Disney Vacation Club adjusts 2010 Vacation Points charts

[dcfromva]

Think of it this way. DVC published the 2010 charts as a rollout for their new theme for 2009 which will be known as "The year of a million screams".

 

[Pig Pen]

YAY!

Now I do not have to split my stay at a value to conserve weekend points...AND when I move to FL I can do weekend trips and not deplete my points as quickly.

Thanks DVC!

 

[Dean]

I have been looking at the new points charts and it seems that there are no cheap 5 day stays anymore...

What happened is that the 8 point studios have disappeared... it used to be 5 nights X 8 = 40 points.... no longer.

now the cheapest (excluding AKV value) is 45 points.

Same with most other 5 night studio stays... they go up at least 5 points for Sun-Fri. 5 night stay.

Looks to me like DVC has raised the minimum number of points for any stay..

in fact, 4 night X 12 points stays were less than 50 points.... poof.. gone now for most resorts, now it is 4 x 13 = 52... so those 50 point contracts are not good for a yearly stay... and a 25 point contract won't give you a 4 night stay every two years.

Looks like a price hike to me.

Not for any stay, just for the stays you are looking at.

Thanks for the first good chuckle I've had since this thread began!

Too bad, I've had a bunch.

 

[TisBit]

Fortunately, we didn't purchase points based upon going the same time each year - we bought a round number that we could afford. I think that's what makes the changes a little easier for us to take - we weren't set on a certain week.

I think that is a pretty key statement. We are in the same boat, we bought an amount that we felt comfortable with and use the points as they are available and what time of year we want to go.

I would venture to say that most members who bought and are not DVC experts did the same thing. This change is easy for the people that have an allotment of points and didn't buy to be able to go for a specific time every year.

Maybe the new advice to prospective members is to pad their contract with 5-10 extra points, with banking and borrowing you will always use them and won't get caught short.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

Not for any stay, just for the stays you are looking at.

Too bad, I've had a bunch.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

I hesitate to jump back into this fray, but I'm beginning to wonder if some folks aren't really overreacting to this change in a big way.

Well, this site had thousands of posts wailing about the switch from check-out-day to check-in-day reservations. And that's turned out to be a non-issue (if not an improvement).

Compared to that, the reaction to the change in point charts - which will hurt a lot of people even if its a good idea - seems tame

 

[jfinke]

I think that is a pretty key statement. We are in the same boat, we bought an amount that we felt comfortable with and use the points as they are available and what time of year we want to go.

I would venture to say that most members who bought and are not DVC experts did the same thing. This change is easy for the people that have an allotment of points and didn't buy to be able to go for a specific time every year.

Maybe the new advice to prospective members is to pad their contract with 5-10 extra points, with banking and borrowing you will always use them and won't get caught short.

I agree... We bought the minimum of 150 at SSR before it opened. If we have them, we use them. If we don't, we don't. Sometimes we stay in a 1br and bank and borrow. Sometimes we stay in a studio and go multiple times.

I think that something else which has helped is that between the crowd levels, Disney's ability to have alternative events in slow periods (F&WF, Marathon, Cheerleaders, Pop Warner, etc.), and other reasons our desire to go to WDW is less and less every year (though we keep getting pulled back in, partly thanks to DVC). We have also discovered other vacation opportunities such as cruising, which provides a nice relaxing alternative.

 

[newgeneb]

Has anyone looked at the Cruise charts points are way up on some - I dont like the changes but will have to deal with it - I feel sorry for new buyers and I think DVC did a very bad job on the PR

 

[Anal Annie]

Has anyone looked at the Cruise charts points are way up on some - I dont like the changes but will have to deal with it - I feel sorry for new buyers and I think DVC did a very bad job on the PR

I looked only at a 4 nighter in July to compare to ours from last summer. A Cat 10 for 3 ppl was up 81 points over what we used for July 2008. But it had gone up like 65 points already for 2009...so the biggest chunk of that increase was actually already in there. It only went up 16 points from July 2009 to 2010. But I think an 81 point increase over 2 years is pretty steep tho for the same month, same length of cruise, same category etc. I believe we have done our last cruise on points.

 

[Chuck S]

Don't forget that non-DVC points, including cruises and non-DVC resorts are not limited as to the amount of annual increase or decrease at all, they could legally double or triple year to year, for all categories and resorts.

The only limits are on DVC resorts. And Disney has some pretty broad legal rights, as well as some legal obligations, there. For instance, they are obligated to adjust the point charts if demand changes, they have no choice under law. But they could also restrict us to using our points only at our home resort (unlikely but possible) and/or institute a minimum required stay, suspend banking/borrowing, or close/remove/add amenities unless those amenities are part of the timeshare.

 

[bethy]

I'm reviewing my VGC paperwork and I will say that it says over and over and in multiple places and sometimes even in bold print that the point charts can be reallocated in response to demand and usage patterns. Maybe I'm reading it with extra care due to the recent changes but it's pretty darned hard to miss.

 

[tjkraz]

See TJ, this truly is my greatest complaint about the current management at DVC. I can appreciate that change has to happen and I can accept that not all changes will appeal to me, I am fine with that.

What I and many others have a very hard time accepting is that with the current management, when they make a change it is blamed on "member feedback".

It depends upon the circumstances. If Disney had raised the price of soda or swapped our AP discount for a 5% off MYW passes and attributed it to "member feedback", then I think we all would be raising our eyebrows.

But in this case, is there really room to doubt that people have been asking for lower weekend points for years? I bet that between the Guides giving sales presentations and the 100+ MS reps manning the telephone bank, they probably hear these comments a couple dozen times per day. Heck, I have probably made the comment to a DVC rep myself somewhere along the way.

So I have little reason to doubt the accuracy of DVC's claim. As for how many members realized that lower weekends means higher weekdays, I think some of the comments in this thread speak volumes.

 

[Anal Annie]

It depends upon the circumstances. If Disney had raised the price of soda or swapped our AP discount for a 5% off MYW passes and attributed it to "member feedback", then I think we all would be raising our eyebrows.

I certainly hope DVC realizes that the AP discount is one of the reasons many DVC'ers make multiple trips in one year. I know that's why we were hoping to plan 3 trips from Aug '09 - Aug '10. Now with the increase in points we may only do 2 trips...if they dropped the AP discount that would for sure seal the deal for us to not go as often. I know it's only a perk, but it's a big incentive to go more frequently. I wasn't going to order our AP's for awhile yet since we don't go until August...but I am thinking more & more about just going ahead & ordering them when we get our taxes done "just in case" that's the other shoe that's yet to drop. I would hope they'd give us more than a days notice on it but given their ways of late I wouldn't put it past them to just slip that one in under the rug on the website too without any real notice. Hummmmm. I do not trust them.

 

[tjkraz]

I certainly hope DVC realizes that the AP discount is one of the reasons many DVC'ers make multiple trips in one year. I know that's why we were hoping to plan 3 trips from Aug '09 - Aug '10. Now with the increase in points we may only do 2 trips...if they dropped the AP discount that would for sure seal the deal for us to not go as often. I know it's only a perk, but it's a big incentive to go more frequently. I wasn't going to order our AP's for awhile yet since we don't go until August...but I am thinking more & more about just going ahead & ordering them when we get our taxes done "just in case" that's the other shoe that's yet to drop. I would hope they'd give us more than a days notice on it but given their ways of late I wouldn't put it past them to just slip that one in under the rug on the website too without any real notice. Hummmmm.

Just to clarify, I wasn't in any way suggesting that the AP discount is on its way out. I was just using that as the basis for an analogy.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

It depends upon the circumstances. If Disney had raised the price of soda or swapped our AP discount for a 5% off MYW passes and attributed it to "member feedback", then I think we all would be raising our eyebrows.

You mean like when Disney removed tips and appetizers from the dinning plan to meet customer requests?

 

[Anal Annie]

Just to clarify, I wasn't in any way suggesting that the AP discount is on its way out. I was just using that as the basis for an analogy.

I realize that. Go ahead...call me paranoid, but I think from what we've seen happen lately, losing the AP discount is something we should brace ourselves for at any time. I am sure they have had many requests for them to stop it. Just as I am sure many members request for them to stop allowing night by night ressies and go to a week long system. I do not think for a minute that member satisfaction is behind any of their short or long-term goals. I am sure it is ONLY the bottom line that matters to any of the suits at DVC.

 

[BroganMc]

But in this case, is there really room to doubt that people have been asking for lower weekend points for years? I bet that between the Guides giving sales presentations and the 100+ MS reps manning the telephone bank, they probably hear these comments a couple dozen times per day. Heck, I have probably made the comment to a DVC rep myself somewhere along the way.

So I have little reason to doubt the accuracy of DVC's claim. As for how many members realized that lower weekends means higher weekdays, I think some of the comments in this thread speak volumes.

Hmm, I wonder exactly how DVC counted a member comment. For instance, when I opted to pay cash for a weekend night and save my points for more cheaper weekdays, was that considered a request for a cheaper weekend night?

Just for the record, I have no problem balancing a weekly chart with nightly point totals. I have a HUGE problem with changing weekly totals, especially when they aren't lowered in another season to make up the difference. Taking large numbers of points off Grand Villas and shoving them on the more populous (and reachable) studios is a gross insult to "meeting member concerns".

 

[Dean]

Hmm, I wonder exactly how DVC counted a member comment. For instance, when I opted to pay cash for a weekend night and save my points for more cheaper weekdays, was that considered a request for a cheaper weekend night?

Just for the record, I have no problem balancing a weekly chart with nightly point totals. I have a HUGE problem with changing weekly totals, especially when they aren't lowered in another season to make up the difference. Taking large numbers of points off Grand Villas and shoving them on the more populous (and reachable) studios is a gross insult to "meeting member concerns".

I would certainly count members actions louder than words and interpret that any member staying on points weekdays but cash weekends as a vote for lower weekends. Interesting that the change in 1996 did exactly that. It lowered GV significantly while increasing essentially one season. While the increase in adventure season was to both weekdays and weekend, the end result was that both were increased though weekdays higher than weekends overall on a % basis.

 

[DVC92]

One thing I fail to understand is why some think that DVC is under a legal obligation to balance demand. In reviewing my POS, it clearly states that reservations are on a first come, first serve basis. If you don't get your desired booking, too bad. It also states that the reallocation, limited to 20%/year, to balance demand is a discretionary power of DVC, not a mandatory one. It goes on to state that there are a maximum number of points that can ever be required to stay in a particular room (i.e., studio, 1 bedroom, etc.) on any given day.

That being said, if DVC truly is trying to balance demand, then subsequent reallocations will occur yearly until weekdays/weekends are balanced however unfair that might be to minimum point purchasers of which I am not. This one time reallocation will not influence or allow members, particularly those who purchased a minimum # of points (e.g., 160), to book on weekends which still require substantially more points. However, this reallocation will allow such members to make a minimum add-on of 25 points to continue going only Sun-Thurs. and will force any new buyers to purchase more points if they only are attempting to book weekdays. If DVC doesn't institute further reallocations, then I believe this was their motive.

 

[dzorn]

One thing I fail to understand is why some think that DVC is under a legal obligation to balance demand. In reviewing my POS, it clearly states that reservations are on a first come, first serve basis. If you don't get your desired booking, too bad. It also states that the reallocation, limited to 20%/year, to balance demand is a discretionary power of DVC, not a mandatory one. It goes on to state that there are a maximum number of points that can ever be required to stay in a particular room (i.e., studio, 1 bedroom, etc.) on any given day.

That being said, if DVC truly is trying to balance demand, then subsequent reallocations will occur yearly until weekdays/weekends are balanced however unfair that might be to minimum point purchasers of which I am not. This one time reallocation will not influence or allow members, particularly those who purchased a minimum # of points (e.g., 160), to book on weekends which still require substantially more points. However, this reallocation will allow such members to make a minimum add-on of 25 points to continue going only Sun-Thurs. and will force any new buyers to purchase more points if they only are attempting to book weekdays. If DVC doesn't institute further reallocations, then I believe this was their motive.

It is under Florida time share laws that require rebalancing of the system. The exact link has been posted several times on this thead.

Denise in MI