New incentives?

[john7994]

Well, you are technically correct. People are not forced to use Genie+ or any of its predecessors, true. But, everyone is still impacted by their deployment whether they directly use the app or not. Deploying these artificial crowd control devices, mainly as a new revenue source, does negatively impact the wants, wishes, interests, and tolerances of many guests. As the saying goes: "It all depends on whose ox is being gored". Right?

Whether it is a revenue source or not is a side issue and not the original point. Although, I am curious if making it free changes the "new fangledness" of "crowd management" for you.

Your proposal then is to force people off the line-skipping scheme altogether - with no optionality at all - therefore taking away something completely (unlike standing in line) which has a wide precedent for being in place throughout the industry for some time now.

So yes, someone has to lose, but it makes it no less impactful to someone else's Ox - I guess as long as it's not yours
After all, your original pitch was about self-determination and self-regulation - right

 

[savvy101787]

Will we have June sales data in enough time to make an educated guess whether or not incentives will get even better after the current ones expire on July 13th?

 

[BeachClub2014]

Whether it is a revenue source or not is a side issue and not the original point. Although, I am curious if making it free changes the "new fangledness" of "crowd management" for you.

Your proposal then is to force people off the line-skipping scheme altogether - with no optionality at all - therefore taking away something completely (unlike standing in line) which has a wide precedent for being in place throughout the industry for some time now.

So yes, someone has to lose, but it makes it no less impactful to someone else's Ox - I guess as long as it's not yours
After all, your original pitch was about self-determination and self-regulation - right

I haven't made any proposals, actually. I am suggesting that the current system has not enhanced or improved the guest experience and perhaps it makes sense to take a step back and re-evaluate the actual problem that is trying to be addressed.

I am reacting to the plethora of complaints that one sees every day related to Genie+ and the necessity of being constantly tethered to your phone which adds stress and detracts from the vacation for many. Just look at the volume of comments on this topic on the many threads here at DIS. You won't see many ardent supporters.

I am not anti-technology so my reference to "new fangledness" was tongue in cheek.

 

[TraderStitch]

I'd be completely onboard for blowing away Genie+ but keeping the ILL option. Disney needs to make money yes, but don't use half @ss cobbled together AI as a money grab. It bring NO value to customers on vacation.

 

[Lucky Wall-E]

With these new incentives would you rather have 150 direct points at Riv/GFV or 200 points resale at AKV? Still trying to get my first DVC contract and these are my frontrunners.

I just bought as a new member in April 200pts. I set up excel charts on all the resorts I was interested in including Riviera. I divided the purchase price by the numbers of years and created a column for dues to account for dues. If GFV continues to be a leader in low dues, the numbers always come out ahead for GFV. Even comparing to RIV. Direct GFV is definitely a much lower cost per year compared to Direct AKV.(about $240 p/yr.less)

I also compared this to chart to resale amounts because I seriously considered this route and was surprised. Offering at an amount that would not be ROFR'd at AKV, it was only $60-$70 more a year to purchase direct at GFV.

These are some pretty competitive prices to pass up and GFV is more marketable on the resale due to no resale restrictions in case there in a need to sell my points. Also, I did not need to deal with the ROFR process of maybe not getting the contract. (I was ROFR'd with all offers I have previous submitted). Also, I got the points right away after putting down a deposit in addition to any current perks DVC offers. Lastly, I had thought GFV was too pricey point wise per room, but their rooms are very spacious and give an opportunity to house 10 people in a 2 bedroom very comfortably. This is worth the point increase in the rooms. RIV does have a compratble room, but the sq ft. is a little smaller. Still a good room to book at RIV.

 

[john7994]

I haven't made any proposals, actually. I am suggesting that the current system has not enhanced or improved the guest experience and perhaps it makes sense to take a step back and re-evaluate the actual problem that is trying to be addressed.

I am reacting to the plethora of complaints that one sees every day related to Genie+ and the necessity of being constantly tethered to your phone which adds stress and detracts from the vacation for many. Just look at the volume of comments on this topic on the many threads here at DIS. You won't see many ardent supporters.

I am not anti-technology so my reference to "new fangledness" was tongue in cheek.

In terms of the highlighted suggestion above, I am in 100% agreement. Its very reasonable to expect a better experience, and there is always room for improvement. While I can't say these complaints you reference from the boards matched any personal experience I had in using the app on two separate trips in Jan or May this year, there are still things I would like to see changed as well. To that end, what has been your personal experience with Genie+?

 

[BeachClub2014]

To that end, what has been your personal experience with Genie+?

Terrible.

 

[john7994]

Terrible.

Interesting and sorry to hear that, thanks for that discussion!

 

[Mexacajun]

Interesting and sorry to hear that, thanks for that discussion!

I got super frustrated the second time I used it but I really didn’t understand the nuances but since that day (I hated the world during that day) I have found it pretty good. I hate that I have to pay for it but it has worked very well for me. I always seem to get what I want (sometimes the times are perfect). It took a lot of learning about drop times but once I did, it is decent. I hate that I am on my phone all the time but you had that problem with fastpass+ as well.

 

[john7994]

I got super frustrated the second time I used it but I really didn’t understand the nuances but since that day (I hated the world during that day) I have found it pretty good. I hate that I have to pay for it but it has worked very well for me. I always seem to get what I want (sometimes the times are perfect). It took a lot of learning about drop times but once I did, it is decent. I hate that I am on my phone all the time but you had that problem with fastpass+ as well.

Very similar to my experiences with it in the beginning and as I adapted to it. Absolutely hate that they launched it with a charge for it. They could have done themselves a lot of good, rolling it out in a free beta, and then moving toward a pay per play when they had it done correctly.

 

[Sandisw]

Will we have June sales data in enough time to make an educated guess whether or not incentives will get even better after the current ones expire on July 13th?

The sales data is collected by www.dvcnews.com. Most months, we have it before then, but not always.

Best way to hedge bets is get into contract with DVD right before the incentives end, lock them in, and if the are better, they will give them to you as you will be within the 10 day window to rescind.

If they are worse, you still get the current ones!

 

[savvy101787]

The sales data is collected by www.dvcnews.com. Most months, we have it before then, but not always.

Best way to hedge bets is get into contract with DVD right before the incentives end, lock them in, and if the are better, they will give them to you as you will be within the 10 day window to rescind.

If they are worse, you still get the current ones!

Yeah, this was going to be my plan of attack - appreciate the confirmation! I've gotten a significant salary bump since my 1st resale contract purchase back in 2020 and have a bonus coming soon which has been making me catch addonitis for the first time. Thinking off getting 150 VGF direct to get the blue card & take advantage of the lack of gap between resale & direct at the moment.

 

[Kjdisney]

Will we have June sales data in enough time to make an educated guess whether or not incentives will get even better after the current ones expire on July 13th?

It’s too bad there isn’t a way to know when a contract was purchased. The May sales numbers will be made up of sales in both April, May and quite possibly March. I would think the number of contracts sold in May was probably a lot less than what DVC expected hence the very good incentives now. I mean for current members, there is a discount offered at the 100 pt level for VGF which wasn’t there during the initial rollout.

Was declaring all the points like they did a marketing ploy for members to try the resorts hoping it leads to sales? Just seems like what they are doing doesn’t indicate continued strong sales.
If the economy does slip into recession it could mean continued good incentives.

I wonder how they will price VDH? If VDH opens in 2023, how far in advance would they start selling?