Maybe they shouldn't have a 7 mo and 11 mo. booking period.

[Figaro30]

I just thought of something. Maybe it doesn't make sense to have the 7 mo and 11 mo booking time. Maybe it's not to the DVC members benefit.

I just responded to a thread and somebody mentioned not being able to get a 2 bedroom at OKW. I just booked a 2 bedroom yesterday at OKW. However I'm wait listed for a 2 bedroom at BWV. What if that person has a 2 bedroom at BWV and is waiting for a 2 bedroom at OKW and i'm doing the opposite? Wouldn't it just make more sense to let people choose whatever they want, whenever they want so that nobody has to go through waitlisting to the extent that they do now.

People are booking at their 11 mo. just to get a ressie, however this might not be the ressie they want. And then those ressies that they made at the 11 mo. might be what somebody else wants and is wait listed for. Does this make any sense to anybody???


It just seems that if at the time I wanted to make a ressie WHEREVER I WANTED TO MAKE IT, I would then (if the rooms were available) have a 2 bedroom at the BWV, in which case that other person would have my 2 bedroom at OKW??? No? What does everybody else think? And please, this is just a thought, keep the tempers down!!! I am curious what other people think about this.

 

[Dan Murfman]

Not a good idea. I didn't buy at Boardwalk with the higher dues in order to stay at OKW. Why should someone at OKW have the same priority at BWV as me? And why should I have the same priority as an OKW owner if I wanted to stay at a Grand Villa at OKW?

 

[Lisa F]

Originally posted by Figaro30
It just seems that if at the time I wanted to make a ressie WHEREVER I WANTED TO MAKE IT, I would then (if the rooms were available) have a 2 bedroom at the BWV, in which case that other person would have my 2 bedroom at OKW??? No? What does everybody else think? And please, this is just a thought, keep the tempers down!!! I am curious what other people think about this.

The problem (as Dan mentioned, and as I'm sure many others will chime in) is that people at BWV have paid more for the luxury of staying at BWV. I think there would be a holy war if Disney up and said "okay, all of you people who are paying more to own at BWV now have to fight with everyone else in DVC for reservations at your home resort!"

Judging by how difficult it is to get certain reservations at BWV even within the 11 month window, this would only lead to problems.

I was just talking about the problem of two people holding the identical reservations at opposite resorts. What WOULD be neat is if they had a little bit more complex reservations software that allowed reservation matching. For example, family A books a week in OKW bedroom at the 11 month window and family B books a week at BWV at the 11 month window. At the 7 month window both want to swtich to the other resort. Family A goes on the wait list for BWV first. Family B calls to switch to OKW and there is no availability. Before going on the wait list, a search is made of all people holding reservations at OKW who are on the waitlist to get into BWV. If there is a match, the switch is made instantaneously (I guess if you were on the waitlist you'd have to have auto-confirm for this to happen).

This kind of a system would still keep the priority order of the wait list while at the same time allowing for the problem of two people who want to switch reservations but don't want to give up what they have until there is a confirmation on a different reservation.

Lisa

 

[Tiggeriffic]

I think that DVC has to keep a home resort priority. That is why people bought where they did. If there was no priority, then everyone would have bought at VB when they were giving great deals there. There would have been no reason to buy anywhere else. It would no longer be "owning" at a particular resort, but just owning in DVC. Personally, I think the 11/7 month priority is a good thing and would not be happy if they tried to change it.

I understand the scenario that you mentioned. However, I don't think that the majority of the reservations are made as "backup" reservations. So, although this inconveniences those people who want to stay at a different resort, overall I think the system works well.

 

[Figaro30]

Okay, never thought about that aspect of it.

Lisa, do we know if they currently have software that checks for overlapping wait lists??? Or does anybody manually look at them to solve this problem. I'd hate to think that there are 50 people out there with the exact identical problem as another 50 people. (Me being one of them) I guess I just feel bad for the people that want my 2 bedroom, the same 2 bedroom that I'm trying to trade away.

 

[Joeblack]

I am sorry, but I totally disagree.

It will never happen since people signed papers stating what the conditions are and almost nobody is going to want to forfeit their window of opportunity at their home resort.

What would happen to Maintenance dues? Management? The papers everybody signed? Resale prices?

The only reason people pay more (resale) or pay higher mainenance dues is that 4 month advantage.

 

[Dan Murfman]

If I'm not mistaken I think DVC can change the advantage to 11/10. I even think they sent out a poll on this and most were against this.

 

[ckr]

I think you have a valid problem here, but not a valid solution. Perhaps you should put your 2BR on the trade board and see if there is someone with a corresponding ressie that you could trade with.

 

[Figaro30]

ckr- that's a good idea. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[PamOKW]

Dan you are entirely correct. The Home Resort advantage (if you read through your paperwork) can be reduced to as little as one month. DVC did consider this just a few years ago. Their reasoning may have been the same as Figaro's. It seems if someone really wants a particular resort at a particular time they call right at the 11 month mark. Maybe those 2 extra months of wait time aren't as necessary as we think.

 

[Chuck S]

I wonder what the actual results of the DVC 11/10 month survey was...I would bet that there was an overwhelming majority wanting to keep the 11/7. I would also bet that if the survey were to be given today that the great majority would still want the 11/7 window. I for one, hope they always have the 11/7 window. I doubt I'd want to book anywhere but my home resort (OKW). I also doubt many folks at BWV would want to trade out to OKW or WL. The theory has always been buy where you want to stay. Of course, in '92 there was only OKW, but if I didn't like it, or want to stay there then I wouldn't have bought.

 

[PamOKW]

Chuck, when we signed the papers we didn't really know what the "Home Resort" was going to mean did we? All these other DVC's were just a gleam in Mr. Eisner's eye!

 

[Chuck S]

PamOKW, it is true that we were not promised any additional DVC resorts in 1992, but the problem doesn't seem to be that BWV owners are trying to book at OKW and WLV. If you were a BWV owner, and were having trouble booking/changing ressies I wouldn't want a 11/10 window. And although the problem doesn't seem to exist at OKW now, if the two off-property resorts were allowed to book at 10 months out it would complicate matters. Of course, it would probably boost sales at VB & HH.

 

[Dean]

I think the chances of matching wait lists just to have DVC exchange reservations would be an extremely rare one. As noted, the shortest home resort priority is 11/10 and regardless of the reasons anyone bought at a specific resort, they derserve the priority time. OKW is easier right now overall and there are many factors to include location, the fact it's a more mature resort and that the majority of members have been owners for longer than the average at BWV.

Another aspect is that even if there were matching reservations with matching wait lists; DVC could not just swap them unless both parties were at the top of the wait list. You can wait list day by day or for the entirity of the requested stay but the person at the top of the list would have first crack even if they only took say the middle day of a 7 day reservation that someone else relinquished.

Survey reported in Vol. 7, No. 2, 1998. 65% and 64% wanted to retain the current banking and cancellation systems. To impose chargest for additional items: amenities (soaps) 68%, towels 53% and change of room 79%. Can't find the previous survey results right now.

 

[Crissup]

I would agree that the main problem would stem from the difference in dues. I purchased at BWV because it was not only my favorite DVC resort, it was my favorite WDW resort. For that, I was (and am) more than willing to spend the extra money for the higher dues. However, if I had no more chance to stay there than someone who was paying less dues elsewhere, I would dump my BWV contract on the resale market and buy a HH contract instead.

Obviously, this would never work unless all the cost and assessments were tossed into one big melting pot, spreading the maintenance fees across all the resorts equally. I do not believe that is within the legal limits of DVC's authority.

 

[bicker]

It's not only dues, but also the original purchase price. Many folks paid a premium for BWV, and are now paying a premium for VWL. While there are times I wouldn't mind staying at OKW, I surely don't want to have to scramble to secure a place at BWV since I paid extra for it.

 

[Dean]

Bicker, I'm not totally sure I'm following you. The purchase price is irrelavent, the prices were the same for OKW and BW. Resale, one may make the choice to pay higher to get exactly what they want, but then you're a member at that resort, no more and no less. Besides if I paid less for my weeks in Aruba (a lot less) than some of the other owners, does that mean that I have less rights and previledges? I hope not. The important point has nothing to do with where you own; it's simply that you own at a DVC resort. There are home priority rules which can change but never be less than 11/10 months. Even the higher dues aren't there to give you any additional priority, they are simply for maintenance, taxes and the like. Hopefully most of us bougth where we prefer to own though with new resorts coming on board, not everyone will end up owning at their favorite. You will always have a home resort priority as promised in the POS.

Besides, no one paid a premium from DVC for any resort bought through DVC. Everyone paid the going rate for points at the time they official bought. Remember that the first official WLV was Jan of this year and yes, some did make a conscious choice to pay a higher price for WLV but they still paid the going rate for points at the time of their purchase. Paying for inflation is not paying a premium regardless how much the increased point costs have been. The real premium is in the points costs for smaller rooms, some think it's worth it and others don't, their choice.

 

[bicker]

The fact is that most BWV buyers had a choice between buying BWV from Disney and buying OKW through resale. Most of us made our choice to spend the extra money, in return for ???? that priority, of course.

 

[Dean]

More people chose OKW than BWV and all who did got what they paid for, no more and no less. You got the priority promised, so I'm still unclear what it is some members want that they feel they're not getting. I guess I'm just missing your point.

 

[bicker]

Yes -- I got the priority I was promised. All I'm saying is that that should continue.