Question about reservations/view requests

[jenningspaige]

Hi everyone,

I am a huge Disney fan, live in CA, and am seriously considering buying into DVC. We own another timeshare in Las Vegas, and I think our budget can't handle a whole lot more for vacationing. I have researched prices pretty thoroughly and it looks like the value rooms at Animal Kingdom Villas are the cheapest way to get in and have a good time. For the minimum buy-in of 160 points, we can afford to go every year in a one bedroom for a whole week, and possibly more if we go at certain times of the year.

So here's my question:

I've heard (on this board) that 50% of the value rooms at AKV actually have views of the Savannah. My plan is to buy there so I can book at exactly 11 months out, for either Christmas or Thanksgiving, every year. From what I've read it seems the chances of getting that if I stay right on top of the reservations is totally doable. Now, for the record, I don't care all that much about the Savannah view or no savannah view. I'm not the hugest fan of animals, and I'm sure we'll see plenty of them visiting the parks and walking around the resort and such. The view type will not make or break my vacation by any means. However, my daughter (not even 2 years old yet) is a complete animal freak. I think she would LOVE to see real live animals that close, and we'd probably have to tether her to the hotel to keep from climbing over the balcony to see them better. I just think it would be so nice to get a savannah view sometimes, for her sake.

I asked my DVC rep if I were to book a value 1 bedroom unit and requested a savannah view, what would my chances be of getting it? He said virtually 100%, that Disney does a great job of filling requests and not a lot of people book that far out, even for popular weeks. Sounds great! But...

I've now read about many accounts where people say they are getting requests filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, whereby the people checking in in the mornings are getting their requests filled, and the people checking in in the evenings are not, especially when it's very busy.

I actually find it hard to believe that an owner who requested a view type 11 months prior would lose their request to a person who may have made the reservation the month before, and the owner would lose the better view room to the new person, just because they checked in first??? That just doesn't seem right to me. Doesn't Disney give SOME priority to either owners vs. non-owners, or at least to those who've had the reservations the longest?

If anyone has personal experience with this, I'd love to hear about it. Thank you!!


Btw, the answer to this won't change our decision to buy or not. I'm really just curious and would like to get a real-world answer to the way Disney handles this.

 

[luvindisneyworld]

Well,I cannot see why he would tell you that.They cannot tell you that and be telling the truth.I can speak from experience that you dont always get what you ask for.So please dont buy in on just what he is telling you.If you want to be gauranteed a savannah view then book it to be sure you get what you want.Thats the only way thats 100% to get you what you want.So mayb instead of satying 7 nights in a standard stay 5 or 6 in a Savannah View.

Hi everyone,

I am a huge Disney fan, live in CA, and am seriously considering buying into DVC. We own another timeshare in Las Vegas, and I think our budget can't handle a whole lot more for vacationing. I have researched prices pretty thoroughly and it looks like the value rooms at Animal Kingdom Villas are the cheapest way to get in and have a good time. For the minimum buy-in of 160 points, we can afford to go every year in a one bedroom for a whole week, and possibly more if we go at certain times of the year.

So here's my question:

I've heard (on this board) that 50% of the value rooms at AKV actually have views of the Savannah. My plan is to buy there so I can book at exactly 11 months out, for either Christmas or Thanksgiving, every year. From what I've read it seems the chances of getting that if I stay right on top of the reservations is totally doable. Now, for the record, I don't care all that much about the Savannah view or no savannah view. I'm not the hugest fan of animals, and I'm sure we'll see plenty of them visiting the parks and walking around the resort and such. The view type will not make or break my vacation by any means. However, my daughter (not even 2 years old yet) is a complete animal freak. I think she would LOVE to see real live animals that close, and we'd probably have to tether her to the hotel to keep from climbing over the balcony to see them better. I just think it would be so nice to get a savannah view sometimes, for her sake.

I asked my DVC rep if I were to book a value 1 bedroom unit and requested a savannah view, what would my chances be of getting it? He said virtually 100%, that Disney does a great job of filling requests and not a lot of people book that far out, even for popular weeks. Sounds great! But...

I've now read about many accounts where people say they are getting requests filled on a first-come, first-serve basis, whereby the people checking in in the mornings are getting their requests filled, and the people checking in in the evenings are not, especially when it's very busy.

I actually find it hard to believe that an owner who requested a view type 11 months prior would lose their request to a person who may have made the reservation the month before, and the owner would lose the better view room to the new person, just because they checked in first??? That just doesn't seem right to me. Doesn't Disney give SOME priority to either owners vs. non-owners, or at least to those who've had the reservations the longest?

If anyone has personal experience with this, I'd love to hear about it. Thank you!!


Btw, the answer to this won't change our decision to buy or not. I'm really just curious and would like to get a real-world answer to the way Disney handles this.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Whenever a guide tells you that even though..., you are guaranteed.... Well, it's time to get a new guide. Legally, all they can tell you is what is written in the Public Offering Statement and other documents related to your purchase. When you have guides who tell their owners that they can fit five in a studio, no problem, or you can use those Developer points to make home resort reservations at 11 months, etc., undoubtedly, the new member is going to be angry when they find out the truth.

If it isn't in the literature, don't buy based on what someone tells you. If you realize you are prepurchasing vacations for the next 35+ years, that's about all you are guaranteed for the next 35+ years.

 

[CarolMN]

...(snip)....I asked my DVC rep if I were to book a value 1 bedroom unit and requested a savannah view, what would my chances be of getting it? He said virtually 100%, that Disney does a great job of filling requests and not a lot of people book that far out, even for popular weeks. Sounds great! But.......

This is not true for DVC. Tell your guide that your internet friends beg to differ. Ask him if he will put this in writing (and then see him squirm)!

For real estate purchases, the only thing that matters is what is in the contract - things that the sales people tell you (like "virtually 100%") are not enforceable.

FWIW, there are many public viewing areas around the resort. Not as convenient as your balcony of course, but you & your little one wouldn't have far to go to get to one. And maybe that's a good thing - wouldn't it be hard to take a nap or go to sleep on time (even if you aren't 2 years old) knowing those giraffes are right outside?

 

[jenningspaige]

Wow! That makes me sad. I would think Disney would give higher priority to either owners, or else people who've held the reservation requests longer. Doing it simply based on check in seems a little....I dunno....unfair I guess. But, on the other hand, this isn't a deciding factor for us, just curious.

Can you ask for a new rep? I don't like being lied to when spending this kind of money.

Carol, you make an excellent point Maybe a regular room would be better!

 

[CarolMN]

Wow! That makes me sad. I would think Disney would give higher priority to either owners, or else people who've held the reservation requests longer. Doing it simply based on check in seems a little....I dunno....unfair I guess. But, on the other hand, this isn't a deciding factor for us, just curious........(snip).....

DVC used to preassign most rooms based on the date the reservation was made. This was changed becasue it seems most people wanted a room as soon as they arrive. Thus, DVC resorts started using "room ready" for assigning rooms. Basically, that means you will be offered a clean room when you arrive (if available). It may or may not meet any of your requests and you may or may not be offered a choice. I suspect the Front Desk CMs simply got tired of rude people demanding (and probably not always very politely) a room right now and "room ready" was easier than dealing with them. Having personally heard one woman loudly ragging on a poor CM due to not getting the view she wanted, I can understand why some CMs do not much care for DVC members. She was just awful! (And that time even the Supervisor didn't give in, but I think it was because he couldn't, lol).

Anyway, DVC Resorts using "room ready" still preassign some rooms and in my experience not all resorts use "room ready" or at least not all the time. In my experience, BWV seems to preassign - at least during the times I have stayed there. Sounds like OKW & SSR mostly use "room ready".

 

[jenningspaige]

Carol...that's interesting, and I am starting to understand it a little better now...

So...if you arrive and find out the type of room you requested isn't ready, can you ask if there are any that are going to be available that day, that you can check in later and get? Will they do that for you?

 

[larrytau]

Anyway, DVC Resorts using "room ready" still preassign some rooms and in my experience not all resorts use "room ready" or at least not all the time. In my experience, BWV seems to preassign - at least during the times I have stayed there. Sounds like OKW & SSR mostly use "room ready".

I would agree with Carol. We have arrived early on two different occasions at SSR, and were offered rooms that were ready, but did not meet our request. We took the ready room both times, and it seemed like the CMs were actually "relieved" that we said yes!! The second one said, "oh, you are so nice, thank you very much..." That's when I brought out my DVC bag so that they would know that some of DVCers are actually nice!!

The second time I probably should have stuck to my request of "view of Downtown Disney". We did get a nice studio with a view of one of the bus stops, the fire station, and the Wyndam Hotel. And we had a room at 1PM! I like checking in at 1PM!

To answer jenning, they did offer to let us wait and see what other rooms would become available. On the second visit, the CM let me look at other studios that were available at the time. They said we could walk around or go swimming, and come back in xx minutes and recheck. They seemed very flexible.

 

[Dean]

Still, if you reserve a value room, request a savannah view and don't arrive too late, you should have an excellent chance most trips since the value rooms are actually somewhat more than half of that unit type and not everyone will have that request. I would agree that DVC currently does a poor job of unit assignments in this regard. It does sound like you are your guide are not quite on the same page.

 

[dis-happy]

Your other option is to buy enough points to get a guaranteed savannah room for your trips. Will probably be worth it to you in the end anyway if you decide to stay (or need to stay due to later booking) at other DVC resorts. Most of us really enjoy checking out what else is out there---the great pool at BCV, walking to Epcot/MGM at BWV, the wonderful atmosphere at VWL, etc. With some exceptions, all of those places have points that are more in line with the Sav. View at AKL.