Interesting Chat with DVC Executive Office yesterday

[cvjw]

I had a nice conversation yesterday with a CM from the DVC Executive Office. He had called me about an email that I sent to MS wanting to know why DVC members weren't allowed to book the Premium Dining Plan. He told me about several new perks for DVC members that were being discussed in the office. Please take with a grain of salt - but I thought they were all great ideas!

1) DVC members may be allowed to book the Premium and Platinum Dining plans at a reduced rate.
2) DVC members may get to book the regular dining plans at a reduced rate to make up for the free dining deals given to non-DVC members.
3) Discounts on regular park tickets since not all DVC members take advantage of the AP discount.
4) Tiered benefits being discussed - he would not offer any specifics on this, only said it was actively being discussed. He said he might be subject to bodily harm if any info got out.

 

[CMOORE185]

Interesting, it would be nice to see some perks added instead of taken away! They would be very nice perks too that could save a significant amount of money

 

[mmjm]

That sounds great, especially the park passes/ticket discount! Lets hope they go through with it.

 

[a742246]

Hopefully they will act on some of these proposals.

 

[TisBit]

I think you have to take all of those points together and you will see them rolled into tiered benefits. So if you own X number of points you might be able to get discounted tickets, next step dining plan and tickets, next premium or regular dining plan and tickets, etc etc

 

[DisDad07]

I would love to see some perks come to DVC members, since we usually are left out of some. Yes we do have are share, but we also return to WDW more often then most.

 

[DVCconvert]

4) Tiered benefits being discussed - he would not offer any specifics on this, only said it was actively being discussed. He said he might be subject to bodily harm if any info got out.

Well call 'em back!

I mean, what's a few weeks in a cast when the Dis'ers want to know more!!

 

[marko]

I would love to be able to book the platinum plan with our DVC stay.

 

[cvjw]

Well call 'em back!

I mean, what's a few weeks in a cast when the Dis'ers want to know more!!

I do still have his phone number!!

 

[s830632]

How does this normally work, when they add perks? Do they only give them to people who buy new or do they normally give them to all DVC owners? I'm just curious because of how they're handling resales and direct sales differently now (in regards to perks).

It would be great if they offered some sort of discount for the dining plan and tickets, the loss of the free dining plan was a huge factor when we were trying to decide whether to buy DVC, but obviously since we knew there was no guarantee that they'd keep giving that offer, it ultimately didn't effect our decision, but, I would think they might be losing some business because of this.

 

[DVCconvert]

How does this normally work, when they add perks? Do they only give them to people who buy new or do they normally give them to all DVC owners? I'm just curious because of how they're handling resales and direct sales differently now (in regards to perks).
.

I think this leaves 26.



Well, all we have to go on is past history. In the past Perks have been made avaliable to all members. Perks shouldn't be confused with incentives ie. gift cards, X$ off add ons etc.

 

[s830632]

I think this leaves 26.


.

No no, it's 25, I gave you guys a break yesterday

 

[DVCconvert]

No no, it's 25, I gave you guys a break yesterday

BaWHahahahaaa!!! OK!.......My Bad!

 

[paults]

#3 -I sure hope the first perk is for park tickets because everybody needs tickets to get in. EVERYBODY
#1-2- As far as dining plans , not everyone wants to do the plans so it would only benefit those who want them. I for one do not like the DP and I'm sure there are lots of others who don't use it either.

#4- looks like tiered could be the way to go

 

[Brian Noble]

Carnac the Magnificent predicts that none of these three will happen:

1) DVC members may be allowed to book the Premium and Platinum Dining plans at a reduced rate.
2) DVC members may get to book the regular dining plans at a reduced rate to make up for the free dining deals given to non-DVC members.
3) Discounts on regular park tickets since not all DVC members take advantage of the AP discount.

...except as part of this:

4) Tiered benefits being discussed - he would not offer any specifics on this, only said it was actively being discussed. He said he might be subject to bodily harm if any info got out.

Why? DVC Members are a captive audience. Disney does not need to incentivize them to come, because they are already committed to coming. There is no need to "make up for" the 'free' dining promotion, because that's designed to attract people who are not already committed.

Instead the discounts provided to DVC members tend to be designed to drive business to under-utilized amenities---less popular restaurants at less popular times, etc. I suppose I *could* see a discount on maybe the Premium plan, in part because it's so vastly profitable for Disney as it is priced today. But, ultimately, such broadly-appealing discounts would likely be offered as the carrot to get people to add on more points---direct from Disney, of course.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

I could see the tickets. My company has a relationship with Disney, and we are able to purchase tickets at 12% off of face value. They could extend that more broadly fairly "inexpensively."

 

[Brian Noble]

They could extend that more broadly fairly "inexpensively."

Well, for starters, a 10% discount on admission would have a non-trivial impact on the per-capita spending numbers in the quarterly and annual reports. It's a good year when per-caps go up a percentage point or two faster than inflation. Mickey generally won't discount the gate unless there is more cheese in it for him somehow.

The business relationships are a nice carrot for major sponsors/advertisers, etc. My brother and SIL work for a major cereal company---the exclusive provider of breakfast cereal to Disney Parks & Resorts as it happens---in exchange for a marketing fee paid to Disney. That's a mutually beneficial arrangement that brings more sales and exposure to the cereal company, and additional revenue to Mickey. The company gets some goodwill by offering ticket discounts to its employees.

But, why would the Parks division do this for DVC? What is in it for them? Not much----unless DVC pays them for the privilege. Where does DVC get *that* money? Well, new point sales could be one source. And that's why I think it would have to be tied to the tiered benefit program.

 

[Granny]

Why? DVC Members are a captive audience. Disney does not need to incentivize them to come, because they are already committed to coming. There is no need to "make up for" the 'free' dining promotion, because that's designed to attract people who are not already committed.

Maybe DVC members are not going to the parks as often as they have in the past? I know this board is not a statistical sample, but we certainly do see more people talking about non-park vacations than they have in the past. Especially if Disney doesn't plan on investing into major new attractions like Universal recently did, they may want to test the ticket discounting.

Just a thought, but on the whole I agree that we probably shouldn't expect much in the way of new perks unless it is tied to a tiered system.

 

[Lewisc]

"Free" dining is offered instead of resort discounts. Offering discounted or free dining to guests staying on points makes as much sense has giving those guests a check when Disney is offering discounts.

 

[3 Hobbits 2 Disney]

But, why would the Parks division do this for DVC? What is in it for them? Not much----unless DVC pays them for the privilege. Where does DVC get *that* money? Well, new point sales could be one source. And that's why I think it would have to be tied to the tiered benefit program.

Brian, I don't disagree. I can see it being tied to a tiered benefit program at the "mid-range level"-- say 201 to 500 points....with it being graduated 5% for 201 to 301...302 to 500 10% etc.

What's in it for the parks, perhaps some time of goods program...they may be finding that the homogenization of souvenirs has finally cut into their margins more than they care for.