THV Guide Comment

[SunnieRN]

I'm curious about maint fees with the thv. If I read correctly some of the old treehouses were destroyed by a hurricane (?) in the past. I was wondering as stand alone units if they would be more costly to maintain as well as being more prone to damage?
My problem is add-onitis. We are trying to decide where to add on next. We want 130 additional points and the thv are tempting, along with blt and gcv.

 

[tjkraz]

I'm curious about maint fees with the thv. If I read correctly some of the old treehouses were destroyed by a hurricane (?) in the past. I was wondering as stand alone units if they would be more costly to maintain as well as being more prone to damage?
My problem is add-onitis. We are trying to decide where to add on next. We want 130 additional points and the thv are tempting, along with blt and gcv.

It's certainly possible that they will be costlier to maintain. But remember the maintenance costs for the 60 THVs are co-mingled with the maintenance on 824 other Villas at SSR. Even if it cost double or triple to maintain those THV rooms, it would barely be a blip on the radar.

 

[Silly Little Pixie]

Thanks christa and thanks Caskbill. So then here is another THV question. Just wondering but will there published cash rates to reserve the THV for the general public or is this going to strictly for DVC members only? Maybe they will hold 50 THV for members and 10 THV for cash customers? I would imagine they would demand an expensive rate.

When I called CRO a month ago to see if I had a pin code, the CM tried to upsell me CRO rooms at BLT and THV for my dates in November... if I recall, THV went for $650 a night. Of course, divided by 3 families that might not be so bad...Anyway, CRO absolutely is renting THV right now to cash customers. I was surprised at the attempt to upsell me to DVC accomodations when I wasn't even asking about those, just seeing if I could get a code... I wonder if there is a designated amount of THV that are CRO rooms?

We stayed in the Treehouses about 10 years ago, and they were fantastic in their old form. It was amazing for a large family together on a trip. It was a bit of a walk to the bus stop, and the pool that was nearby (back then it was part of the Disney Institute) was a plain rectangle like any old hotel. Not impressive. But the Treehouse itself felt very roomy, lots of land around it and room to play and roam. I am sure the new incarnation will be even better. I'd love to stay at them again, but so far SSR doesn't appeal to me in general. So I'd rather buy somewhere else, as i won't often need accomodations that big again.

 

[christa112]

I was told at the beginning of my research of the DVC to "Buy where you Love", so that is exactly what we are doing.

I am sorry, if anyone took my previous post as nasty, because it was not intended to be. I was just stating that I am purchasing AKV because I love it and though I really like the Treehouses, there is really no guarantee that I will be able to get one and unfortunately, I cannot book at 11 mos out for most of my vacations, because DH has to submit his vacation requests at the beginning of the yr and we wait until Feb/March to get them back. So that is not a risk I am willing to take, I will be very dissapointed.

Just to echo what Deb said, I really think you're looking at this the wrong way.

Buying into SSR gives you 11 month access to the Treehouse Villas. The fact that you don't need the 11 month access at the rest of SSR is immaterial. Unless you are an owner at SSR, you need to wait until the 7 month window to book the Treehouse Villas. Assuming there are any of the 60 units available regularly at 7 months (which is entirely open to debate at this point) you'll be competing with tens-of-thousands of other DVC members to book them at 7 months.

There are a lot more Savanna and Standard View rooms at AKV than there are Treehouse Villas. And the number of SSR owners with 11 month access to book the THVs is extremely large.

Personally, I think you'll have much better odds of getting AKV at 7 months as an SSR owner than you will getting one of the Treehouse Villas as an AKV owner.

 

[nyck]

I agree. They are offering cash rooms now, and if the only reason you want SSR is for the THV, then I wouldn't buy into. There are WAY too many SSR owners and only 60 THV, plus less then that when you subtract the cash ressies. I bought SSR for the extra points, not to really stay there. It so happens that they decided to reopen the THV after I bought there, so I will stay there this November, but that will probably be the only time since it is way too secluded and I hate the wait for the buses at SSR and sure that the THV buses are going push me over the edge. LOL.

 

[CarolMN]

...Anyway, CRO absolutely is renting THV right now to cash customers. I was surprised at the attempt to upsell me to DVC accomodations when I wasn't even asking about those, just seeing if I could get a code... I wonder if there is a designated amount of THV that are CRO rooms? .

Not all of the THV units have been sold to DVC members yet. IIRC, only about half of them are currently available to members reserving on points. So the unsold units still belong to the developer. The developer rents those out to the general public (via CRO/WDWTC). Proceeds of the rentals go to the developer's bottom line.

Once all the units are sold to members, there will be a LOT less THV availability for CRO. Only the nights that DVC sends to CRO will be available to the general public.

Most DVC units sent to CRO are because a DVC member chose to use points for non-DVC options. While we don't know how DVC decides to send a particular unit or night to CRO, they seem to choose less popular unit types and nights when they can. The more popular units and nights are sent less frequently.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Not all of the THV units have been sold to DVC members yet. IIRC, only about half of them are currently available to members reserving on points. So the unsold units still belong to the developer. The developer rents those out to the general public (via CRO/WDWTC). Proceeds of the rentals go to the developer's bottom line.

Once all the units are sold to members, there will be a LOT less THV availability for CRO. Only the nights that DVC sends to CRO will be available to the general public.

Most DVC units sent to CRO are because a DVC member chose to use points for non-DVC options. While we don't know how DVC decides to send a particular unit or night to CRO, they seem to choose less popular unit types and nights when they can. The more popular units and nights are sent less frequently.

You beat me to it, Carol. Until SSR is completely sold out, THV will show up frequently on CRO's books for the general public.

 

[JimMIA]

To OP: Whenever a DVC timeshare salesman tells you something like that, you have to really perk up and wonder why. When they talk like that, they're not "guiding!"

I think the real motivation of that salesman was that he probably knows you can buy SSR for +/- $70 per point resale vs. $105 or whatever he's charging. With the disparity in pricing right now, it's hard to imagine anyone buying SSR direct from DVC.

 

[tjkraz]

I am sorry, if anyone took my previous post as nasty, because it was not intended to be. I was just stating that I am purchasing AKV because I love it...

No, your post certainly wasn't nasty. I was just responding based upon the information provided. This is the first time you actually said that you love AKV. Your initial post just had some slightly cryptic comments about not buying into SSR because it was SSR/THV combined.

If AKV is your preferred destination, so be it.

...though I really like the Treehouses, there is really no guarantee that I will be able to get one and unfortunately, I cannot book at 11 mos out for most of my vacations, because DH has to submit his vacation requests at the beginning of the yr and we wait until Feb/March to get them back. So that is not a risk I am willing to take, I will be very dissapointed.

I hope you can at least book more than 7 months out. If not, Home resort is absolutely meaningless to you and you will have trouble getting certain reservations during the busier times.

DVC works best for those who can book 10-11 months in advance. The closer you get to the 7-month booking window, the less availability will remain at your Home resort. And once you're inside 7 months, you're down to the leftovers which are accessible by all 350,000+ DVC members.

Good luck!

 

[dwelty]

I agree with the statements about transportation. We are interested in the Treehouse Villas, but coming from the west coast, (no car) we are concerned about transportation. Taking a THV bus over to SSR, and then waiting for another bus to get to your Themepark destination seems like a big pain in the butt. If we do ever decide to stay in a THV we would probably rent a car, an added expense we have not needed before. I am going to wait and see what the feedback is from members who stay there this summer before we book it ourselves.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

I agree with the statements about transportation. We are interested in the Treehouse Villas, but coming from the west coast, (no car) we are concerned about transportation. Taking a THV bus over to SSR, and then waiting for another bus to get to your Themepark destination seems like a big pain in the butt. If we do ever decide to stay in a THV we would probably rent a car, an added expense we have not needed before. I am going to wait and see what the feedback is from members who stay there this summer before we book it ourselves.

I am also interested in hearing about the transportation. We will have 9 of us in a THV in January, and are undecided at this point as to whether to rent 1 car (to go to store, a little adult night out, etc.) or to rent 2 cars (for all transportation needs). We tend to be fairly laid back on vacation, so we don't mind a little wait, but if THV is just added onto the regular SSR bus route, that could make for an extremely long route.

 

[stopher1]

I called and made our THV ressie for next January (we're doing a split stay between there and AKV) a little over 2 weeks ago got the 3 week nights that we wanted no problem (we're about 9 months out now) - but both of the weekends bookending our desired time period were already gone. In conversation with the MS lady, I was just asking her about the whole 2-3% holdback for CRO, and from she was telling me, yes, once that portion of SSR is sold out, CRO will still maintain 2-3% of that specific booking category - even though they have more of it right now since the additional SSR points are still being sold. I also asked her about the transportation info I've read on here and Tim's DVCNews site. She didn't have anything new to add to what I've read, she did say that their understanding is (I guess the MS folks get briefings too from time to time like the guides do) - is that the "plan" for the internal bus to SSR will be evaluated to see if more needs to be done - but since the THV's aren't even open yet - they're kind of playing it by ear to see how it all works and how the members react (can you satisfaction survey? ). I just took it FWIW (not much yet) and with a grain of salt... until the THV's actually open - I guess we just have to wait and see and hear back from those who stay there first. All I know is we're going to have a car for our SSR/THV stay, since we'll be focusing on DTD and then heading off-site for day trips those couple of days anyway...the kids want to hit the Space Center this time around and the beach...so we need a car anyway.

 

[FreeTime]

Whoa doggies, very difficult and maybe never?? Lets see, at the 7 month period, this was 10 days ago, we were able to book 3 days out of 4 days requested. at the THV. Now maybe we are just lucky or maybe it's not going to be as hard as AKV concierge. All I know we got them and we are not SS members.

So lets just all take a deep breath, take a step back and enjoy the ride!!

Moe

Glad to hear that you did! I called the day that it opened up to non members and said I would take any consecutive days available in June, July or August and there was only a day here and a day there. I hope that you have a great time!

 

[DisneyWalker44]

Always remember that guides are low-on-the-totem pole timeshare salesmen. You will get much better information on internet message boards than from guides.

Personally, I think THV's will always be avaiable at the 7-month mark other than during school vacation times and a few peak-DVC times.