Raise Your Voice: Guaranteed Booking Categories at SSR

[cobbler]

I was just thinking about this thread last night. Glad it was bumped up.

Well *** I know is if we keep sending emails they may start to take it seriously.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

I hope we can get this on the agenda at the owner's meeting. I asked if it could be placed on the agenda and they sent a lengthy response in which they artfully avoided answering my question directly- but the main idea seemed to be that if enough people ask, then they will address this at the meeting. So hooray- I got an actual reply - not a form response!

 

[Teyedoubleguhrrrr]

OK - here is what I sent to DVC:

Our family purchased DVC points at Saratoga Springs Resort this past March. DVC has been a dream of my husband and mine since we first took the tour in 1994 at Old Key West. We are finally at a point in our lives where it is an option.

In considering resorts, we did look carefully. We live in upstate New York near Saratoga, and thought our Disney "Home" should reflect some of our lives now. The idea of little Saratoga done up Disney style and with its close location to Downtown Disney appealed to us, and greatly influenced our decision to buy.

We have made our first set of reservations for next April already and are looking forward to our trip. One of the things that does bother us, however, about Saratoga Springs, is that since it is such a large resort, you can get greatly different experiences within it. While this is not a negative per se, the fact that as member-owners at Saratoga Springs we get no advantage as to selecting the type of experience we would want for our family certainly
is.

We booked our April vacation day-by-day at the 11 month mark and have put in a request for a particular section/view. However, we could be usurped in our request by members who own at a different resort or even a cash reservation booked through Central Reservations simply
because they arrive at the resort sooner than us during the day. To us, this is unfair to us as owners, and gives us little value to having Saratoga as our home resort.

With very little effort, we feel that booking categories similar to ones that currently exist at Boardwalk Villas and Animal Kingdom Villas could be created for Saratoga Springs. It is a perk of having home ownership in these particular resorts so that you can have the type of resort
experience you would like. Categories such as these would allow Saratoga owners like ourselves who wish to have some input as to the type of experience we would like earlier in the process and add value to our ownership.

Please know that we are not suggesting that these categories affect the point structure at all. Several sub-categories exist that have the same point values per night at both Animal Kingdom and Boardwalk - for instance Boardwalk has preferred view with subcategories for Garden/Pool view or Boardwalk view with the same point values. Having these subcategories at Saratoga would allow all guests to understand exactly where they would be staying with some better certainty - at least which neighborhood or view. It also would allow us who own at Saratoga to have a better chance of actually receiving the areas or views that we would normally request in our reservation with less chance of disappointment.

We are so happy with our DVC purchase, and plan to enjoy it for many years to come. We feel that with a small change such as this, owning at Saratoga would be just that much better.

Sincerely, Jennifer and Marshall

And then this is the reply I got:

Hello Jennifer and Marshall,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Disney Vacation Club.

I appreciate your taking the time to share your thoughts and ideas with
us. The feedback we receive from our Members is very important to us as it lets us know what we are doing right and what we can do better. As
we strive to improve the benefits and services we provide to our
Members, we are constantly evaluating our operation. You may be assured your input will be taken seriously.

Thank you again for writing. We are glad you are a part of our Disney
Vacation Club family.


Looks like a stock answer, but they at least responded.

 

[yitbos96bb]

OK, Mods have discussed it, based on previous info from Pete.

The discussion of DVC policy is, of course, allowed. And people are certainly free to contact Disney/DVC with their thoughts, but petitions are against board policy.

Thanks again for your patience, and your co-operation.

What do you mean Petitions are against DVC Board Policy? Are you talking Dis policy? If so Why? This used to be a mellow site, you could post links to things and do other stuff... lately it seems like its getting bad as another site that starts with an I and incorporates part of a theme park name into their name... That site has been ruined by stupid policies like this that serve no purpose.... On there you can't post a link to another site; I mean seriously why would anyone institute a ridiculously stupid rule like that... It's as if the people running that site have little understanding on effective internet policies and when they have said policies feel it is beneath them to explain the reasoning to the users.

I'm starting to see a lot of that happening here and as it does with the other site, it makes the site less fun to use. The evolution of the internet is user generated content and user defined communities. Constant censorship destroys this notion and ultimately will leave those sites that don't adapt ultimately irrelevent.

I don't expect my post to make a difference in poor site policy, but I would like to know the rationale behind it. It makes little sense as it doesn't hurt Dis nor does it imply Dis's endorsement of said petition.

Al least explain the reasoning...

 

[minnie61650]

 

[Mischa]

No offense but I really hope they don't charge extra points just because of a view. That is MY opinion. I think DVC members should get first choice about a view - that I agree with. (and I'm not talking about making a last minute reservation and requesting a choice view - with last minute reservations you get whatever you can get...DVC member or not); but if you've made your reservation months ahead of time then a member should get priority view). But I'm not willing to pay extra points - that's not fair.

Again...just my opinion.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

But I'm not willing to pay extra points - that's not fair.

I don't want the points charts monkeyed with either. I do want to be able to book my desired location, based on availability at time of booking.

 

[Mischa]

I don't want the points charts monkeyed with either. I do want to be able to book my desired location, based on availability at time of booking.

I agree with that!

 

[cobbler]

Check this thread out

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1559379

Either a look at things to come, or they have confused all our requests for OKW instead

 

[Sammie]

I don't want the points charts monkeyed with either. I do want to be able to book my desired location, based on availability at time of booking.

Problem with Disney sometimes you get what you want, along with what you "dont" want.

 

[Amy5000]

Check this thread out

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1559379

Either a look at things to come, or they have confused all our requests for OKW instead

Hmmm...maybe this is a ploy to make OKW more marketable. There is already a rumor floating around that DVC will extend OKW points to 2057 so they can extend their OKW points and have something new to sell. Since they are pretty close to selling out SSR, they probably won't institute new booking categories for SSR despite the member preferences...

 

[cobbler]

Ok, I think it is time to generate another round of emails / letters and whatever. With the new booking catergory at OKW, they certainly can do it at SSR.

So lets send them another round.

 

[mello]

What's the deal on the new categories at OKW? I've been absent for a bit - sounds like I missed that memo lol.

 

[tjkraz]

What's the deal on the new categories at OKW? I've been absent for a bit - sounds like I missed that memo lol.

Rumor has it the next issue of Vacation Magic will announce a new booking category at OKW that will guarantee a room close to the Hospitality House. So, people making reservations at OKW will either book the "Close to HH" category or the "Far from HH" category, pending availability of course.

Given that rather broad approach, it would be nice to get at least a couple of added categories at SSR--maybe a "DTD View" and a "Close to the Carriage House" which would include The Springs and The Grandstand.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Ok, I think it is time to generate another round of emails / letters and whatever. With the new booking catergory at OKW, they certainly can do it at SSR.

So lets send them another round.

I agree- but I will wait until the news is official.
tjkraz- I think you are right on with your category suggestions- close to carriage house and dtd view would be all they would need to do to add tremendous value to SSR ownership.

 

[RLRDA]

I just sent an e-mail to the link in the OP. We just came back from our first trip to SSR. After seeing all the different sections, etc. I'm all for guarateed bookings at SSR! We stayed in the Grandstand section.....would stay there again in a heartbeat.

I also am not up to speed on the OKW bookings? Are they now specific/guaranteed?

 

[tjkraz]

I also am not up to speed on the OKW bookings? Are they now specific/guaranteed?

Rumor is DVC will soon announce a category at OKW to guarantee a room "close to the Hospitality House." That will give them at least two separate categories for either close to or far from the HH. Points per night will be the same for each category, it's just that people will know at the time of the booking whether their room is in a group nearby the HH or if it will be further away.

That's basically what we are asking for at SSR.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

I just sent an e-mail to the link in the OP. We just came back from our first trip to SSR. After seeing all the different sections, etc. I'm all for guarateed bookings at SSR! We stayed in the Grandstand section.....would stay there again in a heartbeat.

I also am not up to speed on the OKW bookings? Are they now specific/guaranteed?

They are adding 1 guar. category to OKW- all rooms in that category will be convenient to the Hospitality House. I think it is going to be great for OKW owners. Let's hope they follow suit with SSR!!!

 

[tjkraz]

Following is the message I have sent to DVC regarding the SSR room categories.

A few months ago I sent a message to DVC suggesting that several different room categories be created at Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. The response I received indicated that there was no plans for such a change, however DVC is “constantly evaluating our operation” and that my input “will be taken seriously.”

Needless to say I was thrilled to read in the new issue of Vacation Magic that DVC is creating a separate category at Old Key West resort which will include rooms that are close to the Hospitality House. Kudos on making such a change which can only serve to improve member satisfaction.

Being the largest DVC resort, it seems only appropriate to extend similar courtesy to the thousands of owners at Saratoga Springs as well. At the very least Saratoga Springs owners should be given the first opportunity to book a room with an attractive view of Downtown Disney or a room near the resort’s Carriage House, without having to rely on mere “requests” listed on the reservation.

When can we expect to hear of similar booking categories being introduced at Saratoga Springs?

Best Regards,

I hope everyone who supports this move will send a message, even if you have sent something in the past. It doesn't have to be anything eloquent...a couple of sentences from as many members as possible will help keep this topic alive.

DVC has just announced changes at OKW. The door is open...let's help them take the next step thru!

Email address is: DVCMemberSatisfactionTeam@disneyvacationclub.com

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Disney Vacation Club
Member Satisfaction
200 Celebration Place, 4th Floor
Celebration, FL 34747

Great letter tjkraz- I thought I would post the snail mail address here. I am going to send my follow up the old fashioned way.