New FP program -- Will DVC members get special treatment?

[Pete W.]

This link was posted on the trip planning board: http://www.orlandoweekly.com/news/story.asp?ID=2883. If Disney is indeed thinking about instituting a "heirarchy" of FP programs, where do you think DVC members would rank? Since DVC members wouldn't usually book WDW vacations through the Disney Travel Company, would we lose out, or would Disney have to give us the same benefits and if they do, would that cause our dues to rise?

 

[Lesley]

It appears to me that the writer of the article is rather uninformed about the way WDW guest perks work.....he states that only guests who book through WDW Travel Company get the early entry mornings...when just about everyone on these boards knows that all on property guests get this no matter how they booked....through a travel agent, CRO, or WDWTC. He also states that on property guests would be paying more for fastpass...????....I just don't see his reasoning, perhaps its just a misprint.

So based on my own interpretation of the false information presented in the article...I'd say as DVC'rs we still count as WDW resort guests and would get the same fastpass privledges as all other WDW resort guests. They have us 24 hours a day while we're there. I don't see where it would make any difference at all in our dues.


Lesley


1979 Contemporary
1992 Off-site
1994 Carribean Beach
1999 Fort Wilderness and Coronado Springs
2000 Polynesian and Old Key West
2002 Boardwalk Villas

 

[RoutemanDan]

Jim Hill should learn how to proofread and get his facts straight.He's using the term front-of the-line fastpass.Fastpass is(as we all know)a Disney ticket,and front-of-the-line,is a Universal ticket.Thats just one example of his confusion.I've been reading his articles for a while.He's almost always negative,and never has a confirmed source.He was just recently let go from Mouseplanet.com ,and I for one will not miss him there.If Disney is going to make Fastpass a resort perk,better for us.I don't see how or why it should effect our dues.

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[wdw4us2]

I, too, was wondering what effect this would have on DVC members if it came to fruition. I'd hate to think we were being excluded from Fast Pass just because we don't have the need to book through WDW Travel Co.

 

[NFalzon]

The fact that Fastpass has affected the bottom line--quite positively in fact. The theme parks in general are undergoing a slow period (The Little Bush Recession).

How will it work towards DVC? I imagine if a resort-wide benefits system is enacted it will be given to all resort guests, and is just as much a sales booster for DVC sales as it would be for guests at regular hotels.

I'm holding out for a TV-touch pad sytem for ride reservations! (Or something with handheld devices!)

And who better to test these than DVC members!?!?
Nick

 

[JoelD]

(BTW: I agree. Jim Hill tends to negatively sensationalize every little rumor.)

It seems to me that the idea of a "pre-ordered" Fastpass would most likely be implemented by Disney as another "stay on-site" incentive.

(As mentioned before -- "Magic Mornings", aka EE, is a "stay on-site" incentive not an extra-cost "feature" as Jim Hill stated.)

Disney doesn't get additional income from EE or resort package delivery by *directly* charging for them. Instead... they don't mess around... rather than going for a paultry $10 for EE or $2/package delivery that they MIGHT be able to convince a few suckers to pay... Disney thinks MUCH bigger...

They go for one of the biggest chunks of your vacation money... the $75-$400/night hotel costs your going to pay to somebody. (And Disney's going to do their best to convince you to pay that money to them.)

By providing several unique incentives to stay on-site, I have NO doubt that Disney makes MUCH more than they would by charging directly for each of them.

Personally, I wouldn't directly pay money for EE - "No thanks, I'll just sleep an hour later instead and go to the non-EE park." I also wouldn't directly pay for resort package delivery - "No thanks, just send it to Guest Services at the front of the park and I'll take it from there". And I probably wouldn't directly pay money for a "pre-ordered" Fastpass either - the current non-"pre-ordered" Fastpass works fine for me.

But getting those types of benefits is certainly a part of why I choose to spend one of the biggest chunks of my vacation costs with Disney by staying at an on-site hotel.

Not to mention the additional money that Disney sees because of the meals that are now more convenient to eat on Disney property; or the over-priced sundries that I buy at the convenient lobby store; or the over-priced souvenir that catches my eye while I'm buying those over-priced sundries; etc.

So, if Disney does implement it (as they did with EE, resort package delivery, etc.) as an incentive to stay on-site, we DVC members will benefit right along with all the other people who choose to stay on site.


Joel
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Off site - Dec. '85, Aug. '86
Dixie Landings - Sept. '99
Cruise on The Magic - Nov. '00 (honeymoon)
Contemporary - Nov. '00 (honeymoon continued)
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[This message was edited by JoelD on 03-22-01 at 07:28 PM.]