D23 (with DVC discount): Yay or Nay?

[Coach81]

Thanks for this info.

 

[fx2594]

I fail to see the value myself. As the original post says, most of the discounts are duplicated elsewhere.

 

[karrit2000]

Add me to those who don't really think it is worth it. I'm a Charter member & I may or may not continue after next years expo. As many have already said, unless you are local to DL or WDW the notice of most upcoming events is not made far enough in advance for non-locals to be able to plan to attend. Back in January they announced dates for some upcoming events throughout the year but there has been no further details or official announcement regarding the F & W Festival event or the Christmas event. I have a co-worker who planned a trip to WDW based on the original dates they posted for the Flower & Fireworks event this past May in conjunction with the Flower & Garden Festival. A week or two later someone at D23 must have realized they planned their event for a date 2 weeks after the Flower & Garden Festival ended and they quietly changed the dates they had posted on the website. My co-worker was out of luck because he couldn't change his travel arrangements. I tried to get into the Anniversary event & was wait listed. They notified me on the friday of a holiday weekend that the waitlist had come through and I had 24 hours to fax them my payment info. There was no contact info supplied for me to call & ask questions and it was unclear in the notice how many spots they were holding for me. Of course by the time I received that notice there was no way for me to make any reasonable travel arrangements. I did attend the Flower & Fireworks event and while I liked some parts of it the desserts served at the Fireworks Dessert Party in Epcot was about equal to what you could get at any basic CS in the parks. It definitely was poor quality compared to what has been served at other dessert parties I had attended in the past. And I've not heard of any member discounts that are of any use to me. And we are offered member exclusive pins at twice the cost of a similar quality pin that the general public can buy. I've not seen any value for the $150 I've paid so far in membership fees. Personally I think this discount offer is an attempt to rope in some more unsuspecting members before they announce that the whole thing is a failure & end it.

 

[tgj]

I'll echo what many others have said. We were charter members, even bought a couple of d23 shirts. But let our subscription lapse.

--Discounts aren't worth it.
--Most events in DL and we go to WDW
--Magazine is nice, but not worth it.

The benefits outside the magazine were things we couldn't/wouldn't take advantage of, so d23 for us was basically a magazine subscription.

If the magazine sells for $15 or 16, four times a year, that's $60-65. Why is membership more than the newstand price? SPorts Illustrated or Golf gives you huges discounts if you subscribe.

I think they should offer a plan where you get the magazine without the events discounts, etc for about $40 and we would probably get it again.

We were so excited when it was announced, but as is so often the case, "the expectation far exceeded the actual event......" (Linus Van Pelt)

 

[GuySmiley]

I joined the first year. Being in Colorado I knew I was really paying for a magazine subscription. I could never make it to an event, unless it were just dumb luck. The magazine is really well done, it really doesnt give you the right picture to call it a magazine . . . however . . . the magazine doesn't really cover topics I'm interested in.

I'm a Disney fan, but more specifically a Disney parks fan, and even more specifically a Disney World fan. The magazine covers Disney in general, movies, etc, and seems to focus on Disneyland when covering parks. Thats just not for me. I get a lot more out of Disneyfiles and Celebrations magazine.

 

[Peggy Sue]

We also became charter members ... but we have no plans to renew. Living on the east coast and typically traveling to WDW early December each year we don't believe there is any value in remaining a member.

The magazine is nice, but not worth the steep subscription price. $75 can pay for a lot of magazine subscriptions!

We initially joined because of our love for all things Disney ..but to be honest we really didn't get much out of our membership. I suspect they have had a lot of members non-renew. Although the picture and patch are nice we don't have any intention of framing and hanging the picture or using the patch .. so kind of silly to just to have these things sitting in a drawer and we don't view receipt of these items as a "perk" to continue renewing our membership.

 

[Brian Noble]

I confess that I throw the "cracker jack" prizes away for the most part. But, it is a neat little surprise when they arrive.

 

[Doug7856]

I have looked into joining numerous times and have try to convince myself that I should but I can't. Like you, we have all of the discount already covered. We would not schedule a vacation because just to coincide with a meet so I concluded that we would basically be paying for a magazine subscription.

Many years ago Disney had a membership called the Magic Kingdom Club which gave great vacation discounts, special parking and more. Now that was a great club with great benefits. I really miss it!

I agree. I WANT to buy a membership, but when I look at how little is offered that I can take advantage of and I just can't bring myself to buy in. Last Christmas they had a marvelous D23 Christmas event at WDW but I understand that even if you were there during that time, it sold out in minutes due to limited availability.

The Magic Kingdom Club was great and it made me a LOYAL Disney fan. The current management just doesn't get loyalty and I think they are selling out for quick profits and will be short changed in the future. Just my opinion.

 

[nunzia]

I confess that I throw the "cracker jack" prizes away for the most part. But, it is a neat little surprise when they arrive.

Holy cow..you can throw them my way if you like

I don't think the D23 folks would admit this, but I do think the club is geared for..maybe on purpose, maybe not...west coaster types. I am too far away to do most things, but make an effort for the biggies (Expo, Destination D). WDW people can complain all they want, (and really, come on, WDW gets so many great things, just not so many D23) but the company was founded in So Cal, the studios, Team Disney, Imagineering are all there so it is much easier and makes much more sense to have alot of activities in the area. I wouldn't be surprised if the 2012 event was held in WDW since the alternate to the Expo event is held at DLR this year. I also would think that if D23 grows they might get an east coast team to develop what would work outside the "tri-state area".
D23 is still very new..I think they are doing their best to develop it and grow, but they have such a huge base in the area branching out from So Cal, maybe they feel that is really their focus.

 

[gkrykewy]

I've been following this thread, and appreciate everyone's thoughts. It seems as if "not worth it" is the emerging consensus.

I confess that I throw the "cracker jack" prizes away for the most part. But, it is a neat little surprise when they arrive.

Those patches have been selling for a nice chunk of change on eBay, FYI. About $25-$30 per patch.

 

[melissa0208]

I'm a charter member already.

Ditto...I'm a sucker lol

 

[skylynx]

Just got tickets to the 2011 Expo. Will renew once, attend the Expo, then decide if there's any reason to continue. One possible justification is that we'll be moving to Colorado next year and so might be spending a bit more time at the left coast Disney, though WDW is and always will be our "home base."

Still seems if you are paying for premium access to something, you should get some ROI other than just a chance to pay hyperinflated prices for logowear.

Jury is still out for us on whether D23 is just one more way to extract cash out of loyalists who have trouble saying no to anything Disney!

 

[Disneymad]

I agree. I WANT to buy a membership, but when I look at how little is offered that I can take advantage of and I just can't bring myself to buy in. Last Christmas they had a marvelous D23 Christmas event at WDW but I understand that even if you were there during that time, it sold out in minutes due to limited availability.

The Magic Kingdom Club was great and it made me a LOYAL Disney fan. The current management just doesn't get loyalty and I think they are selling out for quick profits and will be short changed in the future. Just my opinion.

Pretty much sums it up for me.

Every now and then I go back and check out D23, including when I got the email discount again...yet I look and I look and I can't justify the price for what it offers - especially as being in the UK they charge an extra $50-60 or so for mailing it overseas (can't remember exactly off top of my head)...it's questionable value anyhow but it's laughable to contemplate paying in the region of $120-$130 for it.

I miss the MKC.

 

[Brian Noble]

Those patches have been selling for a nice chunk of change on eBay, FYI. About $25-$30 per patch.

If I weren't swimming in billable work that I'm falling behind on, this would be a better idea.

Perhaps I just need to spend less time on the DIS...