DVC - Are we a family or becoming a hierarchy?

[Nursemanit]

DVC is not a club or a family - it is just a pre-paid room.

Disney even when the parks opened was all about money. In the 70s I was the "drove to WDW , staying offsite, going to the hotel for lunch 3-day hot summer guest" vs some of my friend's who's parents could fly down, stay at the Poly for a week every year for the holidays.

We have just added more tiers - Golden Oaks, and Club 33 make DVC just the middle class.

 

[Jlo85]

Disney doesn't want guests to feel like family. You have family at home. Family is everyday. They want Disney to feel special and magical. They want it to feel like a once-in-a-lifetime experience. And they are able to make that experience more 'magical' by forcing guests to pay a premium for it / reducing the crowds.

 

[tom1944]

I never thought I was anything but a customer

 

[DonMacGregor]

As a former cast member (12 years with the Mouse in high school, college and grad school), current shareholder, and with 3 family members still working for TWDC, there is still a clear line for me where family ends and Disney begins.

 

[Cfabar1]

The point about Golden Oak and Club 33 is a big one…. I’d love a Club 33 membership, but my goodness that would be tough to justify on my income….

 

[Unclelude]

You have to admit the secret handshake is pretty cool...

 

[MartyParty]

When my family first bought into the whole DVC concept 10ish years ago, part of the magic was the "family" and "welcome home" magic of the experience that we knew would last for generations. With the new resort restrictions, and now rumors of a paid "Diamond Level of DVC" it seems the equality feeling is disappearing. I've always been astounded that the 1,000+ points people are the first to help the newbies buying their first contract - to the point where I've almost been brought to tears at the kindness of our Disney family. I can stop for a cup of coffee, and find two random strangers bonding completely over their shared Disney magic - and their talk of their children's children "inheriting" these memories.

I hope I'm not the only one saddened by another "level" of have and have-nots in our Disney family. I for one, will NOT be excited about any "Diamond Level" additions strictly on an enough is enough basis

I have a good paying job and am blessed to afford some DVC points (200). I enjoy the parks greatly but one of my main drivers for being DVC is so that my children’s families can inherit our points and enjoy the parks later this century. My estimation is that Disney will continue to become an even more premium cost destination. Regardless of your DVC status, the have / have not concern I see is simply being able to go to a Disney park at all. This of course is different if your local without the cost of flights, transportation, ongoing food expense, and hotel.

Not looking to put a downer on this thread. I’m mostly positive about the future Disney experience. It’s just that Disney is in popular demand and the only seemingly way to control that is through price increases. Or build more US parks.

 

[JoeyPeligroso]

I think the challenge is that many of us (myself included) ascribe some level of love to Disney and appropriately associate Disney with family events and family entertainment. That is what the company sells, we believe.

DVC is a contract between Disney and a buyer to, on occasion, occupy a room(s) for a period of time (with a system that allows this to occur). The marketing around this sale and its ongoing use remain family, vacation, flexibility, and entertainment. The contract and associated business relationship is simply a transaction. As humans we consider family to be lasting and meaningful - not a business. Business contract relationships rarely fall into this category.

There are several ways to enter into this contract with DVC. Over time, DVC has added and removed benefits for those who have these contracted relationships with DVC. Despite the fact that we are really only guaranteed a room, we ascribe happiness and sadness to these benefits. We are apt to criticize the business we contracted with for benefits which were never guaranteed nor contracted (and directed to do so by the marketing of the DVC product).

It's ok to consider the emotional meaning of being a DVC owner and to have love for this - I do. It's also realistic to know that this is a finite business relationship with a for-profit company that sells entertainment, vacation experiences, food, products, and temporary lodging.

 

[Jack Kerouac]

I definitely get where you are coming from. But, on the other hand, DVC owners were always the "haves" vs. many many other Disney guests.

Spot on.

 

[J-Dog]

My cold cynical heart says DVC isn’t a family. DVC, and Disney as a whole, is a business that weaponizes joy to make money.

The magic of DVC isn’t DVC itself. DVC is a rather inflexible accommodation prepayment. The magic really is in the people, as you’ve said. The kindness of strangers on this board who happen to share a love of Disney. The hard work of Cast Members at the resorts and the parks. The willingness of our loved ones to suspend disbelief and all financial sense to go to Disney and make memories together.

I don’t know if “DVC Prime” or “Diamond Level Status” is coming. But as long as the resorts and parks make my daughter happy, we will go. We will pay what we can, for whatever is available, as long as it’s worthwhile to us.

And if or when we no longer consider visits to be worthwhile to us, then we will make a business decision too.

I agree with this, to some extent.

I am relatively new to DVC, but it in no way surprises me that the DVC product has deteriorated over the years. That, or owners' perception of the product has deteriorated. Or both.

This is something that is happening in all aspects of society today, sadly. Remember full-service gas stations? Or the cereal box that "secretly" shrinks from 28 oz to 25.5 oz without lowering the price? Or the hotel in Vegas that maintains the nightly room fee, but slowly but steadily increases the "resort fee" (that is basically a hidden charge) AND stops giving free drinks to casino patrons? And on. And on.

Why would we think that DVC is immune to this? To me, it's to be expected, and I assumed that deterioration-of-product to some extent when we bought. If it becomes worse than we originally assumed, then we will sell.

 

[Cfabar1]

DVC is still a pretty special thing, as are the parks. To me, there is nowhere else quite like them in the world. It is a truly immersive and amazing experience.

And by the way, go to almost any restaurant, and tell me there isn’t a “Disney difference” when you’re visiting the Brown Derby or VB Wind and Waves Grille…. There’s totally a Disney Difference, in terms of quality and quality of service as well.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Next they will be charging for condiments. Or bath water. Or a tv in the room. Disney is getting so lame.

 

[Sparkle_Steffie]

I’d be surprised if this is pursued anytime soon. I could be wrong, but the additional revenue would be minimal to Disney.

I could imagine a “point-washing“ scheme that DVD developed. And I think it could potentially be very lucrative for them as well…. That’s where I’d focus my energy if I were them, not on this penny pinching approach.

What is "points washing?"

 

[kanerf]

I could see DVC do what most of the other timeshare companies do and set up a series of levels with privileges based on how many Direct points you own. Entry level at Silver for say 150 to 300 points owned, followed by Gold at 301 to 500 points and Platinum or Diamond at 501 points and above. I am not saying they will do this, but virtually every other timeshare group has something like this.

 

[hglenn]

I'm still having trouble processing this line lol. You have a way with words! I always said Disney magically gets into my bank account by way of my heart.

This is exactly how Disney wants us to interpret it! LOL

 

[Brian Noble]

I think the challenge is that many of us (myself included) ascribe some level of love to Disney and appropriately associate Disney with family events and family entertainment. That is what the company sells, we believe.

I have a closely related version of this. Disney is a company that makes money by selling happiness. That's not exactly the same as, "Disney wants me, personally, to be happy."

It seems to me most of the disillusionment comes about when someone first faces the difference between those two statements. The longer it takes, the harder it is. But my experience is that once I came out the other side, it was a lot easier to enjoy what Disney is, despite what it is not.

So, I guess my answer to the OP's question is no, DVC is not becoming a hierarchy. But that's because it always was.

 

[crisi]

I definitely get where you are coming from. But, on the other hand, DVC owners were always the "haves" vs. many many other Disney guests.

And from the other end, we were never "family" or really even "members of a club" - that's all the illusion of marketing and if other marketing will bring Disney more money there isn't a Disney executive out there who isn't going to follow through (DVC members are a special club, but people with direct points are members of an extra special club. And people with a lot of direct points are members of a really extra special club, and maybe at some time in the future, people with a lot of direct points who own points at every resort or some other incentive to get us to BUY MORE POINTS are part of a really very extra special club)