Leverage: anyone considering SSR purchase:

[CarolMN]

Actually, if we get smoking rooms and studios with no tubs continually, we will sell. I'm not going to put my daughter at risk and I want a tub during my vacation to bath my girls. I'm not apologizing for wanting those requests either and like I said before I really resent any attitudes for wanting such requests. These are both very reasonable. If my daughter can't even go outside like tonight and ride her bike without needing her inhaler, why would I put her in a smoking room for a week?!?

These concerns actually have me worried about our spring break trip. And that really stinks. I'm not referring DVC to anyone else either until this matter gets addressed with a positive solution.

I probably need to quit reading these threads cause it is making me feel very negative and actually angry.

I seem to have offended you. It was not my intent to offend anyone so I apologize.

I never said that anyone was wrong to want a non-smoking room or a tub. (In fact I said I wished Disney would guarantee those requests for people who reserved before the 7 month window opens).

My point was that I didn't think it would change Disney's mind if people said they wouldn't buy because of it. I also stand by my opinion that not very many people have or will sell because of it.


Best wishes -

 

[lenshanem]

Carol, sorry if my ranting seemed to be directed to you. It wasn't. I'm just really angry right now about the whole situation in general and I think I need to stop reading these threads for awhile. It is causing me to stress over a vacation I should be excited about. I can be laid back about many things, but not my daughter's health.
I hate feeling that I'm being "difficult" or "naughty" when I check in simply because we NEED a nonsmoking room and yes, I want a tub. (Yep, I have kids and I want a tub! Crazy, huh?) I never knew I would even have to be concerned about such things and if I knew beforehand we wouldn't have joined DVC. I never had problems before in all the times we stayed onsite in nonDVC resorts or any hotel anywhere for that matter.

Priority should be guaranteed to those that book first. If the availability isn't there when I book, then I'll try another resort or different dates. That is what I would like to see happen. I don't care anymore about views or locations.

 

[ColoradoBelle1]

Well, I have certainly opened a can of worms....
Shan, I am truly sorry that reading the disboards has turned into a source of anxiety and frustration for you. Please consider this: there are people here on the Disboard that are seemingly threatened by other people's choices, needs and expectations. But that doesn't mean that DIsney is so threatened or so arrogant. I believe with all my heart that if you called DIsney right now about your upcoming trip and said: I have worked myself into a tizzy over the thought that I may be putting my daughter at risk in our next DVC stay...that I wonder if you can help me. I believe that the supervisor would be willing to check the reservation and tell you that UNLESS THERE IS A STATE OF EMERGENCY OR A NUCLEAR HOLOCAUST that we will be sure to save a smokefree room for you,with a tub. I am willing to bet money on it.(BTW Chuck, did you ever learn that the use of histrionics to try to make a point in a debate (THe sky is falling...there may be an emergency and a room might be out of order and it might be the very last nonsmoking room in theworld, heigh ho) is considered a fairly incompetent form of debate protocol.)

It seems that there may be no problem with Disney, but only in the self pronouced avatars who claim that other people are 'naughty' for having needs and yet ignoring their own need to judge other people and proclaim them 'naughty' . There is a problem with wasting energy in becoming defensive over having needs and expectations that are certainly IMPLIED if not stated.
Tj...your point is well taken that I shouldn't be asking for a DISsenting group 'movement' to be waged. I really was trying to have people ask questions to gauge the willingness of the Disney Empire to listen to the common populace...not to create any insurrection. However, your quoting of the offering contract indicates that preferences LIKE VIEW aren't subject to guarantee. Would you perhaps agree that some health and medical preferences aren't in the same category as view?

Mike and JimMIA....you guys are so funny; you really make me laugh and lighten my day, thank you!

FInally, the energy used in debating whether or not I am entitled to FEEL that certain expectations should be met, (or at least that medical issues need particular distinction when it comes to room guarantees) is really wasted energy when it is spent trying to defend my or anyone else's singular right to have an opinion without fear of judgment, name-calling and castigation. How silly! I will defend to his death CHuck's right to not request a view or a smoking room or a shower. I will also defend his right to be thankful that he is a DVC member and can visit DIsney and get his dose of well deserved pixie dust at least once a year. At the same time, I will defend
SHan's right to feel anxious that she thought she was buyiig into some peace of mind re her vacation plans and yet might be forced to chose between putting her child at risk or incurring the wrath of some who would judge her needs and expectations as different from their own.

Again, Shan, I am sorry for my part in causing you worry. I hope that you will consider taking a 'doctor's excuse' with you on your next trip 'just in case'.
And I'd like to add, as a sidebar, that in a post about nice things happening at Disney, someone posted that on 9/11 DIsney did some WONDERFUL and CARING things re letting those who had checked out of rooms on 9/11 back into the rooms (when the airports were closed and all flights cancelled) at no charge. That brought tears to my eyes and melted my heart...yes, VIrginia there really is still magic at DIsney...you have but to ask nicely for it.

 

[tjkraz]

What spoils my pleasure even more is that apparently DISboards policy is that they don't care one bit that Wideawake's son is autistic and has special needs.

And I think you're going waaaaaaayyy off the deep end in trying to draw a parallel there.

Obviously ChuckS makes a big point out of speaking for DISboards, so I have to assume his representation accurately speaks for the organization.

No Chuck doesn't speak as an official representative of this web site. The fact that others share his opinion has nothing to do with the feelings of the owners and Moderators of this site.

I take some consolation in the fact that I don't think Disney or DVC would agree.

Belle and others are NOT saying your beloved Emperor has no clothes, Chuckie. They are just saying that his fly is open, and it would be really cool for everybody if he would fix that. He has every right in the world, under the POS, and the US Constitution, the laws of the GREAT State of Florida (where I was born, live and dearly love) not to do so. But a sensible Emperor would at least listen to his lowly subjects, even if they are so much lower than thou.

You can think that if you wish, but consider this:

1. DVC does have an unofficial (unwritten) policy of granting all requests made for medical reasons. However they have taken no steps to amend even this caveat to the POS.

2. Up until a couple of years ago, requests were granted based upon the date the reservation was made. This process has since been eliminated.

Don't ge me wrong--I don't begrudge anyone who has a medical need for certain amenities on their vacation. My thoughts on the matter pretty much mirror your eariler post: I have NS on my reservation but I wouldn't complain if I got a smoking room, and I don't make any notation regarding handicapped accessibility and know I'll probably get one of those someday.

Others are a little more militant about their positions. Unfortunately, we all gave our acknowledgement to the system we live with today.

There are a lot of avenues available to share alternative viewpoints with DVC:

1. Letter to DVC management and resort management.
2. Weekly member meetings at Saratoga Springs.
3. Annual condo association meetings for each resort.

But bear in mind that DVC has 13 years worth of history behind it and nearly 90,000 members now. Personally, I don't think the handful of people who voice their indignation here has any relation to the number that actually complain to DVC. YMMV.

This topic of room requests has been debated and discussed over and over and over again, and the emperor is still sporting his Mickey ears.

More than anything, I think it's unfortunate that so many people are disillusioned by these threads...people who have no first-hand experience with the topics being discussed and little reason to worry. It's sad to see comments like "I haven't even taken my first trip and I'm already regretting my decision to buy." Room assignments ... housekeeping ... rude CMs ... dirty theme parks ... high prices ... Michael Eisner ... sometimes I wonder why people even go to WDW.

Thank your fellow DISboards members.

 

[Chuck S]

What spoils my pleasure even more is that apparently DISboards policy is that they don't care one bit that Wideawake's son is autistic and has special needs. Obviously ChuckS makes a big point out of speaking for DISboards, so I have to assume his representation accurately speaks for the organization. I take some consolation in the fact that I don't think Disney or DVC would agree.

Belle and others are NOT saying your beloved Emperor has no clothes, Chuckie. They are just saying that his fly is open, and it would be really cool for everybody if he would fix that. He has every right in the world, under the POS, and the US Constitution, the laws of the GREAT State of Florida (where I was born, live and dearly love) not to do so. But a sensible Emperor would at least listen to his lowly subjects, even if they are so much lower than thou.

Please explain and show me WHERE I said I was speaking on behalf of, or quoting, or even mentioning policy of the DISboards, the POS? Perhaps this person should actually see who the poster is that he is referring to before he launches an attack Nor did I say anything about wide awake's son, so please don't misquote and put words into my mouth.

And, yes Mike, I did indeed mean moot and not mute

I am referring to the many posts throughout these boards that basically demand that all requests be met or guaranteed, and explaining that these changes will not be free as to make such guarantees requires that extra rooms be on hand at all times.

And, wide awake also missed my point. If 100 rooms are assigned and guaranteed, and one of those rooms goes out of service what are the alternatives and what compensation should be offered? Who will pay for it? It has nothing to do with 40 or 50 people being in front of her reservation. Let's say I happen to be he 28th person to call and be guaranteed a non-smoking, non-HA studio out of 100 available. Say I am, at that time, pre assigned room 4428 that meets my needs. All of the remaining 99 of the non-smoking non-HA rooms are also reserved, pre-assigned and guaranteed in a similar manner by other members. I arrive at the resort that morning, and room 4428 has had a pipe break and is not habitable. What would happen in that scenario if there isn't room inventory? The onluy way to insure additional inventory is not sell points in a specified number of units...those units would be considered "common area" as far as maintenance fees and their initial building costs would have to figured into the initial purchase price of the points for that resort. Disney could, if they wanted to, absorb those types of costs in their regular resorts. In a timeshare, the owners would be paying those costs.

 

[tjkraz]

However, your quoting of the offering contract indicates that preferences LIKE VIEW aren't subject to guarantee. Would you perhaps agree that some health and medical preferences aren't in the same category as view?

Oh, I agree 100% with that statement. But I think it also lends credence to the POV that DVC likes to keep this topic buried and has little interest in changing it.

In other words, if that sentence had instead said "...requests, such as smoking preference, cannot be guaranteed...", there would have been a lot more questions raised before people agreed to buy. The clause was deliberately constructed to sidestep controversy.

Then you factor in the reality that this non-guarantee system has existed for 13+ years. Basically this tells me that the vast majority of DVC members are satisfied with room assignments under the current system. It's the vocal minority, some who don't even have first-hand experience on which to base their complaints, who are trying to get others worked-up about this issue.

YMMV.

For what it's worth, I've stayed in DVC rooms five times. I do request non-smoking and have always gotten it. I've never requested "non-handicapped", but I have yet to receive a handicapped room. Others would report equal or better success if given the opportunity.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you need a tub, get a one or two bedroom villa. You'll always have a tub.

We stayed in a smoking optional room once at BCV. It was fine; it did not smell at all. When we moved in, they were just finishing shampooing the carpet.

 

[QUACKHEAD]

...nice try...good night Chuck...good night TJ...

 

[TCPluto]

I find the whole smoking issue very strange, as it constantly appears on this board. Also, the H/A room issue is a sensitive issue.

No one in my family smokes, nor do many, if any, of our close personal friends. We don't like the smell either. When we go out to eat, or in other public venues, we have to put up with the smell. How many people go to bars and endure the smoke? OK, I do, and I suspect most others do as well. While not pleasant by any means, it has little to no effect on us at all.

No one I know has ever engaged us in these types of severe anti-smoking rhetoric, I have seen it no where but on here.

And of all the non-smokers I have encoutnered in my entire life, none has had to be segregated from the possibility of encountering stale cigarette smoke. No they didn't like it. But to say that for medical reasons they had to be insured of complete segregation and isolation...please. I'm sure in this world, there are people who could have a severe medical reaction to the possibility of stale smoke, because anything is possible.

I've read of hundreds of people on this board that need non-smoking for medical reasons. If this is in fact true, which I doubt, we WDW lovers are quite a sickly lot. Is it some anomaly that WDW fanatics are somehow prone to stale smoke illness?

And the handicapped rooms. Our 10 year old daughter has CP and is in a wheelchair. We request a H/A room, and have gotten it nearly every time. We don't demand it, because we can get by without it. It is much easier in the H/A units, undoubtedly. If the resort could have given us one, I'm sure they would have. But it is not an issue to cause me to go into a rant, such as we see here daily.

And for those that get so vocal and rude when talking about the H/A rooms, be glad you don't need one. I would love to get one and not need it. Think about that when you WALK into your room next time.

Is it possible that the world does not revolve around you?

 

[lenshanem]

If you need a tub, get a one or two bedroom villa. You'll always have a tub.

Can you lend us some extra points?

Thanks ColoradoBelle1 for your posts. You are fair and seem to totally understand my point of view and others...

CarolMN, got your PM and sent you one back.

We joined less than two years ago and we've been given a handicap studio once and preassigned to a smoking room despite a request for nonsmoking due to medical reasons. (MS added that onto all our existing ressies themselves and sent us new confirmations after I emailed them about my concerns.) Sooo, thus my worries about our future trips.

Really, this has all been rehashed so many times recently. I feel I'm being so redundant. It is silly to get stressed out about our vacation. Hubby says we'll leave during the night so we can better our chances this time.

 

[lenshanem]

YIKES! I really do need to go to bed and quit reading these request threads.

TCPluto - Did you mention rude posts? I guess everyone reads everything differently, but YOUR post seemed rude to me.

EDIT - OK, went back and read your post again. VERY RUDE.

 

[TCPluto]

I purposely didn't attack any one person, and don't intend to. Sorry you didn't feel the same.

 

[Sammie]

I agree with both sides, boy that is a first.

I wish they would guarantee nonsmoking, however I do agree that Disney is not going to care if you tell them you are not going to buy because they won't guarantee nonsmoking or a tub in your room.

The percentage of people who buy that even know that Disney will tell you one thing while discussing a purchase and do something else afterwards is probably very low. Therefore they don't care. Only those that frequent forums as these know the inside details.

As to the NS issue we must as others have stated have NS for medical reasons. If a member of our family stays in a room that is smoke infested for anything longer than a brief intergal that person ends up in the hospital. This person does not frequent bars or any other venues that are smoke filled. Even to the point of leaving restaurants that can not provide NS seating far removed from the smoking section. So Yes, to some it is very important. This person even will hold their breath and rush through the entrances of many buildings to avoid breathing second hand smoke. Sleeping for hours at a time in a smoke saturated room would not be possible.

I will agree that the tub situation I personally consider a minor inconvenience.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

I find the whole smoking issue very strange, as it constantly appears on this board. Also, the H/A room issue is a sensitive issue.

No one in my family smokes, nor do many, if any, of our close personal friends. We don't like the smell either. When we go out to eat, or in other public venues, we have to put up with the smell. How many people go to bars and endure the smoke? OK, I do, and I suspect most others do as well. While not pleasant by any means, it has little to no effect on us at all.

No one I know has ever engaged us in these types of severe anti-smoking rhetoric, I have seen it no where but on here.

And of all the non-smokers I have encoutnered in my entire life, none has had to be segregated from the possibility of encountering stale cigarette smoke. No they didn't like it. But to say that for medical reasons they had to be insured of complete segregation and isolation...please. I'm sure in this world, there are people who could have a severe medical reaction to the possibility of stale smoke, because anything is possible.

I've read of hundreds of people on this board that need non-smoking for medical reasons. If this is in fact true, which I doubt, we WDW lovers are quite a sickly lot. Is it some anomaly that WDW fanatics are somehow prone to stale smoke illness?

And the handicapped rooms. Our 10 year old daughter has CP and is in a wheelchair. We request a H/A room, and have gotten it nearly every time. We don't demand it, because we can get by without it. It is much easier in the H/A units, undoubtedly. If the resort could have given us one, I'm sure they would have. But it is not an issue to cause me to go into a rant, such as we see here daily.

And for those that get so vocal and rude when talking about the H/A rooms, be glad you don't need one. I would love to get one and not need it. Think about that when you WALK into your room next time.

Is it possible that the world does not revolve around you?

not to be rude, but who in the world are you to judge what is important to other people and what they can or cant put up with. Maybe you put up with the smoke in public areas, but I certainly do not nor does any non smoker I know.

Basically this whole thing is *&#@-poor planning on the part of dvc. I stay in hundreds of hotel rooms a year and in every single one of them S/NS and HA/NHA are options. I have had exactly one smoking and one handicapped room in the last 4 years of traveling and that was by choice when told thats all they had at the time of booking.

I really dont care about 100% occupancy and what the rules on requests are now. Thisis Disney and I expect them to be on the very top when customer service is involved, period. At the very least allow these requests to be guarenteed at the 10-11 month mark. It wouldnt cause any problems on occupancy because everyone else would not be able to guarentee these requests. If something happens to the room they were assigned theres a hundred options to change it up

Make it work, this is absloutley ridiculous.

 

[Divamomto3]

I will be disappointed if I get a handicapped room, but it wouldn't be something I'd move for or request. We will have a 2 BR, so I can bathe my 5 year old in the jacuzzi if I had to...and I guess he's big enough for a shower anyway. I would never move or complain about the view, the floor, the distance from the elevator, or the distance from the bus stop. I will NOT, however, stay in a smoking room. My son has asthma, and YES, he will have an asthma attack if he's exposed to it. My parents smoke and after an afternoon at their house, (and they do not smoke while he's there, but the stale smoke is in the air, the carpets, the upholstery) my son needs a breathing treatment. I did not spend $20,000 to stay in a 2 BR Villa for a week that someone chain smoked in so that I have to pull out my nebulizer machine for my son 4 times a day and give him puffers in the park. It's bad enough if I have to do that because he's sick, I'm not going to do it on vacation because someone else has a gross, disgusting, life threatening habit. Period.

 

[CarolA]

My hanidcapped room at the Marriott did not have a tub. My regular room at Gaylord Palms did not have a tub. My regular room at the Ritz Carlton Phildelphia did not have a tub. I had a standard room reserved all three times and don't recalll any mention of the bath (besides the fact that there was one!)

I fail to see how most Americans only take showers but all the folks on this board have to have a bath tub... we must be dramatically different then the rest of the world.

I don't like smoking rooms, but I also understand the DVC method.

If the energy spent on these topics on this board could be harvested we coudl probably accomplish something important like Peace in Iraq!

TCPulte, you have my sympathy. I can only imagine what reading about how "horrible" it is to get a HA room must be to someone who needs one.

 

[CarolA]

Then you factor in the reality that this non-guarantee system has existed for 13+ years. Basically this tells me that the vast majority of DVC members are satisfied with room assignments under the current system. It's the vocal minority, some who don't even have first-hand experience on which to base their complaints, who are trying to get others worked-up about this issue.

BINGO!

What did we do before forums like these? Lived happily in ignorance.

 

[CapeCodFam]

I've read of hundreds of people on this board that need non-smoking for medical reasons. If this is in fact true, which I doubt, we WDW lovers are quite a sickly lot. Is it some anomaly that WDW fanatics are somehow prone to stale smoke illness?

It is odd isn't it...

 

[athenna]

BINGO!

What did we do before forums like these? Lived happily in ignorance.

Maybe there is something to that saying-ignorance is bliss

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Then you factor in the reality that this non-guarantee system has existed for 13+ years. Basically this tells me that the vast majority of DVC members are satisfied with room assignments under the current system. It's the vocal minority, some who don't even have first-hand experience on which to base their complaints, who are trying to get others worked-up about this issue..

hmmm, in your last post you said:

2. Up until a couple of years ago, requests were granted based upon the date the reservation was made. This process has since been eliminated. ..

so which is it, if its this I guess the sytem hasnt been pleasing all dvc members for 13+ years.

For what it's worth, I've stayed in DVC rooms five times. I do request non-smoking and have always gotten it. I've never requested "non-handicapped", but I have yet to receive a handicapped room. Others would report equal or better success if given the opportunity.

Im not really sure of your connection at dvc but it must be pretty good to make generalizations that conclude who is and who isnt in the minority regarding certain issues.