DVC Reservation Concern

[Carmen NC]

My sister just closed on her DVC a couple of weeks ago. We made airline ressies a couple of months ago to beat the holiday fare increases for 12/4 and 12/7. Much to our concern, when she was able to make reservations, she was only able to get the nights of 12/4 and 12/5 at SSR so as of today we have no room for 12/6. She's on the wait list (for any resort for a studio or 1BR) and is proceeding to call everyday. I went to Disney.com and if I finished the booking could have gotten a studio at SSR for almost $1000 for that very night (not paying that kind of money for one night). So there is a room available but just not for DVC members. Why don't they release in cases like this? Is there anyone we can call to help us? We really don't want to spend the night at the airport.

 

[cogero]

This is a very busy time for DVC so I am impressed she was able to get 2 days. I am sure one of the more seasoned DVC'ers will be able to answer better.

 

[hakepb]

My sister just closed on her DVC a couple of weeks ago. We made airline ressies a couple of months ago to beat the holiday fare increases for 12/4 and 12/7. Much to our concern, when she was able to make reservations, she was only able to get the nights of 12/4 and 12/5 at SSR so as of today we have no room for 12/6. She's on the wait list (for any resort for a studio or 1BR) and is proceeding to call everyday. I went to Disney.com and if I finished the booking could have gotten a studio at SSR for almost $1000 for that very night (not paying that kind of money for one night). So there is a room available but just not for DVC members. Why don't they release in cases like this? Is there anyone we can call to help us? We really don't want to spend the night at the airport.

Rooms available for cash either were used by a DVC owner as trade out for a cruise or other non-DVC disney option (and the same room cannot be booked on points 2x)
Or those rooms were never owned by DVC members. SSR is still actively selling points mostly for THV, but I'm sure they have reclaimed some points through loan defaults and ROFR, if members do not own all points, members cannot use them. Also, DVC keeps 2-5 or so % of units (never sold to owners) for possible maintaince purposes (for rehab or other repairs, we pay DVC to maintain a buffer so we always get the points room we reserved. If DVC believves they do not need to hold all those rooms for rehab, they sell those to cash guests. Those sales are supposed to help keep our maint costs lower.

In your immediate situation it is really hard to fully understand how the system is designed in your overall interest, but it is.

 

[dianeschlicht]

At this point, I would probably book a value or moderate for the missing nights and hope that the waitlist still comes through. That is THE BUSIEST time for DVC ressies, so I am not surprised there is nothing coming through on the waitlist. We will be at going from 12/8-12/15, and can't wait! It's our favorite time to visit WDW!

 

[DebbieB]

A studio is $1,000? That doesn't sound right. Regular rate is $295 plus tax. Sounds like 3 nights = $1,000.

As the others have said, rooms on disneyworld.com are not owned by DVC members.

 

[Carmen NC]

Thanks everyone for the input. I am keeping my fingers crossed on this. I did take a look at the rate I found and it included tickets which I didn't catch but it was still with taxes pushing $400.

 

[shortypots]

Did she see if she could get the cash discount on the room? I would try that as well.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Was this a resale purchase? I ask because of the timeline and not being able to book right away.

December is a very busy time and books very quickly. If points are not available than a back up cash reservation is the best bet when waiting on contracts to close.

If purchased direct from DVD, sometimes a guide can secure the desired reservation from developer inventory, since you are purchasing from the developer.