DVC Perks slowly disappearing....What do you miss ?

[PBB]

I was just reading about how the free valet parking perk has gone away at DVC resorts. WE used this perk quite a bit especially at Y&B and Boardwalk to go to restaurants there and walk over to International Gateway to spend the evening in the countries and fireworks.

Pool Hopping is so restrictive now it does not make sense anymore to consider it. It seems like when something becomes popular with the DVC members it gets cut by DVC.

While not a big thing to me I remember many people got upset when OKW stopped having peach color towels in the unit and replaced them with the white standard hotel towels.

What other DVC perks throughout the years have disappeared that you wish would return ??

I read the Disney Rumor and News thread and there is discussion on the boards that a rumor is going around that FLA resident passes will have payment plans similar to a plan at Disneyland. Apparently, you put $ 99 down and pay each month by a charge to credit card or checking account. This way a family does not have to come up with $ 1,000-$ 1,200 for a family to go to WDW. I guess Sea World and Bush Gardens have flexible terms. It would be nice to see DVC come up with a plan for their member that is similar. Heck, I would love to pay the FLA resident rate........

Just some random thoughts.........Would love to hear yours about what other perks have disappeared.

 

[DebbieB]

The only perk I used that has disappeared is the valet parking, I used it maybe 2 or 3 times on a trip.

Don't use pool hopping but I would not count that in the "disappearing" category. There have always been holiday restrictions. New DVC resorts are excluded but the other resorts have not changed, so it's really not a "loss".

The major perk that I use was not there when I bought - the $100 discount on AP's, so that's a "gain" in my book. Also free internet is a "gain".

I think too many people look at the losses and not at the gains.

 

[DMKEDM]

One perk that has been added that I love: free internet access!

Don't know if this qualifies as a "perk" but one rule change I hate is the restriction to two wait lists...we go frequently to WDW and the two-waitlist rule is a difficulty for us...

I understand that at one point ME and Disney Dining were not available to DVC members...adding eligibility for those is a very big deal (especially ME) to my family....

I never use a car at WDW so losing valet parking didn't matter to me...but I can well understand why it would matter a lot to those who use it...ranks right up there w/free internet access if you drive (and if you use your computer while at WDW)....

I agree about pool-hopping...I suppose it would be worse if it went away altogether...but it is awfully restricted now...

Seems like a "on the one hand and then on the other" sort of situation...for us, tho, on balance, it's still good...

 

[DebbieB]

I understand that at one point ME and Disney Dining were not available to DVC members...adding eligibility for those is a very big deal (especially ME) to my family....

I think ME was available to members from when it was started. The dining plan was not, it was over a year before members on points could buy it. A couple of perks for members on that - no ticket purchase required and no holiday season surcharge.

One for the loss column - Disney Store discount. That was removed when the stores were sold but has not come back now that Disney owns them again. But considering there are no Disney Stores near me anymore, not a big deal.

 

[mac_tlc]

I think too many people look at the losses and not at the gains.

I agree with DebbieB. The $100 off an annual pass is worth 8 valet parking perks ... per person. For a family of 4 that's 32 parking experiences!

Come to think of it, though, I do miss the peach towels

 

[acourtwdw]

I miss the discount on park admission. We usually have AP but often bring along family members that don't. It was a great way to save $$$$. My dad is a GM retiree and he gets a discount on admission but we have to plan since you have to fax an order for tickets and sometimes we just don't plan that far in advance.

 

[Brian Noble]

I miss paying for internet access.

 

[TDC Nala]

Free or discounted park tickets were before my time, I never have pool hopped, and I used the free valet only rarely and can get that with TIW for meals anyway...so I can't say I miss any of them. But I do use the annual pass discount and the internet access. And I can't imagine caring what color the towels are. I've never even noticed.

 

[speakupjc]

Discounts on tickets, valet parking and the old system for waitilisting.

 

[PBB]

I forgot about the free internet. I totally agree with this add on.

Did anyone else notice that giving up the free valet service was justified because of "due to increased costs" in The Disney Files magazine. What could have gone up in price ?? There is just labor costs involved and in this economy nobody is getting a raise. There is no rent or materials that could go up in prices. It is just a service based option. So, what could have increased ??

It seems to me that the toiletries have also gotten a lot smaller. They used to have a small amount of lotions and such and that has pretty much disappeared. We stayed in a JW Marriott hotel that was cheaper in price than a DVC studio (if you were to rent from Disney) and the Marriott had much more available to the guest.

On another board, a commentator's shtick is value is decreasing at WDW and I believe we are seeing that at DVC.

 

[PBB]

And I can't imagine caring what color the towels are. I've never even noticed.

I hosted a chat room at AOL in the Destination Florida area and the forum boards and chat rooms exploded about the change from peach color towels vs. white hotel towels. You would have thought it was the end of the world.......Someone wrote a fake press release about the issue called "Hollywood Towel of Terror" mocking all the people who were upset. Pretty funny stuff........That was a long time ago.

 

[edk35]

I think ME was available to members from when it was started. The dining plan was not, it was over a year before members on points could buy it. A couple of perks for members on that - no ticket purchase required and no holiday season surcharge.

One for the loss column - Disney Store discount. That was removed when the stores were sold but has not come back now that Disney owns them again. But considering there are no Disney Stores near me anymore, not a big deal.

WAIT??????? We got a DVC discount at the Disney Stores??? When did that end?

 

[dmoore22]

I think too many people look at the losses and not at the gains.

In considering losses vs. gains we have experienced a net gain in perks since we bought in way back when.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

I miss the free valet parking, and the better golf discount. I am sure the OKW old timers miss the free park passes that came with their memberships. Also, we added on in December and when the fedex box arrived I noticed that it was missing the $16,000.00 tote bag!!!

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

In considering losses vs. gains we have experienced a net gain in perks since we bought in way back when.

Sorry, but your gonna have to explain this one to me. I don't even think its close on the loss side. JMHO

 

[Brian Noble]

We stayed in a JW Marriott hotel that was cheaper in price than a DVC studio

It's absolutely the case that good-quality hotels and resorts outside of The World provide a much better product than Disney does---either in cash 'resorts' or DVC---for much less money. Period. End of story. It's not even close.

But, those good-quality hotels don't have four theme parks attached to them.

At DVC (and at the Disney resorts generally) you are not paying for a room. You are paying for a seamless experience across the entire resort. Some people find value in that. Others don't. That's why Baskin-Robins has 31 flavors.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I think ME was available to members from when it was started. The dining plan was not, it was over a year before members on points could buy it. A couple of perks for members on that - no ticket purchase required and no holiday season surcharge.

One for the loss column - Disney Store discount. That was removed when the stores were sold but has not come back now that Disney owns them again. But considering there are no Disney Stores near me anymore, not a big deal.

Yes, it was, unless it wasn't available the first couple days. It started, I think, on May 1, 2005 and we used it on May 4, 2005 to get to the BCV. It was so new there were a lot of bugs still being worked out-we didn't get our letter to go back, etc.

 

[jagson]

What if, just what if, DVC gave its members the choice of perks they'd prefer. Let us make our own individual perks' selection; select from a menu of perks, ie ME, Internet access, Annual Pass discounts, Valet Parking, etc.; select all, or none, and pay for those you select, in MFs. Who'd prefer this option? It would effect your MFs, depending on the number of perks selected; could save money for MFs for those that didn't want the perks, and cost those that select perk(s). What's the problem with this, ie pay for the perks selected, over and above the base MFs?

 

[DebbieB]

WAIT??????? We got a DVC discount at the Disney Stores??? When did that end?

It ended when The Disney Stores were sold to Children's Place. Children's Place still operated them as Disney Stores but they were not owned by Disney. Since then, Disney has bought some of the stores back, others were closed. Most of the stores in my area closed.

I miss the free valet parking, and the better golf discount. I am sure the OKW old timers miss the free park passes that came with their memberships. Also, we added on in December and when the fedex box arrived I noticed that it was missing the $16,000.00 tote bag!!!

I would not call the OKW free park passes a "perk". It was a sales incentive that clearly stated was ending 12/31/99.

Sorry, but your gonna have to explain this one to me. I don't even think its close on the loss side. JMHO

I bought AP's before I bought DVC, paying full price. The $100 AP discount that came into effect after I bought makes up for any other discounts lost. I was also paying for internet, that is saving me money. For the valet parking, I'm just self parking so it isn't costing me other than loss of convenience.

 

[wendypooh]

What if, just what if, DVC gave its members the choice of perks they'd prefer. Let us make our own individual perks' selection; select from a menu of perks, ie ME, Internet access, Annual Pass discounts, Valet Parking, etc.; select all, or none, and pay for those you select, in MFs. Who'd prefer this option? It would effect your MFs, depending on the number of perks selected; could save money for MFs for those that didn't want the perks, and cost those that select perk(s). What's the problem with this, ie pay for the perks selected, over and above the base MFs?

I get your idea........... However, I personally don't like it. I mean - a "perk" in my opinion is something you get for "free" - I wouldn't consider it a "perk" if I were paying for it.

As new members, obviously we don't feel like we're missing anything - we LOVE the AP discount, LOVE the free internet and DH thinks the Golf discount is good.......... however, he never had the other one. As for the valet parking........ we could care less about that........ so no loss there, also, we CAN still pool hop - the restrictions may be tighter, but it is still allowed - or am I totally out of the loop on that? Either way - our home resort is AKV - so, we essentially have 2 pools.
The MAJOR perk for us is the AP discount - I'm SO greatful for that one - and would take that ANY day over any of the "lost" perks. JMO