How embarrassing! Perceptions of DVC members...

[veenstra56]

It just goes to show that there are idiots in every walk of life.

It bothers me to no end when I hear the words "ugly Americans" from some Europeans. I want to tell them that it's a small minority of Americans that make the vast majority look bad, and that they shouldn't judge the whole country by the behavior of so few.

Unfortunately, some people are going to generalize DVC owners the same way. We all know it's unfair, but we can only control our own behavior.

 

[flexsmom]

Planes I can tolerate!
It is the people that mope down the middle of Broadway 5 across holding hands gazing into every store that has I LOVE NY T-shirts 10 for $5.00. The people in front of Macy’s at Christmas time standing in the middle of the sidewalk looking in the windows as if it were a shrine while eating roasted peanuts chestnuts or dirty water dogs then we have the ones wandering aimlessly with a camera looking for the perfect shot and the ones who stop you “can you take our picture” The taxi line a half block long… People walk down two blocks stand on the curb 50 feet back from the traffic light when the light turns red look for an empty cab walk over to it open door and get in no whistling hand waving etc involved enjoy your vacation and stay out of the way I just don’t have time for this crap I gotta get to work. And YES it is one long sentence.

Wow - strong feelings! Bad week with all of the tourists?

You ought to try living in the Washington DC area - same deal, except most of these people are DRIVING instead of walking. When you have a location where one wrong turn or missed exit means you end up in the wrong STATE seconds later, people freak when they figure out they're lost or made a mistake. It just goes with the turf, though, and the choice of where to live, I suppose.

I was just in NYC a couple of weeks ago, probably accidentally behaving in the manner you described while herding 4 eight-year old girls through Central Park and down 5th Ave on foot to get to the holy shrine they call "American Girl", where I deposited large sums of cash to the American Girl gods, as well as to various delis and other sight-seeing locations during the day. Hopefully we didn't sink too much into our own little world not to notice how our actions impacted others around us!

Anytime you get that many people in that confined a space, I'm sure nerves will get frayed when people think others are not being mindful of the presence of all of the other people!

But I digress from my own OP post, sorry!

 

[maraki527]

Why I believe that was me doing that! (just joking)

I didnt realize how rude I sounded.

 

[Teyedoubleguhrrrr]

I nearly spewed pop all over my laptop!!!

Hey - in NY its SODA, not "pop". I think its that way in MA, too. And since we run the world because we live in these states AND are DVC members, well....

j/k - I just had to laugh b/c my hubby gives me so much grief when I say it - I grew up in OH, and it was pop!

 

[Anthony1971]

Wow - strong feelings! Bad week with all of the tourists?

You ought to try living in the Washington DC area - same deal, except most of these people are DRIVING instead of walking. When you have a location where one wrong turn or missed exit means you end up in the wrong STATE seconds later, people freak when they figure out they're lost or made a mistake. It just goes with the turf, though, and the choice of where to live, I suppose.

I was just in NYC a couple of weeks ago, probably accidentally behaving in the manner you described while herding 4 eight-year old girls through Central Park and down 5th Ave on foot to get to the holy shrine they call "American Girl", where I deposited large sums of cash to the American Girl gods, as well as to various delis and other sight-seeing locations during the day. Hopefully we didn't sink too much into our own little world not to notice how our actions impacted others around us!

Anytime you get that many people in that confined a space, I'm sure nerves will get frayed when people think others are not being mindful of the presence of all of the other people!

But I digress from my own OP post, sorry!

I just walk in the street. In NY somone is always in your way because we are always in such a rush.
It was suppose to be funny!

 

[fishermouse]

It just goes to show that there are idiots in every walk of life.

It bothers me to no end when I hear the words "ugly Americans" from some Europeans. I want to tell them that it's a small minority of Americans that make the vast majority look bad, and that they shouldn't judge the whole country by the behavior of so few.

Unfortunately, some people are going to generalize DVC owners the same way. We all know it's unfair, but we can only control our own behavior.

That goes both ways if I based my perception of Europeans on some of them I've seen in WDW it would be no wonder Columbus went searching for a better world, (alright he was looking for India but that won't fit my analogy). Point is I know better because I've also met some very nice people from around the world, while visiting other countries I have always been treated as a welcomed guest, I try to pass that on to visitors to our country, unfortumatly there are some "ugly Americans" as well as ugly Europeans and South Americans, never met a nasty Canadian must be thier just so happy to be warm. Lets face it there are a lot of A-holes out there. Just have to ignore them, they actually make themselves more miserable by being rude and most will stew about whatever made them angry for hours or days and have a lousy vacation, what a shame!

 

[ChelleinNC]

By the way, have you guys spent any time on the non-DVC DIS boards lately? There seems to be a contest to see if more lives have been ruined by the RnR Coaster's rehab, or Teppanyaki's. And these aren't just simple rehabs. Nooo. Both are part of evil Disney plots to trick and deceive people.

But that's just the tip of the iceburg. Check out the resort forum. Did you know that Disney *raised priced*. Oh. My. God. How could they do that. Apparently Disney made a secret vow to never raise prices and the betrayal of that vow has people's psyches in tatters. And if their psyches aren't in tatters, they are going to sue for force Disney to let them stay at 2007 rates.

I'll take the worst of our craziness over that any day.

We have been going to WDW for years and just bought DVC this summer. I certainly agree with this. I am laughing my rear off right now that I didn't even realize that Disney had raised resort rates.

Chelle's DH (who is being told to get his own darn log in)

 

[Mike©]

At first, I thought that perhaps I might consider doing this too. But then, I decided that on my future trips, I'm going wear as much DVC logo attire as possible, and be as nice and cordial to the CMs as possible. We've got to improve our reputation among the CMs.

This may be the wisest thing I've read so far. The wife and I have been taking this approach for several years now after witnessing "Bad DVC" behavior in the resorts and parks. We have several friends working as CMs and hear stories every time we get together. But it takes many good people to compensate for just one bad egg.

 

[Mike©]

I question the validity of this story. Why would a DVC member look for special treatment at POP?

I've witnessed DVC members wanting "Special Treatment" just about everywhere on property.

 

[wildernessDad]

We're taking our cloth DVC bag with us on this upcoming vacation. Well, not the slightly larger one with the 'We know the secret.' on it, but the smaller, more under-stated one.

If anything, it might put a shutter into the CMs. I keeed!

 

[G8RFAN]

i can definitely see where someone who has "invested" in DVC thinks that they are "entitled" to more. In a sense, we are entitled to perks and discounts which set some sort of precedence. But I think the majority of the people we have met at the DVC resorts are courteous and represent DVC owners proudly. Even though we live in a "customer is always right" environment, there are certain behaviours that should not be tolerated and any business should reserve the right to "fire" their clients.

 

[3disneyfansga]

I totally LOVE our DVC membership and wouldn't sell it for anything, but sometimes we do get the short end of the stick. We own at WDL and have found on occassion that hotel guests get treated better that owners. I am not sure if it is because they already have our money and know they will continue to get our dues each year according to contract but a hotel guest might go somewhere else next time. Most of the time we don't feel that way, but sometimes we feel like we are at a car dealer. They promise you the world and then once they have your money it is like 'that isn't covered by the warranty, sorry'. Anyway, just wanted to show the flip side. That being said, we can't wait until our next trip in November!!

 

[dunbarfamily]

I think we should all feel very fortunate that we were able to take advantage of a vacationing opportunity that most are not able to afford. I don't feel any more special or entitled compared to those who are not DVC members. Everyone's opportunities present at different times in peoples lives, and this really pales in comparison to having great health, constant employment, and a free society.

Very nice post, BWV Dreamin! We need to keep perspective!

 

[2Princes2Princesses]

Yes Chuck you are right having a little chuckle at such a boorish display. I am a New Yorker if you couldn't detect the sarcasm.
Sorry
Chris

Hey Chris...I am a NYer, too....other end of the state, though. Buffalo...one of the friendliest places I know of. (I guess when you get buried in snow enough, it forces you to be nice to your neighbors so they will come dig you out!!)

Anyway...I laughed at the comment. My cousin is a CM and I told her once..."I am a DVC member, an AP holder, and a NY'er! Look out!!!"

Seriously, you say you are from NY, and sometimes you can see the CMs clench up.

And by the way, in Buffalo, it is Pop, not soda. Rochester, too.

 

[dunbarfamily]

Well as far as I can remember a DVC member........
1.can do no wrong
2.wears a halo on our head
3.can voice opinions even that we know are wrong
4.can get "free food" any time we say we are DVC memeber
5.we can get first in line at 'any attraction"
6.We also can bump any non Disney DVC member off the bus
:

This is EXACTLY right! That's why we joined in the first place. I'm so looking forward to telling the CM, and any other guests around, that I paid a crapload of money for DVC, and as such, I am allowed to get free upgrades to a grand villa even though I paid for a one bedroom, free food, and I can swim at all the pools if I want.

I can't wait to get my font of the line passes! And the free park tickets!

 

[Deb & Bill]

I'm gonna get one of those new DVC perk paint ball guns and zap a few of these rude DVC members.

 

[rapisano]

This is EXACTLY right! That's why we joined in the first place. I'm so looking forward to telling the CM, and any other guests around, that I paid a crapload of money for DVC, and as such, I am allowed to get free upgrades to a grand villa even though I paid for a one bedroom, free food, and I can swim at all the pools if I want.

I can't wait to get my font of the line passes! And the free park tickets!

Hey thats right I forgot the upgeadw to the grandvilla Im in too!!

 

[rapisano]

This may be the wisest thing I've read so far. The wife and I have been taking this approach for several years now after witnessing "Bad DVC" behavior in the resorts and parks. We have several friends working as CMs and hear stories every time we get together. But it takes many good people to compensate for just one bad egg.

Well how about a DVC badge that says "BULID A BRIDGE AND GET OVER IT"

 

[jarestel]

Just a few random thoughts that occured while I was reading through this latest installment of "mean & nasty DVC members"...

I'm not sure how financially exclusive DVC is since the cost of 160 points is roughly equivilent to the price of a late model used car. One doesn't exactly need the resources of Scrooge McDuck to join up if you know what I mean. It would be laughable to most CMs if a guest bellowed "I can afford a used car, I'll have you know" in an attempt to intimidate and to get their own way. The "I'm a DVC member" war cry is similarly silly and maybe CMs should send a few loud guffaws the way of anyone who bleats this out thinking it means anything.

I haven't searched through the fine print in my contract, but I'm fairly confident that nowhere in there is a clause that makes one DVC member responsible for the actions of another. So I'm not embarrased, chagrined, or even moved to give one hoot about what another member did or didn't do. After all, it's nothing but foolish to label all members of any group guilty for the actions of a portion of the group. I can't believe most CMs are that petty or simple-minded.

 

[Sammie]

Just a few random thoughts that occured while I was reading through this latest installment of "mean & nasty DVC members"...

I'm not sure how financially exclusive DVC is since the cost of 160 points is roughly equivilent to the price of a late model used car. One doesn't exactly need the resources of Scrooge McDuck to join up if you know what I mean. It would be laughable to most CMs if a guest bellowed "I can afford a used car, I'll have you know" in an attempt to intimidate and to get their own way. The "I'm a DVC member" war cry is similarly silly and maybe CMs should send a few loud guffaws the way of anyone who bleats this out thinking it means anything.

I haven't searched through the fine print in my contract, but I'm fairly confident that nowhere in there is a clause that makes one DVC member responsible for the actions of another. So I'm not embarrased, chagrined, or even moved to give one hoot about what another member did or didn't do. After all, it's nothing but foolish to label all members of any group guilty for the actions of a portion of the group. I can't believe most CMs are that petty or simple-minded.

I totally agree. Owning DVC does not entitle any member to anything other than what is written in the POS. Considering some members possibly bought a resale that was even less than the 160 points, I don't think that "ownership" is enough money to make for bragging rights.

Considering Disney has many guests that return year after year, stay for long periods of time in their deluxe suites and drop thousands of dollars, I am not even sure DVC would come close to the big spender category.

Now a friend of mine was invited to a Disney deluxe wedding, all expenses paid for all guests for 3 nights, to a tune of $450,000, that is what I consider big spenders. They even rented out MGM after hours for a party at Rockin and Tower.