BW Annual Meeting

[DebbieB]

Notes from BWV Meeting 12/10/03

Formal meeting conducted by Jim Lewis, new DVC head (of 3 weeks).

Budget was presented. Increases in the Operating Budget were caused by 2 main areas - health care & pension benefits. They are having to contribute more to the pension plan due to the decrease in investment income. The Reserve fund is also affected by decreases in investment yields. DVC only invests in safe accounts, so not to jeopardize the principle.

Taxes are up due to higher assessments of the buildings.

The average DVC member has 270 points, so the average dues increase is about $39 annual.

Taxes for 2003 were UNDERestimated, so there will be an additional .029 per point in next year’s dues.

The formal meeting was adjourned and they talked about general DVC items:

Success of member cruise & member days. Member clubhouse.

OKW - pool slide addition

SSR - 552 total rooms when totally built (showed slides)

Boardwalk items:

They mentioned the addition of the BW view category, which has been a big problem in the past since only 11% of rooms are BW view. Many members arrived expecting the BW view, few got it. Now you will know when you reserve.

Parking - currently 400 valet spaces. 200 of the 400 will be converted to self park next year.

HDTV will be added to the units along with high speed internet. New armories in the living rooms.

All mattresses will be replaced next year. Sofa beds will be replaced with new models.

Elevators being upgraded. Pool deck & play area upgraded.

Questions:

Florida resident discount on passes. They explained that we are not FL Residents due to DVC ownership but the real question is pass discounts in general. They are working with WDW departments on this. They said only 13% of members have AP’s. They are also looking and packages that include food for DVC members.

Day by day reserving - member suggested being able to book all nights based on the first night of stay instead of calling day by day. A board member explained that this would not be fair to all members because someone could block a whole week when only intending to stay on a holiday weekend at the end (cancelling unwanted nights).

Suggestion of dedicated busses instead of sharing with Swan/Dolphin and Yacht/Beach. This was presented as a suggestion and the board members just shook their heads rather than discussing it.

Advance calendar online so that members could plan around events. Example - member reunion just announced after many already had their May trips booked.

The presentation part of the meeting was long, leaving only about 10 or 15 minutes for member questions/comments.

These were the highlights that I noted, maybe someone else was there could add more.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Thanks Debbie for the very informative update.

 

[Mary Ellen]

Day by day reserving - member suggested being able to book all nights based on the first night of stay instead of calling day by day. A board member explained that this would not be fair to all members because someone could block a whole week when only intending to stay on a holiday weekend at the end (cancelling unwanted nights).

This was also brought up 2 years ago at the BWV annual meeting. They had the same response: If someone with a LOT of points wanted to stay Thanksgiving weekend, they could reserve starting early in November - going through Thanksgiving weekend. Booking well before almost all others wanting that holiday weekend. Later, they could drop the unwanted early November dates.

Once they put it in that context, it made a lot of sense to us.

 

[Lexxiefern]

Originally posted by DebbieB


Suggestion of dedicated busses instead of sharing with Swan/Dolphin and Yacht/Beach. This was presented as a suggestion and the board members just shook their heads rather than discussing it.

So I guess they don't think this is a problem???

Thanks for sharing with those of us who could not attend.

 

[DebbieB]

Originally posted by Lexxiefern
So I guess they don't think this is a problem???

Thanks for sharing with those of us who could not attend.

The way it was presented ("Can I suggest...?"), they really weren't asked for an answer or to discuss. They just acknowledged his suggestion.....

My impression was that they are well aware of what is going on (parking problems, passes), someone probably reads this board. The question is are they willing to appropriate additional dues to make changes. They also mentioned that a common member complaint is a lack of quick food service at BW (ie food court type). They looked at some options and none would work financially. They are looking to add more options at the pizza window.

 

[JimC]

Thanks for the update for those of us who can not be there.

 

[CaliforniaDreaming]

Any idea when the new matresses, sofa beds, HDTV, and armoires will be put into the units? Thanks for the update, Debbie!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Thanks for the info.

They said only 13% of members have AP’s

Maybe more would if we received a DVC discount?

HBC

 

[InstImpres]

Thanks for all the notes. Do you know what the thought is behind the parking? More Epcot parking .

If the valet lot is full, since it will be half the size, do you know if it is the valet who has to find a spot to park or if they than don't except valet?

Thanks again
Sandy

 

[PamOKW]

Originally posted by DebbieB

Taxes are up due to higher assessments of the buildings.

Taxes for 2003 were UNDERestimated, so there will be an additional .029 per point in next year’s dues.

Debbie, first, thanks so much for attending the meeting and taking the time to share your notes.

I just wanted to make sure I'm reading this portion correctly. For the past few years, DVC usually overpays the property taxes and the actual bill rebates the overpayment resulting in less dues owed. Am I correct that they said the opposite happened last year and they didn't collect enough last year to cover the 2003 tax bill? When BWV members get the actual bill the dues will be roughly $4.28 per point (the additional $.029 per point) rather than the $4.25 that covers next year's budget? I wonder how that effects the actual year-to-year difference in the total bill? BWV owners would have to compare their actual 2003 bill to the one to 2004 to see the "real" increase. I wonder if the increase will be similar at other resorts.

(Note: I realized right after posting that the increase was $.029 not $.29 as I first thought and I corrected my post -- a relief but still an increase rather than a deduction.)

 

[MJTinNH]

This was very interesting. Thank you for posting!

 

[DebbieB]

Pam - looking back at my notes: estimated 2003 taxes were .7760, actual were .8050, an addition of approx .029. I don't recall if they had an actual reason for this, it may have been increased assessment value. I think they said the average additional payment is $7 (they know how to spin the numbers ).

InstImpres - they did not go into details about the valet parking. I know when I've looked at the valet parking on other trips, there were lots of empty spaces. Since they have the keys, they can double park. I think the problem will be on nights like New Years Eve or when there's an event. I don't know if they will have the option to take some of the self-parking on those occasions. I did notice when we arrived on Saturday that there was a sign on the road pointing self parking to the overflow lot. So far we have not had difficulty finding a spot but we have not returned at night. Only used valet when we arrived and it was slow, we were standing there waiting for someone to take our luggage.

California Dreaming - sometime in 2004. The wiring for the high speed internet is almost done (although our standard view room does not have it).

By the way, someone had asked who the manager of BW is, his name is Vincent Valdez.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Debbie

I hope you and your mom enjoy the rest of your stay. We appreciate the "great notes" from the Annual meeting that you took.

 

[KANSAS]

thank you for these notes. I really was interested that average DVC MEMBER has 270 pts

Please clarify.
Did they ack the bus issue as a problem? or did not see it as a problem??

 

[Tom and Jen]

thank you son much for the useful update.

I was able to attend last years annual and I do agree that minutes of the meeting should be made available to the membership, we may need to read through our bylaws or such.

Just a note form last years meeting that I had brought up, I dont' know if it has come up recently or not. When staying at more than one property in a weeks time there was no way to address passes for that week. You would have to, lets say purchase a 3 day LOS and then a 5 day LOS or some combination to accomodate your stay (realizing the drop the first and last day options). This would result in paying much more than a standard 8 day LOS. The cheapest way out would be to purchase an annual pass. Which at that time we did. This issue has been resolved and they are now able to link your stays for pass purchases. If everyone was aware sorry for the repeat.

Now, when you talk about adding some type of meal plan that sounds terrific, I realize that it is not for everyone, but a great option. Was there any discussion as to whether or not everyone on the reservation would have to purchase it? Day to day booking, for once I agree with managemnet, excellent example given above....

thanks again
T.

 

[PamOKW]

Tom -- Thanks for the info on the LOS. I'm not sure that I was aware of that change. The food program should be interesting to see what they come up with. Previously, they did offer DVC such a plan. It did have to be purchased for everyone in the group. They cited lack of interest as to why it was dropped. I guess interest has been renewed.

 

[PKS44]

It is too bad the question about dedicated buses was not asked with the added information that BWV owners pay more than double for the buses than BCV owners who ride the exact same buses...yup--it is in the budget..I have written to the Association for an explanation and have not heard back from them....True there is a need for more buses because BWV is bigger but those added buses should only come to BWV -no reason that BCV and all the other resorts should enjoy extra number of buses (and fill them up) at the expense of BWV owners--if the buses are always shared then the costs for the buses should be equally shared.

I am sorry I could not be at the meeting to hear an answer to this in person.

 

[Granny]

Debbie...thanks for attending the meeting, taking the notes and posting them in such a clear manner. Outstanding job!

I am actually encouraged to hear that only 13% of DVC owners have annual passes. I was afraid that the number would be much higher, giving Disney very little incentive to offer a credible discount to DVC members on the AP's. At 13%, there's a lot of room in their profit models to make a good discount work.

Thanks again for an excellent report.

 

[crisi]

I agree with Granny....with only 13% of DVC owners having APs, they should be able to make money selling more for less.....

 

[manning]

Suggestion of dedicated busses instead of sharing with Swan/Dolphin and Yacht/Beach. This was presented as a suggestion and the board members just shook their heads rather than discussing it.

It seems to make sense to reverse the route. Make Board Walk the first stop instead of the last.