Are APs treated like 2nd class citizens when compared to DVC?

[CapeCodFam]

OK. I have to admit that I am addicted to probably 30-50 Disney web sites/ discussion boards. Mondays are especially wonderful as some of my favorite sites do monday articles. I know from experience that some of you are also on the monday circuit.

Anyway, I found this thread topic on another Disney board and thought I'd post it here for fun.

Here it is (I hope I'm not breaking any rules by pasting this in....):

When I used to be a seasonal passholder, seasonal passholders used to be treated like 2nd class citizens. I remember when they used to do the preview night of the Osbourne Spectacle of lights, they wouldn't let me in and give me the free cookie and picture.

Now that I'm an Annual Passholder, both seasonal and annuals are treated the same, but are like second class citizens to the Disney Vacation Club Members. DVC gets a lot of discounts. For the hard ticket parties like Halloween or Christmas, APs can get discounts for 3 other people and DVC can get up to 5 guests discount tickets. DVC members can bring up to 3 guests with them at the ride previews, but the APs can only bring themselves along. I met someone at the Everest preview that had to leave their grandfather behind in the park because they had Annual Passes, but the grandpa only had a park hopper Does anyone else think this?

 

[CarolA]

The ONE thing both groups have in common.'


WHINING about how underappreicated they are.

 

[Chuck S]

I think the discounts are comparable for the two groups, just different. Remember, it is the AP holders, NOT the DVCers that can buy the Dining Experience card, and AP holders, NOT DVC that get a World of Disney discount.

 

[starbox]

Also, a high percentage of DVC members also have AP. I personally think the perks and discounts are about the same (love the AP World of Disney discount, resort savings discounts and DDE option!)- It's just that many DVCers have combined perks from the DVC and the AP so it looks like a much better deal. Just the DVC perks without the AP perks is really not all that.

 

[lizanne]

With the exception of the early incentive of park tickets, I never thought the DVC perks were that great. The discount on an AP is appreciated and we've taken advantage of that but that makes us both DVC members and AP holders. So maybe having a few extra perks isn't out of line.

 

[Sammie]

I have never understood the complaints by Annual Pass holders about being unappreciated.

The AP is a discounted Ticket and a great bargain. I mean where else can you get 365 days of entertainment for that price, no where.

As to getting anything else, it is nice but should never be expected.

Compared to the cost of becoming an Annual Pass holder and becoming a DVC member I find the comparsion, well

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

I think the # of people that can "come along" for things is appropriate, too.

In our family of 6, I own the DVC alone. So I would need to be able to get 5 "extra" tickets to MNSSHP or MVMCP just for my DH and kids to come with me. But if each AP member can bring 3, DH and I BOTH have APs. So we could each bring up to 3 kids. KWIM??

A family is more likely to have more than 1 AP. But it is probably pretty common for only 1 person in the family to be an actual DVC member. No one else in my house has a card but me.

 

[n2mm]

If we could "stack" our discounts, think how great that would be. We are both AP holders (10+ years) and DVC members (plus former CM - 8 years). There are some great discounts, IMHO, especially DVC valet parking and the AP holder free park parking. Since park parking went up to $10 a day now, that is a great perk. DVC members do not get free parking unless they are staying at a resort. DVC members can buy the DDP if staying at a DVC resort, while AP holders can buy the DDE card. I enjoy being part of both groups, because it makes it great combining and choosing which perk works best for you. Of course, we still miss our CM discounts the most. We have always had an AP (since 1995) and buy it for park admission, so it's a great value for us and now that we are DVC members, saving an extra $100 makes it an excellent value now. We don't need any perks to make us feel like we don't get our value out of it, but if we do, then that's just icing on the cake. BTW, we are not locals either, so always have the airfare to pay for all trips.

BTW, we bought our MNSSHP tickets through the DVC website because I needed 5. I tried to buy them through the AP website, but it will only let me purchase 2 (I actually tried, but it kept going back to the mainpage when I tried to pay for them). Though we are all passholders, I wanted to make ONE purchase--that is why I used the DVC site, it let me buy more tickets at one time.

Here's the info on the AP website --
*Entertainment is subject to change without notice.
**Proof of valid Passholder I.D. required. Offer is valid for passholder plus one (1) guest. Guest must accompany passholder.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Isn't funny how the grass grows greener on the other side of that invisible fence.

 

[keishashadow]

poor grandpa...left behind in the park while his family conquers Everest...Ohana

 

[havencruiser]

The DVC perk of allowing more family members get tix is approprite since DVC ownership is a huge outlay of cash a family makes.

 

[OneMoreTry]

It will be interesting to see what happens to our DVC discounts if and when DVC decides to stop building new resorts and has no more points to sell.

 

[madonna31]

I do hope that people haven't purchased DVC because of the 'perks' that might come with.

I mean that would be like buying a house because it comes with a free lipstick.

 

[spiceycat]

hey I like the only DVC dinning discounts.

we get some dinning discounts in disney downtown that the others don't.

because of my allergies I can't do most of the restuarants. which is why I really, really appreciate MacDonalds......

I think all ears did a nice table explaining the difference in the dinning
http://www.allearsnet.com/pl/disc_dining.pdf

 

[Cruelladeville]

Hey, I love the biggest perk for AP holders--discounted rooms for Friday and Saturday nights. I always use it to book DVC on Friday and Saturday for cash, it's much cheaper than MS, and I can save those pts for another trip! The best part is being able to take advantage of BOTH AP and DVC perks!

 

[dwelty]

I don't know about WDW but at the Disneyland Resort, the AP discounts/Perks are FAR BETTER than DVC. example, almost all dinning locations in Disneyland offer 15% AP discounts. for DVC there is only a handfull, and if they do offer discounts its 10% for merchandise perchases it's 10% for AP and 0 for DVC. This is not a big deal for us as we have AP's but a DVC person would feel like a 2nd class citizen her in California. Perhaps if they build a DVC property here in CA that might change.

 

[Entropy]

I think that the differences may have to do with the fact that each division of Disney is separate and that they all have to show their own tangible growth and results. DVC is a non-profit, but they have their own marketing people manning a kiosk every 100 feet in the parks and resorts and those who try to sell DVC to the other divisions of Disney. They lobby for discounts promising increased attendance or revenue to other Disney divisions. I don't know about the APs, they probably have a similar marketing team advertising APs and trying to get benefits for the APs so that they can sell more APs.
Apparently the APs have been successful at World of Disney while DVC hasn't.

 

[crisi]

I have never understood the complaints by Annual Pass holders about being unappreciated.

The AP is a discounted Ticket and a great bargain. I mean where else can you get 365 days of entertainment for that price, no where.

As to getting anything else, it is nice but should never be expected.

Compared to the cost of becoming an Annual Pass holder and becoming a DVC member I find the comparsion, well

I find the whining from both parties on being underappreciated baffling.

When we talk DVC around here, so many people talk about what an incredible deal they are getting. Then they whine because Disney doesn't appreciate them.

I'm happy for whatever perks we get as DVC members (and my DH had an AP last year), but both would have still been a good deal perkless.

 

[Kick Save]

As with any other discount program, it's all buisness. With both groups, Disney knows you're coming back more than one time, so they don't really need to work to entice you to come back. The dining discounts are nice, but in the end it's a way for Disney to get their most common customers into their resturants. (Rather than saving money by eating in that kitchen Disney built for you in your room. ) The biggest deal the AP people have over the DVC folks are those room discounts. I fall in both groups, and will use the AP discount to book a room at a pretty good rate and not burn points on Fri and Sat night. Of course, business wise that's pretty bright...Disney's rooms aren't full, so offer them up to the people that already have tickets and get them into the resort and spending money.

Personally I like the discounts they throw our way and don't feel under appreciated at all. I try to take advantage of each one. I've already got a great deal on room and admission.