Club 33 benefits to change

[Luckymommatoo]

So says the LA Times. Not that this will have any effect on me, but seems like a pretty drastic change.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-disney-club-33-20141213-story.html

 

[darph nader]

I love the comment at the end of the article,"It's turned into a money game". Well duh,,,,,,,,you pay $11,000 just to have Club 33 status and now you complain about it?

 

[markinmt]

Whaaaaa!

 

[disneychrista]

Everyone could not renew and they would not have any problem filling the slots.

 

[bumbershoot]

Well duh,,,,,,,,you pay $11,000 just to have Club 33 status and now you complain about it?

If you paid 11K for something that gave you xyz and then they changed it to abc wouldn't YOU be complaining?

 

[WendyWhy]

Sigh...what a good problem to have!

 

[tarheelalum]

Sigh...what a good problem to have!

Indeed. I wish I had that problem.

 

[markinmt]

if the average guy can longer take his traditional photo at the CofA, I could care less when a "Disneyland VIP" loses something too. Again, Whaaaaa!

 

[SMD]

If you paid 11K for something that gave you xyz and then they changed it to abc wouldn't YOU be complaining?

Yes and no. I understand people being upset because it is a significant change. But in most member organizations or country clubs you can't just give your card to someone else and extend your benefits to that person. The membership already included APs. The fact that they are now requiring members to enter the park using their provided AP sounds like they may be closing a loophole where some people were giving away those APs and then getting into the park another way. Again, people will gripe when something like happens, but if it was being abused, oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

 

[HydroGuy]

I am not a Club 33 member. I have been fortunate to have dined there a couple times. I have never used a VIP card. So I have no skin in this game.

First, yes Disney can make whatever changes they want to Club 33 or anything related to Disney parks. And yes, folks who pay for those services can complain and/or stop using those services.

But really, folks, listen to what you are saying when you sound so smug about changes to Club 33 benefits.

How about third world folks having the same attitude to any of YOUR complaints about Disney parks?

Example:

1. Disney raises ticket prices
2. Folks on forums like this complain
3. Response from anyone in the third world is similar to yours here - "I wish I even had the chance to go to Disney parks. Stop complaining!".

Here is my two (or four or eight) cents on this:

1. Folks who pay for a service of any kind, whether they are lower class, middle class, or upper class, and feel there is something unfair about the service provider, they have a right to complain. After all, they are PAYING for that service.

2. Forums like this are for Disney park fans. Anything we like and dislike about Disney parks is fair game no matter what our socio-economic status.

3. We are not here pretending that what we discuss here is more important than world hunger, terrorism or political oppression in unfortunate areas of the world. But we live in a free country and we are using the blessing of that freedom to gather with like-minded (Disney parks) fans and exchange information. THIS IS TOTALLY FINE. If it is not OK to do this then we should all sit in our homes with grim facial expressions and never do anything fun.

4. When anyone on this forum (or people we know personally - or we ourselves) go over the top with disappointment in something about Disney parks, it is worth keeping perspective on how blessed we are in the first place. That does not mean we should not be disappointed, but is it really worth going over the top and having a heart attack over?


I think some folks here are acting smug about Club 33 membership not realizing that to over half of the world we on this forum are all the equivalent of Club 33 members.

If you are not sure what my bottom line is, here it is: Allow upper income Disney parks fans the same right to complain and give them the same respect that we allow to middle income fans which make up the vast majority on forums like this and people we all know in our daily lives.

 

[HydroGuy]

if the average guy can longer take his traditional photo at the CofA, I could care less when a "Disneyland VIP" loses something too. Again, Whaaaaa!

Se my previous post. You appear to be defining "average guy" very selectively.

 

[gmi3804]

I am not a Club 33 member. I have been fortunate to have dined there a couple times. I have never used a VIP card. So I have no skin in this game.

First, yes Disney can make whatever changes they want to Club 33 or anything related to Disney parks. And yes, folks who pay for those services can complain and/or stop using those services.

But really, folks, listen to what you are saying when you sound so smug about changes to Club 33 benefits.

How about third world folks having the same attitude to any of YOUR complaints about Disney parks?

Example:

1. Disney raises ticket prices
2. Folks on forums like this complain
3. Response from anyone in the third world is similar to yours here - "I wish I even had the chance to go to Disney parks. Stop complaining!".

Here is my two (or four or eight) cents on this:

1. Folks who pay for a service of any kind, whether they are lower class, middle class, or upper class, and feel there is something unfair about the service provider, they have a right to complain. After all, they are PAYING for that service.

2. Forums like this are for Disney park fans. Anything we like and dislike about Disney parks is fair game no matter what our socio-economic status.

3. We are not here pretending that what we discuss here is more important than world hunger, terrorism or political oppression in unfortunate areas of the world. But we live in a free country and we are using the blessing of that freedom to gather with like-minded (Disney parks) fans and exchange information. THIS IS TOTALLY FINE. If it is not OK to do this then we should all sit in our homes with grim facial expressions and never do anything fun.

4. When anyone on this forum (or people we know personally - or we ourselves) go over the top with disappointment in something about Disney parks, it is worth keeping perspective on how blessed we are in the first place. That does not mean we should not be disappointed, but is it really worth going over the top and having a heart attack over?


I think some folks here are acting smug about Club 33 membership not realizing that to over half of the world we on this forum are all the equivalent of Club 33 members.

If you are not sure what my bottom line is, here it is: Allow upper income Disney parks fans the same right to complain and give them the same respect that we allow to middle income fans which make up the vast majority on forums like this and people we all know in our daily lives.

"Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."
-Mel Brooks

 

[Jennafoo]

I think most people here understand that the average Disney fan is luckier than the average third world person. That's a bit of a straw man argument.

The truth is, this is a change that seems to be seeking to strike a balance between giving VIPs a special experience and the average Disney park fan.

If I'm paying for a service, I definitely want my money's worth. But I think it's totally reasonable that Disney asks to provide that service only to the member and the member's family. The point about most club memberships not being transferrable to people of the member's choice without the member present (and thus subject to abuse and commerce) is a valid one, and it's perfectly reasonable for non-Club 33 members to point it out.

 

[Malcon10t]

Yes and no. I understand people being upset because it is a significant change. But in most member organizations or country clubs you can't just give your card to someone else and extend your benefits to that person. The membership already included APs. The fact that they are now requiring members to enter the park using their provided AP sounds like they may be closing a loophole where some people were giving away those APs and then getting into the park another way. Again, people will gripe when something like happens, but if it was being abused, oh well, it was nice while it lasted.

I do think they are working on going back to how it originally was prior to the addition of Platinum. Originally, it was designed for a member, with all the rights to the member. Then they opened the membership to Platinum, and I think they anticipated it being used by families. Instead it cards were split among friends, so now you had 4x the valet, 4 times the groups in the lounges, etc.... So, now they announced they are going back to it being member based, ie member and spouse after 2 and a half years.

The members always had 4 APs. What is changing is the members had 4 cards to use for benefits (ie parking, entering lounges, etc...) Now, they still have 4 APs, but only 2 have privileges to park, use lounges, etc... And the second one MUST be a spouse or domestic partner. So if the spouse wasn't part of the membership previously, and is not a Disney fan, the member still has to have them on the account, and you can't substitute your best friend, sibling, parent, etc. You still have 4 APs, the other 2 just don't have any club benefits. (There is an exception for children under 21.)

The problem for many members is they had farmed out their membership, and had people "helping" pay for the membership. Now their costs double or quadruple. While as recently as 3 months ago, the club actually promoted the "friends and family plan", they suddenly did an about face. Member feel it is a massive change in benefits and feel it is bait and switch. It would be similar to buying an AP, and having the benefits change dramatically (you can enter the park, but can't visit NOS).

I understand people feel "Oh, I don't care about those people because they are club members"... Same as ticket buyers don't care about APs, and people who can't afford tickets don't care about anyone else here. Just remember, it all rolls down hill.

 

[Disneyluvr2]

I understand people feel "Oh, I don't care about those people because they are club members"... Same as ticket buyers don't care about APs, and people who can't afford tickets don't care about anyone else here. Just remember, it all rolls down hill.

Well stated Malcon10t! Most people don't realize that some Club 33 members are ordinary people, just like us. They just choose to save their money and spend it on a Club membership, rather than buying a new home, a new car every few years, or other things that some of us feel are more important than being a member. The Club member I know is also very generous in granting wishes to MANY people he doesn't even know that might not otherwise ever have a chance to dine in Club 33. Some of the people on this board have benefited from his generosity and had your dreams come true. So please don't lump every Club 33 member into the "One of those people" category. Not every member is a filthy rich executive. Some of them are just ordinary people like you and me, and the nicest people you'd ever hope to know.

 

[SMD]

When I was younger, my family belonged to a country club. I tried to think about some of those logistics when I responded. Aside from dropping me off for a tennis lesson once or twice, I honestly couldn't think of a single instance where I was in the club without my parents, even if it was meeting another member at the pool, I don't think my sister and I were ever allowed in without the member or spouse present. Some of this isn't exactly how it worked, but here are some examples I thought of that wouldn't fly at a country club and are somewhat equivalent to the Club 33 changes.

- Our membership comes with 2 key cards, my spouse and I only visit on weekends, so I'll give my neighbor a key card so he can get early tee times during the week.

- We live close to the club and often walk, so I'll give my friend my valet pass to save them a few bucks when I invite them for brunch.

- I can't afford/can't justify the full price of my membership, so I'll make tee times for my friend who golfs, for a fee, and reserve tennis courts for my neighbors, for a fee to help me offset the cost of membership.

As a another paying member, all of those scenarios are unfair to me in varying degrees. An unsupervised guest of a member allowed to enter and play golf? If the member works during the week, and I don't, I should have priority for the weekday tee time. Non-members filling up the valet lot? I understand that it's first come, first serve, but what if the parking lot fills before I arrive for a late lunch because members gave out their passes? And for the final one, I pay for my membership for my benefit. While I'm all for sharing with family and friends, it's really not fair for someone to rent out those benefits because they can't otherwise afford it. There's no right to country club or Club 33 membership. It's pay to play, and that's ok.

 

[HydroGuy]

I think most people here understand that the average Disney fan is luckier than the average third world person. That's a bit of a straw man argument.

I agree people understand that - in an abstract way as most here have not seen such third world places first hand. I disagree that folks in this thread were keeping that in mind when they treated the complaints of Club 33 members with disdain while elevating their own complaints (in other threads) as more valid.

The truth is, this is a change that seems to be seeking to strike a balance between giving VIPs a special experience and the average Disney park fan.

If I'm paying for a service, I definitely want my money's worth. But I think it's totally reasonable that Disney asks to provide that service only to the member and the member's family. The point about most club memberships not being transferrable to people of the member's choice without the member present (and thus subject to abuse and commerce) is a valid one, and it's perfectly reasonable for non-Club 33 members to point it out.

I have no issue with that at all. My issue is the presumption that Club 33 members who are presumably upper socio-economic scale have less of a right to complain than the rest of the "average" people - with average defined very selectively to include people in this forum - who IMO are really very privileged, relatively speaking.

If it is reasonable for people on this forum to say about Club 33 members "I wish I had their problems" then whenever someone posts a complaint on this forum about a dining experience at Disney parks it is similarly reasonable to say "Half the world wishes they had your problem". Which would only irritate them and detract from why people come to this forum.

My point is that this is a Disney forum and not a forum on so-called "first world problems". So agree or disagree with the Club 33 changes, but it is misplaced to treat Club 33 members as if their complaints are less valid than anyone else's here by virtue of being from having a higher socio-ecomomic status.

 

[Malcon10t]

While I'm all for sharing with family and friends, it's really not fair for someone to rent out those benefits because they can't otherwise afford it. There's no right to country club or Club 33 membership. It's pay to play, and that's ok.

I understand (and agree with you) however, if your country club said "You pay $xxxxx and you get 4 entry cards to give to whomever." So for 3 years, you do this. Now, 3 years later they say "We are changing the rules. You can only have 2 cards, but you are going to pay the same." I think this is where most members are most upset.

 

[Hofmanns4]

So, it sounds like previously, 2 couples "could" have split the membership fee and both had the same benefits and for 2015 that will not be possible.

I wonder if that is why they made the change.

 

[HydroGuy]

Well stated Malcon10t! Most people don't realize that some Club 33 members are ordinary people, just like us. They just choose to save their money and spend it on a Club membership, rather than buying a new home, a new car every few years, or other things that some of us feel are more important than being a member. The Club member I know is also very generous in granting wishes to MANY people he doesn't even know that might not otherwise ever have a chance to dine in Club 33. Some of the people on this board have benefited from his generosity and had your dreams come true. So please don't lump every Club 33 member into the "One of those people" category. Not every member is a filthy rich executive. Some of them are just ordinary people like you and me, and the nicest people you'd ever hope to know.

Again I ask, do "filthy rich" people have less of a right to complain about something they have paid for than "ordinary people like you and me" which by any measure are not ordinary at all compared to the average person on this planet? I would say they have just as much of a right to complain.

Their complaint may be weak just like yours or mine may be weak. But please do not invalidate such people just because they have succeeded in life. I could go on and on but many people who are "filthy rich" are in that position because they worked much harder than "ordinary people" and took huge personal risks on the way to their success. They should not lose the right to be heard just because their hard work and risk-taking paid off.

I know people like the person who has allowed me to use their Club 33 membership to dine at Club 33. I actually do not know much about this person personally but do know he is a medical doctor. All such people have to begin working hard in high school and then go to countless years of highly stressful and competitive higher education. All so that they can earn their M.D when they are maybe 30 years old and have hundreds of thousands dollars of debt to pay off. Yes they are highly compensated but they put in countless hours of honest hard work and sacrifice.

If such people do not have a right to be heard then neither do the rest of us "5 percenters" who happen to have been born into North America.