Reduced availability due to cash bookings?

[twinklebug]

As a potential DVC member, I'd like to ask about the reservations policy Disney uses for booking the DVC units (cash reservations) and how it impacts Members from obtaining reservations at harder to book times of the year.

I realize they have these rooms priced far above the rates of regular rooms, but does anyone know if Disney starts booking the rooms for Cash reservations at 11 months out?

Does Disney have a certain number of rooms reserved out of the pool of rooms just for this?

If demand from DVC member increases, will Disney stop the booking of these rooms for cash?

Thanks!
- Cindy

 

[OKW Lover]

In theory the number of rooms available to DVC members is not reduced by the ones offered for cash bookings.

When a DVC member uses points outside of the DVC resorts (like for a cruise, for a room at DLP) then DVC sells the rooms that would otherwise be used to cover the cost they pay to the other supplier.

 

[Boston5602]

As a potential DVC member, I'd like to ask about the reservations policy Disney uses for booking the DVC units (cash reservations) and how it impacts Members from obtaining reservations at harder to book times of the year.

I realize they have these rooms priced far above the rates of regular rooms, but does anyone know if Disney starts booking the rooms for Cash reservations at 11 months out?

Does Disney have a certain number of rooms reserved out of the pool of rooms just for this?

If demand from DVC member increases, will Disney stop the booking of these rooms for cash?

Thanks!
- Cindy

Hi Cindy,

Disney owns a certain amount of Points . In Simple terms -lets say Disney had 1,000,000 points to sell. DVC owners bought 950,000 and Disney kept the rest they use these to rent out for cash basis and also to use to repair or reburbish a room. Then they also start renting out rooms to the public 60 days ahead of check in ( I think its at 60 days ) SO from 11 months out 95 % of the hotel is available for owners to use ,at 7 months its for all DVC owners and 60 days its free for all ( hope I explained all this right , if not someone will let me know )






.

 

[CarolMN]

This is a frequently asked question.

There are two separate inventories of rooms - one is available for cash and the other is available to members to reserve for points. It is not uncommon for rooms to be available for cash and not for points and vice versa.

At a DVC resort, most rooms belong to members and thus they are available to be reserved for points.

Cash inventory at DVC resorts comes from several different places:

1. A small percentage of each resort is retained by Disney. If these rooms are not needed for administrative purposes, they can be rented to the general public for cash. These rooms do not belong to members.

2. Any unsold portion of a resort still belongs to the Developer. The room nights represented by this percentage are also rented to the general public for cash. Again, these rooms do not belong to members.

3. 60 days prior, any unreserved rooms in the points inventory are made available for cash rental to the general public. DVC members still have access to these rooms, but they are competing with the public for them. Income from renting these rooms for cash is returned to DVC and used to reduce the annual fees paid by members. It is listed as "Breakage Income" on the budget statements.

4. When members use their points to reserve one of the non-DVC options (such as a cruise or a stay at the AKL or GF or certain other non-DVC options), DVC rents the equivalent number of room nights for cash and uses the proceeds to pay for the members' "trade out". This is how most (nearly all) of the rooms become available to the public for cash. In essence, the DVC member trades a stay at a DVC resort for something else. DVC just acts as the "middleman" or TA for the member (and gets a portion of the proceeds for its trouble).

DVC does not give preference to cash guests over members when it comes to getting a reservation at a DVC resort.

Best wishes -

 

[YoMickey]

FYI We reserved a studio at BCV 3 weeks out for during Easter. We cut our stay short at Universal so that we could check out what these DVC places are all about. At the time there was also a 1 bdrm available. THis is all within 3-4 weeks before Easter Break.

yo

 

[twinklebug]

Thank you all! I have a much better understanding of how this works now. On my way to the fountain of knowledge, just tripping up on a few roots on the way.

 

[dvc-NE]

CarolMN, best explanation I've read yet!

 

[bicker]

Just a small clarification: I believe the break-down is 4%/96% -- not 5%/95%.

 

[DebbieB]

Just a small clarification: I believe the break-down is 4%/96% -- not 5%/95%.

I think DVD retains a minimum of 4%, it could be more depending on the current sales and available points (right of first refusal).

 

[bicker]

Yes, definitely. I suspect they actually hold MORE than 5% in some cases.

 

[Dean]

Just a small clarification: I believe the break-down is 4%/96% -- not 5%/95%.

I don't think DVC has ever officially said how much they retained. It would also fluctuate due to ROFR. There are actually a number of categories of rooms for cash.

• Units owned by DVC in excess of maint needs.
• Units given up by members for cash equivilent exchanges like CC, DCL, DC, etc.
• Breakage inventory (unused units at 60 days out).

DVC has stated in the past that they purposefully shied away from high demand weeks. Whether that's actually true or will continue to be true in the future is anyone's guess. For the record, I do believe it is currently true. However, they still will have X number of points they must convert to rental inventory and they must spread it out over a variety of units sizes and times of the year.