Anyone ever do this or is it a hairbrained scheme I am thinking about?

[MrsNick]

Although I wouldn't personally do this, I don't really get why it would be "unethical." No one is stealing anything.

And actually, this could be a great hedge. Last year, lots of people who booked values for free dining were upgraded to OKW and SSR, not just to studios, but to 1 BR's. You could book both, and if you found out you got the upgrade, cancel the DVC reservation and bank your points.

I don't see how booking the room will take it away from someone who "needs" it as Disney upgrades existing reservations to make way for new value reservations, so the value reservations remain available to book.

 

[CarolA]

By the way, I heard a TA on a podcast explaining exactly how she did this during last year's Free Dining. So it's a pretty "open" secret LOL!

 

[Tramp68]

Bottom line is:

IF Disney CARED about the families that would potentially miss out from being able to afford to go during these promotions THEY would give a discount to DVC members so they wouldnt HAVE to do this to save some money.

If I pay for it, I can do what I want with it as long as it is legal...If I want to leave MY room that I paid for empty, it is MY business....maybe I will just use it to store my luggage and souveniers.......

My big complaint about the DDP is what 10-12 year old EATS $38 worth of food in a day? I am sure there are some out there, but Disney needs to get realistic with their adult price here. Even the Buffets around the US usually use 12 or 13 as the adult cut off....It really makes DDP unrealistic for many families...

 

[DisFlan]

I don't think this is necessarily unethical, and I don't think Disney gives a hoot about who rents which room. They know people are doing this.

My concern is what Disney might do if too many people get too cute about gaming the system - whether it's for special offers or swiping gobs of ketchup and mustard packets from CS restaurants. Disney might decrease the amount or content of free dining or room only discounts or bounceback offers, etc. They want to put bodies in beds and butts in dining chairs, but like any business, they don't want to be taken advantage of past a certain point. And as many of us know, a lot of people feel no shame about going far beyond that point. Then we all get hurt. A bit of moderation is probably in order. It would seem pretty odd if POP or AS is sold out, but 25% of the rooms are actually empty during free dining. Disney would KNOW they're losing some big food bucks.

Would I do the value/dining shuffle myself? Probably not (my DS and DIL both have very good desk jobs at WDW and I wouldn't want to cause any problems for them). The best cure for us would be for Disney to offer free dining to DVCers staying on points, but I don't see this happening.

DisFlan

 

[hansel1]

Although I wouldn't personally do this, I don't really get why it would be "unethical." No one is stealing anything.

And actually, this could be a great hedge. Last year, lots of people who booked values for free dining were upgraded to OKW and SSR, not just to studios, but to 1 BR's. You could book both, and if you found out you got the upgrade, cancel the DVC reservation and bank your points.

I don't see how booking the room will take it away from someone who "needs" it as Disney upgrades existing reservations to make way for new value reservations, so the value reservations remain available to book.

Disney upgrades existing reservations, but they do it upon checkin so this does not free up a "free dining" reservation for someone else who could only go if free dining is provided. Free dining bookings close a couple of months in advance of the travel dates, so if you get upgraded no one else can take your free dining reservation at the value resort. The room would be available but not with free dining.

 

[Perdita&Pongo]

What a great group of replies on this topic!! Let's keep the discussion going.

I'm confused . People have time on their vacations to jump thru all these hoops to save a few (very few) bucks? Who thinks up this stuff???

You still paid for your DVC points, where is there any savings in this plan? Plus, the "new" dining plan is not that great. Sounds like waaaayyy tooooo much effort.

For my family which would be 3 adults and one 11yo, the DDP @ DVC would be $37.99 x 4 = $151.96 (anyone know if there is tax on top of this?).

A Value room for the same 4 poeple would run $82 + $10 (extra adult) = $92 + 12.5% = $103.50

The difference would be $151.96 - $103.50 = $48.46 savings *per day* !!

In my book, ~$50/day would not be "a few (very few) bucks".

Even if you factor in the gratuities for the one TS meal a day, the savings add up, especially on longer stays. I.E., 7 days = $350 savings!!

 

[Inkmahm]

Does Disney actually have a requirement that you stay in the room that you book? If not, I'm not sure why this would be unethical.

I've heard of other people booking multiple rooms for various reasons. For example, I've heard of families staying in, say, a 2-bdrm at OKW but also having a room at a Monorail hotel so the kids could have a nap during the day. Now, I can't afford this, but I don't see it as unethical.

Why would Disney care if you actually stay in the room or not? Disney only cares that you PAY for it, not that you USE it. I don't see Disney even caring if you pay for the room and stay offsite. As long as Disney has their cash and you paid the price they requested, it's a business deal. Nothing unethical about it at all.

 

[tammymacb]

I don't think there is a thing wrong with your plan or trying to save money.

I agree with the above posters that stated this wouldn't be a problem if Disney made a reasonable way for DVC owners to take advantage of this offer as well as the general public.

 

[MrsNick]

Disney upgrades existing reservations, but they do it upon checkin so this does not free up a "free dining" reservation for someone else who could only go if free dining is provided. Free dining bookings close a couple of months in advance of the travel dates, so if you get upgraded no one else can take your free dining reservation at the value resort. The room would be available but not with free dining.

What you've written is not accurate. Last year they upgraded people WEEKS before check-in via telephone. All people had to do was call in and voila, upgraded to 1 BR at SSR and OKW. That was because the values were full, and by giving the upgrades, Disney opened up those value rooms for more people to book WITH FREE DINING.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1478319&page=0&highlight=upgrade

 

[lisaviolet]

I did this in August of 2005 almost by accident. DVC was an afterthought. Wait, hmmm, that makes it a little bit different b/c DVC members couldn't even get the Dining plan in those days. So I think my post is irrelevant.

Anyway, I had already booked FD at Pop and about a week before leaving we bit the bullet and bought DVC. Stars, I mean money, just alligned. I had my guide book 2 days at SSR right away, he asked if I wanted any initial bookings, as I had never even been there and was thrilled about all these years of waiting to buy DVC. I just had to stay. 10 years of dreaming. Just had to. And two nights in a studio overlapping just seemed exciting not a waste of points. The anticipation.

So for two days we had SSR and Pop. And we used both rooms. I happen to love Pop's food court, excellent salmon folks, so we were over there at some point. Not to sleep though. And obviously 90% of the time at SSR.

I think the two days were in the middle of our reservation. So there were always items in the Pop room. And we returned.

 

[global_mom]

What a great group of replies on this topic!! Let's keep the discussion going.



For my family which would be 3 adults and one 11yo, the DDP @ DVC would be $37.99 x 4 = $151.96 (anyone know if there is tax on top of this?).

A Value room for the same 4 poeple would run $82 + $10 (extra adult) = $92 + 12.5% = $103.50

The difference would be $151.96 - $103.50 = $48.46 savings *per day* !!

In my book, ~$50/day would not be "a few (very few) bucks".

Even if you factor in the gratuities for the one TS meal a day, the savings add up, especially on longer stays. I.E., 7 days = $350 savings!!

Totally agree that $350 is not a very few bucks but I just still dont see why this would be worth it. Obviously, the math would not come out the same if it was a family with 2 adults and 2 kids under 9. Still seems like alot of effort and you are still using your points, and paid for those as well, so I guess the savings is worth it to some folks but not to others.

Dont know that it is unethical, just seems too sneaky and time consuming. But different strokes for different folks.

I dont think that it was terribly prudent of a TA to discuss this "trick" on a podcast but I also work in the travel industry and that just seems very unprofessional.

 

[CarolA]

Would I do the value/dining shuffle myself? Probably not (my DS and DIL both have very good desk jobs at WDW and I wouldn't want to cause any problems for them). The best cure for us would be for Disney to offer free dining to DVCers staying on points, but I don't see this happening.

DisFlan

Lets see... "Disney I am not paying you anything, but would like you to GIVE me food" Not gonna happen in this lifetime!

Remember DVC and Disney Resorts are SEPERATE entities that each have thier own bottom line.....


And those upgrades weeks before you arrived did NOT mean they were opening up free dining rooms! They opened up VALUE rooms. Just because there is a ROOM at a resort does not mean it's availalbe for a discount program..... If Disney thinks they can sell it without the deal they won't put it back into the discount inventory!

 

[CarolA]

I dont think that it was terribly prudent of a TA to discuss this "trick" on a podcast but I also work in the travel industry and that just seems very unprofessional.

Why not? It's not 'unprofessional' for the TA to book the rooms. That's how she/he makes her money. So if you or I use them to book the room why do they care if we SLEEP in it?

I had a long term engagement in Birmingham last year. We rented rooms at the local hotel by the month. The hotel KNEW that we weren't going to be there on weekends, holidays etc. Guess what? They didn't care!!!! They had their money, they were happy!

 

[global_mom]

Why not? It's not 'unprofessional' for the TA to book the rooms. That's how she/he makes her money. So if you or I use them to book the room why do they care if we SLEEP in it?

I had a long term engagement in Birmingham last year. We rented rooms at the local hotel by the month. The hotel KNEW that we weren't going to be there on weekends, holidays etc. Guess what? They didn't care!!!! They had their money, they were happy!

Just my personal opinion and I do find it unprofessional but to each their own. Even if it is not unethical to do as described, many people do see it as "cheating" the system. Of course it is fine for her to book the rooms but that was not the point. The point was the discussion by a travel professional that coaches people how to work a loophole or cheat the system. Of course, I did not hear the words that were spoken so I dont know exactly how it was represented.

The example of the hotel in Birmingham is totatlly different and companies do that all the time. Often easier, and cheaper, to keep one long reservation. Occupancy of the room was not my point.

Again, it is OK if it does not bother you, but it does bother me. Just my opinion and not an attack on anyone else's opinion.

 

[alldiz]

I'm starting to swing my vote......

Would be nice to send my mom and DD to AsMo for a night or so
Kerri

 

[crisi]

I don't think its unethical either. I do think its a lot of bother - I wasn't all that impressed with the Dining Plan back when it was a GOOD deal. And I suspect that it will be a loophole Disney closes - probably by making Values ineligible for free dining sometime in the future.

 

[DisFlan]

Lets see... "Disney I am not paying you anything, but would like you to GIVE me food" Not gonna happen in this lifetime!

Remember DVC and Disney Resorts are SEPERATE entities that each have thier own bottom line.....

CarolA - yup! That's why it's not gonna happen.

So we'll continue to see those rooms at POP snapped up. Disney will be "giving" those folks food (minus the appy and tip) for $82 a day and the "separate" cost of using points for DVC. For us, that's just not much of a savings. That's MY bottom line - the one that counts. I figure that a couple of years from now, free dining will be down to a TS entre, a CS and a $2 snack. If it's around at all. Even now, it's not really "free". If you want an appy, its not cheap and you're still stuck with the tip.

DisFlan

 

[mla973]

I agree with other posters that if Disney cared about their loyal DVC Owners, they would create a way for members (who have invested in DVC and Disney vacations for 40+ years into the future) to also get a dining discount. Especially when a lot of the WDW dining discounts for DVC (10%, 20% off) have been removed from their website as of late.

As a newer DVC member, I'm not pleased to hear that someone can book a value for $82/night, get upgraded to a 1BR DVC room AND get free dining.

Booking two rooms and juggling all of that seems like too much work for me and not enough savings to make it worth it. Now, I'm using points for an Aug 31-Sept 5 stay, incuding borrowing points for a room for our guests. We're not doing the DDP, but I'm irritated that unless we make reservations now, it is likely that we will be turned away at the majority of restaurants (as cash-paying customers) because they are full of people eating for free.

 

[DisFlan]

As a newer DVC member, I'm not pleased to hear that someone can book a value for $82/night, get upgraded to a 1BR DVC room AND get free dining.

Yeah, well...most of us aren't thrilled with this example. But you'll note that free dining is mostly only offered during the slowest of DVC usage times (not always, but mostly) - when the fewest of us could or would take advantage of it anyway. So it's not really that big a loss for most DVCers.

I know - it probably wouldn't kill them to offer it to us during those periods. But if they did, it wouldn't be a slow usage time for long (and it would set a precedent). And then we'd be back to the same problem. It wouldn't be a slow time so they wouldn't offer it...yada yada.

DisFlan

 

[crisi]

I agree with other posters that if Disney cared about their loyal DVC Owners, they would create a way for members (who have invested in DVC and Disney vacations for 40+ years into the future) to also get a dining discount. Especially when a lot of the WDW dining discounts for DVC (10%, 20% off) have been removed from their website as of late.

I've always figured if Disney cared about their stockholders, they'd maximize profits and not hand out discounts unless they were going to increase overall profitability - because that is what they have an obligation to do.