AKV Condo Meeting Discussion

[Girlstar30]

FYI. I also asked about increases in front desk fees. I was told by Ms. Hill that the category of Admin and Front Desk also includes the recouping of credit card usage fees. When a member charges their annual dues with a credit card, we all pay the resulting transaction fees in our dues. I did verify that fees for loan payments with credit card are paid by Disney.

This cost may be something worthy of shifting to individual members. She did not give me any real world numbers, but she cited the expense as one reason for increases in that category. (Note: When I questioned the Board at the Poly meeting today about the documentation for the elements of Administration and Front Desk charges in our paperwork, they acknowledged that the paperwork neglected to include credit card transaction fees as a cost. They stated they will change the reports to include them in the future. I found the omission interesting.)

Also, I found out that we also pay transaction fees for members using a Disney branded Visa card, thinking they may be exempt. No such luck. Finally, I learned that the fee charged is approximately 2.1% of the charged amount, due to volume discount we receive.

Hope this helps!

Wow thats so interesting, im glad you ask these questions and really held them accountable for where our hard earned money is going!

We should know where every cent is going, including towards credit card fees!

It does seem unfair that all of us are paying credit card fees, especially those of us that use Target gc's to pay annual dues!

 

[Cfabar1]

FYI. I also asked about increases in front desk fees. I was told by Ms. Hill that the category of Admin and Front Desk also includes the recouping of credit card usage fees. When a member charges their annual dues with a credit card, we all pay the resulting transaction fees in our dues. I did verify that fees for loan payments with credit card are paid by Disney.

This cost may be something worthy of shifting to individual members. She did not give me any real world numbers, but she cited the expense as one reason for increases in that category. (Note: When I questioned the Board at the Poly meeting today about the documentation for the elements of Administration and Front Desk charges in our paperwork, they acknowledged that the paperwork neglected to include credit card transaction fees as a cost. They stated they will change the reports to include them in the future. I found the omission interesting.)

Also, I found out that we also pay transaction fees for members using a Disney branded Visa card, thinking they may be exempt. No such luck. Finally, I learned that the fee charged is approximately 2.1% of the charged amount, due to volume discount we receive.

Hope this helps!

I continue to be puzzled about how this is a new expense... It makes me think DVC used to absorb this cost but is no longer willing to do so...

 

[VGCgroupie]

I continue to be puzzled about how this is a new expense... It makes me think DVC used to absorb this cost but is no longer willing to do so...

Yeah this seems odd to me.

 

[OPDman]

Unfortunately, I doubt anything will be done about it. When I discussed this issue at the Poly meeting, one Board member compared this to paying for the pool in your dues but not using it. This is totally different.

The way I phrased my question was, “Why would it be right for ME to charge my dues to a credit card, reap all the rewards such as the cash back and/or points, yet ask everyone else in the room to pay for the costs of that decision?” (Note: I don’t charge my dues. But I wanted to make the question as non confrontational as possible.)

The board ignored my other question as to whether the increase in credit card charges by members had anything to do with their change to the gift card policy last year. (I absolutely think it does.)

 

[Girlstar30]

Unfortunately, I doubt anything will be done about it. When I discussed this issue at the Poly meeting, one Board member compared this to paying for the pool in your dues but not using it. This is totally different.

The way I phrased my question was, “Why would it be right for ME to charge my dues to a credit card, reap all the rewards such as the cash back and/or points, yet ask everyone else in the room to pay for the costs of that decision?” (Note: I don’t charge my dues. But I wanted to make the question as non confrontational as possible.)

The board ignored my other question as to whether the increase in credit card charges by members had anything to do with their change to the gift card policy last year. (I absolutely think it does.)

But now that were paying it shouldnt they let us use the gift cards for monthly payments

 

[OPDman]

The credit card transaction fee is not a NEW expense. It has always been there. According to Ms, Hill it has increased due to higher member usage of credit cards. I was told about it since I asked for a breakdown of why certain expenses increased much higher than inflation or wage growth. She told me it was included in the Admin category.

Later when I checked the category I could not find a listing for transaction fees. The Board acknowledged it was an omission from the documents.

 

[Girlstar30]

The credit card transaction fee is not a NEW expense. It has always been there. According to Ms, Hill it has increased due to higher member usage of credit cards. I was told about it since I asked for a breakdown of why certain expenses increased much higher than inflation or wage growth. She told me it was included in the Admin category.

Later when I checked the category I could not find a listing for transaction fees. The Board acknowledged it was an omission from the documents.

Well done

 

[OPDman]

Well done

Thank you so much!

 

[Sandisw]

I raised the housekeeping question. As background, once you removed the impact of continued points sales at the Riviera, housekeeping costs rose much less dramatically at that resort than at Animal Kingdom Lodge, where the overall year over year change was 9.5% as I recall. I was asking about why rates at AK were so much higher, in that the reasons given for the housekeeping increases were the same, inflation and wage growth. It was a question of year over year percentage change vs. overall costs.

The resorts don’t change year over year. The room configurations and numbers never change once a resort sells out, which is why I removed the point increases, due to sales, in Rivieras costs from my calculations. If anything, the Riviera increase should be greater as you bring more rooms online at DVC expense. AK is a known housekeeping entity, the room numbers and types did not change.

I would note that in a post meeting conversation with Ms. Hill, the DVC treasurer, for AK, there has been a slight reduction in length of stay at the resort, resulting in more frequent cleanings, adding to the upward pressure of costs in addition to wages and inflation. That to me is a better explanation for the cost increase than comparative room type.

Hope this helps!

Kidani 1 bedrooms do have two bathrooms which RIV does not…could that play a role?

 

[Sandisw]

What are the complaints about the Perch that they have? That it makes the lobby, what exactly?

Look cheap and it encourages drunk people when there is already a bar upstairs.

 

[CarolynFH]

If I attend the meeting next year, my question will be why do they continue to choose to remove amenities and unique features in refurbishments. At VGF for example we removed the paneling on the fridges and the TVs in the bathrooms. I imagine our jetted will be removed as well at the next refurb.

I’m sure it’s due to maintenance issues. I remember complaints that the TVs in the mirrors frequently didn’t work, and jetted tubs are difficult to keep clean in a private home, much less between guests in a resort. I don’t know about the fridge paneling though.

 

[Girlstar30]

I’m sure it’s due to maintenance issues. I remember complaints that the TVs in the mirrors frequently didn’t work, and jetted tubs are difficult to keep clean in a private home, much less between guests in a resort. I don’t know about the fridge paneling though.

I asked housekeeping why they were removing the jetted tub and she said they are hard to clean. They did create debris in our tub and it was dirty. She seemed extremely happy to tell me they were going

We moved rooms because the first room was HA and we didnt want that and the button was very hard to push and would work sometimes and then this one had cleanliness issues so yes I see they cause a lot of maint issues for sure. I just feel they are old and could be replaced tho because we love them

 

[Sandisw]

Unfortunately, I doubt anything will be done about it. When I discussed this issue at the Poly meeting, one Board member compared this to paying for the pool in your dues but not using it. This is totally different.

The way I phrased my question was, “Why would it be right for ME to charge my dues to a credit card, reap all the rewards such as the cash back and/or points, yet ask everyone else in the room to pay for the costs of that decision?” (Note: I don’t charge my dues. But I wanted to make the question as non confrontational as possible.)

The board ignored my other question as to whether the increase in credit card charges by members had anything to do with their change to the gift card policy last year. (I absolutely think it does.)

You have to also realize that the front desks of resorts also serve cash guests and thus, it makes sense to me that the fees will all be complied into one set budget and then split in some way.

And I do think that it’s possible that their was an increase in CC fees due to the change but IMO, the ability to pay dues interest free is well worth it to me to absorb someone else’s decision to pay in full with a CC in January.

 

[OPDman]

Kidani 1 bedrooms do have two bathrooms which RIV does not…could that play a role?

Here was my thought process

In 2025, there is a unit with 1 bedroom and 2 bathrooms at Kidani. That same unit exists in 2026. It should not take longer to clean from year to year. It should not use more supplies to clean either.

In 2025, there is a duo studio at the riviera. That same situation exists in 2026. Same with time and supplies.

Let’s say hypothetically that the Kidani room costs $100 to clean for all 2025 and the Riviera room costs $10.

For next year, the rate of increase at Kidani was 9.5% or 109.50. Riveras was less which I recall was 5% or 10.50.

I wasn’t questioning the cost, 109.50 vs. 10.50. I was questioning the % increase difference. All things being equal 2025 vs. 2026, the room types and size makes no difference to the increase, but if you clean it more often year over year, then it does.

To me that is a better explanation for the cost increase. And according to Ms Hill, the average length of stay at Ak has trended shorter, meaning the rooms are cleaned more frequently.

Btw. As I recall, dollar for dollar, AK and Riv have almost the same housekeeping budgets. 14.6 vs. 14.3 million.

 

[eticketplease]

I’m sure it’s due to maintenance issues. I remember complaints that the TVs in the mirrors frequently didn’t work, and jetted tubs are difficult to keep clean in a private home, much less between guests in a resort. I don’t know about the fridge paneling though.

I wonder if they removed the TVs in the mirrors from the cabin bathrooms as they were the same set up there as VGF after the refurbishment

 

[eticketplease]

You have to also realize that the front desks of resorts also serve cash guests and thus, it makes sense to me that the fees will all be complied into one set budget and then split in some way.

And I do think that it’s possible that their was an increase in CC fees due to the change but IMO, the ability to pay dues interest free is well worth it to me to absorb someone else’s decision to pay in full with a CC in January.

But they’ve always been interest free if doing the auto payments so taking away the gift card option from monthly payments of dues just increased our expenses when people are now paying in full with a cc instead. The majority of people paying monthly with the giftcards are in the points and miles game so they are most likely paying their dues at once now with a cc to earn rewards rather than have their dues withdrawn from their bank account on a monthly basis.

 

[zavandor]

It does seem unfair that all of us are paying credit card fees, especially those of us that use Target gc's to pay annual dues!

I suspect the fee for using a GC might be even more.
I don't know how much discount Disney sells the GC to resellers. If they sometime offer a 5%-10% discount to resell them, I guess the discount might be around that. Which means we're probably paying that in our dues as well.
Probably only people who pay with a bank account don't cause any fee.

 

[eticketplease]

I suspect the fee for using a GC might be even more.
I don't know how much discount Disney sells the GC to resellers. If they sometime offer a 5%-10% discount to resell them, I guess the discount might be around that. Which means we're probably paying that in our dues as well.
Probably only people who pay with a bank account don't cause any fee.

Disney is not being charged to process their own gift card where they are being charged by the merchants credit card processing fees and also by accepting ACH transactions from bank account withdrawals

 

[eandt]

Wow thats so interesting, im glad you ask these questions and really held them accountable for where our hard earned money is going!

We should know where every cent is going, including towards credit card fees!

It does seem unfair that all of us are paying credit card fees, especially those of us that use Target gc's to pay

Deleted my comment so as not to evolve the thread into a debate about what is ‘fair’ or not regarding individual line item dues fees

 

[zavandor]

Disney is not being charged to process their own gift card where they are being charged by the merchants credit card processing fees and also by accepting ACH transactions from bank account withdrawals

I don't know for sure, that why I wrote "I suspect".

However, let's say "Disney gift card unit" sells a $100 gift card to Target for $90. A DVC member buys that card and pays $95 and uses it for $100 dues.
Now DVCMC claims back the money from Disney, will "Disney gift card unit" give $90 or $100 to DVCMC for the card they got paid $90 for? If they give $100, they're basically subsiding our dues.
If they give them $90, then I imagine 10$ go into the members balance, like the CC fees.

Now, I don't know how much Target originally paid for the $100. Maybe they paid the full $100 and they sell the gift cards, sometime with a discount, as loss leader to get customers in the shops. But I find hard to believe it, I imagine under normal circumstances, Target should get some margin on GC.