Thoughts from a 20 Year DVC Member

[tjkraz]

If anything, recent trends by Disney management have convinced us that "non park days" are simply not a worthwhile investment. We once envisioned ourselves visiting 4-6 weeks per year, taking things at a very leisurely pace. Now that goal has been cut back to more like 15 days per year, spread over two trips.

During those visits, we'll get the most out of our theme park time. I'm not saying we'll be at the park from open to close. We won't buy Genie+ every day. And during a trip that lasts 7-8 days, we probably will have a non-park day. But we won't be using DVC resorts as a home base while visiting Universal or other sites in Central Florida. We won't be spending a month-and-a-half at DVC with time earmarked for lounging around the pool, playing golf and browsing Disney Springs.

I like the parks, but I don't like standing in lines. It's a miserable experience, often made worse by guests who have little consideration for those around them. (When did it become acceptable to stream videos out loud and hold FaceTime conversations in a crowded room???) If I have to buy Genie+ to avoid that, fine. (To a certain extent.)

If that is Disney's end game, then I guess they win. If they want me to get in, spend as much money as possible, then free up a room for some other big spender, so be it. As long as my wife, kids and perhaps eventual grand kids believe the experience is worthwhile--and we can afford it--we'll do it.

But it just doesn't make sense to buy even more DVC points, dine at expensive Disney restaurants and generally isolate ourselves within the boundaries of Walt Disney World if we aren't focused on the parks. There are plenty of other great vacation destinations with pools, beaches, restaurants, golf courses...and more economical lodging.

 

[SandyinMonterey]

If anything, recent trends by Disney management have convinced us that "non park days" are simply not a worthwhile investment. We once envisioned ourselves visiting 4-6 weeks per year, taking things at a very leisurely pace. Now that goal has been cut back to more like 15 days per year, spread over two trips.

During those visits, we'll get the most out of our theme park time. I'm not saying we'll be at the park from open to close. We won't buy Genie+ every day. And during a trip that lasts 7-8 days, we probably will have a non-park day. But we won't be using DVC resorts as a home base while visiting Universal or other sites in Central Florida. We won't be spending a month-and-a-half at DVC with time earmarked for lounging around the pool, playing golf and browsing Disney Springs.

I like the parks, but I don't like standing in lines. It's a miserable experience, often made worse by guests who have little consideration for those around them. (When did it become acceptable to stream videos out loud and hold FaceTime conversations in a crowded room???) If I have to buy Genie+ to avoid that, fine. (To a certain extent.)

If that is Disney's end game, then I guess they win. If they want me to get in, spend as much money as possible, then free up a room for some other big spender, so be it. As long as my wife, kids and perhaps eventual grand kids believe the experience is worthwhile--and we can afford it--we'll do it.

But it just doesn't make sense to buy even more DVC points, dine at expensive Disney restaurants and generally isolate ourselves within the boundaries of Walt Disney World if we aren't focused on the parks. There are plenty of other great vacation destinations with pools, beaches, restaurants, golf courses...and more economical lodging.

We also plan on cutting back on the amount of days our vacations will be, and probably fewer too. We usually go for a week or ten days, but no need for that now. Four days will probably do just fine. We would like to go to Universal, I've never been there. This year is a DCL cruise at the end of the year and I'm very interested in checking out RC and Celebrity cruise lines. We thought about buying more points years ago, so glad we didn't. Like you said, there's a whole world out there besides Disney.

 

[jdkdorn]

Feeling nostalgic...Just wanted to commiserate as a long-time DVC mom and now grandma. I am sad that for our family that planning a few days together in WDW has become so complicated- overwhelming is the word that comes to mind. Too much! Feel like we had the best of it in the 90's when our kids were small. Did not have trouble getting any DVC room we wanted as long as it was not Christmas or Easter. In the parks, we would use early entry or late hours to decide what parks to go to, and take advantage of the perks of being onsite. We would take turns going to get Fast Pass tickets for the group, and mostly got on the rides we wanted with some simple strategies. Nothing is perfect, but it seemed much more carefree & vacation-like. Yup-I'm old Thanks for listening!
(P.S. Forgot about how easy it made planning/changing plans when tickets did not expire (for free too!)

Us too, 21 years of DVC and the changes over the past 5 years have been dramatic. We are planning more non-Disney trips because the most recent trip lost a lot of the magic. We love going to the pools in the evening, they closed at 8 pm. We like to change our park based on weather, our tiredness, or just wanting to do a ride again...can't do it anymore. The trip lost all of its spontaneity, the restaurants quality is so much lower for the same price, and they seem to be screwing their employees. He is slow walking jobs so people on layoff quit and then he can renegotiate contracts for less money. This leaves the guest with less restaurants and entertainment. I miss the WDW & DVC of just 5-7 years ago.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I think people in general are doing a pretty poor job of separating "permanent changes" from "direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic." There are certainly things that fall into both categories, but far too often I see people lamenting temporary pandemic "stuff" as if it's permanent and intentional.

 

[ITGirl50]

The more I read this the more I regret buying DVC and I haven’t even used it after May 2020 purchase

I think it’s a problem with everything in the world now. COVID and financial policies to deal with it have created a crazy inflation and employment mismatch. So the world is crap right now. We have owned since 2007. We added on in 2010, 2017, 2021 and have another contract in ROFR now. There are a lot of things I will complain about, but it’s still the best purchase we have ever made (except for our current home we bought in 2019). We still like going to WDW and having the large one and two bedroom suites as our home away from home. We have travelled to Hawaii/Aulani 4 times in the past 5 years and are going again in May. We never would have done that without DVC. We plan to spend more time at the resorts when we retire.

 

[lodgelady]

<Clears throat...> A-hem, you do know that you don't park free, right? Your maintenance fees pay dearly for that parking. THAT'S why you don't 'pay.' ;-)

Hmmm...never thought about it like that.

 

[lodgelady]

So, last day of WDW today… I’m luxuriating in the private hot tub of a CCV cabin while the family sleeps. AAAAAAAAH
That said, Genie+ was a flop at HS yesterday. We paid for it and one LL for Millenium Falcon which made us wait an hour past when we wanted to leave just to use it. We asked for and were refused mercy, so we sat at a picnic table nearby, exhausted, watching the minutes click by so we could say we rode three rides instead of two after 4 hours of park day. On a very busy day like yesterday, if you don’t sign in in the morning, just save your money and skip the parks.
The Bison cheeseburger at Geyser Point was on point. Cocktail was good, too. The actual resort was lovely.

Wilderness Lodge is our home, and we love it even though poor Boulder Ridge (original DVC there) is very neglected- hasn't had a full refurb in many years. Have not been to the parks since Genie+, but virtual queue was a bust for us on our last visit. So disappointing to the kids!

 

[lodgelady]

The fun has gone.
Too many rules.

Well said! TOO MANY RULES!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I kinda figured most people would have seen that as a PLUS. One person's positive is another's negative, it's true. But I think for most intents and purposes people actually consider this a BENEFIT of Genie.

I was listing all the differences that make Genie+ different from the old FP system that Tim was stating it was the same as. Not whether it was a plus or minus.

But if virtual queues etc have shown me anything being able to book book from a hotel room isn't a plus. Things were never as screwed up with FP's or lines until that started

I also listed the one, maybe two things that are the same and several things that make it different. Stating they are the same because of one or two things seems to be just trying to pull an I told you so to people who didn't like FP+ thus the "be careful what you wish for comments". Disney management has screwed this one up and it isn't like anything they've offered before.

 

[Carol_]

We have been DVC members since Feb 2002, so I guess our 20 year anniversary is coming up next month!

I think one of the underlying problems to the fast pass system is there just aren't enough new attractions for folks to go on and so Disney has to ration the access to the high demand attractions.

I thought Fast Pass was a great advancement when it came on line, but I didn't like to have to go fetch the fast pass at the attraction and then come back later.

FP+ took care of that. I liked saving a few steps, but I didn't like scheduling attractions in advance of our trip. Also, this is where Disney started rationing the attractions you could get. You could only sign up for 3 in advance. Then, you could not pick the most popular attractions. For example, (IIRC) you could not get Frozen, Soarin and Test Track. In order to schedule all 3, you would have to do it over several days. You could get another fast pass after the 3 were used, but the most popular attractions might be out of fast passes by that time.

But, even with the rationing, there were times when I knew before I even left on a trip to Disney World that I would not have fast pass access to attractions such as Frozen, 7DMT or Flight of Passage for the entire trip. (And I wasn't nimble enough to get on the Rise of the Resistance virtual queue--so I did not experience that attraction until this year with the help of my more tech savvy nieces. )

I didn't necessarily like paying extra for Maxpass at Disneyland, but it was the system with which I have had the most success using so far.

I think Disney has come up with a system to monetize excess demand while rationing access to the attraction. Here's what I mean: They could have added the price of Genie + and ILL to each ticket. But, maybe the ride capacity will not allow for everyone who enters a given park to get on the most popular attractions. I think charging extra will adjust the demand. I know it has altered my behavior. I think I am good with going on RotR maybe once an entire visit (or maybe every other visit). It has allowed me to schedule the ride (if I want to pay) whereas before I would have been completely shut out.

I just have not figured out how to optimize genie + to where it is not an irritation. I am paying extra for it, so I expect to get my money's worth. This is where the underlying problem (not enough attractions that I'm interested in going on) comes into play. For example, there are about 4 genie + / ILL attractions that I enjoy going on at Disney Studios. They are RotR, Mickey and Minnie's Runaway Train, Buzz Lightyear and sometimes ToT. (A lot of the other attractions give me motion sickness and it just isn't worth going on and feeling ill for the rest of the day.) So, it hardly makes genie + cost effective (for me). With shopping and looking at a couple of other attractions (for which no genie +/ILL is either available or just not necessary), I'm done with the Disney Studios in half a day. Park hopping is available after 2pm, but then a lot of the more popular attractions will be out of genie + selections by the time I get over to the other park (like peter pan/7DMT).

I think genie + probably did work better (for me) at DL than at WDW because there are more attractions that I like going on (per park), but one interesting thing that I ran into going with an extended group was if we were not all together--we might go on the standby line so we could save our one time per day genie + access to go with the entire group. That sometimes ended up where we didn't use it at all for a particular attraction because we had already gone on the attraction and we couldn't coordinate the group activity (before they ran out of Ill/genie+ll).

Anyway, if I don't use genie + on a lot of attractions I start to question whether genie + was worth the extra $$.

I don't know how genie+ translates for first time visitors. I assume this group would be more interested in going on more of the genie + attractions, so maybe it is more cost effective?

We paid for Genie+ for our whole group, one of whom couldn’t make it on each day (different people). Between that waste and anything but early morning arrival preventing us getting top tier lightning lanes even if we wanted to pay… I’m unimpressed and probably won’t buy it again.
That said, we loved our resort and our resort loved us back. DVC is still a winner.

 

[Dizzydizney]

25 year member here. We still love our DVC, but it is the decisions being made by Disney upper management that is kind of draining away the “Magic” for us. DVC is a timeshare (and probably one of the best ones out there when it comes time you want to sell). There was no such things as “perks” when we first bought. When purchasing DVC direct, their materials do say perks can be discontinued at any time, so buying something based on perk expectations is not a good idea. Same with buying resale....you know before you buy that most perks are not offered to you.....but you are paying much less than direct buyers. And perks need to be approved by Disney. For years we were not allowed to purchase a dining plan, we got a couple of dining discounts, never got a deal on park tickets. Moonlight Magic wasn’t introduced until 2016 (2015 if you count the Blizzard Beach...Beach Bash).
There are many things I’m not happy about....but it’s the changes with the parks and the decrease in services. DVC is still what it’s supposed to be....a timeshare that’s located inside the bubble of Walt Disney World. We will still make 3 or 4 trips per year, but won’t be purchasing the Genie+, won’t be eating on property more than once or twice per trip, won’t be purchasing any souvenirs on property (unless they are having a blowout sale), will grocery shop at Publix or Winn Dixie and will purchase wine, beer and spirits there as well. Will visit local eateries. We sometimes will stay at a value resort on travel days to save points, but won’t do that anymore....paying $20 to park my car at Pop Century is ridiculous. The price of Pop Century has gotten ridiculous also. I can stay at one of the many hotels close by and get a free breakfast. Although many do charge $15 for parking.
I expect park tickets to increase annually.....but slapping on an extra charge for Genie + and LL is going too far, especially after a big increase for park tickets.
We are morning people, so getting to the parks early is easy for us. We do what many others on here have mentioned...back to the resorts for lunch and pool or games or naps. Parks in the evening.
Yes there are the usual suspects that have nothing but negative things to say about DVC, but they are in the minority.
DVC is what kept WDW going through the pandemic...I would hope that Disney upper management would recognize this and throw us a few bones (but not holding my breath).
Anyone that’s “not feeling it” should take a break from the parks. Visit Aulani if possible, or Hilton Head or Vero. Or bank your points to next use year and borrow and maybe have a big family gathering at your DVC resort. Or check out the new exchanges with II. It’s probabky not a good value for your points, but it’s something different.
Just my two cents.

 

[TinkFan74]

I like “There is a lot in this world to explore”. We have been bringing one of our four kids and their family every year for the last 12 years. But now with loss of magical express, paying extra for rides, skyrocketing cost of tickets and annal passes, we’re starting to think in a different direction. Hmmmm…..maybe a cruise or a trip to Yellowstone or Grand Canyon. We’ll see. (Whenever this COVID crap evens out, of course)

I took my daughter the The Galápagos Islands for Christmas, it cost me a lot less than a trip to WDW. It was a land based tour and our accommodations weren’t fancy, but we got to swim with turtles and marine iguanas every day.

 

[Carol_]

I took my daughter the The Galápagos Islands for Christmas, it cost me a lot less than a trip to WDW. It was a land based tour and our accommodations weren’t fancy, but we got to swim with turtles and marine iguanas every day.

Were you unaffected by the erupting volcano?

 

[WB1971]

I agree with you 100%. I love Disney so much, but so many of these changes are taking the joy and magic out of our Disney vacations.
On our last trip, the best memories were had hanging out at OKW. I hold on to that. Maybe future trips will be just get aways in the resort... no parks.
I don't think that's what Disney wants from our DVC ownership, but that is what they are leading us to do.

Well said. Killing the goose that lays the golden eggs it seems.

 

[lodgelady]

25 year member here. We still love our DVC, but it is the decisions being made by Disney upper management that is kind of draining away the “Magic” for us. DVC is a timeshare (and probably one of the best ones out there when it comes time you want to sell)......
There are many things I’m not happy about....but it’s the changes with the parks and the decrease in services. DVC is still what it’s supposed to be....a timeshare that’s located inside the bubble of Walt Disney World. We will still make 3 or 4 trips per year, but won’t be purchasing the Genie+, won’t be eating on property more than once or twice per trip, won’t be purchasing any souvenirs on property (unless they are having a blowout sale), will grocery shop at Publix or Winn Dixie and will purchase wine, beer and spirits there as well. Will visit local eateries. We sometimes will stay at a value resort on travel days to save points, but won’t do that anymore....paying $20 to park my car at Pop Century is ridiculous. The price of Pop Century has gotten ridiculous also. I can stay at one of the many hotels close by and get a free breakfast. Although many do charge $15 for parking.
I expect park tickets to increase annually.....but slapping on an extra charge for Genie + and LL is going too far, especially after a big increase for park tickets.

Agree. When we first bought and our kids were young we spent way more $$ in the parks. Probably Disney wouldn't mind if us old folks sold our contracts! We are vets who know what is worth it to us to spend our vacation money on. Been going to our DVC for so long, it does feel like our vacation home. Still love it.

 

[AdamsMum]

I think people in general are doing a pretty poor job of separating "permanent changes" from "direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic." There are certainly things that fall into both categories, but far too often I see people lamenting temporary pandemic "stuff" as if it's permanent and intentional.

You could be right about that, but I think the longer the pandemic goes on, the more chance that things like park reservations and park hopping after 2 will just stay. This completely kills any sponteneity that was left in our trips to Disney.
We all know prices increase year after year and still we hand over our hard earned cash. However, I believe a lot of changes were in the works before the pandemic began, but would have met with outrage if implemented all at once then. Having gone through a pandemic closure, gave Disney a fresh start, with increased demand, to move much faster on the changes that have been made. I'm not convinced a lot of things will change back in future.

 

[lodgelady]

You're basically echoing the sentiment I've expressed every time someone complained about FP+ over the last decade.


It always mystified me that people would wax poetic about the days where getting FP for Toy Story Mania meant arriving at park open, sprinting to the FP machines, waiting in a 30 minute line to get passes with a 5:30pm return time. But here we are.

I did not mind FP+ at all, but it did add a layer of pre-planning that had not been there before. As far as paper FP, you are right that you would sprint across the park to get the ones you wanted, and if it was a busy day, or if you tried to get one later in the day, you would get there only to find the machines were covered because tickets were gone. We did have to think on our feet and be more flexible, but there was no alternative. The best part for me was it was an even playing field. I suppose Genie + is supposed to be that too, but for a fee.

 

[RoseGold]

None of this is new. FP Disney with all the 180 day windows and such was also a planning nightmare. Disney has required hours of planning since I started going five years ago.

 

[Chuck S]

None of this is new. FP Disney with all the 180 day windows and such was also a planning nightmare. Disney has required hours of planning since I started going five years ago.

Except now you still have to plan for which park which day, and you still need to plan any dining reservations. Just now you don’t have any idea if you can actually get on any rides, and Genie+ doesn’t plan around your pre-made dining reservations.

 

[DonMacGregor]

So, in a single thread, we have folks lamenting the fact that they can’t park hop until 2 pm and the loss of spontaneity, while others lament the fact that they can’t make dining or fast pass reservations a half a year out anymore.