Poly parking while trying to add on

[southerngirl528]

Sorry to hear you had these issues, Freediverdude. I live very close to WDW and we often patronize restaurants at the resorts when we are not staying on property and sometimes I just want to go to a shop or two at a specific resort. I have always just had my photo I.D. ready and told them exactly what I was going and I have not once had issues. Weird that you did. If you had an appointment to meet with a guide to add-on, perhaps if you had asked the guard to call the DVC office there and verify?

I have a more basic question, the answer to which may affect the original question: Does the Poly have a DVC sales office where the sale can actually be done and completed or is it instead necessary to go to the SSR sales office?

I noticed there is a sales office directly across from the kiosk at the Poly.

And it absolutely IS possible to buy or add-on purchase at any of the DVC sales offices on WDW property. The only one I can think of that MIGHT not be able to 7 days/week would be the BW location. Not only are there guides but they have QA managers which are the folks that prepare your docs and sit down with you to go over them while you sign.

ASA's don't have anything to do with the actual appointments. Their job is simply to get people to book appointments and set it up. As for the DVC "office" in the Poly lobby, that is just a temporary extension of the Moorea sales office as they sometimes have a guide meeting folks for their appointment times there. I have several friends/acquaintances that are guides and ASA's and last time I was at the Poly I saw that "office" mentioned across from the DVC ASA kiosk.

 

[freediverdude]

Thanks! My niece is going to UT in the fall and my DDs are looking there as well. That's why the inlaws will be down there when we are (niece's parents weekend at UT is that weekend and then they are bringing her over on Sat to do F&W with us). You are lucky to be able to get FL resident APs...if my DDs go to UT maybe they can too. Again, congrats on the Poly...nice add on!

Thank you! Yes, I'm not sure I would be able to afford a full price platinum pass every year without the Florida resident discount and monthly payment option. It makes it a lot more accessible for residents. And we have the option of the passes with the blackout dates too. DVC members do get access to the gold passes like the residents do. If your DDs go to school full time here in Florida, they can easily get a Florida ID at the DMV and get FL resident discounts (and keep the drivers license in your original state for a while if they want to, although might be just as easy to switch that over instead).

 

[Snurk71]

Done this more than once:

"Sure, I'll valet park..."

Drive through the front and right on through to the parking lot on the other side.

Guard might check to see that you drive up front be he ain't gonna pay attention to what you do after.

We kind of did this on our last trip. We were staying at VGF, had ADR at O'hana, aND had plans at either epcot or MGM after. So we drove over, gate person checked our ADR, told us the lot was full and only valet was available. We didn't have time to drive back and walk over, so I thought fine - I'll valet. As we were driving forward DW notices there are several open parking spots available. So I turn into the self parking and get my own spot.

And for the record - as someone that usually stays VGF, BLT, or BCV - I'm very sensitive to people taking parking spots for going to a park. I'm amazed at how the lots look at night when we come back vs the next morning when we're leaving.

 

[freediverdude]

Done this more than once:

"Sure, I'll valet park..."

Drive through the front and right on through to the parking lot on the other side.

Guard might check to see that you drive up front be he ain't gonna pay attention to what you do after.

This, while not what Disney would advise, is probably good advice, and if I had been a little more savvy instead of taken aback by the guard's response, I should have done this. What the guards don't know won't hurt them, right, lol, especially when they were mistaken/didn't understand like in this case.

 

[freediverdude]

Sorry to hear you had these issues, Freediverdude. I live very close to WDW and we often patronize restaurants at the resorts when we are not staying on property and sometimes I just want to go to a shop or two at a specific resort. I have always just had my photo I.D. ready and told them exactly what I was going and I have not once had issues. Weird that you did. If you had an appointment to meet with a guide to add-on, perhaps if you had asked the guard to call the DVC office there and verify?





And it absolutely IS possible to buy or add-on purchase at any of the DVC sales offices on WDW property. The only one I can think of that MIGHT not be able to 7 days/week would be the BW location. Not only are there guides but they have QA managers which are the folks that prepare your docs and sit down with you to go over them while you sign.

ASA's don't have anything to do with the actual appointments. Their job is simply to get people to book appointments and set it up. As for the DVC "office" in the Poly lobby, that is just a temporary extension of the Moorea sales office as they sometimes have a guide meeting folks for their appointment times there. I have several friends/acquaintances that are guides and ASA's and last time I was at the Poly I saw that "office" mentioned across from the DVC ASA kiosk.

You're right, I didn't have an appointment, but then again I didn't have one for my original purchase either, and they get lots of walk ups from the kiosks, so I wasn't aware that an appointment was required, unless you wanted to talk to a specific guide or something. The people at the kiosk were even telling people to just come back between 2 and 4 every day to tour the bungalows and talk to someone.

I think the answer to this is, they need to inform the security at the resorts that have sales offices, that if someone pulls up to the gate inquiring about a DVC membership, that they should be allowed to park even if the lot is fairly full, and to call DVC while the guest is at the guard shack and let the office there know the person is coming in and their name. That would have been the appropriate way to handle this situation by the guard.

Instead, after I explained that I was there to purchase a DVC in the DVC offices, the guard just thought I was making up a story to get in and said something to the effect "well my lot is pretty full, but we have valet for $25", and then when I said I didn't want valet, does that mean I have to go park in the MK lot" he said "thank you" like that was the end of the convo and motioned to me where to go to exit. So the guard was either ignorant or having a bad day.

 

[southerngirl528]

I think the answer to this is, they need to inform the security at the resorts that have sales offices, that if someone pulls up to the gate inquiring about a DVC membership, that they should be allowed to park even if the lot is fairly full, and to call DVC while the guest is at the guard shack and let the office there know the person is coming in and their name. That would have been the appropriate way to handle this situation by the guard.

I absolutely agree. It must not be the guard I have run into there a couple of times. I have driven over a number of times including since the DVC sales office opened, and just wanted to either shop or grab some sushi. In your instance I would have been ticked with a suggestion to park in the MK parking lot. Seriously? Not good...

As far as no appointment, the small satellite DVC sales offices do book up where a guide would not be available for you. The folks that work the DVC kiosks have been known to say about anything to get a tour booked. There's some great ones no doubt, but you have to remember they get paid for tours they book. If you're like me and want to get down to business and not have to wait around, I would always book an appointment. One could either call their own guide and set up a convenient time/location in advance, or call DVC and ask to be transferred to the queue where they can set you up.

The model tours the ASA told you about are just that, model tours for DVC Members only (and if they have guests of course) and when I recently did one of these tours they were indeed from 2-4pm, on the half hour. If a member in the group wanted to sit down with a guide to add on of course they would see if someone was available but for me, I want a set appointment so I don't have to wait. So sorry you were treated so badly.

 

[freediverdude]

Thank you for your sympathies. I don't know if an appointment would have protected me from this instance or not, as I don't know if I had made an appointment and had tried to insist that the guard call that person, if he would have known how to call if I didn't happen to have the number at the ready or if that would have made a difference. If he truly didn't know about DVC sales offices inside, it may not have made a difference, lol.