Member Dinner - our 1st DVC fail!

[mndisfam]

Ok, before I start my criticism ... We have owned for 11 years and have loved every vacation, cruise etc. If we have ever had any issues, they were solved or we forgot.

So, having said that. We went to the DVC Member Exclusive Xmas Eve dinner. Our family decided that DVC saved up every fail we never had and gave it to us for that dinner. No joke.

First, it was $90 a person. At the Contemporary. The Contempotary isn't very Christmasy, but we KNEW DVC would fix that with decorations, etc, bcs hey - it's DVC. We also KNEW that at that price, the food would be amazing!

Wow - were we SO WRONG! Before we walked into the Contemporary ballroom, they had drinks, cookies with a Xmas choir in the lobby. We thought, "wow, how nice!" And that was the first and last "exclusive " thing we experienced.

The ballroom is cavernous, and does not lend itself to ANY decorations. It was like eating in a high school gym. The tables were set up pretty tho, with beautiful fresh rose bouquets we could keep.

Instead of Xmas type music, they had a dJ on the other end of the ballroom blasting music for little kids. It was TOO loud to talk at our table. I am 53, and I think all music is loud, but my college and high school kids complained too.

And now for the food. I kept thinking I was at one of my kids school banquets. Boring tossed salad with maybe two dressings, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, turkey, prime rib for sure. I think also candy yams and rolls? There may have been a few other things, but I don't recall.

The food they had was again - athletic banquet taste and salt level. The prime rib was good tho. You know when u go somewhere and they fill small plastic trays with ice and then put the canned soda in the ice trays? That's what they did. Again, no problem at backyard parties or school banquets, but not for $90 a person!

If u wanted something else, there was a portable well stocked bar on the other side. I don't drink, but I thought I would get sparkling water there. There was a bartender and a lady with a big roll of paper raffle tickets like u use at a fair, or again, and school fundraisers. She gave me a paper ticket, I gave it to the bartender, and then I got my soda. It was so weird...

There was a small dessert table of rice Krispy desserts and bite size tarts, which were good.

I can't believe they had the nerve to charge $90 pp. Every aspect was SO subpar we kept waiting, kind of, for something good to happen.

There were large groups of families at tables. I was thinking these groups easily paid $1000 for this event. Seriously, if I had dragged non DVCers to this dinner and asked them to pay, I would be SO embarrassed.

I don't KNOW what the heck DVC was thinking, or if something went really bad, but this was a huge fail.

 

[daisyduck123]

Ok, before I start my criticism ... We have owned for 11 years and have loved every vacation, cruise etc. If we have ever had any issues, they were solved or we forgot.

So, having said that. We went to the DVC Member Exclusive Xmas Eve dinner. Our family decided that DVC saved up every fail we never had and gave it to us for that dinner. No joke.

First, it was $90 a person. At the Contemporary. The Contempotary isn't very Christmasy, but we KNEW DVC would fix that with decorations, etc, bcs hey - it's DVC. We also KNEW that at that price, the food would be amazing!

Wow - were we SO WRONG! Before we walked into the Contemporary ballroom, they had drinks, cookies with a Xmas choir in the lobby. We thought, "wow, how nice!" And that was the first and last "exclusive " thing we experienced.

The ballroom is cavernous, and does not lend itself to ANY decorations. It was like eating in a high school gym. The tables were set up pretty tho, with beautiful fresh rose bouquets we could keep.

Instead of Xmas type music, they had a dJ on the other end of the ballroom blasting music for little kids. It was TOO loud to talk at our table. I am 53, and I think all music is loud, but my college and high school kids complained too.

And now for the food. I kept thinking I was at one of my kids school banquets. Boring tossed salad with maybe two dressings, stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes, turkey, prime rib for sure. I think also candy yams and rolls? There may have been a few other things, but I don't recall.

The food they had was again - athletic banquet taste and salt level. The prime rib was good tho. You know when u go somewhere and they fill small plastic trays with ice and then put the canned soda in the ice trays? That's what they did. Again, no problem at backyard parties or school banquets, but not for $90 a person!

If u wanted something else, there was a portable well stocked bar on the other side. I don't drink, but I thought I would get sparkling water there. There was a bartender and a lady with a big roll of paper raffle tickets like u use at a fair, or again, and school fundraisers. She gave me a paper ticket, I gave it to the bartender, and then I got my soda. It was so weird...

There was a small dessert table of rice Krispy desserts and bite size tarts, which were good.

I can't believe they had the nerve to charge $90 pp. Every aspect was SO subpar we kept waiting, kind of, for something good to happen.

There were large groups of families at tables. I was thinking these groups easily paid $1000 for this event. Seriously, if I had dragged non DVCers to this dinner and asked them to pay, I would be SO embarrassed.

I don't KNOW what the heck DVC was thinking, or if something went really bad, but this was a huge fail.

Thank you for sharing. This is very good info to have.

Next time my family is in WDW at Christmas time we we will stick to the Xmas plans we had last time: Christmas Eve dinner at 1900 PF, Xmas morning at 'Ohana, & Xmas dinner at Chef Mickey's. My kids loved it!

 

[Docmom]

I've read similar complaints about the Thanksgiving dinner but at least they said they got a game. Did they at least do that at the Christmas dinner? Have you written member services? I think the powers that be need to know when people have such a poor experience.

 

[mndisfam]

Yup, we got a nice Disney DVC scrabble set. And we walked out with a beautiful bouquet ... fresh roses. Also, I forgot, a nice DVC cookie tin for each person with a cookie in it.

The swag was GREAT. Everything else was bad! We felt like maybe they used their budget on the swag?

 

[mkunichi]

I'm not particularly familiar with the cost of catering at the Contemporary, but could this just be a rack rate catered affair? It's Christmas so it's bound to be high season rates.

Sad, but it does sound like DVC didn't kick in any extra budget for this affair. Is this the first year?

 

[Micca]

Thanks for your report, and for "taking one for the team." I'm sorry it was so plain & ordinary at that high cost. I'm afraid Disney's days of serving high quality food at any price are over (with a few exceptions.) As Theme Park fare, it's above average, but as far as expecting anything extraordinary, I've pretty much thrown in the towel. I just tell myself I could be eating Applebee's food looking out at a strip mall at home, or eating Applebee's quality food looking out at a castle in the Fla. sunshine.

 

[bellablue2]

i am so sorry. this is extremely sad to hear.

 

[disneynutz]

The Membership Magic events like the dinners or bowling are marketed to members but I was told by DVC management that they are for profit events and the profit does not go to the DVC or it's members.

Bill

 

[AlexisMaxMommy]

Did they at least have some characters or something else there?

I heard a lot of complaints about the Thanksgiving meal as well. I hope member services is listening to this feedback for next year.

 

[Chuck S]

That actually sounds a lot better that a $200 per plate meal I had at a convention in Las Vegas a few years ago.

 

[DebbieB]

I went to the Merry Mixer about 5 years ago outside Epcot. They gave free cider for drinks. I saw that the bar had cans of pop/soda. So I went up to get a Diet Coke, $4 for a can! Seriously? No thanks! So figure on 3 to 4 times normal price, your dinner was probably worth $25.

 

[mndisfam]

Yes,we did our picture taken with Minnie and Mickey and the Frozen Princesses. No lines!

"Little Known Fact" - the Contemporary Ballroom is where Nixon made his "I am not a crook" speech. Don't know if it's the same ballroom, but pondering that was about the highlight of our meal.

Again, except for the prime rib, the food was very marginal. We aren't fx lose to being foodies, and I always find a lot of things I like - even counter service.

It was really disappointing. Only thing I could think was that maybe so many servers etc were sick with the flu and they couldn't get chefs, ex.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

I'm not particularly familiar with the cost of catering at the Contemporary, but could this just be a rack rate catered affair? It's Christmas so it's bound to be high season rates.

Sad, but it does sound like DVC didn't kick in any extra budget for this affair. Is this the first year?

I'd guess that it is. I've attended several conventions at the CR - one was this past November and the dinner sounded like the standard catering set up in the ballrooms, right down to the drink ticket requirements. It works for a convention but it's nothing I'd care to do for a holiday dining option.

 

[SWofDisorder]

It sounds very disappointing with the poor presentation and subpar food. I would expect more from DVC for a major holiday. Do write to guest services and let them know your feelings on the event.

$90 for swag, I think I will pass.

 

[kylmac]

Nothing says Christmas like 9 Dragons at Epcot-loved it! So sorry to hear about your Christmas dinner. Not fun!
Elizabeth

 

[zavandor]

Characters meal are always way overpriced and Disney swag as well. Probably if we look for other dinner opportunities around WDW this isn't even the worst value, when you pay $12 for an hot dog that you need to eat standing because tables are overcrowded.
I think what's missing is the extra care one could expect from a special event for DVC members only AND for the holidays.
I understand events must be a profit (what is not in WDW?), but I think people would have paid even more in exchange for something really special.
Thank for your feedback. Until they'll understand how to make special events really special, I think I'll pass (I hate loud music as well).

 

[momof3poohlovers]

Someone posted about the Thanksgiving dinner and their experience was the same. Hopefully you left feedback. If enough people complain maybe they will do better next time. I am always thankful for those who post their reviews here because now I know never to even think about attending one of these dinners!

 

[iamdaisyduck]

Sounds like you paid for the swag much like the DVC Member Cruise. You pay a lot more but you do get your money's worth in swag. You could probably make your money back by selling some of it on ebay lol

 

[mello]

Thank you for sharing your experience. It sounds just like the Member Merry Mixer we attended at Epcot in December, with the addition of food. I'm getting SO tired of that super loud tween dance party music everywhere! It isn't so much that I don't like the music; it's that it's out of place and it's intrusive. The only place it really is appropriate, theme-wise, imho is in DTD, as it suits the busy/crazy/loud/festive/modern atmosphere there. The other day we were at Animal Kingdom and they were blasting it out by the Yak n Yeti quick service outdoor eating area. It deterred us from eating there -even my 11 yo dd said it was so loud it hurt her ears, and it was music she liked. But it was totally out of character for AK - not the right theme at all - completely ruined the ambience of being somewhere in Asia; felt like we were in Los Angeles instead. At events that are billed as Christmas Parties, there should be some Christmas music. In Asia, there should be some Asian music. And so on... It's like they just hire a generic dj anymore, and don't even put thought into the themeing.