Club runDisney

I think @rsimon makes some good points. I also think it really comes down to a combination of what financial resources a family has and how they choose to allocate those resources. For some of us, a Disney trip every two years staying on property at a value hotel or at a cheap offsite hotel, and eating frugally consumes most of our available funds. For some of us, 2 or 3 trips a year staying on property at a deluxe hotel and eating at the nicest restaurants barely dents our vacation budget. Most of us are probably in the middle; we could go more often, stay at better hotels, and/or eat at nicer restaurants, but we choose to spend/save/invest a greater chunk of our available funds on other things.

Club runDisney appeals to folks who have the financial resources and choose to allocate those resources to Disney. I assume runDisney did a lot of market research and concluded there are plenty of people in this space.

Club runDisney has absolutely no appeal to me, because it's not how I choose to spend my money. How other people choose to spend their money is not my concern.
 
I think @rsimon makes some good points. I also think it really comes down to a combination of what financial resources a family has and how they choose to allocate those resources. For some of us, a Disney trip every two years staying on property at a value hotel or at a cheap offsite hotel, and eating frugally consumes most of our available funds. For some of us, 2 or 3 trips a year staying on property at a deluxe hotel and eating at the nicest restaurants barely dents our vacation budget. Most of us are probably in the middle; we could go more often, stay at better hotels, and/or eat at nicer restaurants, but we choose to spend/save/invest a greater chunk of our available funds on other things.

Club runDisney appeals to folks who have the financial resources and choose to allocate those resources to Disney. I assume runDisney did a lot of market research and concluded there are plenty of people in this space.

Club runDisney has absolutely no appeal to me, because it's not how I choose to spend my money. How other people choose to spend their money is not my concern.

I agree that it's up to each of us to determine whether something is worth our time and money. Where it disappoints me somewhat, though, is that both Disney and RunDisney seem to be continually striving to provide fewer tangible benefits for higher costs. When a program like this is rolled out that on the surface has extremely minimal benefits for a higher cost point and people snap it up, it reinforces that they are moving in the right direction. If people will pay this much for a "club" like this, what's next on the docket for higher costs or moving benefits to upcharges?
 
I agree that it's up to each of us to determine whether something is worth our time and money. Where it disappoints me somewhat, though, is that both Disney and RunDisney seem to be continually striving to provide fewer tangible benefits for higher costs. When a program like this is rolled out that on the surface has extremely minimal benefits for a higher cost point and people snap it up, it reinforces that they are moving in the right direction. If people will pay this much for a "club" like this, what's next on the docket for higher costs or moving benefits to upcharges?

This. I spend a lot on run disney events and weekends (I go to pretty much every one). But this "club" has zero value to me. I have enough jackets, don't like virtuals, already have a good corral, and can register early with an AP. What is the point in me buying this? The money spent here could buy a race weekend elsewhere, AND would still leave my rD race experiences unaffected. I just don't get it.
 
I agree that it's up to each of us to determine whether something is worth our time and money. Where it disappoints me somewhat, though, is that both Disney and RunDisney seem to be continually striving to provide fewer tangible benefits for higher costs. When a program like this is rolled out that on the surface has extremely minimal benefits for a higher cost point and people snap it up, it reinforces that they are moving in the right direction. If people will pay this much for a "club" like this, what's next on the docket for higher costs or moving benefits to upcharges?

I don't think Disney cares if there is a wide acceptance for this club. For example, if I asked anyone on DisBoards if they would like a VIP tour for $10/hr., most everyone would snatch it up and there would be a run on VIP tours. As Disney bumps that price point up, people drop off as they are priced out of the market. At $300/hr, most everyone would say no way to the VIP tour. They just increased prices again and they go up to over $700/hr. Its not that they provided more services for that extra money, they didn't. Disney uses prices to control demand. They do that with everything they do to maximize profits and capture a new niche market that may pay for a "VIP" experience.

I am not going to say that I will get my value from this club in hard tangible items, I know I won't. If the value was there, the number of people joining would make it overcrowded and Disney would just raise the price to drop people out. However, for me, there is value in my time and enjoyment with less hassle. If there is some level of enhanced experience during the runDisney events that I get from this, it may be worth it to me just like any of the premium services they sell at Disney may be worth it to each individual that evaluates it.

At some point everyone has their "that's too high, not worth it" moment. I keep thinking that will happen each time Disney raises prices on DVC, park tickets, food, parking, tours, etc. It hasn't happened yet. It drops some people out, but others fill the void and the parks are still busy, tours still sold out, restaurants still booked solid (including Victoria & Alberts), and it just keeps going up and up.
 


People can spend their time and money how they would like. I do think not buying something even if you have the resources is a way to ask the company to do better. There is a collective thread of stuff in which they are asking for more money for less provided. In my opinion, this is another example. Make them try harder for my money. The races themselves are super expensive.
 
Actually we already had the early registration with AP and DVC and the jacket wasn't the reason at all for joining. The coral placement won't mean anything for me with my POT, but my wife it will because she is stuck in the corals without POT and it will give her maybe a little further up start in the non POT corals so there is some benefit there.

The reality is, I don't mind testing the waters, see what it really becomes if anything, and if it turns out to be bomb, fine. If it turns out that there are other perks worth it that are not listed, that is fine too. For me, just early expo and less hassle picking up bibs is worth something to me.

In any case, everyone that goes to Disney is paying more than it is worth in reality. We go and pay the prices because there is an experience there that we want. This club is maybe a dud, maybe not but I will know for myself after a year if it was worth it or not for the experience I had with it.

Club 33 would be another example of an overpriced club at Disney. Many people wish they had it, nobody can argue it is worth the price paid for it in real dollars. In no way am I saying this club is equal or even like Club 33, but it is just that another overpriced club that some want to be in and many don't think it is worth the price.

Don't judge or mock the ones that want that. Everyone is welcome to their opinion on if that is worth it to them or not for themselves.
I was joking about a topic on a friendly message board about a cartoon mouse and the associated theme parks that help distract from the daily grind. Sorry to offend.

On a more serious note, not sure I would agree with your comment that the perks of Club 33 are as paltry as the run club. If you take out the factor of the initial fee, the annual membership costs are not too unreasonable for what you get.
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The Club access, services and food and drinks has some value but not a ton. The platinum passes and 50 hopper tickets probably is probably about $9 -10,000 for most families. The tours are estimated to be $2,500 plus. Between those it is really close to that $15,000 annual. So it is not really quite an apples to apples situation with the two clubs.
 
I was joking about a topic on a friendly message board about a cartoon mouse and the associated theme parks that help distract from the daily grind. Sorry to offend.

On a more serious note, not sure I would agree with your comment that the perks of Club 33 are as paltry as the run club. If you take out the factor of the initial fee, the annual membership costs are not too unreasonable for what you get.
View attachment 475005
The Club access, services and food and drinks has some value but not a ton. The platinum passes and 50 hopper tickets probably is probably about $9 -10,000 for most families. The tours are estimated to be $2,500 plus. Between those it is really close to that $15,000 annual. So it is not really quite an apples to apples situation with the two clubs.

I wasn’t offended, but did think the comment was attacking a decision some had made. I am not saying Club 33 is not cool, but the value of it does not necessarily add up and was used as an example that I was using. For me, the 50 park hopper tickets aren’t much use. My friends are AP holders. However the other perks are worth something to me and the value of just the experience is hard to put a value on which is where Disney places most of its value. People could argue value either way for anything and it always comes down to perceived value. That’s what this is all about.
 


I was joking about a topic on a friendly message board about a cartoon mouse and the associated theme parks that help distract from the daily grind. Sorry to offend.

On a more serious note, not sure I would agree with your comment that the perks of Club 33 are as paltry as the run club. If you take out the factor of the initial fee, the annual membership costs are not too unreasonable for what you get.
View attachment 475005
The Club access, services and food and drinks has some value but not a ton. The platinum passes and 50 hopper tickets probably is probably about $9 -10,000 for most families. The tours are estimated to be $2,500 plus. Between those it is really close to that $15,000 annual. So it is not really quite an apples to apples situation with the two clubs.

I was actually going to post the same thing. It's not an apples to apples comparison. Whether or not a person will actual get all the value from club33 the actual face value of the stuff included with the membership meets or exceeds the subscription stuff. The initial fee in the first year though really skews it though.

With club RunDisney it's more difficult because there isn't a face value for the things included. The things included are mainly conveniences and so its up to the person to value how much those conveniences are worth to them.
 
Thanks @IamTrike . You got it. Unfortunately the poster I was responding to did not. The value of the perks for Club 33 can be quantified because the Premier AP, the One Day Hopper and VIP tours actually have a monetary value that can be calculated.

Any other perks that come with Club 33 would be in the terms of soft dollars since the value is really what the user might find beneficial or helpful to save that individual some time or effort. Pretty much all the perks for the run club are soft dollar items except maybe the jacket. The jacket probably cost a couple dollars to make and a small up change to Disney since they are buying in bulk quantities and have very beneficial contracts. So still not seeing anyway the two programs are really similar.

BTW related to this topic, did anyone happen to see the runner bib pickup at Princess that was in the stadium. It had a sign and I don’t recall exactly what it said but I do remember also seeing the Club 33 logo in that area. I think the one sign said “preferred bib pick-up”. So just wondering if that was for the Club RunDisney also, just Club 33 or did that possibly include other like Golden Oaks members?
 
Thanks @IamTrike . You got it. Unfortunately the poster I was responding to did not. The value of the perks for Club 33 can be quantified because the Premier AP, the One Day Hopper and VIP tours actually have a monetary value that can be calculated.

Any other perks that come with Club 33 would be in the terms of soft dollars since the value is really what the user might find beneficial or helpful to save that individual some time or effort. Pretty much all the perks for the run club are soft dollar items except maybe the jacket. The jacket probably cost a couple dollars to make and a small up change to Disney since they are buying in bulk quantities and have very beneficial contracts. So still not seeing anyway the two programs are really similar.

BTW related to this topic, did anyone happen to see the runner bib pickup at Princess that was in the stadium. It had a sign and I don’t recall exactly what it said but I do remember also seeing the Club 33 logo in that area. I think the one sign said “preferred bib pick-up”. So just wondering if that was for the Club RunDisney also, just Club 33 or did that possibly include other like Golden Oaks members?
I believe Club 33 and Golden Oak does get some RunDisney bib/expo perks.
 
Thanks @IamTrike . You got it. Unfortunately the poster I was responding to did not. The value of the perks for Club 33 can be quantified because the Premier AP, the One Day Hopper and VIP tours actually have a monetary value that can be calculated.

Any other perks that come with Club 33 would be in the terms of soft dollars since the value is really what the user might find beneficial or helpful to save that individual some time or effort. Pretty much all the perks for the run club are soft dollar items except maybe the jacket. The jacket probably cost a couple dollars to make and a small up change to Disney since they are buying in bulk quantities and have very beneficial contracts. So still not seeing anyway the two programs are really similar.

BTW related to this topic, did anyone happen to see the runner bib pickup at Princess that was in the stadium. It had a sign and I don’t recall exactly what it said but I do remember also seeing the Club 33 logo in that area. I think the one sign said “preferred bib pick-up”. So just wondering if that was for the Club RunDisney also, just Club 33 or did that possibly include other like Golden Oaks members?

You really should read what I posted about the comparison with Club 33 and Club runDisney, it was not an apples to apples comparison but only another EXAMPLE of people paying a lot of money for a Disney product that may have value to some but not to all. It was not a direct comparison and was never meant to be so give it a break.
 
Good gravy. I have been away from this board for a while and I come back and see this. I can't blame Disney for doing this. There seems to be no end to things that people will throw their money away on. But there is absolutely nothing on that list worth a nickel. People are paying essentially to be members of a club.
 
I had completely forgotten about signing up for this with everything going on, but my membership kit arrived in the mail on Friday! The jacket, magnet and membership card came in a nice black branded box with the CrD logo embossed on the top (in a cardboard shipping box). No letter or other additional information, and the card doesn't designate which level of membership I have (unless the color is an indicator -- I'm Silver and the card is kind of a granite color, which I read as black). A few photos.
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Jacket looks nice, what kind of material? Looks like a different material than Marathon Weekend

It's way nicer than the race weekend jackets. I'm terrible at guessing fabrics but it feels like it's weather resistant, medium weight, maybe a nylon blend(?) with a wicking liner. It's a little less "clingy" and lighter than the race weekend jackets. It has two zipper hand pockets and reflective details along the zippers, shoulder seam and across the back.
 
It's way nicer than the race weekend jackets. I'm terrible at guessing fabrics but it feels like it's weather resistant, medium weight, maybe a nylon blend(?) with a wicking liner. It's a little less "clingy" and lighter than the race weekend jackets. It has two zipper hand pockets and reflective details along the zippers, shoulder seam and across the back.

Now I'm thinking about it. Mostly for the exclusive 10k in October, but the jacket looks real nice
 
I've admittedly thought about it every once in awhile since the information was released. It's come to mind again recently as people have posted pictures of their jackets on social media. I just can't find a way to justify the cost. Please know I mean no malice to anyone! We all have our own way of justifying costs for purchases. I'm a big fan of ear headbands; I don't have a ton, but they're not cheap so I probably have enough that would equate to the cost of silver membership!

I'm happy for everyone that has purchased the club membership and is happy with it. The jackets look beautiful and it sounds like they're better made than the race weekend jackets. I'm a big fan of jackets, and it definitely looks like a jacket I would happily wear. I wish there was at least one solid perk that would make me jump into membership lol. Enjoy! Apparently I'll keep going back and forth on it until it eventually (if ever) sells out. :scratchin
 
I had also forgotten that I joined the club🤪
Jacket does seem to run a little large, but this will alert me wear a sweatshirt under the jacket.
love it all
 
Has any info been released on the virtual fall 10K for members? I really thought something would've been announced by now.
 

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