New Reservation Policy

[Horizon93]

It has been reported on some Disney sites that as of today, the reservation policy for DVC has changed. We can now book our home resort 11 months in advance of our check in date instead of check out. The same will be true at the 7 month window for other than home resorts. Reportedly, Member Services has told members that this began today. They say that we can book the first day plus 6 days, meaning a 7 day stay.

This is not on the member site but is apparently being told to members by member services.

I didn't see this already reported here. I am not sure if this is an improvement on the current system.

Opinions?

[dlpmikki]

Nice in one sense but just an added complication in another. Cost saving for disney as people won't be ringing day by day to get their bookings but week by week.

[dephenn]

I think it makes a lot of sense. Who wants to call every day just to add another day to their stay. It should free up the phones at guest reservations and cut back on wait times. For me it's a thumbs up change, if some one else can find the negative please post it, there is probably something I'm missing.

[DVC Mike]

I think the majority of DVC members will appreciate the change, as it will be viewed as simpler. A lot of new members are always confused as to when they can call and book their reservation.

While I like that people won't have to book day-by-day, this change is actually open to abuse by certain members gaming the system to get a booking advantage over their fellow DVC members.

If I am booking Sunday - Thursday (5 nights), I can now call DVC and book Friday - Thursday (7 nights), and then call back a few days later and cancel just the Friday and Saturday night stays. I just got myself a 2-day booking advantage over those who waited until Sunday could be booked! That's not fair.

I think DVC has to focus on how they implement changes. There was no advance communication to members, and (as of now) still no notice on the DVC member web site. Apparently, DVC MS was notified of the change on Friday morning. To hear of changes like this from Disney fan sites and not DVC is bad.

[Horizon93]

Agreed. There are pluses and minuses and the potential for some abuses.

But at the very least, an email from DVC or a post on the member site would have been the right thing to do. In this age of communication, it is crazy to see them let the word get out the way it has.

But this is Disney, and they have done it this way for a reason. Maybe they are just testing this new policy?

[Tinkermom]

So do we HAVE to book a 7 night stay in order to be able to call 11 months out of the first day? I need to book a cottage at Vero Beach soon but I am only wanting 5 nights (Sun-Thurs). So do I have to call on Friday to book a full week? Then I would call and cancel Friday and Saturday?

Is this change a definite? Has anyone confirmed this?

My only problem with this is that I may have to borrow points in order to book a full week vs. 5 nights. Once I cancel Friday and Saturday now those points will end up in my current use year. Not thrilled about that.

Edited to add - I just read DVC Mike's post. I agree that DVC is setting us up to "work the system" by having this change. We own another timeshare and I just hate all of their rules about booking. With them, the more points you own the higher your membership. The higher your membership the earlier you can book. I have always liked that with DVC all of us have been on equal footing when booking. I had every intention of calling each day to get our cottage as they are VERY difficult to get. Now I am not sure what to do...

UPDATE!!!
I just called MS and found out that YES indeed the policy DID change as of yesterday. We now can book 11 months out from the first day of our stay UP TO 7 nights. You CAN book LESS than 7 nights but you CANNOT book OVER 7 nights. If you are staying longer than 7 nights you have to call back for the rest of your stay.

I am very happy about this change and that they did not make it that we HAD to book a full week to be able to call 11 months out on the first night of our stay. If that were the case DVC would have LOTS of people making dummy reservations and cancelling them which would totally mess up the system.

***ALSO they told me that the waitlist policy has changed. You can no longer waitlist for a night or two at a time. You must waitlist your ENTIRE stay or nothing at all.

[dlpmikki]

The more I hear the less I like it. Admittedly we tend to go for longer than those in the US but if that latest waitlist change is true it means I will never use it again. I just can't see several weeks all coming available.

Mike has pointed out a potential downside to the 7 day booking at 11 / 7 months and I can see people ringing up day by day 7 days in advance to get in now that he has suggested the couple of days option. Are they going to say you can't do more than one 7 day booking? If so how would that work for folks with longer trips. Day by day after the 7?

I agree about possibly shorter waiting times on the phone but maybe it will just mean fewer operatives answering. It seems to me that most of the 'improvements' DVC have done recently have been cost cutting in a very thin disguise. Yes the banking rules are simpler but they were not rocket science before. Maybe it was the CMs who couldn't cope with the rules and not the members - lots less training needed the new way.

[Tinkermom]

The more I hear the less I like it. Admittedly we tend to go for longer than those in the US but if that latest waitlist change is true it means I will never use it again. I just can't see several weeks all coming available.

Mike has pointed out a potential downside to the 7 day booking at 11 / 7 months and I can see people ringing up day by day 7 days in advance to get in now that he has suggested the couple of days option. Are they going to say you can't do more than one 7 day booking? If so how would that work for folks with longer trips. Day by day after the 7?

.

The woman I spoke with today in MS addressed those who want to stay longer than 7 days. She specifically mentioned those who come over from the UK and how they like to stay for sometimes 14 days or more. After making your initial 7 day ressie you have to call back at the start of the next portion of your trip to book the rest.

Yes, I suppose folks can book longer stays and then cancel portions to ensure that they get the ressie they want. However, this would require extra points and as long as you have those in your use year that would work. I for one would not want to have to borrow points just to ensure that I get the days that I want. I think this fact would limit some trying to take advantage of the system.

We usually manage our points to maximize them to the fullest so we try to avoid weekends whenever we can. We also will stay at lower point cost resorts if we are trying to get several trips in one year. I imagine many people do this and would not necessarily have the extra points to make dummy reservations. I could be wrong though. I guess we will just have to see how this works. I for one like this new change.

[Horizon93]

I am starting to like the idea. The possibility of some members trying to work the system to gain an unfair advantage does exist, though. But I am not sure to any greater extent than under the check out date system.

And their are members out there with tons of points like a thousand or more. They could definitely work the system. But for those who have all of those points because they use all of those points, they would have no greater advantage than the rest of us.

As I said, I think I like the change, but I will see how the next reservation I make goes.

[Maleficent's Dad]

I am starting to like the idea. The possibility of some members trying to work the system to gain an unfair advantage does exist, though. But I am not sure to any greater extent than under the check out date system.

Exactly what I was going to say. I do agree with Ed - No matter what system is put in place, there will be those who try to circumvent the existing rules.

[DisneyWhirled]

This doesn't change a whole lot for us, but, I will say that I am VERY disappointed that I had to read this at 11 o'clock PM on my favorite Disney fansite almost two days after it is implemented. Where is the allegiance to the DVC Member? I get a million "wanna buy more" e-mails, how about an update about the booking changes.

I am saddend by their lack of notification.

[Horizon93]

I completely agree with Karen. How difficult would it be to send us an email. I haven't checked today, but is it even on the member site?

It is very disappointing that in this age of communication, DVC couldn't let members know about this.

[dlpmikki]

I guess I am less bothered by the 7 day rule than the waitlist issue. I don't see how they are going to make all or nothing work for longer trips.

[DVC Mike]

I've had some time to think about the policy change, and I'm now thinking the change is a positive thing. I'd rather know that I can get all of a 7-night stay than worry day-by-day that after I got 3 nights, I might not get night 4. I feel the same way with the new waitlisting policy.

Yes, there may be a small bit less fairness than the old method, but it won't have much of a negative impact to me. I don't tend to book extremely hard to get ressies, and I think this will have less impact to those that book at the 11-mo window (which I always do) than to those that book at the 7-mo window.

The biggest negative impact to me is the limitation of only being able to book up to 7 nights. If it was bumped up to 8-10 nights, I probably wouldn't have any complaints at all (except for the way DVC botched the rollout of this change).

[MinnieMommie]

I called last week and was still getting the call back day by day instructions on how to book my January vacation so I am happy to learn of this new booking implementation. I can see that this will be a positive change for some circunstances but that there are drawbacks as well.
It wil be good to heard from intercotees as they use the new system to learn how it is working for them. It will not be too helpful for my upcoming trip because my trip will be more than 7 days and will have a break in the reservation dates due to staying at a resort for Friday and Saturday nights.

[wendy*darling]

Interesting news. I think it should work out fine.
But I am extremely disappointed that I have still not heard this from DVC! As of 8:25 Sunday evening- it is STILL not on the website!
I will be writing to them.. again.

[DWHUBBY]

From a purely logistical standpoint, since they finally changed it to calling 7/11 months from check-in, why not allow booking the guest's ENTIRE stay like you would do at any hotel chain? This makes it easier for guests to make all their plans knowing they will have a place to call "home" for their entire stay and not have to worry about if they will have a place to sleep on night 8. This would be especially helpful for guests travelling from overseas as they tend to stay longer than 7 days.

As far as the waitlist issue, the jury is still out for me on that one. We have tried it twice, once it worked and once it didn't. For me the "all or nothing" would be fine because I do not want to change resorts in the middle of my stay.

I also do not understand why DVC members were not notified of a policy change ahead of time. We are owners not just membership numbers after all.

That's my opinion, I welcome yours.

[OhToodles!]

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.

[dlpmikki]

I've just had an email from DVC...... but it didn't mention this new policy. It was offering more points at OKW

[Momof2boys]

We book for longer than 7 days - not too crazy about having to call back again for the 2nd part of the stay but I guess we'll have to make do.