New policy for reservations based on check IN date

[Laurabearz]

I agree....total spin. I do think they will wait and watch though. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until the first time I have problems getting my concierge room on three years of AKV points. I'm quite sure I'm going to have to "walk" that reservation.

Your joking right Diane... Please tell me you are... Did you really buy those points belieiving that you would get AKV Concierge rooms anytime you wanted them? So if you dont get them next time, it's the new systems fault and not the fact that there are only 5 of them?

I started walking mine already! You better get in gear!

Well good for you!

The previous policy required Members to call daily at the beginning of their booking window, piecing together their reservation one night at a time.


Excuse me...this was NEVER REQUIRED! How many members have gone through their reservations thinking that it was ALWAYS required to call DBD?

..

Yet it's the people who have had to call DBD that this effects the most.... And in fact according to MANY disers on this thread stating over and over that calling DBD was REQUIRED and THEY ONLY WAY they secure their reservation. Disney was correct in stating the old system required you to call DBD if you wanted your reservation...

So if there are that many people here who absolutly have to call DBD to get their rooms... how many are in the general population who feel the need to call DBD for their reservation too.

There has to be 1000's who just bought enough points for the most difficult rooms to book at the peak times of the year judging from the sample size here....

 

[bobbiwoz]

i did not buy at VB to have a BC ever, but was able to secure one, DBD at 11 months out, with a Sunday arrival. Now, people will be ahead of me at 11 months, and I can't imagine getting one again. I hope so.

"Walking" means what? Are you booking before you really want to be there? If that is the case, will MS let you get rid of those extra days?

Bobbi

 

[robinb]

I like the idea of a 14 day hold so that the only ones that would able to "walk" a reservation would be those that could hold out all of their bookings for those 14 days with enough points to do it all. I think even a month is a reasonable time to prevent people from changing their initial reservation wihtout havign to rebook. There is nothing you find out within that first month that you HAVE TO change the days right away. This would only apply to direct 11/7 window.

Then only the mega-owners will be able to "walk" their reservations. I guess that mega-membership does have it's privileges . So much for my 100-point add-on at AKV.

 

[mrdiscranky]

Sheesh, you folks are about to beat this thing to death. Give it a chance folks. It worked fine for me Tuesday getting my HHI ressie and it was really nice not having to make those day by day calls.

What makes you think you had to call day by day under the old system?

Give DVC an opportunity to demonstrate they know what they're doing.

Based on the confusion and poor communication at roll out, they've already demostrated they didnt' think this all the way through. As long as that 7-day limit is there, it's clear the don't know what they are doing.

You all act like it's the end of the world.

It's not the end of the world. But in a board that discusses DVC, in a thread that discusses the new booking policy, what do you expect people to discuss?

 

[DVC Grandpa]

.....Adding an Associate member, as Grandpa suggests? Do you really want someone else to have access to your points? Wouldn't it be great to try and make your ressie only to be told that there were no more points available? Don't believe that it couldn't and wouldn't happen.

Cell phones? That's a great idea, except mine isn't allowed in the building where I work. We are searched going in. Cell phones not allowed. Even if they were allowed, how many would be happy if their child came home and told them that the teacher stopped class at 8:55 so she could make her vacation ressies at Disney?

Just because those of you who have been using DBD are angry because you no longer have advantage over everyone else, doesn't mean the rest of us are. Many of us see this change as finally putting everyone on equal footing with regard to making ressies for their vacation, regardless of when we travel. No one, whatever their reason, has a leg up. You call and you either get or not get and waitlist.

It may have seemed more fair if you had to wait until 11 & 7 months before checkout, but I don't see the big difference there.

Welcome to the real world, where you don't get everything you want, every time you want it, even if you've bought a DVC.

That confirms my point. You have decided not to use all the options available to you, and that’s all right but should you force others to conform with you because of your reluctance to add a Associate Member for the purpose of booking your choice in vacation days. You can delete that associate as soon as the reservation is made. All I was trying to say is that there are other options that you have opted out of for personal reasons and that’s OK but don’t say it could not be done.

 

[pilferk]

I couldn't do that with the old system, that's why I ahve to change rooms twice in December because on my 2nd day, someone called before me and took the room out before I could. If they had this new rule already, I could ahve booked the room I wanted for the next 3 night and been secure instead of calling DBD to "try".

Unless, of course, someone called 6 days before you and simply booked the last room for your check in date.

It works both ways.

Now, you might KNOW what you have and what you don't have. But your options will possibly be much more limited...ESPECIALLY for the busier times. It's going to make things tougher at the 11 month mark for everyone during those times, and VERY tough at the 7 month mark at the smaller resorts where availability is already limited. You're asking for a trade off between convenience and opportunity. You might be OK with that. I don't think everyone is going to be.

You may find LOTS of people "forced" into a stay at SSR or OKW. The possibility (and we'll have to see what happens in reality) exists that this system removes a LOT of the flexibility and options available for DVC members.

The other issue is that I could call today and "walk" my reservation over the next 90+ days to ensure that I get my late Sept '09 room (I don't know why I would, as I doubt availability the last week in September is all that tight). In the short term, I'd be locking out a whole host of other people looking to book trips during that time frame and asking them to depend, possibly, on wait list priority to get what they want....causing exactly the same type of issue the "new" system seems to have been put in place to solve.

 

[Robo-Daddy 3000]

What I think is terrible, and I know it's been hashed over, but I think it bears repeating...

What if you don't have enough points to "walk" your reservation? This is going to happen. People don't have enough points to do it, or they'd have do that permanent thing called borrowing to secure something, possibly messing up their future plans.

That is my big concern too. And it wasn't even addressed in the new statement on the member website. Nope. No mention of walking a reservation. How can that be? Hello MS, are you even listening to the members at all?!? Haven't members mentioned their concerns about the complications that arise from walking a reservation? Incredibly frustrating and completely unsatisfactory!

I spoke with Sheila again yesterday. She called me after I sent my email to the mighty Jim Lewis. Imagine that you email Jim Lewis but you don't even get a canned auto response from him. He must be too busy thinking up new simple ways to keep the all the members happy. So now I get another call from the member satisfaction team. Unnecessary. I didn't even write to the member satisfaction team this time so I wasn't looking for a response from them. But, I told her how annoying it was that 10 days into this mess, there has been no statement other than a few lines on the website detailing how this new system is supposed to work.

I also told her that it was wrong to tell members that they have to wait until September or later to get a magazine to tell us the details of the new system for booking reservations. I mean this is the mechanism by which we actually utilize our high-priced membership and we are still supposed to be kept in the dark with nothing on paper about how this whole system works until Dinsey Files is published. Maybe this is the new best kept Disney secret -the reservation booking system for DVC- not even the members are supposed to know how it works! I am disgusted.

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Doesn't the ability to 'walk" a reservation with as few as two weekend nights of points give everyone a "fair" shot at a reservation?

While you need to call DBD to extend with only 2 nights booked, but you don't have to call at any specific time of day. As long as MS is open, the next day belongs to you. With enough points for more than 2 nights, you can even skip a day and still get your whole reservation. It may be a hassle, but it certainly seems fair. -- Suzanne

 

[robinb]

Your joking right Diane... Please tell me you are... Did you really buy those points belieiving that you would get AKV Concierge rooms anytime you wanted them? So if you dont get them next time, it's the new systems fault and not the fact that there are only 5 of them?

I don't know why you seem so shocked that people intentionally bought into a resort under the old booking rules to use the 11-month window to book hard-to-get villas. That is the whole idea behind the "Buy where you want to stay" advise here on the DIS. I mean ... it's not like she bought at VB expecting to score a concierge 2 BR at the 7-month window.

 

[CarolMN]

Sheesh, you folks are about to beat this thing to death. Give it a chance folks. It worked fine for me Tuesday getting my HHI ressie and it was really nice not having to make those day by day calls. Give DVC an opportunity to demonstrate they know what they're doing. You all act like it's the end of the world. It's just a vacation for goodness sake. Who knows come a year from now, none of us may be able to even afford to drive out of our neighborhood; much less down to WDW. There are more important things in life.

Respectfully, it worked fine for you either because the vast majority of DVC members at HHI do not yet know about the change, or because DBD was/is not necessary at HHI when you call at the 11 month window, even for the middle of summer.

If DBD wasn't necessary to get a members vacation, then the change has no impact on them (except it forces them to make one call if they were among those who were unnecessarily scared into DBD). Those who called or advocated DBD when it wasn't necessary are at least partly responsible for the change, since MS wants to reduce call volumes.

I think we all know there are more important things in life. I doubt a WDW vacation would even make most members' top 10 of important things in life. It's certainly not on mine. Doesn't mean I don't enjoy discussing items that aren't on that list.

Even though I'm a mod, I either skip or just scan the threads that don't interest me (Don't tell the other mods, LOL). Please keep in mind that every time someone posts, it bumps the thread to the top (where it can remain in the limelight). If you want a thread to die, ignore it!

I'm very pleased to see that even though this is an emotional & controversial topic, the posters here are responding in accordance with DIS guidelines. There hasn't been any name calling, mean or nasty sarcasm or any other type of personal attacks on those with whom they disagree. Good job, people!

 

[pilferk]

And not everyone can call in DBD so that's not fair to THEM...

Both systems have a segment they are unfair too... it's the nature of the beast. This way happens to be unfair to You, and the other way was unfair to THEM...

Lets be clear here:

You "can't" because you choose not to...for whatever good, valid, and personal reason you have.

You have the opportunity to. You have (I assume) a phone. MS is open. They will take your call and give you your room (provided you're toward the front of the line). The reason you can't take the opportunity has nothing to do with the system. The SYSTEM is fair. Life might not be...

With the new system, you simply don't have the opportunity to, based on an event completely out of your control (how many have booked with MS, and for how long, during the preceeding 7 days). In this case, the reason is because the SYSTEM isn't affording you the opportunity. The SYSTEM doesn't appear to be fair. Life still might not be...

I think that's a remarkable point as to the "fairness", here.

 

[pilferk]

Well your allowed to book your vacation anytime you want, you just dont have the ability to book it anytime you want because or work constraints.. Just like not everyone can call DBD. You could waitlist or book at another date, you choose not to.

Except no matter WHEN you book, you have the possibility to run into the same problem...based on nothing short of a fluke spike in demand up to 6 days before your desired check in date. Again, that's the SYSTEM being unfair, not just life being unfair.

I'm OK with life being unfair. I prefer the booking system in my timeshare to remain as fair as possible, with everyone on an even playing field, even if it places increased burden (and thus, dues costs) on that system.

But that's just me. I've made my voice heard to DVC. If "enough" of us feel that way...maybe they'll go back. If not, they won't and I'll move on. But I'll tell you this: We won't attempt travel during the "busy season" if, as has been postulated on this thread, ressies become outrageously cumbersome to get. It just won't be worth it.

I know...no skin off Disney's nose (heck, they may like it....more people during the "slower" seasons). But, if (and I keep making sure I add that caveat) the scenario comes about, it will certainly lessen my satisfaction with the product, and it will certainly make me rethink the future add ons we have planned. And no...that's not a "consumer threat"...I don't expect anyone to care...but it's a matter of fact statement of what my family and I will do.

 

[Laurabearz]

I don't know why you seem so shocked that people intentionally bought into a resort under the old booking rules to use the 11-month window to book hard-to-get villas. That is the whole idea behind the "Buy where you want to stay" advise here on the DIS. I mean ... it's not like she bought at VB expecting to score a concierge 2 BR at the 7-month window.

But to think that one would always get AKV Concierge rooms when there is only 5 of them is not really thinking clearly... even at the 11 month window day by day. Esp over holidays... Anyone who has, is darn lucky. LUCKY.

Now to think yes I will get a studio at AKV, and hopefully maybe I will be able to get Concierge, but to just buy in for Concierge, well... sorry.

 

[mrdiscranky]

Doesn't the ability to 'walk" a reservation with as few as two weekend nights of points give everyone a "fair" shot at a reservation?

As few as? Keep in mind that the folks who bought points for a Sun-Thurs vacation would almost need to double their points to get two weekends.

But the bigger issue is that walking reservations cannot be allowed. If they are, it will bring the whole systems to it's knees - vastly worse than the current system.

 

[robinb]

But to think that one would always get AKV Concierge rooms when there is only 5 of them is not really thinking clearly... even at the 11 month window day by day. Esp over holidays... Anyone who has, is darn lucky. LUCKY.

Now to think yes I will get a studio at AKV, and hopefully maybe I will be able to get Concierge, but to just buy in for Concierge, well... sorry.

Count me in as "lucky". I stayed in a concierge studio between Christmas and New Year's Eve. Count me extra lucky because I had a savanna view.

I don't think it's a matter of "thinking clearly" or not. It's a matter of probabilities. All of us understand that there was never a guarantee of getting a specific room category, even at the 11-month DBD window. However, under the old system you had a fighting chance to get what you wanted for at least a few days so you could take the sunrise safari. I think the chances of getting a concierge room for a couple of days during busy times is greatly diminished under the new rules.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Your joking right Diane... Please tell me you are... Did you really buy those points belieiving that you would get AKV Concierge rooms anytime you wanted them? So if you dont get them next time, it's the new systems fault and not the fact that there are only 5 of them?



Well good for you!

That's not exactly what I said. What I am saying is that if I call at 9 AM on the first day of my 11 month booking window and there are already NO concierge rooms available, it will likely be because they could be booked up by others up to 6 days earlier than my first call. I no longer am on equal ground with other AKV members at that 11 month booking window.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

"Originally Posted by KAT4DISNEY
And the statement I highlighted is outright incorrect."

I should have scrolled down and quoted you. I completely agree and I'll go farther than your polite statement of being outright incorrect...it's an outright lie and they should know it.

Ok - you said what I was actually thinking.

As I've read a few of the positive posts for the new system I've really been wondering how much DBD calling was from confusion that some members really thought you had to all the time and how much that thought was propogated by MS - ie, if that member called in and exactly what they wanted wasn't available and in order for MS to get them off there backs they mentioned that they should have used the system correctly and called DBD.

"Originally Posted by tidefan
MS would never go for this, but:

What if you were allowed to make your reservation of any length beginning on the first day of the month that is 11 months from your check-in date. For example, If you wanted a reservation that begins in March 2010, then you can call on April 1, 2009.

MS probably wouldn't go for this as you would have an avalanche of calls on the first of each month, but you would effectively still allow everyone to call in for a reservation at exactly the same time (there would be monthly carry-overs, but that would probably be negligible), it would allow you to book all of your reservation with one call, and on the whole, would probably reduce the overall amount of calls to MS. They sure would have to overstaff the 1st though... "

I like this idea a lot! That does make it much easier to staff correctly and puts everyone on a fair playing field. It also eliminates trying to figure when your 11mth window opens up.

This is the best idea I've seen tossed out here.

I actually like this idea too - although I think it would be extremely unpractical for MS. They'd have to exponentially increase staff and phone lines for the first few days of the month......then say thanks - enjoy your time off until next month. However, with an online booking system this has some possibility - take for example SWA that releases their fares and schedules on one date thru a certain date. They seem to make it happen.

Then only the mega-owners will be able to "walk" their reservations. I guess that mega-membership does have it's privileges . So much for my 100-point add-on at AKV.

I'm having a very difficult time looking at the add-on contract I'm supposed to sign for AKV. Especially since it tells me I'll have equal availability on a first-come, first served basis 11 months in advance of my check-out date.

Deb & Bill's suggestion that everyone had the ability to call DBD is just wrong. The suggestion that you should get others to make your ressies for you if you can't is totally irresponsible. In today's world, who would give out personal information to someone else so they could make a reservation with Disney?

Adding an Associate member, as Grandpa suggests? Do you really want someone else to have access to your points? Wouldn't it be great to try and make your ressie only to be told that there were no more points available? Don't believe that it couldn't and wouldn't happen.................

I don't think they meant just add a stranger off the street....and you could always call later in the day and double check your reservations and available points while you removed the associate name.

Lets be clear here:

You "can't" because you choose not to...for whatever good, valid, and personal reason you have.

You have the opportunity to. You have (I assume) a phone. MS is open. They will take your call and give you your room (provided you're toward the front of the line). The reason you can't take the opportunity has nothing to do with the system. The SYSTEM is fair. Life might not be...

With the new system, you simply don't have the opportunity to, based on an event completely out of your control (how many have booked with MS, and for how long, during the preceeding 7 days). In this case, the reason is because the SYSTEM isn't affording you the opportunity. The SYSTEM doesn't appear to be fair. Life still might not be...

I think that's a remarkable point as to the "fairness", here.

Well said. Now, as far as life being fair related to DVC....it's not necessarily fair that we west coast people need to be up by 6 am to call and get a reservation during a busy DVC time.....but I considered the system to be fair. Or, for example I fly a lot.....you can't call from planes. But that's my own situation and really doesn't have anything to do with the system being fair. In fact if you look at the numbers it will be even less fair under the new system if I end up being unavailable to call on my first day. Then I'll be competing with all the people who could call 8 or more days before me instead of just 1.

Now, what I'm REALLY looking forward to is offering to take sister and BIL to WDW, going to book a room and then calling her back to say that "when I bought I had an equal opportunity to book the HA room that you require, but now Disney allows people who arrive earlier than us to reserve all the rooms, and they aren't setting aside any special rooms. I'm told the HA rooms are filled with people who don't even want them but we can try again next year when you have the time to go again." Talk about a person who knows life isn't fair and will accept and deal with it, but it seems to me as being most unfair of all. And yes....this was a factor when I bought DVC b/c I know that in general they are a good vacation spot for people with mobility issues, it's a place my sister enjoys and I'm going to try and make that happen. I just hope she never has a dream of early Dec. at VWL or Christmas, or NYE, or Easter, or summer at HHI because the odds of getting those ressies for HA have dropped significantly. And then, even though a system existed that really made it possible for these I guess I'm supposed to tell her that the change should have been expected and that life isn't fair......and I'll leave off some of the rest that has been said. I guess the better part is that we're so new I haven't had the chance to invite her yet so I can steer her towards more reasonable times. Yep - fair.

 

[bookwormde]

Cannot help it I am a numbers person.

This thread is by a factor of 3 the highest reply thread under DVC planning (and has
almost 2x as many views).

Under the whole DVC section it is in the top 10 for replies and all of those are multi-month if not multi-year threads like ROFR and DVC resort threads.

In a related area, since DIS members tend to be the quickest and best informed about DVC issues, do you think as the rest of the members become more informed and practiced with the new system that they will come to the same conclusions, at the same percentages (about 80-90% unhappy) as we have or are we just weird.

bookwormde

 

[jdg345]

Deb & Bill's suggestion that everyone had the ability to call DBD is just wrong. The suggestion that you should get others to make your ressies for you if you can't is totally irresponsible. In today's world, who would give out personal information to someone else so they could make a reservation with Disney?

Adding an Associate member, as Grandpa suggests? Do you really want someone else to have access to your points? Wouldn't it be great to try and make your ressie only to be told that there were no more points available? Don't believe that it couldn't and wouldn't happen.

Cell phones? That's a great idea, except mine isn't allowed in the building where I work. We are searched going in. Cell phones not allowed. Even if they were allowed, how many would be happy if their child came home and told them that the teacher stopped class at 8:55 so she could make her vacation ressies at Disney?

Just because those of you who have been using DBD are angry because you no longer have advantage over everyone else, doesn't mean the rest of us are. Many of us see this change as finally putting everyone on equal footing with regard to making ressies for their vacation, regardless of when we travel. No one, whatever their reason, has a leg up. You call and you either get or not get and waitlist.

It may have seemed more fair if you had to wait until 11 & 7 months before checkout, but I don't see the big difference there.

Welcome to the real world, where you don't get everything you want, every time you want it, even if you've bought a DVC.

That's just it ... people are still going to book DBD ... they're just going to do it a week before you can now. If you thought getting your reservations before was hard, imagine what it is going to be like now? In your case, you can't call until late in the afternoon anyways, so what do you think your real chances are considering you're now not just giving up the morning, but also the 7 full days prior to it?

This is exactly what I was referring to earlier: Just because you chose not to book DBD, you are relieved that others cannot do it either. You don't add just any Associate, you add someone you can trust, so suggesting your points would disappear seems like a strange rationale.

Those that work the system will continue to get exactly what they want ... DVC just made it messier, and more complex, but if you think it's going to make it easier for you to get your vacation during busy times, I don't know what to tell you.

I just don't understand why you were so upset that someone might book DBD in the few hours of the morning before you had a chance, but find it okay that now multiple people can book more than 7 days before you have a chance to do so.

Many have said that if they end up not getting their first day, they'll just book somewhere else or change their trip dates. Both of these were options under the old system as well. The truth is, imo, that these people feel that they have a better chance of getting their reservations now than they did before and/or maybe they are just glad that they feel others cannot book DBD because they personally chose not to -- which, imo, is quite spiteful.

Oh, and you can rest assured that I live in the real world, and I will pretty much still get all the reservations I want when I want them. That doesn't mean that this change was right and fair, imo. Especially since DVC tells everyone to buy where they want to stay -- and people have done that with small contracts at BCV and BWV for NYE to find out now that they may have no chance of getting those nights.

 

[jdg345]

Why would the fix prevent people from adding days? There are quite a few people that like to take one long vacation instead of multiple short ones. I think the only "fix" would be to stop people from dropping the begining and adding to the end. I like the idea of a 14 day hold so that the only ones that would able to "walk" a reservation would be those that could hold out all of their bookings for those 14 days with enough points to do it all. I think even a month is a reasonable time to prevent people from changing their initial reservation wihtout havign to rebook. There is nothing you find out within that first month that you HAVE TO change the days right away. This would only apply to direct 11/7 window.

Also I don't see anywhere in the rules on where we can waitlist for a resort different than our home during the 11-8 month advantage. you can do it at 7 months but I'm sure not before.

Actually, booking at 11 months, within a few weeks some airlines will let you book. So there are situation where you may want to change your days around in that first month or even the first few weeks.

But, by all means, let's keep fixing and tweaking something that wasn't broken to begin with.