Shouldn't I have the right.....

[Dean]

This does bring up an interesting question. Does DVC use the points exchanged in the same use year and same resort as they belong to? I assume they generally do but don't know for certain. What would happen if I traded points midway through the use year and no reservations were available for my home resort? Would DVC lose those points and that revenue (and our maints fees be slightly higher) or would they cross to other sister resorts or bank the points much like an owner would?

As for the cash rentals, I look at it much like when I walk into a restaurant. The hostess says smoking or non smoking? and I say non smoking. Well I could say first available and have access to anything but I wait for the non smoking. Cash is smoking.

 

[David&Danielle]

That is my point exactly.

I do not want or expect Disney to let the rooms go empty. Just wait to rent them out as long as possible.

If I called today to make a cash res at BWV how far out could I book it?

 

[PamOKW]

DVC waits until 60 days to rent rooms from member inventory that are vacant. The 4% of rooms that are available for rehab and for rental can be rented whenever they like (they own the rooms). Rooms that are used by members for exchanges can be rented as soon as they are exchanged. I'm not sure exactly how this works in terms of type of room, season, etc., etc. but Disney cannot (and should not) wait to sell these rooms. Those rooms are no longer member inventory but are "owned" for the year by Disney.

Think of it this way (all points and $ are fictional). You reserve a room for two nights at The Plaza in NYC using 100 points. The Plaza doesn't care about points. They want cash. The cash comes from Disney. Let's say they've agreed to pay The Plaza $300 per night for your room or $600. Disney has the use of your 100 points to make this money. They rent a studio at VWL for 7 nights at $175 per night and get $1,225. They give The Plaza $600 and have the remainder to cover the costs of the room and possibly a profit. If they were to rent the studio to another member for points then who would pay the $600 to The Plaza? If they wait until 60 days out to decide that is the time to rent the room they might only be able to get $100 per night. They would then get $700 and have to pay The Plaza $600 and only have $100 to cover Disney’s costs for the room at VWL. When the point charts are set for the next year, a two night stay at The Plaza might go up to 200 points per two nights so that Disney can recoup their costs by renting a studio for 2 weeks at $100 per night.

It's frustrating to see people able to pay cash and even getting discounts but they are really just using member rooms. Many members make reservations and then sell them. What Disney is doing is similar except they aren't doing it right at the 11 month mark.

 

[cjay]

I'm not a member of the DVC (still determining if this is a good move for me, which is why I check out this particular board). I visit DisneyWorld at lease once a year and always stay at an Epcot resort. Over the past few years I have stayed at the BWV 4 times. Three of the times I stayed in a 1BR, the other in a Grand Villa. I know I booked these rooms more than a year out, so I'm not sure what the advanced booking rule is for cash reservations. In any case, I pay big bucks to stay there (GV for a week was $6,000+). If rules changed and my reservation was not firm due to a policy where the room had to be held for a DVC member, I would not stay there at all. Hope this doesn't happen!

 

[RobDoc]

You were able to reserve at BWV that far in advance only because it was not yet sold out.

At this time you would not be able to reserve more than 11 months ahead and it is unlikely that you would be able to reserve a GV at all (except possibly on a weekend).

The rooms at these DVC resorts are truly available only to owners (DVC members and the small % owned by Disney). Alll the more reason to belong to DVC.

 

[jcodespoti]

I guess (correct me if I am wrong) there is no real "cash customers". Everybody stays there on points.

 

[tsacyensid]

You should try the wait list. It has been rehabbed from what I hear from the oldway. I just spoke with a DVC cast member and was told the computer now takes any cancelled reservations and they go to people on the waitlist so the people who used to try to call to sneak around the wait list can no longer do so.

You have to understand that Boardwalk is very popular and it is almost always booked long before the seven month window.


The developer does retain 4% of the resort and can rent it out or use it for rehab- imagine what our dues would be if they did not retain that amount.

 

[ILuvDVC]

I book the cruise (Disney Magic) in July, I'm using 774 points for this cruise....them there is a lot of points! I booked this last year. I would think, that at the time I booked the reservation, those points released so many cash nights. Not sure how it works, but since we pay the dues at DVC, I sure hope the rooms I could have booked with those 774 points where rented out for cash! Otherwise....wouldn't DVC have to eat those points...when I say DVC, I mean the DVC Owners, and we would have to make up any loss with our Dues.

So, to me, it makes sense that when you book outside of the DVC Resorts, that the points used would open up cash nights to anyone.

 

[Joeblack]

Wonderful explanation PamOKW. A DVC manager, or any manager for that purpose, must try to maximize profit by trying to get the most income and by lowering costs. DVC has the right to use the points used by members to make reservations in the DCL, cruises, etc. in the best possible manner to maximize Dinsey's profit.

Waiting until 60 days before a particular date or not guaranteeing a room to a cash-paying customer would be a terrible managerial decision that would only bring a lower bottom line and I bet the DVC manager would be fired.

Members who do not plan ahead might get mad when they don't get the reservation they want, but that is not Disney's fault. DVC should definitely try to get the most out of the points they have available for the reasons PamOKW pointed out in such a detailed and clear manner.

If you bought in the resort you want to stay at most of the time and plan ahead then you will have no problems at all getting the dates you want.