Can we discuss the lack of DVC resorts available?

[n2mm]

Once the international borders opened a flood of members started booking. Now add to the lifting of borrowing restrictions. along With members who have been hesitant to travel, now are traveling….all during fall and the holidays, it was the perfect storm. I am a 11 month booker, but often cruise. Throwing together last minute 2 night reservations are really hard to do before and after a cruise right now. things are changing and we have to change with these changes or be left without a room. I now book my possible plans and modify as I get closer. Good luck

 

[Sandisw]

Just a reminder…we do not allow people to share real time availability. It changes so often that until one can book, it doesn’t matter.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

I’ve been hearing that with the demand for cash stays being so high coupled with DVC buying back so much SSR, AKV and OKW, that they are using the points they acquire to sell cash rooms. This would result in less inventory for us to book because of Disney’s efficiency in booking these rooms compared to an average DVC member.

 

[tjkraz]

I’ve been hearing that with the demand for cash stays being so high coupled with DVC buying back so much SSR, AKV and OKW, that they are using the points they acquire to sell cash rooms. This would result in less inventory for us to book because of Disney’s efficiency in booking these rooms compared to an average DVC member.

Disney reported its hotels are operating around 90% occupancy, meaning WDW still has ~3000 vacant rooms on any given night.

DVC buybacks do give Disney more points to set aside rooms. But most of that activity happens at 11 months. Disney can't ROFR a contract in June and pull-back cash room for October if October is already booked. And if the contract is stripped, they have to wait until the next Use Year to have any usable points.

At the end of the day, a point is a point is a point. Whether the contract is in a member's hands or DVC's hands, the points still have the same rights to book rooms.

 

[xdan0920]

Just a reminder…we do not allow people to share real time availability. It changes so often that until one can book, it doesn’t matter.

I wasn’t sharing real time availability. I was making a point.

I get that the Dis has a financial stake in rentals, so I get why it’s kinda taboo to talk about.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

Disney reported its hotels are operating around 90% occupancy, meaning WDW still has ~3000 vacant rooms on any given night.

DVC buybacks do give Disney more points to set aside rooms. But most of that activity happens at 11 months. Disney can't ROFR a contract in June and pull-back cash room in October if October is already booked. And if the contract is stripped, they have to wait until the next Use Year to have any usable points.

At the end of the day, a point is a point is a point. Whether the contract is in a member's hands or DVC's hands, the points still have the same rights to book rooms.

A point is a point, yes. But DVC has been buying back contracts like mad since the start of 2022. Gives them plenty of time to close and sell rooms in the fall of 2022. It’s not hard to fathom that DVC will be more efficient at utilizing their points compared to a member who is banking or just letting points expire. The point I am trying to make is just because a member has the right, doesn’t mean they exercise it. DVC will fully utilize their rights to book.

 

[Sandisw]

I wasn’t sharing real time availability. I was making a point.

I get that the Dis has a financial stake in rentals, so I get why it’s kinda taboo to talk about.

The real time post was not in reference to your deleted post.

You can talk about other rental sites as long as you post a link when sharing thar info,

if the site is filtered, then any info from their site can’t not be discussed. It the link shows, discuss that info as normal.

 

[Sandisw]

A point is a point, yes. But DVC has been buying back contracts like mad since the start of 2022. Gives them plenty of time to close and sell rooms in the fall of 2022. It’s not hard to fathom that DVC will be more efficient at utilizing their points compared to a member who is banking or just letting points expire. The point I am trying to make is just because a member has the right, doesn’t mean they exercise it. DVC will fully utilize their rights to book.

And if you read the contracts, it mentions that Disney is a competitor for rentals when discussing an owner renting,

So we all know going in that DVC/dVd will take full advantage of using whatever points they have to use for cash stays.

 

[xdan0920]

The real time post was not in reference to your deleted post.

You can talk about other rental sites as long as you post a link when sharing thar info,

if the site is filtered, then any info from their site can’t not be discussed. It the link shows, discuss that info as normal.

Alright. Well I can’t post the link because that would be sharing real time availability.

So I’ll just say this. There are many studios booked by rental companies in December.

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

And if you read the contracts, it mentions that Disney is a competitor for rentals when discussing an owner renting,

So we all know going in that DVC/dVd will take full advantage of using whatever points they have to use for cash stays.

Completely agree and fully aware. I have no problem with DVC doing what they are doing. As much as we dislike ROFR when buying, it’s good to have it there for overall value of the program. I went in knowing that booking in advance was the only way to secure preferred dates for travel.

 

[meekey7197]

I wasn’t sharing real time availability. I was making a point.

I get that the Dis has a financial stake in rentals, so I get why it’s kinda taboo to talk about.

It was my post that was deleted and I, too, was just trying to prove a point. My bad.

 

[Sandisw]

Alright. Well I can’t post the link because that would be sharing real time availability.

So I’ll just say this. There are many studios booked by rental companies in December.

Sharing the link for confirmed reservations is not real time availability as those are not available as they are booked.

Real-time availability is sharing with others what is there to book from the DVC website, not rentals.

 

[Robbie Cottam]

I have alway told friends, family, renter book early, as doc tends to fill up around 9 or 10 mounts prior and pretty much books solid by 6 months…..

just my opinion by I try to book at 11 and 7 months respectively.

this being the 50 celebration most things have been full for months .

i tried to do a last minute trip in dec, ended up paying cash to stay in the French Quarter….

 

[tjkraz]

A point is a point, yes. But DVC has been buying back contracts like mad since the start of 2022. Gives them plenty of time to close and sell rooms in the fall of 2022.

Pending availability. If DVC buys-back points in March, they can only use them toward October stays if availability remains. And members will have had a 4-5 month head start to book Oct dates before DVC reacquired those points.

It’s not hard to fathom that DVC will be more efficient at utilizing their points compared to a member who is banking or just letting points expire. The point I am trying to make is just because a member has the right, doesn’t mean they exercise it. DVC will fully utilize their rights to book.

From January - May, DVC bought back 95,000 SSR points. They re-sold 29,000 SSR points over the same time period. So we're talking about a net inventory addition of ~66k points, of which some are stripped contracts with no 2022 points available for use.

Yes, some portion of those 66K points would expire unused if left in members' hands. But what are we talking about? Even 10%--which seems like an aggressive estimate--amounts to 6600 points. On a resort with more than 14 million points, I'm skeptical that this activity has had any material impact on members' ability to secure reservations.

There are certainly other factors much more likely to reduce availability, like resumption of international travel and removal of the temporary borrowing restriction. Or the growing phenomenon of rental brokers instructing owners to pre-book a room even though there is no customer ready and waiting to use the accommodation.

 

[Brian Noble]

Or the growing phenomenon of rental brokers instructing owners to pre-book a room even though there is no customer ready and waiting to use the accommodation.

It would be interesting to know if the studio/villa split has gotten worse over the last year or so. There‘s much more profit headroom in studio rentals than villas—to the point that 1BR DVC rentals at “market rates” (i.e. what the brokers charge) in some periods make no sense.

Pre-booked rentals are moving in the direction I’ve anticipated for a while now: Rental pricing based on the room ”value” rather than a per-point dollar amount. I didn’t think this is how it would happen, though.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

regarding "only a studio", studios are the most popular and they get booked up first.
Weekends too. And this is compounded at the last three months of the year. I had to book December at 11 months. Nothing to change to at 7 months. It's not unusual.
January doesn't have much available between Marathon weekend and MLK weekend, which are very popular times and you need to book them ASAP in any resort.

It's actually rather irrelevant who is booking them, the truth is that they book up very quickly. Last minute accommodations are a rarity these days.

that said, you can waitlist, and there are cancellations.

 

[Goldilocks07]

Completely agree and fully aware. I have no problem with DVC doing what they are doing. As much as we dislike ROFR when buying, it’s good to have it there for overall value of the program. I went in knowing that booking in advance was the only way to secure preferred dates for travel.

Not us.
Our advisor, and person who initially sold to us in 2007, said that plenty of rooms would be open for last minute stays. We specifically said that we don't book that far in advance (FWIW, my ex at the time, who was my husband, is a very last minute planner- I plan well in advance, but not always at 11 months and prefer to plan 2-4 months ahead). Meanwhile that salesperson closed the deal with us and magically 'disappeared' and ever since, I've experienced the 'hunt and score' thrills of booking DVC rooms. Mostly successful, I might add, but always stressful.

 

[Goldilocks07]

regarding "only a studio", studios are the most popular and they get booked up first.
Weekends too. And this is compounded at the last three months of the year. I had to book December at 11 months. Nothing to change to at 7 months. It's not unusual.
January doesn't have much available between Marathon weekend and MLK weekend, which are very popular times and you need to book them ASAP in any resort.

It's actually rather irrelevant who is booking them, the truth is that they book up very quickly. Last minute accommodations are a rarity these days.

that said, you can waitlist, and there are cancellations.

When is marathon weekend?

 

[Robbie Cottam]

Am I the only one the prefers a one bedroom?

I have found much better availability when you are flexible

 

[Jimmy Geppetto]

Not us.
Our advisor, and person who initially sold to us in 2007, said that plenty of rooms would be open for last minute stays. We specifically said that we don't book that far in advance (FWIW, my ex at the time, who was my husband, is a very last minute planner- I plan well in advance, but not always at 11 months and prefer to plan 2-4 months ahead). Meanwhile that salesperson closed the deal with us and magically 'disappeared' and ever since, I've experienced the 'hunt and score' thrills of booking DVC rooms. Mostly successful, I might add, but always stressful.

I’m sorry to hear you had that experience. I feel for you.

When it comes to guides and even resale brokers, some seem good and many are just awful.