I hope I don't sound ungrateful

[Bexx]

But is anyone else bothered by the way that the points needed for a Member Getaway goes up and up each year. Certainly the points for The Disney Collection seem to have risen sharply in just the last couple of years.

Going to WDW it isn't such an issue. We will just stay at 'Home' or possibly one of the other lovely DVC resorts. But being so comparitively close to Paris it's an obvious choice for a Disney fix when we don't or can't go to Florida. But I don't know if, in years to come, we will be able to justify using so many of our precious points just for a couple of nights.

We're obviously very lucky to be DVC members and can look forward to visits to WDW. I realise that Member Getaways are a perk rather than a right, but for people like ourselves with a modest number of points, there will come a time when they won't even be an option.

Okay, moan over. Next time I'll be more cheerful!

Becky

 

[vernon]

This has been the topic of many a long discussion/debate on the Main (US) DVC boards. I am in agreement with you that the rises have been unrealistic.
IMHO the points you "pay" to swap out of your DVC resorts are used by Disney to rent out room space and , in general, the amount they can get from renting out the DVC resorts should go up/down at the same rate the rooms you are swapping into. The number of points to rent a room, say at the GF, should remain reasonably constant. I know there was a lot of "reasoning" that because Disney was relatively quiet last year this was why the Disney collection points were increased, but IMHO it's ridiculous that to use points for a moderate hotel costs 2.5 times the amount of points it does to stay on a "DVC" resort.I understand that Disney doesn't want this program to be a cost to DVC but I simply don't believe that Disney can lose out on that trade. I feel either they are being far too cautious/defensive in their pricing ( in order to make sure it isn't a cost), they are trying to maximise their "profit" on these types of trade or they are actively trying to discourage these trades. I feel the Disney collection is a necessity with the points system of DVC to act as a safety valve to cope with differing supply and demand times. Without that valve it is theoretically possible that you get a bottleneck where 50% of the members wish to use their points all in say 20% of the year. Clearly that isn't going to be able to happen so either people will lose their points or have to go , if possible, at a time they don't want to.

It is a slightly different case with DLP because DLP isn't owned completely by Disney and could, in theory, have a very different supply and demand/cost basis to WDW. While I think there is most definately a limit for how much it should rise by ( and it certainly shouldn't be EVERY YEAR as it has been) I can see the arguement that the points prices could fluctuate much more than the Disney Collection where IMHO supply and demand between DVC resorts and the others on WDW should remain much more constant. WIth DLP, because passes are included, I think much depends on the nuimber of people you fill the room with. For 2 people it really isn't such a good deal, for 3 it's an OK deal ( if you have to use your points up) and for 4 people it's a resonable deal that you could justify even if you weren't in a "use em or lose em" situation with your points .

 

[Penny12]

Uh, yeah to everything Vernon said

Penny

 

[Sue's Mum]

That very thought struck me last week when I was browsing through the Guidebook. Much as I hate to admit it, there isn't really anything we can do - we (as in Tony and I) can't keep buying points each year - great though that would be!