How hard to get into a "non-home" resort during summer months?

[Anal Annie]

You'll have better luck with the Disney area-resorts, since summer is not the most poupular time of the year for DVC owners to travel.

Just curious about why you say summer is not the most popular time for DVC members to travel?!?!? Now that we have DVC we will try to go somewhere over sp. break one day - but will still always want a week of vac. in the summer...

 

[Dean]

Actually, the more southern Florida beaches (Miami Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Cocoa, Vero) have their peak season earlier: March-June - because so many people crave a beach getway in the spring and you need to go south to get warm beach weather. June/July/August is just too darn tropical for many people and the south Fl. beaches are less desireable. I think June/July/August is mid-season on the point charts at Vero.

The more northern beaches (HHI, Panama City, Destin, Myrtle) all peak in June/July/August because they don't really warm up until late May.

For upper mid FL Beaches and below the peak season is Xmas through late April with a secondary peak of summer, just like the Caribbean. For those familiar with timeshare weeks it's week 51-16 mostly but some weeks are far more demand than others.

 

[JimMIA]

Actually, the more southern Florida beaches (Miami Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Cocoa, Vero) have their peak season earlier: March-June - because so many people crave a beach getway in the spring and you need to go south to get warm beach weather. June/July/August is just too darn tropical for many people and the south Fl. beaches are less desireable. I think June/July/August is mid-season on the point charts at Vero.

The more northern beaches (HHI, Panama City, Destin, Myrtle) all peak in June/July/August because they don't really warm up until late May.

Actually -- at least in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale-Florida Keys areas -- our peak season is Thanksgiving to Easter. That's when the hotels and beaches are busiest and rates are the highest. (I'm not sure areas North of Ft. Lauderdale are identical, but they're probably not too different.) We also have a major summer season in the Miami-Ft. Lauderdale area because of European and South American visitors, and a rapidly increasing number of Asian visitors.

Summer season also tends to be busier as you move North up the Atlantic coast of Florida, because they have more temperature variation there than we have here. (As I'm writing this, for example, it's 73 degrees in Miami, looking for a high of 80. We're going to an art festival in shorts and teeshirts in a little while.)

Also, the beach areas of SE Florida are several times more hospitable in the mid- and late-summer months than WDW. We always have nice trade winds and the temps are seldom above 92 degrees, whereas Central Florida is often mid- to upper 90's, occasionally 100, with little breeze and stifling humidity. Central Florida inland is miserable in late summer.

 

[starbox]

Just curious about why you say summer is not the most popular time for DVC members to travel?!?!? Now that we have DVC we will try to go somewhere over sp. break one day - but will still always want a week of vac. in the summer...

Crowds and heat.

The ability to know you always have a Disney vacation ahead of you (with DVC) makes comando-touring less attractive. After a year or two, it seems like many DVC-ers decide they'd like to travel during less frentic times of the year. Food and Wine (October/November) is very popular. So is January - and (bonus!) points are lower these times

Unless you're one of those poeple tied to a school calendar (and many schools are moving towards a more year-round schedule anyway), summer travel to Disney is less attractive. I know I would not choose to take my vacation week in the summer to travel to disney - I'd visit family or a beach and save Disney for better weather & less crowds.

Before returning to teaching, I always travelled to Disney in November or May - great weather, low crowds. As a kid, growing up in Florida, my parents would pull me out of school to travel in October. I look forward to the day i retire and can stop travelling in June and July!!!

 

[JimMIA]

Before returning to teaching, I always travelled to Disney in November or May - great weather, low crowds.

That's our exact schedule, and it's probably the preferred timing of most Florida WDW visitors. With DVC'ers, you'll probably see more early December (after Thanksgiving to mid-Dec) for the above reasons, plus lowest points of the year, holiday events and decoration, and association meetings.

 

[JimMIA]

I have a question too. I REALLY want OKW for Dec 2-7th 2007(2 studios). I just did the vacation planner and I will be on a cruise on my 1st day of mt 7 months. So it will probably be 1 week later before I can call. What do you think my chances are? I have BWV for a back-up.

It's a good thing you have a backup. If you had to pick a "busiest week of the year" for DVC, the first week of December might just be it.

I think your chances will be slim, but I'd still try. You might want to consider a one bedroom, or even a two bedroom, because one unit will be a lot easier to come by than two...especially if you are waitlisting.

 

[Anal Annie]

Crowds and heat.

Unless you're one of those poeple tied to a school calendar (and many schools are moving towards a more year-round schedule anyway), summer travel to Disney is less attractive.

Well, our DS is only 9 and we do not have yr. round school in MD...so summer it is for us for the foreseeable future 'cuz we're not likely to take him out of school for more than a day for something like WDW. And airfare is often cost prohibitive IMO to do quickie 3-4 n trips over long weekends. I know FL weather in mid-late Aug. can be hot & disgusting but we're planning to try OKW when the pts. drop in Aug. this yr. - will be able to call starting on the 23rd.... So far, I've called MS a couple of times just to ask a couple of questions and have been extremely disappointed with both the frustration of getting thru on the phone lines (20-30 min. waits) and with their tone when I didn't have specific dates that I was calling about & just had general questions to ask. Actually, I thought the CS was downright rude on both occasions - at least compared to calling reg. Disney. Is there someplace / somebody to complain to about that type of thing - or do you call your guide? I will try to limit my calls in the future to avoid such unpleasant experiences - and besides, who has that kind of time to sit on hold that long when you're at work & their hours are so limited? But I was really surprised about both of those things.

Anyway, I'm we will prob. plan a sp. break trip in a couple of yrs....although maybe to another destination using Interval Int'l.

 

[Deb & Bill]

.... So far, I've called MS a couple of times just to ask a couple of questions and have been extremely disappointed with both the frustration of getting thru on the phone lines (20-30 min. waits) and with their tone when I didn't have specific dates that I was calling about & just had general questions to ask. ....

I bet you just happened to call the couple of times when people were making holiday reservations, DVC Member cruise, etc. We have never had much of a wait, maybe a minute or two when we called MS. And now that non-members can't call anymore, it might get better for you.

 

[Starr W.]

Now I called Thursday at about 4pm and no hold. I just had a question about DME that DH wanted answered.

I figure if i just want a non-ressie question, I'll call later in the day and not on Saturday. Next ressie call will be for 11 month spring break 2008, I think I'll do just one call(tell me if I am wrong and should do a day by day for a 2br at SSR) at the end of April. Will I call first thing, yes and I know I'll probably have to wait awhile. Waited 15-20 minutes for Thanksgiving ressies at 11 months.

 

[Starr W.]

Crowds and heat.

The ability to know you always have a Disney vacation ahead of you (with DVC) makes comando-touring less attractive. After a year or two, it seems like many DVC-ers decide they'd like to travel during less frentic times of the year. Food and Wine (October/November) is very popular. So is January - and (bonus!) points are lower these times

Unless you're one of those poeple tied to a school calendar (and many schools are moving towards a more year-round schedule anyway), summer travel to Disney is less attractive. I know I would not choose to take my vacation week in the summer to travel to disney - I'd visit family or a beach and save Disney for better weather & less crowds.

Before returning to teaching, I always travelled to Disney in November or May - great weather, low crowds. As a kid, growing up in Florida, my parents would pull me out of school to travel in October. I look forward to the day i retire and can stop travelling in June and July!!!

Patiently waiting for our schools to do a more year round schedule, not holding my breath.

 

[bpmorley]

We are thinking of buying into DVC....but have LOTS of questions! How hard is it to get into your "non-home" resort during summer months/and or busiest times?

You never know year to year what's going to be easy or difficult to get. I think another aspect to consider with DVC is how will you use it down the road. Without children at the moment, we go at the slowest times of the year. If we have children I'll have to be prepared to use during peak summer seasons til they're out of school, then it will be back to slower times of the year.

 

[Anal Annie]

I bet you just happened to call the couple of times when people were making holiday reservations, DVC Member cruise, etc. We have never had much of a wait, maybe a minute or two when we called MS. And now that non-members can't call anymore, it might get better for you.

BTW, what's the deal with the member cruise? Does it offer a discounted point sched. for members and is it always in Oct? I didn't see anything about it in our member handbook...where do you find more info. about that? I think I saw something about it on the member website but it said '07 was already booked or something...I don't even remember where I saw it now...

 

[lisaviolet]

and with their tone when I didn't have specific dates that I was calling about & just had general questions to ask. Actually, I thought the CS was downright rude on both occasions - at least compared to calling reg. Disney. .

Anal Annie,

The time waiting on multiple occasions. I'd say a fluke on "pre-Christmas" bookings as others have said.

The tone:

I'm not okay with this at all. I would like to know how you handled it at the time. There will many posts after this that will say, "I've never had anything but wonderful CMs at MS". I share in that in that I've only had one poor call. But that is not helpful from me or anyone one else. It shouldn't happen. Pointe finale. They don't have to be Mary Poppins or the male equivalent but really.

I had one phone call like this a couple of months ago. I let her know it wasn't okay. The tone was bad. The complaints about the day. The sigh with "probably not but I"ll (big sigh) check". Actually at first she gave her opinion and stopped like that was that. I told her to check regardless of what she thought. I don't care what any member says. This is not okay. I had a survey coming as well so that is why I didn't ask for a manager. But I let her know it wasn't okay regardless. And of course when I phoned back in later these "I'll check but no chance" dates were available with a little tweaking.

Hopefully, someone will chime in with a person to write for you. But I hope all of us take care of it during the phone call. I worked in sales/customer service as a teenager. I had bad days. Tired. I had annoying customers at times. And I did what all people in this industry have to do once in awhile when the above happens....be an actress/actor.

 

[Anal Annie]

Anal Annie,

The time waiting on multiple occasions. I'd say a fluke on "pre-Christmas" bookings as others have said.

The tone:

I'm not okay with this at all. I would like to know how you handled it at the time. There will many posts after this that will say, "I've never had anything but wonderful CMs at MS".

I had one phone call like this a couple of months ago. I let her know it wasn't okay. The tone was bad.

lisaviolet,

You know, I really didn't do anything about it - and shame on me! I was so taken by surprise I almost felt like I was being put into my place by the CM - and I was glad that I wasn't actually trying to make a res. w/ someone who really didn't want to answer questions or try to help. Being a new member I thought I was just being the stupid one to even have a couple of questions. They didn't seem to want to do anything except take reservations - didn't want to answer my general questions.

I suppose from now on I'll try my guide first - at least I won't have to go into a call holding pattern! And you know, I expect to wait on hold for 20 min. or so when I call Costco Travel but not Disney. Maybe I'm spoiled from planning our previous vacations thru the 407 # or thru the cruiseline for cash ressies. I also didn't realize that Dec. bookings thru the DVC was such a big thing in Jan. But if that's the case, I think MS needs to step up the phone lines a bit. I AM anal & I DO ask a lot of questions - but until I get the hang of being a DVC member that's not going to change. That's one reason I've been spending a lot of time in here - trying to learn stuff from other members...it was thru this board that I learned about the F & F disc. promo at SSR - and we were prob. only a day away from paying $5 more per pt.!

Anyway, if it happens again (I'm calling back on the 23rd to book for Aug.) I will speak up or ask for a manager or something...Thanks!

 

[Anal Annie]

We can't decide to buy now with the current special, or wait until AKL joins DVC and have that be our "home" resort.

We started looking into planning our summer vac. & I was shocked at how much the AK had gone up since we stayed there in '03. That's when we started looking at buying into the DVC. We just bought in Dec. not to miss out on the F & F promo. and to get the Dec. use yr. - thought about waiting for AKL for about a minute - but then looked at the $ we'd save by not waiting. We'd looked briefly at buying SSR back in '04 when it opened and wished we had 'cuz we could've saved a lot. I'm sure they'll have some sort of incentive to buy at AKL like they did w/ SSR when it opened - but exactly how much is a gamble. So I'd say it depends on if money is no object for you... Meanwhile.....the clock is ticking on the F & F deal.

 

[bpmorley]

Annie, sorry you had such a rotten experience with MS. I can honestly say that I have never had a problem with anyone at MS. Maybe it was just a fluke

 

[bpmorley]

We started looking into planning our summer vac. & I was shocked at how much the AK had gone up since we stayed there in '03. That's when we started looking at buying into the DVC. We just bought in Dec. not to miss out on the F & F promo. and to get the Dec. use yr. - thought about waiting for AKL for about a minute - but then looked at the $ we'd save by not waiting. We'd looked briefly at buying SSR back in '04 when it opened and wished we had 'cuz we could've saved a lot. I'm sure they'll have some sort of incentive to buy at AKL like they did w/ SSR when it opened - but exactly how much is a gamble. So I'd say it depends on if money is no object for you... Meanwhile.....the clock is ticking on the F & F deal.

If you're determined to buy, never wait. Prices never go down. Good move getting into SSR instead of waiting for AKL. I can't wait to see what kind of promo they put out for AKL. We never paid full cost for our points. I think our first 150 pts came out to about $75 per and our next 120 was around $80.

 

[Starr W.]

I have called twice with non-ressie questions and found the CM's to be very helpful and willing to answer questions, but I usually wait till after lunch for those questions. Perhaps they are in a better mood on a full stomach. I can't imagine what the mornings are like there!

The cm who booked my Thanksgiving trip offered to do my ADR's for May, after I said I was going to call the dining number when I hung up with her.


I probably lucked out with MS so far, and no doubt I will probably get an ill tempured CM next time I call.

Really the nicest customer service people I have come across are at Williams-Sonoma, always nice and able to get an answer for you.

 

[lisaviolet]

We are thinking of buying into DVC....but have LOTS of questions! How hard is it to get into your "non-home" resort during summer months/and or busiest times?

Whoops. I went off topic for a bit. AAnnie....thanks for the reply. Great discussion.

Okay actual question. I truly don't believe summer will ever be a "big" problem. However, there are a lot of young families joining DVC these days. So that could change everything.

I booked BCV less than 5 months out last July without a problem. However, it was one bedroom. And one bedrooms, at every DVC, are the easiest bookings.

Also, I just looked into a June booking and July booking. Two bedroom. July, every DVC was open, right up to BWV B view. No problem. However, was looking at some dates in June (two bedroom) OKW, SSR and surprisingly VWL were available but both BCV and BWV were a total cut and paste. And as others have said HHI is so popular in the summer.

I have points at SSR. I have points at BWV. BWV is my favourite resort. But I'm not a planner and everyone is equal at 7 months. So this is a good balance. BWV points for when I can force myself to plan and for high demand times. And SSR for everything else...less than seven months out (which includes SSR stays!!!) Maybe you should consider a split like this.

Best of luck,

Lisa

 

[Sammie]

I too have never had anything but extremely helpful pleasant CMs at MS.

The wait does not bother me, I figure at times they are just going to be busy. I have never had to wait longer than 10 mins which is fine. You will soon learn the best times to call to avoid long waits.

I did call once and as soon as the CM answered I could tell from her tone she was having a bad day. I just said, excuse me wrong number and called back and got someone very pleasant.