Just for fun... how to drive demand for SSR

[jimmytammy]

OKW and SSR neither appeal to me as DTD proximity destinations. All the other DVC resorts have some proximity to a park, which, if being honest with ourselves, is the draw to WDW in the 1st place. I doubt many if any of us purchased DVC pts with sole intent of hanging out in a shopping area. DTD is a draw, no doubt, but it is secondary, for me, its actual further down the line, as events and restaurants would be more of a draw than DTD. I like OKW, it is big, but in an appealing way, I dont know how to describe the differences to SSR. SSR is big too, but in a condo style appeal maybe, not sure. We stayed there once before it became so sprawling as it is now.

The plusses for me are the appeal of the Treehouses, the fact that you know you can get a ressie at SSR when other resorts may be booked. And these are good things. So SSR does have its draw appeal. I think the fact it is so big makes it look like it isnt liked or well received when that may not be the case. If closer to a park, it would be booked solid. Look at BLT. Tough one to get.

 

[Dean]

I have been wondering this recently as SSR is one of our home resorts and we actually really like it. We have a goal to try all of the properties, so we haven't booked it again since our first trip, but we have no issue with it. However, it is interesting to me that SSR is often available while people are indicating they are not able to get the reservation they want.

We here generally respond that you should buy where you want to stay, and don't be shocked if you 'have' to stay at SSR.

So that got me thinking. How could they drive traffic more evenly? Obviously this in and of itself is not the objective of any particular DVC resort because they have sold the points and can't sell more or less than they already have--so there is no incentive to 'compete' with each other except perhaps with regards to cash reservations. They can't 'discount' further because the point totals are fixed for the resort per year, so dropping point values isn't really an option. The buy in is relatively low and the easy DVC exchange system allows the points to have intrinsic value even if you don't put SSR at the top of your list, so I'm not worried about actual point 'value'. So I guess you could say if it ain't broke, don't fix it...

But from a membership and SSR owner perspective, how can SSR's management drive member desire/satisfaction with SSR, assuming they wanted to? More programming? They already have three feature pools. I hear complaints about transportation but I don't think it's any better or worse than OKW or AK where you also rely on bussing and have layouts that are very spread out. Upping food, i.e. having a 'destination' restaurant there?

We thought the state of the rooms were very similar to BWV/OKW so I can't think a renovation would make the difference.

I am having trouble with this but I am also sort of obsessed with this question. What about live horse events that are open to guests only, sort of like the AKV sunrise safari? What would make you choose SSR over other DVC resorts if you don't already?

We've had this discussion over the years of how to increase the demand for SSR. IMO most of what could have been done would have had to be done up front. The discrepancy in demand was predictable, once again DVD was greedy and shot too high. IMO the best options would have been to make the points the same as OKW and/or to offer options you couldn't get elsewhere such as lake homes, 4 BR villas (one example), under building parking (similar to AKV), more robust pools, the list could go on and on I suppose. At this point all they really could do is offer perks/discounts such as free golf, spruce up the pools like they did the one already and a few similar options. I don't think the DD options will have enough affect to matter but they won't hurt. The problem is that it did sell though more slowly than was predicted and DVD didn't have to do things that cost them money to do so. Now it's our problem not theirs for good or bad.

SSR is really 2 unrelated issues. The resort itself and those that stay there and it's affect on the system. It's a great resort in a more moderate locations with points higher than it should be given it's relationship/demand in the system. From a system standpoint it's affect at the 7 month window is dramatically overwhelming (there's no way to over emphasis this point).

 

[disneynutz]

The only way to increase SSR bookings without an additional cost is to restrict owners to their home resorts.

The reality is, why would Disney care who stays where? If SSR has availability, that means that SSR owners are staying somewhere else and if the DVC resorts have availability, either people are not using their points or something is out of wack.

Bill

 

[Dean]

The only way to increase SSR bookings without an additional cost is to restrict owners to their home resorts.

The reality is, why would Disney care who stays where? If SSR has availability, that means that SSR owners are staying somewhere else and if the DVC resorts have availability, either people are not using their points or something is out of wack.

Bill

I think there are things they can do that would help but not enough to truly even out the demand. In SSR's case, you'd have to get the demand to match that of say BCV to remove the affect on the system. The problem is the things that would give the most bang also cost bucks and DVD isn't interested in spending money after the fact if they can help it. However, as the management company, DVCMC has a responsibility to get the demands fairly close if possible, not that it'll ever be 100%. Plus if DVD is selling touting the 7 month window or similar and they know it isn't a viable market, they have potential liability. I'm a big fan of personal responsibility and not of legal action but I could see DVD having real liability from the non SSR owners related to SSR & the 7 month window. I don't think it's likely to happen, but if it did, I think it's likely they'd lose that one.

 

[Cee]

Maybe two of the sections could have more theming(Star Wars, etc). And the rest can be for us seniors.

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[MJ6987]

I got it!

A Frozen Character meal, including A&E that can be booked first by guests staying 3+ nights at SSR.

That would do it! That and Frozen themed rooms - you could do a lot with the "ice effects" etc.

I doubt they would do it at SSR though.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

Another thing SSR could do to drive demand would be to create room configurations that aren't available at any other resorts. For example, I'd love to have a 3 bedroom villa that isn't a grand villa. In other words, I don't want to pay the premium points price for the extra luxuries of a the grand villa. I want a 2-bedroom villa with an extra bedroom. Give us a one-bedroom with two attached lock-off studios.

Here's the point-math, using SSR during the Adventure Season.

Studio = 90 points per week
One-Bedroom = 178 points per week
Two-Bedroom = 239 points per week
Grand Villa = 485 points per week

So, the price of a One-Bedroom plus a studio booked individually would be 268 points. Renting this as a single lock-off two-bedroom unit is only 239 points. There's a discount of 29 points for getting a lock-off two-bedroom. So in this case, the cost of adding a bedroom is 61 points per week. That's about 67% of the cost of adding a studio separately.

The price to add a third bedroom, however, isn't 61 points. It's 246 points! That 273% of the cost of adding a studio separately. Heck, it's even more points than having two 2-bedroom units.

Give us the room for 12 people without the extra luxuries of the grand villa. A non-grand three-bedroom lockoff should cost in the neighborhood of 300 points per week during this season.

Even better, give us options to combine rooms for even more than 12 people.

I'm not saying there wouldn't be some considerable re-design needed, but there are potentially 10 locations in each building where they could add a connecting door to allow an additional studio to be added to either a dedicated or lock-off two-bedroom. These would even give the flexibility to create 4-bedroom villas.

 

[Dean]

Another thing SSR could do to drive demand would be to create room configurations that aren't available at any other resorts. For example, I'd love to have a 3 bedroom villa that isn't a grand villa. In other words, I don't want to pay the premium points price for the extra luxuries of a the grand villa. I want a 2-bedroom villa with an extra bedroom. Give us a one-bedroom with two attached lock-off studios.

Here's the point-math, using SSR during the Adventure Season.

Studio = 90 points per week
One-Bedroom = 178 points per week
Two-Bedroom = 239 points per week
Grand Villa = 485 points per week

So, the price of a One-Bedroom plus a studio booked individually would be 268 points. Renting this as a single lock-off two-bedroom unit is only 239 points. There's a discount of 29 points for getting a lock-off two-bedroom. So in this case, the cost of adding a bedroom is 61 points per week. That's about 67% of the cost of adding a studio separately.

The price to add a third bedroom, however, isn't 61 points. It's 246 points! That 273% of the cost of adding a studio separately. Heck, it's even more points than having two 2-bedroom units.

Give us the room for 12 people without the extra luxuries of the grand villa. A non-grand three-bedroom lockoff should cost in the neighborhood of 300 points per week during this season.

Even better, give us options to combine rooms for even more than 12 people.

I'm not saying there wouldn't be some considerable re-design needed, but there are potentially 10 locations in each building where they could add a connecting door to allow an additional studio to be added to either a dedicated or lock-off two-bedroom. These would even give the flexibility to create 4-bedroom villas.

As I noted previously, options not available elsewhere such as a 4 BR ? lockoff to two 2 BR villas and lake homes would have been nice. However, I don't see the idea of trying to make larger but cheaper villas very appealing to DVD. More likely would be presidential level villas and higher end for more points.

 

[PinkTink63]

The biggest issue for me is the transportation. That being said, if you've ever been on the bus ride from DTD to the BWV that stops at the Swan, Dolphin, YC and BC...it can be just as long. We've learned to hop off at the Swan/Dolphin and walk over the bridge.

I always read about people complaining of the transportation at SSR and yet we have never witnessed this! I guess we have been lucky!! BWV, on the other hand, has got to be the worst transportation on all of Disney property!! EVERY time we stay there, we wait upwards of 45+ minutes for a bus!! People are always calling to tell them they need to send a bus!! Then you have THAT RIDE through all of the resorts!!we usually spend much of our time at EPCOT and HS for this reason when we stay there so we can just walk! We still Love the BWV!!

A little off topic...WORST BUS RIDE EVER!!!...walked to the Swalfin to skip a stop...waited (which seemed like an eternity!) with a bratty 5 yr old girl screaming at the top of her lungs, "I WANT TO RIDE THE FERRY!!" And wouldn't you know it, she gets on our bus and continues screaming the whole way to the park!!! We laugh about it now!

 

[DVC Doctor]

Make the Carrousel building only pet friendly - this will be a huge selling factor for demand

 

[freediverdude]

IMO DVD doesn't need to spend any money, but Disney Parks does. The parks division needs to put a destination right next door to SSR, maybe a water park or some other destination. Probably not enough land right there for a theme park, but maybe something else. It needs a destination to make people want to stay there.

 

[southerngirl528]

Spa discount?? SaratogaShan, you just got my attention in this thread!!!

 

[Dean]

Make the Carrousel building only pet friendly - this will be a huge selling factor for demand

Unlikely though I'm sure some would be interested. Pet's increase maint and restrict & fragment overall availability. Even most pet owners tend not to travel with their pets but some do. If it was a money maker, more timeshares would have gone that route very few have and those that do generally require permission to do so. They either charge extra for a special cleaning and/or have only specific areas such as you're suggesting. The timeshares that do allow pets are generally not the top tier options. Even the few that have done so find little interest and increased hassle also. It's roughly the same argument as having some smoking rooms. For sold our resort DVC really doesn't have to worry that much about demand, they are "sold out" so by definition the owners there are locked in. They do have some responsibility to even out demand between times of the year and unit types but that's a different issue, one that specialty rooms don't help and actually complicate and worsen. Remember it would create essentially 5 new booking categories and fragment the remaining inventory for each of those room types. I would agree that with a resort the size of SSR these issues are less than they would be elsewhere. The other issue you get into is the give an inch and take a mile factor. If pets were allowed just there, you'd have a much larger number of people taking pets and sneaking them in elsewhere. It happens now but it would be a lot more when there is some flexibility. In general members already seem entitled as a group partly because that's our current culture but it's magnified when people have so much money invested into the system as we see here routinely. Personally I'm OK with it at SSR and OKW non HH view but I don't see it as workable or happening.

 

[suebeelin]

An exclusive pool like storm along bay would probably help.....

 

[Dean]

IMO DVD doesn't need to spend any money, but Disney Parks does. The parks division needs to put a destination right next door to SSR, maybe a water park or some other destination. Probably not enough land right there for a theme park, but maybe something else. It needs a destination to make people want to stay there.

I covered part of this above but the need to affect demand really was during active sales. I've listed a number of things previously they could have done to make SSR more unique and increase demand but the majority had to be done up front. Things like 4 BR lockoff's, lake homes, an even better pools/mini waterpark, a better on site restaurant, lower points at OKW levels to name a few. Really the only benefit to doing so would be to take pressure off the 7 month window for sales purposes and to reduce complaints and to do that they'd have to get SSR at least to the demand level of BLT & BCV. If they had done every single item I listed here likely wouldn't be enough to do that but anything that moved the needle would help some. The reality is that it's not really much of an issue to DVCMC or DVD at this point.

 

[Dean]

An exclusive pool like storm along bay would probably help.....

IMO it'd take a mini waterpark, one that put SAB to shame, to make any difference.

 

[mort1331]

Dean I love you(well your posts aleast) but why is everyone trying to drive up the numbers at MY SSR. The more people there the busier MY pools will be, the busier MY buses will be, the busier MY restaurant will be. Just stop it. And if you do I will take MY tongue in cheek out.
Thanks
ps. I really do love MY SSR, but can share with all

 

[PetePanMan]

I think the new Disney Springs / expanded DtD will increase demand somewhat. For first time ever our older boys (22 and 18) want to stay at SSR this coming May because of proximity.

 

[Sammie]

If SSR is sold out, which it is, then if there are openings, members are staying elsewhere. If they are able to stay anywhere other than SSR, those other resort members are not booking their home resort either. I really don't see why anyone cares. The appeal of the system is that 11 months you can book your home resort and at 7 you can try for another place. Also I think many of you forget that a larger percentage of members trade out of DVC completely. They might not be on this forum but there are a lot of members that don't post here. Hundreds of thousands in fact.

At 7 months we have been able to book every DVC resort available and I like that SSR, AKV and even OKW are available for booking after 7 months. To us SSR has as much as appeal as any other DVC. None are perfect, they all have pros and cons and as to what the pros and cons are that is subjective.

 

[PinkTink63]

Make the Carrousel building only pet friendly - this will be a huge selling factor for demand

Unlikely though I'm sure some would be interested. Pet's increase maint and restrict & fragment overall availability. Even most pet owners tend not to travel with their pets but some do. If it was a money maker, more timeshares would have gone that route very few have and those that do generally require permission to do so. They either charge extra for a special cleaning and/or have only specific areas such as you're suggesting. The timeshares that do allow pets are generally not the top tier options. Even the few that have done so find little interest and increased hassle also. It's roughly the same argument as having some smoking rooms. For sold our resort DVC really doesn't have to worry that much about demand, they are "sold out" so by definition the owners there are locked in. They do have some responsibility to even out demand between times of the year and unit types but that's a different issue, one that specialty rooms don't help and actually complicate and worsen. Remember it would create essentially 5 new booking categories and fragment the remaining inventory for each of those room types. I would agree that with a resort the size of SSR these issues are less than they would be elsewhere. The other issue you get into is the give an inch and take a mile factor. If pets were allowed just there, you'd have a much larger number of people taking pets and sneaking them in elsewhere. It happens now but it would be a lot more when there is some flexibility. In general members already seem entitled as a group partly because that's our current culture but it's magnified when people have so much money invested into the system as we see here routinely. Personally I'm OK with it at SSR and OKW non HH view but I don't see it as workable or happening.

Don't get me wrong!...LOVE my fur babies but I don't want to stay in rooms where pets have been!! I Also LOVE that Disney accommodations are NOT pet-friendly!! It was one of the deciding factors of buying DVC!