RANT: Using DVC Resorts as a place to sleep and shower

icydog said:

I love my Disney Vacation Club Resorts. I pay a ton of $$ to own them. I kind of Shake my head at posts saying they're going to stuff one bedrooms with as many people as they can.

And then their idea of a deluxe vacation is to only use the resorts as a place to shower and sleep. These one bedrooms would cost me $3000 in point value. Why are these posters NOT grateful for the chance to stay in a deluxe resort and why don't they use the incredible pools and grounds.

Why go to a Deluxe Disney resort if all you want to do is use it as a motel.

Because RCI makes these trades so inexpensive the inventory at Disney Vacation Club Resorts is being devalued. People don't realize or respect that they're staying in one of the best resorts in the world.

Maybe I should be grateful because the pools will be less crowded but it bewilders me why people, who trade in, are not blown away by their incredible good fortune!

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Yep. I said that when DVC affiliated with RCI and left II. I even emailed them and they called me. Last year we sold both DVC contracts. It's too cheap and easy to trade in if we want to to actually own points and pay high dues.

We use DVC as a last-resort trade now when we need to be in Orlando for a camp and can't get Marriott. DVC is almost always available even when nothing else is.

icydog said:

What I don't understand is how all the points can be associated with Saratoga Springs.. Does Disney do a "point laundering" and turn all the non-SSR member's points into Saratoga Springs points?

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Points-based mini-systems are not obligated to deposit weeks from the same home resort as the owner/member who trades out. They just need to select a week (date) that the owner/member would have been able to reserve at that time - in DVC, this would mean deposits should be made within 7 months of check-in (standard reservation window) and no more.

It is to the owners/members' benefit if the system's management deposits mostly weeks from the resort(s) with plentiful availability. Then fewer owners will get upset at lack of reservation availability at the same time the desired week is spotted in RCI.

Further, if Disney has the bulk of their onsite sales staff located at SSR, why wouldn't they bring in most incoming exchangers to SSR? Money, money, money, muhhhh-ney!

They just need to select a week (date) that the owner/member would have been able to reserve at that time

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Exactly. And, now that DVC is depositing much closer to usage, owners have longer to book things internally *and* the deposits are restricted to the "leftovers"---namely, 1BRs at SSR. Wyndham has been depositing this way for years, and I think it's the right thing to do. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that Starwood (in II) and HGVC (in RCI) do not. At least, not yet.

It will be interesting to see which section of SSR is deposited more frequently now that it has booking categories. I am going to guess that Preferred will be, but we'll see.

bnoble said:

Exactly. And, now that DVC is depositing much closer to usage, owners have longer to book things internally *and* the deposits are restricted to the "leftovers"---namely, 1BRs at SSR. Wyndham has been depositing this way for years, and I think it's the right thing to do. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that Starwood (in II) and HGVC (in RCI) do not. At least, not yet.

It will be interesting to see which section of SSR is deposited more frequently now that it has booking categories. I am going to guess that Preferred will be, but we'll see.

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Is there any way we can know this in advance? I booked SSR for YDD's upcoming birthday, and we are trying to join our 1 bedroom to my parents' studio that they booked on points. They requested Congress Park. Could the new booking categories affect my ability to also request Congress Park? I never even thought about that until I saw your post.

I'm checking into SSR this weekend on RCI points. I requested Congress Park. I will ask if RCI exchangers are put in Preferred vs. standard, but front desk staff might not know.

rfc0001 said:

I think Disney fans are notorious for cramming as many people into a room and as much time at the parks as possible to maximize the value of an otherwise horrendously expensive trip. I think DVC Members are the exception to this, since they can more easily afford longer stays, bigger accommodations, and discounted APs -- all of which lead to learning to relax while on a Disney vacation. I think exchangers are probably more likely to fall into the former category, but so do the majority of people booking direct or renting DVC. Also, I don't think exchangers are getting that great a deal. Lately, the only thing available are 1 bdrm SSR, and with the new resort fee, the total exchange costs $400 + MFs on their home resort. I own DVC and exchange in, and at the price for exchanging into SSR, I will probably pass. As far as it cheapening DVC, RCI only let's people exchange in proportion to DVC members exchanging out, so it's not RCI cheapening it. People are voluntarily exchanging their value in DVC for less value in RCI (in most cases). Blame the people who would be better off renting their DVC points and paying cash, although you would have the same problems with renters per my comments above.

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Personally I think DVC is far too lenient allowing guests to go over the legal occupancy and then there are those who are unethical who go even beyond that. For example, Disney has always allowed one under 3 not to count for occupancy. They've allowed 1 BR who have a legal sleep 4 status to check in 5 legally or the similar situation for a 2 BR. Recent studio renovations have also increase many of the studios to a sleep 5 occupancy. I don't begrudge anyone individual who's within the rules, just take care of the place. DVC members are probably far more likely to stuff the room both legally and illegally than exchangers, it may or may not be that renters are more likely than DVC members to do the same. I'd be willing to bet that exchangers are less likely than the average to stuff the rooms.

elaine said:

I'm checking into SSR this weekend on RCI points. I requested Congress Park. I will ask if RCI exchangers are put in Preferred vs. standard, but front desk staff might not know.

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They won't know since it doesn't go into effect until Jan. DVC has a history of putting exchangers in exactly what they exchanged to with no flexibility. So if the deposit was standard OR preferred, that is certainly what one will get. An exchanger can then request whatever and within the category they exchanged to have just as much chance getting it as a member would. My guess is the majority of the deposits will be preferred going forward though I suspect there will be a mix because it'll be more points for DVC members but we'll see. I suspect the standard will be more difficult to get than preferred. It may or may not increase the overall popularity of SSR within the DVC system, if it does, it may shift some of the deposits to other resorts, esp OKW and AKV. My guess is they'll change the booking category again in 2-3 years to separate out the Carousel section but still the standard points and most deposits will be there.

May I suggest something as a test. Touring plans has an option to select your room view and they fax the request 5 days ahead of time. I've had good luck with this with a regular resort reservation and also with a rented DVC reservation. I'll post the link here if someone going soon wants to try it out. Moderators if it's not allowed please feel free to remove. You may need to be a member, not sure. I am already so I'm not sure for non members. https://touringplans.com/hotel_maps/disneys-saratoga-springs-resort-spa

You select your room view and it generates a type of code. It will be listed at the top of your dashboard. You just add name and resort reservation number to it and it faxes it 5 days out.

I'm not affiliated with touring plans at all. I'm just curious if not getting a good location has to do with exchanging or not.

FLDVCFamily said:

Is there any way we can know this in advance? I booked SSR for YDD's upcoming birthday, and we are trying to join our 1 bedroom to my parents' studio that they booked on points. They requested Congress Park. Could the new booking categories affect my ability to also request Congress Park? I never even thought about that until I saw your post.

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If you are a 2016 inbound, then the categories do not apply and you can request any area in the resort.

If you are a 2017 inbound, then you are assigned to one category or the other. You can call Member Services and ask them which one you are assigned to, and can request any building in that category. But, DVC will not change categories of the deposited week, so if you want to request Congress Park, you will need to be in Preferred.

I suspect this will work much as AKV does---deposits are either Standard or Savannah, and what you exchange into is what you get. Historically, Savannah seems to have been more common. SSR's two categories are both large, and so I don't think deposits will be from all one or all the other. Like Dean, I suspect there will be a mix with Preferred more common, but we'll have to see.

That's in contrast to, say, OKW, where Hospitality House deposits happen very rarely if at all.

DeniseM said:

If I just wanted to stay at a nice resort - I wouldn't choose DVC. I'd go somewhere else for a fraction of the cost. And I wouldn't go to Orlando...

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Oh Denise, We know how you feel about Orlando. We traded thru RCI six years ago and stayed at Disney's Vero Beach Resort. Got me hooked on Dole Whips which I first tried there. We had a wonderful time. It was Disney Theme without the Parks, instead we had the beach, pool and a nice villa. I live in central Florida and we visit WDW often. Have only stayed at one hotel years ago. We sometimes visit the resorts for dinner or lunch, or to meet family or friends who are staying there. We own at Orange Lake but usually trade and summer bay which I can't give away, strange why people want to stay as close to the parks as they can, when there are nice resorts close by ?
Silentg

I think Members of Disney Vacation Club will choose the standard rooms at Disney's Saratoga Springs Resort and not the preferred rooms. I would. Therefore, ironically, there will be more preferred one bedrooms offered for exchange.