Disney Vacation Club adjusts 2010 Vacation Points charts

[LVSWL]

Like the previous poster, I have also stayed away from this thread for a long time. After reading the last several posts, I am reminded of the reasons why. It is one thing to discuss the reasons for the reallocation, to even try to give insight to those who may not be as knowledgeable about this subject. But many of the responses from several of the posters are condescending to the point of ridicule. This reallocation will change how our family will travel, not drastically, but we will rethink our HHI trips. But we have plenty of points, and so it will be ok. I do feel for those who bought in and until now have had plenty of points to do their usual trips when they wanted, and now that option is gone. Not sure what you "experts" situation is, but not everyone can just go out and add on to make up the difference. Each of us loves WDW just as much as the other, and the thought that we might not be able to continue to go to our Happy Place like before is crushing. Many people come here for support, not criticism, and riticule. Just My 2

 

[gkrykewy]

The idea that it is all about "demand" does not make much sense in this situation. The major change was to decrease the number of points for a Friday/Saturday night stay and increase points for a weeknight stay. However, Friday/Saturday is still substantially higher. As a result there is still a disincentive to stay those nights. It does not seem like the change would result in less demand for weeknights and more demand for Friday/Saturday. In my case five weeknights at VWL now costs more points and the weekend nights are still too expensive. No effect on demand at all. The only change is that I must now spend more points for the five weekday nights.

In contrast, I have used points for weekend nights for pretty much every trip since we've been members, because I don't find 5-night vacations to be very compelling. The only change is that now I'll feel like less of a chump paying for weekend nights, and so consequently I'm more likely to do so, on average.

The change makes perfect sense. They are obligated to try to increase weekend occupancy.

 

[Muushka]

Oops, didn't want to hit and run.

Chuck, I am glad I made you chuckle! I guess if we had booked a studio every time, that would have been an adjustment that would not have been so lousy, just a 1 point increase is not enough to get upset about.

Dean, we didn't buy just enough points to book the way we planned. We did have about a 30 point leeway, which we thought was enough. We didn't have tons of money to spend on DVC. And we thought we were wise in what we had planned. And we knew the possibility they could shift the differential at any time. But again, we were surprised at the way the 1 BR in the first 2 weeks of Dec were so adversly affected.

We have enough points to do our time in Dec in a 1 BR. We do not have enough points to visit another week in a 1 BR. We won't buy any more points to make up the difference, we simply won't visit as often. We find that cruising is something we are beginning to really enjoy (not DCL...too expensive!!!)

Look, I realize that there are people on these boards that will defend Disney no matter what they do.
I am not one of them. Have fun. I really am bowing out. Play nice....

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

The idea that it is all about "demand" does not make much sense in this situation. The major change was to decrease the number of points for a Friday/Saturday night stay and increase points for a weeknight stay. However, Friday/Saturday is still substantially higher. As a result there is still a disincentive to stay those nights. It does not seem like the change would result in less demand for weeknights and more demand for Friday/Saturday. In my case five weeknights at VWL now costs more points and the weekend nights are still too expensive. No effect on demand at all. The only change is that I must now spend more points for the five weekday nights.

The reallocation does not necessarily have to change the demand because the reallocation has shifted the supply. By lowering the weekend nights and raising the weekdays they have shifted some of the supply from weekends to weekdays.

 

[DVCGeek]

The reallocation does not necessarily have to change the demand because the reallocation has shifted the supply. By lowering the weekend nights and raising the weekdays they have shifted some of the supply from weekends to weekdays.

That's an interesting way to put it; just about everything else I've heard has always just focused on demand...

 

[Mississippian]

The idea that it is all about "demand" does not make much sense in this situation. The major change was to decrease the number of points for a Friday/Saturday night stay and increase points for a weeknight stay. However, Friday/Saturday is still substantially higher. As a result there is still a disincentive to stay those nights. It does not seem like the change would result in less demand for weeknights and more demand for Friday/Saturday. In my case five weeknights at VWL now costs more points and the weekend nights are still too expensive. No effect on demand at all. The only change is that I must now spend more points for the five weekday nights.

Ramkam, the problem is that DVC was "selling" the weeknight rooms too easily because they were too cheap and was not able to sell the weekend rooms because they were too expensive.

DVC still wants to maintain a disincentive to stay on weekends, because they are more popular times. They just want to have LESS of a disincentive. Any time you lower the price of something, you will sell more of it. Any time you raise the price of something you will sell (edited to say LESS) of it. That's what DVC wants to accomplish here, and I think they will do so.

On a personal level, prior to this change there was just absolutely no way on earth that I ever would have stayed on a weekend night under any circumstance whatsoever. I still plan to avoid weekends, but if my trip plans call for one weekend night I'll probably just bite the bullet and stay rather than check out and stay in a hotel. Thats the type of consumer change DVC was trying to promote.

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

Because I'm a geek I did one of those spreadsheets to determine the total difference reallocation made. I went back to it and was able to look a up the supply shift for SSR. These numbers are approximations (since we don't really know how the lock-offs are handled) but should be pretty close.

Percentage of points available to book.

Year Su-Th F-Sa
2009 56.6% 43.4%
2010 62.3% 37.7%

As you can see this reallocation has provided approximately 10% more supply for the weekdays.

Edit: for some reason it won't format properly, but you get the idea.

 

[LisaS]

Edit: for some reason it won't format properly, but you get the idea.

You can use vBulletin's "code" tag to preserve your formatting. It preserves whitespace and uses a monospace font. Lay it out first using notepad to get the text spaced out correctly and then add any bold or underline tags. Copy and paste your text into the edit window for your post between code and /code tags (with the tags enclosed in square brackets).

Percentage of points available to book.

[u]Year[/u]    [u]Su-Th[/u]    [u]F-Sa[/u]
2009    56.6%    43.4%
2010    62.3%    37.7%

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

You can use vBulletin's "code" tag to preserve your formatting. It preserves whitespace and uses a monospace font. Lay it out first using notepad to get the text spaced out correctly and then add any bold or underline tags. Copy and paste your text into the edit window for your post between code and /code tags (with the tags enclosed in square brackets).

Percentage of points available to book.

[u]Year[/u]    [u]Su-Th[/u]    [u]F-Sa[/u]
2009    56.6%    43.4%
2010    62.3%    37.7%

Thanks.

 

[Dean]

Oops, didn't want to hit and run.

Chuck, I am glad I made you chuckle! I guess if we had booked a studio every time, that would have been an adjustment that would not have been so lousy, just a 1 point increase is not enough to get upset about.

Dean, we didn't buy just enough points to book the way we planned. We did have about a 30 point leeway, which we thought was enough. We didn't have tons of money to spend on DVC. And we thought we were wise in what we had planned. And we knew the possibility they could shift the differential at any time. But again, we were surprised at the way the 1 BR in the first 2 weeks of Dec were so adversly affected.

We have enough points to do our time in Dec in a 1 BR. We do not have enough points to visit another week in a 1 BR. We won't buy any more points to make up the difference, we simply won't visit as often. We find that cruising is something we are beginning to really enjoy (not DCL...too expensive!!!)

Look, I realize that there are people on these boards that will defend Disney no matter what they do.
I am not one of them. Have fun. I really am bowing out. Play nice....

It's not a question of defending DVC but simply discussing what's appropriate and what's allowed under the legal paperwork. DVC did nothing wrong or underhanded in this change. It is true they didn't time it well for a limited number of owners, mostly those at BLT but that's about the only thing I think anyone has a legitimate gripe about. As has been said many times here and elsewhere, there will be winners and losers in any change. That's a fact of life. It's unfortunate for you that you get caught, maybe you missed along the way that I am similarly affected staying almost exclusively on weekdays when I stay on points.

LVSWL, you are entitled to your opinion as I am entitled to the opinion that there is a significant amount of inappropriate and ill informed whining about this and similar subjects (the reservation change last year comes to mind).

 

[Muushka]

Where is that beating a dead horse thingy??

Have fun 'discussing'. I will now bow out.

 

[jakenjess]

We were at WDW a couple of weeks ago staying at SSR, so we met with a guide (not ours, he was on vacation) and looked at the models. We were interested in a possible add-on at BLT, so we sat with the guide and he went over the incentives, etc., and gave us the 2009 point charts only. I was busy looking at the numbers and it didn't occur to me until later that they hadn't given us 2010 point charts.

The next day we were leaving so we stopped in at the preview center and asked for the 2010 charts. At first they said they didn't have any printed up, but I told them I knew there were changes and since we were going to look over the numbers on the plane ride home we were really like to have them. Then lo and behold one of the CMs magically pulled them out of a drawer.

I just think they need to be more up front about this.

 

[DVCGeek]

I just think they need to be more up front about this.

That's one thing I think EVERYONE will agree on! Sorry to hear they were making it hard for you to get a chart while you were there. You;'d think someone could print one off the internet if nothing else, geez!!!

 

[jakenjess]

They actually said to me, "You can get them online." Okay, but I'm going to be on an airplane in a few hours and don't exactly have access to print them out right now! I just thought it was strange that I had to push a bit to get them!

 

[MiaSRN62]

Like the previous poster, I have also stayed away from this thread for a long time. After reading the last several posts, I am reminded of the reasons why. It is one thing to discuss the reasons for the reallocation, to even try to give insight to those who may not be as knowledgeable about this subject. But many of the responses from several of the posters are condescending to the point of ridicule. This reallocation will change how our family will travel, not drastically, but we will rethink our HHI trips. But we have plenty of points, and so it will be ok. I do feel for those who bought in and until now have had plenty of points to do their usual trips when they wanted, and now that option is gone. Not sure what you "experts" situation is, but not everyone can just go out and add on to make up the difference. Each of us loves WDW just as much as the other, and the thought that we might not be able to continue to go to our Happy Place like before is crushing. Many people come here for support, not criticism, and riticule. Just My 2

Just back from WDW and see this thread sort of came "back to life" while I was gone.
I just wanted to say that I like your above post LSVWL it's so true and it's why I have agreed to keep my thoughts and feelings about the reallocation off this thread. I think I started posting back around pages 50-55.....won't dare go there again.....I learned. We were affected drastically (OKW 2 bedrooms went up 6 points/night) and I feel some who weren't affected to the degree we were just can't understand why or how we could feel the way we do. It has caused us to sell our OKW contract. Still have AKV.

Some of the replies/comments I got in response were just a bit too snarky for me. Was made to feel I didn't have a "right" or "reason" to say what I was saying about the DVC allocation and felt I had to be "put in my place" or corrected constantly every time I posted for how I felt/thought about it (despite that some here would not admit to this but from my perspective and I'm sure many others who are shy about posting to this thread----it's def a feeling you get). So a big to your above comment as I fully agree with it


Maria

 

[DaveH]

The one thing I totally disagree with is that Disney did this change to sell points. I can understand the very strong emotions on this change. The one point I keep going back to is that we were told that if you look at the points in a matter of 7 night trips was the most logical way. I have not studied all the differences. It most of the changes on 7 nights are not drastic. The Sun through Thursday night trips have. Just by the very strong reaction from those who do only those and number seems to show the need for this change and maybe a couple of more in future years. The one thing we all seem to agree on is how DVC let us know about the change. This gives the appearance of something wrong in what they did. It seems Disney in general for the last 5 years or more is very arrogant in how they look at their customers. We were on the May 2 Western cruise and they way they handle the change about Cozumel showed this also.

 

[LVSWL]

Dean, thank you for recognizing that I am entitled to my opinion. What strikes me as interesting is the next sentence in your response to me. Evidently you feel that there is a "significant amount of inappropriate and ill informed whining about this and similar subjects". Wow! That is certainly what made me use the words condescending, ridicule and criticism in my post. It is hard to feel welcome on a thread where there might be information you need, or questions answered, when this is the opinion on one of the primary posters who answers most of the questions.

Hi Maria! I remember those posts! Thanks

 

[Bob Price]

We were affected drastically (OKW 2 bedrooms went up 6 points/night) and I feel some who weren't affected to the degree we were just can't understand why or how we could feel the way we do. It has caused us to sell our OKW contract. Still have AKV.

Maria

6 points!!! A NIGHT You'd need a 30 point add on just for a Sunday thru Thursday stay.

 

[yitbos96bb]

Like the previous poster, I have also stayed away from this thread for a long time. After reading the last several posts, I am reminded of the reasons why. It is one thing to discuss the reasons for the reallocation, to even try to give insight to those who may not be as knowledgeable about this subject. But many of the responses from several of the posters are condescending to the point of ridicule. This reallocation will change how our family will travel, not drastically, but we will rethink our HHI trips. But we have plenty of points, and so it will be ok. I do feel for those who bought in and until now have had plenty of points to do their usual trips when they wanted, and now that option is gone. Not sure what you "experts" situation is, but not everyone can just go out and add on to make up the difference. Each of us loves WDW just as much as the other, and the thought that we might not be able to continue to go to our Happy Place like before is crushing. Many people come here for support, not criticism, and riticule. Just My 2

I'm sure for some of the people its disappointing. It doesn't affect me as much, since I live in Chicago and when we go we are usually there for 7 days or more... so the 7 day trips won't change much for us.

Even if this wasn't the case, the really wouldn't bother me... I went in knowing it was a real possibility this could happen, as it is in the paperwork and was explained by our guide. it doesn't sound like it happens much, so that is one bit of good news.

As for some peoples answers... yes they could be nicer... but then again, reading essentially the same thread written by different people can be enough to make people snap... and some posters on both sides can be very whiny about stuff, something I am sure you will concede.

 

[yitbos96bb]

We were at WDW a couple of weeks ago staying at SSR, so we met with a guide (not ours, he was on vacation) and looked at the models. We were interested in a possible add-on at BLT, so we sat with the guide and he went over the incentives, etc., and gave us the 2009 point charts only. I was busy looking at the numbers and it didn't occur to me until later that they hadn't given us 2010 point charts.

The next day we were leaving so we stopped in at the preview center and asked for the 2010 charts. At first they said they didn't have any printed up, but I told them I knew there were changes and since we were going to look over the numbers on the plane ride home we were really like to have them. Then lo and behold one of the CMs magically pulled them out of a drawer.

I just think they need to be more up front about this.

Not defending the actions, but I can understand why... they are Commissioned Sales people... I have to think looking at those two charts will deter some people, especially given BLTs high cost. Much easier to go on resale, but something else for more points, and roll the dice on availability at 7 months. Heck, I thought of doing this with the HHV or VBV, just to have the extra points at a cheap price. Very rarely have I called at 7 months and not gotten at least 1 of my top 2 resorts. Heck I called 5.5 months out and was still able to get Boardwalk during F and W and BLT bay view for a few days.