I agree with disneynutz.
Timeshares have had horrible reputations among the general public for years. If you do any sort of an Internet search, it will only take seconds to find stories of awful high-pressure sales tactics, nonexistent resale values, poor resort upkeep, impossible trades, and so on. But that hasn't stopped Marriott, Bluegreen, DVC, Wyndham and many others from thriving.
Even specific to DVC there are people reading these threads and rolling their eyes at the comments made. Those who do the math and discover they can not only "own a piece of the Mouse" but vacation for 25-35 cents on the dollar for decades to come will be quick to dismiss a $12 valet parking fee. After all, cash guests have to make that decision all the time--free self parking or pay for valet.
I realize that's not exactly the point of this thread but I also think many of us overvalue how the bulk of DVC membership views the program and/or its leaders. Jay Rasulo, as head of the entire parks division, is ultimately responsible for the current state of Walt Disney World. People talk about maintenance not being as good, CMs not being as good, wages being too low, park hours being shorter, parks not being as clean, restaurant food being poor....all of that points back to Rasulo.
I've never met Lewis and certainly have no loyalty to him as DVC head. But anyone who has worked for a large company knows that unless you're the guy at the top, you are receiving direction from above. Let's not pretend that Lewis has unilateral decision making power when it comes to constructing a new work facility, commissioning IT systems and doling out perks which impact other areas of the company.
I used to be Director of an IT department. I did my best to run my department efficiently and give other employees the tools they needed to do their jobs. But there were times--many times--when upper management backed me into a corner. Either I couldn't get funding for a project or they weren't responsive to suggestions no matter how well reasoned. Other times it was their decisions which put me at a disadvantage--commitments made to clients that I then had to figure out a way to meet.
Lewis was one of the top three candidates to take over as president of
Disneyland. For all we know, every single thing for which Lewis is being criticized is a result of him acting EXACTLY how his superiors wish to see him act.
If there's any one person in the Disney executive management structure I would be willing to point a finger at it's Rasulo. Sometimes I think Lewis' biggest crime is actually putting a public face on DVC rather than hiding behind closed doors like Rasulo. Makes Lewis an easier target.
The prior head of DVC did a pretty good job of damaging the product, IMO. Post OKW resorts had the smaller rooms and larger
point charts. Terrible website. Many little design touches removed from OKW rooms. Rotten location decisions for Vero and HHI resorts. 40 year contracts at BCV. Point charts too high for SSR. Those were all huge issues in their day and many continue to haunt us today. But then Lewis' predecessor was something of an invisible lame duck so we're left looking at that as "the good 'ole days", I guess....
I realize mine isn't a popular viewpoint, but I think it's closer to reality than what some seem to expect. Perhaps I'm wrong and we will eventually have a leader who communicates both positive and negative changes weeks before they occur, one who actively seeks to pile more and more new perks upon members and can still find time to spot check a few DVC rooms before heading home for the night. If that happens, I'll give y'all a couple of these

and agree that I should have changed my POV a long time ago. But it just doesn't seem consistent with what we have come to expect from Disney.
We still cherish our
Disney vacations and won't be chucking them for Six Flags or Universal anytime soon. Front line CMs are still fantastic and make a great effort to make do with the tools they are given. But at its highest levels, the company is obviously focused on financial performance. You could argue that has been the case dating back 54 years to when Walt gave his team only a year to build Disneyland and then opened it with soft pavement, non-functional plumbing and attractions that wouldn't run.