Confirmed: DVC is getting a new leader

[Sammie]

Well several got moved.

Glad to see George coming back to WDW.

Walt Disney World getting a new president George Kalogridis, currently president of Disneyland.

Michael Colglazier, who had been vp in charge of Animal Kingdom, will be new president of Disneyland.

Meg Crofton to be exclusively president of operations for Disney Parks in U.S. and France

Current DVC chief Claire Bilby heading to Paris to head sales and marketing for Disneyland Paris and Europe

Disney Vacation Club time-share business also getting new chief: Ken Potrock, who had been in charge of sports enterprises

 

[Hopefully]

I want to say Thank You to Claire for helping me believe in the DVC magic, again. She did a great job for us, with some fantastic perks (meaning establishing some great relationships with the other Theme Park divisions) and turning around a souring reputation for DVC management. Good luck to you, Claire, in Paris!

I agree completely. I felt hopeful under Claire
Thank You and Good Luck Claire!!
Hopefully the future is bright too.

 

[Sammie]

Claire leaving, Fastpass+, geez can they make anymore changes this week to stress us all out.

 

[FRANKTSJR]

Hopefully a nice perk from incoming Ken Potrock will help us get over the loss of Claire.

 

[disneynutz]

Some members may have liked her but DVD sales are down and shes being moved to France, that can't be a prime location for Disney executives.

I never really got to know her and didn't see much improvement that she was responsible for. Online booking was in the works before she took over, the PAP promo had restrictions that didn't need to be there and lowering the shopping discount from 20% to 10% with the pass has some yelling bait and switch. Don't forget the resale restrictions were put into place under her management and the association meeting had it's format reduced and time cut in half. She also had the Merry Mixer inside Epcot again and that requires paid admission when they could have it at the Atlantic Dance Hall for free.

Now we get to see what the new guy is going to do to try and make his mark.

Bill

 

[RevKjb]

sounds like it... as I said in another forum... if he runs DVC like Downtown Disney, we're in trouble.

Let's all wish upon that star and hope for the best! Though I'm not optimistic. Any bets on how long Ken stays?

 

[lilpooh108]

I want to say Thank You to Claire for helping me believe in the DVC magic, again. She did a great job for us, with some fantastic perks (meaning establishing some great relationships with the other Theme Park divisions) and turning around a souring reputation for DVC management. Good luck to you, Claire, in Paris!

Agreed. It's too bad.

 

[Sammie]

Some members may have liked her but DVD sales are down and shes being moved to France, that can't be a prime location for Disney executives.

I never really got to know her and didn't see much improvement that she was responsible for. Online booking was in the works before she took over, the PAP promo had restrictions that didn't need to be there and lowering the shopping discount from 20% to 10% with the pass has some yelling bait and switch. Don't forget the resale restrictions were put into place under her management and the association meeting had it's format reduced and time cut in half. She also had the Merry Mixer inside Epcot again and that requires paid admission when they could have it at the Atlantic Dance Hall for free.

Now we get to see what the new guy is going to do to try and make his mark.

Bill

I doubt she had any control on the shopping discount change. If sales are down, I would expect more changes to be coming.

 

[disneynutz]

I doubt she had any control on the shopping discount change. If sales are down, I would expect more changes to be coming.

I should have said that she sold us a PAP knowing that the discount was going to be cut or it's possible that she wasn't told of the cut. If she wasn't told of the cut, it goes to prove that DVC doesn't have the respect of other Disney business units.

Bill

 

[Mystery Fan]

I should have said that she sold us a PAP knowing that the discount was going to be cut or it's possible that she wasn't told of the cut. If she wasn't told of the cut, it goes to prove that DVC doesn't have the respect of other Disney business units.

Bill

Regardless of the discount cut, I received $27 back per AP ticket when I upgraded and now have access to the Water Parks and DQ with no extra out of pocket expense. Cup half full!!!

 

[Greysword]

I never really got to know her and didn't see much improvement that she was responsible for. Online booking was in the works before she took over, the PAP promo had restrictions that didn't need to be there and lowering the shopping discount from 20% to 10% with the pass has some yelling bait and switch. Don't forget the resale restrictions were put into place under her management and the association meeting had it's format reduced and time cut in half. She also had the Merry Mixer inside Epcot again and that requires paid admission when they could have it at the Atlantic Dance Hall for free.

Bill

I see it as glass half full.

- Despite restrictions and discount reductions, PAP at $399 is great, and way better than no PAP at $399. Didn't we also gain a discount of 10% at WDW shops just for being a member, that wasn't available before?

- As for the association meeting, the format shift may be due to this announcement. Too many questions when she likely knew she was changing positions, means the transfer is leaked early (tells truth) or just promises to look into it (falsehood). No worries, as the meeting structure can be changed at any time.

- She didn't "beat around the bush" with the GF villas announcement. With BLT, they didn't announce anything until it was almost complete, where this didn't really have the ground broken before the announcement was made. In other words, she didn't shuck and jive the membership.

- Got rid of DeeVee Cee!

- Made DisneyFiles a much better publication, which is small but nice.

- Horse Face Pillows at SSR!?

- Goodbye letter. Would Jim Lewis have done that?

It is my opinion that Claire appeared to listen and at least try and give us value for our membership above the room. That is worth something to me, and since she basically just started, I wish it could have been a longer tenure. However, this may have been the plan all along, which is fine. At least we got good leadership for a while.

 

[wdrl]

Some members may have liked her but DVD sales are down and shes being moved to France, that can't be a prime location for Disney executives.

Don't forget the resale restrictions were put into place under her management

Are you talking about the restrictions on resale points being used for some exchanges? That change was announced in January 2011, seven months before Ms. Bilby was appointed head of DVC.

We'll never know all the factors that went into these personnel changes by Disney, nor should we. Having worked many years in a large bureaucracy, I've seen changes that were made for good reasons, bad reasons, significant reasons, and petty reasons. Sales statistics should not be used as a barometer of performance, at least not by outsiders like us, because we have no idea what performance goals were set by Disney for the DVC.

Whether DVC is headed by Ken Holz, Jim Lewis, Claire Bilby, or Snow White, it doesn't matter to me.

 

[Sammie]

One thing I wish they would improve is that when you register to receive emails from them, you actually get them.

It seems so random.

 

[heynowirv]

I hope not!!!

Ken ran DTD for a very short time and by the time he got there it was already in disarray.

Are you talking about the restrictions on resale points being used for some exchanges? That change was announced in January 2011, seven months before Ms. Bilby was appointed head of DVC.

Agreed.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

One thing I wish they would improve is that when you register to receive emails from them, you actually get them.

It seems so random.

Today is the first time I've gotten any email like this for well over 2 years. Last week when I was speaking with MS they asked if I wanted to have an email on file. My screen showed my email and I've always gotten confirmations but she insisted there wasn't one and typed it in. And now I got a notification on a change.

 

[Sammie]

Today is the first time I've gotten any email like this for well over 2 years. Last week when I was speaking with MS they asked if I wanted to have an email on file. My screen showed my email and I've always gotten confirmations but she insisted there wasn't one and typed it in. And now I got a notification on a change.

I know, same here, sometimes I get them and sometimes not. I have rechecked my profile on the member site and it is listed. I might call Member Services and check too, since they did not have yours.

 

[Doug7856]

Ken ran DTD for a very short time and by the time he got there it was already in disarray.

Thanks for the information regarding DTD. I wish Ken well and hope he does well with DVC for both members and Disney.

 

[Doug7856]

I see it as glass half full.

- Despite restrictions and discount reductions, PAP at $399 is great, and way better than no PAP at $399. Didn't we also gain a discount of 10% at WDW shops just for being a member, that wasn't available before?

- As for the association meeting, the format shift may be due to this announcement. Too many questions when she likely knew she was changing positions, means the transfer is leaked early (tells truth) or just promises to look into it (falsehood). No worries, as the meeting structure can be changed at any time.

- She didn't "beat around the bush" with the GF villas announcement. With BLT, they didn't announce anything until it was almost complete, where this didn't really have the ground broken before the announcement was made. In other words, she didn't shuck and jive the membership.

- Got rid of DeeVee Cee!

- Made DisneyFiles a much better publication, which is small but nice.

- Horse Face Pillows at SSR!?

- Goodbye letter. Would Jim Lewis have done that?

It is my opinion that Claire appeared to listen and at least try and give us value for our membership above the room. That is worth something to me, and since she basically just started, I wish it could have been a longer tenure. However, this may have been the plan all along, which is fine. At least we got good leadership for a while.

I agree with your assessment. Claire seemed to care about the membership and I see the perks as better than we've had since we became owners(we per-purchased SSR in 2003). We are very happy with our membership and Claire made it better in my opinion.

 

[sarah4770]

i had no problems with Claire...sorry to see her go.

 

[Brancaneve]

Claire also cleaned up the Disney Files......thank you!

But I am surprised no one has speculated what this move means for Dvc properties in Europe. I'm thinking that a resort in Europe is in the plans. One that will be a stop for people on a Mediterranean Dis cruise, that will bring Americans to Disney Paris, and be a stop if you are on an Adventures by Disney tour.

A resort in Paris will bring me to Europe for sure!!!