We Don't talk about Juno? Member staying AKL CL months at a time.....How?

[nasmith]

During a recent stay, I ran into "Juno" (names have been changed to protect the innocent)- who comes out to the lounge to get food for herself and DH and takes it back to their CL studio on the 6th floor. According to castmembers - she's quite the celebrity because she stays up there for months at a time - with multiple reservations ( she's had to move rooms)- sometimes checking out for a week, and then coming back for another additional long length of time. I'm not sure she even leaves the resort. She's managing to monopolize 20% of the AKL CL studio inventory.

I have so many questions!! I get it - she has thousands of points and and has chosen to spend their retirement in CL. But how is this possible - there are 5 AKL studios! How does she get multiple ressies per year to even begin booking these?
Also (and this is just personal) Why?? I get very tired of the CL food after a few days ( they are on a 3-day rotation with one extra day thrown in (Wednesday)). And it isn't THAT good ( You could take your money and dine at far better places and have variety).

 

[Marrila]

During a recent stay, I ran into "Juno" (names have been changed to protect the innocent)- who comes out to the lounge to get food for herself and DH and takes it back to their CL studio on the 6th floor. According to castmembers - she's quite the celebrity because she stays up there for months at a time - with multiple reservations ( she's had to move rooms)- sometimes checking out for a week, and then coming back for another additional long length of time. I'm not sure she even leaves the resort. She's managing to monopolize 20% of the AKL CL studio inventory.

I have so many questions!! I get it - she has thousands of points and and has chosen to spend their retirement in CL. But how is this possible - there are 5 AKL studios! How does she get multiple ressies per year to even begin booking these?
Also (and this is just personal) Why?? I get very tired of the CL food after a few days ( they are on a 3-day rotation with one extra day thrown in (Wednesday)). And it isn't THAT good ( You could take your money and dine at far better places and have variety).

What prompted the cast members to fill you in on so many details of this odd situation?

 

[Brian Noble]

People gossip. It's not that surprising. It's also entirely possible that said gossip is embellished a bit. I doubt the 20% number, for example, and "months at a time" is probably a stretch too.

But it would not surprise me to hear that a Member or two makes it their mission to grab every available CL day they can possibly get their hands on.

 

[princesscinderella]

She must be amazing at walking her reservations.

 

[DonMacGregor]

People gossip. It's not that surprising. It's also entirely possible that said gossip is embellished a bit. I doubt the 20% number, for example, and "months at a time" is probably a stretch too.

But it would not surprise me to hear that a Member or two makes it their mission to grab every available CL day they can possibly get their hands on.

Well, there are only 5 CL studios, so if she's in one of them, that's 20%...

 

[drusba]

As to whether a member could actually do what is suggested, the answer is it is possible. As to why anyone would want to stay in an AKV club level studio year round, the answer is who knows. Not only are they the most expensive per night point cost studios at AKV, other than concierge services and lounge, they have little to offer since only three of the five studios have savanna view and the savanna view they have is not that great -- a tail end of the Sunset savanna, and the DVC rooms right below them are standard view.

The member cannot own more than 4,000 AKV points (and that is a single total applicable to joint members, e.g., husband and wife), possibly enough to book somewhat less than half a year in an AKV club level studio. To start the process, the member would need to get lucky in doing a reservation and actually get the room for 7 nights at 11-months out, since the rooms typically disappear right at 8 a.m., 11-months out, year round. The member could then keep modifying that reservation to add nights as long as each modification was done no later than 11-months and a day before any designated check-out date. The only risk is that if rooms are scheduled to be taken out-of-service at one point, she could be cut-off from adding dates.

To keep staying in club level studio throughout the year, after getting the first reservation and starting to add nights, the member needs to start a second reservation for a another room at 11-months out and thus needs to keep trying until she succeeds in getting a second reservation (and likely puts her DH's name as lead on that one). Example, book one room and keep modifying the reservation to add nights. Meanwhile, keep checking to see if she can get a second room for a week at 11-months out, and, if she gets that second reservation, she can stop adding nights to the first reservation with final check-out the same day as the start of the second reservation, and then keep adding dates to the second reservation (while also looking for another second reservation). Continue that process so that there is always a second room locked-in to begin when the first one expires.

There is no DVC rule that prevents a member from staying in the same type of room year round, and there is no Florida law that prevents it, although, as provided by the POS, the member could not use any stays at a DVC Resort to claim residency in Florida, e.g., unless there is a separate legal Florida place of residency, the member would have no right to vote in Florida, no right to a driver's license in in Florida, and no right to claim member pays no state income taxes which applies to person who have resided in Florida for at least 183 days.

.

 

[kilik64]

We retired to Florida!

Sweet where did you move to there?

Oh we just stay at the concierge lounge rooms at Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Bonkers lol.

 

[CarolynFH]

Maybe her family owns the bot that grabs all the most highly desired DVC villas all year long. She gets an AKV CL studio, and they post the rest as confirmed reservations for rent.

 

[DonMacGregor]

As to whether a member could actually do what is suggested, the answer is it is possible. As to why anyone would want to stay in an AKV club level studio year round, the answer is who knows. Not only are they the most expensive per night point cost studios at AKV, other than concierge services and lounge, they have little to offer since only three of the five studios have savanna view and the savanna view they have is not that great -- a tail end of the Sunset savanna, and the DVC rooms right below them are standard view.

The member cannot own more than 4,000 AKV points (and that is a single total applicable to joint members, e.g., husband and wife), possibly enough to book somewhat less than half a year in an AKV club level studio. To start the process, the member would need to get lucky in doing a reservation and actually get the room for 7 nights at 11-months out, since the rooms typically disappear right at 8 a.m., 11-months out, year round. The member could then keep modifying that reservation to add nights as long as each modification was done no later than 11-months and a day before any designated check-out date. The only risk is that if rooms are scheduled to be taken out-of-service at one point, she could be cut-off from adding dates.

To keep staying in club level studio throughout the year, after getting the first reservation and starting to add nights, the member needs to start a second reservation for a another room at 11-months out and thus needs to keep trying until she succeeds in getting a second reservation (and likely puts her DH's name as lead on that one). Example, book one room and keep modifying the reservation to add nights. Meanwhile, keep checking to see if she can get a second room for a week at 11-months out, and, if she gets that second reservation, she can stop adding nights to the first reservation with final check-out the same day as the start of the second reservation, and then keep adding dates to the second reservation (while also looking for another second reservation). Continue that process so that there is always a second room locked-in to begin when the first one expires.

There is no DVC rule that prevents a member from staying in the same type of room year round, and there is no Florida law that prevents it, although, as provided by the POS, the member could not use any stays at a DVC Resort to claim residency in Florida, e.g., unless there is a separate legal Florida place of residency, the member would have no right to vote in Florida, no right to a driver's license in in Florida, and no right to claim member pays no state income taxes which applies to person who have resided in Florida for at least 183 days.

.

I don't think the OP was suggesting she is there year round, but possibly "months" at a time:

According to castmembers - she's quite the celebrity because she stays up there for months at a time - with multiple reservations ( she's had to move rooms)- sometimes checking out for a week, and then coming back for another additional long length of time.

The rest sounds exactly as you suggested: rolling reservations that they continuously walk. Club level studios run right at about 150 points per week, a good bit less if you skip peak holiday seasons, so 4,000 points could arguably get you pretty much haff a year (26-27 weeks) as you said, and you could probably do almost 2 months on, 2 months off (or 3 on and 3 off). Now if she is really only taking one-week breaks (which may be where a good bit of CM perception comes in), that's gonna require a couple thousand more points, maybe in an LLC or the contracts are only in her's or the hubby's name. Still a tough row to hoe and seems pretty unlikely, if just from a level of effort required standpoint.

 

[SL6827]

Sounds super interesting.

 

[Cfabar1]

Hilarious.... I guess if it is just one gal, you don't need that much more space. And maybe she does CL because the food is included and there's no space in the studio to cook.

 

[SL6827]

She could be lonely and wants the company of strangers?

 

[Best Aunt]

As for the "why" not the "how":

My mind goes a different way. Maybe she has challenges (physical, mental, a combination, whatever) which make her want a room near a Disney Club Level lounge. When you book an AKV Club Level room, you know you're going to be fairly close to the lounge.

A lot of the time, in non-Disney circumstances, I find myself wondering why somebody did something. Then I tell myself that I don't know what's going on in that person's life. I don't know what difficulties they might face. I'm trying to teach myself to be less critical, and to remember that people have invisible disabilities that I know nothing about.

 

[DonMacGregor]

She could be lonely and wants the company of strangers?

Well, they said she's there with her husband, so he's either great company...or terrible...

 

[mgarbowski]

How even would one walk in this situation, though? The basic idea of walking is to grab a reservation at some lower demand time, or at least any day you try and get it, and walk it into the specific higher demand time you want. But Ak Club Level is always extremely high demand. The problem that needs to be solved is how does one repeatedly get reservations to begin with so one can then start walking?

 

[Sandisw]

How even would one walk in this situation, though? The basic idea of walking is to grab a reservation at some lower demand time, or at least any day you try and get it, and walk it into the specific higher demand time you want. But Ak Club Level is always extremely high demand. The problem that needs to be solved is how does one repeatedly get reservations to begin with so one can then start walking?

She got the first one to start and just added days to it and at the mean time kept trying to get another one.

I think you can keep one reservation up to 30 days? So, in those 30 days as long as she got another one she gives herself more time.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Wow, they must really like the food!! I absolutely love the times we manage to sneak an AKL CL reservation for a few nights - it's a nice treat. Weeks at a time? Not for us. Whatever the reason, it's their business and I hope they enjoy the lounge! If they're booking the CL rooms weeks at a time, I'd rather they're actually using them as opposed to renting them out.....

 

[SL6827]

Well, they said she's there with her husband, so he's either great company...or terrible...

 

[Brian Noble]

How even would one walk in this situation, though?

I think you try every day, with every trick you have (pay for fast internet, use an accurate clock, etc. etc.). Once you have one, you then extend it until you hit the limit. Rinse and repeat.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

I think you try every day, with every trick you have (pay for fast internet, use an accurate clock, etc. etc.). Once you have one, you then extend it until you hit the limit. Rinse and repeat.

I might need to track down Juno in the lounge someday, and pick her brain for reservation tips moving forward!! They seem to know things.....!