I have a question, not a complaint!

[scauzilloc1121]

With my recent stay at SSR, I noticed as I sat around the pool or ate a quick meal at the Artist's Palette, that there were a lot of non DVC members. The lobby with the DVC booth was quite busy and they actually had 3 to 4 cast members working at once to accommodate the nonmembers. Is this always the case? I thought as a DVC member you had first dibs at a room and that only a small percentage are rented out daily to nonmembers. There seemed to be more than a small percentage .

 

[Sandisw]

Any unused rooms are turned over to Disney to rent at the 60 day mark to rent and the income comes back to members as "breakage" (or something to that effect).

This could play a role in the number of non DVC members there.

 

[castleri]

While there are non members at the booth there may have also been members looking to schedule the tour at BLT or trying to find out about the latest add on info etc. There is also a percentage of the rooms that are held by Disney for cash reservations so you may have just hit a time when there were a lot of non DVC members around. Having the sales center at SSR may result in more non members being around the resort looking it over.
Just curious as to how you knew they were non members.

 

[CarolMN]

Also, SSR is not totally sold out yet. Disney rents out the unsold portion to the general public and will continue to do so until the resort is sold out.

 

[nukker7]

Also, SSR is not totally sold out yet. Disney rents out the unsold portion to the general public and will continue to do so until the resort is sold out.

Wow, did not know that!

Also, SSR is so large the chance is larger chance that there will be rooms available at the 60 day mark for the general public.

I was there a week ago and stopped in or passed by the desk multiple times with no one there and only one representative.

 

[bumbershoot]

Just curious as to how you knew they were non members.

Me, too.


On our WDW trip we stopped by various DVC places often. One lady ALWAYS wanted to talk to DS when we walked by, and often gave him a sticker. Sometimes we'd stop to chat. I stopped at the DVC desk at OKW a few times...once to ask about the mixer thing, once to turn in a voucher for a lithograph, etc etc.

A member could also want to talk about adding on.

Lots of reasons members would be there...

 

[scauzilloc1121]

Well because we are DVC members and were staying there they gave us a complimentary print of one that will be in the DVC resort in Hawaii hanging in the restaurants and shops. So as I went to pick it up I noticed that they were asking all guests that walked by if they were DVC members and of the 100 or so I saw walk by at least 80 said no but would like to see what else a DVC member receives. Plus a lot of people came up and asked us about it. We were wearing a button that said first time DVC stay. (basically it pointed out that we are newbies). And the reason I saw so many people walk by is because I sat in the lounge to get out of the heat while at the pool for the 3 days we were there.

 

[TisBit]

The sales center is at SSR, so you will get a lot of traffic for that and the pro shop for the golf course is in the back. SSR has a good spa for all on site guests. The location of the golf course would also draw a lot of foot traffic, etc. Finally, SSR usually is the first place that guests are "walked" from a booked resort because it generally has a lot of open rooms. This is also true for pin codes, etc.

The location, amenities and sales center will just draw a ton of people over to SSR. We won't even get into the debate about people using SSR transportation to get to DTD, but those people would generally not be found in the lobby anyway!

 

[CarolAnnC]

DVC Resorts are also open to the public. People are there for all sorts of reasons: to stay there, to eat, to look around, to visit friends, or to consider purchasing. There is nothing wrong with this, and you will find the same with all the DVC Resorts.

 

[BeesKnees]

Ewww, Non-DVCers! I hope none of them touched any of your stuff.

 

[scauzilloc1121]

Well that explains a lot. I did forget that the sales center was there and that people may be trickling in from there. Do the other resorts have as many nonDVC members as well or is it just with Saratoga? Don't get me wrong, I love Saratoga, it is my home resort and the grounds are beautiful and now with the other pool being revamped I think it could surpass the other resorts when it comes to amenities. I also want to know something, we purchased our cups and when we went to Boardwalk there were no fill up stations there to fill your cup with. Now I know you weren't suppose to do that but we had been walking quite a lot and thought we would stop to get some water in our cups. So is there that option at the Boardwalk villas by the pool?

 

[puntagordabob]

With my recent stay at SSR, I noticed as I sat around the pool or ate a quick meal at the Artist's Palette, that there were a lot of non DVC members. The lobby with the DVC booth was quite busy and they actually had 3 to 4 cast members working at once to accommodate the nonmembers. Is this always the case? I thought as a DVC member you had first dibs at a room and that only a small percentage are rented out daily to nonmembers. There seemed to be more than a small percentage .

Many times I stop and small talk with the DVC guys at the Kiosks in the Lobby...especially if I am waiting for my group or have a few spare minutes. I think a lot of times they appreciate people taking the time to "just talk" a bit ....of course if a prospect comes up I usually withdraw...though there have been a few times that the person didnt know the answer and I bailed them out (not that I am anyone special....just happened to know the answer lol) On more than once occassion the prospect decided to do the tour and one of them actually gave me a referral (was shocked when the mail came in from DVC!)

So.....it may not be a nonmember at the kiosk

 

[ajf1007]

Ewww, Non-DVCers! I hope none of them touched any of your stuff.

that is the funniest thing ever!!!

 

[Lynne M]

SO many reasons why a non-member might be staying at a resort....


1) breakage rooms (member inventory that members never booked) go to CRO to be rented to the general public - the revenue helps offset our maintenance fees.

2) members trade out of the DVC system to book RCI, other non-DVC Disney resorts, cruises, Concierge Collection, ABD, etc. In order to pay the receiving resort, a comparable villa goes to CRO to be rented to the general public.

3) members make reservations for other family members, friends, etc, with their points.

4) members rent out points to non-members to cover their maintenance fees if they can't use their points that year.

5) DVC retains ownership of a small percentage of villas, which usually end up being rented to the general public through CRO.

At all DVC resorts, a decent percentage of the guests on any given day will be non-members. For all the reasons above, and probably many more that I can't think of at the moment.

 

[crisi]

Well that explains a lot. I did forget that the sales center was there and that people may be trickling in from there. Do the other resorts have as many nonDVC members as well or is it just with Saratoga? Don't get me wrong, I love Saratoga, it is my home resort and the grounds are beautiful and now with the other pool being revamped I think it could surpass the other resorts when it comes to amenities. I also want to know something, we purchased our cups and when we went to Boardwalk there were no fill up stations there to fill your cup with. Now I know you weren't suppose to do that but we had been walking quite a lot and thought we would stop to get some water in our cups. So is there that option at the Boardwalk villas by the pool?

Most of the resorts have more non-members, because they share space with the hotel. So lobby checkin at BWV (for instance) is BWV and BWI, the theme pool is shared and the restaurants and lobby will be filled with non-DVCers.

 

[TisBit]

I also want to know something, we purchased our cups and when we went to Boardwalk there were no fill up stations there to fill your cup with. Now I know you weren't suppose to do that but we had been walking quite a lot and thought we would stop to get some water in our cups. So is there that option at the Boardwalk villas by the pool?

I don't believe you are wrong for using your cups at another resort. They are good for your stay, but not your specific resort.

But to answer your question, the BWV's do not have a fill station, but you can have your cup filled at any of the CS places on the Boardwalk or at the pool bar. But, they will not actually fill your cup...when you show them your cup, they will give you one of their take out cups....something to do with the health regulations and taking your mug behind the counter is a no-no.

I really wish they had an option just at the boardwalk that you could get a card instead of a cup and use that for refills, much easier than lugging a cup around that they won't fill

 

[CarolAnnC]

Since the discussion has veered off to "refillable mugs" which is not DVC specific and restricted to the one thread on the Resorts Board here on the DIS, this thread is now closed. Thanks all!