Took DVC Tour - strange experience

[southtown]

Does anyone remember a while back when SSR was getting a lot of bad mouthing? After reading the above posts a little light went off in my head wondering if some of the DVC guides actually inadvertently had something to do with that......I mean, if they are saying in their presentations "You can buy SSR for the extra 12 years, but, don't ever HAVE to stay there" it almost gives the impression that something is wrong with the place and they themselves wouldn't stay there so why would anyone else?

I see what you mean here,but I think it might be something else.

My guess is people that like a certain deluxe resort, whether its Wilderness Lodge,Beach Club, wherever. So they go to the DVC place wanting to buy at the resort they would like to stay at the most, not realizing SSR is the only place Disney is selling. So instead of losing a potential buyer the guides are pushing the "You can stay at any DVC resort angle" to get them to buy. I know that would work for me because I dont think I would want to stay at SSR. Not because of the negative talk, but because I am not really much of a Downtown Disney person. I like the Epcot area so BCV and BWV suit me just fine.

But I could be totally wrong. Just a guess.

 

[NancyDVC]

Wow, sounds like a weird approach to me. When we had our tour (early 1992) we had an 11:00 AM appointment, had a lovely one to one exeperience with our guide, decided to purchase right then, got all of the disclaimers and left about 4:30 PM!
I think I probably drove our original guide crazy with questions! The whole process didn't really take that long I was just trying to make certain that I was doing the right thing. And I am convinced it was one of the best things that I have ever done!

 

[photobob]

I made an appointment for the morning of our departure date, we set it up at the DTD kiosk. We met with one person and told her that we need to meet our travelling mates in one hour. We told her we new a good deal about DVC so we wanted to talk numbers and took a very short tour at our request. She pretty much tailored the process to our needs. All people I saw there met one on one with a DVC sales person..Bob

 

[pjadtl]

My experience was a little different I guess because we joined on the Magic in 2004. We were invited to a presentation in Rockin Bard D. From there we were asked to make an appt for a one on one presentation. Being that it was the last night of the cruise things were a little hectic but we met in one of the cabins and were already sold before we got there. We just had to decide how many points we wanted. I can tell you that they aboslutely BRAGGED about SSR and made no attempt to bad mouth it. In my case, there was a short time to get to see everybody that wanted to meet with them before the cruise ended so I see why they couldn't talk right then. In the case of the tours at SSR and the fact that most people are on vacation and have their days full, if somebody wants to talk- they need to make themselves available immediately.

 

[deedeetoo]

I am the OP. We made our appt in the afternoon at the WL DVC desk after talking to the person there for a bit and finding that he couldn't answer our specific questions. He set up the appt for us at SSR in the evening at 7 pm. We had a van come and pick us up at 6:40 and drive us over to SSR where we thought we would meet someone and sit down to talk. Instead we were put with a large group that was just herded around and there was no chance to talk to a guide one on one. So much for getting those questions answered. I don't even know the names of the two guides that were there.

Frankly, I think they just screwed up and way over scheduled the time slot and the two guides who were working did the best they could with the situation. But I do think they lost some sales because of it.

My dh was actually starting to fall for the pitch about buying at SSR because of the extra 12 years and the fact that you don't really have to stay there all the time. If they had taken more time with him, they might have convinced him. As it was, we left and I started to undo the damage, so to speak, and tell him that I didn't like SSR (no offense to you SSR lovers, its just not my style), didn't want to stay there ever and didn't care about the extra 12 years - (I will be 82 in 2042 and dh will be 87 - I doubt we will still be up for regular trips to FL at that point). So we went to the resale market and are now trying to purchase a contract at VWL.

 

[PECOS BILL]

I thing the Guides are done for the day between 5 and 6 pm. The kiosks around the property are still open and folks can go to the SSR resort to see the intro show and see the accomodations. It's easy to make an appointment with a guide during regular business hours.
The Boardwalk Villas has a model you can check out. It's always manned by DVC folks.
As far as no pressure...well that's the way they operate. They'll show you all you want to see and answer all your questions and then let you sleep on it.
So far for us...AWESOME EXPERIANCES!
Later,
Mark

 

[deedeetoo]

If its true that the guides are done between 5 and 6 pm, then they shouldn't have booked an appt for us (and all those other people) at 7pm. This was a regularly set up appt. We had to fill out a form to schedule it and they came by to pick us up in a van to get there. No one let us know that they only do the one on one appts earlier in the day.

 

[Slakk]

My dh was actually starting to fall for the pitch about buying at SSR because of the extra 12 years and the fact that you don't really have to stay there all the time. If they had taken more time with him, they might have convinced him. As it was, we left and I started to undo the damage, so to speak, and tell him that I didn't like SSR (no offense to you SSR lovers, its just not my style), didn't want to stay there ever and didn't care about the extra 12 years - (I will be 82 in 2042 and dh will be 87 - I doubt we will still be up for regular trips to FL at that point). So we went to the resale market and are now trying to purchase a contract at VWL.

It seems you did not want to like SSR and did not want DH to like it. I would think you should have been happy that your tour was as it was. I am wondering why you even took the tour if you knew you would not buy SSR and wanted resale.

I guess I am missing something

 

[grumpy.uncle]

We have just returned from our vacation to WDW. While there, we took the DVC tour. I have never taken a timeshare tour before but this was not what I expected. First went to a large conference room where two guys took turns introducing segments of a prerecorded video. There were about 20 people taking the tour. Much of the video was repetitive of the info in the DVD they mailed me. There was lots of feel-good statements and not much real information. Then they split the group in half and took us on tours of the units. After that they talked about incentives for about 5 minutes, gave us packets, and told us we would need to make appts to come back if we wanted to talk to someone personally or ask questions. I thought that's what we were there for.

We were really disappointed. We had done our homework up front and were ready to sit down and really talk to someone. Instead all we got was an hour long commercial and an invitation to make an appt to come back again. Oh - and they gave us ice cream and fast passes. It really was a waste of time.

From the presentation you never would have known that you could buy anywhere else and they really push the "you can stay anywhere" angle. They told us you never have to really stay at SSR. We did manage to get one of them aside for five minutes at the end but when we started asking questions about other resorts he really discouraged it.

We are still considering buying but this left a bad taste in our mouths. We are definitely not as excited as we were before the trip. We almost got the impresssion that they are trying to hide something by making you come back twice to ask questions. We didn't make the second trip btw, we felt we had wasted enough vacation time.

I am so sorry that you had a bad experience. When I went for my presentation in January, I had a great time. I had made an appointment thru the sales kiosk at BWV. I told them that I didn't have transportation, so they arranged to have me picked up the morning of my presentation. Two great guys came to pick me up and drove me to SSR. They were so friendly and chatted the whole way there. I went in and sat in the library area for a few minutes and then Laurie, my sales person came in and took me into one of the private rooms. I told her upfront that I wasn't going to buy anything that day, I just wanted to ask some questions. She had an answer for everything, she didn't pressure me to buy, and she was an absolute joy. She gave me the tour of the property and we returned to our room. I told her I was more inclined to buy at BWV and she said no problem, Disney had BWV points to sell. I suspect Disney has points to sell at all the resorts if you ask. She laid out the advantages to buying at SSR, but did not discourage me from buying at BWV. I left that day without buying anything but with tons of info to take home to peruse. Laurie had given me her card, and when I had a question after returning home, I would just leave her a voice message and she returned my call within a day. She was wonderful to deal with and she made the whole experience painless. Needless to say I'm now a DVC member. You should be aware that you want to buy points at the resort you plan on visiting the most. Go tour them all to get a good idea what they each have to offer. You have the advantage of being able to book your home resort at 11 mths out as opposed to 7 mths at the other resorts. Many times you won't be able to get the type of room you want at other resorts, so you need to be a little more flexible. When I visited the model room display at BWV I ran into a long time DVC member who answered alot of my questions. She even gave me her business card and told me to call her anytime if I had any questions. Also talked to a DVC owner on a boatride from MGM one day. DVC owners are very friendly and willing to share whatever they know w/ you. The whole experience was pleasant from beginning to end. So don't be discouraged. Give Disney another chance. They aren't ranked one of the #1 timeshares for nothing. Their properties are really wonderful. Good luck. Ed

 

[grumpy.uncle]

I am the OP. We made our appt in the afternoon at the WL DVC desk after talking to the person there for a bit and finding that he couldn't answer our specific questions. He set up the appt for us at SSR in the evening at 7 pm. We had a van come and pick us up at 6:40 and drive us over to SSR where we thought we would meet someone and sit down to talk. Instead we were put with a large group that was just herded around and there was no chance to talk to a guide one on one. So much for getting those questions answered. I don't even know the names of the two guides that were there.

Frankly, I think they just screwed up and way over scheduled the time slot and the two guides who were working did the best they could with the situation. But I do think they lost some sales because of it.

My dh was actually starting to fall for the pitch about buying at SSR because of the extra 12 years and the fact that you don't really have to stay there all the time. If they had taken more time with him, they might have convinced him. As it was, we left and I started to undo the damage, so to speak, and tell him that I didn't like SSR (no offense to you SSR lovers, its just not my style), didn't want to stay there ever and didn't care about the extra 12 years - (I will be 82 in 2042 and dh will be 87 - I doubt we will still be up for regular trips to FL at that point). So we went to the resale market and are now trying to purchase a contract at VWL.

I agree with you. SSR is kind of off the beaten path and unless you plan on spending alot of time at DD, it is too removed from everything else for my taste. Before you buy on the resale market, something to consider is that when I bought thru Disney they gave me 2006 points alond with 2005 points. I don't know if they are still offering that, but it outweighed the extra expense of buying thru them. You also have to be aware that some resales have used up all their points and have borrowed into or used all of their next year's points. Consequently you won't be able to book anything for some time even after you've purchased from them. You have to add up the value of what you are buying. Good luck. Ed

 

[Viki]

OP - I totally get what you are saying. When we took the tour back in '98 - and bought our first interest - I would have been disappointed if we weren't given the chance to ask one-on-one-questions. I think there's a difference between disney's low-key approach, which I appreciate, and being denied right in the moment the opportunity to buy. Still, it sounds like it worked out for you guys.

 

[Resqlt]

We just became DVC members, literally in the past week. We were thinking about it for so long, but never took a tour. When we were on the Wonder we went to the desk and made an appointment. We didn't want a group presentation as they do tell you all the perks and not the specifics. We had a great sit down where all our questions were answered one on one and we signed up the next night. No pressure, no negativity towards SSR. I still can't believe we went through with it sight unseen.

 

[BeccaG]

We just became DVC members, literally in the past week. We were thinking about it for so long, but never took a tour. When we were on the Wonder we went to the desk and made an appointment. We didn't want a group presentation as they do tell you all the perks and not the specifics. We had a great sit down where all our questions were answered one on one and we signed up the next night. No pressure, no negativity towards SSR. I still can't believe we went through with it sight unseen.

I too purchased "sight unseen." I signed up for DVC at Disneyland, although I did hear the presentation and toured the models at the BCV (I think) serveral years ago before SSR was opened.

 

[Ali and boyz]

we did the tour last year after making an appointment beforehand with a guide. did the tour, he asnwered all our questions and we signed up. We had a really pleasant experience . I hate hard sale but I can honestly say there was no hard sell to us.
I know everybody has different expections etc but having read alot of negativity here about SSR we were apprehensive about going home for the first time. can I just say , (just back yesterday) it may be a large resort but it was quiet, at some points we were the only ones in the quiet pool. the Turf Club was excellent, excellent service, excellent food and choice and a lovely view.

okay you can't walk to any of the parks but it took us 10 minutes from getting into our car arriving and parking the car again to get from SSR to Epoct in our car.

we went down to VB, we had booked for a couple of days and came home early. largely because they couldn't accommodate our DS son which I thought was hugely disappointing but also having stayed in SSR where the rooms are beautiful I thought the VB rooms needed a facelift and felt if I was paying my yearly dues there I would have been getting shortchanged. sorry I hope I don't offend any VB owners, don't mean to just was hugely disappointed .

so basically what I am saying is do the tour or stay a night at the resort where you want to stay and that way you will get a true picture of what you are getting and paying into .

we came back from SSR yesterday feeling the most relaxed we have ever felt on a disney holiday so maybe if you like more hussle and bussle SSR isn't the place for you.

 

[rinkwide]

...I thought the VB rooms needed a facelift and felt if I was paying my yearly dues there I would have been getting shortchanged...just was hugely disappointed...

Would you go so far as to say the place looked like it was hit by a hurricane?

 

[MissD]

Would you go so far as to say the place looked like it was hit by a hurricane?

...or two??

 

[jpeka65844]

DH and I are thinking of buying in and we were even going to tack on an extra day to our March '07 vacation at WL to take the tour, etc. When we sent away for our info, we were assigned a rep and he told us that the info he sent us was way more detailed than the tour. Tours are only given at SSR and he said don't bother with a tour unless you're dying to see it.

So, I guess what I'm saying is that A) the tours probably aren't designed for someone who's already "in the know" and B) the people giving the tours maybe aren't the MS reps; they're just "salesmen" Maybe????

Anyhow, we decided not to tack on the extra day after all.... :-(

He also "pushed" SSR but gave us the qualifier of "it's always your back-up" in case you can't get in anywhere else.




Denice T.
Olathe, KS

 

[Ali and boyz]

Would you go so far as to say the place looked like it was hit by a hurricane?

don't know if you are asking a genuine question or being sarcastic
it was the inside of the apartments that needed some work done NOT the outside. the outside was lovely.

and for the price per night it wasn't up to the standard inside of what we paid. It could have been cleaner, there was food left if the fridge from the previous occupents, the blankets were dirty and the soafabeds were a disgrace. I not not here to slate the resort but was just so disappointed as we were really looking forward to the trip. and before anyone says anything yes I did let reception know.

 

[Barak's Disney]

A Disney guide spoke with me for over an hour on the phone one day - very helpful and answered my (considerably long) list of questions with ease. Doubt I will bother with a tour.

 

[hollyberry16]

Ok, so Question!

I have read time and time again people who visit WDW 2-3 times a year!!! HOW can you afford this!? I mean, obviously if you're rich you can, but how can a normal person afford this!? Sure your accomodation is paid for, but what about EVERYTHING else?! Flights are SOOOOOOOOO expensive. and then you have your park tickets on top of that. I don't get it.

Do all these people live in Flordia? Or right next to it?? Are you all rich??