What's the advantage

[Anal Annie]

IF we decide to try out the THV's next August, just curious what the advantage would be of booking a 2 bedroom at SSR now then calling to transfer it to the THV's? We own at SSR, but have never stayed there yet...if you miss the mark for being one of the first callers on Feb. 8 what difference does it make if you've already reserved a unit at SSR? I mean, if there are only 60 THV's you still have to be one of the first callers, right? As big as SSR is, going in mid-August there should be plenty of units available if we miss the THV's, right? I am just trying to figure out why people are talking about making their ressies at SSR now and saying they will call and transfer it on Feb. 8. I am just "not getting" the advantage here?! What am I missing?

 

[CraftyMouse]

I would reserve a 2BR now just to have the peace of mind of having someplace to stay if the THV didn't come through. By the time you would be able to switch to the THV you'll be within the 7-month booking window so you might not be able to reserve the 2BR if you need to. Of course if you are only interested in the THV and wouldn't be going if you don't get one then there's no point reserving a SSR 2BR now.

 

[drusba]

First, THV may not be open Aug. Mention has been made of Sep 1 opening. Second, reserve SSR now if you own there to assure you have ressie and then you can just switch in Feb if THV will open in Aug. In getting THV, it creates no advantage, but it does assure you have a room if you can't get THV. Likely SSR for Aug will still be available when you call in Feb but do you want to take that risk when you can avoid it entirely by reserving now.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

IF we decide to try out the THV's next August, just curious what the advantage would be of booking a 2 bedroom at SSR now then calling to transfer it to the THV's? We own at SSR, but have never stayed there yet...if you miss the mark for being one of the first callers on Feb. 8 what difference does it make if you've already reserved a unit at SSR? I mean, if there are only 60 THV's you still have to be one of the first callers, right? As big as SSR is, going in mid-August there should be plenty of units available if we miss the THV's, right? I am just trying to figure out why people are talking about making their ressies at SSR now and saying they will call and transfer it on Feb. 8. I am just "not getting" the advantage here?! What am I missing?

I think you're right. I think it is mainly it is a psychological comforter for some.

 

[Anal Annie]

I am not "sold" on the THV yet because of the bunk beds and the distance to walk over to SSR... I'm just thinking about it at this point, but was under the impression that SSR was like NEVER full. We want to plan sort of an extended family trip for my parents 50th anniversary for late August...but I don't have commitments from everyone who will be going yet. It's too far away for some people to plan... And we might decide to do 1/2 WDW and 1/2 VB - I don't really know yet. We were orig. offering to take family from both sides but now my BIL is going back to Iraq in January and will be gone for a year so he won't be here...and I don't know if my step-BIL who graduates HS will be around or off to college by then....and my brother's GF's boy is leaving in June for boot camp...things have already changed from our original brainstorm - so I don't want to reserve the wrong kind of unit.

I am still thinking we may be better off just getting separate studios for everybody...easier on the points and easier if I have to cancel, right? I mean, if I reserve a unit that's too big and then cancel it then I will screw up my points right? If I just have to cancel like 1 studio it would be easier to make a plan to re-use just those points, right? (I'm anal but I've never done THIS much planning before...)

 

[TisBit]

I am not "sold" on the THV yet because of the bunk beds and the distance to walk over to SSR... I'm just thinking about it at this point, but was under the impression that SSR was like NEVER full.

I wouldn't say that it is never full, but due to its size, it is usually the last to fill up. I was doing a last minute reservation and there were certain nights that were full at SSR (and this was in Oct, granted during F&W, but not a real busy time).

SSR gets a bad rap here on the DIS and most people act like it sits half empty all the time, but thats not completely accurate.

 

[CraftyMouse]

I am not "sold" on the THV yet because of the bunk beds and the distance to walk over to SSR... I'm just thinking about it at this point, but was under the impression that SSR was like NEVER full.

It was full at least some of the nights I asked about for a January stay. Even if it were full for just a couple of the nights you need it could make things difficult for you. I'd just reserve at 11-months out and then go from there. That's what I do with OKW. I book at 11-months out and then, if I want to stay at a different property I switch the reservation at the 7-month mark.

 

[RobDoc]

First, THV may not be open Aug. Mention has been made of Sep 1 opening. Second, reserve SSR now if you own there to assure you have ressie and then you can just switch in Feb if THV will open in Aug. In getting THV, it creates no advantage, but it does assure you have a room if you can't get THV. Likely SSR for Aug will still be available when you call in Feb but do you want to take that risk when you can avoid it entirely by reserving now.

Disney has a ribbon cutting ceremony at THV scheduled for it's opening on June 1, 2009. BLT is the one scheduled to open on September 1, 2009.

THV reservations will be accepted beginning February 8, 2009 and BLT reservations begin on March 1, 2009.

 

[dvc_john]

The last time I checked in to SSR, the couple at the check-in window next to me were involuntarily 'bumped' over to BCV because SSR was full.

 

[DebbieB]

The last time I checked in to SSR, the couple at the check-in window next to me were involuntarily 'bumped' over to BCV because SSR was full.

Wow, that's a shocker! SSR full and BCV not.

 

[Blahnde]

Yes, SSR is large and yes, it is usually the last to be filled ... but that may be changing over the next year. All those developer points that DVD has been handing out with AKV purchases can only be used at SSR (on property), and therefore I would not count on SSR being as easy to get into as it may have been in the past. Many reports here about people having difficulty using those developer points because of availability problems, and that means SSR is booked! If you want to be assured of a room, book it now.

Blahnde

 

[mikeandkarla]

Can people use their SSR developer points to book THV on Feb. 8, as if they have SSR 11 month home resort pririty?

 

[DebbieB]

Can people use their SSR developer points to book THV on Feb. 8, as if they have SSR 11 month home resort pririty?

I thought developer points were only available at 7 months.

 

[mikeandkarla]

I thought developer points were only available at 7 months.

You are right. I guess I stated that wrong. Since we can start booking reservations for THV on Feb. 8, the 7 month booking window would be open since reservations start on June 1(5 months).

 

[RobDoc]

Can people use their SSR developer points to book THV on Feb. 8, as if they have SSR 11 month home resort pririty?

If you are already a SSR owner who also has Developer Points, then you could reserve THV on February 8. If you do not own at SSR, then you'd need to wait for 2 weeks until all owners may reserve THV. Just because these Developer Points can only be used onsite ay SSR, does not make them SSR points - they are still Developer Points and thus subject to all restrictions imposed on their use by the Developer.

 

[Anal Annie]

Well, I don't have a firm date yet NOR do I know who all exactly will be able to go with us as most of our family cannot plan that far ahead...I will be lucky to get them to make a decision by January as to who's going. So I don't want to make a ressie this far out and end up choosing the wrong resort, the wrong dates or the wrong size unit. If SSR is full late next August due to people using Dev. points then we'll have to go somewhere else - I am not DYING to stay there - we haven't stayed there yet and that's where we bought so we thought it was time. But we're open for anyplace besides OKW so hopefully we can find something at 7 months.

Forgive my ignorance about how this works, but we don't have enough points for a grand villa (and I don't know at this point if there will be 8, 9, 10 or 12 of us) so if I reserve a 2 bedroom and then find out I need more space and decide to cancel that and try to reserve 4 studios somewhere how hard is that to do? OR vice versa...what if I reserve 4 studios then find out we could all fit in a 2 bedroom...what happens to the points that were involved in the difference? I get them back, right if I "overbooked"? If they're "refunded points" don't I have to re-use them a certain way by a certain date or are they just returned to our account or are we penalized for changing our plans?

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Annie, if you book and cancel within your 8 month time frame, you will get all of your points back. If you BORROW points, they won't go back to that use year, they will stay in the current UY. So you can still cancel those as well within the 8 month timeframe, but you will have to use those points by the end of that year, no banking them.

If you end up reserving 4 studios, note that they will not guarantee that they will be next to each other, or even on the same floor for that matter.

 

[Jeremy&Susan]

It was full at least some of the nights I asked about for a January stay. Even if it were full for just a couple of the nights you need it could make things difficult for you. I'd just reserve at 11-months out and then go from there. That's what I do with OKW. I book at 11-months out and then, if I want to stay at a different property I switch the reservation at the 7-month mark.

SSR not full is not even close to accurate. I have been trying to get a 2 Bdrm in the first week of December since mid-July and have had no luck. SSR definitely fills-up (especially 2 Bdrms).

 

[CarolMN]

SSR is not going to be full for August at the 7 month window.

I know it does fill up, but it doesn't fill up right after the 7 month window opens.

It's not going to be sold out for August dates when the 7 month window rolls around. In fact, there are very, very few dates and units types at SSR that will fill up if you don't book before the 7 month window opens.

If you are booking NYE or possibly the week between Christmas and New Year's Day, THEN you need to book before the 7 month window opens. Otherwise, there is no need to worry. It's just a "feel good" thing.

We shall see how popular the THV becomes. Perhaps those will be the units that need the home resort booking advantage. So far, nothing else does (except as noted above).

 

[Anal Annie]

Annie, if you book and cancel within your 8 month time frame, you will get all of your points back. If you BORROW points, they won't go back to that use year, they will stay in the current UY. So you can still cancel those as well within the 8 month timeframe, but you will have to use those points by the end of that year, no banking them.

If you end up reserving 4 studios, note that they will not guarantee that they will be next to each other, or even on the same floor for that matter.

OK - now I am having an "AH HA!" moment! This is when your UY is important too 'eh? For us, we have a Dec. UY so we're currently in our '07 UY which is now "empty" of points. We want to GO in '09 but will be primarily USING '08 points that will be getting in a couple of months (250 pts. from '08 and 10 pts. banked from our '07 UY). But so for this case, since we don't actually HAVE these points yet, we wouldn't want to BORROW them and book yet since we're still "iffy" about our plans. To get them all BACK as you said, we should wait for Dec. to book, right? We're trying to go for either 5 or 6 nights w/o borrowing from the NEXT UY. IF we have to borrow, we will but we'd actually be borrowing from 2009 points.

How many nights we go for and what size unit(s) we get depends on who all goes etc. Less people mean smaller units = more nights! And if we go for more studios VS a larger unit I don't really care if they're next to each other or not...I would like the same BUILDING if we could do that. OR at least buildings that are close to each other. But I really am not looking to spend every minute with them anyway. I think everybody might be happier to be able to have their own agendas and just hook up together here & there. I am actually thinking that we might all get along better to be separated than trying to co-exist together. (Read: my DH would probably appreciate having his own space away from my family! )