Just Back from Member Homecoming!

[lsutigger2]

Thanks for sharing that "positive energy" with those of us who weren't able to attend. I also don't always understand the "never happy" folks. Glad you (OP) and others had a great time. Thanks again for taking time to post your trip reports.

 

[WDWLVR]

We too had a great time and made sure that the castmembers knew it. We also had a few little mistakes and we made sure they knew about those too.

There will always be those that think any event isn't good enough. The desserts not decadant enough, the night not special enough, etc. etc. etc. We saw plenty of it on the board here. Based on the member cruise I expected a great event and I got it.

I'm not going to worry about those who don't see the value. I think they never will.

Best of all it was a time to meet old and new friends and that made the events even more special!

 

[rocketriter]

I suspect that, just by announcing this 4 months earlier and describing it in a bit more detail, they could have met their sales deadline.

 

[MarkRG]

To cover a question from the previous page, the dinner at MK consisted of unlimited food at these three locations: Pecos Bill, Lunching Pad, and Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. No voucher or 'special menu' just walk up, order whatever you like, it's yours. Mentioned that on the day report I posted.

As far as the desserts being decadent, the ONLY way they possibly were not was in they were all of the 'finger food' variety, easy to just pick up and eat, nothing requiring utensils. They were all of high quality, I sampled a bit of each. And there was certainly plenty of them.

 

[Sammie]

Originally posted by MarkRG
To cover a question from the previous page, the dinner at MK consisted of unlimited food at these three locations: Pecos Bill, Lunching Pad, and Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe. No voucher or 'special menu' just walk up, order whatever you like, it's yours. Mentioned that on the day report I posted.

As far as the desserts being decadent, the ONLY way they possibly were not was in they were all of the 'finger food' variety, easy to just pick up and eat, nothing requiring utensils. They were all of high quality, I sampled a bit of each. And there was certainly plenty of them.

Thanks for your report, sounds like a wonderful time.

I do wonder how much money Disney lost on this. Believe me regardless of what some will think, I seriously doubt the number of tickets sold would even cover the electricity bill for the hours at MK, much less food and staff. I do hope they do one again.

As to what is decandent, purely subjective, and they would never be able to please everyone. I am sure the offerings were similar to what they offer for the Illuminations Viewing and Dessert.

 

[MarkRG]

I would say the dessert that surprised me was the rice crispy squares. I like them normally, and I was pleasantly surprised by them there- the rice was still crispy, and they were NOT sticky/gooey! They were incredibly light so much so I went back and got seconds/thirds. Would love to know how they accomplished that.

 

[pmcpmc]

I firmally believe we will see many more Dvc events.

 

[disney4me4ever]

Originally posted by MarkRG
I would say the dessert that surprised me was the rice crispy squares. ...the rice was still crispy, and they were NOT sticky/gooey!

Not only that, think of the challenges they had to deal with considering the heat!

Nancy

 

[NHMickey]

I would agree with the OP... We had a fantastic time and hope they do it again...

As for pricing... I had a view of Spectro Magic that could not be beat... We sat in front of the castle with about 6 other people and watched the whole parade go by... Just us and the performers and the castle... That was worth every penny in itself... Oh and don't forget this guy...

We would do this again in a heart beat. The gidts where great. The food was nice as we could get what we wanted and to be able to just walk around MK and own the place for a few hours was special. As for Epcot.... It was great. It was hot and a little crowded but I enjoyed it and having the rides open just for us for a few hours was a nice treat... To be honest I would have been happy with just a coffee and a few of those marshmellow squares and cookies and watching the fountain go off... I love Epcot....


I have been to a lot of "Special Events" at Disney and the DVC Team sure put the special events team to shame. You want to see a messed up event go to a pin event...

DVC sure made me feel special and provided me and my wife with a few very magical nights at MK and Epcot...

 

[R.J.'s Dad]

I agree Homecoming was strong. We had a great time. If people are looking to complain, I would have only a few minor things:

1. That Deevee Cee woman was incredibly annoying.

2. There weren't enough people working the counters at the eating areas in MK. By the time you ate you only had about an hour for rides before you had to get in for the parade (which was great).

Otherwise, we had a great time and wish we would have won one of those trips they gave away- I'd definately go back if they had it again.

P.S. - I thought the food court they had on Saratoga Springs day was great.

 

[garylpn]

just back from homecoming trip tonight, very positive for us, we would do it again with only 1 negative situation observed and 1 wish for a date change
1. BIG NEGATIVE HERE,epcot illuminations night, when the rope was dropped and guests were allowed up onto the slightly raised area NO provisions were made for special needs guests to be placed upfront so they could see better, some were not able to get the full experience due to not being able to see over the heads of standing guests. Some of them and/or their fellow attendees were rightfully complaining to dvc event staff, however the staff seemed at a loss as to what to do to fix the situation. Not enough fellow members seemed to be gracious enough to allow these few guests access to the front of the railing, in fact i saw a few guests acting just like it was the rope drop at mk with the old space mountain footrace, i could swear i saw a few elbows being used
THAT WAS NOT DVC'S BEST MOMENT
2. the date needs to be at a more temperate time of year, thursday was just too awful, we went back to bcv at 3:30 and just had to spend the rest of the evening inside the room in the air conditioning, not a pleasant way to end a great experience

 

[Marthajill]

In response to the unhappy Homecoming event members in the BC pool - I was one of them and take offense to you calling us "unhappy" people. In a day that gas and milk prices are what they are - I find charging "members" whom you supposedly are treating like "royalty" to crowded fireworks displays, soggy rice crispy treats and lemon (?) bars, cookies coffee with no milk, warm lemonade and water, 45 minute lines for 2 rides and a DJ that could not get the crowd involved, $299.00 a piece was a bit steep!! And that was just night #1. When the itinerary came and detailed the following nights "dinner" to be burgers, hot dogs, chicken strips and turkey legs I was truly disappointed and insulted.........that dinner in my house is reserved for game nights when I want to give my kids a "quick dinner" before their game, this was not what I though Disney would define as dinner! I expected a buffet of some sort with a variety of foods from beef to chicken to pasta and the Epcot desserts would have included desserts from around the world and maybe some fresh fruit (we are in Florida) for those who don't eat a lot of dessert or are diabetic! I will admit I requested a refund before the MK nights events since it was no incentive to leave the pool and the company of some fine "neighbors" to be "corralled" through the MK like a herd of cattle again!

I would like to give the planners credit for trying, however I believe someone in charge dropped the ball on this one! This was an event planned for the opening of a new Disney resort - you would think they would have wanted us to leave with a great experience and go home and tell everyone how wonderful they were, unfortunately that was not the case - the only positive point I can make is that I hope they learn from this one and use the input to improve items for the next event. I give them credit for giving refunds tothose that requested them and that I do not have unkind feelings towards future events - I only hope they are better planned out than this one was. In speaking to many other members - many were unhappy with the event due to their own dissappointments and even one of the DVC CM told us that some people were so unhappy they left the first evenings event and threw their lanyards at the CM assisting in anger - that was uncalled for! Even though we were dissappointed or "unhappy" if that is how you want to put it - it was only that it did not live up to Disney's prestigious and first class treatment!!

Sorry if you do not agree, but I work hard for my money and although I never hesitate to spend it at Disney (this was my 5th trip this year) I expected to be treated a bit better! It was truly a dissappointment!

 

[pirateparrot]

Like many others have said here, I really thought the Member Homecoming was a wonderful event.

The only complaints that I had was the way the crowd was handled at the Illuminations show. Initially, the idea was for everyone in the section closest to the rail to sit on the ground so other members behind them could see. Unfortuately DVC did not make this clear nor provide some relief for members that could not sit on the ground (and get back up). This made it difficult for everyone further back to see.

As for the Magic Kingdom event, I had an issue with the DVC folks trying to push everyone up onto Main Street for the parade rather than allowing members to spread out. Initially they told us that they were going to turn off the floats and the music when they got into the circle to try to get everyone to move up toward the exit. I complained to one of the DVC folks and was heading to talk to Jim Lewis when I was assured that this would not happen if people were sitting there. I could not understand crowding onto Main Street because I can do that any night at MK.

Like I said, I think the event was great and I hope they do more events like this in the future. The next time, I am sure that they will learn from any mistakes and future events will be even better.

 

[jweiss]

From all the talk before the event, I thought we would end up with some special gifts. All we really got were a lot of pins. Which is great if you're into pins!!! We're not really...... Also, the CHILDREN weren't able to see any better than were the disabled people. the children seem to have been left out of the planning, or seem to have been an afterthought. There was nothing for them to do that first night, other than say hi to mickey over and over and over again. It would have better been billed as an adult only event!!! Als, I felt that Thursaday was really a let down. Everyone jsut sort of scattered. The actibities were all scattered. And there wasn't even a meal!!! Just "tastes". I found that strange. Didn't hate it....didn't love it. Not sure if we'd go again. I do wish it have been more kid or family oriented!!!!

 

[MarkRG]

Originally posted by Marthajill
In response to the unhappy Homecoming event members in the BC pool - I was one of them and take offense to you calling us "unhappy" people. In a day that gas and milk prices are what they are - I find charging "members" whom you supposedly are treating like "royalty" to crowded fireworks displays, soggy rice crispy treats and lemon (?) bars, cookies coffee with no milk, warm lemonade and water, 45 minute lines for 2 rides and a DJ that could not get the crowd involved

Were you expecting alcohol for free? I certainly wasn't, that would have involved a huge can of worms to guarantee such stayed with adults. And not one beverage I had that evening was even close to warm. The desserts were certainly of the non-messy kind and rightly so. And the rice crispy treats were my absolute favorite of the evening, the freshest and NON sticky/gooey I have ever had. And some of the other offerings were so rich even I couldn't finish them. Yes, the first part was a little crowded, but out of necessity, they had to put us someplace where they could keep track of us while shooing out the regular guests. We did not rush over to Future World, and when we got there we just about walked on to each ride, I'd say no more than a 10 minute wait in the queue at each.

And that was just night #1. When the itinerary came and detailed the following nights "dinner" to be burgers, hot dogs, chicken strips and turkey legs I was truly disappointed and insulted.........that dinner in my house is reserved for game nights when I want to give my kids a "quick dinner" before their game, this was not what I though Disney would define as dinner! I expected a buffet of some sort with a variety of foods from beef to chicken to pasta and the Epcot desserts would have included desserts from around the world and maybe some fresh fruit (we are in Florida) for those who don't eat a lot of dessert or are diabetic! I will admit I requested a refund before the MK nights events since it was no incentive to leave the pool and the company of some fine "neighbors" to be "corralled" through the MK like a herd of cattle again!

Well, then you missed out as there was NO herd or coralling going on whatsoever, unless you were talking about the regular guests being shown the door.

Here's the dining we got for free, anything off any of the following menus, in any amount you wanted:

Pecos Bill:

Slue Foot Sue's Sweetheart of a Deal Chicken Wrap - seasoned chicken strips, lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese tossed with Pecos house dressing with fries or carrots $7.39
Paul Bunyan Half Pound Bacon Double Cheeseburger - served with your choice of French fries or carrots $6.89
John Henry Cheeseburger - 1/4 pound cheeseburger served with your choice of fries or carrots $5.69; add bacon $.79
Buffalo Bill Hot Dog - 1/4 Pound all beef Hot Dog served with your choice of fries or carrots $5.59; add chili $0.99
Kit Carson Chicken Salad - freshly tossed grilled chicken, jicama slaw, lettuce, vegetables and cheese in a lime vinaigrette $6.39; served without grilled chicken $4.69

Calamity Jane's Sides
Chili Cheese Fries - $3.29
French Fries - $1.79
Chili - $2.99

Davy Crockett's Desserts
Chocolate Cream Pie - $3.45

Babe the Blue Ox Beverages
Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Nestea Iced tea, Barq's Root Beer, Lemonade - $1.99, $2.29
Bottled Water - $2.50
Orange Juice - $1.49
Low Fat Milk - $.99
Chocolate or Whole Milk $1.99
Coffee - Regular, Decaf $1.69 & $1.89
Hot Cocoa, Hot Tea - $1.69

Cosmic Ray's Starlight Cafe:
Family Meal serving 3-4 people Whole Rotisserie Chicken with Mashed Potatoes $15.99
1/2 Rotisserie Chicken - with Mashed Potatoes $6.99
Fried Chicken Strips, served with choice of French Fries or carrots - $6.49
Grilled Chicken Sandwich, served with choice of French Fries of carrots - $6.79

On the Side
French Fries - $1.79
Mashed Potatoes $1.49

For Mickey's Little Friends Only Please
Corn Dog Nuggets with Fries and Child's beverage $3.49
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich with chips and a Child's beverage $3.49
Child's Beverage $0.99

Soup & Salad
Caesar Salad with Chicken $6.39; add your choice of Soup $7.89
Country Vegetable Soup - $1.99
Cream of Chicken Soup w/Vegetables - $1.99

Sandwiches
Sub-Orbital Cheesesteak Sub - shaved steak grilled w/cheese and onions $5.19
Big Dipper Stacked Sandwich - smoked ham, salami, pepperoni, provolone cheese with honey mustard dressing $5.29

Burgers
Entrees served with your choice of toppings from our specialty bar
Meteor Meal - 1/2 pound Bacon Double Cheeseburger served with your choice of French fries or carrots $6.89
Cosmic Creations - 1/4 pound Cheeseburger served with your choice of French fries or carrots $5.69; add bacon $0.79
1/4-pound Beef Hot Dog - served with your choice of French fries or carrots $5.59; add bacon $0.79
Earthly Delight Vegetarian Burger - served with your choice of fries or carrots $6.09

Topping Bar: lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, onions, relish, green peppers, mushroom, grilled onions, BBQ sauce, mayonnaise, mustard, ketchup, and cheese sauce

Kosher Selections
Products are Glatt Kosher
No Advance Notice Necessary
Hot Dog in Bun with potato croquettes $8.99
Beef Burger with Roll with potato croquettes $8.99
Chicken Strips with potato croquettes $8.99

"Planetary-yum" Desserts
Haagen-Dazs - Vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate with almonds $3.49
Brownie (no sugar added) $2.49

Beverages
Coke, Sprite, Minute Maid Orange, Iced Tea - $1.99 $2.29
Iced Cappuccino - $2.79
Apple or Orange Juice - $1.39
Bottled Water - $1.25 or $2.50
Whole or Chocolate Milk - $1.99
Low Fat Milk - $0.99
Hot Cocoa or Hot Tea - $1.69
Coffee - $1.69 & $1.89

Lunching pad:
"Galactic Gobblers" - smoked turkey legs $4.69
Spicy Cheese Pretzel $3.09
Assorted Chips $2.39
Disney Cookies with Character - $1.49
Frozen Carbonated Drinks - Coke, Minute Maid Cherry or Minute Maid Blueberry $2.39; served in 32 oz. souvenir sports bottle $5.29
Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite, Minute Maid Orange - $1.99, $2.29; served in 32 oz. souvenir sports bottle $4.99
Whole, Low fat or Chocolate Milk - $1.99
NesCafe Coffee - regular or decaffeinated $1.69 and $1.89
Hot Tea or Hot Cocoa - $1.69
Large Orange Juice - $2.39
Bottled Water - $1.25 or $2.50

Yes, it was counter service, so it didn't include pastas or some other fancier items, no, but it did serve up nicely and it was quite fulfilling. "quock dinner before the game" is exactly what it was and rightly so. I certainly wasn't interested in anything more fancy than that as it would have taken too much time away from spending on the rides - the first focus of the evening - the only complaint I have from the evening is it wasn't long enough, could have enjoyed a few more hours riding the rides. Having almost every ride being in operation and ALL having zero wait times is something to not have been missed.

I take that last sentence to say you didn't even go to the MK event? Well gee, if you did that you did miss out then. That was the most uncrowded experience I have ever had at MK, and I've been to a few other unadvertised special events and none could compare to that night. The only time we had ANYONE near us was for the parade and even then it wasn't that crowded.

I would like to give the planners credit for trying, however I believe someone in charge dropped the ball on this one! This was an event planned for the opening of a new Disney resort - you would think they would have wanted us to leave with a great experience and go home and tell everyone how wonderful they were, unfortunately that was not the case - the only positive point I can make is that I hope they learn from this one and use the input to improve items for the next event. I give them credit for giving refunds tothose that requested them and that I do not have unkind feelings towards future events - I only hope they are better planned out than this one was. In speaking to many other members - many were unhappy with the event due to their own dissappointments and even one of the DVC CM told us that some people were so unhappy they left the first evenings event and threw their lanyards at the CM assisting in anger - that was uncalled for! Even though we were dissappointed or "unhappy" if that is how you want to put it - it was only that it did not live up to Disney's prestigious and first class treatment!!

Sorry if you do not agree, but I work hard for my money and although I never hesitate to spend it at Disney (this was my 5th trip this year) I expected to be treated a bit better! It was truly a dissappointment!

I work extremely hard for my money and I was very satisfied with this event and would go to another without a moments hesitation. And I didn't see all that many unhappy members either on MK night or at Saratoga, hot weather notwithstanding. Most left MK with huge unshakable smiles. At the Saratoga opening Jodi Benson was a delight, and the food offered at the taste booths was great, and certainly more than enough for lunch with a few visits to different booths. The portions were perfectly appropriate to allow for a sampling of the different ones offered withouth filling up too quickly.

Sorry you had such a poor experience, based on that first nights events.

 

[NHMinnie]

I thought Member Homecoming was wonderful!! We had such a good time at the events.

The night at the Magic Kingdom was my favorite event. Getting to ride all the rides with zero wait and see Spectro Magic with such a great view was awesome. We loved that you could walk up to the counter service and order whatever you wanted.

The night at Epcot was fun too. It was a little crowded but we ended up going up near the entrance and it wasn't as bad. I liked the desserts. I also liked the fact that everywhere you went they had tons of bottled water. It was very very hot though this whole event and having water everywhere was great.

The last day was great too. Other than the heat that is. We loved the food. It was nice to be able to sample food from the Downtown Disney restaurants.

Overall we had a wonderful time. We ended up staying at the AKL on points because the DVC resorts were sold out. We had a Savanna view. It was beautiful there. Waking up every morning to the giraffes right outside our balcony. We will definitely use our points for AKL again. We loved it!

 

[jimh13432]

We also had a wonderful time at Member Homecoming. The hard work of the DVC staff really showed. It WAS magical, in my opinion anyway.

We spoke with many DVC'rs who also felt very satisfied with the entire event. I believe a strong majority of attendees felt we were well taken care of and everyone at DVC should be applauded for their hard work in making this event a success. I've already sent an e-mail to DVC expressing my thanks for everything last week.

By the way, I was in the BCV pool and overheard the negative discussion regarding the first evening's event.

I'm glad you got your money back, you obviously had no intention of enjoying the event from that point forward. We had a great time without you though.

 

[NHMickey]

The hard work of the DVC staff really showed. It WAS magical, in my opinion anyway

We agree!!!

 

[Marthajill]

From the responses on the boards you can easily see everyone has their own opinion of what is the "royal" treatment and what is not - guess thats why there were DVC members who thought the event was worth the money and those who did not - I just happen to believe that for the money Disney and the expectations of what Disney can produce - fell short! Glad to hear that those of you that had a good time will be back on other events - you can thank us unhappy members when the future events are even better..........and less expensive!!

 

[goofy4wdw59]

Thanks to all for sharing their experiences with this DVC event, and, I trully appreciate reading all opinions. I think that presents a more accurate picture.
I'm somewhat afraid to post my opinion or an honest review--especially if I want to say something needed improvement, etc. IMHO, some posters are just waiting for that and will insist it's "negative" or never happy, etc.
Just because a "negative" opinion may be expressed here--it's individual how someone interprets what they are reading--I don't think these posters spend their vacation complaining about things that aren't "right". Gosh, I hope not--what a waste of a WDW vacation!
I was curious to see what members thought as, our family felt it was over-priced & the date didn't work out for us either. I would love to attend a separate event just for DVC members. I hope that in the future, DVC will consider events that are more affordable & that more members will pay for and enjoy. I also think DVC listens to it's members and will try to improve in the areas that needed it based on member feedback.