Why I dislike "view" categories

[CarolA]

Yesterday evening I made a last minute reservation arriving on July 27th.

The nights were all avaialbe at OKW BUT I may very well have to move TWICE over a three night stay.

Night 1, regular OKW room
Night 2 "Near HH" a feature I care NOTHING about
Night 3 regular OKW room

And folks want a lot of "options" at SSR. Think about it. Between that and the new booking method you could wind up with this all the time.

I can hear MS now "Yes, Ms Smith we have five nights at SSR open. However since we have chopped the resort up into four different locations you will have to move every night since they aren't all in the same "view" category. Yes, they all take the same number of points but.... you wanted "guranteed" locations!"

I can hear the whining on here now!

 

[moredisneyplease]

i agree but i also understand the reason for chopping up the resort. Honestly i hope they dont just to avoid what you went through w/ OKW

 

[kapeman]

But isn't the key phrase here "last minute reservation"?

I'm sure that had something to do with availability and that a 11/7 month booking wouldn't have the same issue.

 

[CarolA]

But isn't the key phrase here "last minute reservation"?

I'm sure that had something to do with availability and that a 11/7 month booking wouldn't have the same issue.

How do you know.. It's Christmas. My vaction starts 12/20 so I call and get my 7 day stay all booked. I got the "view" I wanted. I am happy!

Your vacation starts 12/21 so your window opens one day later. You call.

"Well, we have the nights of 12/21 and 12/22 with a PI view, but you have to move on 12/23 to the "Grandstand" view. You well can I just start with the Grandstand, MS "well on 12/24 that's booked up so you have to move to Congress Park" and so on.

And all the time you are doing this "view negoition" someone like me who isn't picky just booked that whole week at the "dreaded" worst view and you just lost another room.

This seems especially likely for things like Grand Villas!

I already know people presonally who have hit this mess with BWV and they book at 11 months. But when they called on the day to day one night was "perferred" view only or some such and they were faced with having to move!

I can see this becoming a big issue at SSR considering the VARIOUS "views" folks want. They basically want to chop this thing up into four "mini resorts"

(update, I am happy I moved to SSR and don't have to "move", but I think this may be an "unintended" consequence of view categories especially in busy seasons or if you MISS that 11 month window!)

 

[crisi]

But isn't the key phrase here "last minute reservation"?

I'm sure that had something to do with availability and that a 11/7 month booking wouldn't have the same issue.

The more room types (everything from resort, to # of bedrooms, to view) that you make as booking categories, the closer "last minute reservation" for these purposes moves to the 11/7 month window. AKL conceirge or BWV Boardwalk/Standard View already have people who spend one or two nights there, but can't get the room for their entire trip - often LONG before the seven month window opens up. Now, generally, they are CHOOSING to move to get a little of what they prefer, but occasionally they are just taking what is available. Yeah, bopping around a little bit for a reservation two weeks out isn't surprising (she could have been moving resorts as well as rooms) but if "last minutes" starts meaning three months out, six months out - is that still acceptable? (and, for certain times of year, six months out is already last minute)/

Look at it this way, on a last minute reservation with all the same views, you still might get two nights in SSR, a night over at BWV, and a night at OKW - that's been reported fairly often. Every time you break a resort into views, you are really breaking it into more resorts for booking purposes.

I love the availability of "views" at BWV - one of the reasons we own there. But it does make the logistics of filling the hotel much harder - for Disney and for the members.

 

[TisBit]

I agree guaranteed bookings at SSR could be a nightmare if they made each section its own category, but I could see there being three categories. A near Carriage House which would be Grandstand and Springs and than a Congress Park category for DTD.

I also feel that they should allow guaranteed categories for DVC owners, but not people who book CRO....which could help alleviate some of those booking problems. But that won't happen, because cash is always good....

 

[Chuck S]

Personally, I don't see the need of a guaranteed category at OKW, either. I think it can really throw a monkey wrench onto reservations, even those made during the 11 month priority if you are booking during a particularly busy season. And the more categories they add, the greater the chance of a chopped up reservation unless you book right at 11 months.

 

[Deb & Bill]

Then you have the people who want to add a bunk bed to the studio instead of the sleeper sofa. Or put two queens in the master bedroom.

I like it better when there is only one category to choose from. Makes it so much easier.

And I agree with you, Chuck. I didn't see the need to make the HH booking category at OKW. Most of us older OKW owners could care less about staying right next to the HH.

 

[kapeman]

How do you know.. It's Christmas. My vaction starts 12/20 so I call and get my 7 day stay all booked. I got the "view" I wanted. I am happy!
...

I was just stating that any room type would be subject to availability issues for last minute reservation requests.

The topic of the new booking policy has already been done to death.

I can see the potential issues with various booking categories, but that's when you have to implement different point schedules for each booking category.

But even then you can still have issues.

This would be the perfect opportunity for some BWV experts to chime in...

 

[kapeman]

...
but if "last minutes" starts meaning three months out, six months out - is that still acceptable? (and, for certain times of year, six months out is already last minute)/

I agree that room categories can have an impact, but I don't recall ever saying that last minute was 6 months out, nor would I accept the scenario you propose.

I was merely stating that truly last minute reservations may be difficult.

Anyone that frequents this board should know that.


Oops! Should have multi-quoted. My bad.

 

[simzac]

Most of us older OKW owners could care less about staying right next to the HH.

Some of us newer OKW members feel the same way

 

[Buckeye Fan]

CarolA, thanks for the post. Sometimes you do have to be careful what you wish for, huh?

Being relatively new, I don't know that I would have ever thought about the bouncing around scenario. Being a SSR owner, that kind of changes my mind about guaranteed bookings. While I'd love to be able to reserve in a certain location, I would MUCH rather not have to move. I'm also not sure that I'd spend extra points just to stay in preferred sections if they reallocated points.

Good food for thought!!!

 

[UConnJack]

Then you have the people who want to add a bunk bed to the studio instead of the sleeper sofa. Or put two queens in the master bedroom.

I like it better when there is only one category to choose from. Makes it so much easier.

And I agree with you, Chuck. I didn't see the need to make the HH booking category at OKW. Most of us older OKW owners could care less about staying right next to the HH.

Keep in mind that you like the current room setups and booking categories (or lack thereof) becasue they suit your needs. Obviously understandable, but they don't suit everyone and a variety of room setups and categories would be appealling to a lot of people.

Before you repsond with "you knew what you were buying", you're right and I would therefore never make a big stink about it. But if a large enough percentage of members wanted changes, they certainly have a right to lobby for them.

BTW, I love the idea of 2 queens or a bunk bed in some rooms.....

 

[delmar411]

You probably will not need to move BTW. Just let them know when you check in that you'd like whatever room is available and you don't want to move during your stay. Because of CRO's cash inventory the rooms aren't really sold out for the most part so they can leave you in one room while still fulfilling all the other guaranteed rooms.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Keep in mind that you like the current room setups and booking categories (or lack thereof) becasue they suit your needs. Obviously understandable, but they don't suit everyone and a variety of room setups and categories would be appealling to a lot of people.

Before you repsond with "you knew what you were buying", you're right and I would therefore never make a big stink about it. But if a large enough percentage of members wanted changes, they certainly have a right to lobby for them.

BTW, I love the idea of 2 queens or a bunk bed in some rooms.....

I especially purchased for the different "views". There is a problem at SSR....many, many owners are lobbying for "views" there. While OKW may not have the same building location issues, SSR does. Different catagories for "views" would help this resort out immensely. If one were an owner there, one may feel differently and not make blanket statements. Again, because it doesn't help one's indivdual cause, doesn't mean it won't favor those en masse. Again, the same ole' attitude "What have you done for me lately".

 

[DaveH]

We are SSR and VWL owners. I see both sides of this issue. The more categories you have the more options and also the more headaches. I think the biggest help to some and the biggest headache to others are the extremely popular and crowded times. I am thinking Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. The next one I can think of is the time we like, the couple of weeks after Thanksgiving. This is not WDW popular, but DVC popular. We are not OKW owners and I am puzzled at the new categories there. I am assuming there was member requests for it. We have been at most of the areas at SSR and have enjoyed them all. I am leaning away from many categories

 

[crisi]

Keep in mind that you like the current room setups and booking categories (or lack thereof) becasue they suit your needs. Obviously understandable, but they don't suit everyone and a variety of room setups and categories would be appealling to a lot of people.

Before you repsond with "you knew what you were buying", you're right and I would therefore never make a big stink about it. But if a large enough percentage of members wanted changes, they certainly have a right to lobby for them.

BTW, I love the idea of 2 queens or a bunk bed in some rooms.....

I recall someone (likely Dean or Doc) saying that actually they can't - major furnishings in the room are set by the POS document and can't be changed without incurring a breach of contract. We could lobby for NEW resorts that have bunkbeds, but we can't change the configuration of rooms already purchased. I could be mistaken in my recollection, however.

 

[jbrowna]

As I recall, the reason for the guaranteed category lobbying is the issue that those who own at SSR really have no advantage to their 11 month booking window. They can book a room 11 months out, and be stuck out in the boondocks, where a non-owner who booked only weeks out might end up in a more desirable location next to the Carriage House or with a great DTD view. It depends more on the time of day someone checks in then when they booked. Guaranteed booking categories is seen as a way to address that -- to restore some of the advantages of being an owner, and booking at 11 months

I'm somewhat sympathetic to that, but don't particularly feel too strongly one way or another. However, I can see that the proposed solution does raise other issues. So is there some other means by which SSR owners can have their concerns addressed? Or is there some way of dealing with the issue that op brings up?

 

[MOM POPPINS]

When did OKW get different building request guarantee?

I must have missed this announcement... Thanks

 

[Chuck S]

When did OKW get different building request guarantee?

I must have missed this announcement... Thanks

I believe it was last year, or early this year. It is still fairly new. It was mentioned in one of the Vacation Magic/Disney Files publications.