More Disney trips pre or post DVC?

[rutgers1]

I have read that the hotels division and DVC division are at odds over the value of DVC to the company as a whole, with the hotel people saying that DVC guests take money away from the hotels since they would have stayed in the hotels had they not purchased DVC. Here are my thoughts:

1) Pre DVC, I traveled to Disney basically every third year. Now I intend to go every year. That wouldn't have happened had I not bought into DVC.
2) Pre DVC, I stayed primarily at moderate hotels, and my stays were shorter than my intended post DVC stays, which means that my DVC ownership actually funnels more money into Disney (dining, park tickets, etc.) than I would have spent previously.
3) I have a feeling that Disney has studied this issue every which way possible and found that most DVC owners are like me (either traveling to Disney more often or using DVC to upgrade their accommodations...and spending more on dining, tickets, etc.). So, while it is true that we are not paying rack rates at the Grand Floridian or comparable high-priced Disney hotel, we are funneling much more money to Disney than we would have previously.

Am I off base?

 

[DeeCee735]

I fully agree, and the same is true of our post DVC travels...

 

[AKV707]

I agree completely. I am sure that Disney generates more revenue from DVC gusts than a cash paying resort guest. Between the buy in cost, (and investment return on that), the dues, the frequency of trips, the length of stay and the $$ spent, they love us DVC members.

I definitely see us staying longer, going more often and spending more.

I mean, companies don't sell time shares to lose money, do they?

Where did you see that the resorts and DVC were having a squabble?

 

[rutgers1]

AKV707....I read it on another Disney board. From reading that board, I get the impression that various Disney boards don't want people linking out to other boards, so I will refrain from posting a link out of courtesy to this board.

Back to the conversation........Before I bought my DVC in April, my wife and I agreed that we would go to a local beach between Disney trips. We would either hit Disney every second or third year, with a cheaper beach trip separating the trips. Now the plan is to go to Disney with every possible trip. If we want a beach, we will try to trade into the Hilton Head or Vero Beach DVC resorts. In other words, Disney is getting most if not all of our vacation dollars. My guess is that a lot of people in our boat.

 

[TenThousandVolts]

Now that I have DVC I spend more pocket money while vacationing at Disney. More fine dining, more specialty tours...On our last trip DH did the scuba tour at Epcot, I bought Cirque tickets for our guests... Would not have felt able to splurge for those if we had a $2-3K hotel bill to total into our budget. On the next trip I plan on doing a specialty safari. It just feels like we can spend more since we (incorrectly) calculate our lodging as "free" when budgeting our trips.

Another thing to consider is how many DVCers bring guests who would not have come to Disney otherwise. I have only been a DVC member for 2 years and we have brought people who would not have come otherwise on 2 of our trips so far. More guests planned for our next trip also.

 

[DisDaydreamer]

Not a lot for us, but they are still getting more visits from us than had we not purchased DVC.

 

[LSchrow]

more trips (only makes sense with discounted APs ).
like others, spend more money (tours, dining, PI/cirque, etc) b/c we're not spending thousands on a room, & have been often enough that we enjoy more of what WDW has to offer than just the parks.

 

[Caskbill]

Pre DVC it would be several years between trips. Now it's more like twice a year.

Pre-DVC we stayed mostly off-site. I remember once we stayed at All-Stars, and once at Port Orleans, but everything else was off site.

Pre-DVC we tended to go to other area attractions a lot. Now we tend to buy Disney AP's and go to the Disney parks a lot more.

Post DVC we have stayed at All-Stars, Pop Century, and Carribbean Beach, all on weekends between our regular 5-night DVC stays.

 

[oakmanner]

For us, when we were cash paying guests, we would visit WDW once a year, typically in a moderate resort. Now that we have purchased DVC we will be going twice a year.

Dennis-

 

[Mickey'sApprentice]

Pre-DVC: 4 to WDW trips in 13 years
1 trip every 3.25 years for 2 people.

Post DVC:
3 trips to WDW, and 2 trips to HH in 38 months
1 trip to Disney per year, 1 trip to HH every other year.
Average 5 people per trip to WDW.
(We've been popular lately.) Hmmm

Our hotel savings have went for airfare, and has eliminated our nights at a value on the way in and way out. That's due to proximity.

If it had not been for DVC, Disney would not have gotten any money from us this past January because we would have not gone.

 

[StotheK]

I didn't read the other forum, but, I'm guessing that the hotel division is up in arms because DVC eats into their division's profits. As many people have said the overall company probably is brining in more money from DVC members due to extended stays, more frequent visits, extended family coming along etc...But somewhere there's probably a hotel division VP sweating because his or her numbers are down while the DVC unit's revenue numbers keep going up. The free dining plan promotions for cash guests I think is a good indicator that they're trying to drum up more business.

That being said I know I go A LOT more since I pretty much had no intention of going to Disney more than every 5 years. But then my DW convinced me to buy DVC and along came one kid and another on the way. Now I'm trying to convince the missus that we should time our trips so that we have more than 1 in a consecutive 12 month period so we can get APs

Even if we did go to Disney more because we now have children, I sure as heck wouldn't be staying in Deluxe resorts any longer, nor would I be toting the in-laws with us, or going before the children turned 5 and so on. DVC has definitely made our leisure spending much more Disney-centric.

The other thought I just had is that DVC members probably also help bring guests onsite during off times. Some of the slowest times for the resort in general like early December are super-popular DVC times.

I have read that the hotels division and DVC division are at odds over the value of DVC to the company as a whole, with the hotel people saying that DVC guests take money away from the hotels since they would have stayed in the hotels had they not purchased DVC. Here are my thoughts:

1) Pre DVC, I traveled to Disney basically every third year. Now I intend to go every year. That wouldn't have happened had I not bought into DVC.
2) Pre DVC, I stayed primarily at moderate hotels, and my stays were shorter than my intended post DVC stays, which means that my DVC ownership actually funnels more money into Disney (dining, park tickets, etc.) than I would have spent previously.
3) I have a feeling that Disney has studied this issue every which way possible and found that most DVC owners are like me (either traveling to Disney more often or using DVC to upgrade their accommodations...and spending more on dining, tickets, etc.). So, while it is true that we are not paying rack rates at the Grand Floridian or comparable high-priced Disney hotel, we are funneling much more money to Disney than we would have previously.

Am I off base?

 

[dianeschlicht]

Yep, same for us. Pre-DVC we would go every 2-3 years and stay about 5 days. Post-DVC we started out going once a year, and quickly changed to 2-3 times a year. Our stays have gone from 5 days to a week, and now to 10-12 days. Sure, se stayed in the deluxes and moderates before, but with more than quadrupling our visits, I'm quite sure we spend a LOT more at Disney now than we did then.

I think this fact is also why Disney has talked about having a DVC component to ALL the WDW resorts. It's a guaranteed booking as far as I can see.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

This should tell the story...
*Keep in mind that as the years went by, we were in a better financial situation to visit more often*

5/08 Vero Beach Resort, Animal Kingdom Villas, Villas at Wilderness Lodge
12/07 Villas at Wilderness Lodge
10/07 Villas at Wilderness Lodge, Vero Beach Resort, Animal Kingdom Villas
5/07 Vero Beach Resort, Villas at Wilderness Lodge
3/07 Grand Californian - (Cash)
12/06 Grand Floridian - (Cash)
10/06 Vero Beach Resort, Villas at Wilderness Lodge,
8/06 Grand Californian - (Cash)
5/06 Vero Beach Resort, Disney Wonder, Villas at Wilderness Lodge
12/05 Villas at Wilderness Lodge
10/05 Vero Beach Resort, Villas at Wilderness Lodge,
8/05 Polynesian
5/05 Hilton Head Island Resort, Vero Beach Resort, Villas at Wilderness Lodge - (HHI Cash)
12/04 Villas at Wilderness Lodge
10/04 Yacht Club, Villas at Wilderness Lodge - (1/2 Yacht Club Cash)
4/04 Animal Kingdom Lodge, Vero Beach Resort, Villas at Wilderness Lodge
10/03 Vero Beach Resort, Villas at Wilderness Lodge
1/03 Vero Beach Resort, Polynesian, Villas at Wilderness Lodge
9/02 Vero Beach Resort, Villas at Wilderness Lodge
--------- Purchased DVC-------------
2/02 Polynesian
5/01 Animal Kingdom Lodge
12/00 Wilderness Lodge
5/00 Polynesian
9/99 Polynesian
9/98 Wilderness Lodge, Polynesian
5/97 Polynesian
3/96 Polynesian
5/95 Polynesian
5/94 Polynesian
8/93 Polynesian
8/92 & many before Off Site

MG

 

[spiceycat]

when I brought DVC, values did not exist. so stayed mostly in moderates with one trip each year to a deluxe (generally Dec - it was much, much cheaper to stay in Dec then - you got some great deals)

went twice each year.

with DVC go at least 4 times - soon to be twice with the price of gas making everything go up - but will stay longer. have gone 7 times in one year

on the average about 5 times.

lately though been spending a fortune on souveniors... don't why it is really silly - because most of the stuff I have been buying can buy offsite for less than half the price.

also still stay in WDW resorts. first few trips pay cash for weekend stays, then sometimes points for thursday night stays. Now with the value resorts will pay cash.

this year we are doing the free dinning thing again. so yea I would not be paying almost $1,000 to stay at Pop Century with 4 adults for free dinning without DVC for 6 nights.

 

[Greg K.]

Considering the EXPLOSIVE growth in the DVC since we started going to Disney World in '96, I can't see how anyone at Disney can complain about all the money DVCers are generating for them. We are one reason their stock is holding up so well -- which only benefits all the Disney employees who have 401 (k) investments...

Let's look at the hotel and DVC picture...

I mean, since '96 they've built:

• The Board Walk Villas
  [*]Wilderness Lodge Villas
  [*]The Beach Club Villas
  [*]Saratoga Springs
  [*]The Animal Kingdom Lodge
  [*]The Bay Lake Tower
  [*]The Grand Californian Villas

And they have, on the drawing boards, a big resort in Hawaii. Plus, who-knows-what with the Treehouse area near Saratoga Springs. Not insignificantly, the most recent DVC additions at WDW -- SSR, AKL and BLT -- are HUGE.

Meantime, hotel-wise, they've built:

• The Animal Kingdom Lodge
  [*]Pop Century
  [*]The Grand Californian
  [*]Coronado Springs
  

There's the big Four Seasons resort under construction -- but it's unclear how much profit from that, if any, will go Disney's way.

Seems to me, Disney knows where its bread is buttered. And it knows that with the DVC, it's getting customers who will keep coming back for a generation or more.

To the original question: we were visiting Disney on average every 18 months. Now it's every year. And for longer periods. We consistently stay for two weeks or more. KA-CHING