few questions for Hilton Head owners

[stacy6552]

Hey guys,

I have a few questions about the hilton Head resort, that did not occur to me before. We are awaiting Disneys release of the ROFR contract that we have.

When we heard the pitch on DVC, we were told that, if they cannot book you into your home resort they will put you up somewhere else at no additional cost. The example was the beach club and putting us up at any other disney world resort. But what happens when we own at HH and want to book at HH and its all booked up? Does this happen? often? What do tey do for you?

 

[colleen costello]

If your own home resort is "booked up" you can put your name on a waitlist or try to book the same dates at another DVC resort when the "7- month window" opens. This is when you will be able to make a reservation at a resort other than your home resort. What I suppose they meant by "no cost" is that there is no fee of either cash or additional points to stay at a resort other than HH. But if you look at it another way, if you own at HH and call for a weekend that's booked, you are simply out of luck.

So: I own at Beach Club and I call to book July 4th. It's all booked. I can go on the wait list and if a room becomes available they'll call me (no charge for this service). Meanwhile, as time passes and it gets to be 7 months from my vacation, I can try to book my July 4th holiday at other DVC resorts -- HH, Vero, Old Key West, Wilderness Villas or Boardwalk. No extra "costs" to do this.

Hope this helps.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by stacy6552
Hey guys,

I have a few questions about the hilton Head resort, that did not occur to me before. We are awaiting Disneys release of the ROFR contract that we have.

When we heard the pitch on DVC, we were told that, if they cannot book you into your home resort they will put you up somewhere else at no additional cost. The example was the beach club and putting us up at any other disney world resort. But what happens when we own at HH and want to book at HH and its all booked up? Does this happen? often? What do tey do for you?

Either you were fed a line or you misunderstood terribly. There is no guarantee of a room, period. There are options including all the DVC resorts as well as the Disney Collection though the DC is a lot more points.

 

[poj7]

Hi.

I would think very seriously about buying HH until you understand the system. Ie: if your primary reason for joining is to vacation at WDW, don't buy HH. A good place to get info. Is to click on FAQ on the Dis Boards. Or, feel free to keep asking here.

 

[TIdoublegaER]

As stated before, if the resort is booked for the dates you are wanting, then you can either wait list or try another DVC resort (and possibly pay more or less points depending on the resort). Obviously there is no other DVC resort on HH, so you would then have to decide if you wanted to stay at WDW or Vero beach, if those were available. Disney will not put you up at another resort. HH is almost always booked solid from mid-June through August, as this is the busiest time of year. If you call a book at the 11 mo. window though, you will usually always get what you want. We own at HH and have always gotten the room size we want booking at 11 mos.

 

[raparker13]

Poj7 writes:
I would think very seriously about buying HH until you understand the system. Ie: if your primary reason for joining is to vacation at WDW, don't buy HH.

I have to disagree. We own at HH, but actually rarely stay there. We just returned from 4 nights at VWL that we only booked about 3 weeks ago. We also have Christmas booked at OKW. Now we are post-children, so we are usually flexible on dates. Maybe we just have really good luck when calling MS.

I do agree that you should understand the system before buying.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by raparker13
Poj7 writes:
I would think very seriously about buying HH until you understand the system. Ie: if your primary reason for joining is to vacation at WDW, don't buy HH.

I have to disagree. We own at HH, but actually rarely stay there. We just returned from 4 nights at VWL that we only booked about 3 weeks ago. We also have Christmas booked at OKW. Now we are post-children, so we are usually flexible on dates. Maybe we just have really good luck when calling MS.

I do agree that you should understand the system before buying.

While I know that owning off site works for many, I think buying off site for this purpose is a poor choice. We've already seen the 11 month window become increasingly inportant for some choices and with the continued increase in size (SS) this will continue to be so. If you own on site (OKW for example) at least you can book then change at the 7 month window. That method doesn't work nearly as well if one owns off site. The best and cheapest option for this purpose is OKW due to the lower costs, lower dues and relatively higher number of resales. The price difference between OKW and VB or HH doesn't justify complicating one's life in this manner. In general though, I'd buy where one wants to stay the most. Even if the 7 month window works well now, no guarantee it will for the future. Actually, I think we can assume it will get harder to use the 7 month window.

Now if one wants to use HH or VB and stay on property part of the time, that is a different ball game. Still, buying some points for the off property option and others for on property may be a better choice for many in this situation as well.

 

[stacy6552]

We chose HH specifically for the 11 mos window there. We will travel there during peak season the most, while we will probably never hit WDW during peak season.

Im more concerned about buying at HH and not being able to get in. What do they do about the people who own there but cant get in there? It sounds like they waitlist you or try and get you an alternate date.

 

[childsplay]

HH peak season is the summer (June, July, August) and it can be difficult to get if you don't book at least 9 to 10 months out.
Being flexible with dates and units, meaning size...(maybe taking a 2 bedroom when what you really wanted was a 1 bedroom, or taking a 1bedroom and studio instead of a 2 bedroom) will increase your chances of getting in. With all that said, if you are locked into specific travel dates and unit size you are going to need to call at 11 months out to ensure success.

 

[ZerasPride]

I'm a Hilton Head owner and we have not had a problem getting our reservations at the 11 month window. If for some reason our desired dates were not available, the MS agent would ask me for alternative dates or check to see if a different sized unit was available. No one ever told me that as a Hilton Head owner we are guaranteed accommodations. We do have the 11 month window and we usually spend part of the Thanksgiving holiday at Hilton Head so I call day by day to get my reservation just to be sure I get what my family wants. With the 11 month window (and calling day by day for peak periods), I don't anticipate there being "no room at the inn". I hope this helps you out!

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by stacy6552
We chose HH specifically for the 11 mos window there. We will travel there during peak season the most, while we will probably never hit WDW during peak season.

Im more concerned about buying at HH and not being able to get in. What do they do about the people who own there but cant get in there? It sounds like they waitlist you or try and get you an alternate date.

For summer at HH, one should call day by day. The busiest time is actually mid June to the 3rd week in August. The first 2 weeks of June and last week of August are still relatively busy. For the rest of the time, it's unlikely to be a problem. For Nov through March, I can almost always get a unit through II for very little cost.

stacy6552, the onus is on the members back. If nothing is available and they do not use their points, they will lose them. Of course there are other options like DCL, DC, CC, etc. That is the rub of any flexible system, that some members may be left out. That's why planning is important and why many of us recommend people not buy in if they can't plan at least 7 months out and preferably 11 months out.