Less and Less Availibility?

[dvc_john]

I know these are probably anomolies, but....

1) One time I was checking in to SSR, and the people at the next window were being bumped to BCV because SSR was overbooked. They were not very happy about it.

2) One time I was talking to people in the pool at Marriott Grande Vista timeshare. They were BWV owners, and they said they much prefer OKW, and that they always use their points there.

 

[drusba]

Wonder if they'd ever consider changing it to a 11/4 month rule via for a trial period of say, 1 year. Although i'm not how they'd put a positive disney spin on it

I have noticed in the last year or so that when studios are unavailable, many more resorts still have 1 BRs in the mix of inventory for the dates i'm checking.

DVD really has no reason to change the current 11/7 booking rule because from its viewpoint it works fine. Seriously doubt they would shorten to anything less than 7 months for non-home resorts. It is an issue of common sense; even DVD knows that going shorter than that could start to create problems with members ability to actually reserve because they also need to reserve economical air travel and possibly rental cars.

1BRs traditionally have been available many times when everything else is gone. That is not not just something that started a few years ago.

As a long time BWV owner, I do remember the days when many times of year you still could get something at BWV 6, 5 and even 4 months out. That was prior to SSR. What has mostly changed is the seven month reservation period as it is now more and more imperative that if you want something, and it is available at 7 months, you must grab quickly as soon as the 7 month window opens because a delay of even a day to try to reserve can often mean what you want will be gone.

 

[Chuck S]

Wonder if they'd ever consider changing it to a 11/4 month rule via for a trial period of say, 1 year. Although i'm not how they'd put a positive disney spin on it

I doubt it, I'd expect to see it become an 11/10 window before we'd see 11/4. Some people can not plan a vacaton in 4 months...especially if it is a large family gathering. And if that party has multiple DVC owners, with their points spread around a few resorts, there would be little chance of getting rooms for everyone at the same resort at a 4 month window.

I think the current 11/7 window is working pretty well for everyone.

 

[crisi]

I know these are probably anomolies, but....

1) One time I was checking in to SSR, and the people at the next window were being bumped to BCV because SSR was overbooked. They were not very happy about it.

2) One time I was talking to people in the pool at Marriott Grande Vista timeshare. They were BWV owners, and they said they much prefer OKW, and that they always use their points there.

On the first one, if it were me, it really doesn't matter what I really prefer, if I'm standing at the front desk with my luggage and you are about to send me to a different resort, I'm upset. You have wasted at least half an hour worth of my vacation and probably much more, sprung something on me at the last minute, when you could have phoned me in the morning and told me "hey...we've had a maintenance emergency and are looking for someone who wouldnt mind staying at bcvs....". Chances are pretty good that in a phone call or three, they can get a taker on it...preferably one not coming in on magical express that would need their luggage rerouted.

Thats horrible customer service that may not have anything to do with resort preference.

 

[RayMusicCityUSA]

Please quit generalizing.

YOU don't want to stay there

As a general rule I will take SSR over BWV any day, but I am not rude enough to assume only MY view counts

BWV has no appeal. I do like BCV, but I much perfect SSR, OKW or AKL to BWV, BLT or VWL. And I can't imagine ever even bothering to stay at the upcoming Grand Floridian. If they have the same hotel management don't expect much

I agree with 'YOU don't want to stay there'. We 'reluctantly' stayed at SSR for a last minute vacation.... and my wife fell in love with it. I agree that it takes some extra steps to get from point A to point B, but, the grounds are beautiful. It's definitely a 'stop and smell the roses' type of vacation.

 

[keishashadow]

I doubt it, I'd expect to see it become an 11/10 window before we'd see 11/4. Some people can not plan a vacaton in 4 months...especially if it is a large family gathering. And if that party has multiple DVC owners, with their points spread around a few resorts, there would be little chance of getting rooms for everyone at the same resort at a 4 month window.

I think the current 11/7 window is working pretty well for everyone.

Personally the 11 month window has become difficult with us due to the now longer time it takes to receive vacation time confirmation since we purchased. I just book the weeks we typically visit and hope for the best at this point. We were shut out a few times the last few years during popular times when we had to switch weeks. No biggie, stayed offsite and let my kids use the points I couldn't.

I certainly don't think it would help with sales pitch unless the new resorts will be priced sky high and honestly don't expect to see it instituted unless they get stuck with backlot of ROFRs.

re my comment on 1 BRs being available, I know that they often are open when the studios are booked but nearly all the popular resorts had them the last few times i looked.

 

[Dean]

I know these are probably anomolies, but....

1) One time I was checking in to SSR, and the people at the next window were being bumped to BCV because SSR was overbooked. They were not very happy about it.

2) One time I was talking to people in the pool at Marriott Grande Vista timeshare. They were BWV owners, and they said they much prefer OKW, and that they always use their points there.

Every resort has it's followers and detractors, all that matters from a system standpoint is how one compares to another from an overall demand standpoint.

 

[CMOORE185]

I have been a DVC member since 2000 and I find it just as easy to book at 7 months as I did 12 years ago.

 

[Snow Shoe]

We've been BWV owners since 98' and love it there. The ole addage "buy where you plan on staying" holds very true for us. We're 11-12 month out planners, so getting what type of villa we want/need has never been a problem for us. Frankly last month, I booked a GV at BWV for our family gathering next year. We've stayed at BWV at Christmas/NYD week, July 4th week, F&W Festival, Spring break, and other busy times, but we've always booked our room at the 11 month window and never had any problem.

 

[MSUmom]

Just bought in January. Visited in March, stayed at home resort SSR. Loved it and closeness to DTD. Managed 2 studios in BWV in May for Star Wars weekend. The second studio we reserved 6 weeks before our stay (5 nights). Last trip will be at OKW 12/27 - 1/5 (2bd Villa) Well except for 12/30 and 12/31. Waitlisted those 2 days, still hoping to get in, if not we will be at SSR.

 

[ColonialMouse]

I hate to post without contributing a strong feeling about SSR.

But just by the way timeshares work, almost all of the points on the chart are always sold. My impression is that Disney has never declared more than a few months worth of points to sell at a time, so there's never been that much unsold inventory in the system. So the number of people looking to spend points on available points has pretty much always been 1:1.

What's changed though is with large resorts, i.e. SSR and AKV. If even a small percentage of those people want to stay somewhere else, there are so many of them they can easily overwhelm the small resorts. I've seen lots of people say "we own at XXX, but try to stay in different resorts to experience them." When all the resorts are the same size, that all balances out. But with some large resorts and some small resorts, even if only 20% of owners want to switch at 7 months, the small resorts will be quickly filled with people from the big resorts.

So, while there may be better or worse resorts, even if everyone thought the resorts are all equal, the smaller resorts still won't be as available as they once were.

Bruce