Results of the resort polls

[dianeschlicht]

I decided we have had long enough to get an idea of what the reservation practices are for owners of the various DVC on-site resorts.

This was not at all scientific, but did give an idea of how owners feel about where they own and where they reserve.

BWV owners seem to be the most loyal with 87.8% staying mostly at their home resort. 6.5% said they usually booked all DVC resorts while 2.4 %booked mostly at OKW and 2.4% booked mostly at BCV. Only .8% liked to book VWL most and none said SSR.

OKW had the next most loyal owners with 78.5% mostly booking their home. about 11.6% said they booked all equally and 4.4% said they booked mostly at BWV. BCV and VWL and SSR were all preferred by 1.7% each.

BCV was the next most loyal fans with 74.8% usually booking their home resort. about 9.4% booked all equally, and 8.8% usually booked BWV. About 4.4% preferred OKW while only .7% usually booked VWL and 1.4 said they would usually book SSR.

VWL had 67.7% who said they mostly booked their home resort, while 11.6% booked all equally. About 7.5% preferred BWV and 6.4% booked mostly at OKW and BCV. None preferred SSR from this group.

SSR was the poll that started all of this and got the most comments. Unfortunately, I should have worded it differently, and would have if I would have known I was going to do a poll for each on-site DVC. I did the poll because so many felt that most SSR purchasers were planning on staying at DVC resorts other than their home. The poll "seems" to bear that out, but probably is flawed. Only 24% of the respondants said they would usually book their home resort and a whopping 65.6% planned to book all DVC resorts equally. About 3.6% would mostly book BWV and 3% would mostly book BCV, while 2.4% plan to usually stay at OKW and 1.2% plan on VWL most often. I do agree with several posters on that thread that SSR owners may not have had a stay there yet, and have not developed the love of their home just yet.

Sorry this post is so long. I will put this in more of a table form later.

 

[dianeschlicht]

BWV 125 respondants
109 (87.8%) stay mostly at BWV
8 (6.5%) all DVC equally
3 (2.4%) OKW
4 (2.4%) BCV
1 (.81%) VWL
0 SSR

OKW 113 respondants
89 (78.5%) stay mostly at OKW
13 (11.6%) all DVC
5 (4.4%) BWV
2 (1.7%) BCV
2 (1.7%) VWL
2 (1.7%) SSR

VWL 96 respondants
64 (66.6%) stay mostly at VWL
12 (12.5%) all DVC
6 (6.2%) OKW
8 (8.3%) BWV
6 (6.2%) BCV
0 SSR

BCV 138 respondants
103 (74.6%) stay mostly at BCV
13 (9.4%) all DVC
7 (5%) OKW
12 (8.7%) BWV
1 (.7%) VWL
2 (1.4%) SSR

SSR 166 respondants
40 (24%) plan to stay mostly at SSR
109 (65.6%) plan on all DVC equally
4 (2.4%) OKW
5 (3%) BCV
6 (3.6%) BWV
2 (1.2%) VWL

Okay, blast away and tell me what YOU think of the results!
(please note, these may still change, as folks might still be voting)

 

[kathleena]

Very interesting! Thanks for taking the time to compile all of this.

I have both BWV and BCV. I was a little confused of what to say on each poll but decided to just say on both that I would mostly stay there. I think it will end up being more on BWV over time but right now it's even.

As a fairly new owner (5 years) I haven't had my fill yet of the two resorts. When I have stayed at OKW in the past two years, I missed BWV the entire trip. So I have not desire to stay at VWL or SSR, as I think if I don't like them, then I will just wish I had used the points at BWV.

So, I plan to continue to stay at BWV. Even thinking of selling my BCV contracts and buying BWV instead. Just not sure I want to pay the $200 transfer fee three times!

 

[DebbieB]

Was there ever a poll of Vero Beach or HH owners?

 

[MarylandPirate]

As was pointed out on another thread, SSR owners are being sold on the variety of staying at different resorts. I'm here at SSR right now an the family loves it. Nothing against the other DVC resorts, but the only other DVC resort I would consider staying at is VWL, and this has the least loyal following of the older resorts. I have stayed at the WL and loved my stay there. It will be interesting to see how loyal the homebodies are if DVC builds at either CR or Poly. Then the new resort owners will be saying that the old owners are going to gobble up all their time.

 

[Beca]

Thanks for doing that!! It is very interesting!!



Beca

 

[Alexander]

We own SSR (this past Feb.) but have never yet stayed there. Our stays include: OKW, BCV (once in the past, and one future already booked), and VWL (once in the past, and one future already booked). Therefore, I don't know if I'll prefer SSR over the others. The trip I have booked for VWL was before we became owners, and the BCV was with our own points and was chosen by DH and DS because of the time of year (August--hot, swim). When I visited SSR in Feb. I loved the quiet there! This is a big point with us. Although none of them are crazy and noisy for the most part (unlike the hotels).

My point......I think diane..is right in guessing that most SSR owners have not had an opportunity to stay at their home resort yet. DVC sold a ton of memberships in February with the ending fo the $10 off/point incentive, and since these don't close until June, they haven't been able to stay there yet.

 

[MJTinNH]

I thought the results were interesting. When I originally purchased, I was in the group that would have said "All DVC's equally". Over the last two years my feelings about that have changed.

The reality is that now I will probably stay mostly at BWV because I usually vacation in May and love going to the flower festival. BWV is the resort that I prefer in the Epcot area. Normally I make only one trip per year and don't think that I would want to give up the proximity to Epcot just to try another DVC resort.

That does not mean I think other DVC's are in any way inferior. I have visited all of them on my trips to WDW and each has it's own charm. BWV just suits my style of vacationing at this time of my life.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

I dont think it really matters too much at all if SSR owners have stayed there yet or not. I havent stayed but have visisted it a few times and I do like it alot and think its very nice, but it has no effect on my decisions as to where to stay.

It could be be far and away the nicest resort in the world, but it doesnt matter, I like variety, thats one of things that was so appealing about dvc, you werent "stuck" to your home resort.

I think alot of people who voted to stay at all the resorts probably like variety as well so probably doesnt matter if they styed yet.

 

[CarolMN]

If (and that's a big if) the results of these polls really reflect the DVC population as a whole, there is only one thing that bothers me - the possiblity that the home resort booking advantage may get smaller. If there is a large percentage of members who do not want to stay at their home resort, they may pressure DVC into allowing booking at non home resorts even sooner than 7 months. (By contract, the home resort advantage could be as little as 1 month).

I don't want that to happen. If I had my way, there would be more perks for owners at their home resorts, not less. JMHO. YMMV.

 

[kathleena]

If there is a large percentage of members who do not want to stay at their home resort, they may pressure DVC into allowing booking at non home resorts even sooner than 7 months. I don't want that to happen. If I had my way, there would be more perks for owners at their home resorts, not less. JMHO. YMMV.

I would just pressure them right back if this happened. We certainly pay a premium at BCV and BWV in fees and I would hope that we could use that as leverage to maintain our advantage.

I do agree with your statement re: more perks for owners at home resorts. I think we should get first preference on room requests, for example.

 

[CarolMN]

I would just pressure them right back if this happened......(snip)....

So would I, but there may be lots more of "them" than "us", and DVC may cave to the larger numbers - especially if they think it will help sales. Nothing we could do about it as Disney has contractual right to make the change.

Best wishes-

 

[dianeschlicht]

I agree, Carol. I really like the 4 months of exclusive booking. If that perk went away, I would not be so happy either.

 

[ceejay13]

Thanks Diane for all the work you put into this. I am a BWV and BCV owner but stay at the BWV most of the time, with OKW our second choice. I do agree that I would hate to see the 11 month window go away. In our 5 yrs of ownership I couldn't be more happy with our purchase and how easy we have always had when making ressies. Whether 11 months out or 6 weeks, we have always been able to get what we wanted.

 

[Megangel31]

Hopefully, the 11-month window will not be affected by the large number of new owners coming in at Saratoga Springs. It really works for those of us who are able to plan vacations that far in advance. However, that is the way Disney is presenting SSR during their sales pitch, so dashed expectations could lead to lots of complaints, and perhaps action on Disney's part, whether or not owners pay a premium at other resorts. It will probably get worse if they follow up SSR with the Eagle Pines development (go Contemporary!).

That being said, we love all the resorts for their unique theming and characteristics. And I certainly agree that home resort owners' room requests made within the owners' window should take precedence.

 

[Shamus]

In Combining the poll results you get the following

Total 638 respondants
155 (24.29%) stay at all DVC equally
140 (21.94%) stay mostly at BWV
120 (18.81%) stay mostly at BCV
109 (17.08%) stay mostly at OKW
70 (10.97%) stay mostly at VWL
44 (6.90%) stay mostly at SSR

 

[Sammie]

Most SSR owners are new to DVC, therefore it only makes sense they are eager to experience all the DVC resorts. I am sure once SSR is completely finished, the new owners experience the other resorts several times, the number will even out.

Just as many previous owners are wanting to experience SSR because it's new and different.

I don't see any reason for any concern over changing the 7 month booking.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Shamus, I am not sure combining the poll results does much good in this case. The point here was to look at ownership practices at each seperate resort. Obviously, we are a very small sampling of DVC ownership, and perhaps DIS board folks are a bit more tuned in the a lot of the DVC population. I suspect MOSTLY what the polls show us is that with the exception of SSR, MOST folks usually plan to and do stay at their home resort most often. I till think that will happen more with SSR as it builds out too.

If indeed, DVC does build at the Contemporary (which now seems to be quite likely), I think it will have a BIG draw for some by being on the monorail line. My guess is though, that it would be another smaller DVC, and that might make it difficult to get into without the 11 month booking window.

 

[Megangel31]

I think that folks who haven't tried SSR might be pleasantly surprised, even if they only think of it as an overflow-type resort. I really thought it was beautiful, serene, and loved having my car so available.

When I mentioned to my parents that I just booked VWL for our annual February trip, my mother only said "That's okay". When I asked why no enthusiasm, she said "I won't be able to see Downtown Disney outside my window!"

Not to worry, we'll be there with the entire family this September...

 

[dianeschlicht]

I think that folks who haven't tried SSR might be pleasantly surprised, even if they only think of it as an overflow-type resort. I really thought it was beautiful, serene, and loved having my car so available....

LOL! When you posted this, my first thought was that when we stayed at SSR last October, we were disappointed in how far away the parking was to many areas of the building! We are so used to being right outside our door at OKW, that while the parking at SSR was infinitely better than having to do the valet thing, it was not as convenient as we had hoped.