DVC was better in the old days!

[tvwalsh]

I joined back in 1992. In those days, every week, there was a free member meal outside with shrimp and steak. If your room was not ready on time you were likely to be given a free meal for your entire party at any WDW restaurant of your choice. (I was given these twice, both times the room was ready by five.) Any occasion caused there to be cookies and snacks put out in Papa's Den. We got more towels. The rooms were cleaner. We did not pay for extra soap or coffee. We could swim at any WDW resort. You could get a free sundae any time of day. DVC vans would take you anywhere you wanted to go for free if you asked. We were sent numerous little gifts and perks. We, of course, got into the parks for free untill 2000. A fruit basket or such was sent if a birthday or anniversary was mentioned to the staff. We got Xmas cards that were pretty and personal. I could go on but it hurts too much!

 

[perdidobay]

WOW! I joined in 2001 so I never knew this kind of DVC...good thing, I'd miss it too. But I can see why this has ended....could you imagine our maintenance fees if they kept all that up!

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Also remember this, 10 years from "these days" will be "the good ol days".

 

[tvwalsh]

I sure hope that the way we are treated today does not look as wonderful to the people who own ten years from now as the old days look to us now. If they do we will we will be serving ourselves, cutting our own lawn, and spending our vacations doing repairs.

 

[Regina]

I'm an oldtimer too.

Let's face it tvwalsh, we should have kept our mouths shut and not told anyone what a great deal we had.

Yes, when it was smaller, it was more intimate and they expressed their gratitude in many ways with the passes, receptions and gifts. We got an awful lot for $51.00 a point.

I'm glad that we experienced that. I'm also glad that the system has grown to give us so many resort choices, cruises, and exchanges.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

There are only four ways to pay for all these "free" things:

-- Development Expense: The limited park pass program through the end of 1999 was paid for by Disney Vacation Development in order to provide an extra incentive for people to buy. They later decided it was more profitable not to provide this incentive.

-- Ongoing Marketing: The DVC Marketing people sometimes mail "gifts" (calendars, license plates, etc.) to us in hopes that they can sell us more points. The sundaes were a DVC marketing expense; they were at the OKW sales office.

-- Freebies that are paid for by the restaurants, bars, and shops to drive other sales: The restaurants and bars are not operated out the DVC budget. They can provide happy hour promotions or merchadise deals if they decide it's good business.

-- DVC resort operating budget: Anything that not paid for through one of the three methods above, is paid for out of each DVC resort's operating budget -- that means out of our wallets!

So...

If Marketing wants to send me a Christmas card, that fine. But I don't want to pay to send a Christmas card to myself through my DVC dues.

I don't want to pay DVC dues to buy shrimp and steak for people who happen to be at the right place at OKW on the right day of the week. I'd rather have that money in my pocket to buy a meal for my family when and where we want it. (If Marketing wants to feed me shrimp and steak, that's another story.)

The members who plan their vacations around school holidays should not have to subsidize the members who plan their DVC stays around birthdays and anniversaries (by buying fruit baskets for them through DVC dues).

But I'm happy to pay DVC dues so that I can check into a clean, well-maintained condo at a beautiful resort. I know I'll pay for some things that we seldom use (like my DVC resort's share of the WDW transportation system) along with things we use more often.

 

[PamOKW]

My "old days" were not quite as lavish as those mentioned here but I agree there were a lot of extras.

I think Regina has the main reason why this still isn't done. We are just too big. A lot of the extra attention was also part of a the sales pitch to future members.

The only thing that irks me is the towel/soap policy. I just think that they manage this at every other hotel on property, I don't see why DVC is so difficult. When someone abuses the system, you tell them no. In any case, this rule doesn't seem to be strongly enforced and I can live with it.

Oh -- and the other pet peeve -- how about a real pass discount?

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by Horace Horsecollar
There are only four ways to pay for all these "free" things:

-- Development Expense: The limited park pass program through the end of 1999 was paid for by Disney Vacation Development in order to provide an extra incentive for people to buy. They later decided it was more profitable not to provide this incentive.

-- Ongoing Marketing: The DVC Marketing people sometimes mail "gifts" (calendars, license plates, etc.) to us in hopes that they can sell us more points. The sundaes were a DVC marketing expense; they were at the OKW sales office.

-- Freebies that are paid for by the restaurants, bars, and shops to drive other sales: The restaurants and bars are not operated out the DVC budget. They can provide happy hour promotions or merchadise deals if they decide it's good business.

-- DVC resort operating budget: Anything that not paid for through one of the three methods above, is paid for out of each DVC resort's operating budget -- that means out of our wallets!

So...

If Marketing wants to send me a Christmas card, that fine. But I don't want to pay to send a Christmas card to myself through my DVC dues.

I don't want to pay DVC dues to buy shrimp and steak for people who happen to be at the right place at OKW on the right day of the week. I'd rather have that money in my pocket to buy a meal for my family when and where we want it. (If Marketing wants to feed me shrimp and steak, that's another story.)

The members who plan their vacations around school holidays should not have to subsidize the members who plan their DVC stays around birthdays and anniversaries (by buying fruit baskets for them through DVC dues).

But I'm happy to pay DVC dues so that I can check into a clean, well-maintained condo at a beautiful resort. I know I'll pay for some things that we seldom use (like my DVC resort's share of the WDW transportation system) along with things we use more often.

In some form or another, don't we really pay for all of these things? Regardless if it is a marketing expense or operating budget?

 

[sgtdisney]

Don't forget the peach colored towels, the placemats, the napkins or the coasters.....

 

[Caskbill]

In some form or another, don't we really pay for all of these things? Regardless if it is a marketing expense or operating budget?

You would only pay for marketing expenses if you purchased new points. All marketing costs would be reflected by the original price/point. If you don't buy any more points, then you don't pay any of those costs.

We ALL pay operating expenses through our annual dues.

I agree with HH completely.
Nothing is free. It's either paid for by new members purchasing (marketing expenses) or current members' fees (annual dues)

There should not be higher fees for all members so that a few members can get some freebies simply because of the luck of the draw, being in the right place at the right time, as Horace explained.

 

[ditzy]

They needed the cash to pay off Ovitz, Katzenberg & to reward Mr. E.

 

[mikesmom]

Please also remember that one perk you have NOW (no matter when you bought in) is the ability to stay at BWV, BCV, VWL, VB or HH in addition to your "home". Given that comparison, I can buy my own steak.

P.S.: When we went for an anniversary a couple of years ago, they sent us a card and a cake.

 

[Pa@okw95]

I remember the good ole days also when I got my room when I checked in instead of a card and telling you to call back. The free passes to the parks were outstanding. When I think about it those passes saved us a great deal of money. There will soon be a time when I don't go to the parks when I stay there. I just can't see paying for me when I only go on about two attractions a day. WDW is turning into an amusement park more and more. In the good old days it was aimed more at the family now they are going after the local traffic with more thrill rides. Remember how EPCOT used to be before with all those rides that young kids could go on, World of Motion, Horizons, and the Living Seas with its ride that now is gone. I remember small things like matching towels and sheets. Trash and Tidy instead of Trash and Towel where they actually cleaned up the place when they came in instead of just changing the towels. What Ican notbelieve most is what people are paying now with far less time on the contract and no passes. The passes alone save thousands of dollars.

 

[joepoe]

Originally posted by PamOKW
My "old days" were not quite as lavish as those mentioned here but I agree there were a lot of extras.

The only thing that irks me is the towel/soap policy. I just think that they manage this at every other hotel on property, I don't see why DVC is so difficult. When someone abuses the system, you tell them no. In any case, this rule doesn't seem to be strongly enforced and I can live with it.

We have asked for extra soap and towels a couple times and never been charged...hopefully they only charge the abusers.
As far as perks, we've only been members since 98 and have never gotten any.
Free passes would cost the theme parks about $80,000,000 in revenue every year. (60,000 members x family of 4 x $50 per day x 7 days) They can get people to sign up for $84 a point without all the perks, it's just a business decision that reflects the current market.

 

[SheriB]

How many members were there back in the old days? I can't imagine how they could afford all the freebies now, with over 60,000 members and counting. I'd rather do without the freebies than think that my dues would have to be raised to give out the freebies.

However, I do think that back in the old days, the new members were entitled in a way to freebies. They were taking a risk on something that although we know now is a sure thing, back then they didn't. They were the pioneers of the DVC. Heading into the unknown. They should have been given some sort of compensation for their initial risk (the park passes were sweet-wish I knew about DVC long ago)

Sheri

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by Caskbill
You would only pay for marketing expenses if you purchased new points. All marketing costs would be reflected by the original price/point. If you don't buy any more points, then you don't pay any of those costs.

We ALL pay operating expenses through our annual dues.

I agree with HH completely.
Nothing is free. It's either paid for by new members purchasing (marketing expenses) or current members' fees (annual dues)

There should not be higher fees for all members so that a few members can get some freebies simply because of the luck of the draw, being in the right place at the right time, as Horace explained.

Yes, I believe we are saying the same thing.
Nothing is free, and we pay for these perks through higher point costs. We just "pre-pay" for the marketing perks, where as operating perks are paid through continual dues.

 

[reneesam]

I'm glad the resale prices didn't go up as quickly as the perks went away...I bought my 300 pt resale for $50/point with 582 banked points in 2000. I may not be an oldtimer but I paid oldtimer prices! When I see the ROFR and resale prices today, I can't believe it.

 

[Chuck S]

HH is right,

Many of those "perks" would now come out of the resort operating budget, and be spread around to all of us. Back in the early 1990s they came from marketing, to encourage us to add on points (it worked). Now, DVC pretty well sells itself...extensive marketing is no longer needed.

Buyers no longer feel it is "risky" since it now has a verifiable history to the program, and more than 1 resort. Back then, DVC could have failed, and the management of the resort could have been contracted to outside companies, although still a slight possibility, it was a very REAL possibility in the early years.

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Originally posted by Maistre Gracey
Yes, I believe we are saying the same thing.
Nothing is free, and we pay for these perks through higher point costs. We just "pre-pay" for the marketing perks, where as operating perks are paid through continual dues.

But the puchase prices that they charge are based on what the market will pay, not directly on the underlying costs.

For example, when they stopped providing park passes at OKW, the price per point did not go down.

Conversely, the slow sales at Vero Beach caused Disney Vacation Development to incur higher carrying costs for unsold inventory and higher marketing costs, but they couldn't raise the raise the price at Vero higher than at the other DVC resorts to make up for it. (I'm not attacking Vero; it's a wonderful resort.)

If Marketing sends me free DVC Frisbee tomorrow, it won't ever cost me a dime in any way, because I don't plan to buy any more DVC points. And for people who do buy more points, the cost per point won't be adjusted to reflect the cost of buying, packing, and mailing Frisbees.

In contrast, there is a direct correlation between the operating budget (including the set management fee) and annual member dues. If everyone checking in gets at a DVC resort get a Frisbee as a welcome gift, paid for out of the operating budget, then our dues per point will go up based on the cost of those Frisbees at each resort, divided by the total number of points at the resort.

 

[simba3]

We bought in September 1995 and the perks like the free park passes for half the room guests, eg. studio sleeps four=2 free passes were terrific. It was all marketing but nice incentives to join. DVC is still a great way to vacation with a group of people who really like the Disney atmosphere. I do think that this committed group should enjoy more consideration in terms of discounts on passes since after all we are loyal and our additional visits to the parks would more than offset the discount.
That would make sense to me.