Disney Vacation Club adjusts 2010 Vacation Points charts

[yasuern]

just found this on the owners website


On January 21 a version of the 2010 Vacation Point Charts was incorrectly posted. An updated version will be made available within the next week. Members with valid email addresses on record will receive an email when the new charts are available. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

 

[maburke]

I do agree with other posters about how late in the game it is to change the 2010 points charts. They should have done this in the fall or early december so that people had enough time to plan their January 2010 vacations, which period for reservations will open next week.

Exactly! They say the new point charts will be posted within a week, but doesn't the 11-month reservation window (with the new 7-day rule) for Jan. 1, 2010, start on SUNDAY?? This is ridiculously last minute, especially considering how much more important that 11-month window has become in recent years.

 

[mrsswat]

for those of you saying "borrow 2, borrow 5" to complete your plans, well our normal vacation reservations would require us to BORROW 20 POINTS EVERY YEAR, compared to the 15 points we had LEFT OVER (and would use 1 night on another trip). That's totally unacceptable to us!! Sorry, decline of everthing DVC has just today forced us to reconsider where our $$ goes.

 

[maminnie]

With the lower points on weekends, could we now see issues with the new reservation policy?? With more members likely arriving on weekend days now, those arriving the Friday/Saturday before a busy, high demand vacation week have reservation priority over those that do not in addition to lower points now. Those members arriving later in the week could now face even more potential to be shut out by those who arrive earlier. The walkers even have a few more points now to walk away!! Yes I understand full rooms and members staying longer is wonderful for DVC (and its members supposedly) but for those of us that come in later in the week we face further possible issues with the new reservation policy now that the points are lower on the weekends. (And yes we always stay on the weekends and do not just stay Sunday-Thursday so I can't be accused of that. Our work and family schedule cause us to travel this way.)

The above concerns me as much as the fact that my one contract now does not have enough points to secure reservations as I have for years. My story is that I did not buy enough the first time so I bought a second contract at the resort that was selling at the time. I use both contracts to book my week and then waitlist either end. Love both resorts so I never care which one comes through. Have always had good luck with this and have never had to move. Now the one contract is short a few points. Yes I can borrow and bank but I personally have always tried to stay in my use year and current in case our jobs or family life do not allow us to travel to Disney in a given year.

Yes it was my fault that I did not buy enough the first time and that I did not do a 10% security point purchase on my second contract as suggested in this thread but I had just made a sizeable DVC purchase the year before so I did what I could and my DVC salesperson never suggested this. So I will be the one that will have to make due with what I have but as other members have said I am still disappointed and bit upset that what I have been doing for years is now not going to work. But as was also said many times when the new reservation policy was being discussed on these boards "there are winners and there are losers with everything"; I just happen to be the loser yet again!! This seems to be the trend with my DVC ownership interest at this time!!

maminnie

P.S. For what it is worth I never would have bought a second contract at a different resort had I known the reservation policy was going to change or that this point restructure was going to occur. I definitely would have bought at my original resort which I love as much as the second resort. My original resort was sold out (quite a wait-list at the time) and for some crazy reason I wanted to go through Disney rather then resale. Oh well my fault again!!

 

[DebbieB]

Am I missing something? If I am reading the 2010 charts correctly for SSR it looks to me that the weekend points required for both a GV and Studio go up for 2010 vs 2009 and the weekday points go down. This is opposite what I understand the concern to be.

From what I see, studios did go up for weekdays but down for weekends. GV's did go down for weekdays and up for weekends, except for premier season.

Studio:

Season 2009 weekday/weekend to 2010 weekday/weekend

Adventure 11/20 to 12/18
Choice 11/21 to 13/20
Dream 12/26 to 14/21
Magic 13/29 to 15/24
Premier 17/39 to 19/33

GV:

Adventure 67/85 to 63/95
Choice 71/86 to 65/99
Dream 79/106 to 75/114
Magic 97/117 to 89/135
Premier 117/142 to 89/135

 

[Doug7856]

. . . I guess I just expected to be treated better. . . .

Well said!

 

[Anal Annie]

Well, this whole sham messes us up a bit. I just went thru & re-added the points for everything we had planned out. Having just made our 2009 ressies with future "plans" for what / when / where for 2010 and noting when our booking windows open for each we will now be short by 3 points that we will have to borrow rather than having 23 points left to bank at the end of it all. If this change was in effect for THIS year we'd have been short even more for our VB portion. We were fine with how the OLD point charts worked. They still didn't lower the weekend points enough to be able to work a 5 night stay any which way you work it. Many, people did 5 night trips to make the cost of airfare worth it and that will no longer work in any way, shape or form. We didn't necessarily AVOID weekends, almost always having at least SOME weekend nights planned if not both. Sometimes we would plan to go for long weekends, but these particular charts are still out of whack and are not fairly balanced either. We can no longer do a 4 n weekend 'cuz they raised the weekday too much but didn't drop the weekends enough. That sucks. There are too many existing members who made their DVC purchase based on the old charts.

At the end of the day this re-allocation is gonna hurt more existing members than it helps and it basically screws a lot of people who purchased their number of points based on the existing charts. I feel especially bad for those who just purchased small add-ons at BLT before the min. add-on went up last week. Many of them based their purchases on what they could do specifically with banking and borrowing. Now they may be short by only 5 points or something absurd. THAT is just WRONG on DVC's part.

Who do we write to complain?????

 

[alldiz]

Hmmm, maybe buying a 10% cushion IS the best kept secret because I never remember hearing that during the sales pitch??

Where did it say, "Minimum point buy is 160 points, but we recommend 16 additional points in case we modify the points, which of course is perfectly legal for DVC to do"?

It's absurd, as absurd as trying to sell me a dead parrot (Monty Python reference)

Dean, you must watch this, it's so perfect. DVC being the pet shop vendor, DVC owners being John Cleese http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vuW6tQ0218

Edited post because it was confusing (my apologies) :
Well...count me in as disappointed. And I know all about being legal and within Disney's rights....and so on.......

Our usually pattern with our OKW stays are a 2 bedroom/Magic Season/Sun-Thurs = 150 points

I tried every different way I could think to get 5 nights out OKW in a 2 bedroom/Magic season and it's bleak.

According to the new charts (thanks for all that saved and posted), 5 nights would now cost me :

Sun thru Thurs = 180 points (30 points more)
This is signifant to us and our travel patterns. Been Members since 2000. We are losing the equivalent of one night's stay. So the value of our DVC went down for us.


Just bought a 100 point add-on at AKV. We stayed this past August (Magic season) for 3 nights in a 1 bedroom SV for 90 points.

In 2010, at the AKV, this same trip would cost us 12 points more. Yeah it's only 12 points, but it's 12 points we DON'T have because we only bought a 100 point add-on. Our option would be to drop to a standard view---but that is not why we bought AKV.

We probably would have done another add-on at AKV to bring up our points to adjust to the new allocation, but now we missed the Jan 15 deadline and the cost went up for points at AKV. I know my husband won't buy more points there now based on the timing of the price increase and the "convenient" release of the new allocation (for disney that is).

Just seems sort of snarky on Disney's part---to agree with what several others have said.


So we're not talking 3 or 4, or 5 points more.........particularily in the case of OKW, we're talking 30 points more for the exact same stay. So far, I see the allocation forcing us to NOT be able to make additional shorter stays down in WDW. Thus, in turn, less money from us that we would spend on meals/souveniers.......and we may not even buy AP's any longer due to this change. Not to mention, the add-on at BLT we were considering. I don't know....still have to try and work this all out and see how it works for our family and the way we have become accustomed to vacationing for the past 8 years.

I realize DVC probably won't care....or lose any sleep over this. I realize this is in their best interest & within their legal right and will benefit those who mostly do weekend stays. I understand all the arguments for the fairness of the point structure overall. I get all that. But it still has now become a snafu in our DVC vacation world.......and when things start making you unsettled to quote another DIS'er.....then....well......this is just such a drastic change and the timing doesn't seem fair.

Disney could handle change a little better.....I shouldn't have to find out through the Dis.

Your numbers didn't pass my "smell test" so I went to look them up myself.

Reality is that Sun-Thurs will be 180 and that IS 30 more points for the time you normally vacation.

But Tues-Sat would be 226 and that is actually 10 less than the 236 it would have been using the old 30 per night S-Th and 73 per night on F, Sa

Mon-Fri would be 203 and that is 10 more than the 193 it would have been using the old 30 per night S-Th and 73 per night on F, Sa

I realize you are comparing to what you paid before, but it seemed a bit misleading as it sounded like you were comparing to the 2009 charts. In reality, Disney did just what it said. Made weekends more inviting to use and Sun-Thurs less so.

Not for me....WLV 1Br's has gone up on weekdays and weekends.

Ok, please know that I just ask this question in innocence.

If Disney wants to fill up its rooms every day of the week, then why isn't every day the same number of points within a given season and room category?

I certainly understand the larger the room, the more points and the various busy seasons such as summer and holidays. But I've never understood why Disney penalizes weekend stays so much ... that DVC folks actually try to avoid the weekends ...
Thanks for your insight -- I'm new (owned for 2 years) and want to learn!

I don't see how anything has changed in that regard....Weekend points are still significantly higher.....now that my weekday points are higher....I definately can't afford the weekends now

At WLV the 1BR's I stay in have gone up in EVERY(not premier) season....weekends also.
Kerri

 

[dizzneebabe]

I know I'm probably beating a dead horse here until the "official" charts are posted, but I have to say again that I completely agree with the fact that the weekend points are much too high in relation to weekdays. It never really bothered me, because we always stay at least a week. A week was a week was a week.

With the new reservation rules (check in +7) it seems they are more and more trying to encourage a weeks stay, rather than the shorter trips, regardless of what days of the week you are vacationing. And some of you believe there might be minimum stay requirements in our future (hope not!). So, then WHY change the weekly point totals???? How is forcing people to drop a night in order to make up 1-10 points for a week in line with the other changes they are making? That just seems backwards to me.

I know I'm rambling again. I guess I'm a bit punchy --I have actually made it through every post on this thread and my coffee hasn't kicked in 100% yet!

I guess we'll all just have to wait and see.

 

[jpolak]

How much longer until we see this message:

In order to make vacation reservations easier for our members, DVC will be changing to 7 day vacations only. Booking will begin on Saturday and extend to the following Saturday. On the four day of your stay, you will have your towels refreshed, trash emptied and toiletries renewed. We feel this will make planning and scheduling your vacations much easier. These changes will allow housekeeping to schedule all full cleaning on Saturdays once guests have checked out and prior to newly scheduled arrivals. In addition to making this easier for our members, we expect to have some cost savings from the changes in housekeeping.

To assist with scheduling your vacations, MS will be open longer hours on Thursday and Fridays. However, they will be closed Monday through Wednesday.

That will be a sad day.

 

[maminnie]

That will be a sad day.

My guess is that minimum stays could very well be the next "member enhancement" as they say!!

 

[Bunkobeth]

I keep running the numbers using the charts that we had a peek at.

If the points stay true, I have to move the time of year I vacation. My job limits when I can go and distance to WDW is also a factor. I can't shake the feeling that my DVC purchase has been devalued.

 

[kristenrice]

My guess is that minimum stays could very well be the next "member enhancement" as they say!!

If they "enhanced" it to require a weeklong, minimum stay, my contract would be up for sale immediately. We bought in to stay in a 1BR for 5 nights. Our contract isn't big enough for a full week in a 1BR...with the current "enhancement", we now have to cut back to going every other year instead of every year.

DVC is going to "enhance" us right out of our contract.

 

[rlt431]

See the below message regarding 2010 points chart:

"On January 21 a version of the 2010 Vacation Point Charts was incorrectly posted. An updated version will be made available within the next week. Members with valid email addresses on record will receive an email when the new charts are available. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused."

Let's see what this charts tells us.

 

[Inkmahm]

Inkmahm....guess I didn't make myself clear. I do apologize. I have 150 points to work with....and can only go in Aug (Magic season). For 8 years I've been able to get 5 nights/2 bedroom/OKW for 150. The days/patterns I chose in my example didn't matter as I was just trying to find a way to get 5 nights---or at least 5 nights for not too much more. I didn't care which days of the week we stayed.

All I know is I can no longer stay 5 nights in a 2 bedroom at OKW for the number of points we have been for the past 8 years. That's all I meant. So, I'll just edit to say, our vacation in 2010 will cost us 30 more points. This means, we lose one night stay every single year. That's not chump change to me. That's ALOT to borrow every year and we just simply won't do it. This woeful reality, in addition to our issue with the AKV stay, is just upsetting. I just can't even find the words for it.

I probably should have just stated it this way to begin with. I'm tired. Coming off a 13 hour graveyard shift. The news of this drastic allocation combined with my fatigue....just hit me like a ton of bricks. I was just trying to say, I cannot make it work using any combination of days and still get 5 nights in a 2 bedroom. So for me, this is a huge loss. I realize some think this whole think is just grand. I know it has made me think entirely differently about DVC. REALLY glad now I didn't do the OKW extension. I most assuredly don't see the flexibility as it has been. I don't think I can recommend DVC to people as I have in the past. Not all of us need or want a 7 night stay. I have that with my offsite timeshare. Never purchased DVC for the same reasons.


Ok fair enough.....but it has actually decreased the amount of days my family can vacation in WDW. So it's just how I, personally, feel about it. Upset. Makes me rethink everything about my Membership now.

I understand the Sun-Thurs people being upset. And a 30 point increase does seem high to me. But another way to look at it is those who stay more weekend days who have been gouged for points for years in the past are finally getting a break with a more even allocation of points during the week. It's still higher on the weekends but not double, which was just nuts IMHO.

 

[Inkmahm]

just found this on the owners website


On January 21 a version of the 2010 Vacation Point Charts was incorrectly posted. An updated version will be made available within the next week. Members with valid email addresses on record will receive an email when the new charts are available. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused.

That has probably been posted 20 times in this thread alone since yesterday.

 

[maminnie]

As someone posted in another thread on the boards, waitlisting between VWL, BCV, and BWV is now going to be more difficult (especially if one banks or borrows) as the points needed are no longer the same between the resorts for some timeframes.

maminnie

 

[RobDoc]

That's my understanding as well.

For example, as I understand it, if it would cost 20,000 points to stay in a 1BR at SSR for a year, that will never change. DVC can, however, change how they allocate those 20,000 points for the 1BR at SSR within any given year.

I hope I am understanding, and explaining it, correctly.

No, that's not accurate. They can't change the total points for all units at the reort - so you need to add up the total points needed to reserve all of the studios, 1BRs, 2BRs and GVs. They can then modiify the room types based on seasons anyway they want as long as the total points are not changed.

Thus, they could balance the total points at SSR by rasing the 1BR points by 10,000 for the year and lowering the GV points by 10,000 and they would still be in balance without making any other changes. In reality, there are millions of points available to balance the system.

 

[keishashadow]

I'm guessing they are coming up with another PR statement to tell us that "we" requested this change.

This made me laugh out loud.

okay, who asked?::cop:

I've made the suggestions a number of times to buy at least a 10% margin unless one bought enough for a 2 BR for a week in at least Magic season.

unfortunately, all the guides rn't making the same suggestion or even bothering to mentioning this provisio verbally. While the details r buried in the contract, it would be prudent to have it be disclosed (via a special disclosure statement to be signed pre-purchase to avoid this type of 'surprise' for many...of course that's something that would probably have to be forced via change to FL TS law)

many have reported for add-ons they were told to look @ the charts to determine how many points needed for travel and purchase accordingly, factoring in banking & borrowing...in a perfect world, I'd have all the DVC points I wanted (even extra points to rent out) yet, too bad RL gets in the way-darn it!

Doesn't the 100 point minimum add-on apply ONLY to BLT? Aren't all other resorts still 25 points (cash) and 50 points (financed) minimum. Or is the 100 point add-on for all resorts, now?

so far, all is subject to change rapidly it appears

 

[Tricia1972]

No, that's not accurate. They can't change the total points for all units at the reort - so you need to add up the total points needed to reserve all of the studios, 1BRs, 2BRs and GVs. They can then modiify the room types based on seasons anyway they want as long as the total points are not changed.

Thus, they could balance the total points at SSR by rasing the 1BR points by 10,000 for the year and lowering the GV points by 10,000 and they would still be in balance without making any other changes. In reality, there are millions of points available to balance the system.

Thank you for the clarification. That is vastly different from my previous misconception of how the point system worked. The actuality is much less appealing than my previous (mis)understanding.

I appreciate the correction.