It's officially a sad day

Evita_W

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 30, 2007
Messages
5,218
With very mixed feeling, we are selling our DVC contracts (resorts deleted), for several reasons:
  • I am dealing with cancer making in pretty much impossible for me to travel
    • If I can get back to being able to travel again, there are many other places besides Disney we plan to travel to, many that don't have the other issues I am going to mention.
  • But even more than that, there are so many issues with the changes Disney has made in recent years:
    • Still needing reservations in many cases
    • Shortened hours, when we originally bought in, the parks were open longer and at Disney World, virtually every day had extra magic hours for AT LEAST one park that were two hours early or three hours late. Now if we want extended hours more often than the little bit we get through staying at a DVC resort, it is $$$
    • If days were too busy, park hours would often get extended by 2 or 3 hours.
    • Fastpass was free, now it is $$$
    • DH was able to qualify for DAS (or equivalent at the time) and we didn't have to spend half of our time explaining his needs (now I have issues as well that also don't qualify for the DAS that need explaining) at every attraction. And due to these needs, multiple lightning lane doesn't work well either, especially since it only works once per attraction and there are several attractions we can't go on.
      • What really ticked DH was how quickly after the change was made Disney introduced the premiere pass, making it abundantly clear that the changes were about making $$$, not fixing issues that were indeed an issue that needed to be addressed, but there were better ways to handle it.
    • Less entertainment than there used to be with no indication that it will return.
    • And basically all of the little things that used to be included that are now once again $$$
    • Annual Pass/Magic Key prices are now insane compared to what they used to be
I mean Disney was never considered inexpensive by any means, but it used to be that you pay the price up front and didn't get nickeled and dimed every time you turned around, now you do and we finally just said enough is enough based on our situation.

We have had a lot of great vacations with DVC and was hoping for a better outcome than this, but in the end we had to do what is right for us. I mention these items here because I know Disney does see posts on these and other forums, so hopefully they might understand that what they are doing is indeed costing them guests that were once very much most likely to go to Disney over anywhere else.
 
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Hope your cancer journey is successful. I too think that so many of the changes just mean most guests now are in a get all you can in mode for the time you can afford and taking the parks at a more leisurely pace just isn’t what’s available to the average visitor. DVC used to be for us a way to relax and do the parks for part of the day for the days we were there and relax and enjoy the resorts for the other part.

I too noticed the hours aren’t what they used to be unless you pay for the price of nearly a second ticket for the day to stay into the evening.
 
First of all, I am very sorry to hear about your cancer diagnosis. I am a (breast) cancer survivor and cancer sucks. &*%*$# cancer. I am sending healing vibes to you as you fight.

Secondly, as a LONG time DVCer I agree with everything else you wrote. I personally am not eligible for a DAS, but I can see how the changes made things even more difficult for those who were eligible and suddenly not eligible. Add to that the cost cutting and increased pricing ... it's really out of control. We are getting far less and paying far more.

Adding to this, I have thought for a while that Disney is really not that into DVCers (and AP holders) any more. When we bought in the 1990's and even into the late 2000's DCV members and Annual Pass holders were the cream of the Disney crop. We were treated much differently then and appreciated as being guests who bought into the system and planned to return again and again. It seems that about 15 years ago the focus changed from repeat visitors like us to "once in a lifetime" visitors. The people who visit Disney parks with fully open wallets and FOMO driving them to purchase the DDP, holiday parties, LL premier passes, special tours and other extras. We frequent guests don't fall for the FOMO stuff since we know that we will return another time ... and Disney knows it.
 
Sorry to hear about your cancer situation and best of luck beating it! Things have changed a lot since my mother bought into DVC in 98. I don’t recall all the advanced planning to secure decent rooms and don’t think she would enjoy being a member in 2025. Perhaps that’s why she passed it to us. That being said my kids are now prime Disney age so we will try and make it work with the current situation and give them similar memories to what we had!
 
We considered DVC but never pulled the trigger, and I am so happy that we didn’t. We have wonderful memories, but have not returned to WDW since 2018 and Disneyland since 2019 because of all of the ridiculous changes. Our trips typically cost us $8,000 - $10,000. I cannot imagine how much they would cost now.

One day, when I have a grandchild, I would like to return. But until then, I will enjoy other wonderful vacations that cost less than half of what we used to spend on a Disney vacation.

Best wishes on your healing journey.
 
Sincere best wishes for a successful fight against cancer and for wonderful travel in future.
 
We have had a lot of great vacations with DVC

Best of luck with your recovery.

Good to focus on the positive - including the great vacations you had with DVC.

Silver lining - at least DVC timeshares have some resale value.
 
Yeah, we will come out ahead, so that's good at least.
Glad it works out. You have all the memories from past trips and hopefully things work out in the future. Who knows you might find a small resale contract in a few years when you are feeling better to add more memories.
 
Glad it works out. You have all the memories from past trips and hopefully things work out in the future. Who knows you might find a small resale contract in a few years when you are feeling better to add more memories.
Yes, we will have the great memories, but I doubt we will go for one, sadly Disney has changed too much from what it once was, but never say never.
 
Yes, a sad day. An ending.

Agree with all you said. We had to buy more days than we needed in order to use them over the course of 14 days. An 8 day ticket isn't valid that long. DH used DAS for a few years. Was denied this year. Got LL for a few days, used it for less than half the rides. The other rides are beyond our scope now.

We aren't selling DVC, but basically said good bye last trip. Trip was harder than I thought for DH. Had trouble stepping into easy rides like webway or spaceship earth. We sat for about an hour and said remember when this an that happened.

Our kids are on the contract so they will end up using the points or renting them out.

Best wishes on your health.
 



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