I don't get it...waitlisted and WDTC says there's availability!

[firecracker]

I'm renting points (try b4 u buy!) and we're currently waitlisted at OKW and BWV for June 4-9. So, I thought I'd call WD Travel Co. to see if they showed availability. They have studios available at both resorts! How can this be? Don't members have access to these same rooms? Why would MS tell the owner there's no availability for our dates?

 

[Chuck S]

When members trade out for other destinations and cruises, an equivalent number of those rooms are turned over to WDTC to recoup the cost to DVC of the trade out, removing it from DVC inventory and adding it to WDTC inventory. Also any rooms unbooked at 60 days prior to arrival, and the percentage of rooms that Disney retains are available for cash.

 

[LIFERBABE]

WDTC has access to a separate inventory than Member Services.

They are allotted a certain number of rooms for cash reservations depending on member trades and developer inventory.

Cash ressies and Points ressies are 2 different inventories, therefore having separate availability.

It is not rare for WDTC to show cash ressies available when point ressies are completely booked.

 

[cdes07724]

Let me start by saying I am not yet a DVC owner but I am looking very strongly into becoming one.

If I were a DVC owner and was not able to book a room but a non-DVC owner could call and make a reservation through WDTC, I would be ticked. I would think the concept should be if there was a room available in a DVC resort, any DVC owner should get that room, no questions. If I shelled out 12-14 grand on a purchase I should have first dibs.

It is this scenario that has me somewhat turned off from becoming a member.

Please let me know if any members have any additional feedback on this or if this is a common situation when booking. I would love to become a member today but have some hesitations and this is a big one.

Thanks.

 

[ralphd]

When members trade out for other destinations and cruises, an equivalent number of those rooms are turned over to WDTC to recoup the cost to DVC of the trade out, removing it from DVC inventory and adding it to WDTC inventory. Also any rooms unbooked at 60 days prior to arrival, and the percentage of rooms that Disney retains are available for cash.

Plus DVC retains title to 1-2 weeks worth of inventory annually for maintenance and other reasons. If Disney does not need the inventory for maintenance purposes, they have the right to give the time to the Resort Reservations to sell.
Therefore, member inventory may not be available for a particiular week, while Disney has inventory to sell.
They do not use any member inventory!

 

[Judique]

Let me start by saying I am not yet a DVC owner but I am looking very strongly into becoming one.

If I were a DVC owner and was not able to book a room but a non-DVC owner could call and make a reservation through WDTC, I would be ticked. I would think the concept should be if there was a room available in a DVC resort, any DVC owner should get that room, no questions. If I shelled out 12-14 grand on a purchase I should have first dibs.

It is this scenario that has me somewhat turned off from becoming a member.

Please let me know if any members have any additional feedback on this or if this is a common situation when booking. I would love to become a member today but have some hesitations and this is a big one.

Thanks.

You have to understand the whole package. In order to allow for DVC members to trade out for vacations at other locations, some inventory has to go towards financing those trades. Consider these rooms as bought with points that another member has used to do something else with, such as a cruise, an African Safari, a stay at a Concierge collection hotel. Then, WDTC or CRO acts as the middleman to get the cash to pay for the cruise, safari, hotel. They'll sell that room to you or anyone else for cash, but not for points, because it's already been sold upfront in a point transaction, when the original member decided to trade out their points.
I know...clear as mud.
But.....for those of us who like to sometimes do cash and points combos to stretch our trips, the system works very well.
I would suggest that you take your time to understand the system before you jump in. It's a great way to go if you know what you are getting and what to expect.

 

[mikesmom]

Let me start by saying I am not yet a DVC owner but I am looking very strongly into becoming one.

If I were a DVC owner and was not able to book a room but a non-DVC owner could call and make a reservation through WDTC, I would be ticked. I would think the concept should be if there was a room available in a DVC resort, any DVC owner should get that room, no questions. If I shelled out 12-14 grand on a purchase I should have first dibs.

It is this scenario that has me somewhat turned off from becoming a member.

Please let me know if any members have any additional feedback on this or if this is a common situation when booking. I would love to become a member today but have some hesitations and this is a big one.

Thanks.

Some owner DID make a reservation. They just didn't make it at their home resort. If you are an owner and (horrors!) decide NOT to go to Disney one year and want to go to say, Hawaii, but still use points, you can trade in your points for the other trip. The only way Disney can get the cash to pay for your trip is to sell the room (equivalent to your points) for cash.

 

[Boston5602]

also disney doesn't own 1-2 weeks they OWN 2-4 % of the total inventory which when we talk millions of points at some resorts thats ALOT of ressies being made in CASH. I also believe it works both ways , sometimes you can't book with cash but can book with points.

 

[Sammie]

Considering that we knew this when we purchased, it does not bother us in the least.

Also we don't get waitlisted, booking early prevents that, it is moot point to us.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Plus members know that prime times go fast, so we don't wait until 2 months or less ahead of time to make a reservation. We make them at 11 months for our home resort or 7 months for non-home resorts.

If we do wait until the last minute to make a reservation, we know that we might not get what we want. So we waitlist or use our points for the Disney Collection.

 

[firecracker]

I thank each of you for answering my question. Since I'm not an owner, I did not understand how the points/cash inventory system worked. Now I do. I also was not aware that last-minute reservations were so hard to get. So I've learned a couple of new things. Thanks. We can close this thread now.

 

[linzbear]

Let me start by saying I am not yet a DVC owner but I am looking very strongly into becoming one.

If I were a DVC owner and was not able to book a room but a non-DVC owner could call and make a reservation through WDTC, I would be ticked. I would think the concept should be if there was a room available in a DVC resort, any DVC owner should get that room, no questions. If I shelled out 12-14 grand on a purchase I should have first dibs.

It is this scenario that has me somewhat turned off from becoming a member.

Please let me know if any members have any additional feedback on this or if this is a common situation when booking. I would love to become a member today but have some hesitations and this is a big one.

Thanks.

Members *do* get first dibs. At 11 months out. What you're really asking for is "all" dibs.
They have to recoup costs of members switching out at some point, and that point happens to be 60 days ahead of time. And don't kid yourself, they're still a business. If there are rooms empty they have to try to sell them. Again, that's done 60 days out.
So members get dibs from 11 months out to 60 days out. On average, that's 9 months of dibs and you know what? That's plenty of dibs.

 

[Judique]

I thank each of you for answering my question. Since I'm not an owner, I did not understand how the points/cash inventory system worked. Now I do. I also was not aware that last-minute reservations were so hard to get. So I've learned a couple of new things. Thanks. We can close this thread now.

The last minute stuff is not always hard to get. Yes, in high seasons or prime time, some rooms are difficult to book. But, this program offers lots of flexibility- where else (timesharing world) can you cancel the day before and still have a great chance of being able to rebook completely and save your points?

Owning DVC is definitely a learning experience. It takes a bit of time to understand and it is not at all like traditonal timesharing, but at the same time, it is tied into it.

Your question was a good one. Many people are confused about this same issue.

 

[DebbieB]

Members *do* get first dibs. At 11 months out. What you're really asking for is "all" dibs.
They have to recoup costs of members switching out at some point, and that point happens to be 60 days ahead of time. And don't kid yourself, they're still a business. If there are rooms empty they have to try to sell them. Again, that's done 60 days out.
So members get dibs from 11 months out to 60 days out. On average, that's 9 months of dibs and you know what? That's plenty of dibs.

I don't think that is exactly correct. When members trade out, inventory is moved from the DVC inventory to the CRO inventory. That may happen before 60 days. There may have been DVC rooms moved to CRO well before 60 days.

At 60 days, any unreserved DVC rooms can be moved to CRO to rent to the general public. The income for those rooms is known as "breakage" and it shows up on the dues budget as a credit. These rooms are still available to DVC members for points reservations.

 

[btrim]

No matter what type of timeshare you own, this is the way it is handled. We own another non-Disney timeshare and if we bank our time with II, and use our week someplace besides our own timeshare, they have to recoup their money somehow and renting out for cash is how it is done. They can't make money or even break even if rooms sit empty, so once they go to WDTC they belong to them to do with as they can.