An end to pool hopping for DVC

[DVC-Landbaron]

Maybe you should start a thread on the false advertising and misleading sales tactics of DVC.

Nah! I’ll leave that to Rich on the DVC board. He does a very good job!!!

I still maintain that restrictions on SAB are not a bad thing.

I do. And fairly unnecessary for most of the year. AND, if they’d enforce the rule for the true gate crashers they’d eliminate a great deal of the over crowding! Instead they blame the DVC and take this “right of ownership” away ALL YEAR!! That’s just p[lain silly. I was perfectly content to play it by ear. Call ahead. See how the day went. Play second fiddle to the guests at the Beach and Yacht Club. But now I’m not even in the band!! NOT A CHANCE to go there on a light day. NEVER!! RESTRICTED!! Sorry. That doesn’t add up to ‘owner’ in my book!

Disappointing, yes. Bad, no. Disney is trying to preserve the guest experience.

How is this any better than the “if there’s room” policy of last year? You mean to tell me that suddenly, when the census is down, we bad DVCers have overrun the pool!! Come on!

Nuff said on SAB.

Not nearly enough, my friend.

Now for AKL and Wilderness. There is no restriction on the Wilderness Lodge pool.

No. Now there isn’t. But when it first opened there was. Why was that?

AKL is not open to pool hopping. I am at a loss on that one.

So am I!!! So much for the “owner” concept!! I guess they mean an “owner” of Disney back before the concept died. But not an “owner” of anything afterwards!! Pretty stupid, isn’t it?!?!?!

You have got me. However, I don't see the restriction on SAB and ALK as representing the death of pool hopping and the total elimination of DVC per?s (not that many true per?s ever existed, at least not that many things that couldn't be had through Disney club or Annual Passholder benefits).

I never said it was the death of pool hopping (although I think it may go that way). What I said was that it was the Death of the OWNER concept. And it is. Plain and simple. Otherwise we’d be swimming in AKL! Can you explain to this guy who clearly doesn’t get it, why we can’t?

I'm sure you will launch into the slippery slope argument. First SAB, then AKL, what next?

Yep! You are there already!!

forgets everywhere else they can go, and doesn't even bother to look at why there was a temporary restriction.

So now it’s “temporary”? I didn’t know that!! If that’s really true I’ll do a little apologizing!! (Not much though. There’s still AKL and Wilderness when it first opened!)


Mr. Fans,

In the "good old days", folks thought Disney was spending a great deal of time and money to make the customers happy when, in reality Disney was simply so far ahead of the competition in terms of customer service that it only appeared that they were spending a great deal of time and money. Since then, the competition has learned the Disney secret and have caught up in terms of customer service making Disney look more average in comparison. Could this "good old days syndrome" be affecting our friends in Car 3 to a degree?
It's just a theory...

And a very good theory!! And it is one that I’ve thought about, long and hard. But I really don’t think that has much to do with it. Let me clarify.

I think that what you say is very true. Disney did spend an inordinate amount of time, energy and cash providing service that was light-years ahead of the competition. In recent years, as you note, the competition (really only Universal) has closed that gap. And I think that if Disney had maintained their standards and held fast to the Walt philosophy, they’d still be hundreds of thousands of miles ahead, but no longer light-years. And then I might agree that I would be worried about the closing of the gap and might indeed fall into that trap. But it is not so. And I really haven’t had the opportunity to think about it that way. Because it is clear, to virtually EVERYONE, that they have let their standards slip to an all time low, have totally forgotten just what their product really is and they ignore their philosophy. THAT is much more important than how an obscure Baron remembers Disney.

 

[hopemax]

Since then, the competition has learned the Disney secret and have caught up in terms of customer service making Disney look more average in comparison.

The main problem with this theory is that there hasn't really been that much talk about improving standards at the competition. Certainly Universal has been receiving more kudos in the "attractions" department, but in customer service? There has been some talk recently, since the arrival of Barry Diller primarily, but the contention is that Disney has been on the decline for a lot more than the past year. There's been a lot more talk that Universal Hollywood, Knott's Berry Farm and Six Flags customer service is also going in the wrong direction. In fact that's been used as "proof" of why we shouldn't get upset about the slide at Disney. "That's just where society is right now, customer service is down EVERYWHERE, just be happy Disney is still giving you what they are." And to that I will use Planogirl's response which I saw in another thread. Phooey.

 

[caseymaureen]

I know, as a DVC member, that quite awhile ago we lost "general" pool hopping privledges and could only pool hop when staying at our DVC resort. If you are staying at another resort or outside of Disney, no more pool hopping.

 

[HorizonsFan]

I believe that the "rule" says that you can only pool hop while staying on points at a DVC resort (not just your home resort). If you are staying at a WDW resort, even on points, or at a DVC resort on cash pool hopping is not available.

The main problem with this theory is that there hasn't really been that much talk about improving standards at the competition.

I probably wasn't clear. What I meant was that service oriented businesses in general (not just Disney's direct competition) were not as concerned with customer satisfaction as Disney was. Over the past 20 years or so, the service industry has learned that a happy customer is a repeat customer. Many companies have literally taken lessons from Disney in the form of seminars and have put those lessons into practice.
I think that Disney hasn't fallen so much as the service industry has risen. Therefore they look more average in comparison. People expect more from the service industry than they did 20 years ago.

 

[ncligs]

Very intresting thread(just read all of it). I am a DVC member and so are 4 other members of my family. Not one of us has ever pool hopped.

 

[colleen costello]

This whole discussion is fascinating. My comments? I hope the "optimists" are right and pool-hopping is NOT a goner. We enjoy the privelege (by using that term I avoided the need to pick a spelling for that other P-word...). It seems that in general, DVC'ers are used to, and enjoy, the priveleges that are offered whenever we buy DVC. We are recent members -- we never had free tix so we don't miss them. But pool-hopping WAS a big part of what seemed so special to us when we decided to buy. My family DOES enjoy pool-hopping. We always have. To lose the privelege would make me sad.

When we visit WDW, we don't have the energy to do the parks every day. We do a "day on, day off" thing. No matter where we stay, and how great the pool, we love to visit other resorts. For example, we always visit the Poly to rent boats and have a meal. While DH has one child out on the lake, I swim for a bit with the other child. Then we swap kids. We don't stay long and we don't do this every day. But the chance to enjoy the surroundings at the Polynesian is a special part of our trip -- we ALWAYS do this when visiting WDW.

I am a bit suspicious about something. Notice no one at Disney has EVER said "Don't come to the Poly and eat? Don't come to the Poly and RENT a boat? If I visit there from OKW or BCV, I am theoretically crowding the boat rental area -- making the line LONGER for the people staying at the Poly. Yet never is there a problem with me visiting and taking part in activities that COST MONEY. It's OK to rent anywhere! This makes me suspicious of the whole claim of "crowding" in any sense. I understand that the pool is not the "equivalent" of the boats or restaurants, but I think you all catch my drift here. I have always thought pool-hopping is a nice way to scope out a resort for your next visit. And we always spend money at the resorts we visit. Poolside drinks alone generate tons of money for the resort!

Comments?