Disney to sell their DVC unit?

[TiggerBouncy]

I would dare to say very few here, if any, have stayed in more hotels than I have.
Now, I’m not talking about the Four Seasons, but you did mention Westin. I’ll put Marriott and many Hilton products in that class.
Those *hotel* employees act as such. They likely don’t make a huge salary, and they are there for the job.
Nothing like I’ve ever experienced at a Disney hotel, which is NOTICEABLY different.
Trust me, Disney service certainly has its short comings, probably due to the reduction of traditions training over the years, but it’s still better than the average hotel.

Source: Me. Over the last 31 years have lived roughly 13 years in a hotel room.

I have stayed in my share of hotels, but nothing to match your 13 years. However, My father used to teach university courses on hospitality management, as well as published a number of books on the subject and he used to take me along to take notes and help him in his waning years where health was a problem - so I claim some authority on the subject. Now granted, this was years ago - and times change. But at least at that time, Disney used to be one of the shining examples of "how to do it right". Short of recent pandemic experiences, I personally do not believe Disney has fallen too far off that shelf. The pandemic is - of course - a game changer and has disrupted everyone's lives presently.

I suppose the difference might be what we mean by “service.” I don’t particularly need someone to offer a saccharine smile with “Have a magical day” while they check me in. Professional courtesy is just fine. I do hope it takes less than two days to replace a broken dishwasher that won’t drain and has foul-smelling water in the bottom of it. I do expect the front desk to help redirect a mis-delivered package so I don’t have to drive across property and get it myself. Heck I even expect that employee to figure out what other hotel corresponds to that other address rather than just shrugging…albeit with that saccharine smile.

I have only done about three (non-vacation) weeks a year over the last 30 in hotel rooms, but another three weeks a year in timeshares, Disney and non. So my three and a half years pales in comparison to your authoritative 13. But over that time, Disney has been nothing special and often pales in comparison…except when it comes to the final bill.

I guess you and I have had very different experiences. I have never had a Disney CM behind a counter at a hotel be less then helpful. When I have had broken appliances, they have always asked me if I needed service right then (it was late at night) and I usually would tell them to replace it during the day when I am at the parks. I get back and everything is fixed. Unless I ask them for immediate assistance and they have always provided it.

A few years ago, we were staying at Saratoga. My ex-wife and I had a massage appointment and we were in the relaxation room. She got a call that her mother was about to pass away and probably would not last the day. Two ladies at the massage parlor helped to get her dressed. The manager called the hotel manager Kevin. Kevin picked us up in a golf cart and drove us to our room. He called the airline and found the first flight he could going to where she needed to go. They only had one seat, so he and I worked to get her on a the first flight and a rental car. I was on another flight a few hours later. By the time we had shoved our stuff into our bags, Kevin had a car waiting to take us to the airport. We got there just in time for the flight with minutes to spare. I asked the cab how much the fare was and he told me Kevin already paid and tipped him and my concern should be other than money right now.

My ex-wife made it to her mothers side hours before she passed. I called Kevin from the hospital to thank them for all they had done and he told me "that's what family does for each other". He also refunded all our vacation points for the stay, sent a few things we left behind to our house and the wonderful people at recreation there sent her a care package with a rare Minnie plush. All of this without me asking for any of it or expecting anything. To be clear here; I did not ask him for a refund. I did not ask them to send us anything. I did not ask them to get us to the airport. He told me what he was going to do to help us. He figured out what we needed and he thought of the things we couldn't because of our state of mind.

I can tell you that the Westin would NEVER do such a thing. The absolute most that the Marriot would do would refund our stay - but more likely; would have just charged us for the days we used and waved the rest. Even the best hotels I have stayed at in Dubai or Europe would likely have ended at helping me get a ride to the airport if I asked. It's just not the kind of service you see at a hotel chain.

Granted, this was an extreme example. But it's not the only story I could tell you about CM's at the Disney hotels that have gone well above and beyond what their job requires of them; which is a far cry from the typical Marriot employee who lazily comes out from sitting on their chair behind the partition to take my 2 dollars for a soda or directs me to their printed list of nearly places to eat.

I have said this before in other threads, but I often wonder why some people have constantly bad experiences at Disney and others have consistently good experiences. Either some of us have the best luck in the world, or it's related to how you approach the situation.

 

[mopee3]

I have said this before in other threads, but I often wonder why some people have constantly bad experiences at Disney and others have consistently good experiences. Either some of us have the best luck in the world, or it's related to how you approach the situation.

As you have noticed and noted some people have opposite experiences. Why? Some people are called "Sunshine" by others when they enter a room causing the room to brighten up because they are happy in their lives and space, others.... well they are called "Sunshine" as well when they Leave the room because it brightens UP! Because they always look for the negative in life and when they leave its like a breath of fresh air.
In my world your approch to others most offen gives you back what you give them when starting the conversation.

 

[Brian Noble]

It's not that I have consistently bad experiences at Disney. Most of them are perfectly fine, because most of the time I don't have a problem that needs to be solved. Most of the time at non-Disney hotels/resorts, I don't have problems that need to be solved either. And, garden variety problems are usually not that hard, and are solved adequately.

But, when slightly unusual problems do need to be solved---and inevitably they do, because no room or trip is perfect---Disney CMs seem to "lock up" earlier than employees at other brands that are at or above the upscale band.

Maybe Disney is trying to position themselves at the midscale tier. And, maybe for the Values that's okay. Maybe even for the Moderates. But we aren't talking about those, we are talking about DVC, which Disney is quick to remind us should be considered "Deluxe." It certainly commands a premium price, even for owners, let alone people paying cash. Indeed, this is one of the things I think of as a problem at WDW: the level of service at all of the hotels is more or less the same; the differences between them are location, access, and amenities.

And that's why the conversation matters for "who owns/manages the DVC resorts." There exist timeshare management companies that, in my experience, are better at managing timeshares than is Disney. There are also plenty that are worse.

Edited to add: I went back and checked, and here's the categorization of Disney's resorts:

Upper Upscale Chains: Disney's Deluxe Resorts
Upscale Chains: Disney's Moderate Resorts
Upper Midscale Chains: Disney's Value Resorts

 

[CWTC]

Maybe Disney is trying to position themselves at the midscale tier. And, maybe for the Values that's okay. Maybe even for the Moderates. But we aren't talking about those, we are talking about DVC, which Disney is quick to remind us should be considered "Deluxe." Indeed, this is one of the things I think of as a problem at WDW: the level of service at all of the hotels is more or less the same; the differences between them are location, access, and amenities.

I would agree. I have completely different expectations of service when we are staying at a Four Seasons for example. Park adjacent DVC resorts and park adjacent non-DVC resorts are deluxe because of location and park perks but not because of level of service. GF may be Disney’s flagship deluxe but honestly it has nothing on our favorite domestic Four Seasons (in Scottsdale if anyone is wondering). We knew this going in: we did not buy DVC expecting it to be equivalent to a non-Disney luxury resort. We bought for park adjacent access and the perks of staying on property.

 

[DonMacGregor]

I think a step back needs to be taken. The Polynesian Bungalows are never going to be mistaken for the Four Seasons Bora Bora. Not in appearance or environment, and certainly not in level of service. If anyone thinks they are comparable, or should be, then you really need to adjust your expectations (and your wallet).

Like so many things Disney, both the Poly and GFR are “Disney-fied” copies of real world counterparts and should never be mistaken as substitutes. Their “value” is in their location and that’s about it. Expectations for levels of service should be that of a higher end business class hotel, along the lines of maybe a JW Marriott at best.

* And yes, I’ve been to Bora Bora, but we stayed at the St. Regis, not the Four Seasons.

 

[RoseGold]

Disney used to be one of the shining examples of "how to do it right". Short of recent pandemic experiences, I personally do not believe Disney has fallen too far off that shelf.

Disney as a hotelier is not the same as DVC. I have status at multiple large hotel chains (well, I did before Covid), and I'd rate DVC dead last. I've gotten better service at a business airport hotel.

I've heard about these magical experiences, but I've never experienced it. I took my own luggage to Bell Services from the hind quarters of Kidani (with a disabled relative handling the kids) with an abandoned cart someone else obviously used for their own luggage. I stayed at Poly four times before I got a lei, and I had to ask for one, and it took a few minutes to dig one up. I lugged my own Owner's Locker to the Beach Club Bell Services using a wheelchair. I've been checked in late, given a room number that doesn't exist, lost Magic Bands, I can keep going. At Poly, I just left the Owner's Locker in the hallway with a note about where it was going, and $5 on it after no one showed up for 30 minutes. It made it, so I guess that worked.

My understanding is that the cash side is night and day, and I can see why. They already got their money, it's not like the DVC people are paying $800/night. I bet they actually send someone to get their luggage.

I have given up expecting even basic levels of service from DVC. I'm OK with this, because I don't expect normal hotel service, I go for the location and my love for WDW. The exception to me is the website. In 2021, that I expect. They REALLY need to fix the website. Also, I have never had significant maintenance or cleanliness issues anywhere in DVC. There, I think Disney has held the standards.

 

[mort1331]

Disney as a hotelier is not the same as DVC. I have status at multiple large hotel chains (well, I did before Covid), and I'd rate DVC dead last. I've gotten better service at a business airport hotel.

I've heard about these magical experiences, but I've never experienced it. I took my own luggage to Bell Services from the hind quarters of Kidani (with a disabled relative handling the kids) with an abandoned cart someone else obviously used for their own luggage. I stayed at Poly four times before I got a lei, and I had to ask for one, and it took a few minutes to dig one up. I lugged my own Owner's Locker to the Beach Club Bell Services using a wheelchair. At Poly, I just left the Owner's Locker in the hallway with a note about where it was going, and $5 on it after no one showed up for 30 minutes. It made it, so I guess that worked.

My understanding is that the cash side is night and day, and I can see why. They already got their money, it's not like the DVC people are paying $800/night. I bet they actually send someone to get their luggage.

I have given up expecting even basic levels of service from DVC, I go for the location and my love for WDW. The exception to me is the website. In 2021, that I expect. They REALLY need to fix the website.

You can not compare DVC to other hotel chains....It is not a hotel. It is a Timeshare..Compare it to other timeshares.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

You can not compare DVC to other hotel chains....It is not a hotel. It is a Timeshare..Compare it to other timeshares.

In his defense, the things he compared he should be able to expect without question.

 

[corpcomp]

Disney as a hotelier is not the same as DVC. I have status at multiple large hotel chains (well, I did before Covid), and I'd rate DVC dead last. I've gotten better service at a business airport hotel.

I've heard about these magical experiences, but I've never experienced it. I took my own luggage to Bell Services from the hind quarters of Kidani (with a disabled relative handling the kids) with an abandoned cart someone else obviously used for their own luggage. I stayed at Poly four times before I got a lei, and I had to ask for one, and it took a few minutes to dig one up. I lugged my own Owner's Locker to the Beach Club Bell Services using a wheelchair. I've been checked in late, given a room number that doesn't exist, lost Magic Bands, I can keep going. At Poly, I just left the Owner's Locker in the hallway with a note about where it was going, and $5 on it after no one showed up for 30 minutes. It made it, so I guess that worked.

My understanding is that the cash side is night and day, and I can see why. They already got their money, it's not like the DVC people are paying $800/night. I bet they actually send someone to get their luggage.

I have given up expecting even basic levels of service from DVC. I'm OK with this, because I don't expect normal hotel service, I go for the location and my love for WDW. The exception to me is the website. In 2021, that I expect. They REALLY need to fix the website. Also, I have never had significant maintenance or cleanliness issues anywhere in DVC. There, I think Disney has held the standards.

I've had excellent treatment the multiple times I have been either at BCV or BWV. Staff at the front desk went out of their way to greet me, change the room if I did not like the location versus the elevator or there might have been an odor. I always check the room looking for broken items / light bulbs and call maintenance and they always come promptly to fix what was broken. Usually its just a bad light bulb by the bed or missing detergent. Although last time both bed lamps had broken switches and they replaced both of them right away.

I can't compare to hotels because when I'm traveling I stay at a nearby Hampton or Hilton for a night or two which are OK but not at the level of DVC. I go there to sleep, not to vacation.

Grand Floridian Villas were at a level above the others because of the amenities in the room and they actually escorted us to the room likely as first time visitors. That was exceptional. Wife fell in love with the GE Monogram frig - I later priced it at Best Buy - it was close to $7000!!! Who does that and yes I know Disney got it for much less on bulk but it was way above BCV and BWV frigs. The lake view was fantastic.

 

[SL6827]

What few DVC stays I have had has always been positive for us. Of course we have had hicups on some trips but those do come and go.

 

[RoseGold]

What few DVC stays I have had has always been positive for us. Of course we have had hicups on some trips but those do come and go.

I expect hiccups because of the way DVC is managed. If I were at any other hotel chain, I would consider it unacceptable. I wouldn't fight the website or wait three hours on the phone for a major hotel competing with another one across the street. I'd switch to the other one. It wouldn't be worth it.

Disney (and DVC by extension) has brand loyalty, but even we have a service breaking point. Since Covid, DVC seems to be testing where that is IMO. They already know they are understaffed, their website doesn't work, and the phone waits are ridiculous. I would argue it has been so bad at times that points are unusable, because there is no reasonable way to book anything.

If Disney is not competent to run these properties, which is what seems to be happening for well over a year, I do wish they would outsource what they can't do to someone competent. At least get someone to fix the website. But that assumes they care about our satisfaction, which I'm not sure is true.

I can tell you that if I were spending $800/night cash, I'd be at the Waldorf. I'm not the only one thinking that, as evidenced by GF's sad cash bookings.

 

[Winston Wolf]

sadly -- if they would just lift the resale restrictions on RIV, then I would presume that many of their problems would go away and that thing would sell like hotcakes.

I agree

 

[Brian Noble]

You can not compare DVC to other hotel chains....It is not a hotel. It is a Timeshare..Compare it to other timeshares.

In terms of management and operations, it's an average timeshare at a premium price, and has been for a long time. Hilton, Westin/Sheraton, and Marriott all do a better job at similar price points for annual fees. Disney is a notch above Wyndham or Bluegreen, but the latter two run their resorts much less expensively.

If Disney is not competent to run these properties, which is what seems to be happening for well over a year,

I'd be inclined to give them (and everyone else) a pass for the past year. It is very very hard to staff low-wage service jobs everywhere you look. That's not a Disney problem, that's an "everyone has re-evaluated their lives in the pandemic" problem.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

All of my DVC stays have been positive. Friendly staff, well-maintained rooms, and quick attention when something is not right. Perhaps the most negative thing that happened was when on our first stay at Riviera; the room wasn't ready until about 5:30. The staff knew we were on property by about 1 pm and waiting. At 4 pm they began telling us "it'll just be a few more minutes" but it took a while. Granted, this was the Saturday after Thanksgiving and it was crazy busy, so I'm willing to cut them so slack, I just wanted honesty so we could decide how to use our time better. But they acknowledged the inconvenience and gave our party a $300 credit on our account (which we used up at Toppolino's), and that was satisfactory to me. Heck, more than satisfactory, I would take $300 and check-in 1.5 hrs late anytime!

 

[Chuck S]

To be fair, waiting on hold 3 hours was not the norm for DVC prior to COVID, except during special bookings, like Member Cruises. Just as cancelling 2000 flights and 6 hours on hold was not the norm for Southwest. The workforce has changed. the number of available employees has changed. Nor do hotels, like Four Seasons and Marriott normally operate at near 100% capacity like DVC

 

[TiggerBouncy]

Disney as a hotelier is not the same as DVC. I have status at multiple large hotel chains (well, I did before Covid), and I'd rate DVC dead last. I've gotten better service at a business airport hotel.

I've heard about these magical experiences, but I've never experienced it.

Not arguing what you have said. All I can tell you is that the experience I related above, as well as many others I can tell you about (including this past trip) were DVC and NOT cash rooms. It's rare and I have to search my mind far and wide to remember a legitimate BAD experience with DVC. To be fair last week, I did have one LESS THAN OPTIMAL experience on one night of an otherwise terrific 7 night stay. (In comparison, I can give you legit bad experiences at almost every hotel chain I have stayed at).

But I will repeat my earlier statement...

"I often wonder why some people have constantly bad experiences at Disney and others have consistently good experiences." Not judging. Just observing.

 

[RoseGold]

"I often wonder why some people have constantly bad experiences at Disney and others have consistently good experiences." Not judging. Just observing.

I have a hard time thinking anyone would consider three hours on the phone anything but horrible. I guess some people didn't need to call, so who cares?

I accept DVC's limitations, heck, I have an air mattress in my owner's locker and bring my own TP. I don't expect the service of an $800/night hotel, because that isn't what I paid. All I expect is airport business hotel service, or mostly competence, which Disney can't seem to provide. If this product were anywhere but Disney, I would already be out. This isn't an occasional snag. This is active choices of management to degrade service to this level.

As an owner, I love DVC properties, but I am disappointed in DVC management. The system is so opaque with so little accountability, I'm not sure what power I have as an owner other than selling. I did fill out that website survey again. So, I guess we will see how my 500 characters do impacting change. Holding my breath over here.

 

[TiggerBouncy]

I have a hard time thinking anyone would consider three hours on the phone anything but horrible. I guess some people didn't need to call, so who cares?

I accept DVC's limitations, heck, I have an air mattress in my owner's locker and bring my own TP. I don't expect the service of an $800/night hotel, because that isn't what I paid. All I expect is airport business hotel service, or mostly competence, which Disney can't seem to provide. If this product were anywhere but Disney, I would already be out. This isn't an occasional snag. This is active choices of management to degrade service to this level.

As an owner, I love DVC properties, but I am disappointed in DVC management. The system is so opaque with so little accountability, I'm not sure what power I have as an owner other than selling. I did fill out that website survey again. So, I guess we will see how my 500 characters do impacting change. Holding my breath over here.

3 hours on hold is unreasonable, agreed. But lets be honest; that was not an issue before the pandemic. I never had a wait of more than 5 minutes. I do not attribute this to a decline in Disney - I attribute this to the pandemic. All I can say is that everyone is experiencing worker shortages. I know this for fact.

Regarding the rest of your comments. <Shrug>. I have not experienced this incompetence which you speak of. I guess me and others like me are just unusually and astoundingly lucky that the same CM's seem to handle our issues with grace. I have after all given you several actual examples of recent interactions I have had. I am not making those up. I just don't know what to tell you. But I question the statement that management has made active choices since they do not seem to be affecting some of us. Can you tell me of some active choices (other than trouble hiring) that management has actually made that you have knowledge of were designed to reduce service in order to save cost? (I am not talking about perks. I am talking about as a time share operator).

I would also remind you that costs (as many forget here) come from our dues - they do not go into management pockets. So any cost saving measures they do are in order to prevent having to charge us more. This is in contrast to a hotel.

 

[Pooh12863]

"I often wonder why some people have constantly bad experiences at Disney and others have consistently good experiences." Not judging. Just observing.

I've never had what I would consider a bad experience while staying DVC, I think some people just look for reasons to be unhappy. Sure little things go wrong everywhere humans are involved, it's your outlook on life that defines your experience.

 

[RoseGold]

I'll just whistle while I hit the dwarves and hum a happy tune while I'm on hold for a few more hours.

FIX THE WEBSITE, BILL!