Anyone else struggling with the climate of evasiveness?

[NY Pirate Princess]

I need to speak publically on matters that have long been decided but I am not at liberty to disclose quite yet. On a good day I am great at it. On a bad day I can let part of the truth slip before I catch myself. I believe this is what happened at the meeting.

Further, since those decisions are not in my hands, sometimes they can change dramatically on game day. Which is why I am not free to discuss internal matters before public disclosure.

I bought resale in 2023 and I bought access to my home resort. Everything else is frosting. I know long members have bigger stories. Just clarifying my lens.

 

[Rex1993]

I'm going to go astray a little bit here and talk about CA specifically because I haven't taken the time to really delve into the statutes that govern the associations in FL. As it relates to the two CA based associations, they continue to be noncompliant with a number of statutes related to open meeting laws. They refuse to provide basic information as required under CA law and continue to operate with impunity. That being said, so do pretty much every other timeshare association. If you look back at some of my threads, I've been harping on this. The problem is that not enough people care and even if they did, the association is set up so that DVD has almost no conceivable way of losing their vote proxy. Out of all the properties, VGC is the best candidate for putting DVD on their heels with this but there just doesn't seem to be any appetite for it among the owners.

My advice: accept the inevitability that you as an individual "owner" have no effective control over anything other than your ability to sell the points if you become disenfranchised. That single element of control differentiates DVC from almost every other timeshare on earth. At least you have the ability to sell in an active market where you can make back some if not more than your initial investment...

 

[Brian Noble]

I guess I’m left feeling a bit disenamored and disappointed overall.

I was going to ask how you think you'd feel if you weren't on DISBoards, but I think you've already answered it:

think being very active here on the disboards (at least being an active voyeur) really gets in my head and although I love the analyzing and sometimes over analyzing of all things DVC and Disney, it does take away some of the magic.

Here is how I think about these things: When you bought your DVC timeshare, it came with access to a particular set of resorts, and those resorts had particular expiration dates. You will still have that*, whether or not Poly 2 is in the same association or a different one, whether or not a trust gets created, and whether or not restrictions do or do not happen in new resorts that might or might not get built. Even in a world where some current inventory ends up in a trust, the owners who own that inventory will move along with the inventory, so as they say in Wisconsin: "It's a horse apiece."

So, the reasons you bought are still there, and will still be there to make great memories. Will other resorts be available later? Maybe. Will other owners have different rules? Maybe. But none of that matters. What matters is that what you bought is what you bought.

I question if I asked my guide a question if I would get an honest answer, or at least an honest admission that my question couldn’t be answered yet.

I think this is still true, and that a Guide will answer to the best of their ability. For example, I suspect that Guides are legally barred from talking much about Poly 2.0 because it is not licensed for sale---and if they talked about it, that could be viewed as inducing a sale with a benefit that they aren't legally allowed to promise yet.

-----
*: Yes I am aware that entire resorts can be removed from the system, but I'm more worried about a meteor hitting the earth and causing a dinosaur-level extinction event---which is to say, not very.

 

[SL6827]

That’s the thing that scares me. They are focusing on profitability and failing miserably. There is definitely internal pressure to go lean and maximize profits and that’s when poorly though out short term money making schemes get approved.

Exactly. This is also what happened at a GE factory I used to work at back in the day. Unfortunately, I think it's Boeing's problem too. Cut the fat to the bone!

 

[SL6827]

When they shamefully quickly flipped the BPK into VGF, I knew it was the beginning of the end for me. Now we have the ugly Poly tower and moderate level CFW coming with possibly a trust setup. I am going to give it time to play out before making a rash decision, but I have lost all confidence in DVD and Disney as a whole to preserve their products value, and will likely sell my 3 contracts and rent points when I decide to go. Some people expect the absolute bare minimum from companies and are happy when they get just a room. Those are the ideal customers for DVC, “thank you sir may I have another” comes to mind.

I bet POR is the next moderate DVC.

 

[SL6827]

That isn’t the only question. The more pertinent (to this discussion) question is, were any existing VGF owners materially harmed by the addition of BPK? The answer is yes. We will never know what percentage, but there are certainly owners who have no interest in staying in the first DVC villa without a kitchenette or a damn fridge even, that feel they are now competing with millions of more points for their existing villas. This wasn’t just a benign capitalism event, it had impacts on existing owners and that was my point. I don’t trust DVC to make money and simultaneously not harm existing ownership, they’ve proven they can and will. That isn’t an opinion.

This!!

 

[NorCalFanatic]

We’re new to DVC, about 2 years now….we’ve gone from 300 points to over 1600 in that time, and we love it. We’re not WDW people, DLR and Aulani. If you’re enjoying your vacations than don’t let all the negativity on these boards get to you. Some here couldn’t make a positive post if their life depended on it. While there are legit grievances there’s also a lot of petty nit picking. Some haven’t been to the parks in 5-10 years and gripe about how bad things are!

 

[tidefan]

We’re new to DVC, about 2 years now….we’ve gone from 300 points to over 1600 in that time, and we love it. We’re not WDW people, DLR and Aulani. If you’re enjoying your vacations than don’t let all the negativity on these boards get to you. Some here couldn’t make a positive post if their life depended on it. While there are legit grievances there’s also a lot of petty nit picking.

I would agree for the most part, but I do think there are a few things recently that do make you wonder, such as:

• How addition of BPK affected original VGF1 owners
• Was reallocation of points across unit types at SSR (from the Treehouses) actually allowable?
• The lock-off premium shenanigans they tried to pull off with the point charts a few years ago
• The OKW extension "Quit Claim" fiasco

 

[NorCalFanatic]

I would agree for the most part, but I do think there are a few things recently that do make you wonder, such as:

• How addition of BPK affected original VGF1 owners
• Was reallocation of points across unit types at SSR (from the Treehouses) actually allowable?
• The lock-off premium shenanigans they tried to pull off with the point charts a few years ago
• The OKW extension "Quit Claim" fiasco

Not owning anything at WDW, and so not following any of that I can’t really comment one way or another. I’ll stay in my lane with VDH/AUL/GCV/DLR

 

[SL6827]

I would agree for the most part, but I do think there are a few things recently that do make you wonder, such as:

• How addition of BPK affected original VGF1 owners
• Was reallocation of points across unit types at SSR (from the Treehouses) actually allowable?
• The lock-off premium shenanigans they tried to pull off with the point charts a few years ago
• The OKW extension "Quit Claim" fiasco

Those lock off premium attempts is what really got my attention and made me start to think about trusting Disney as a timeshare. It seems that the Disney difference is being thrown out the door, and they will become the industry standard in the future.

 

[SL6827]

But for those who can trust and are happy with DVC, that's great! I'm happy for you. Continue on making memories!!!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Is there anyone here who bought direct and was not told the bus driver's personal DVC history? I've always wondered whether this is a longstanding tradition, handed down from bus driver to bus driver, or part of the official DVC sales playbook.

Oh, I like a lot of what Eisner did but also a lot of what Iger did. And there is stuff I don't like with both CEOs.

My point was that Eisner was criticised when he as CEO as being greedy and not understanding the Disney values by many as is Iger today. But Disney hasn't just recently become a corporation. It's decision have been focusing on profitability for a long time. Some decision are just better than others.

Iger is criticized much more heavily than Eisner. He’s overseen Disney’s decline. He basically did not do anything but China (already kind of in the works) and buy companies. No creativity whatsoever. Eisner opened parks and developed many, many resorts that are some of the nicest in the world. The only crappy thing Eisner did was turn the West side of Main Street into one large gift shop lol

 

[NorCalFanatic]

I don’t know DCA 1.0 was pretty crappy.

 

[Rex1993]

I don’t know DCA 1.0 was pretty crappy.

I was at DCA in the summer of 2001. It was a whole lot better than the parking lot that it was before.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

I was at DCA in the summer of 2001. It was a whole lot better than the parking lot that it was before.

That’s not a stretch….the only thing good on day 1 was California Screaming, Soarin, Grizzly river run and the Grand Californian. The rest was pretty blah and mediocre. Disneyland Paris wasn’t exactly a hit and his penny pinching led to maintenance issues (anyone remember the guy killed from the Columbia accident and the lawsuit that followed). Emperors last groove, Atlantis, home on the range, not exactly hits…..Point is people like to look back at Eisner with rose colored glasses. He did a lot of good, but he had a lot of screw ups as well, and followed a pattern pretty similar to Igor.

 

[MerlinandtheMouse]

Igor

Lol @ Igor.

I shan’t hear any Emperor’s New Groove slander! A massively underrated gem!

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

I don’t know DCA 1.0 was pretty crappy.

At least he opened new parks. He tried. Iger has just run the place into the ground. He has coasted on the work of those who came before him. And now it’s all running out and Iger looks like a fool. Eisner ended up leaving because he tried to do too much creatively.

 

[NorCalFanatic]

Eisner did ALOT, and added on quite a bit in the parks, new parks, and oversaw a turnaround of Disney in the first half of his tenure, not denying that at all….But dig deeper and you’ll see the 2nd half wasn’t so great….Wall Street Journal had a great article recently comparing the two, their rise and fall and how similar they are in many ways. Anyone else remember Roy Disneys “save Disney” campaign to unseat Eisner there at the end? There was more to his leaving than “too much creativity “

I’d disagree Iger has done nothing but drive it into the ground. Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm all under his watch. Shanghai Disneyland, Cars Land, Avatar Experience, Galaxys Edge (love it or hate it, I love it!), Avengers Campus, Trader Sam’s! Tangled, Frozen, Moana, Encanto, a number of Pixar hits….lots of recent duds, just like Eisner in the later half. Not sure how much of the last few years is Iger or Chapnek (sp?)

 

[intamin]

At least he opened new parks. He tried. Iger has just run the place into the ground. He has coasted on the work of those who came before him. And now it’s all running out and Iger looks like a fool. Eisner ended up leaving because he tried to do too much creatively.

Agreed. Obviously I'm biased as a consumer but Disney needs someone who knows what the people wants. Eisner was aggressive with the projects he did and not all of them succeeded(*cough* superstar limo *cough*) but when something failed they replaced it eventually with something that did succeed. Chapek was the epitome of purely business minded and disconnect from the fanbase and Iger is a small step above that but it feels like he's just let what Chapek put into place sit there without much change since he left and used Chapek as the fall guy. Instead of nurturing the part of Disney that is actually making a profit it's just been used to cover up the downfalls of other parts of the company.

Some things I just don't understand: Why hasn't Disney refurbished Tomorrowland at Disneyland yet/fixed the peoplemover? Why the hell wasn't canon Star Wars used as the inspiration for Galaxy's Edge? I still think to this day it would've been better as Tatooine with Darth Vader walking around. Then they doubled down with Galactic Starcruiser which priced out the majority of families considering it was only a 2 night experience and then wonder why it failed. There's a lot of simple things they could've done to make the average guest happier.

Compare this to Universal who I hate to say it has been knocking it out of the park. No park passes. Hagrid's is the best themed roller coaster I've ever been on. Velocicoaster is just straight up one of the best coasters I've ever been on and if it isn't obvious from my username and profile picture I am a coaster enthusiast at heart. Then add Epic Universe opening up pretty soon..

I'm not saying Disney needs a bunch of roller coasters because it doesn't. It just feels like Disney is heavily relying on the glory days and these rides are showing their age without any money being put back into the maintenance of them and its showing with the downtime and continuous refurbishments being needed. Like why is Rock N Roller coaster back down again for a significant refurb when it JUST had one not that long ago. I love the Disney parks but it feels like they're falling apart with a competitor down the road on I-4 who is able to build an entire theme park in about the same time it took them to build Tron.

 

[Royal Consort]

Some things I just don't understand: Why hasn't Disney refurbished Tomorrowland at Disneyland yet/fixed the peoplemover?

This I can answer from a previous exec: the Peoplemover is full of asbestos and anything they do with it is going to be disruptive to all of Tomorrowland that they think it best to leave it as it is.