Doorway To Dreams Member Holiday Event - Never Again

[Maleficent's Dad]

We went down to Roosevelt Field Mall on Long Island - about a 45 minute drive from my house. The only opinion I can give on this "holiday event for members," is that I'll never ever attend one again.

I called the Vacation Club number when the notification first went out. I put in some sort of "reservation" and they took my name, number of guests, etc... Fast forward to today - We got to the mall and there was a 60+ minute wait just to register. When I asked about those with advance "reservations," I was told that the one line was for everybody.

So we waited. And waited...
After about 45 minutes, a nice enough lady (manager type) asked us and those around us if we wanted "fast passes" to come back later to no wait. We had to fill out the registration card and we got the FP's. Off we went to lunch.

We returned after our designated time and went to the registration table. There we were checked-in and sent to the "choreography workshop" for the Broadway show, "Mary Poppins." (We've already seen the show, but the workshop was interesting.)

Then...back to queuing... and more waits. Another 40 minute wait until we were admitted... into the next "wait area," a sort of lobby that Doorway to Dreams has. It was at this point where we received our three DVC Christmas ornaments (the other two were from 2010 & 2009). After 20 minutes there, we were admitted into the small, make-shift theater. Two friendly, energetic ladies then gave us a 15 minute slide show which was a sales' pitch!!! UGH!!! Really?!?! A SALE'S PITCH?!?! That was the Holiday Member Event?!? I mean, come on!!!

After giving us the "discount plus today's special" for prices at VAKL, we exited to the small "reception" area. The "reception" consisted of a few cupcakes (think of kids at an elementary school) and coffee, soda, or water. There was no music. There was no entertainment. There was NO mention or HINT of anything resembling HOLIDAYS. It was - in my opinion - a rather ridiculous SALES PITCH to current members. We wasted the better part of the day traveling to the mall and waiting on line to get in. I didn't expect a Merry Member Mixer, but I did expect SOMETHING more than what they had.

Now - as a note - I've been to that Doorway to Dreams sales' center before. And with little to NO wait, I've been fed the SAME cupcakes, drank the same drinks, and spoke to CM's in greater depth.

So - was anyone else there wasting their time? Or was I the lone fool from these boards? Dragging my family who looked at me with daggers for the rest of the day...

 

[quirty30]

I just posted in another thread on the same subject. I attempted to attend the event in the Chicago suburbs. Your post reinforces my decision to leave the moment I saw the insanely long line. Thank goodness I'm only 10 minutes away from Woodfield, and had some returns to make at Nordstrom anyway. Nothing lost on my part, but I feel for those with kids who waited, thinking there would be character interaction and treats with substance.

 

[carlbarry]

I arrived a few minutes after 11 am, because last year I checked in, got in, got out. This time, there was a long line, and it took 45 minutes to get in.
But what really annoys me is that on another thread, someone mentions that they received lanyards with pins, and she and her mother received gift bags.
Well, in the slide show room, one of the (lovely) presenters mentioned that we would be receiving "gifts" in the next room.
Why would be Disney be so horribly disorganized for this event? Everybody was very friendly, of course. But why the disorganization? Why should some attendees get gifts, and others get nothing, seemingly randomly?
Not very Disney like, and not very nice to the DVC owners.

 

[disneynutz]

Then...back to queuing... and more waits. Another 40 minute wait until we were admitted... into the next "wait area," a sort of lobby that Doorway to Dreams has. It was at this point where we received our three DVC Christmas ornaments (the other two were from 2010 & 2009). After 20 minutes there, we were admitted into the small, make-shift theater. Two friendly, energetic ladies then gave us a 15 minute slide show which was a sales' pitch!!! UGH!!! Really?!?! A SALE'S PITCH?!?! That was the Holiday Member Event?!? I mean, come on!!!

After giving us the "discount plus today's special" for prices at VAKL, we exited to the small "reception" area. The "reception" consisted of a few cupcakes (think of kids at an elementary school) and coffee, soda, or water. There was no music. There was no entertainment. There was NO mention or HINT of anything resembling HOLIDAYS. It was - in my opinion - a rather ridiculous SALES PITCH to current members. We wasted the better part of the day traveling to the mall and waiting on line to get in. I didn't expect a Merry Member Mixer, but I did expect SOMETHING more than what they had.

Now - as a note - I've been to that Doorway to Dreams sales' center before. And with little to NO wait, I've been fed the SAME cupcakes, drank the same drinks, and spoke to CM's in greater depth.

So - was anyone else there wasting their time? Or was I the lone fool from these boards? Dragging my family who looked at me with daggers for the rest of the day...

Sorry that it wasn't what you expected but if you read these boards you would find out that you went to a sales center that is staffed and funded by DVC marketing. Same with the Merry Mixers and Welcome Home Wednesdays at WDW and the DVC events on DCL.

Disney is about making money and selling, not giving away free food, ornaments and hats. If you understand what they are all about and want to attend anyway, great!

Bill

 

[vicki_c]

I agree with disneynutz. EVERY DVC "event" is for the sole purpose of marketing and selling you more points, no matter how they spin it. We went to one on our cruise mainly because we wanted some free stuff - we got hats!

 

[Maleficent's Dad]

Sorry that it wasn't what you expected but if you read these boards you would find out that you went to a sales center that is staffed and funded by DVC marketing. Same with the Merry Mixers and Welcome Home Wednesdays at WDW and the DVC events on DCL.

Disney is about making money and selling, not giving away free food, ornaments and hats. If you understand what they are all about and want to attend anyway, great!

Bill

Bill,
I've been to many DVC events - WHW, Mixers, and events sponsored by Doorways to Dreams. This was, by far, the worst. Poor organization, inconsistent perks for attendees, and insanely long waits.

This was "marketed" as a MEMBER HOLIDAY EVENT. I knew to expect a sales pitch. I just expected something to accompany said pitch.

 

[carlbarry]

My complaint isn't that I only got the ornament--that's all I expected. And I only expected 1, not 3.
My complaint is that some people apparently got gift bags, while others didn't. That's just disorganization.

 

[DisneyDreams4]

Last year on Long Island we got ears, had radio disney with trivia and give aways. of course the presentation and then they had a big chocolate fountain with dipping pretzels, marshmellow and other goodies.

When I heard all they had was some cupcakes I asked everyone if they wanted to stay my little dd was getting antsy in her stroller and my ds really did not want to dance.

so we just got off the line went and got our ornaments. went home.
We live only 20 min away from the mall so it was not a big deal that we did not stay for everything.

I heard some of the other locations were having mickey and minnie,
phinese and ferb. It would have been nice to have seen someone

 

[Donald_Quackers]

Mickey and Minnie were at the Woodfield mall location...alternating. Cookies, cake, soda and the expected sales pitch -- a "Black Friday" deal.

Got to see my guide--but I probably wouldn't do it again, except to just get my ornament, which I really did like.

 

[mwmuntz]

Are we that jaded already that we can't appreciate a free event in one of the only two DVC sales centers in the entite country? Yes it was crowded, but I enjoyed it very much. Most of the presentation was about all of the new things going on in the parks and DCL. Only the last 5 minutes were for the incentives. My favorite part was the "mingle" afterwards. I enjoyed talking to some of the cast members, particularly the young woman serving popcorn. She was deliightful! She really spent a lot of time with us, she expressed the Disney magic and she took quite an interest in my kids. They loved her and said that they want to see her again. Ive never felt like that in Florida.

Appreciate what we have, Long Islanders and stop complaining about everything. Would you rather they closed up shop and the only option was going to Florida?

By the way,the free cupcakes that some are complaining about, were from Crumbs, one of the fanciest and most expensive cupcake bakeries in the area. They were not from a 99¢ box mix as some might lead you to believe.

So, they had free entertainment (dance lessons), free food (expensive cup cakes), and free stuff (ornaments), all for the investment of a couple of hours on a Sunday. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

 

[disneynutz]

I guess it's all how you look at things. We don't have a sales center in Texas because we don't meet their criteria as a location with lots of sales potential. What really frosts me is that as a member who had a Telesales Guide, we didn't qualify for the better pricing that was being offered at the sales centers.

Bill

 

[missycj96]

We got to roosevelt field at 12:30. The line was huge and soooo slow moving. We waited for over an hour to check in. The mary poppins workshop was a good idea but it created a huge wait to do anything. This was because you had to wait for a relatively small group to cycle through the program before you could even go in. I was also surprised that they made no attempt to entertain all thr kids waiting in line for over and hour. But once we got to thr worshop we liked the event. We liked the presentation and thought it was fun to hear about whats coming. dd enjoyed, too. We also liked the reception. The crumbs cupcakes were so yummy. And dd loved thr popcorn. I won a cool umbrella from mary poppins,and dd loved all the fun dvc stuff.

 

[missycj96]

I posted before i finished writing. I want to add that the cast members working were really nice and friendly. I have nothing to compare it to because i have not been to a prior event but we liked it. The only thing i had an issue with was the very long wait and the operations relatedvto checking in.

 

[tjkraz]

Sort of reminds me of the old Yogi Berra quote: "nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded."

Disney has spent years perfecting crowd control at its theme parks but I doubt many of the DtD staffers have theme park experience. And just because they've been managing tens-of-thousands of guests per day for five decades doesn't mean they've never been caught off guard.

Sounds like the crowds were several times larger than in 2010. Preparation can quickly go out the window when you expect 2000 (just to pick a number) and are faced with 5000+. Can't arbitrarily turn people away so the line is what it is.

DVC didn't seem to host many DtD events this year. Perhaps they got hit with some pent-up demand.

They've done events in the past which were at larger venues and had limited capacity (registration required.) Perhaps it's time to do that with the holiday gathering, too.

 

[mwmuntz]

I know everybody is entitiled to their opinion, but this thread really ticks me off. Yes, the event was crowded (Disney? Crowds? GASP!), yes you had to wait on line (again, GASP!), but to actually come on a public forum and compare a Crumbs gourmet cupcake to an elementary school birthday party cupcake? Come on! Or as another poster did, complain that you got more free stuff than you thought you would, but not as much as someone else??? Really??? (BTW, did you go on a tour, or were just there for the freebies? I think that only those that toured got additiional items.)

To anyone reading this thread, please take the earlier complaints with a grain of salt. This was a very nice FREE event. They had fun entertainment and great snacks, plus the ornaments. I was actually very surprised on how low key, and brief, the sales pitch was. People complaining either were just having a bad day or have a huge sense of entitlement. I just hope it was the former.

To anyone from Disney monitoring these boards (and we know you do! ) Thank you for having these special events, please don't let a few negative comments stop you from having them in the future. I don't know of any other timeshare company that does this. This is one of the things that makes Disney special.

 

[carlbarry]

I know everybody is entitiled to their opinion, but this thread really ticks me off. Yes, the event was crowded (Disney? Crowds? GASP!), yes you had to wait on line (again, GASP!), but to actually come on a public forum and compare a Crumbs gourmet cupcake to an elementary school birthday party cupcake? Come on! Or as another poster did, complain that you got more free stuff than you thought you would, but not as much as someone else??? Really??? (BTW, did you go on a tour, or were just there for the freebies? I think that only those that toured got additiional items.)

To anyone reading this thread, please take the earlier complaints with a grain of salt. This was a very nice FREE event. They had fun entertainment and great snacks, plus the ornaments. I was actually very surprised on how low key, and brief, the sales pitch was. People complaining either were just having a bad day or have a huge sense of entitlement. I just hope it was the former.

To anyone from Disney monitoring these boards (and we know you do! ) Thank you for having these special events, please don't let a few negative comments stop you from having them in the future. I don't know of any other timeshare company that does this. This is one of the things that makes Disney special.

Yes, it was a nice event. And yes, I got gifts. But the disorganization (long lines, and irregularity of what guests were given) leaves a bad taste. I'm sure that's not what Disney intends to do.
I'm sure that if you went to a promotional event to buy, say, a car, and then found that some other people had received free oil changes for life, you'd be annoyed, and wouldn't say, "Well, I got a good deal, too, so what's the difference?"

 

[mwmuntz]

Yes, it was a nice event. And yes, I got gifts. But the disorganization (long lines, and irregularity of what guests were given) leaves a bad taste. I'm sure that's not what Disney intends to do.
I'm sure that if you went to a promotional event to buy, say, a car, and then found that some other people had received free oil changes for life, you'd be annoyed, and wouldn't say, "Well, I got a good deal, too, so what's the difference?"

Did you go on a tour? Only people who went on a tour got the bags. Did you ask any of the cast members about the additional items, or just come here and complain? I'm sure if you asked nicely, they would have accomodated you.

As for your analogy, no, I don't think I would complain about not getting free oil changes for a car I did not buy. If I didn't meet the requirements, I shouldn't get the incentives. If I bought the car, I would expect it, just like I would expect the additional gift bag if I took the tour yesterday.

 

[lnevo]

Sucks for those that didn't get their gift bags, or didnt enjoy the cupcakes. My family had a lot of fun. Expected one ornament, got 3. Expected maybe a pin as well but got a lot more. We had fun chatting with the CMs and met some friends there. The presentation was a very soft sale and i actually learned a bit about aulani while waiting to get in. The cupcakes as someone said were from Crumbs and were delicious. The line sucked and we did end up with fastpasses after we left the line to go in and found out everyone had to wait. The woman running the line seemed extremely frazzled and disorganized. Definitely some problems there. From talking to the CMs they were extremely overwhelmed, the respone was much bigger than expected. People were lined up at 9:30! I can understad being disappointed.

 

[LSchrow]

it certainly does sound like the event was a bit disorganized, probably a result of underestimating the potential popularity as tj said. personally, we found that many "member events" are simply not for us (although the older style BLT event was really fun and interesting). we would prefer they do something akin to the owner's locker meets, where strangers are encoraged to chat with one another and everyone has a relaxed, good time. we don't care about the food or freebies

everyone is certainly entitled to their opinion, and i thank you for posting yours, carlberry

 

[mwmuntz]

The bottom line is that they offered one ornament as an incentive to come, and gave out three. They promised free snacks and served gourmet cupcakes. They offered additional gifts to anyone who took the tour, but gave them out to anyone who asked. It truly was a nice event and Disney exceeded what was promised.

I can understand some people being frustrated in having to wait for their free stuff, but Disney even tried to alleviate that by handing out fastpasses. I'm sure if they cut the waiting by pushing people through the event quicker, some will complain that they felt rushed.

We all know that Disney monitors these boards. I hope that the few complaints and sense of entitlement displayed here does not prevent them from holding these events in the future.