SSR a close second. BCV would be just behind SSR, mostly because of SAB and Epcot. I could do without BWV ever again. While the convenience of BCV and BWVbeing adjacent to Epcot is great, everything else is not so close. The boat transportation is extremely slow. The buses are often slow as well. Plus, you are often sharing a bus with 6 other resorts (BWI, BWV, Dolphin, Swan, YC, BC, and BCV all often share buses). We have always had the best transportation experiences on the plain old buses at OKW. Plus, IMO, you can't beat the easy access to DTD (and the resort bus connections) that SSR offers.