Could Disney have a little consideration for DVC Members

Philliesfan56 · Oct 5, 2015

Most DVC members make plans and reservations for their Disney vacations about 7 to 11 months out. I know we do. I think it's terrible that Disney gives you less then a 3 month notice that they are going to have blackout dates for Christmas and Easter on the new Gold AP's. When DVC members already have room reservations made for these blackout dates and were going to purchase an AP upon arrival without any notification before hand that their policy was going to change is inconsiderate and wrong. If you knew before hand you could have purchased the old AP knowing they were going to make this change. If they want to change the AP's I do not have a problem with it. It's when they just spring it on you after you have spent hours in planning when to go, your budget and itinerary. The blackout dates should not take effect until December of 2016. This way everybody knows the rules before they plan and book their vacations. Another thing that annoys me is that if you look at the blackout date for Christmas 2015 it begins on 12/17/2015 which is a Thursday. I believe most people plan their vacations from a weekend to weekend. So those people going the week of 12/12/2015 to 12/19/2015 are getting screwed over if they want to purchase a Gold AP. They would not be able to use it Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Sure you can buy a Platinum AP, but for a family of five that's another $500. If you have reservations for these dates and want to purchase a Gold AP I would call guest services at 407-824-2222 and explain your situation and see what they can do for you. I would also send an email voicing your disapproval to guest.services@disneyworld.com and have them forward it to the executives at ticketing for not having any consideration for the people who help pay their salaries.

skirby · Oct 5, 2015

The way you get around the blockout dates at DL for new APs is you purchase a 5-day ticket and use it on the blockout dates. Then, on the last day, you upgrade to AP. You could probably do something similar at WDW.

FlipFlops@BeachClub · Oct 5, 2015

jmkjr72 said:
Tell me how this is going to change the vacation you allready have booked I didn't see them saying they were changing what you allready bought oh wait that's right your complaint is about you not thinking ahead and buying your stuff ahead of time. So basicly your complaint is I got caught by a price increase because I didn't buy when I booked
That would be like me pissing and moaning about not buying an ap because we didn't think we would be back in a year and we are

If you have an ap right now that didn't have blackout dates they are not saying you Can't go on these dates

They are new passes and when you buy that new pass you will have to deal with the blackout dates if you buy the pass that has them

It is not going to change my current planned vacation, but it will affect my vacation as now I have to buy a Platinum AP just so I can go for 3 days during the blockout dates for my December trip (that was planned 11 months in advance!) I agree with the poster and find this VERY inconsiderate on Disney's part. I did not plan to buy our APs until we arrived, and I'm not SURPRISED about the increase, I understand that is always a possibility, but blockout dates...really? That's just wrong!

chris springer · Oct 5, 2015

The OP stated they needed to purchase AP when the arrive therefore not being able to use the planned gold AP since block out dates affect it. They do not want to spend an additional $100 per family member for the next level AP. I totally agree with the OP and the overall situation.

smidgy · Oct 5, 2015

jmkjr72 said:
Tell me how this is going to change the vacation you allready have booked I didn't see them saying they were changing what you allready bought oh wait that's right your complaint is about you not thinking ahead and buying your stuff ahead of time. So basicly your complaint is I got caught by a price increase because I didn't buy when I booked
That would be like me pissing and moaning about not buying an ap because we didn't think we would be back in a year and we are

If you have an ap right now that didn't have blackout dates they are not saying you Can't go on these dates

They are new passes and when you buy that new pass you will have to deal with the blackout dates if you buy the pass that has them

who said the OP didn't think ahead? I know we never renew our AP. or purchase it ahead of time., on purpose. for florida residents, you can renew and you will probably use it the next week.. but for those living out of state? I don't purchase my AP until I am going to use it.. why waste all those months? if you time it right, you can go to WDW 2X a year and get 3 trips out of one AP, which is what we have been doing.
luckily for us, we just returned from trip #1 on THIS year's annual pass. (we used the 2 day tickets from the "free" dining..not staying DVC...and bridged them to an AP.) so we can go in the spring and again next late august, all on one AP.
but had disney done this BEFORE our sept trip, we would have been in the same situation as the OP. because we were not passholders for about 4-5 months (the time between trip #3 from last years AP and trip #1 from this year's AP)

people plan ahead of time.. and CHOOSE to delay purchasing the next AP for a reason.. not poor planning or not thinking ahead.

I am not DVC, we rent points, but if I were DVC I would be ticked. this is one of the reasons we did not bite the bullet and buy DVC. disney keeps changing the parameters.

jnjhuddle · Oct 5, 2015

jmkjr72 said:
Tell me how this is going to change the vacation you allready have booked I didn't see them saying they were changing what you allready bought oh wait that's right your complaint is about you not thinking ahead and buying your stuff ahead of time. So basicly your complaint is I got caught by a price increase because I didn't buy when I booked
That would be like me pissing and moaning about not buying an ap because we didn't think we would be back in a year and we are

If you have an ap right now that didn't have blackout dates they are not saying you Can't go on these dates

They are new passes and when you buy that new pass you will have to deal with the blackout dates if you buy the pass that has them

I find this reply super snarky and not at all helpful to the OP.

dclpluto · Oct 5, 2015

Every person in Florida Disney thinks as more special than dvc owners.

Sammie · Oct 5, 2015

Instead of giving people that have no control over ticket prices a hard time why not just write Disney and share with them. If enough people do that, it might make a difference.

nabi · Oct 5, 2015

Holiday times at the parks is becoming quite crowded. There MUST be something put in place to minimize overcrowding. Closing off entry, when at capacity, is ineffective, so increasing costs and/or having blackout dates makes the decision to go at those times be a premium, in one form or another.
Disney has not effectively spread out the crowds between the parks...is behind on upgrading to do so, but in doing that, it comes at a cost to them. I believe they needed the revenue obtained from cash stays at the Poly bungalows to really start the park expansions.

hakepb · Oct 6, 2015

nabi said:
Holiday times at the parks is becoming quite crowded. There MUST be something put in place to minimize overcrowding. Closing off entry, when at capacity, is ineffective, so increasing costs and/or having blackout dates makes the decision to go at those times be a premium, in one form or another.
Disney has not effectively spread out the crowds between the parks...is behind on upgrading to do so, but in doing that, it comes at a cost to them. I believe they needed the revenue obtained from cash stays at the Poly bungalows to really start the park expansions.

The general complaint on the Theme Parks board is Disney did too good of a job spreading out crowds.
Today, (October used to be a slow time) someone was talking about 110 minute waits on Space Mountain. Year-round, WDW is Busy or Really Busy, there is no slow.

I suppose that means there is less incentive to take kids out of school to go when parks are busy.

Dean · Oct 6, 2015

I think Disney is very clear that that can and will change options over time including prices. I can see being disappointed but not truly complaining. It's not really any different than if one planned to buy a non expiring pass and the option went away. I wonder if one could still pick up a voucher for the old version and activate it, not sure, just thinking about the issue.

kenny · Oct 6, 2015

I disagree with people's comments about not being upset and what is Disney supposed to do

1st they just increased AP rate in feb. now they increased them again 8 months later. Yes prices go up but they don't raise hotel or dining plan rates twice in 8 months. The OP was planning their trip based on the 2015 rates. No one saw another rate increase coming this year. Nothing wrong with being upset.

As for what is Disney supposed to do, how about limit the number of guests allowed into the park each day or limit the number of APs that can be sold. Disneys reasoning for this increase is to lessen crowds. So they raise the rate so that if less people show up they still make the same revenue. And if the parks still hit capacity which in all likelyhood they will all the better for them. Just more money. Either way it's a win win

I get its a business so don't give that reasoning. They close attractions and remove entertainment then raise rates. So you pay more and get less

The OP was saying they should receive special treatment. Disney sent this survey out months ago so Disney knew what it was doing. A little heads up to loyal customers goes a long way

DISNEYSC · Oct 6, 2015

jmkjr72 said:
Tell me how this is going to change the vacation you allready have booked I didn't see them saying they were changing what you allready bought oh wait that's right your complaint is about you not thinking ahead and buying your stuff ahead of time. So basicly your complaint is I got caught by a price increase because I didn't buy when I booked
/QUOTE]

DISNEYSC · Oct 6, 2015

jmkjr72 said:
Tell me how this is going to change the vacation you allready have booked I didn't see them saying they were changing what you allready bought oh wait that's right your complaint is about you not thinking ahead and buying your stuff ahead of time. So basicly your complaint is I got caught by a price increase because I didn't buy when I booked
That would be like me pissing and moaning about not buying an ap because we didn't think we would be back in a year and we are

If you have an ap right now that didn't have blackout dates they are not saying you Can't go on these dates

They are new passes and when you buy that new pass you will have to deal with the blackout dates if you buy the pass that has them

Yep, totally see your point because everyone pays renewals 2 months in advance before they renew...

We have a similar situation to the OP in that we have APs that renew December 1st and we are booked for a trip in December (it's in the blackout dates). We have been saving a hundred dollars each month all year so we could renew our APs but now we will have to pay $300 more for our family to go on the December trip we had planned more than 7 months ago.

Is it the end of the world? Fortunately no-we're in a position that we can come up with that money to deal with this "First-World problem". But don't tell me I don't have the right to be upset when I'm surprised by their "effective today announcement" because I didn't "think ahead".[/QUOTE]

kamik86 · Oct 6, 2015

I also don't understand this complaint. Am I wrong in that you didn't plan to buy a gold AP because before this announcement DVC owners that didn't live in FL couldn't buy the gold AP, only FL residents could. You planned to buy a Regular or Premium AP. Those APs are now named Platnum and platnum plus.

What happened is there was a price increase. A really big price increase in the AP you wanted to buy.

At the same time there is a new option called the Gold AP that you didn't have the option to get before but now they will let DVC members buy it too. This option is less expensive then the price increase on what you planned to buy but it won't work for you because it has blackout dates (which I believe FL resident APs have had before right? I know Disneyland CA resident APs did.)

There are many times where I agree that they shouldn't change the rules of X after many people have already booked. However this isn't the case we have all always known that disney can announce a price increase at any time and that it would take affect immediately. That is all they did.

Now if someone currently has a regular AP and that now becomes a gold AP immediately and has blackout dates then I stand corrected and agree with you, but I don't think that is the case.

kamik86 · Oct 6, 2015

kenny said:
I disagree with people's comments about not being upset and what is Disney supposed to do

1st they just increased AP rate in feb. now they increased them again 8 months later. Yes prices go up but they don't raise hotel or dining plan rates twice in 8 months. The OP was planning their trip based on the 2015 rates. No one saw another rate increase coming this year. Nothing wrong with being upset.

As for what is Disney supposed to do, how about limit the number of guests allowed into the park each day or limit the number of APs that can be sold. Disneys reasoning for this increase is to lessen crowds. So they raise the rate so that if less people show up they still make the same revenue. And if the parks still hit capacity which in all likelyhood they will all the better for them. Just more money. Either way it's a win win

I get its a business so don't give that reasoning. They close attractions and remove entertainment then raise rates. So you pay more and get less

The OP was saying they should receive special treatment. Disney sent this survey out months ago so Disney knew what it was doing. A little heads up to loyal customers goes a long way

They already do the first option you gave in what I bolded. They don't like doing that as then you have people that say prepaid for CRT and can't get in the park and are now very upset. So it would be better to have people know in advance that they can't come.

As for selling less APs that wouldn't actually guarantee a fix. How do you set the number? Lets say park capacity was 10,000 people (its probably not but I want nice easy numbers for this example) How many APs could you sell? There is no real way to know. If you only did 5000 because on Christmas you expect EVERYONE to be there now a whole bunch of people that didn't want to go on Christmas can't buy an AP for no real reason.

But if you made the number 15,000 and assumed that on any given day a max of 1/3 of the people with an AP would show up what happens when one day 10,000 of those people do try to go? Now based on statistics Disney can make an estimate of how many people will go on any day... but that will be the same as how flights assume X number of people won't show... sometimes everyone will show up and you will have a bigger problem because now everyone assumed they could get in and now they can't.

Dean · Oct 6, 2015

kenny said:
I disagree with people's comments about not being upset and what is Disney supposed to do

1st they just increased AP rate in feb. now they increased them again 8 months later. Yes prices go up but they don't raise hotel or dining plan rates twice in 8 months. The OP was planning their trip based on the 2015 rates. No one saw another rate increase coming this year. Nothing wrong with being upset.

As for what is Disney supposed to do, how about limit the number of guests allowed into the park each day or limit the number of APs that can be sold. Disneys reasoning for this increase is to lessen crowds. So they raise the rate so that if less people show up they still make the same revenue. And if the parks still hit capacity which in all likelyhood they will all the better for them. Just more money. Either way it's a win win

I get its a business so don't give that reasoning. They close attractions and remove entertainment then raise rates. So you pay more and get less

The OP was saying they should receive special treatment. Disney sent this survey out months ago so Disney knew what it was doing. A little heads up to loyal customers goes a long way

I don't think anyone would say it was a great choice to make the change on short notice but it was their choice and since they are making the change, it has to go into effect sometime and it will affect someone no matter what. They have the right and they document they have the right to make changes. The idea that someone should get special treatment because they are a DVC member is simply wrong. At the end of the day members have put themselves at risk, they are a captive audience in large part and have proven they're sheep to the slaughter. Regardless, complaining won't do anything, there is zero chance they will change the start date and to do so to avoid this issue would mean that it's have to go into effect after spring break blackout dates.

jmcdonnell04 · Oct 6, 2015

Philliesfan56 said:
Most DVC members make plans and reservations for their Disney vacations about 7 to 11 months out. I know we do. I think it's terrible that Disney gives you less then a 3 month notice that they are going to have blackout dates for Christmas and Easter on the new Gold AP's. When DVC members already have room reservations made for these blackout dates and were going to purchase an AP upon arrival without any notification before hand that their policy was going to change is inconsiderate and wrong. If you knew before hand you could have purchased the old AP knowing they were going to make this change. If they want to change the AP's I do not have a problem with it. It's when they just spring it on you after you have spent hours in planning when to go, your budget and itinerary. The blackout dates should not take effect until December of 2016. This way everybody knows the rules before they plan and book their vacations. Another thing that annoys me is that if you look at the blackout date for Christmas 2015 it begins on 12/17/2015 which is a Thursday. I believe most people plan their vacations from a weekend to weekend. So those people going the week of 12/12/2015 to 12/19/2015 are getting screwed over if they want to purchase a Gold AP. They would not be able to use it Thursday, Friday or Saturday. Sure you can buy a Platinum AP, but for a family of five that's another $500. If you have reservations for these dates and want to purchase a Gold AP I would call guest services at 407-824-2222 and explain your situation and see what they can do for you. I would also send an email voicing your disapproval to guest.services@disneyworld.com and have them forward it to the executives at ticketing for not having any consideration for the people who help pay their salaries.

I am sorry for some of the replies that you have received. When I joined the DISBOARDS over 10 years ago, everyone was very helpful and sharing tips and tricks to make your next vacation even better. You could come to the site for a shoulder to cry on if needed or just to vent. The negative minded minority keep throwing their two cents in. I have read your post and I feel your pain. I hope this AP changes can be modified to restore hope and happiness to all DVC members.

Donna M · Oct 7, 2015

I agree with the pp, negative, insulting comments aren't needed or helpful at all.

I don't look at the price increases as Disney's way of spreading out the crowds at all. If that is the problem, they can just close the park like they do. They keep building resorts to get more people in. The prices go up to generate more income. The company is there to make money. They know many people come at Christmas, so they know they can get more money during that season. Period! They are not a non profit!

Minniesgal · Oct 7, 2015

kamik86 said:
I also don't understand this complaint. Am I wrong in that you didn't plan to buy a gold AP because before this announcement DVC owners that didn't live in FL couldn't buy the gold AP, only FL residents could. You planned to buy a Regular or Premium AP. Those APs are now named Platnum and platnum plus.

What happened is there was a price increase. A really big price increase in the AP you wanted to buy.

At the same time there is a new option called the Gold AP that you didn't have the option to get before but now they will let DVC members buy it too. This option is less expensive then the price increase on what you planned to buy but it won't work for you because it has blackout dates (which I believe FL resident APs have had before right? I know Disneyland CA resident APs did.)

There are many times where I agree that they shouldn't change the rules of X after many people have already booked. However this isn't the case we have all always known that disney can announce a price increase at any time and that it would take affect immediately. That is all they did.

Now if someone currently has a regular AP and that now becomes a gold AP immediately and has blackout dates then I stand corrected and agree with you, but I don't think that is the case.

This totally this.

While I can understand people being upset about price increases especially steep ones unfortunately they are like death and taxes inevitable.

I cannot for the life of me understand why people are getting upset at Disney for giving DVC members access to another annual pass cheaper for those who don't travel at Easter or Chritmas with block out dates. It is just one more option and the previous options are still all available just at a higher price.

Could Disney have a little consideration for DVC Members

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