Why does availability at CCV go so fast?

[luvmychaos]

We’re still newbies so I don’t understand patterns and all that jazz but it seems that CCV gets booked up so fast. We own there and didn’t have a problem getting what we needed in Nov but in stalking RAT and on here, I notice that it’s been a problem for some. Is it just because it’s new? Is that what typically happens to any new resort that opens? Would the same thing happen at Rivera? Or are we suspect of that location so it might not have that big of a draw? Or will the exciting newness of it all cause a rush there, too? Just trying to understand how everything works!

 

[Marionnette]

We’re still newbies so I don’t understand patterns and all that jazz but it seems that CCV gets booked up so fast. We own there and didn’t have a problem getting what we needed in Nov but in stalking RAT and on here, I notice that it’s been a problem for some. Is it just because it’s new? Is that what typically happens to any new resort that opens? Would the same thing happen at Rivera? Or are we suspect of that location so it might not have that big of a draw? Or will the exciting newness of it all cause a rush there, too? Just trying to understand how everything works!

A few factors influence inventory.

1. New owners tend to want to stay at their home resort. So CCV tends to book up during the home resort 11-7 month period with people who own there getting their reservation made.
2. CCV is a relatively small resort, so there are fewer villas than SSR or OKW. However, while SSR and OKW required purchasers to buy hundreds of points for their initial contract, CCV is selling contracts with as little as 50 points. That means more owners scrambling to use their small allotment of points on low-point rooms. Meanwhile, high-point cabins remain unreserved thru the 7-month window because most owners either do not have enough points to book them and many others with a lot of points just don’t regard them as being worth what they cost.
3. Christmas at WL is extremely popular. CCV occupies its own little corner of WL. We just passed the 11-month window for booking December 2019. There’s always competition for popular resorts for holidays and festivals. It would surprise me if we didn’t hear complaints about CCV availability in December.
4. SG:GE...no explanation needed. Expect all of 2020 to be tough to book at every resort except the largest ones.
5. And finally, DVD has not declared all of the CCV villas into DVC inventory yet. As of Jan. 28, 2019 171 of CCV’s 184 vacation homes were declared.

• Cabins: 24 declared; 2 not yet declared
• Grand Villas: All 4 declared
• Dedicated Two-Bedroom Villas: 52 declared; 4 not yet declared
• Lock-off Two-Bedroom Villas: 33 declared; 3 not yet declared
• Dedicated One-Bedroom Villas: 18 declared; 2 not yet declared
• Dedicated Studios: 40 declared; 2 not yet declared

But, IMO, #2 is probably the prime reason.

 

[luvmychaos]

A few factors influence inventory.

1. New owners tend to want to stay at their home resort. So CCV tends to book up during the home resort 11-7 month period with people who own there getting their reservation made.
2. CCV is a relatively small resort, so there are fewer villas than SSR or OKW. However, while SSR and OKW required purchasers to buy hundreds of points for their initial contract, CCV is selling contracts with as little as 50 points. That means more owners scrambling to use their small allotment of points on low-point rooms. Meanwhile, high-point cabins remain unreserved thru the 7-month window because most owners either do not have enough points to book them and many others with a lot of points just don’t regard them as being worth what they cost.
3. Christmas at WL is extremely popular. CCV occupies its own little corner of WL. We just passed the 11-month window for booking December 2019. There’s always competition for popular resorts for holidays and festivals. It would surprise me if we didn’t hear complaints about CCV availability in December.
4. SG:GE...no explanation needed. Expect all of 2020 to be tough to book at every resort except the largest ones.

But, IMO, #2 is probably the prime reason.

Makes complete sense! Thank you so much for your insight! I had expected Nov/Dec to be completely gone within hours of when those dates opened at the 11 month mark so when it was going a little slower than I thought, I was scratching my head. But when I looked at every month up until those months, I saw there were no days available in practically every room type(aside from the cabins), especially compared to other resorts that still had spotty availability. I know that WL during the holidays was one of our major reasons for buying into CCV, so I understand the draw there.
I’m glad we’re going to Aulani in 2020

 

[_auroraborealis_]

That said, I doubt the final declaration will make studios a lot easier, especially when you figure the weight of the cabin points sold against availability.

 

[Deb & Bill]

When DVC raised the price per point to obnoxious levels, they had to reduce the minimum number of points for a first purchase to something the first time buyer could afford. No more $50-70 per point to buy in directly. That means most of those new buyers are staying in studios and studios always go first because they require the fewest points to book. And renters are getting savvy with booking at 11 months out through the brokers, until the brokers quit competing against each other by raising the price they pay owners for their points and the dollars left over for their pockets. It wasn't too long ago when owners were getting $10 a point to rent out points. Now it's more in the range of $15 to 20 per point. Soon renting will not the be the great bargain it used to be.