'Splain me somthing????

[robind]

Okay, I'm new and have another question (big surprise). I've been reading about the waiting lists and the treads about selling villa's through CRO which has caused me some confussion.

My home resort is AKV, and I think I read there are 54 various villa's available. So, for example, if I want to stay for five nights Dec 11 - 16,2008 in a two bedroom villa - I can either start calling on Jan 11,2008 at 8am (or whenever they open) and try to get the first night booked. I then call everday for each day's reservation OR, I could wait until Jan 16th and try to call and book the whole trip. Then if I can't get anything at AKV - I have to wait until May 11th and then start the whole thing over and try to get into any other DVC property (or can I get on the waitlist prior to the seven month window)?

From the sound of things, I'm competing w/ all the other DVC members who have AKV as their home resort to try and get one of the available rooms.

So far, do I understand correctly?

What confusses me, what am I reading about - DVC members are on waitlist but anyone can go on line and book a villa and pay cash for it? is that correct, and if so, why? I would have thought that they would have to let DVC owners book a villa if anything was available before letting CRO sell for cash?

Am I missing something?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Deb & Bill]

If you plan to check in on Dec 11, the first day you can call to reserve is Jan12 (the day you would check out for a one day reservation).

They only have the portion of villas sold to members available to book on points. Anything else that is not sold already, is available for a cash reservation through CRO. Also, Disney keeps a portion of the villas (about 4-5%) to use for maintenance, etc. And whenever an AKV member books a non-DVC Disney resort or the DCL, they sell those lodgings to anyone to recoup the cost of the non-DVC trip.

 

[JimC]

We use our BCV membership for early December and never have had a problem with reservations with one call. The rest of our membership we use in off peak times.

One of the attractive features of the program is the flexibility of using it when and how (location, size of villa, length of stay, time of year, etc) you want. But that also means that there will be varying degrees of competition depending on each of those variables.

 

[flyerron]

Okay, I'm new and have another question (big surprise). I've been reading about the waiting lists and the treads about selling villa's through CRO which has caused me some confussion.

My home resort is AKV, and I think I read there are 54 various villa's available. So, for example, if I want to stay for five nights Dec 11 - 16,2008 in a two bedroom villa - I can either start calling on Jan 11,2008 at 8am (or whenever they open) and try to get the first night booked. I then call everday for each day's reservation OR, I could wait until Jan 16th and try to call and book the whole trip. Then if I can't get anything at AKV - I have to wait until May 11th and then start the whole thing over and try to get into any other DVC property (or can I get on the waitlist prior to the seven month window)?

From the sound of things, I'm competing w/ all the other DVC members who have AKV as their home resort to try and get one of the available rooms.

So far, do I understand correctly?

What confusses me, what am I reading about - DVC members are on waitlist but anyone can go on line and book a villa and pay cash for it? is that correct, and if so, why? I would have thought that they would have to let DVC owners book a villa if anything was available before letting CRO sell for cash?

Am I missing something?

Thanks for the help.

Chances are very good that you could wait until your check out date for the Dec trip and get what you want. That week in December is a school week & the park should get busier about the time you leave. The 11 month time frame should be just fine.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Kids may still be in school in early Dec, but I think day by day will serve you better in this case. Especially with the limited number of AKVs available at this time. The entire month of Dec is very popular with DVC members because of the lower points in the beginning of the month and holiday decorations the entire month.

 

[CarolMN]

...(snip)....My home resort is AKV, and I think I read there are 54 various villa's available. So, for example, if I want to stay for five nights Dec 11 - 16,2008 in a two bedroom villa - I can either start calling on Jan 11,2008 at 8am (or whenever they open) and try to get the first night booked. I then call everday for each day's reservation OR, I could wait until Jan 16th and try to call and book the whole trip. Then if I can't get anything at AKV - I have to wait until May 11th and then start the whole thing over and try to get into any other DVC property (or can I get on the waitlist prior to the seven month window)?.......

You can waitlist for your dates at your home resort. You would be ahead of anyone who does not own at AKV.

Unless you want a 2 bedroom concierge room, it is very unlikely that you will have to waitlist for those dates if you call when the 11 month window opens.

 

[crisi]

What confusses me, what am I reading about - DVC members are on waitlist but anyone can go on line and book a villa and pay cash for it? is that correct, and if so, why? I would have thought that they would have to let DVC owners book a villa if anything was available before letting CRO sell for cash?

Am I missing something?

Thanks for the help.

This is probably the biggest point of confusion. When a DVC member books a non-DVC option using points, Disney "sells" those points to CRO to cover the cost of the cruise or the stay at the Poly (alternatively, they trade the room into the II system, but those rooms aren't showing up with CRO). Some people like to think about it this way - there is a DVC member in that room - they just happen to be using it on the cruise ship.

There is a long thread right now about CRO and the $95 fee for non-DVC options. A lot of people believe (and I agree) that DVC isn't getting the sort of value from CRO that they need in order to break even on this service - thus points go up for a cruise or the Poly - because CRO won't sell all those rooms.

 

[brownhouse]

If you plan to check in on Dec 11, the first day you can call to reserve is Jan12 (the day you would check out for a one day reservation).

They only have the portion of villas sold to members available to book on points. Anything else that is not sold already, is available for a cash reservation through CRO. Also, Disney keeps a portion of the villas (about 4-5%) to use for maintenance, etc. And whenever an AKV member books a non-DVC Disney resort or the DCL, they sell those lodgings to anyone to recoup the cost of the non-DVC trip.

Can you please help me understand something? I am trying to book at the WL during the first week of December. I am going through a DVC member who says she can't get a villa during that time however when I go on the disney website they show availability for a WLV. Are not ALL villas available to DVC members who make the request. Her home resort is not the WL if that's what's making the difference.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Can you please help me understand something? I am trying to book at the WL during the first week of December. I am going through a DVC member who says she can't get a villa during that time however when I go on the disney website they show availability for a WLV. Are not ALL villas available to DVC members who make the request. Her home resort is not the WL if that's what's making the difference.

What you see on the Disney website is not what is available on points. They are two different sets of inventory. See Crisi's explanation above. VWL is, as are all the DVC resorts, booked up solid for that first week of December. They get booked up at least 7 months ahead of time. Some members go on the waitlist 9 or 10 months out if the accomodations they desire are already booked up.

If you want to stay at VWL during that week in December, you'll need to make that reservation directly through Disney and pay their price. That's the only way you'll be staying at VWL that week.

 

[robind]

You can waitlist for your dates at your home resort. You would be ahead of anyone who does not own at AKV.

One question to clarify - you can only get on waitlist once the 11 month window opens correct?

Thanks so much to everyone for your help.

 

[Deb & Bill]

One question to clarify - you can only get on waitlist once the 11 month window opens correct?

Thanks so much to everyone for your help.

Correct. Only after 11 months.