Free Upgrade to Saratoga Springs Resort

[Sammie]

I am an AP holder. I didn't get the e-mail. Do you know who I contact to get the offer?

Just call CRO and ask for availibility. It is open to anyone that has an Annual Pass, the email is just a notification to AP members that the rates are being offered. Just like in the Mickey Monitor and on the website.

You can also get the info about the offer here on the DIS under discounts, Mousesavers and the AP website.

The offer also included the Epcot Resorts, SSR and OKW.

 

[rinkwide]

...I really see no benefit to the discussion of this particular situation to have included those old posts except to try and discredit me...

I'm not trying to discredit you. I am, however, attacking the position that there is no reason for any DVC member to be upset about these discounts and upgrades.

 

[WebmasterDoc]

... I am, however, attacking the position that there is no reason for any DVC member to be upset about these discounts and upgrades.

In the case of SSR, members do not own a lot of the resort at this time. Much of the resort is still owned by the developer and that entity is entitled to do whatever it wishes with the villas it owns - rent the rooms at discount or give them away if they wish.

In the case of OKW (or any of the other DVC resorts), members should be happy that Disney is renting those villas, since that activity is what allows members to use their points for the non-DVC options like the cruise, stays at other WDW resorts, DL, DLP, Concierge Collection, etc. .

Unless rooms made available by members "trading" their points for these other options can be rented- even at a discount - those programs will likely cease to exist. Villas unreserved 60 days in advance provide an opportunity for breakage income to offset our dues- another benefit of such rental activity by Disney. DVC does not directly control these upgrade programs, since the villas are held by CRO and not DVC.

Attack that "position" all you wish, but it does allow DVC to offer it's members trades to other locations and provides a little offset in regard to our annual fees.

IMO, it would be irresponsible for DVC and Disney to allow those rooms to sit empty. As long as they can recover the income needed for the non-DVC options used by DVC members it looks like a win-win situation. The upgrade program does not cost DVC members anything, does not remove rooms from member inventory - thus depriving members of availability (the rooms were already removed from inventory when any member trades for another option) and can actually save members some expense in our dues.

.02

 

[rinkwide]

...Attack that "position" all you wish, but it does allow DVC to offer it's members trades to other locations and provides a little offset in regard to our annual fees...

I see your point but shouldn't there be BCV, BWV or VWL deals and upgrades too?

 

[WebmasterDoc]

I see your point but shouldn't there be BCV, BWV or VWL deals and upgrades too?

Sure- if they have unsold inventory, rooms remaining at 60 days and/or lots of rooms exchanged by the owners at those resorts. If the inventory has already been rented at rack rate, there is little need to discount or give away the rooms. There is likely to be less available inventory at the smaller resorts anyway (and BWV, BCV and VWL are definitely smaller).

Regardless, Disney has the responsibility to rent the available rooms- even if it's at a discount. Whether they have actually overbooked the All Stars or Pop Century or not, they can easily rent those rooms to others by creating availability thru the use of upgrades.

Disney has used such upgrades and upsells for years. This is just another means to share the Disney magic with others without costing Disney (or DVC members) anything.

 

[bpmorley]

So if I(and AP & DVC)call CRO I may be able to get an upgrade to a 1BDR next week???????

 

[mamatojon]

So if I(and AP & DVC)call CRO I may be able to get an upgrade to a 1BDR next week???????

I would think that if you paid cash for your room through CRO and booked at Allstars or Pop you'd have just as much luck as the next guy (keeping in mind just how many people are reserving rooms at the values). Were there people reserving SSR studios at cash and getting 1BR upgrades? That's not what I understood.

I really just don't understand what all the fuss is over. I'm really happy for someone who gets an upgrade, I think its cool and I used to love it when it happened to me at Disneyland. I can't imagine the complaints we would be seeing if someone posted here "Hey, I just reserved a studio and got upgraded to a 1BR for 5 nights!!! Lucky me!!!" There would be an outcry of "how can Disney do that? Why aren't they trying to aggresively rent the rooms out to provide breakage income? Even renting them at a discount would be better than giving them away to a few lucky people!"

 

[rinkwide]

...a few lucky people...

Naturally, a few people won't matter but if Disney gets in the habit of purposely overselling the Values and letting Saratoga Springs become their All-Star overflow resort, well, that's a problem.

 

[LIFERBABE]

Naturally, a few people won't matter but if Disney gets in the habit of purposely overselling the Values and letting Saratoga Springs become their All-Star overflow resort, well, that's a problem.

Im not at all worried about that happening. Once SSR is completely finished, there will be plenty of members to fill those rooms. The cash rooms available for upgrades will always be a small percentage of capacity.

I agree with others, without those rooms, we would lose many of our trading privileges. What CRO is doing is utilizing rooms they have already paid for that would otherwise go empty. If they did not have this option, they would most likely not even take these rooms in trade from DVC.

And FYI, the discounted rooms were available at the Epcot Resorts also.

It's easy to pick on a resort that is not even finished yet. To make all these presumptions when all the inventory is not even declared or available in the reservation system is premature.
We will not know SSR's true availability until all units are available to be reserved at the 11 month window and that will not happen until 2008/2009.

And if you need to dig up any of my previous posts to attack that position, make sure you use all caps L-I-F-E-R-B-A-B-E.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Naturally, a few people won't matter but if Disney gets in the habit of purposely overselling the Values and letting Saratoga Springs become their All-Star overflow resort, well, that's a problem.

It might help you understand why many of us are not concerned about this if you replace the words "Saratoga Springs" in your quote with "whatever DVC Resort(s) currently not yet completed and not sold out".

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

What kind of a time span does this involve? Was it one week, two? Maybe they have a very large group coming in (school band, etc.) that they preferred to put in a value resort. To me it would make more sense to upgrade families to a higher priced resort vs. a large group of teens. There are so many possibilities as to why this was done. No one should really be too worried about it unless it becomes a frequent occurrence. As for the reason why it was OKW/SSR -- doesn't take a genius to figure out that they are the largest DVC resorts, thus more availability.

 

[Sammie]

What kind of a time span does this involve? Was it one week, two? Maybe they have a very large group coming in (school band, etc.) that they preferred to put in a value resort. To me it would make more sense to upgrade families to a higher priced resort vs. a large group of teens. There are so many possibilities as to why this was done. No one should really be too worried about it unless it becomes a frequent occurrence. As for the reason why it was OKW/SSR -- doesn't take a genius to figure out that they are the largest DVC resorts, thus more availability.

Based on what I have read on the Resorts Forum from guests who were offered the move, and what I have been told from CMs at CRO, it is one week in June. Some have also got the situation confused.

The people offered the upgrade to move from All Stars to OKW and SSR, were not offered this when they called to book a room. They were contacted just recently to see if they would be willing to move or even be willing to move and come in August. Some people turned them down.

And yes OKW and SSR were offered basically because that is all that was available to offer. In the past when this has happened other resorts were offered including some of the deluxe resorts.

As to the Annual Pass discount mentioned earlier in this thread, annual pass discounts when offered have always included the DVC resorts. This particular time due to very heavy bookings property wide the only discounts offered were the Epcot resorts, SSR and OKW and availability was very limited at all of them.

As to the frequency of this happening, I don't think Disney is doing this as often as our own members are renting them for the same amount of money.

I see no difference in the affect of Disney selling a room for basically the same amount of money members are renting them. Why should one be critized and not the other?

I understand the need to rent points when one has to cancel or when something happens and one can't use the points and does not want to lose them. But when members rent their points month after month, hundreds of bookings a year, I see no reason to critize Disney for doing this and not the members.

This affect is widely discussed on other forums besides this one and the main comment is why buy, when one can rent so cheaply.

 

[rinkwide]

...And if you need to dig up any of my previous posts to attack that position, make sure you use all caps L-I-F-E-R-B-A-B-E...

touché

 

[catrinuk]

lucky you, i know it is another way of getting people interested in DVC but that is disney and dosent it make you feel good

 

[mjmcca]

I got that same email about the savings for AP holders at OKW and SSR. It also talks about the Epcot area resorts in the email, If you log into the passholder site you can see the deal.

 

[bigsk8fan]

We just got that offer like a week ago. We jumped on it IMMEDIATELY!!!!! So now, instead of just getting the FREE Dining Plan we also got a FREE Upgrade to Saratoga Springs (with a nice 1 bedroom villa). Oh, I am so excited! The boatride down to Downtown Disney will be fantastic, I remember riding on that boat from Port Orleans Riverside.

I'm sure your kids can appreciate that you got a nice, upper-class spa and resort, with a villa than just a plain, normal resort. At least they should be. When it comes to free upgrades, who really cares, it's FREE, jump on that baby and hold on tight! I mean, it's Disney World why would you argue about the fine little details in the HAPPIEST place on Earth?! Don't worry, be happy.

 

[rinkwide]

Grandma always said, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"

 

[EEyorelover22]

Good business. When POFQ closed we were moved to AKL for $92 a night for a Sav View. My family now will ONLY stay there and we are probably going to jump and buy AKV. They will make a ton of money off me for the rest of my life. I know without that move to AKL we would not have gone back as much...DH didn't like it all that well. He loves it after AKL. If they even convert 1-2 people...it's money in the bank.

 

[Sammie]

Grandma always said, "Why buy the cow when you can get the milk for free?"

Have to ask, who is the cow?

 

[mouseaddicts]

I cant let Rinkwide get the flames all alone. I have to agree with him. Being an owner at SSR I hope this doesnt become a regular thing. I dont mind anyone getting good value for hard earned money but going from AS to SSR is quite an upgrade indeed. Flame suit zipped and ready.