Doorway to Dreams

[illuzion]

Has anyone had any experience with Doorway to Dreams (NY) yet? I have one to share. Went there to add-on at BLT, they would not even let me speak to anyone until I sat an watched a 5minute video on the benefits of ownership. It actually felt kind of like the pre show getting on a ride, and I was just waiting for the doors to open (I was the only one in the theater). The place was not busy at all. After seeing the BLT models and sitting with someone and we told him we wanted to buy. He had us sit in a waiting room and told us someone would be with us in approx 10-20 mins to complete the closing. We waited for 30 mins, then they came out and told us it would be another 20 mins as they were busy closing another deal right now. 50 mins later, they told me they were just going to be a few more minutes as they were just finishing, and I was "next". They explained to me that closings have to be handled by a licensed real estate agent, and the Doorway to Dreams store only has 1 at any given time, unlike florida and events, where they have lots, each closing ties up the store for approx 1hr. Then someone else came into the waiting room, after the closing finally finished (sitting there 1hr), the closing person came out took the person that came in after me. I asked for a supervisor, and the BS excuses started flying. The first excuse was the printer broke and could not print my closing documents. Then when I inquired how it magically printed the documents for person that came in after me, then they told me that they "had an appointment" and they were not expecting them to come in earlier. I later found out that they were new members and had some type of higher priority than add-on. So after sitting in that place for 1 1/2hrs, the magic was starting to wear off. They told me I could complete closing by mail, or "make an appointment" to come in another time, or give us your cell number and walk around the mall for approx 1hr and we'll call when we are available to close your add-on contract.

All in all, the store is pretty cool if you are considering membership, the models are nice, but if you are looking to actually buy, its probably better to go through disney directly.

Also does anyone have the contact info for any type of DVC administrative office to take this directly to them?

 

[nu2dvc]

Wow, I could understand that you must have been pretty frustrated by that experience.

I know that the DTD in NY has been super-busy and they must have just been trying to juggle things the best they could.

You probably could have avoided a lot of that wait time by making an appt. in the first place. How come you didn't just call your current guide rather than try to go close a deal as a walk-in. I would think you would have gotten better service.

We bought in as new members at the NY DTD last week and it necessitated 3 separate trips. It could have been done in two, but we did have to make an appt. to close and return on another day to do so and I didn't think this was asking too much. They had all of the paperwork ready for us when we arrived and the person closing our deal was definitely not a licensed real estate agent, they told us his title and I forgot what it was, but something to do with mortgages and insurance.

Anyway, too bad you didn't have a pleasant experience as we did. I found the employees there to be nothing but professional and courteous. From the greeters to the tour & sales guide (Sharod Kelley), the in-house kid-sitters, the closer guy and even the district manager who came out to welcome us home. The whole experience was awesome. My kids keep asking to go back and hang out in "Mickey's Room" some more!

 

[5forDiz]

Has anyone had any experience with Doorway to Dreams (NY) yet? I have one to share. Went there to add-on at BLT, they would not even let me speak to anyone until I sat an watched a 5minute video on the benefits of ownership.

Wow.... I'd guess they have a script that they are supposed to follow, but in your case since you are already a member and wanted to do an add-on at BLT I don't see why they made you sit through this. ita, not necessary, and if you had to wait that could have been explained to you at the get go and they could have given you the option of watching the video if you wanted to or the option of calling your cell while you shopped at the mall or making a return appointment, which I see they offered you later on after a completely unacceptable amount of wait time had passed. Maybe because it's all new to them & they haven't got the flow going there yet, so hopefully things will improve with time otherwise imo they're going to risk losing walk-in, spontaneous decisions to purchase having folks sit an hour or more just waiting to be seen.




I later found out that they were new members and had some type of higher priority than add-on. So after sitting in that place for 1 1/2hrs, the magic was starting to wear off.

Guess the higher priority had to do with the number of points new member sale was going to amount to compared to add-on purchase but that is still not an excuse imho for the amount of waiting they had you doing......your add-on purchase is important too and they sound like they totally couldn't think outside the box on this and come up with a way to move things along for you in a more timely manner.


They told me I could complete closing by mail, or "make an appointment" to come in another time, or give us your cell number and walk around the mall for approx 1hr and we'll call when we are available to close your add-on contract.

All in all, the store is pretty cool if you are considering membership, the models are nice, but if you are looking to actually buy, its probably better to go through disney directly.

Also does anyone have the contact info for any type of DVC administrative office to take this directly to them?

I believe you can call MS and ask them for Member Satisfaction team or at least they can provide you with their address so you can put in writing and send it out to them.....I'd think that may be the team to address this.

.......How come you didn't just call your current guide rather than try to go close a deal as a walk-in. I would think you would have gotten better service.




DTD Chicago often offers incentives for add-ons that can only be offered if you go in person; same may hold true for NY DTD. And DVC has been alerting members within driving distance to NY DTD for a number of weeks now with mailings, etc. about coming by etc. so why should the OP think that they couldn't just walk in there and get an add-on done ? Yes they've just getting things off the ground there but they need to figure out & fast how not to keep a prospective purchaser or existing member wishing to do add-on waiting over an hour when there is only one or two other people there.



Anyway, too bad you didn't have a pleasant experience as we did.

Hopefully when you go there to do add-on you will not experience what OP did. Congrats on you purchase, at least they got things to go smoothly for you.

 

[nu2dvc]

5forDiz: I hear you, but as far as going in as a walk-in to do the add-on... although the DTD incentives necessitated being present, I would think that if existing members could have their current guide call in to the NY location and have paperwork prepared and printed out - this would have saved the OP a lot of the wait time and hassle, that's all.

I bumped into a fellow DISer at DTD who had come all the way from NC who had his paperwork waiting for him when he arrived. Maybe on the mailers they sent you guys it should have stipulated doing so to avoid the problems that the OP faced. All I'm saying is that with the volume of traffic going through the new DTD it would be prudent to do as much of the legwork ahead of time as possible instead of going in and expecting to get in and out swiftly.

 

[5forDiz]

5forDiz: I hear you, but as far as going in as a walk-in to do the add-on... although the DTD incentives necessitated being present, I would think that if existing members could have their current guide call in to the NY location and have paperwork prepared and printed out - this would have saved the OP a lot of the wait time and hassle, that's all.

I bumped into a fellow DISer at DTD who had come all the way from NC who had his paperwork waiting for him when he arrived. Maybe on the mailers they sent you guys it should have stipulated doing so to avoid the problems that the OP faced. All I'm saying is that with the volume of traffic going through the new DTD it would be prudent to do as much of the legwork ahead of time as possible instead of going in and expecting to get in and out swiftly.

Yep, read thread by NC DVC'er - flew up and back to NC on same day, and lucky for him he had decided to pre-arrange everything because a situation like the OP encountered would have been a disaster.

Since many member's are in a constant state of thinking over an add-on stopping in at a DVC DTD location or an onsite WDW DVC location is often done on a whim with the hope of CM getting them to drink more of the kool aid & the nudge needed to actually commit to the purchase In fact, DH & I will probably make a spur of the moment drive out there in next couple of weeks to see if we can be ~persuaded~ into another add-on too ( lol ) !!
DVC knows this and no doubt this is why DTD's are presented as friendly
' drop in if you're in the neighborhood ' DVC locations without any other stipulations attached such as call first if you think you want to add-on, etc.
They want to entice people to just come by & see DVC friends without formalities and it's all new here so they'll get these kinks worked out as the weeks pass & it'll be overall a better experience I'm sure; i don't seem to recall hearing anything like this at Chicago DTD but that location has been opened awhile.

 

[nu2dvc]

I gotcha now! Makes sense.

I can tell you that after spending 2 nights in the kid's club, which my kids aptly named "Mickey's Room" they are now asking to back every night.

So, can I just pop in there for a cup of coffee every time I'm at the mall (JK)

5forDiz, I guess you already know they are having the big Grand Opening Party on 10/17 from 10:00 - 8:00. Will probably be a zoo, but we are going to check it out for fun!

And I know what you mean about drinking the kool-aid.....I went in there simply to check it out and see the models (had toured SS some time ago) and walked out with 240 points. (that I later down-graded to 182 points).

 

[vellamint]

Has anyone had any experience with Doorway to Dreams (NY) yet? I have one to share. Went there to add-on at BLT, they would not even let me speak to anyone until I sat an watched a 5minute video on the benefits of ownership. It actually felt kind of like the pre show getting on a ride, and I was just waiting for the doors to open (I was the only one in the theater). The place was not busy at all. After seeing the BLT models and sitting with someone and we told him we wanted to buy. He had us sit in a waiting room and told us someone would be with us in approx 10-20 mins to complete the closing. We waited for 30 mins, then they came out and told us it would be another 20 mins as they were busy closing another deal right now. 50 mins later, they told me they were just going to be a few more minutes as they were just finishing, and I was "next". They explained to me that closings have to be handled by a licensed real estate agent, and the Doorway to Dreams store only has 1 at any given time, unlike florida and events, where they have lots, each closing ties up the store for approx 1hr. Then someone else came into the waiting room, after the closing finally finished (sitting there 1hr), the closing person came out took the person that came in after me. I asked for a supervisor, and the BS excuses started flying. The first excuse was the printer broke and could not print my closing documents. Then when I inquired how it magically printed the documents for person that came in after me, then they told me that they "had an appointment" and they were not expecting them to come in earlier. I later found out that they were new members and had some type of higher priority than add-on. So after sitting in that place for 1 1/2hrs, the magic was starting to wear off. They told me I could complete closing by mail, or "make an appointment" to come in another time, or give us your cell number and walk around the mall for approx 1hr and we'll call when we are available to close your add-on contract.

All in all, the store is pretty cool if you are considering membership, the models are nice, but if you are looking to actually buy, its probably better to go through disney directly.

Also does anyone have the contact info for any type of DVC administrative office to take this directly to them?

I think you should definitely make a complaint OP. This is unacceptable. I cant stand when people think that THEIR time is more important than MY time.

Wow, I could understand that you must have been pretty frustrated by that experience.

I know that the DTD in NY has been super-busy and they must have just been trying to juggle things the best they could.

You probably could have avoided a lot of that wait time by making an appt. in the first place. How come you didn't just call your current guide rather than try to go close a deal as a walk-in. I would think you would have gotten better service.

We bought in as new members at the NY DTD last week and it necessitated 3 separate trips. It could have been done in two, but we did have to make an appt. to close and return on another day to do so and I didn't think this was asking too much. They had all of the paperwork ready for us when we arrived and the person closing our deal was definitely not a licensed real estate agent, they told us his title and I forgot what it was, but something to do with mortgages and insurance.

Anyway, too bad you didn't have a pleasant experience as we did. I found the employees there to be nothing but professional and courteous. From the greeters to the tour & sales guide (Sharod Kelley), the in-house kid-sitters, the closer guy and even the district manager who came out to welcome us home. The whole experience was awesome. My kids keep asking to go back and hang out in "Mickey's Room" some more!

While it is wonderful that you are happy about the way your purchase was handled I feel the OP was LIED to about the amount of time it would take.....

PERHAPs since this is billed as a walk-in location they should be upfront about the amount of time it will take.

I gotta say....I LOVE Disney....as much as most on these boards, but my "experiences" with the "guides" leave a bit of a bad taste in my mouth...

 

[5forDiz]

I gotcha now! Makes sense.

I can tell you that after spending 2 nights in the kid's club, which my kids aptly named "Mickey's Room" they are now asking to back every night.

So, can I just pop in there for a cup of coffee every time I'm at the mall (JK)

5forDiz, I guess you already know they are having the big Grand Opening Party on 10/17 from 10:00 - 8:00. Will probably be a zoo, but we are going to check it out for fun!

And I know what you mean about drinking the kool-aid.....I went in there simply to check it out and see the models (had toured SS some time ago) and walked out with 240 points. (that I later down-graded to 182 points).

I am so trying to avoid going out there on October 17 because with the characters & festivities that day it will be near impossible for us to resist adding on LOL !! and you know there will be no turning back now nu2dvc for you either !!
182 points at BLT Very nice !!

You'll have awesome DVC adventures in the years to come !

 

[OKWisDVC2Me]

I had a WONDERFUL time at DTD in NY! We were greeted by a castmember outside the store named Dave who really made us feel welcome and he seemed genuinely happy to have us there. They didn't make us watch the film before we spoke to a guide but did offer to let us watch it. We met with a guide named Sharod who was also very friendly and sincere. We saw that they really were considerate of our time. As for the idea that it is better to buy through "Disney" directly, if I'm not mistaken, the people at DTD ARE Disney cast members, not an independant organization. Plus, they had some great incentives that they didnt have in FL when i asked about adding on with my guide while I was in FL a few weeks back. I think that the bad experience you had was merely a case of them working out the kinks in a brand new operation.

 

[Onthebay]

Are they giving anything special if you go to this ?? Is it worth going I think it will be a zoo but not with buyers ?? Just to see Mickey

 

[nu2dvc]

I asked my guide if the incentives were going to be as good as they were prior to October 3rd (the day the price increase took effect for new buyers and the great incentives ended)

He said they hadn't told the guides yet, but that he highly doubted they would be as good. He agreed that it was likely it would be decent and better than the current Orlando deals, but not as good as the $112-$16 deal that people were getting before the 3rd.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

Yesterday i received an email regarding this and it said Macys Center Court, Roosevelt Field Mall?

So I called the number and asked what I found was a legit question, but the person on the other end seemed to think I was flat out stupid! I asked where was Roosevelt Field Mall??? I live in CT, but had no idea, was it somewhere in New York, out on Long Island, New Jersey? Maybe it was just me, as I don't really pay attention to this stuff, but I can't imagine I was the only person that had no clue where it was!

 

[Linda Farrell]

I actually work at the Disney Store in Roosevelt Field, so I can help you with directions. The mall is on Long Island, in Garden City. There is an exit for the mall on Meadowbrook Parkway that simply says "shopping mall". Sorry I don't know the exit #, I just do it automatically. Meadowbrook Parkway is connected in the north by Northern State Parkway and in the south by Southern State Parkway. The mall exit is 1 or 2 exits south of Northern State.

If any of you come to DTD, stop by the Disney Store and say hi. We're located on the first floor of the mall, near Macy's.

 

[nu2dvc]

It's a "Simon" mall, and this is the link to the website: http://www.simon.com/mall/?id=102

Hope this helps!

 

[ftmill]

I came to DIS DVC thread so I could say "I joined BLT" and someone could say to me "welcome home" and I saw this thread and just wanted to say I feel your pain. But now I own 200 points at BLT and I won't speak badly on this site but I will be writing the DVC CEO to tell them about the mess over there in Garden City. BTW, the printers were really not working. Nothing was working. It took a second trip and now I am now a member but things at that site need to be tweaked. I am writing a letter and faxing it to:
Mr. James Lewis
CEO Disney DVC
P.O. Box 10,000
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
fax number: 407-566-3850
P.S. How do I get the BLT logo below my name?

 

[Onthebay]

Let me be the first to tel ya
"Welcome Home"
Even though I am not there yet......... And it may not ever happen , I can still Dream.

 

[5forDiz]

I came to DIS DVC thread so I could say "I joined BLT" and someone could say to me "welcome home" ...........

Congrats ftmill and WELCOME HOME !!!

Let me be the first to tel ya
"Welcome Home"
Even though I am not there yet......... And it may not ever happen , I can still Dream.

a small resale contract can get you there & then you can stop in at Doorway To Dreams when the time is right to add-on more points Best wishes, hope to welcome you soon too!

 

[nu2dvc]

Let me be the first to tel ya
"Welcome Home"
Even though I am not there yet......... And it may not ever happen , I can still Dream.

Hey fellow LI'er....

you can also buy in as a new buyer directly through Disney with 100 points at AKL....I didn't realize this and always thought the minimum buy-in was 160 pts.

With Disney's easy-to-obtain financing and reasonable closing costs the dream may be within reach and if you buy now, you will even get all of your '09 points and only have to pay two months worth of dues on them.
Maybe it's more "within reach" than you realize. They are having an open house party on the 17th (this Saturday) from 10:00 to 8:00 where they may even be offering some exciting incentives only available through DTD at the event. Can't hurt to come down and check it out. They have an awesome onsite kid's club so your kiddos don't have to sit through the meeting. Since you live in the area, you may want to drop in and check it out just for fun!

 

[mwmuntz]

[QUOTE
If any of you come to DTD, stop by the Disney Store and say hi. We're located on the first floor of the mall, near Macy's.[/QUOTE]

...And I did just that! Hi again!

 

[ftmill]

Did anyone get the incentives today?