New policy for reservations based on check IN date

[dianeschlicht]

For the record, I still think they need to find a way to avoid "walking" your ressies and also need to let you extend beyond those 7 day for your vacation.

While that "walking" the ressie is my reason for concern about this policy, I do NOT think they should try to "fix" it. We all know what happens when DVC "fixes" something....It becomes worse than it was in the first place. Any attempt to avoid the booking and canceling and rebooking day by day will ultimately effect the average member who just needs to change their dates more than it will the " walking speculator". In reality, all this new policy does is make day by day booking more complicated. It doesn't get rid of the need to book day by day....just makes you think a bit more about how to do it. I hate it! I hope DVC goes back to day of check-out again making everyone equal once again, but if this is the way they leave it, I'll have to live with and and learn how to work within the rules. Frankly, I think this thread has outlived its usefulness. I think it's time to give it a rest.

 

[zumfelde]

I don't understand why Disney made this change when there was not a problem. They should fix things that are a problem like non DVC people parking at DTD or a resort and taking the bus and commercial renting.

 

[FLYNZ4]

I think the MAJORITY of DVC members have never considered another timeshare and don't care at all if other timeshares might be more flexible. Most DVC members have purchased because they are onsite at WDW - even those who purchased at VB and HH who can use their points at WDW resorts.

Flexibility, World Passport, Concierge Collection and Disney Collection are all frosting, but the real draw for DVC sales is access to onsite WDW vacations.

I agree 100%

/Jim

 

[Dean]

Is a unique contract 123456.X inclusive of all add-ons counted as 1 member?

Or is a unique contract considered:

123456.0
123456.1
123456.2

As (3) members?

And by fully paid, are we talking no financing? Free and Clear?

Unique master contracts.

Count me in that minority too. I did NOT buy a week at a time timeshare, and that was an important part of the email I sent.

Diane, to use your post as a focal point to reply to several similar. Let me put the issue another way. How many would have bought the same system 2 miles down the road not directly associated with Disney? My guess is only a small fraction at the current price. But what if you could get Xmas, NY, Easter, or any other specialty time guaranteed by buying a fixed week? Or even at a 20% lower cost and 30% lower fees as a "less flexible" system would likely allow. And again that there really is no such thing as a traditional timeshare anymore, they are all different with advantages and disadvantages.

 

[FLYNZ4]

Basically....lots of think that this policy will make it harder to reserve a room at hard to book times....
people are basically upset that they can't book day by day now.

I did not read all of the posts... but I agree with the above statement.

I think this policy is horrible for people who own a small number of credits... especially at a smaller resort. Take VWL during early December as an example. If an family has enough credits to spend 5 nights in a studio (and not a 1BR)... it is very fesible that when they call at 9:00 am exactly 11 months in advance of the check-in day... they may learn that there are no studios left, because people have been booking them for 6 days already. This family has no other DVC options at this point. They cannot afford a 1BR, the one resort they can book is full... I guess they start looking for a manger to spend the nights.

I also think the problem will be worse for everyone who wants to switch resorts at 7 months... in fact... the 7 month window will be even tougher than the 11 month window because inventory is already spotty.

/Jim

 

[danielle782001]

While that "walking" the ressie is my reason for concern about this policy, I do NOT think they should try to "fix" it. We all know what happens when DVC "fixes" something....It becomes worse than it was in the first place. Any attempt to avoid the booking and canceling and rebooking day by day will ultimately effect the average member who just needs to change their dates more than it will the " walking speculator". In reality, all this new policy does is make day by day booking more complicated. It doesn't get rid of the need to book day by day....just makes you think a bit more about how to do it. I hate it! I hope DVC goes back to day of check-out again making everyone equal once again, but if this is the way they leave it, I'll have to live with and and learn how to work within the rules. Frankly, I think this thread has outlived its usefulness. I think it's time to give it a rest.

I agree

We just need to share a summary of how to make the system work...A list of suggestions on how to book under the new rules...Yes, we can complain to DVC but for now we have a new policy to work under...I think it would be better at this point to put our energy towards creating a list of suggestions on how to get the vacactions we want...

We have successfully beat the subject to death and most of us are very upset now...It is time to deal with it (until they change it again )...

I have been trying to read all the posts but it has been hard to follow at times...

Anyone else confident they understand the policy well enough to help the rest of us figure out how to book now and create a simple list for us?

 

[squirrlygirl]

What I can't wrap my head around is if nobody is going to be able to book these rooms, who exactly is going to be in there?

Reminds me of the old Yogi Berra saying when questioned about a restaurant: "Nobody goes there any more, it's too crowded..."

me

 

[jdg345]

And if so...how did it work? After booking the first week 11 (or 7) months in advance when were you able to book day 8 of your reservation at 11 months + 7 days or did you have to wait a week to book the 8th day?

curious,
leo

I was able to do this:

Day1: Book 11+7
Day2: Book 8th day, drop first day
Day3: Book 9th day (really 8th, since I dropped the first the day prior)

Etc.

Others have reported the ability to do the same thusfar.

 

[zulaya]

I'll take a stab at a summary of what you can and cannot do and hope I get it all. If not, I'll edit or someone else can correct me.

1. You call 11 months from your check-in date and can reserve up to 7 days at your Home Resort. This also applies to the 7 month window at other resorts.

2. If you are making a reservation of longer than 7 days, you can call on Day 2 of your 11 month/7 month check-in date to add your 8th day. Continue this process for as many days as your reservation is long.

3. If your first day is not available, you can go on the waitlist for that first day and you cannot book the other up-to-6 days at that time. You would need to wait and call the next day for Day 2 and see if it is still available.

4. You can waitlist for single or multiple days on your reservation. However, you will now only have your waitlist filled if ALL the dates on your waitlist for said reservation come available at the same time.

5. You can still add and drop a day from a reservation at anytime without cancelling.

6. Banking, borrowing and transferring rules have not changed and still apply.


Did I catch the gist of it?

 

[squirrlygirl]

So if you had to pick a week and a room, you still would have bought DVC because it was at Disney? Aren't there quite a few other Timeshares right up the road?

That's my point. I don't want a timeshare up the road. I didn't want a timeshare period. I don't know if I would've still bought had DVC been different-that would take quite a bit of thought that I'm just not willing to invest in over something that doesn't exist.

 

[jdg345]

Okay, it kills me that I just read evry single post, yes all 790 of them! The part that kills me is that my next 3 trips are already booked and have been since February (except for my recent hotel change). By the time I make my next ressie, I'm sure most if not all of this will be sorted out. I am banking my 2009 points into 2010 and then using those 2 years worth of point to try to book either Hawaii or Disneyland or somewhere that is NOT WDW! So in lieu of the fact that I won't be booking a ressie until at least late 2009 at the 7 month window and possibly not even booking til 2010, I don't know why I read this all and am worrying about any of it!

By the time I have to book WDW, the little things will be straightened out or there will be posts on this board on how to use them to your advantage. Now I can go to sleep and forget about this whole conversation. Yay me!!

For the record, Is till think they need to find a way to avoid "walking" your ressies and also need to let you extend beyond those 7 day for your vacation. I think 10 days make a perfect vacation for me. I'm not worried about someone wiht more points being able to get x-mas and New Years cuz that's their vacation adn they should be able to get it if they want it and they bought enough points for it. the 7 day limit is not going to keep them from doing that.

I bought enough to stay at AKV concierge for a week. I will most always get my week as long as I can book at least 7 days since I am more flexible with my vacation time than most. I can call day by day if unavailable the first and make whatever the first day available my first day of my 7 day vacation. My DH then tells his work what days he needs off and I find the most reasonable flight for the day I need to be there.

The Irony here, of course, is that it seems Disney made these decisions to reduce DBD calling. It looks like if it's not available, you'd do this anyways. In the end, not so different than the old system.

The other nice thing about the old way is you'd be able to waitlist backwards. You apparently cannot waitlist forwards under the new system.

 

[danielle782001]

I was able to do this:

Day1: Book 11+7
Day2: Book 8th day, drop first day
Day3: Book 9th day (really 8th, since I dropped the first the day prior)

Etc.

Others have reported the ability to do the same thusfar.

Okay...at what point do you stop doing this? So can a person just call eveyday for until they are at the actual dates they want?

Lets say I want a trip 12 months from now...Is anything stopping me from calling now and calling everyday until I actually reach my desired date? That is the part I am getting lost on.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

I would definitely NOT have purchased it if it were a fixed week/fixed unit system. I think the majority of us would NOT have purchased it under that scenario. I never ever stay a week at Disney much less on a standard Sat to Sat (or whatever would be considered a fixed week.)

This is our situation as well. It seems like DVC now wants to encourage 7 day stays. I mentioned this earlier in the thread. DVC can see that many people book Sun-Thu, leave on the wkend and then return. They want to put a stop to that sort of resort hopping. The new booking policy is a step in that direction. If this were the booking policy in place when we bought, I would have bought more points then. I based our point purchase on a 5 day Sun-Thu stay and not on a weekly stay.

So how do I book our next vacation? I have 112 points left in 2009.

5 days at AKV (Sun-Thu) in a 1br at 22points each is 110 points and bank the final 2 points. It sounds easy enough. I just call 11 months out and request 5 nights at 22points each. Under the old system, I could call DBD and feel confident that I would get the room that I wanted.


Under the new system, in order to give myself the best possible chance of getting the room that I want, I could call and reserve the Fri -Sat that I don't want plus the Sun that I do want in one call and use 110 points. That's 44 points a night for Fri-Sat and 22 points for the Sunday night. Total of 110 points. Of course, I don't plan on keeping the Fri-Sat nights. A couple of days later, I then call and cancel the Friday and then add the Mon-Tues. Then two days after that, I call and cancel the Sat and add the final 2 days to my trip. No borrowing necessary- and it only took 3 phone calls to complete my reservation. How is this progress?!?@!?

 

[Inkmahm]

Okay...at what point do you stop doing this? So can a person just call eveyday for until they are at the actual dates they want?

Lets say I want a trip 12 months from now...Is anything stopping me from calling now and calling everyday until I actually reach my desired date? That is the part I am getting lost on.

As I read it the answer is "no" there is nothing stopping you from starting your reservation as early as you want and rolling it over day by day until you get to the timeframe that you DO want for your reservation. Makes no sense to me but that's what this new policy seems to allow.

 

[jdg345]

Well then I am in the minority with you all! I know for one if it was a fixed week system, I would have probably bought elsewhere or not at all. My in-laws have a point based system with other locations I frequent, Vegas, Cabo and Hawaii, and I could have used those points at any of those locations. Honestly, at that point Disney would not be getting my ticket or dinng money because I simply would have not been going as often. Flexibility and a point based timeshare was a key reason we went with DVC over other timeshares we were looking at and I wanted to echo that sentiment.

I know I have not commented on this thread since the early pages but, after reading pages of posts here are my current 2 cents.

1. In reality, I think the old system of reserving 11 months out from check out date was/is more fair. Americans (which most of us are) tend to defend fairness at all costs and that is why I think many of us, including myself are in opposition to this change.

2. Many of us, including myself, expect a lot from DVC because it is Disney. We want Disney to be better because many of us share in Walt's vision of what a company and the world could be. Yes, DVC and Disney are corporations, but many of us want it to be a business with a heart. That's why we are so disappointed with how this was communicated (or not communicated.)

3. Although I STRONGLY dislike this change, and have and will continue to voice my opposition to this change to the powers that be; those hard to get rooms for those hard to get times for those special trips have to go to someone. And here is some pixie dust that all the right intentioned well deserving individuals get those room with or without this current policy.

So those are my current thoughts.

Excellent Post! ty for you sharing your thouhts!

I agree that the previous system was more fair, especially to those with smaller contracts. Some folks have said that they like the new policy because it's better for *them* because at this time, they think it will be easier to get reservations. Some really haven't said it's necessarily more fair. The issue with those folks is that some may come to the conclusion in several months that they don't like the system when their check-in day is booked and they have to end up called DBD now, with no option to waitlist. This current "Honeymoon Period" makes it difficult to gauge the new system. Right now, you should be able to get anything and everything at 11 months, no problem. Why? because very few people know about this and would have taken any rooms ahead of you. Let's give it a few months for things to settle and make their way around the block.

Something tells me that some of the folks that cannot get their reservations because the first day is blocked and cannot waitlist are going to wish we were back to the old system where at least they could waitlist their missing days backwards.

The folks that aren't affected by this likely wouldn't have booked DBD anyways as they would be going during periods where booking by departure date for whole stay would have been fine anyways. That's one of the things I don't quite understand ... if both ways were equally easy for them, why prefer this new system? Unless they just didn't like the fact that some people DBD'd?

 

[jdg345]

Doesn't that only work though if there are still rooms like the one you reserved that are available at OKW at the 7 month mark?

I think it's supposed to work that way; however, MS has a way of holding the room and reallocating without releasing it to trigger a waitlist. Whether they're supposed to do this in all circumstances and not just 'special' ones is a whole other topic of discussion.

I've asked about inventory, but I can tell you that I have been able to re-allocate points in the past, and it's never really been an issue. And I always ask beforehand, "This isn't going to impact my reservation, right? I won't lose my room, correct?". And I'm always told not to worry, it'll be fine.

 

[bicker]

Which way reduces the number of calls to Member Services over the long-run? Even a small difference is a difference.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Which way reduces the number of calls to Member Services over the long-run? Even a small difference is a difference.

The old way, because you aren't calling a week or more ahead of what you want. With day by day from the check out date, you call for a week or more and you have your ressie. With check in date DBD booking, you start calling a week earlier than you want and continue to call until you have all days booked, and that could be up to 14 days for a week's ressie or more for our usual 10-12 day ressie.

 

[bicker]

I bet there are people who disagree.

Most guests book less than 10-12 nights.

 

[mnra]

I currently have 350 points at both boardwalk and old key west. I have always just booked a week stay at a time. In most cases I have only had to make one call to ms but then again I have always gone in the summer. I would think that one can always try to find a way to get around the rules but I doubt most members spend all that much time trying to figure out how to do that. It would be interesting to hear from ms on how many people book a week at a time and how many leave on the weekends.
Do you think they would ever provide that information to the membership.