It's super annoying to me that the rooms and linens are only serviced every fourth day, however they are in you room everyday. If they aren't going to make my bed, I shouldn't have to worry about leaving my electronics and jewelry out. Ether clean the rom or stay out of the room.
My cousins put out the "Do not disturb" sign. Mostly they're checking to see if anyone dropped dead. So they are likely to call you if the signs are out for a few days but I couldn't agree more if you're not doing anything in the room, stay out!
I just came back and they never even came to our room once. I missed coming back from the parks and having the bed made and coming back to a clean an cozy room.
I was at CBR two years ago, and a DVC rep in the lobby approached me while I was waiting on some food, and just looking around. I asked him point blank about resale restrictions, and he lied about it. The whole experience really put me off.
One of the reasons you buy DVC is because you CAN resell it if you need to. The restrictions and the worry that they will do things to make these contracts un-resale-able is what gives me pause to purchase.
My issue with our stay and housekeeping; they won't clean your room until the 4th day. But they would knock on our door every day and sometimes twice a day asking for the trash. Then, I won't say the hotel. The housekeeping carts were blocking the hallways. We've stayed at many hotels over the years, but never had so many issues where they don't seem to know to keep the housekeeping carts by the side of the wall so people can get through.
I don't necessarily care about having my beds made or room cleaned each day, but I would really like to have clean wash clothes and towels at least every other day, if not every day. I do like the compromise idea of allowing members to elect to pay a surcharge for more frequent housekeeping services.
We can pay an upcharge for housekeeping. the charge is per day requested...in other words, you could do it every other day...and the charge varies by room size. And according to the DVC Member Website, they will bring more towels at no charge...that changes a couple of years ago, I think. But you need to call housekeeping...it isn't an automatic thing.
I had to cancel my stay at Grand Floridian due to the pandemic and closures. I got no help from DVC. They wouldn’t extend my points at the time and was forced to transfer my expiring points to RCI, something I knew I would never use. I live in Switzerland and told the DVC representative it was impossible for me to travel to the States at the time. He told me to give them to someone. I am out those 200 points. Wasn‘t happy
I appreciate the honesty of this show. I am definitely not encouraged to buy into DVC. Thought about it for years but I think I'm convinced that DVC is just something I don't need.
We don't like housekeeping coming in at all. We can make our own beds if we want them made. We put trash out in the hall ourselves and a basket of clean towels can be left outside the door. If housekeeping is coming I fell like our stuff can't just be left out. Staying in a vacation home is supposed to be like being at home. On stays over 7 days I do like that the place is cleaned but that's enough for us. One thing I don't like is that they do come in your room when you are gone for the day even if the do not disturb sign is on the door. We were unaware of this until our last trip when my son stayed behind because he wasn't feeling well and a woman basically forced him to let her in to look around. I can understand they need to make sure we aren't doing anything illegal in there but if we had know this policy we would lock up our valuables when we leave for the day.
Couple points..first, you only spent 15 minutes this time talking about the resale restrictions.AGAIN, wait till Disneyland Tower. But the restrictions aren't even in my top 3. The policy that people don't understand/realize immediately when they buy DVC (and Sean briefly mentioned it) is the availability problems and booking stress that occur because of the point allocations that the bungalows and the cabins at CCV have on the rest of the rooms. As both a RIV and CCV owner, the CCV issue for studios, 1 and 2 bdrms is a bigger and more frequent problem. Paul also brought up some great points....thank you for being on the show!
Right now the borrowing or lack thereof is really annoying. I have 3 contracts and I do not like that I can’t use my points the way I want and the way I was told when I signed up for DVC. I really like this show and have found it to be very informative!
IMO the housekeeping not coming around everyday is more like “home”. That is what DVC is marketed as right? Home away from home. We’ve been members since 2003.
I miss being able to park at other DVC resorts to shop or see displays. You have to have a dining reservation. I just wanted pizza on the Boardwalk and see the entertainment but told I needed a restaurant reservation.
I strayed at Animal Kingdom a few months ago and was surprised to see my trash was emptied everyday. Right now other Hotel chains have also eliminated daily housekeeping.
I’m ok with reusing my towels, i reuse my towels at home. BUT, I don’t want to use someone else’s used towel…not even my husband’s or children’s towel…PLEASE provide enough towel bars,hooks etc for the number of guests the room can accommodate. Also, need to put a small towel bar in he kitchenette of studios for the dish cloth and towel. Wet towels are a breeding ground for yuck!
I don't believe so, because the resale restrictions eliminates the other 13 resort owners from booking at Riviera, and that group is way bigger then the others of RR. And remember direct buyers at RR can use their points at the other resorts.
I own at other timeshares and they pull units from us owners and open the units up to cash sales. It is truly frustrating and unfair to say the least! 🤬Interesting that DVC does this too! Thanks Paul!☺️
World of DVC has implemented the timeless Disney effect of "forced perspective" while using those microphones! I love how large they look on that desk ha
We had reservations for October last year at the Boardwalk. For a couple of reasons, we could not go. I talked to member services who confirmed what I already knew that if I cancelled I would have to use those points by November 30, the end of our use year. I decided not to cancel but to just not show up. The reason I did that is because I didn't want to give DVC the chance to rent out our room for cash.
Great show! Pete, I think any misunderstanding about how you feel about Riviera is on the part of the other people. I’ve only ever heard you say the restrictions are the problem, well and sharing the lake with CBR. Lol. I own Riviera. I can’t fault anyone for being upset over the restrictions. I am too, but Riviera is it for us. Every stay makes us more sure we picked the right place for our family. I don’t believe these glitches are actually glitches a year later. I don’t think it’s honest. My ownership feels a little less shiny with that tarnish.
Great topic. I guess I am fortunate that I have never had an issue booking on the website. The issue I have is that the website does not allow me to link reservations when using 2 contracts or booking at 2 resorts.
Just found your channel and it’s brill, I got left dvc points in a will and I’m uk based. Disney wouldn’t do anything about my expiring points and no info really to how the system worked. The points I had expiring due to not being able to travel due to the pandemic I was told either lose them, place into rci or book a uk staycation cruise. A three night stay cation cruise cost me 555 points for three nights.! I didn’t really want to go but also didn’t want to lose the points. I now have less points for this years trip as I had to borrow points.! I’ll probably be selling them as it’s such a shame but so restrictive for uk dvc members as we can’t just nip to Orlando for a long weekend
I purchased direct at Riviera in March and we are very happy with our purchase. I am not worried about the restrictions of resale but we also don’t plan to sell at all. That may change 20 years from now but we are hoping that maybe those restrictions may be different then.
Thank you, Pete, for your empathy for those of us who have had similar experiences with DVC related issues. This was an excellent show. Now if someone can explain why I'm only able to use only 50% of next years points for an upcoming vacation, that would help. I do the suggestion of DVC Reservations using the call-back system so I don't have to wait on the phone forever, that would be great. Thanks again.
Just saw this as im doing my research to get into DVC. I would say that other people I have spoken with also looking to buy into DVC has is all aligned where do not want to buy riviera direct and would not even think of doing resell for riviera. It also impacts us overall as the restrictions is pushing us into buying direct.
It would be interesting to see an if the DVC cast member would be OK with being filmed while making a new DVC contract. I would like to see how transparent the agent is to the seller about resale restrictions.
The “golden” years of DVC and WDW may have come and gone. We always felt special being DVC members since 2001 but lately, even before the pandemic, it’s been disappearing. We still enjoy it but the WDW magic has been replaced by DCL for us. DCL is like the World used to be.
Love the show as always! Was wondering if you all could do an updated review of Saratoga Springs with the new remodeled rooms? Thanks for everything you do!
Thank you so much I learn so much. We bought Rivers never was anything explained to us as you have taught us. Same on us for not reading everything. And yes we tried to book Rivera at our 11 month out and no room at the inn. Oh well live and learn. Thanks again. Have. Great week.
Wow, these issues sound like EVERY OTHER timeshare company out there. Resale restrictions are ever prevalent in just about ever other system. Long wait times with Owner Service, same. Website issues, just as bad. Pulling inventory from the system "because they can" to sell as cash, they all do it. It doesn't seem that DVC is immune just because it is Disney. Thanks for the insight!
The worst DVC policy change to me is that booking flexibility privileges end today; however, limitations on borrowing points from next year (and every future year) remain frozen at 50%. They are unable to tell us at this point when the 50% limit will be removed. Both of these policies were introduced last year to help Disney deal with the uncertainty of the times. I understand that. But if the flexibility policy that benefits owners can be rolled back now that the uncertainty appears to be coming to an end, why are they not also ending the 50% borrowing max?
Great show. Pete is a big softy, regardless of what he chooses to show the UA-cam world. We have 1300 points that expired last year. We are December use year, which was excluded from extensions last year, which was unbelievably unfair. We are also frontline healthcare workers in Canada and won’t likely be able to go this year either, meaning another 1300 points to sell (which is a pain) or expire. We have been members since day 1, literally. Really disappointing that no one at DVC reached out.
i know you shouldn’t buy a DVC with perks in mind because they can be taken away but that doesn’t mean you haven’t paid for them. If you are a blue card holder you should be more mad about DVC resale restrictions than white card holders. Anyone who buys resale now knows they won’t get them. However if you bought in as a direct member you have indirectly paid for these benefits and when you go to sell to upgrade or whatever you can’t sell your interest at it’s highest value and essentially you throw that money away. What I don’t think people understand is when a direct member sells the contract Disney actually saves money because they don’t have to offer those incentives to the new owner, so Disney gets the pocket that money. Yet the member incentives seem to get smaller and smaller when the group of direct members could be getting smaller and smaller especially with the lack of interest in Riviera and the cancellation of reflections, Disney should have more money to spend on that group of people yet somehow they claim they don’t. Everyone pays the same dues direct or resale so the pot of money hasn’t changed but perks get smaller.
New to the show my family and I had used our points for California trip August 2020 they had no DVC rooms available so we used them for the hotel we knew of the cancellation policy for hotel but here’s the kicker they closed Disneyland and wouldn’t return our points they really dropped the ball
Don't raise my dues for housekeeping. Went for 2 weeks and never had housekeeping come in. Let people pay separately for housekeeping, if they want it.
For me, DVC is being at Disney with comforts of home. Being able to relax in a condo like environment (1,2 bedroom) and not in a motel room. Being able to throw clothes in the washer instead of packing so much. I would not pay a dime to have more room service than you currently get. Staying in DVC but acting like it a regular hotel room seems odd and misses the point. 😉
Disney is playing the long game. Assuming 1. The restrictions stay for this and future resorts. 2. They will build an average of 1 resort every 5 years and 3. They will not extend Vero, HH, BC and BW past 2042. That means in 2042 instead of legacy resale owners having 14 to choose from and New owners 1, it will be 10 to 5. The tables will have turned as the new owners can choose between the five newest resorts and the legacy owners only have 10, two of which are not at WDW and the GF out of budget for most. And SSR not too popular and the others expiring somewhat soon. The resale value of OKW or SSR would tumble.
I don’t agree with Rivera maintenance fees including skyliner operations cost. This transportation is used by all Disney guests, why does DVC Rivera owners get stuck with the maintenance bill?
The problem is not enough low point studios to meet demand of all the smaller contracts sold and too many point monster bungalows and cabins sitting empty.
Was looking into being a new DVC member this year. Buying some direct and some from the use market, but after watching this episode, YIKES, not sure I really want to be a DVC member. Not good Disney. Starting to sound like the con most timeshares are noted for and should stay away from.
We were set to buy 250 points at Riviera back in February. I knew that the contract would limit us in terms of resale value. And while that wasn’t really an issue, what turned me off the most is when I had a lot of questions for customer service and I could not get through. It was taking me literally hours to get questions asked. That was enough for my husband and I to take pause and say no. Maybe we will buy resale one day, but I’d rather not be treated like a second-class citizen.
I would like a follow up show to what Paul was discussing. I bought resale in 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic. I was able to book with borrowing for our December 2021 trip on my own. But I am looking to understand more to be able to better predict and prepare for future trips.
A bit shocked about Sean's experience.... that's utter crap customer service! Appalling actually....and not even considering the amount of money we're talking about! It's crap service if you only paid a standard hotel rate. 👀
As a new resale member, with a 50 point contract, I must say that I have had very little issue with the reservation system. I have been able to book a very sought after standard room at my home resort, once for a December trip (ended up renting it) and one for a January trip. No issues whatsoever, even as an international member. I am a bit worried about the things you have said, and hope things do improve soon enough.
I love the idea of offering a mouse keeping if you book at least 7 months out so they have time to schedule appropriate personnel. People only booking shorter time just would not get that option.
The big losers in the Riviera situation are the people who bought them had to sell after less than 2 years (a lot probably COVID related). They lost a lot of money fast.
The issues with being on hold with Disney is everywhere. No matter what you call Disney about you're on hold forever. I think it is a case of Disney not hiring Cast Members back, They don't care if your're on hold forever. And like Fiasco said you get a different answer from every CM. I've called multiple times about the same topic and get 4-5 different answers. That is clearly from not training CM properly.
I know someone works in the “call center” where when you call the “front desk” it goes to them. They are SEVERELY understaff right now. They’re just now hiring people back but they have to go threw training again. On top of that the people who do work there are not showing up for shifts because they are so exhausted from people calling and screaming at them over things they can’t control. It’s really rough for the cast members right now :(
Well, I have to say that Pete made me laugh so hard when he said the show pissed him off…..I Love Pete, he just call it has it is. I’m from Canada, I had 150 points at the Villa Grand Flo and just sold it last December as I don’t have enough patience to deal with unorganized mess. Plus, we are retiring in 2 years and will buy a mobile home somewhere in those55+ comm.
I am not a dvc member. But I'm staying at yacht club for 6 nights in October and they state housekeeping is on the 4 the day. I'm sorry for the price of deluxe my bed should be made everyday and roomed picked up a little. So I'm unhappy with this not sure if it's covid related but stinks.
I am a DVC member. This 4 day (trash and towel) housekeeping attendance has always been like this. The thinking is that most stays are long term “home” stays. When you booked/rented a DVC room you accept the housekeeping policy.
10:19 Not to disagree, but we recently bought a contract direct. Our guide was very transparent with the limitations on the resale market vs direct and Rivera's unique deals. Now, he didn't trumpet it around when I said the word "Rivera" but he did walk me through it when I asked about pro's and con's of one SSR vs Rivera vs Copper Creek. But too, a car salesman isn't going to talk to you about resale value just as a guide isn't going to talk to you about selling your contract. But he did talk about renting out points and how anyone taking up my Rivera rented points would be limited.
In my opinion, since these are technically portions of real estate, DVC owners should get a copy of the “deed” to show what rooms have been allocated for consumption by DVC points. Along with that, point values should be frozen at time of purchase and adjusted based only upon inflation and relative to adjustments/increases in New priced contracts. That’s the only way this plays fair. Rooms stay in the pool for availability and you keep your value that you buy at.
Wait, I thought the restriction was that Riviera points purchased after market could only be used at Riviera, not other points purchased for other resorts.
Some of what they were referring to was the policy that changed a few years ago stating that any points at the original 14 bought resale can’t be used at any new resorts, only the original 14.
I won’t even tour Rivera and I will never buy there 😡. I think the example of people who want to add on but can never use the rivera points in combination with points at a 2nd home resort was an aspect many don’t understand. 🤦♀️ Sean’s point is also true. Availability is going to be an issue at Riviera in a few years even for owners who call that home due to the resale restrictions. Paul’s point, if I’m told “no” at Disney, I either call back or ask at a different guest service location. I’ve gotten what I asked for every time when I change the person I’m asking. Great show thanks guys! 😎🌴
The point reallocations are my biggest pet peeve. We bought into DVC with the expectation that we needed X number of points to stay around a particular time of year. When you buy into DVC you're committing to decades of Disney vacations so that pre-planning element is sort of baked into the equation. Obviously dues fluctuate, and for the most part go up, but that's significantly different than needing to purchase additional points to stay in the same room category and season as you previously did. I understand their reasoning and sort of admire their attempt to rebalance the point charts, but it's still annoying nonetheless.
I should add I have no interest in traveling in the summer which they are hell bent on making cheaper every year. I don't care if it's basically free - I don't want to be in the parks when it's 95% humidity, 95 F and rains every day. If I lived there I'd have a pass that excludes the summer months because I just won't go then. Some people we know love or don't mind visiting in the summer - DVC point reallocations would be fantastic for them.
We are resale owners from Canada and face the possibility of having points expire. A fellow owner here and I were discussing whether DVC could create a program where expiring points could be donated to a charity for use by families of “wish” kids, or something similar. At least our points would be enjoyed and not just disappear. Does anyone know if anything like this exists?
Its not just resale points. You're not treated differently. I have only direct points and I've gotten an error and had to call for every trip I wanted to book since the pandemic started. No matter how many points it is. I tried to book one night and got an error.
the resale restrictions at Riviera hurt that resort....I feel like if they didn't have those the Riviera would have sold alot better....beautiful resort
Would it be a good thing if Apple bought Disney and brought their software infrastructure into the 21st century? The windows 3.1 is just not keeping up.
People selling Riviera for $120-$140 is priced right...the people selling them are taking a bath. Wasn’t this resort $200 per for new contracts? This resort is in deep shit. I know why Disney did it but idk why anyone would ever buy there.
And I think the borrowing glitch is only with new resale contacts. I have a beach club resale that I bought in 2018 and I have no issue borrowing, but I get the seven dwarfs glitch message if I try to borrow using my animal kingdom contract that I bought in 2020. I wonder if the resale contracts that have the Riviera restrictions are the only ones with the glitch?
And why did DVC use the WORST possible base year for allocating points thru the entire contracts when they restructured for 7 seasons? Aren’t decisions supposed to be made in member’s best interests? Then on top of that, they go and say that the huge surplus of points in the 2021 and 2022 allocations is due to rounding up. Umm, can’t you round down a few? Their integrity comes even more questionable when time and time again members are catching rooms being pulled beyond the 11 month mark. When members reach out to understand what it going on with all this stuff they are met with a variety of canned contradicting responses. One common answer relied on is don’t worry, this one thing won’t affect you... much 😉 What about the combination of all these things? And what other tricks will keep coming?
Calling any area of Disney is a train wreck-even in the before times pre plague. The incorrect information provided by experts literally costs guest and members major money. The cast members were already not enough to service people and Covid layoffs made it worse. For a company that has a ton of advanced technology their websites-it doesn’t matter what division it is are garbage. I had a refund back to a gift card that I don’t have anymore because they changed the site for combining and guest services can’t look anything up and take care of it instantly and the cast member literally said it’s going to take hours are you sure you want to hold all this time-yes it my money! I want to buy and I wanted to buy my 125 from them to get a blue card basically to get the annual pass rate-and other perks...and so many people feel that the annual passes are going to go. I don’t know why WDW DVC seems so intent on selling how great the service is while never investing in it. Sad.
And Disney's IT is the WORST! To be this large of a company with the tech they use is shameful! Remember the craziness the day when park reservations debuted & Bob said that it was "user error" for all the "glitches." What a nightmare that was!
It's super annoying to me that the rooms and linens are only serviced every fourth day, however they are in you room everyday. If they aren't going to make my bed, I shouldn't have to worry about leaving my electronics and jewelry out. Ether clean the rom or stay out of the room.
💯 agree with you!
My cousins put out the "Do not disturb" sign. Mostly they're checking to see if anyone dropped dead. So they are likely to call you if the signs are out for a few days but I couldn't agree more if you're not doing anything in the room, stay out!
Why do you think they are in your room everyday?
@@ellenw391 they're in your room to check for guns lmaoo, its for everyone's safety
I just came back and they never even came to our room once. I missed coming back from the parks and having the bed made and coming back to a clean an cozy room.
I was at CBR two years ago, and a DVC rep in the lobby approached me while I was waiting on some food, and just looking around. I asked him point blank about resale restrictions, and he lied about it. The whole experience really put me off.
One of the reasons you buy DVC is because you CAN resell it if you need to. The restrictions and the worry that they will do things to make these contracts un-resale-able is what gives me pause to purchase.
Good topic. The current policies I hate is the borrowing restriction, lack of resale benefits, and no dvc customer service right now
My issue with our stay and housekeeping; they won't clean your room until the 4th day. But they would knock on our door every day and sometimes twice a day asking for the trash. Then, I won't say the hotel. The housekeeping carts were blocking the hallways. We've stayed at many hotels over the years, but never had so many issues where they don't seem to know to keep the housekeeping carts by the side of the wall so people can get through.
I don't necessarily care about having my beds made or room cleaned each day, but I would really like to have clean wash clothes and towels at least every other day, if not every day. I do like the compromise idea of allowing members to elect to pay a surcharge for more frequent housekeeping services.
We can pay an upcharge for housekeeping. the charge is per day requested...in other words, you could do it every other day...and the charge varies by room size. And according to the DVC Member Website, they will bring more towels at no charge...that changes a couple of years ago, I think. But you need to call housekeeping...it isn't an automatic thing.
I believe you can request clean towels at any time.
I had to cancel my stay at Grand Floridian due to the pandemic and closures. I got no help from DVC. They wouldn’t extend my points at the time and was forced to transfer my expiring points to RCI, something I knew I would never use. I live in Switzerland and told the DVC representative it was impossible for me to travel to the States at the time. He told me to give them to someone. I am out those 200 points. Wasn‘t happy
I appreciate the honesty of this show. I am definitely not encouraged to buy into DVC. Thought about it for years but I think I'm convinced that DVC is just something I don't need.
We don't like housekeeping coming in at all. We can make our own beds if we want them made. We put trash out in the hall ourselves and a basket of clean towels can be left outside the door. If housekeeping is coming I fell like our stuff can't just be left out. Staying in a vacation home is supposed to be like being at home. On stays over 7 days I do like that the place is cleaned but that's enough for us. One thing I don't like is that they do come in your room when you are gone for the day even if the do not disturb sign is on the door. We were unaware of this until our last trip when my son stayed behind because he wasn't feeling well and a woman basically forced him to let her in to look around. I can understand they need to make sure we aren't doing anything illegal in there but if we had know this policy we would lock up our valuables when we leave for the day.
I agree , they should tell the guest at checkin of this policy
Couple points..first, you only spent 15 minutes this time talking about the resale restrictions.AGAIN, wait till Disneyland Tower. But the restrictions aren't even in my top 3. The policy that people don't understand/realize immediately when they buy DVC (and Sean briefly mentioned it) is the availability problems and booking stress that occur because of the point allocations that the bungalows and the cabins at CCV have on the rest of the rooms. As both a RIV and CCV owner, the CCV issue for studios, 1 and 2 bdrms is a bigger and more frequent problem. Paul also brought up some great points....thank you for being on the show!
Right now the borrowing or lack thereof is really annoying. I have 3 contracts and I do not like that I can’t use my points the way I want and the way I was told when I signed up for DVC. I really like this show and have found it to be very informative!
IMO the housekeeping not coming around everyday is more like “home”. That is what DVC is marketed as right? Home away from home. We’ve been members since 2003.
I miss being able to park at other DVC resorts to shop or see displays. You have to have a dining reservation. I just wanted pizza on the Boardwalk and see the entertainment but told I needed a restaurant reservation.
Sean's story is reality on this. DVC is like the house in Vegas. The odds are in their favor, and they usually win.
Spot on 👏👏👏 My one policy change is when it went from 9 months, when it's not your home resort, to 7 month window. ☹ Thanks for sharing 👍🏻😍
I strayed at Animal Kingdom a few months ago and was surprised to see my trash was emptied everyday. Right now other Hotel chains have also eliminated daily housekeeping.
I’m ok with reusing my towels, i reuse my towels at home. BUT, I don’t want to use someone else’s used towel…not even my husband’s or children’s towel…PLEASE provide enough towel bars,hooks etc for the number of guests the room can accommodate. Also, need to put a small towel bar in he kitchenette of studios for the dish cloth and towel. Wet towels are a breeding ground for yuck!
Riviera is going to be hard to book if every single resale contract can only spend their points there, instead of all of the other resorts
I don't believe so, because the resale restrictions eliminates the other 13 resort owners from booking at Riviera, and that group is way bigger then the others of RR. And remember direct buyers at RR can use their points at the other resorts.
@@frankcarney4882 , that’s a great point. I know what you typed but I didn’t put that all together . Thanks😀👍🏼
I’m not even a DVC member and I’m mad for y’all!!
Sorry, I didn't finish. I do like clean towels so I use the washer/dryers in the the room. I would rather that than raise my maintenance.
I own at other timeshares and they pull units from us owners and open the units up to cash sales. It is truly frustrating and unfair to say the least! 🤬Interesting that DVC does this too! Thanks Paul!☺️
World of DVC has implemented the timeless Disney effect of "forced perspective" while using those microphones! I love how large they look on that desk ha
We had reservations for October last year at the Boardwalk. For a couple of reasons, we could not go. I talked to member services who confirmed what I already knew that if I cancelled I would have to use those points by November 30, the end of our use year. I decided not to cancel but to just not show up. The reason I did that is because I didn't want to give DVC the chance to rent out our room for cash.
I'm happy not to have house keeping g in my room. I don't want to have to store all my personal things in a safe every day
We just got back from a stay at the Polynesian and they entered our room every day to remove garbage.
Great show! Pete, I think any misunderstanding about how you feel about Riviera is on the part of the other people. I’ve only ever heard you say the restrictions are the problem, well and sharing the lake with CBR. Lol.
I own Riviera. I can’t fault anyone for being upset over the restrictions. I am too, but Riviera is it for us. Every stay makes us more sure we picked the right place for our family.
I don’t believe these glitches are actually glitches a year later. I don’t think it’s honest. My ownership feels a little less shiny with that tarnish.
Great topic. I guess I am fortunate that I have never had an issue booking on the website. The issue I have is that the website does not allow me to link reservations when using 2 contracts or booking at 2 resorts.
Sean is by far my favorite on these shows. If I ever move to Orlando he is my agent for sure.
Just found your channel and it’s brill, I got left dvc points in a will and I’m uk based. Disney wouldn’t do anything about my expiring points and no info really to how the system worked. The points I had expiring due to not being able to travel due to the pandemic I was told either lose them, place into rci or book a uk staycation cruise. A three night stay cation cruise cost me 555 points for three nights.! I didn’t really want to go but also didn’t want to lose the points. I now have less points for this years trip as I had to borrow points.! I’ll probably be selling them as it’s such a shame but so restrictive for uk dvc members as we can’t just nip to Orlando for a long weekend
I purchased direct at Riviera in March and we are very happy with our purchase. I am not worried about the restrictions of resale but we also don’t plan to sell at all. That may change 20 years from now but we are hoping that maybe those restrictions may be different then.
Thank you, Pete, for your empathy for those of us who have had similar experiences with DVC related issues. This was an excellent show. Now if someone can explain why I'm only able to use only 50% of next years points for an upcoming vacation, that would help.
I do the suggestion of DVC Reservations using the call-back system so I don't have to wait on the phone forever, that would be great. Thanks again.
Reservation Walking is my biggest frustration... it wastes valuable cast member time and it makes it more difficult to book at your window.
How does it waste CM time? It's all done online. You don't have to call to modify a reservation.
Just saw this as im doing my research to get into DVC. I would say that other people I have spoken with also looking to buy into DVC has is all aligned where do not want to buy riviera direct and would not even think of doing resell for riviera. It also impacts us overall as the restrictions is pushing us into buying direct.
It would be interesting to see an if the DVC cast member would be OK with being filmed while making a new DVC contract. I would like to see how transparent the agent is to the seller about resale restrictions.
The “golden” years of DVC and WDW may have come and gone. We always felt special being DVC members since 2001 but lately, even before the pandemic, it’s been disappearing.
We still enjoy it but the WDW magic has been replaced by DCL for us. DCL is like the World used to be.
Love the show as always! Was wondering if you all could do an updated review of Saratoga Springs with the new remodeled rooms? Thanks for everything you do!
Thank you so much I learn so much. We bought Rivers never was anything explained to us as you have taught us. Same on us for not reading everything. And yes we tried to book Rivera at our 11 month out and no room at the inn. Oh well live and learn. Thanks again. Have. Great week.
Wow, these issues sound like EVERY OTHER timeshare company out there. Resale restrictions are ever prevalent in just about ever other system. Long wait times with Owner Service, same. Website issues, just as bad. Pulling inventory from the system "because they can" to sell as cash, they all do it. It doesn't seem that DVC is immune just because it is Disney. Thanks for the insight!
Well said Jeremy
I rented from dvc rental store and had a great experience back in Nov. Booked another for late October!! Hoping to buy soon!!!
The worst DVC policy change to me is that booking flexibility privileges end today; however, limitations on borrowing points from next year (and every future year) remain frozen at 50%. They are unable to tell us at this point when the 50% limit will be removed. Both of these policies were introduced last year to help Disney deal with the uncertainty of the times. I understand that. But if the flexibility policy that benefits owners can be rolled back now that the uncertainty appears to be coming to an end, why are they not also ending the 50% borrowing max?
Great show. Pete is a big softy, regardless of what he chooses to show the UA-cam world.
We have 1300 points that expired last year. We are December use year, which was excluded from extensions last year, which was unbelievably unfair. We are also frontline healthcare workers in Canada and won’t likely be able to go this year either, meaning another 1300 points to sell (which is a pain) or expire.
We have been members since day 1, literally. Really disappointing that no one at DVC reached out.
Kiley, did you try to rent out your points?
1300?? That’s amazing. I’m sorry that all you’ve been through with the pandemic will also mean you can’t use them. Thank you for being out there.
i know you shouldn’t buy a DVC with perks in mind because they can be taken away but that doesn’t mean you haven’t paid for them. If you are a blue card holder you should be more mad about DVC resale restrictions than white card holders. Anyone who buys resale now knows they won’t get them. However if you bought in as a direct member you have indirectly paid for these benefits and when you go to sell to upgrade or whatever you can’t sell your interest at it’s highest value and essentially you throw that money away. What I don’t think people understand is when a direct member sells the contract Disney actually saves money because they don’t have to offer those incentives to the new owner, so Disney gets the pocket that money. Yet the member incentives seem to get smaller and smaller when the group of direct members could be getting smaller and smaller especially with the lack of interest in Riviera and the cancellation of reflections, Disney should have more money to spend on that group of people yet somehow they claim they don’t. Everyone pays the same dues direct or resale so the pot of money hasn’t changed but perks get smaller.
New to the show my family and I had used our points for California trip August 2020 they had no DVC rooms available so we used them for the hotel we knew of the cancellation policy for hotel but here’s the kicker they closed Disneyland and wouldn’t return our points they really dropped the ball
That is terrible. Did they offer you a return date?
Don't raise my dues for housekeeping. Went for 2 weeks and never had housekeeping come in. Let people pay separately for housekeeping, if they want it.
For me, DVC is being at Disney with comforts of home. Being able to relax in a condo like environment (1,2 bedroom) and not in a motel room. Being able to throw clothes in the washer instead of packing so much. I would not pay a dime to have more room service than you currently get. Staying in DVC but acting like it a regular hotel room seems odd and misses the point. 😉
I agree with housekeeping everyday. I like having my bed made and fesh towels daily.
I can tell you when we bought in January 2020 they pushed Riviera and never told us about the resale restrictions. We ended up buying okw thankfully
Everyday house keeping would be amazing! I’d pay for it too. We do pay for the additional visits now, but everyday would be so nice!
Disney is playing the long game. Assuming 1. The restrictions stay for this and future resorts. 2. They will build an average of 1 resort every 5 years and 3. They will not extend Vero, HH, BC and BW past 2042.
That means in 2042 instead of legacy resale owners having 14 to choose from and New owners 1, it will be 10 to 5. The tables will have turned as the new owners can choose between the five newest resorts and the legacy owners only have 10, two of which are not at WDW and the GF out of budget for most. And SSR not too popular and the others expiring somewhat soon. The resale value of OKW or SSR would tumble.
I don’t agree with Rivera maintenance fees including skyliner operations cost. This transportation is used by all Disney guests, why does DVC Rivera owners get stuck with the maintenance bill?
I think they need a new DVC resort because they keep selling contracts but not enough rooms for the people!
The problem is not enough low point studios to meet demand of all the smaller contracts sold and too many point monster bungalows and cabins sitting empty.
Was looking into being a new DVC member this year. Buying some direct and some from the use market, but after watching this episode, YIKES, not sure I really want to be a DVC member. Not good Disney. Starting to sound like the con most timeshares are noted for and should stay away from.
We have been members for 6 years and my brother in law for 20 years and we believe the illness has caused this, prior years had less issues.
We were set to buy 250 points at Riviera back in February. I knew that the contract would limit us in terms of resale value. And while that wasn’t really an issue, what turned me off the most is when I had a lot of questions for customer service and I could not get through. It was taking me literally hours to get questions asked. That was enough for my husband and I to take pause and say no. Maybe we will buy resale one day, but I’d rather not be treated like a second-class citizen.
I would like a follow up show to what Paul was discussing. I bought resale in 2020 during the beginning of the pandemic. I was able to book with borrowing for our December 2021 trip on my own. But I am looking to understand more to be able to better predict and prepare for future trips.
A bit shocked about Sean's experience.... that's utter crap customer service! Appalling actually....and not even considering the amount of money we're talking about! It's crap service if you only paid a standard hotel rate. 👀
As a new resale member, with a 50 point contract, I must say that I have had very little issue with the reservation system. I have been able to book a very sought after standard room at my home resort, once for a December trip (ended up renting it) and one for a January trip. No issues whatsoever, even as an international member. I am a bit worried about the things you have said, and hope things do improve soon enough.
I love the idea of offering a mouse keeping if you book at least 7 months out so they have time to schedule appropriate personnel. People only booking shorter time just would not get that option.
I would love to have housekeeping come every day. I too love coming home and having the bed made and things tidied up. Yes.
Then rent a room. DVC is not for you
You can pay for it in normal times. Not sure what the policy is right now.
The big losers in the Riviera situation are the people who bought them had to sell after less than 2 years (a lot probably COVID related). They lost a lot of money fast.
The issues with being on hold with Disney is everywhere. No matter what you call Disney about you're on hold forever. I think it is a case of Disney not hiring Cast Members back, They don't care if your're on hold forever. And like Fiasco said you get a different answer from every CM. I've called multiple times about the same topic and get 4-5 different answers. That is clearly from not training CM properly.
I know someone works in the “call center” where when you call the “front desk” it goes to them. They are SEVERELY understaff right now. They’re just now hiring people back but they have to go threw training again. On top of that the people who do work there are not showing up for shifts because they are so exhausted from people calling and screaming at them over things they can’t control. It’s really rough for the cast members right now :(
I’m waiting for a lawsuit to be filed especially with the way the are treating resale points especially without a written policy
Well, I have to say that Pete made me laugh so hard when he said the show pissed him off…..I Love Pete, he just call it has it is. I’m from Canada, I had 150 points at the Villa Grand Flo and just sold it last December as I don’t have enough patience to deal with unorganized mess. Plus, we are retiring in 2 years and will buy a mobile home somewhere in those55+ comm.
I am not a dvc member. But I'm staying at yacht club for 6 nights in October and they state housekeeping is on the 4 the day. I'm sorry for the price of deluxe my bed should be made everyday and roomed picked up a little. So I'm unhappy with this not sure if it's covid related but stinks.
I am a DVC member. This 4 day (trash and towel) housekeeping attendance has always been like this. The thinking is that most stays are long term “home” stays.
When you booked/rented a DVC room you accept the housekeeping policy.
That’s Covid-related. Yacht Club is not DVC.
10:19 Not to disagree, but we recently bought a contract direct. Our guide was very transparent with the limitations on the resale market vs direct and Rivera's unique deals. Now, he didn't trumpet it around when I said the word "Rivera" but he did walk me through it when I asked about pro's and con's of one SSR vs Rivera vs Copper Creek. But too, a car salesman isn't going to talk to you about resale value just as a guide isn't going to talk to you about selling your contract. But he did talk about renting out points and how anyone taking up my Rivera rented points would be limited.
In my opinion, since these are technically portions of real estate, DVC owners should get a copy of the “deed” to show what rooms have been allocated for consumption by DVC points. Along with that, point values should be frozen at time of purchase and adjusted based only upon inflation and relative to adjustments/increases in New priced contracts. That’s the only way this plays fair. Rooms stay in the pool for availability and you keep your value that you buy at.
Dues do not need to go up for anything. That rate already does not feel equal to the service.
Wait, I thought the restriction was that Riviera points purchased after market could only be used at Riviera, not other points purchased for other resorts.
Some of what they were referring to was the policy that changed a few years ago stating that any points at the original 14 bought resale can’t be used at any new resorts, only the original 14.
Great show. Sean made excellent comments about the Riviera.
I won’t even tour Rivera and I will never buy there 😡. I think the example of people who want to add on but can never use the rivera points in combination with points at a 2nd home resort was an aspect many don’t understand. 🤦♀️
Sean’s point is also true. Availability is going to be an issue at Riviera in a few years even for owners who call that home due to the resale restrictions.
Paul’s point, if I’m told “no” at Disney, I either call back or ask at a different guest service location. I’ve gotten what I asked for every time when I change the person I’m asking.
Great show thanks guys! 😎🌴
FYI...when it's 4pm in the afternoon in Hawaii, it's 10pm in Florida...6hr time difference, not 8hrs
I don’t care about resell restrictions. I do care about Jacuzzi tubs being removed out of one bedroom, and two bedroom units.
we are equally pissed off my queen.
Great topic! Thank you
The point reallocations are my biggest pet peeve. We bought into DVC with the expectation that we needed X number of points to stay around a particular time of year. When you buy into DVC you're committing to decades of Disney vacations so that pre-planning element is sort of baked into the equation. Obviously dues fluctuate, and for the most part go up, but that's significantly different than needing to purchase additional points to stay in the same room category and season as you previously did. I understand their reasoning and sort of admire their attempt to rebalance the point charts, but it's still annoying nonetheless.
I should add I have no interest in traveling in the summer which they are hell bent on making cheaper every year. I don't care if it's basically free - I don't want to be in the parks when it's 95% humidity, 95 F and rains every day. If I lived there I'd have a pass that excludes the summer months because I just won't go then. Some people we know love or don't mind visiting in the summer - DVC point reallocations would be fantastic for them.
This makes so much more sense now why I can't book at 11 months
We are resale owners from Canada and face the possibility of having points expire. A fellow owner here and I were discussing whether DVC could create a program where expiring points could be donated to a charity for use by families of “wish” kids, or something similar. At least our points would be enjoyed and not just disappear. Does anyone know if anything like this exists?
Why I would never purchase property in another country.
Its not just resale points. You're not treated differently. I have only direct points and I've gotten an error and had to call for every trip I wanted to book since the pandemic started. No matter how many points it is. I tried to book one night and got an error.
Call me lucky, but I have never had a glitch booking my DVC using the site. I rarely call customer service and prefer not to. Direct member since 2014
the resale restrictions at Riviera hurt that resort....I feel like if they didn't have those the Riviera would have sold alot better....beautiful resort
Great observations from Paul.
You can't have daily cleaning it is an option I believe they charge $25 per day
great show
Who do we reach out to about the idea about call back services. Southwest does this and it is better than staying on hold for an hour.
Thanks paul for sticking up for us international owners.
Would it be a good thing if Apple bought Disney and brought their software infrastructure into the 21st century? The windows 3.1 is just not keeping up.
People selling Riviera for $120-$140 is priced right...the people selling them are taking a bath. Wasn’t this resort $200 per for new contracts? This resort is in deep shit. I know why Disney did it but idk why anyone would ever buy there.
And I think the borrowing glitch is only with new resale contacts. I have a beach club resale that I bought in 2018 and I have no issue borrowing, but I get the seven dwarfs glitch message if I try to borrow using my animal kingdom contract that I bought in 2020.
I wonder if the resale contracts that have the Riviera restrictions are the only ones with the glitch?
I think DVC will never reverse the Riviera restriction . 10 years from now when they’re buying back RR they will make a much bigger profit .
And why did DVC use the WORST possible base year for allocating points thru the entire contracts when they restructured for 7 seasons? Aren’t decisions supposed to be made in member’s best interests?
Then on top of that, they go and say that the huge surplus of points in the 2021 and 2022 allocations is due to rounding up. Umm, can’t you round down a few?
Their integrity comes even more questionable when time and time again members are catching rooms being pulled beyond the 11 month mark.
When members reach out to understand what it going on with all this stuff they are met with a variety of canned contradicting responses. One common answer relied on is don’t worry, this one thing won’t affect you... much 😉 What about the combination of all these things? And what other tricks will keep coming?
What did marissa want to say about Aulani?
Great show. Thank you
Calling any area of Disney is a train wreck-even in the before times pre plague. The incorrect information provided by experts literally costs guest and members major money. The cast members were already not enough to service people and Covid layoffs made it worse.
For a company that has a ton of advanced technology their websites-it doesn’t matter what division it is are garbage. I had a refund back to a gift card that I don’t have anymore because they changed the site for combining and guest services can’t look anything up and take care of it instantly and the cast member literally said it’s going to take hours are you sure you want to hold all this time-yes it my money! I want to buy and I wanted to buy my 125 from them to get a blue card basically to get the annual pass rate-and other perks...and so many people feel that the annual passes are going to go. I don’t know why WDW DVC seems so intent on selling how great the service is while never investing in it. Sad.
Please take a more journalistic approach to what Paul said and delve into why Disney is limiting use of points for DVC members!!
I think walking a reservation should not be allowed.
Can u explain what that is?
Marissa is 🔥
Surprised Disney wasn’t sued over changing the resale terms.
If you buy Rivera resale... you can never stay anywhere else.
Disney IT is pathetic. Amazon would be bankrupt if ordering was like booking with dvc or MDE.
Great content!!
Marriott has daily housekeeping, why not Disney?
And Disney's IT is the WORST! To be this large of a company with the tech they use is shameful! Remember the craziness the day when park reservations debuted & Bob said that it was "user error" for all the "glitches." What a nightmare that was!