New Reservation Policy

[MdmMim]

I usually book for more than 7 days, so I am not happy with this change. Also, I normally book standard view at the BWV in Oct and Dec. This is going to become difficult.

And NYE? Good luck!

[dlpmikki]

Finally from the DVC member site:

LATEST NEWS
Reservation Booking Enhancement
Thanks to a recent service enhancement, Members may now place a single phone call to request a full reservation of as many as seven-nights beginning on the first day of their booking window (11 months before check-in at your Home Resort or seven months before check-in at other Disney Vacation Club Resorts). As a result of this enhancement, waitlists are now available only for the full length of stay.

Enhancement? I think not, especially the waitlist.

[Horizon93]

I usually book for more than 7 days, so I am not happy with this change. Also, I normally book standard view at the BWV in Oct and Dec. This is going to become difficult.

And NYE? Good luck!

I don't see it that way. If we are all booking by the new rule, how will it be different than the old rule? I also like to book for longer than a week. We have an 11 night AKV stay coming up. So if I do that again, I will need to call on the first day of the window for the first of the final four nights. I can see that there might be a chance that there could be a slight issue there, but at the 11 month window, I think that I would be able to get what i wanted for the whole trip even calling twice to extend the original seven.

[Aurora]

So now DVC members staying more than 7 nights have an added inconvenience, as opposed to people who make cash ressies with one phone call. It doesn't make sense to me.

[Tinkermom]

So if this new policy of being able to call and make a reservation 11 months in advance of your first day, I can call July 4 for my June 4-9, 2009 trip. Is Member Servcies open on July 4? I believe it's only M-F, but wasn't sure about the holiday schedule.

MS is open 7 days a week, not sure about holidays though. You could always call in advance to see if they will be open on July 4th otherwise you can call on July 5th.

[Tinkermom]

So now DVC members staying more than 7 nights have an added inconvenience, as opposed to people who make cash ressies with one phone call. It doesn't make sense to me.

I really do not see this as an "added inconvenience" since you can still wait and call 11 months out from the last day of your stay and avoid calling back. This new change really helps people who are trying for a diffult ressie. Instead of calling every day for the length of your stay you can now just call once. If you are staying longer than 7 days then you just need to add one more phone call (unless staying longer than 14 days of course) to extend your stay. I really don't see it as a big deal.

[Disoriented]

I think that this change could make some of the harder to get ressies, like AKLV concierge and standard view BWV during food and wine even tougher to get. When you book at your eleven month window now poeple that will be starting their vacations a few days before you, could possibly have booked all availble units in the catagory that you want at the beginning of your stay before you are even eligible to call. I think there could be alot more waitlisting on the front end of vacations during more popular times of the year.

[dlpmikki]

Under the old system everyone had an equal chance for each day. Now if someone's trip starts a day or two before yours they get first dibs at any available rooms for your start date. I suspect it isn't going to be a huge issue except at prime times like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope it won't make early December any worse than it already is.

[MdmMim]

I don't see it that way. If we are all booking by the new rule, how will it be different than the old rule? I also like to book for longer than a week. We have an 11 night AKV stay coming up. So if I do that again, I will need to call on the first day of the window for the first of the final four nights. I can see that there might be a chance that there could be a slight issue there, but at the 11 month window, I think that I would be able to get what i wanted for the whole trip even calling twice to extend the original seven.

The way I see it, if I call to book a room at the 11-month window (normally a standard studio at BWV), under the old rules, I should have lots of availability. Under the new rules, at the 11-month window, the dates that I want could have already been booked days before my call.

I think the larger resorts will be OK, but the smaller ones (where I have my points and prefer to stay) could very well be booked at certain times of the year--F&W and early Dec, e.g. A member with a vacation commencing before another member has a jump on the 11-month window.

I guess we shall see how this all plays out.

[OhToodles!]

We're new to DVC and have only made one reservation so far (which I didn't call in to make - just made it after being transferred from my sales guide after confirming the payment had gone through), and therefore don't have any experience with the old system. I will say that calling every day to add a day onto your reservation seems crazy (I guess a lot of you have done that though) and I would have personally just called 11 months in advance of checkout day anyway, so I think this move is better since now I can call 11 months in advance of my check-in day. I also think I will prefer the waitlist for the entire time because personally I wouldn't want to change rooms midway through my vacation.
And as far as the waitlisting goes, don't all of you say "buy where you want to be", so you should be happy you at least have your home resort to stay at and not worry about waitlisting. And yes I would like to stay at other resorts too, but I don't think I'll be upset if I don't ever get to.

Just my

[Tinkermom]

Under the old system everyone had an equal chance for each day. Now if someone's trip starts a day or two before yours they get first dibs at any available rooms for your start date. I suspect it isn't going to be a huge issue except at prime times like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope it won't make early December any worse than it already is.

Couldn't the same happen if you are booking on the last day? I am just trying to work through this in my head...
Using the old way - If I want June 1st - June 7th and call on July 7th to book then someone who was staying June 1st - June 6th could have just booked the same week, right? Potentially all I would be left with was June 7th.

Like others have said, we will just have to see how this plays out.

[Horizon93]

Couldn't the same happen if you are booking on the last day? I am just trying to work through this in my head...
Using the old way - If I want June 1st - June 7th and call on July 7th to book then someone who was staying June 1st - June 6th could have just booked the same week, right? Potentially all I would be left with was June 7th.

Like others have said, we will just have to see how this plays out.

I agree with Tinkermom. I keep going over this in my head and I don't see how this is a negative change. The people that I think will be most affected are those who, under the old system booked day by day.

For the rest of us, I think that it will be fine and the elimination of the day by day bookings should help reduce the number of calls to MS.

[DVC Mike]

I agree with Tinkermom. I keep going over this in my head and I don't see how this is a negative change. The people that I think will be most affected are those who, under the old system booked day by day.

For the rest of us, I think that it will be fine and the elimination of the day by day bookings should help reduce the number of calls to MS.

I think this is generally a positive change. I fired off an email to DVC expressing my satisfaction at the new policy, except I asked them why they limited it to a maximum of 7 days, instead of length of stay.

[dlpmikki]

Couldn't the same happen if you are booking on the last day? I am just trying to work through this in my head...
Using the old way - If I want June 1st - June 7th and call on July 7th to book then someone who was staying June 1st - June 6th could have just booked the same week, right? Potentially all I would be left with was June 7th.

Like others have said, we will just have to see how this plays out.

That's absolutely right except that you could have called day by day to get your dates rather than wait till check out day. Like I said earlier the main negative effect should only be felt around the really popular times of year.

I think this is generally a positive change. I fired off an email to DVC expressing my satisfaction at the new policy, except I asked them why they limited it to a maximum of 7 days, instead of length of stay.

I can see why they limited the number of days. Whether it is an arbitrary figure or based on average length of stays I don't know. I could get a benefit if they did length of stay - look at my next trip, I would have had no problem getting those prime first weeks of December! Not sure that would have been fair on everyone else though

[Tink&Goofy]

Under the old system everyone had an equal chance for each day. Now if someone's trip starts a day or two before yours they get first dibs at any available rooms for your start date. I suspect it isn't going to be a huge issue except at prime times like Thanksgiving and Christmas. I hope it won't make early December any worse than it already is.

I agree. If I want to book starting New years eve, I should be able to call 11 months out and get that night. But now, others that start their trip before mine could fully book NYE before I even am allowed to call. Maybe the old way was incovenient to some, but it allowed everyone equal access to those hard to get days.

Couldn't the same happen if you are booking on the last day? I am just trying to work through this in my head...
Using the old way - If I want June 1st - June 7th and call on July 7th to book then someone who was staying June 1st - June 6th could have just booked the same week, right? Potentially all I would be left with was June 7th.

Like others have said, we will just have to see how this plays out.

It could - if you were waiting to book your trip all at once at the check out date, but for those hard to book days, most would book day by day to ensure they got it. Now they won't even have that opportunity, unless their trip starts early.

This is very similar to the ADR bookings. Since you are allowed to book up to 10 days of ADRs at the 180 day mark, those days get filled. I tried for an ADR for my arrival day - right at the 180 days, and no luck. Also no luck for the following 2 days. I'm afraid DVC will become the same way...

[Horizon93]

I don't know. It seems to me that the new policy will only adversely affect those who book day by day. For those of us who don't use DBD, there really should be no difference.

My big complaint is that DVC couldn't take the time to send an email blast to all members announcing and explaining this change. There are many members out there who don't belong to boards like Intercot, who may not even know about this.

[lockedoutlogic]

I don't know. It seems to me that the new policy will only adversely affect those who book day by day. For those of us who don't use DBD, there really should be no difference.

My big complaint is that DVC couldn't take the time to send an email blast to all members announcing and explaining this change. There are many members out there who don't belong to boards like Intercot, who may not even know about this.

they also closed the day by day waitlist.....eliminating the day by day loophole that significantly reduces chances of getting a multiple day stay to come out of the waitlist....

that is a pretty significant change as well

[Horizon93]

they also closed the day by day waitlist.....eliminating the day by day loophole that significantly reduces chances of getting a multiple day stay to come out of the waitlist....

that is a pretty significant change as well

Significant in a positive or negative way?

[DVC Mike]

DVC posted an expanded explanation on DVCMember.com

New policy enhances reservation bookings and waitlist procedure.
In response to ongoing Member feedback regarding our reservation processes, last week we introduced a new policy designed to enhance booking guidelines and waitlist procedures.

The new reservation policy now offers Members the opportunity to place one single phone call to secure an entire Disney Vacation Club Resort reservation for as many as 7 nights, beginning on the first day of their booking window (which is 11 months before check-in at Members' Home Resort, or 7 months before check-in at other Disney Vacation Club Resorts). The previous policy required Members to call daily at the beginning of their booking window, piecing together their reservation one night at a time.

As a result of this change, Disney Vacation Club has also streamlined the manner in which Members can make waitlist requests, now allowing Members to make requests for the consecutive nights they require to complete their desired length of stay (from one night up to as many consecutive nights needed or requested by the Member). Previously, Members would place requests on the waitlist for intermittent nights that historically had high cancellation rates and would tie up inventory in an inefficient manner, negatively impacting the overall booking process.

In addition to providing greater Member convenience, the simplification of the reservation process also provides the benefit of reduced call volume to Member Services, thereby shortening Members' wait times and making more efficient use of Member Services resources, which are supported by Members' Annual Dues.

Since the introduction of this new procedure, many Members have expressed excitement about the new policy and the greater convenience and time savings it provides. However, in the past week, some of you have contacted Member Services asking for additional clarification on how the new reservation policy works, the changes to the waitlist process, and Disney Vacation Club's plans to monitor Member activity.

Therefore, to provide additional clarification please review the following frequently asked questions and answers:

Q: Why were 7 nights chosen as the maximum length of stay permitted to book by check-in date at the start of the Home Resort Priority window?
A: Our research has shown that more than 92% of Disney Vacation Club Resort reservations are for a length of stay of 7 or less consecutive nights.

Q: What if a Member would like to reserve more than 7 consecutive nights at the start of the Home Resort Priority booking period?
A: This can be accomplished in more than one way. A Member may call at the start of the reservation booking period to reserve the first 7 nights, and then add to the reservation one night at a time until they reach their desired check-out date. Or, a Member may wait until 11 months and 7 days from their desired check-out date to reserve the entire length of stay in one call.

Q: Can Developer Vacation Points received as an incentive offer also be used to make reservations by the check-in date?
A: Yes. The change in booking guidelines applies to all reservations, including incentive reservations.

Q: Is there a minimum number of nights for which a Member can be placed on the waitlist?
A: No. Members can have a waitlist of only 1 night, if only 1 night is missing from their stay.

Q: Can you explain how Disney Vacation Club will address Member misuse of the policy?
A: Disney Vacation Club is committed to ensuring that rules and procedures are fair and balanced for the entire Membership. Therefore, as with all procedures, our Cast Members are closely monitoring reservation activity to ensure there is not potential misuse, and will modify the rules if needed to protect the overall Member experience.

[Horizon93]

Well, at least DVC has finally put out something to explain the new system.

When I spoke to member satisfaction, I asked how DVC would communicate with members about the policy.