DVC vs Disney Club Discounts

[walter]

I want to bring this discussion up again since the Disney Club will cease to exist soon. Why can't DVC offer its' members a discount on AP passes? It need not be to the extent that Florida residents receive, but some type of program should be developed. I know that they have no obligation to do so, for there is no lack of interest in purchasing into DVC, but this type of program would be greatly appreciated by its' members, especially those who travel to WDW several times a year or for an extended length of time.

 

[Chuck S]

I guess that Disney sees no advantage to offering a discount to DVC members, I would think that DVC has tried to negotiate one. Why not drop a nice e-mail to MS and ask that it be forwarded to our DVC benefits director. Remember that you catch more flies with honey than vinegar, that if DISNEY still says "No!" then it is "No!". Plus remember that Disney will be offering a rewards Visa card, and may want to keep those type of discounts as an exclusive for those Visa card holders.

But I really don't think it hurts to make DVC management aware of how we members feel about the value of an AP discount similar to that currently offered by DC.

 

[Pa@okw95]

There is no reason for WDW to give us discounts on AP because there would be no increase in revenue. In fact in may even be less income. They give discounts to people to come to WDW, since they know we will be coming regardless, it just does not pay for them to consider us. I consider myself very very lucky to have received free park passes when I first joined. It really made this whole DVC situation outstanding but it did spoil us. I would not count on any park discounts worth anything, we could see things like discounts at restaurants and maybe seasonal specials during the slow seasons, but never any real discounts on park passes. Money is the issue at WDW.

 

[Granny]

Originally posted by Pa@okw95
There is no reason for WDW to give us discounts on AP because there would be no increase in revenue. In fact in may even be less income. They give discounts to people to come to WDW, since they know we will be coming regardless, it just does not pay for them to consider us.

I guess everyone's situation is different. For us, they would definitely get more money because we switched from AP's to Park Hoppers when they changed the AP renewal policy.

With the demise of the DC, which we used to get the admission discounts, we will definitely be visiting the parks less often than in the past.

But, if on the whole, Disney does not see a drop-off in AP's, I agree that there would not seem to be an incentive to offer DVC owners a discount beyond the current LOS.

 

[sgtdisney]

Originally posted by Granny
With the demise of the DC, which we used to get the admission discounts, we will definitely be visiting the parks less often than in the past.

We are in the same boat as you are.. Since we stopped getting the free passes, we have been spending less and less time in the parks each subsequent year.. However I don't think we are the 'norm' for the average DVC member yet. We have been members for 10 years now and before that we visited WDW every year for at least 10 years prior.. I think as you see the average 'age' of the membership go up, Disney management may see a fall off of DVC members spending every minute in the parks.. It seems with the advent of the newer resorts the majority of DVC members have been members for less than 5 years.. Wait till the 60000 + members we currently have have owned there membership at least 10 years (or 20 in my case.) I think then Disney may see a decline in the DVC member rushing to the parks every day and then, MAYBE, we may see a discount to entice us 'back.'

Of course this is just my opinion and as I have stated before, as much as I would like to get a discount on park admission, I do not expect it. I am content to spend more time enjoying Orlando and the rest of the resort, and spending my vacation dollar outside of the parks.

 

[walter]

A perfect example of not going to the parks happened with us a little over two weeks ago. We visited OKW prior to doing the DCL 7 day cruise. Because of the lack of a substantial discount to WDW, we opted to go to Sea World (buy one day get one free) and just relax. I spoke to several DVC members while at OKW and then later on on the cruise, and many of them stated the same thing. In fact, when I was at the owners annual meeting, a gentleman who was sitting in front of me (who is a Florida resident) stated that he could see no reason why WDW & DVC cannot come to some sort of agreement to provide some sort of discounts. If Florida residents can obtain such a substantial perk, why can't some type of arrangement be made for DVC members? Outside of the holidays, I cannot see where WDW is showing a great increase in attendance since 9/11.

 

[MELSMICE]

It certainly would be nice if DVC now offered discounts on passes, but I wouldn't be surprised if they don't. I also think it is about money.

The majority of people that are going to buy passes will do so whether there is a discount or not. I have always used my DC discount for passes but that doesn't mean without one I won't get my AP's. I guess I will just budget more money.

I do agree that over the years as DVC members age they will spend less time in the parks. However, if they continue to build more DVC resorts & people continue to buy resales you will always have younger members with young children that will spend time in the parks.

Also, personally, I have do desire to do any other Orlando attractions. We did Universal once & if I never get back there again it would be OK. I am content to enjoy the whole Disney experience regardless of what it is.

 

[eva]

Well, I'm not one who says that DVC members deserve a discount. It would be nice, but I definitely won't hold my breath until we are offered something substantial. However, I must say that we definitely visit the parks less frequent than we use to. We buy 7 Day Hoppers and split them between 2 visits, only spending 3 or 4 days out of an entire week in the parks. On the days that we don't go to WDW parks we might go to USF or IOA, shopping at an outlet mall, or just hang around the pool. We've even thought about buying those Orlando passes on one of our upcoming trips. Park passes have become so expensive over the last 10 years that we just can't justify spending so much to see everthing over and over again. I'm sure if some type of great deal on an AP or UMP popped up we would jump at it. Well, you never know.

 

[jfis1020]

The only beef I have is I spend all this money on DVC and then they want me to spend another $50 to "enjoy" the benefits of a discount. We too are not spending as much time in the parks and are letting our AP run out for that reason. With a family of five, the APs get pricey.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

When I had less money to throw around (a situation I'm back into) I would buy the biggest hopper I could find. I can use a 7 day hopper for 2 or 3 years and then add in whatever the special is at Universal. We'd round that out with a visit to someplace new. There is more than just Disney and Universal in Orlando...obviously there is Sea World...there is Holy Land (a place I'm curious to see)...Splendid China (wonderful)...I went to Wonder Works and went shopping.

The AP was nice but it will be a long time before I get one again.

I realize that there are plenty of people who don't want to see anything other than the House of Mouse but to me that's like going to NYC to see Broadway shows and turning your nose up at offBroadway, the museums, the music venues, Madison Square Garden and Greenwich Village....never mind the shopping that isn't in the Broadway area.

 

[ClarabelleCow]

I did the same thing, bought a 7 day park hopper plus, and will get 2 - 3 visits out of it. I thought the hole DVC concept was to be close to the action, but also enjoy your stay at the resort!!! If I didn't already have the 7 day php's, I would probably do the length of stay, it would be more costly, but I am on vacation and I like the flexibility of it. the max I would be down at one time would be 5 nights probably every 12 - 18 months, so an annual pass wouldn't work.