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Geistmeister
01-05-2008, 10:40 AM
:confused:

I just got off the phone with Disney reservations. I was trying to book a stay at a 2 bedroom villa at the Beach Club Villas for a 7 night stay starting on Saturday, 12/6/08. The reservations agent told me that there was no availability for a 2 bedroom villa for that time period. I had her check at the Boardwalk as well with the same result.

It seems strange to me that there would be no availability for a 2 bedroom villa during a slow time of the year for WDW this far in advance. Is anyone aware of Disney holding rooms like these in reserve and then opening up the availability later in the year? Since a two bedroom villa is just a one bedroom and a studio with the interior door between the two open, I could see where maybe they'd make more money if they booked each separately. Any other theories? And would you agree that it seems odd that all the two bedroom villas would be booked solid almost a year in advance? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

Drince88
01-05-2008, 11:16 AM
Because you're interested in the Villas in particular, I'm going to move this to the DVC forum, where some of the smarter people wrt DVC are more inclined to see this.

My understanding is that you can book DVC resorts (on points) at 11 months if it's your home resort, or 7 months if it's not. And there is something about how many rooms Disney has at it's disposal to rent and when, outside of those staying on points.

Have you considered renting points from a DVC owner for this? It should be cheaper, but then the transaction is between you and the DVC owner, not you and Disney.

Sue Holland
01-05-2008, 12:25 PM
If you're not a dvc member, you don't have much chance of getting a 2br villa at Boardwalk OR Beach Club for early December next year. They don't make them available until fairly last minute, when they know members won't be using them. December is a peak time for DVC members though, which is why I say your chances are poor.

If you are a member, you're calling too early. If you have points at that resort, you can book 11 months in advance of your check-out date. For you that sounds like Jan 14th.

Geistmeister
01-05-2008, 03:00 PM
Thanks for the replies!

I am not a DVC member (yet???). This certainly explains why I was unable to find any villas availability this far in advance. With four adults and two young children, the 2 bedroom villa setup would work very well for us. I don't think I'd be very comfortable renting points from a DVC owner... So it looks like I'll move to plan B (not yet determined), but I'll probably try back with reservations a few times this year for the long shot at a 2 BR villa.

Either that or I'll just become a DVC member. :~D

nutsformickey
01-11-2008, 04:51 PM
Last year I booked at Boardwalk and put myself on the waitlist for Beach Club the same day. I am a DVC member. I never got in to Beach Club on the waitlist even as a member so I agree that your chances as a nonmember are slim to more likely none. I would definitely move on to plan B or make plan B becoming a member. It was a great decision for us. We even just added more points at AKL this year and just returned from there. It was our best trip yet. AKL is amazing. :D Good Luck and have a great trip wherever you stay. :)

Geistmeister
01-22-2008, 07:23 AM
I wanted to give a quick update on my quest for a 2 bedroom villa reservation for this December. Shortly after my first post on this thread, I went ahead and booked two connecting (non-villa) rooms at the Beach Club. With the info from this thread, I thought that I'd try back to see if they had any availability around 11 months out, 7 months out, and then closer to our departure date. Well, it's now a little less than 11 months out, so I gave them a call last night and what do you know, they had one available! I was shocked, but excited to get the villa booked! :D So they must release at least a few villas to the general public 11 months out. I thought that I'd follow up in case there are other non-DVC members out there hoping to book a villa.

wdwfamily4
01-22-2008, 03:22 PM
As a fairly new DVC owner I am really confused on this. I was under the impression that unless you are a DVC owner and it is your home resort that you cannot book 11 months out you have to wait until 7 months out. As a DVC owner this doesn't make me happy. That is supposed to be one of the benefits of being a member. And if that was my home resort and I could not get a 2 bedroom villa because it was already booked by a non-DVC member this early, I would be really upset.

What are the opinions of other DVC members?

Toocherie
01-22-2008, 04:06 PM
As a new owner (well, almost) this is also upsetting to me. My guide is calling me tomorrow and I am going to ask him about it. (I haven't signed papers yet or even booked a reservation--I was thinking about December!)

I don't believe that DVC should release ANY units until way past the 7-month mark to give DVC owners a chance to book at their non-home resorts first (i.e., before the general public). I thought I had read somewhere that DVC units are not released until 60 days out but must be mistaken.

Maybe one of the DVC gurus on this board can enlighten us as to the procedure . . .

DVC Mike
01-22-2008, 04:50 PM
As a new owner (well, almost) this is also upsetting to me. My guide is calling me tomorrow and I am going to ask him about it. (I haven't signed papers yet or even booked a reservation--I was thinking about December!)

I don't believe that DVC should release ANY units until way past the 7-month mark to give DVC owners a chance to book at their non-home resorts first (i.e., before the general public). I thought I had read somewhere that DVC units are not released until 60 days out but must be mistaken.

Maybe one of the DVC gurus on this board can enlighten us as to the procedure . . .

This is a common question. There are two sets of inventories at DVC resorts.

Declared (or Member) inventory can be reserved with Points. These are vacation homes associated with ownership interests that have been purchased by members and declared into the Condominium Association. Declared inventory is available only to members.

Undeclared (or Developer) inventory can be reserved on a cash basis. These are the vacation homes owned by DVD that have not been declared into the Condominium Association, or those points ROFR’d by Disney but not yet resold.

Finally, any Declared inventory not reserved by members using points is made available to CRO at the 60-day mark for cash reservations by the general public. This is actually beneficial to DVC members, in that the association earns “breakage” income on these rooms rather than letting them sit empty.

I hope that helps explain things.

wdwfamily4
01-22-2008, 05:13 PM
So DVC Mike are you saying that any undeclared rooms can be booked at any point in time by anyone?

Toocherie
01-22-2008, 05:32 PM
Undeclared (or Developer) inventory can be reserved on a cash basis. These are the vacation homes owned by DVD that have not been declared into the Condominium Association, or those points ROFR’d by Disney but not yet resold.



I can understand (to some extent) undeclared homes that haven't been put into inventory yet on resorts that are not "sold out" like SSR or AKV, where units have not been declared, however, if Disney is selling ROFR "points" how do they choose which units to take out of inventory to sell on a cash basis prior to the 60-day mark? Seems to me that Disney could say, we have 2,000 ROFR points and we elect to take all of the Grand Villas in X resort during Christmas week and sell them on a cash basis before no-home resort DVC'ers even had a chance to book. Yes, there would still be other units available for DVC members, but the "prime" units would be taken on a cash basis before members of other resorts. Don't get me wrong--I see the logic of moving the unsold units over to CRO at the 60-day mark as a way of recouping costs for DVC, and at this point all of us DVC members have had five months to jump on it and make our reservations for the same period, but am concerned that the DVC benefit is diminished somewhat because I am now competing with cash customers between the 7 and 11 month mark--and if I want to go to BC or WL they will have priority over me because I cannot make my reservation until the 7 month mark since those resorts are not my home resort. Am I missing something?

I know this would be way complicated and unworkable, but it would seem fairer if DVC wanted to sell the unit before the 7-month mark that they should give non-Home resort DVC members the first right to take the unit on points before selling it for cash . . . .

DVC Mike
01-23-2008, 03:57 AM
I can understand (to some extent) undeclared homes that haven't been put into inventory yet on resorts that are not "sold out" like SSR or AKV, where units have not been declared, however, if Disney is selling ROFR "points" how do they choose which units to take out of inventory to sell on a cash basis prior to the 60-day mark? Seems to me that Disney could say, we have 2,000 ROFR points and we elect to take all of the Grand Villas in X resort during Christmas week and sell them on a cash basis before no-home resort DVC'ers even had a chance to book. Yes, there would still be other units available for DVC members, but the "prime" units would be taken on a cash basis before members of other resorts. Don't get me wrong--I see the logic of moving the unsold units over to CRO at the 60-day mark as a way of recouping costs for DVC, and at this point all of us DVC members have had five months to jump on it and make our reservations for the same period, but am concerned that the DVC benefit is diminished somewhat because I am now competing with cash customers between the 7 and 11 month mark--and if I want to go to BC or WL they will have priority over me because I cannot make my reservation until the 7 month mark since those resorts are not my home resort. Am I missing something?

I know this would be way complicated and unworkable, but it would seem fairer if DVC wanted to sell the unit before the 7-month mark that they should give non-Home resort DVC members the first right to take the unit on points before selling it for cash . . . .

The undeclared/developer inventory can be rented via cash. That means anyone can book it via CRO. It also means DVC members can book it at a 25% discount, subject to availability. DVC retains about 4% of the points at any DVC resort. Plus, when a member uses their points to book a Disney Cruise or a regular hotel in the Disney Collection, that inventory gets shifted from points to cash inventory. This all makes sense to me and is fair.

As far as the declared/member inventory, that is what we can book at 11-months (if a home resort) or at 7-months (if not). I'm all in favor of DVC trying to rent out any unreserved rooms at the 60-day window. If we just let these rooms sit empty and didn't do that, our annual dues would rise.

As to how DVC chooses what room types/seasons to use their points, that is pretty much a mystery as it has never been explained.

wdwfamily4
01-23-2008, 05:07 AM
I guess it does make sense, I was just a little confused on the whole declared/undeclared inventory. I must not have read that part of my contract close enough when I signed the papers. I still think it's a bit strange that non-owners can book before owners, if they are using points, but I guess that is Disney's perogative.

I have to admit that we are new owners and when we went to make our first reservation using points we didn't have any problems getting the room we wanted at the resort we wanted. We booked, about 6 months out, a 1 bedroom villa for 4 nights, Sunday through Thursday, at the Boardwalk with a Boardwalk view in late June. So I guess however Disney is doing it, they must be doing it right. Hopefully when I go to book my early December 2009 trip in a 2 bedroom villa at Animal Kingdom, I will be able to get that room. It is our home resort so I will be on the phone at exactly the 11 month mark to get that.

Thanks DVC Mike for all of your valuable input.