Newbie to DVC: why the upset about the new booking method?

[marshmallow]

We just purchased at SSR but I have been employed in the Vacation Ownership industry for 18 yrs... not with Disney

Is it true that you had to call daily to book one day at a time for reservations? How crazy and inconvenient is that? My goodness the administrative costs must have been outrageous. How much were the POA's charged for that kind of overhead?

So if you started calling on day 1 of a 7 day stay and on the third day there was no availability what happened? Am I misunderstanding how that worked?


The new method of being able to call and book up to the departure date is totally normal to my experience.

I do not understand how the old system could have even worked. Please explain.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

We just purchased at SSR but I have been employed in the Vacation Ownership industry for 18 yrs... not with Disney

Is it true that you had to call daily to book one day at a time for reservations? How crazy and inconvenient is that? My goodness the administrative costs must have been outrageous. How much were the POA's charged for that kind of overhead?

So if you started calling on day 1 of a 7 day stay and on the third day there was no availability what happened? Am I misunderstanding how that worked?


The new method of being able to call and book up to the departure date is totally normal to my experience.

I do not understand how the old system could have even worked. Please explain.

Previously you could book your full stay from your check out date, but they did allow you to book daily from the 11 month day following your first night should you choose to do so. This was pretty much only needed if you wanted to secure some of the least available room inventory such as BWV standard view, AKV concierge level or busy holidays such as Xmas and NYE etc.

So no, you did not have to call daily but you did have the opportunity to do so should you have something special you definitely wanted to secure. This is why many people are upset - b/c they no longer have as much control over getting their accomodations.

That's the short story......

I'm a newbie too but I completely get what the uproar is about and agree with it due to the way Disney has marketed and sold itself to members. And, my first reservation I completed with one call - not day by day and that was under the old system and at 6 months.

 

[marshmallow]

okay, that makes sense. It was not the general practice but for high demand time. If I had to call in every day for a regular reservation then I would have flipped.

We have one resort on the ocean that opens the inventory for the summer season on one particular day of the year. Owners will camp outside all night to be early in line and oh the meetings and rules that accompany that one day a year.

But my guess is DVC probably did change because of the high administrative costs.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Yep - that sounds like it was similar. The funny thing to me is that the computer system was already set up for it and had been operated that way since the beginning. Also DVC just recently went to being open from 6 days to 7 days so in that regard they didn't seem to be cutting back. But besides the rules change people are also upset that there wasn't any warning about it. People just were calling in to reserve one morning and learned of the change.

Now I think some would find it interesting if owners started camping outside the DVC headquarters to book their NYE reservations!

 

[bookwormde]

For booking SSR at 11 months I do not think the new policy will have any effect on you (except maybe at Christmas/New Years)

If you are trying to book into a high demand resort/time/room at 7 months then it may have an impact.

Here is the link to the full discussion

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1861954


bookwormde

 

[mrdiscranky]

But my guess is DVC probably did change because of the high administrative costs.

I'm not sure we are going to see cost savings from the change. Under the old system, most people booked with one call. For high demand times, they made multiple calls.

Under the new system, most people will book with one call. For high demand times, they will use multiple calls, walking reservations, etc.

 

[CarolA]

Since you are new there is one thing to remember.

Any change DVC makes will be greeted on the DIS boards with outcrys of horror.

I have NEVER seen a change on here that folks didn't complain about. Just the nature of message boards. Take it with a grain of salt. Or do I like I do and don't even open the therads LOL!

 

[marshmallow]

We owners will not see cost savings but the POA management entity will. It may allow them to reduce the work force, overtime, redistribute hours....

 

[hakepb]

I think DVC was looking at the upcomming opening of essentially 4 new resorts (AKV Kidani, BLT, GCV? and Hawaii) and looked at how they could add those rooms without increasing MS staff.

 

[mrdiscranky]

I have NEVER seen a change on here that folks didn't complain about. Just the nature of message boards. Take it with a grain of salt. Or do I like I do and don't even open the therads LOL!

I'd suggest reading at least the start of the thread and deciding for yourself if folks are complaing because they don't like change, or because they have a legitimate beef.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

We just purchased at SSR but I have been employed in the Vacation Ownership industry for 18 yrs... not with Disney

Is it true that you had to call daily to book one day at a time for reservations? How crazy and inconvenient is that? My goodness the administrative costs must have been outrageous. How much were the POA's charged for that kind of overhead?

So if you started calling on day 1 of a 7 day stay and on the third day there was no availability what happened? Am I misunderstanding how that worked?


The new method of being able to call and book up to the departure date is totally normal to my experience.

I do not understand how the old system could have even worked. Please explain.

Please read the long thread (or skim over it) to understand why this is indeed a big deal.
IMO, it's enough of a big deal to possibly sell some points, or at least not add on at GCV. That's because some of our planned shorter stays at VB in a cottage may be doomed, as well as our planned shorter stays at GCV.

MG

 

[El&Asmom]

As an SSR owner it makes no difference to me. There are basically no dates that I would have to call at 11m out to assure my vacation. It may slightly affect me if trying to change to a new resort at 7 months, but I should always have a room.
I'm sure the people who are upset are the ones that own at resorts where coveted rooms are booked at 9a at the exact 11 month window. Their point is well taken. Many of them bought extra points specifically to get those rooms on those particular dates.

 

[chalee94]

So if you started calling on day 1 of a 7 day stay and on the third day there was no availability what happened? Am I misunderstanding how that worked?

kinda.

if you called on the 3rd day to reserve (say) a concierge studio at AKV and they were already booked up, you'd likely at least still be very early on the wait list. the nice thing was, though, that everyone was equal...the 1000 pt owners were calling to compete with the 100 pt owners...

OTOH, if you called up on day 7, you'd likely have to waitlist even more nights. if day 3 was booked up 4 days earlier, you'd be that much farther down the waitlist for day 3...potentially more than a dozen names back. days 1 and 2 would also be more likely to require waitlisting on day 7 than if you called day-by-day. depending on circumstances, you might have several days worth of holes in the middle of your reservation.

now the big owners (maybe) can take all the prime time they want before smaller owners can start booking. great news if you have a huge contract, but a (sudden/surprise) new rule that changes how smaller owners manage their contracts. it's not likely to affect most people in most situations, but it's still unnerving if you expect professionalism from DVC management.

(edited to add: i've never booked day-by-day and don't expect the new rules to hugely affect SSR and OKW...we'll see.)

 

[Chuck S]

A reminder that we are limiting all discussion of the booking policy and waitlist changes to this thread:

New policy for reservations based on check IN date

You may continue the discussion there, if you wish.

Thanks.