Member Insider January/February 2015 Email

[The Prophet]

Anyone get this mail and read the comments?

https://dvcmember.disney.go.com/post/-7686?CMP=EMC-DVCMFY15Q2DVCMemberStatement010008A

https://dvcmember.disney.go.com/post/-8625?CMP=EMC-DVCMFY15Q2DVCMemberStatement010004A

Does not reflect well on the current state of DVC


The Prophet

 

[nkosiek]

Have only started reading the comments on the 2015 extras and it seems to me that those owners don't understand what they bought and business as a whole. Lookedoutlogic or whatever his name is has been trying to point out to people that they need to be smarter consumers. Bill and a few others have tried to tell people on these boards that once Disney has your money you don't matter as much. All of these are true. What's shocking to me is how long some of the people moaning have been members.

Seriously, people are complaining they can't afford the vacation. How the hell did they afford the up front purchase cost? People are moaning about free dining. Do they see what the rack-rate for those rooms are? Do I think they could discount the cost of the dining plan a bit more, yes. That would probably be something they could do. Heck, the one easy/damn super cheap idea I saw was someone suggesting the length of stay mugs for free. I could see 1 per room but then you'd get people moaning because not everyone in the room got one. It really reads to me like people just don't understand what they bought. They bought the whole "club" thing as though they didn't buy a timeshare but instead joined some super Disney fan-club that would lead to fantastic discounts.

I get that OKW had some fantastic perks when it first opened that were guaranteed for a decade. Well, the decade is up. I think we could all come up with a list but Disney is not in the BUSINESS of giving things away, everything has a cost and as owners we would be the ones paying it through our dues.

 

[DebbieB]

Some make good points but some of the comments are unreasonable:

Agreed. I cant believe that any 'shmoe' off the street gets free dining, etc & we don't even get discounts on tickets (I can't afford to go more than 1x every couple years so an AP does me no good.) My dues just got jacked up too. Unhappy!

The "shmoe" off the street who gets free dining isn't getting a highly discounted room! Do you realize how much rack rates are? For example, a BWV studio in September free dining period is over $400 a night! Pay that and the "schmoe" can get free dining! Or use 10 points for a standard view studio per night weekdays.

We hate the fact that we have been members since 2000 and usually stay if we can at The Boardwalk. No one seems to even care we return 1-2 times a YEAR! It would be nice if they kept information like that and maybe give us a better view.

Because they return 1 to 2 times a year, they deserve an upgrade? Most members return every year!

 

[nkosiek]

Oh, there was more. A member at the BC who complains about the studio not having 2 beds:

We want 2 BEDS.....Absolutely NO Relic-From-the-Past-'Hide-a-bed'. They are not only embarrassing to offer my travel guest(s), they are horrible on your back. We want a CHOICE OF 2 BEDS. We paid a lot of $ for that privilege. (Privilege?)

.

Or check this one out:

unless I plan more then 6 months out I often cannot get a room reservation of more then 2 days together. cant always plan because of work. what irks me the most is that when I call and question this I am offered the very same resort at cash price.

Hellooooooooo! That's what you signed for numbskull.

 

[DebbieB]

Does not reflect well on the current state of DVC

The Prophet

It reflects the spoiled entitlement attitude of members. They want the highly discounted rooms they signed for in the contract, plus free dining, plus discounted tickets, plus everything else that was not in the contract.

Oh, there was more. A member at the BC who complains about the studio not having 2 beds:

They must have missed that when they viewed the model.

 

[disneynutz]

I don't care for the direction of the DVC but as long as Disney keeps making money from us, they have zero reason to change.

Time will tell what the future will be like. DVC may morph into a completely different animal.

Bill

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

It's been pretty unusual to have such a stream of negative comments like this on anything DVC puts out. I don't look at it as entitlement per say - but perhaps it's signaling that Disney has reached a point on price where the perception of value is waning. The costs in the parks for food and merchandise not to mention ticket prices have been far exceeding CPI increases. And when DVC started commanding the prices they are asking for DVC it's not surprising that demands will change. It's also not strange for people to start complaining about something that they've really enjoyed losing value in an attempt to get it back to a level they feel is appropriate. If that doesn't happen then the next response of annual visitors finding something different that does provide the value they want may be the shocker. But only time will tell just how much Pixie Dust exists in the Disney vaults.

One thing though - I don't know how many of those posts were from repeat posters that were responding to each other.

 

[ML_LovesDisney]

Wow, a lot of complaining on those comments. I read another comment string on the DVC member cruise the other day when I was trying to find out more about it. People were saying things like :"Why can't you have it when I can go? You need to have it this month". Sounds very entitled. I became a member of DVC so I could stay in a one bedroom every trip and not pay a huge amount of money each time. Everything else is just a bonus to me, so I don't feel the same as a lot of those comments. I priced out a cash trip for New Years Eve since I am low on points, and it would've been several thousand just for a standard room at a deluxe resort. I still love my DVC

 

[thebigman65]

Customer service issues aside....it seems a lot of people see their membership like they belong to some Country Club or All inclusive Time Share.....this is DVC....you get a discounted Deluxe Resort accommodation....that's it....that's all....perks are just that....PERKS!.....they come and they go....know before you buy..

 

[keaster]

I read through some comments through and yes, some people just don't seem to understand that this is a timeshare. We are fairly new to DVC (Joined in 2011), but we understood that there would be no free dining. Here are a couple comments I saw, the 2nd person obviously has no idea what they bought into:

Perks like free Wifi and/or free cell phone service on the Disney cruise ships. Maybe a free cabin category upgrade on the ships. Maybe some sort of discount percent chart could be created based on amount of points owned and length of ownership.

I have used my DVC points one time since buying in March 2014 and I already want to sell! Our perks should be early check in, unlimited bath towels, room cleaned daily and large discounts on park tickets and dining plan. DVC is the pits!!

 

[SpaceMountain77]

I have read through most of the comments and, to me, it seems as though many of those posters did not take the time to understand what they were purchasing. From comments on maintenance fees to trash & towel service, it seems that many would have benefited from reading ALL of the lines of their contract.

As I have expressed in many other threads, my only dissatisfaction is in regards to resort maintenance; I would appreciate better care of the villas. However, after reading those posts, it seems possible that there are many individuals with a sense of entitlement that may not be helping villa condition. You cannot make someone care, especially someone who thinks Disney/DVC owes them.

 

[jo-jo]

We did buy DVC for family trips and we do save on cost of rooms VS cash, but everything else is so expensive. I read a good number of the comments, one perk I would really like to see is a discount on all tickets.

And a DVC mug would be nice. Buy it and it's good for a yr and/or returning trips get a discount to reuse mug.

 

[Face Like Fizz]

Oh my, those comments have given me a good laugh! It is a shame though how many people have bought into DVC without being clear what they were buying. I can only assume none of them read the DIS DVC boards or they would have been better informed

 

[a742246]

I wonder how many who posted there bought resale?

 

[ZephyrHawk]

I don't get it. Some are saying they can never get the dates/resorts they want, and that booking is hard to do. I'm a brand new member, but I just booked rooms for myself, and my parents, and my husband's parents, and my husband's other parent, with zero trouble. Most of it was done online with 20 minutes investment (I did have to make one phone call today to modify something). Heck, I did several on my phone! How is that hard?! Mind you, this was all at my home resort, but when I bought it I picked a resort I knew I already liked so that I'd always have a good fall-back option.

 

[disneynutz]

I don't get it. Some are saying they can never get the dates/resorts they want, and that booking is hard to do. I'm a brand new member, but I just booked rooms for myself, and my parents, and my husband's parents, and my husband's other parent, with zero trouble. Most of it was done online with 20 minutes investment (I did have to make one phone call today to modify something). Heck, I did several on my phone! How is that hard?! Mind you, this was all at my home resort, but when I bought it I picked a resort I knew I already liked so that I'd always have a good fall-back option.

Depends on the popularity of the resort, size, room size, category, and time of year.

Eventually your day will come, just keep backup plans at the ready.

Bill

 

[keaster]

It's the people complaining about lack of housekeeping that gets me. Do they not realize that if we had daily cleaning that the dues would go up even more?!
And I guess I must be in the minority in that I don't want to be bothered by daily cleaning, especially days that we are not necessarily rushing out the door to get to a park.

It's a complete misunderstanding on their part, they think they are buying the hotel experience when they buy into DVC when they are in fact buying a timeshare which is completely different.

 

[nkosiek]

I don't think many of them think about how to get the most from their ownership either. Someone tried to explain how even going once a year, it pays to get an AP if you can schedule the trips 51 weeks apart.

I do think there are things DVC could "get" at reduced prices if they really tried but I"m not sure there are too many people in corporate who are trying to figure out how the members can/will spend more other than buying more points. The annual pass deal seems like a no brainer. The more time people spend in the parks the more likely they are to eat/buy stuff in the parks. A small discount on the dining plan would possibly make more people buy it or as someone suggested, how about letting us choose the number of days instead of a full length of stay. Disney would still make money and it wouldn't cost them anything. The mugs could be discounted and still make TONS of money. We all know soda is so very cheap that those mugs are HUGE profit makers, even with the added cost of the chips embedded in them. I mean $18 for more than 3 days. There's no way that Disney is raking it in hand over fist with those, and still would if they reduced the price 20% for DVC members. These are ideas but the thing about them are, if they don't come to fruition, that's okay. I'll use the reduced cost of lodging and enjoy the things I choose to partake in.

 

[keaster]

Also here's another one I found on the thread when the PVB was first announced:

Sounds fantastic, it would be great if DVC would give away a few short vacation stay packages to members as a FREE goodwill gesture to for the years of member support for DVC. Opening up DVC discount perks at O'hana and Kona would be terrific too

Seriously, they literally want a free vacation.

 

[keaster]

We did buy DVC for family trips and we do save on cost of rooms VS cash, but everything else is so expensive. I read a good number of the comments, one perk I would really like to see is a discount on all tickets.

And a DVC mug would be nice. Buy it and it's good for a yr and/or returning trips get a discount to reuse mug.

I agree that a discount on all types of tickets would be good!