Is DVC talking minimum stay?

[Scraper]

Is there any truth to DVC making members book a minimum 5 day stay? I hope not that would realy make me very unhappy.

 

[CarolA]

Where do these rumors come from?

I think this one has no basis in reality.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I just booked a 4 night stay (actually 2 nights at each of 2 different resorts if my waitlist doesn't come through) and no one mentioned it to me. This is the first I've heard of it. Many of my solo trips are 3-4 days, so this one better not be true.

 

[Scraper]

Where do these rumors come from?

I think this one has no basis in reality.

Someone was talking about it on the thread that talks about how many people are allowed in the rooms. Gosh I hope they are wrong.

 

[bavaria]

Where do these rumors come from?

I think this one has no basis in reality.

Agreed (big surprise!)

That would defeat the flexibility of DVC which is a big selling point over other time shares

 

[jco_direwolf]

I've not look at my contract about this specifically. But I don't recall anything that would allow them to make this change.

I could be wrong. But unless someone shows me where they can add this sort of restrictions to my use, I wouldn't believe it.

Johno

 

[tjkraz]

From the multi-site POS:

"Minimum Stay: The current minimum stay at any DVC resort is one (1) Use Day. However, DVCMC may require, from time to time, the a minimum number of consecutive Use Days for a particular season or special season be reserved. The number of consecutive Use Days required to be reserved shall in no event exceed five (5) Use Days."

And I have to say that the language about the guideline applying to "a particular season" is loose enough that DVC could apply it to EVERY "particular season."

I'm not sure what reasons people think DVC might have for making such a change. The only one I can think of is to reduce housekeeping and other administrative costs. It costs less to service one party spending 5 nights in a room than separate parties spending 2 and 3 nights in the same unit. It would also seem to restrict resort hopping (people who bounce from one resort to another) and result in similar savings.

DVC COULD do it and via the POS we've all been warned, but the cons seem to far outweigh the pros (from DVC's standpoint.)

 

[Longhairbear]

Yikes, any minimum more than one night, would stop us from buying any add on points in DLR. We live in CA, and only stay one or two nights on points.

 

[Chuck S]

Remember there are a lot of "what ifs" built into the POS. The 5 day minimum is just one possibility. Restricting people to their home resort only, dropping a resort from DVC, a 5 day minimum reservation, reallocating points so every day of the year takes the same number of points...all are possible, but highly unlikely. The POS is a comprehensive legal document that tries to cover every foreseeable situation that may be encountered.

Just because they can do these things certainly doesn't mean they will do them.

 

[cobbler]

I think there would also be a HUGE member outcry if this every came to be.

 

[CarolA]

Internet rumors...

A few days ago I posted on THIS board "what would you do if the snack credits were reduced to popcorn and cokes?" Now that is the ONLY place I have seen that was in my "what if" post. Over on the Dining Plan board at least a few posters were very worried because "snack credits were being reduced to popcorn and cokes" Hmm.......

Somehow I think this "rumor" has the same "reliable" source!

 

[Simba's Mom]

Remember there are a lot of "what ifs" built into the POS. The 5 day minimum is just one possibility. Restricting people to their home resort only, dropping a resort from DVC, a 5 day minimum reservation, reallocating points so every day of the year takes the same number of points...all are possible, but highly unlikely. The POS is a comprehensive legal document that tries to cover every foreseeable situation that may be encountered.

Just because they can do these things certainly doesn't mean they will do them.

Somehow, when I hear there's a "possibility" like this, I think of the movie "Dumb and Dumber" when Jim Carrey says to Mary Swanson "So you're telling me there's a chance!" "Like 1 in a thousand!" I hope that's how remote this possibility is.

 

[wildernessDad]

Someone read the words on the POS and made a comment and it's being blown out of proportion. I doubt that it will happen. DVC touts those weekend get-aways, so it's unlikely imo.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

We have been looking into buying another time share called Worldmark. Like DVC, it is points based, so it has been interesting to note some of the differences between Worldmark and DVC.

On the issue of minimum stay, with Worldmark there is a 7 night minimum stay in certain seasons when you book more than 90 days out. After that there is no minimum. Even before the 90 day mark, you can combine resorts to meet your minimum stay requirement.

Also, with Worldmark, if you only own enought points for a 1 week stay, you get free housekeeping for one stay each UY. For a second stay (including a change of resorts) you need to pay an additioal housekeeping fee.

One thing that Worldmark does that I think many DVCers would love is that they assign rooms based on time the reservation was made. So, the early birds get the best rooms available on check-in day!

-- Suzanne

 

[tjkraz]

Is there any truth to DVC making members book a minimum 5 day stay? I hope not that would realy make me very unhappy.

I'll just add that if you heard this rumor from a competing timeshare salesperson, or anyone who might be predisposed to misleading you, be certain to take it with a grain of salt. If that's the case, you are very wise to ask questions to check the information you were given as these folks often rely heavily on deceiving potential customers.

 

[squirrlygirl]

Sounds very familiar

I don't remember exactly what I said, but I think I said they could do something like that.

I can promise that I am anything but a reliable source and I have no basis in reality

 

[Dean]

While I don't see DVC going this route, it wouldn't totally surprise me either. It would be much cheaper to administer if they had minimum stays of 3 days or longer, esp if they required those to be specific days like to include a Fri or Sat night for a 3 days stay and 4 days otherwise. I doubt it would affect most people overall and I suspect the overall influence on the wait list would be positive and not negative as I'm sure some will post as a concern.

 

[Scraper]

Thanks to all for posting. I feel better in thinking that there is no plans for this. It would affect me very much. I never use the weekend points. We can travel most anytime so we take advantage of low point times so that we can go more often.

 

[fishermouse]

NO there are no plans for min stay,

 

[MrsNick]

Although I don't see this happening, I actually see it as being not so good in at least one regard.

Let's say that you call MS to book a trip, and they don't have five consecutive nights at one DVC resort, but they have say 3 nights available in one (like OKW) and the other 2 nights available in another (like BWV).

Currently, I know that if I absolutely needed to be at WDW for that specific time period, I would go ahead and book both resorts and then waitlist so I wouldn't have to switch resorts in the middle.

A minimum 5 night requirement could make it much more difficult to plan a trip even if you do have every intention of staying at least 5 nights.

I also think that such a requirement would have the effect of lowering demand for Friday and Saturday, since you wouldn't be able to book a 2 night weekend getaway under such a rule. If that were the case, this rule could also have the effect of causing an imbalance in demand that DVC would respond to by re-allocating the points requirements.

Of course, this is all a hypothetical exercise anyway.