Gained Priority Booking at THV!!!

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

We just returned home from running errands and just missed a call from MS saying they were calling to do our priority booking at THV from our recent add on for AKV! This is perfect for DH's 40th b-day trip in June. I now have to call back on Friday am to book! Whoo hoo!

 

[tomandrobin]

oh....very nice!!

 

[ACDSNY]

We just returned home from running errands and just missed a call from MS saying they were calling to do our priority booking at THV from our recent add on for AKV! This is perfect for DH's 40th b-day trip in June. I now have to call back on Friday am to book! Whoo hoo!

How did an add-on for AKV get you priority booking for SSR THV? I didn't think MS was taking reservations for THV until Feb 2009.

 

[PutnamDS]

This was a special incentive offered at the Rochester Travel Show for purchase of 100 points - at least that's how I got it! Exciting stuff!

Deb

 

[L8blumr2]

That is exciting! Congratulations!

 

[ACDSNY]

Congrats Tinkerbellcrafter and PutnamDS enjoy your stay at the THV what a great incentive! Hopefully we can snag a couple of nights in Nov 2009.

 

[CarolA]

OK.... Are there any other SSR owners more then a little PO'd about this.

I am happy for the OP, but........ IMHO giving "priority" to folks buying at another resort pretty much UNDERCUTS the advantages of buying at your HOME resort!!!!

 

[bookwormde]

Someone correct me if I am wrong, but from what I have read this a “free” 3 day stay, not a DVC point booking so it is really like a CRO reservation from unsold developer points. I guess that is how DVC justifies “getting away with it”. If I were a SSR owner I would be a little “miffed” also.


Congratulation for snagging it though


bookwormde

 

[robandkelly13]

Congrats! We're jealous!

 

[Alexander]

SSR owner..but not miffed because the THVs are way bigger than we would ever need, but it does seem to undercut the booking window for owners. That doesn't seem fair to those who do own and want to stay there though.

 

[Leenie74]

Tinkerbell and Putnam...congrats! Enjoy your stay.

CarolA....As a SSR owner, I agree. I'm a little confused and "miffed" about why Disney would give an incentive like that, especially over 2 full months before I'm given a chance to book our June 2009 stay at THV. It would make more sense to me to give the incentive of Feb 8th booking with other SSR owners. I'll be fine with it as long as I can still get my ressie there.

 

[CarolMN]

Since THV is not completely sold out, not all the units belong to members yet.

The Developer is choosing to offer some the units they still own as sales incentives. If they didn't use them for that purpose, they would be turned over to CRO for rental to the general public. The Developer gets the revenue from those rentals (less a commission for CRO).

Members have no claim on THV (or any unsold) units until they are declared into the condominium.

 

[alldiz]

OP...Congrats on your add on and your THV priority.....

In this economy we might as well get used to "special perks" to entice new members....I personally don't care what they do to keep the integrity of DVC and sell all the units.
Kerri

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

OK.... Are there any other SSR owners more then a little PO'd about this.

I am happy for the OP, but........ IMHO giving "priority" to folks buying at another resort pretty much UNDERCUTS the advantages of buying at your HOME resort!!!!

I'm a AKV/BWV/VWL owner and I'm a little PO'd by it. The only way I would be fine with the deal is if they were allowed to book the THV rooms prior to them being turned over to DVC inventory. Until then DVC can do with them whatever they want.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm a AKV/BWV/VWL owner and I'm a little PO'd by it. The only way I would be fine with the deal is if they were allowed to book the THV rooms prior to them being turned over to DVC inventory. Until then DVC can do with them whatever they want.

That's essentially what has happened. As CarolMN mentioned, there is no way that the treehouse points will all be sold out before members can begin to book in February. Rather than turning the rooms over to CRO for cash bookings, DVC kept some for use as a sales incentive.

A similar series of events will happen at AKV Kidani and perhaps even the Bay Lake Tower since they won't be 100% sold before opening. Dozens of rooms at those resorts could be filled with cash guests from Day One if all of the points are not sold. The only difference here is the way in which the incentive is being marketed as a "priority booking."

As I understand it, people who received this treehouse sales incentive get a free 3-night stay. They have a period of 15 months over which the stay may occur. Over those 15 months there are 27,000 nights available in the treehouses (15 mos X 30 days X 60 villas = 27,000).

Even if DVC were to sell 500 or 1000 contracts with this incentive, it would only be a drop in the bucket (1500-3000 nights out of 27k.)

 

[Tinkerbellcrafter]

I understand the feelings that most have regarding this and if we hadn't taken the incentive, I probably would feel the same way. We currently have our whole trip booked in a 2bdrm (done at 11 months) and were just waiting for the February call date, which, as SSR owners, we could start booking and switch over to THV. Now we have an earlier time frame. I don't think there are very many people that bought the 100pt add on at AKV and this was only offered at the traveling roadshow. We were told very specifically that it was not being offered anywhere else. I really don't think it affects the booking abilities of those SSR owners calling in February, that much. As someone else said, there is a 15 month window to use the 3 free nights.

We were surprised to hear from MS yesterday because we were under the impression that they would not be calling until late January or possibly February.

 

[Duckfan-in-Chicago]

That's essentially what has happened. As CarolMN mentioned, there is no way that the treehouse points will all be sold out before members can begin to book in February. Rather than turning the rooms over to CRO for cash bookings, DVC kept some for use as a sales incentive.

A similar series of events will happen at AKV Kidani and perhaps even the Bay Lake Tower since they won't be 100% sold before opening. Dozens of rooms at those resorts could be filled with cash guests from Day One if all of the points are not sold. The only difference here is the way in which the incentive is being marketed as a "priority booking."

As I understand it, people who received this treehouse sales incentive get a free 3-night stay. They have a period of 15 months over which the stay may occur. Over those 15 months there are 27,000 nights available in the treehouses (15 mos X 30 days X 60 villas = 27,000).

Even if DVC were to sell 500 or 1000 contracts with this incentive, it would only be a drop in the bucket (1500-3000 nights out of 27k.)

This is what I would think is fair and legal for DVC with sample numbers:
Say there were 10 completed treehouses and DVC sold five and had five others in their inventory. If they wanted to give priority booking for a busy time like the 4th of July for 5 of those rooms to people as a sales incentive, that's fine. If they allow people to book all 10 rooms prior to opening up the booking to people who own the points that I don't think would be legal or fair.

Obviously they're not going to sell enough points to impact all treehouses every day of the year or even close. But there are a few key dates that could be a factor. This is going to give these people a booking advantage for next Thanksgiving, Christmas and NY.

 

[dcfromva]

We were surprised to hear from MS yesterday because we were under the impression that they would not be calling until late January or possibly February.

In your case, it was a real advantage to add on early. I wonder if they will do more traveling shows? It sounded like it was a pretty nice evening and they have pretty good incentives, too.

I would like to try out the THV sometime. I think it is a lucky break they are adding THV to the SSR inventory. I suppose they could have been added to OKW or even stand alone.

 

[Buckeye Fan]

We just returned home from running errands and just missed a call from MS saying they were calling to do our priority booking at THV from our recent add on for AKV! This is perfect for DH's 40th b-day trip in June. I now have to call back on Friday am to book! Whoo hoo!

Congratulations!!! That is so exciting.

I can't wait to try them. We have reservations at VB for this summer, and then we'll hop over to WDW for 5 or 6 nights. I'm trying to decide whether to try and book THVs, or book BCV. Since we're going in April, I don't think we'll do too many park days, so DH wants to try BCV. We've never stayed there, and he thought being at the BW and hanging out at SAB would be fun. DS, on the other hand, REALLY wants to stay at the THVs. I'm torn between the two. So, I'm going to try and book BCV in Dec at the 7 month window, and then see if THVs are available in Feb for my dates. If I can't get either, then I'll punt. Hmmmmm....OKW? VWL? or...BWV again? I JUST LOVE DVC!!!

 

[lugnut33]

Good thing I got my notreallypriority booking for the opening weekend at AKV Kidani Lodge using my cheap resale SSR points, otherwise I might be upset.

Perks come and go, you just have to be lucky sometimes.

Enjoy the THV