DVC Customer Loyalty

[808blessing]

I’m an X-r. I know a lot of Boomers are on this forum. My social and work circles are made of mostly millennials so in my I look through a lens of generational differences. I also just did an all day leadership training by Disney recently and wonder how in touch decision makers are with the general public and consumer loyalty. Not just those on DIS boards and what the influencers say. Trying to give a little insight to add to your perspective.

I see new generations wanting to come once to DW but not repetitively. They want to experience all kinds of places. If not from east coast they generally go to many places Florida offers and not just DW. I predict DVC will not be a boom forever. Nostalgia is valued but not tradition, well not expensive ones. They want something iconic, affordable for a splurge and to share pictures to document. Then on to the next. I can’t see the LOYALTY factor happening along with the prices. I think if they don’t offer perks and DVC options that build on that, all other areas will suffer because with loyalty comes ALL the discretionary money. There are many opportunities to experience Customer Satisfaction and Disney would do well to hunt then down. Immediate value and satisfaction is > longstanding investments to the new demographics. Repetitive expensive vacations is not a thing even with mouse lovers. They hug their pictures at night, watch Disney+and look to play something new beyond the horizon. Easy online travel deals and self-planning is a new thing and most of them are going everywhere. It also seems many women are now planning vacations nowadays where as before when DVC started I think men would primarily do the finances and just buy it in one fell swoop. I wonder what the stats are on men vs women buying DVC. I bet it’s more men. Or women with men. I know it was definitely like that in the past. Wonder if DVC will keep up with the shifts.

So I guess my question is about consumer loyalty to Disney and DVC specifically. What are your thoughts? (Can you move to Mousellaneous or another topic?)

 

[SleeplessInTO]

Just my personal thoughts:

My husband and I are millennials. We travelled a lot before we had a child (I think we have each been to 40ish countries? Not a lot compared to some but a decent amount.) Neither of us had been to Disney as kids so there was no nostalgia factor for either of us.
After our first trip with our 2 year old, we were hooked. Our once in a lifetime trip turned into two DVC contracts and annual passes. We plan to visit Disney multiple times a year for the next few years and then maybe once a year for the decade after that.

As long as Disney continues to deliver a safe and fun experience for the whole family, we will be loyal. It doesn’t mean they’ll get all our money, since I do plan to visit Universal someday and I’d love to introduce my daughter to the lights of Paris, the pyramids of Egypt, the lakes and mountains of Banff, the snorkeling in Moorea, the food in Xi’an, the glaciers of Antarctica, etc. but Disney has become our comfort vacation and a place we hope to return to for many years to come.

In terms of demographics, my unscientific guess is that it’s a 70/30 split between women and men. Most of my friends who love Disney and do the planning and stay up to date on the news seem to be women. They’re also the ones researching and presenting the case for DVC to their hubby.

 

[808blessing]

Thanks for that perspective! Although it is different than what I initially put out there, I actually agree.

I wanted a once in a lifetime Disney adventure when DD was around 3 and it ended up being more. I also had no Disney nostalgia growing up and I now want DVC as my comfort vacation, having already travelled to a lot of places before having DD....and with her and in the future.
Thanks for exploring the loyalty path.

 

[808blessing]

I am kind of bothered that the Disney service to profit model says their logic includes Customer Loyalty.
Which to me DVC is central. So I am looking to see where Disney is stepping up to nurture that loyalty in alignment to their values.
So my questions are now Who is loyal? And how is Disney nurturing or acting to increase or sustain loyalty currently?

 

[Sparky984]

Millennial here. We traveled the world before kids and since having them, Disney made it SO easy to travel there and that’s where we spent a lot of our vacation time and money. Transportation was covered for the whole trip - no car seats needed! Luggage was dropped off at our home airport and delivered in room. No pushing strollers and luggage at the same time. We did city trips and it wasn’t always as easy as Disney made it.

Most restaurants have food for everyone. All parks have some things everyone can enjoy together. It’s repetitive to a degree but we’ve been enough that if we miss space mountain because we hung out at the pool too long, we just don’t care.

Our kids are still growing and there’s been new rides for them which is fun to do with them for the first time.

Now, the luggage retrieval is gone and DME is going away and for those with small kids know this isn’t really an equal parts benefit removal for everyone. I doubt it would slow our roll, but it is a downer.

I think our trips could change even if the destination doesn’t. There’s water parks we haven’t done, and many other things that the kids haven’t grown into yet.

If we want to, we can always sell points for a year and go somewhere else!

 

[robinb]

I'm a Boomer and I've owned DVC for nearly 25 years. As a married couple, we made the decision to buy DVC together. I have seen a big shift in the way that Disney treats frequent visitors like DVCers and I realized about 8 years ago that Disney really isn't into us (DVC/AP holders) anymore. They would much rather have a "once in a lifetime" family staying at ridiculously expensive deluxe resorts, with the DDP, buying souvenirs, and paying for extra upcharges like Magical Mornings and parties. Those people have their wallets wide open for The Mouse to fit all 4 fingers into and haul out the money. We don't spend nearly that much when we're at WDW. We don't buy junk, we rarely buy the DDP, we rarely pay for upcharge events (the Living Seas DiveQuest was one of them), our resort is covered by our DVC points and we usually have an AP that spreads the cost of passes over 2 trips.

We travelled extensively before we had our DD21 and continued to travel with her after she was born. She's been to the UK, France (twice), Japan (twice), China, Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean (twice, via cruising). We spent a lot of time at WDW and our plan is to spend more time on other locations. I enjoy cruising so we'll do more of that. I'm planning a transatlantic cruise from Italy next year so we can visit Europe for a while and then cruise home. The plan is to rent our DVC points to pay for other vacations.

 

[mickey10171]

i think you make some really interesting points. i personally find disney to be such a fascinating company and love studying all their components but never considered how they would sustain DVC for future generations so i was excited to see your post . here are some of my random thoughts:

• Some info about me: hubs and i are newlyweds (been together 9 years) based in NJ. we're both millennials, still in our late 20s. hoping to start a family in the next year or 2.
• Disney background: he's been going his whole life. i on the other hand have come around to disney/travel in the last 7-8 years. we just bought into DVC a week ago after a few years of research
• we are completely intrigued by international travel. being able to experience other cultures has truly been such a gift and something we hope to keep doing in our lifetime
• besides disney being nostalgic to my husband and i a more recent fan, there's something that makes Disney travel standout for us vs. other types of travel, and that for us is the trust. we know when we go to disney that we can have certain expectations and security (not necessarily from a safety sense, although that is true too). There's been a few times where my husband and i have come back from other non-disney trips and chose to stop at WDW for a resort only stay to unwind from our other trip. so for us it's definitely a comfort thing. but the reason we chose to buy into DVC was due to 2 major factors:
  1. Increasing prices: we can't keep up with Disney's cost anymore. and it wasnt something we were ready to give up just yet
  2. Future family: as we start to have kids, there's the comfort of WDW being family friendly, whether it's the content or logisitics. so we definitely foresee ourselves wanting to go even more in the future so it makes me wonder if others from my generation will consider the same? it's not easy to travel overseas with young ones (heck it's not easy for some adults!)
• however, with all that considered, i dont think dvc will continue to sustain itself if it doesnt start to consider the next generation it's catering to. i think it's hard for my generation to invest that much money in one place (yes i know DVC can be used in many places, blah blah blah) when there's a whole world they will want to see, especially as staying on property loses its benefits little by little. I know disney is trying to position themselves as a luxury vacation spot, but i just cant envision some of my friends thinking "Oh i make a lot of money now. let me invest in DVC!"
• i think this is also part of a much bigger problem the Disney parks are going to face. IMO, i dont like the direction the Parks and Resorts are heading in - they keep cutting corners on everything that used to make the Disney bubble stand out and skyrocketing prices. they also keep throwing all their eggs in one basket while giving us IP attraction overlays that for us dont really cut it anymore.
• we're also living in a world where people want different experiences and cultures. why continue to replicate the same rides and attractions around world? to entice "worldly" travel i think Disney should stop cookie cutting the same attractions. (e.g. i dont think they should have build Galaxy's Edge in both WDW and DL. i think they should have done GE in WDW and a much bigger Marvel Land in DL). this would encourage people to want to travel to their different Parks and Resorts around the world
• lastly, i do think there are more and more couples choosing to not have kids vs. those years ago. not that that should stop anyone from going to Disney, but it begs the question of whether or not those couples who maybe years ago would have had a family and chose disney will now continue to travel to other places simply because they dont have children holding them back

With all that being said, regardless of my disappointments, i obviously love disney and will continue to go and hopefully share awesome memories with my future kids (until something they do really irks me enough. i came close when they announced the Magical express cancellation haha)

 

[hhisc16]

I am a millennial with a DD1 and spouse.
We just bought DVC on resale because we want our DD1 to enjoy 20 years (2042 resort) of Disney vacations at either WDW or HHI every year.
If my DD1 enjoys DVC, then we would purchase an extension to our 2042 resort if possible.

 

[kanerf]

I am a boomer and enjoy my DVC vacations, even when I don't go to the parks. I know what to expect in room and what the resort has to offer. The older you get the more desirable that comfort and familiarity become. This also goes for the parks, though you do expect some change there. While I current go twice a year in May and October, I expect that I may switch that up as I approach retirement. I currently have 430 points at 5 different resorts and I may add to that in retirement so that I can go more frequently or stay longer.

I suspect as other generations get older they will find DVC ownership a nice thing to have and DVC will continue to grow. Every generation thinks they are something special and don't believe that they will want the things the previous generation wanted, that is until the start to reach their parents and grand-parents ages.

 

[Matty B13]

Now, the luggage retrieval is gone and DME is going away and for those with small kids know this isn’t really an equal parts benefit removal for everyone.

This was a huge deal for my family of 5, trying to navigate the airports with 3 little kids is very difficult, and not having to worry about our luggage was a big deal and one of the reasons we bought DVC. Now they are making it harder to go, and more expensive.

 

[XQIXX]

Hello,
We purchased DVC on our first trip, second day in 2006. We were a young family with a 6 and 8 year old. The memories we made are priceless. It will always hold a special place in our family. However, things have certainly changed as far as the perks of being a member. Should you expect perks, no. But, it does make the purchase feel easier when you see your loyalty rewarded. DVC members never get "free dining". The AP savings are ok but not huge. The reality is , costs go up. DIsney knows what they have and they price it accordingly. We all get wrapped up in the fantasy but in the end, it is still a business. The purpose is to make money. My children are now 22 and 24. I look forward to the day when I can introduce our grandchildren to Disney. For the first time since becoming members, my wife and I are going on our first trip with just the 2 of us in October and we are just as excited as our first trip! I do not see DVC going anywhere because Disney will always adapt to the changes and will find a way to keep it relevant to whatever changing vacationing needs there are. After the last year of pandemic, I think the numbers in the park show people will always want the comfort that only Disney can provide. Certainly not a vacation for everyone, but for those of us who have found our happy vacation place, it will never be replaced. Just my opinion... I could be wrong! LOL

 

[XQIXX]

Sorry, double posted!

 

[VdoesDisney]

Another Millenial here, quick background, DH and I are FL residents and have a DS who is 2.

We have been going to WDW every year for F&W since we started dating back in 2008, it’s become a fun tradition that has grown with us and our extended family, even as we have made little families of our own, but before we had kids we would stay off property and go just for the weekend, we weren’t really Disney loyalists.

Once we had our little one we began to truly appreciate the value of a Disney vacation, it’s so much easier to relax when you’re in a bubble that is kid friendly, kid safe, and offer layers upon layers of entertainment for everyone. We bought DVC this year because we knew for the next 5-10 years Disney would be a comfort vacation for our family, and seeing hotel prices rise it made sense to “lock-in” our stays, and if DS ends up not being that into Disney we know we would still use our points for F&W and other Epcot festivals.

I think the point you are touching on is that Disney speaks of customer loyalty but doesn’t seem to be doing that much to cater to the DVC/AP crowd, I think there is definitely truth in that, they seem to be neglecting their most loyal customers to some extent, the issue may be that, at the end of the day, most of us buy into DVC and buy APs for the savings, not as much for loyalty reasons, the day the savings are not there I would stop buying APs, and should DVC do something to affect the value I derive from being an owner I would probably sell my contract, maybe I would change both those statements if they did more to make me feel special…

 

[davidl81]

This was a huge deal for my family of 5, trying to navigate the airports with 3 little kids is very difficult, and not having to worry about our luggage was a big deal and one of the reasons we bought DVC. Now they are making it harder to go, and more expensive.

We are fans of DME, but I have to to admit car service will spoil you. We did car service on our return from our last trip since we wanted to get an extra hour in at HW and man that was so much better than DME. Round trip is like $200 which I agree is a lot of money on top of everything else, but......

 

[Yinn]

I’m an X-r. I know a lot of Boomers are on this forum. My social and work circles are made of mostly millennials so in my I look through a lens of generational differences. I also just did an all day leadership training by Disney recently and wonder how in touch decision makers are with the general public and consumer loyalty. Not just those on DIS boards and what the influencers say. Trying to give a little insight to add to your perspective.

I see new generations wanting to come once to DW but not repetitively. They want to experience all kinds of places. If not from east coast they generally go to many places Florida offers and not just DW. I predict DVC will not be a boom forever. Nostalgia is valued but not tradition, well not expensive ones. They want something iconic, affordable for a splurge and to share pictures to document. Then on to the next. I can’t see the LOYALTY factor happening along with the prices. I think if they don’t offer perks and DVC options that build on that, all other areas will suffer because with loyalty comes ALL the discretionary money. There are many opportunities to experience Customer Satisfaction and Disney would do well to hunt then down. Immediate value and satisfaction is > longstanding investments to the new demographics. Repetitive expensive vacations is not a thing even with mouse lovers. They hug their pictures at night, watch Disney+and look to play something new beyond the horizon. Easy online travel deals and self-planning is a new thing and most of them are going everywhere. It also seems many women are now planning vacations nowadays where as before when DVC started I think men would primarily do the finances and just buy it in one fell swoop. I wonder what the stats are on men vs women buying DVC. I bet it’s more men. Or women with men. I know it was definitely like that in the past. Wonder if DVC will keep up with the shifts.

So I guess my question is about consumer loyalty to Disney and DVC specifically. What are your thoughts? (Can you move to Mousellaneous or another topic?)

Occasionally I feel like the X-rs don't understand us. I'm an elder millennial. I travelled the world in my 20s with my group of friends. We owned nothing and shared a common goal of visiting every continent on this earth - including Antartica. I stumbled off every cruise line that went into the Caribbean and have some amazing pictures of it. During that same time, I also went to Disney....twice. I entered the arctic circle more times than that!

Now that I've qualified myself as being in your stated group...

Never underestimate the power of nostalgia. Marvel, Star Wars, live action vault movies are evidence of that. I own just shy of 500 DVC points...I keep buying because I keep bringing friends with me. My friends who had children prior to me entered first. My friends who are coming up behind me are always asking to rent/borrow from me.

Better yet, we all still itch to travel. When we get together to talk about where. Well since we have kids it gets simple...Disney...land...or world? Should we try a Disney cruise? Maybe next year we can use the points to go to Disney Tokyo. Hey wait...do you think we could visit EVERY Disney park in the world?!? It'll be like when we hit up every continent. You betcha we can...it might take 10-15 years though.

PS. If we bring our kids on a trip like that, what do you think their chances of having Disney nostalgia will be? Sure, maybe not from the ages of 13-20, but I'd be willing to put good money down that when they're 35 +/- when they start having ones of their own those will be some pretty fond memories. At least that's how this millennial got hooked.

 

[cgodzyk]

Gen X here. We have 3 adult children and 5 toddler grands and have only owned DVC since 2018. (Although we were supposed to buy BW in 2002 and regret it, but timing was off). We couldn't afford travel vacations when our children were growing up, but we did (and still do own a vacation lake home. . But Disney was part of my childhood with both sets of my grandparents. Because of this, DH and I want to share Disney our growing family, in this new chapter of our life. So we will continue to be loyal, with our without "perks". Our memories in our happy place as our grands grow brings us unmeasurable joy. When our almost 5 year old grandson asks "When can we go see Mickey" or our 3 year old granddaughter talks about the "Tower" (what she calls the Skyliner) it just affirms our decision to remain loyal to Disney.

Things might have changed since we first started traveling regularly to Disney in 2015 (before owning), but we choose to look at what we do get. Happiness, Wonder and Joy are priceless to us. And Disney has never let us down with those.

 

[Sandisw]

I would be considered a baby boomer and I have always loved Disney. I lived in FL for about 4 years when I was a teen, and we visited yearly for school trips,

I continued going more often pre and post children. I really do love it as a vacation spot. So, I think I am unique, I enjoy cruises, and I have enjoyed other trips we have taken, but I would never not go to Disney,

Now, we don’t go to the parks as much anymore and we bought as a place to spend retirement here and there...along with a potential condo in SC to escape Syracuse winters.

Buying DVC was a way to help with those goals. So, I am the prime Disney guest who really will go with the flow and adjust to whatever things they change.

Now that DME is going away .I will need to plan in that cost. It means I will have less to spend there. Maybe no spa visit every time I go? More grocery orders with eating and drinking in the room?

If they got rid of an AP altogether and every trip would be daily tickets, I’d spend more resort time and less parks...but would not stop going because I enjoy the atmosphere of the resorts I stay at.

For me, any additional things they give me as a loyal Disney customer is a bonus. But, I have this same attitude toward most things in life.

I have lots of friends who just don’t get it..even DH doesn’t need or go like I do...but he indulges me which is why I average 6 visits a year.

So, probably not much will gear me away from multiple trips a year.

 

[CSLucas]

My husband and I are both millennials with 2 young kids. I also borderline hate Disney, but my kids LOVE it and my husband is indifferent (but loves the fact that they love it). I (a woman) am the one who decided to buy DVC, and I didn't do it for nostalgia or because I expect Disney to reward me for my loyalty. I bought solely because it is something that my kids love and DVC is the cheapest way for us to do it. I think Disney knows exactly my type of buyer and their current strategy is working well (and will continue to work well). People like me buy because I want an experience with my kids and based on history I will be able to sell my DVC when we are finished with it. I don't care if we make money on it as long as we don't lose money (factoring in the savings from each trip), and honestly I don't care if Disney has any sort of "loyalty" reward because that's not why I bought it. We absolutely still plan to take our kids around the world, but I don't view it as an either/or. I'm not going all-in on Disney - just enough points to take one vacation every year (although this year is ending up being two because there aren't many other places to go). With Disney getting more and more expensive, I actually think DVC will see more growth than ever as millennials (and younger generations) look for sustainable ways to do Disney with young kids, and I think all they have to do is offer up discounted accommodations to do it.

 

[808blessing]

Such a rich, insightful discussion evolving here.
So I am perplexed as to which customer loyalty base they are catering to if at all, as aligned with the logic model and where that is showing up in actions. The only thing I can think of is the extension of international points.

Hello, DVC leadership - please add in your response.
I want assurance you haven’t abandoned the value of Customer Loyalty.

Will Disney DVC survey their current loyals and future loyals to add innovative and more relevant ways to add value and increase satisfaction? In the end, they will surely get a better return on our loyal investments and stay competitive. As they fall sleep in this area, the greater system will have a rude awakening.

 

[emmymac17]

Like many of the older millennials on here, I too traveled the world in my teens and 20s - and was all over Asia and India only a year or so ago. Growing up my family did Disney every few years - so definitely have some nostalgia. When my husband and I got together, we found ourselves naturally making an Orlando trip annually (we are in the Southeast, so a short, cheap flight away) in addition to other trips. Now that we have a 2 year old we decided that DVC was a great way for us to guarantee our vacation annually and have some flexibility (if we skip a year -we have extra points for a cabin or to bring some friends/family along). We definitely want to travel the world with our children as well - but I will say Disney does make vacationing easier with little ones (there is always a high chair, hotels have cribs/pack n plays/bed rails, places are stroller friendly, etc.). DVC also gives us flexibility to do some different vacations occasionally (we are already dreaming of a week at Aulani on the way to Japan). I think as X-ers grow in their careers (and hopefully incomes) and build their own families the appeal of DVC will be there - seems to be happening with millennials based on this thread