New DVC Short Stays

[Cbaur88]

Hi Folks, my parents recently invested into Disney and became a DVC member including myself and my two sisters on the paper work so we could enjoy for many many years to come with our families.

I am super excited to be a part of DVC as there are many opportunities to travel and see many different things. However one downfall that immediately came to mind was the fact when using II you had to book a full week and couldn't break-up the trip into long weekends or short weekends for that matter. My wife and I love love Key West and the Florida Keys, so we've been looking to possibly invest into a timeshare in Key West or someplace in the Keys. This past January I learned while at Disney's Boardwalk, II or DVC will now be offering a new feature called "Short Stays" which are anything less then 6 days stay, Perfect . My wife and I were so super excited, it was our dream come true. Instead of purchasing a completely different timeshare we were going to invest in buying more points into DVC.

However when I logged into my DVC account I learned a few things that were disappointing . It will be a web based resort search engine ONLY and there will be no assistance w/ help finding a resort of your desire. On top of that you will still be charged a $75 dollar booking fee. I have been using the search engine in DVC's site for two days now and I cannot find a single location in Florida to stay. Hec I started picking other places just to see if something would go through and I couldn't. I am praying to the lord that it's so new and not fully/completely updated. Could I be doing something wrong? I search week by week for a full year for something in Key West and nothing. Has anyone tried this feature or know more about. If so I'd greatly appreciate any feed back about this very new feature. Thanks for your time and help!

 

[bwvBound]

Are you looking w/in the 30 day window?

 

[Cbaur88]

Are you looking w/in the 30 day window?

I have looked both in the 30 day window and also long term as it mentioned some locations may be available 12 months ahead.

That is feature I am sorta bummed out about, 30 isn't very long to throw a even a little long weekend vacation together. I mean half the fun for me is planning it months in advance.

 

[Shide]

Consider yourself lucky. At least you can view the reservation page. Whenever I log in and try to see if anything's available it takes me to the generic DVC/II page with just a list of resorts. I've called MS, logged in and out, etc.. Pretty much everything i've seen suggested and nothing works. MS is supposed to get back to me, hopefully there's a fix for this.

 

[Cbaur88]

Consider yourself lucky. At least you can view the reservation page. Whenever I log in and try to see if anything's available it takes me to the generic DVC/II page with just a list of resorts. I've called MS, logged in and out, etc.. Pretty much everything i've seen suggested and nothing works. MS is supposed to get back to me, hopefully there's a fix for this.

Hopefully this is a sign of working out the bugs and it being so new. I really hope it works out that I will have Key West available to travel on an advanced basis. Thanks!

 

[bwvBound]

Are you finding any inventory at all - even in II's suggested areas?

FWIW, I'm not - although I've frequently found and posted various inventory dates. I also tried searching exchanges using my normal II account (non-DVC) and couldn't get past the first screen. It was fine earlier today ... and I expect it will be fine again in a few hours.

You may want to wait a day or two and try again -- or try during different times throughout the day.

 

[JaxFLBear]

Consider yourself lucky. At least you can view the reservation page. Whenever I log in and try to see if anything's available it takes me to the generic DVC/II page with just a list of resorts. I've called MS, logged in and out, etc.. Pretty much everything i've seen suggested and nothing works. MS is supposed to get back to me, hopefully there's a fix for this.

Are you an associate member? I'm an associate and I can't get to the booking page. If I login using my partners info, I can get to the pages.

 

[Cbaur88]

Are you finding any inventory at all - even in II's suggested areas?

FWIW, I'm not - although I've frequently found and posted various inventory dates. I also tried searching exchanges using my normal II account (non-DVC) and couldn't get past the first screen. It was fine earlier today ... and I expect it will be fine again in a few hours.

You may want to wait a day or two and try again -- or try during different times throughout the day.

Thanks bwvBound, I've tried most of the afternoon yesterday and this afternoon as well. I've emailed DVC to see if there is anything wrong with the feature and if it's fully updated. We'll see, it might be so new that's it's just not 100%!

 

[Shide]

Are you an associate member? I'm an associate and I can't get to the booking page. If I login using my partners info, I can get to the pages.

I'm the primary.. It's frustrating to say the least.

 

[Cbaur88]

Are you an associate member? I'm an associate and I can't get to the booking page. If I login using my partners info, I can get to the pages.

Not really sure if I am an associate member or not. I can get to the booking page with no problems, it's just nothing is out there to book. Come back and says nothing is available.

Yesterday I was able to find something available I think it was Williamsburg VA, it's not a location I wanted I was just so frustrated I was searching anything. That was the only think I could pull up to book. I searched like 50 places in Florida all sorts of date ranges and nothing.......!

 

[JaxFLBear]

Are you an associate member? I'm an associate and I can't get to the booking page. If I login using my partners info, I can get to the pages.

Just tried again and I can get the short stay pages now as an associate.

 

[Ratpack]

I had not heard of this feature, I will have to check it out. Thanks for the thread and head's up.

 

[dis2cruise]

I'm the primary.. It's frustrating to say the least.

whats the differnce between primary and associate??

 

[JaxFLBear]

whats the differnce between primary and associate??

From the member website:
· An "Associate" is a person named by the Purchaser or Purchasers who is only authorized to make reservations using the Club Member's Home Resort Vacation Points. Associates do not receive Member Cards and are not entitled to the benefits and privileges that are available to a Club Member. In addition, Associates may not access financial information related to annual dues and/or loan pertaining to the membership.

 

[bwvBound]

Yesterday I was able to find something available I think it was Williamsburg VA, ...

After a quick restart of my browser I was able to search using both my normal II account (non-DVC) and DVC's short stays. For May 16-19 I found Short Stays inventory in both Branson and Palm Desert (CA) -- but the short stays could not find other locations/dates spotted by my normal II account for "top notch" resorts.

BTW, I didn't see any FL Keys for the coming year using my normal account.

 

[rutgers1]

My guess is that either the web site is still totally in "beta" (aka messed up) status or the short stay program wasn't worth the investment. I too had trouble finding things, with some dates and locations showing up in different ways, depending how I searched. It was clear that the search mechanism wasn't working. If I were Disney, I would pull the plug on it until the kinks are worked out.

 

[Cbaur88]

After a quick restart of my browser I was able to search using both my normal II account (non-DVC) and DVC's short stays. For May 16-19 I found Short Stays inventory in both Branson and Palm Desert (CA) -- but the short stays could not find other locations/dates spotted by my normal II account for "top notch" resorts.

BTW, I didn't see any FL Keys for the coming year using my normal account.

I don't know what the deal is, but if anyone is able to find anything related to FL Keys please let me know. I am not booking anything I just want to see how available things are down there. This will help my wife and I decide if investing more points into DVC is right for us. Thanks

 

[Cbaur88]

My guess is that either the web site is still totally in "beta" (aka messed up) status or the short stay program wasn't worth the investment. I too had trouble finding things, with some dates and locations showing up in different ways, depending how I searched. It was clear that the search mechanism wasn't working. If I were Disney, I would pull the plug on it until the kinks are worked out.

I hope it is in the beta, and I agree pulling the plug until it's worked out. I hope they do keep the feature, as I love long weekend get a ways down in Florida so this working is a make or break for me investing $$ into DVC.

 

[Ratpack]

OK, I am obviously clueless. How do I get to where I can look for short stays?

 

[bwvBound]

OK, I am obviously clueless. How do I get to where I can look for short stays?

Log into the DVC Members website then click on "Interval International" (along the right edge under heading "Plan my Vacation"). Read the new "Interval International Exchanges" page and click on link "Book Now: See what's available now!"

The "Book Now:" link will open a new window which requires your confirmation. From there -- it should go to a search page. Good luck!