NO MORE free valet parking for DVC members.

[Chuck S]

The above changes didn't incur extra costs to the members while they were staying onsite. The fact that a change was being made should have at least been communicated to the DVC guests who had cars in the valet parking lot the night before so that they could have had the opportunity to move their cars if they did not wish to pay the fee for continued valet parking (and it would not have been too difficult to write a short memo, make 200 copies, and place it beneath the doors of those who had cars in the valet lot). I feel bad not only for the guests that had no warning that this was coming, but also for the valet staff left on the front lines dealing with those who had no warning.

This was just done very poorly on both DVC and Disney's part.

Don't forget that Mears, the parking contractor, also did not let their employees, the valets, know this change was coming. If Mears had let their valets know, they could have informed members a couple of days ahead of time as they parked their cars. The blame for lask of communication isn't all on Disney's/DVC's shoulders, they share it.

 

[DisneyWalker44]

One could make the argument that we are "members" and deserve greater communications. I don't necessarily disagree, but I think in Disney's eyes it's a minor distinction.

Come on. Look, I tend to be in the kood-aid-drinking give Disney the benefit of the doubt crowd. But there is zero doubt in my mind Disney dropped the ball here.

We aren't talking about The Walt Disney Corporation. We are talking about Disney Vacation Club Management Corporation. They work for us. We pay them. They have the means and capacity to easily send out an email to every member informing them of a meaningful change .

This isn't a passive-voice "one could make the argument" kind of thing. DVCMC should communicate more and better. Period. I can't believe anyone would disagree with that.

 

[New York Digger]

I am a little confused... If I park in the lot .. IS IT FREE ?

but If they retrieve the car for me its 12 bucks..

so.. if I walk to get my car, it is free.. Yes I am a dvc guy, and will be staying at BLT Christmas time.. I am Puzzled with this... HELP

 

[Chuck S]

I am a little confused... If I park in the lot .. IS IT FREE ?

but If they retrieve the car for me its 12 bucks..

so.. if I walk to get my car, it is free.. Yes I am a dvc guy, and will be staying at BLT Christmas time.. I am Puzzled with this... HELP

Self parking is free, valet parking is not. You can not self park/self retrieve from the valet lot.

And besides, the valet lot is much farther from the BLT than the self-parking lot.

 

[Doctor P]

I am a little confused... If I park in the lot .. IS IT FREE ?

but If they retrieve the car for me its 12 bucks..

so.. if I walk to get my car, it is free.. Yes I am a dvc guy, and will be staying at BLT Christmas time.. I am Puzzled with this... HELP

It works like valet parking anywhere else. They take your car, keep the keys, and then retrieve it for you when you want it back. So, unless you go retrieve it with an extra set of keys, and unless you know where they parked your car, you can't retrieve it yourself.

 

[DVCPAT]

Don't forget that Mears, the parking contractor, also did not let their employees, the valets, know this change was coming. If Mears had let their valets know, they could have informed members a couple of days ahead of time as they parked their cars. The blame for lask of communication isn't all on Disney's/DVC's shoulders, they share it.

Did Disney give the responsibility to Mears to notify guests?

 

[Brian Noble]

This isn't a passive-voice "one could make the argument" kind of thing. DVCMC should communicate more and better. Period. I can't believe anyone would disagree with that.

I'm not sure anyone is. They should communicate better. But, they don't, and they haven't for quite some time. I would not expect them to change anytime soon. This is an issue of corporate culture---TWDC (of which DVCMC is a part) has always behaved as a benign dictator, whether with guests or with county and state government. Ol' Uncle Walt knows what's good for you.

I totally understand being frustrated with this. But, expecting it to change is only going to lead to more frustration.

 

[New York Digger]

GREAT !!! I thaught that once I got there they will bill me 12$ a nite for 8 nites... I am only going to use the car 3 or 4 days down there but BLT walk to self park is short COOL .... THANKS FELLOW PEEPS

 

[CT_Bev&Jeff]

Don't forget that Mears, the parking contractor, also did not let their employees, the valets, know this change was coming. If Mears had let their valets know, they could have informed members a couple of days ahead of time as they parked their cars. The blame for lask of communication isn't all on Disney's/DVC's shoulders, they share it.

Really Chuck, I think you are pushing the envelope here a bit.

I am a DVC Member, not a Mears Member, my Valet Parking was a DVC Perk not a Mears Perk for DVC Members.

DVC blew it big time with their last minute decision, failure to inform members, failure to update the DVC website, failure to send out emails, etc.

They FAILED the membership in this case. Not Mears, no one else is to blame except the DVC leadership. That bothers me way more than the actual decision to take away Valet Parking.

To try and defend the DVC leadership or to deflect responsibility in this case is laughable.

CT_Jeff

 

[Chuck S]

Did Disney give the responsibility to Mears to notify guests?

If Mears is parking your car, shouldn't they notify you that the perk is ending the next day, when you park? I would say if Mears parks your car, then yes, they certainly share responsibility. After all, it is Mears who physically has the keys to your car, and will refuse to release it if you don't pay, not DVC. And it is Mears who collects the money and makes the profit from the parking, not DVC.

 

[RoutemanDan]

Most members have no idea that it isn't Disney parking your car.Sure people who frequent boards like this do, but that is a small percentage of the membership.
DVC should have let members know, not the outsourced contractor hired by Disney.

 

[Chuck S]

Most members have no idea that it isn't Disney parking your car.Sure people who frequent boards like this do, but that is a small percentage of the membership.
DVC should have let members know, not the outsourced contractor hired by Disney.

I still think they both share responsibility. It is Mears who did not inform THEIR employees. It is not Disney's responsibility to inform Mears' employees, who could then inform people as they park their cars.

Just as it is Disney's/DVC's responsibility to inform their employees, which also apparently did not happen.

 

[DebbieB]

Mears could have informed the valets if they had been directed to do so by Disney/DVC. It shouldn't be Mears decision to do that. If Disney had directed Mears to do that and they didn't, then they share responsibility. But I have my doubts that they did.

 

[Uncleromulus]

RoutemanDan:
Good point. They look as though they are regular CM's. And Mears has no real responsibility to inform DVC members of anything. That's what DVC is supposed to do.
And to add that I e-mailed a "complaint" to DVC and did get a call back. Bottom line is that it was done in an effort not to raise dues. And the lady made sure to remind me that many people do not use this perk and would not like their dues raised for something they didn't use.

 

[Chuck S]

Mears could have informed the valets if they had been directed to do so by Disney/DVC. It shouldn't be Mears decision to do that. If Disney had directed Mears to do that and they didn't, then they share responsibility. But I have my doubts that they did.

Interesting that you think Disney would need to direct Mears to communicate something to Mears employees. Do you think Mears should also be able to decide what Disney tells Disney employees?

 

[TDC Nala]

Do you realize that Disney is set up to charge parking fees for everyone. They have the gates in place for all the resorts. If that ever happened I don't think I would be staying on site.

Swan/Dolphin charges for parking per day ($10.00). Found that out when I made reservations using reward points.

So do all three Universal resorts. If and when Disney wants to charge all its resort guests for self parking, it will.

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Maybe I should have said "negative changes." Neither of those were inherently bad for ALL members, while the valet parking change is certainly viewed as hurting all.

Still, if I remember the email you are referring to, DVC didn't exactly highlight the changes. The mention was buried toward the end of the message.

LOL - ok, that would be VERY different for DVC to do. All those other items were sent out with other news but were at least highlighted enough with titles on the page before the full info. And I think the point chart change was the top item. Booking procedures and waitlist changes might have not been the top items but were high up.

You'd think they could have found some other "good" news to hide this info in!

Regarding who should have notified members on site I don't know if Mears had any responsibility to inform and think that really rested with DVC who is the party that decided not to continue the service. I'm trying to think of any place I've stayed that tells me what the cost is when I pull up to valet and unless valet employees were looking at a member card (which they didn't the one time we used it at AKV) they wouldn't necessarily know until they logged it in, would they?

 

[DebbieB]

Interesting that you think Disney would need to direct Mears to communicate something to Mears employees. Do you think Mears should also be able to decide what Disney tells Disney employees?

The decision to remove the perk was Disney's/DVC's, it affects their guests/members. I don't think Mears should take the inititive to start communicating it without direction from Disney/DVC.

Bottom line is DVC blew it. This should have been announced with some notice. It's ridiculous that someone parks their car when it is free and then is charged the next day when the rules changed. There still has not been an official communication and it's been a couple of weeks.

 

[Chuck S]

The decision to remove the perk was Disney's/DVC's, it affects their guests/members. I don't think Mears should take the inititive to start communicating it without direction from Disney/DVC.

Bottom line is DVC blew it. This should have been announced with some notice. It's ridiculous that someone parks their car when it is free and then is charged the next day when the rules changed. There still has not been an official communication and it's been a couple of weeks.

We don't know that it was solely DVCs decision. Mears could have wanted more $ per car to continue the perk. And DVC said "no." Without knowing all the details, it is difficult to assign all the responsibility to one party.

 

[DebbieB]

We don't know that it was solely DVCs decision. Mears could have wanted more $ per car to continue the perk. And DVC said "no." Without knowing all the details, it is difficult to assign all the responsibility to one party.

Who knows, we're not going to agree on this. But it's 2 weeks later and there still has not been an official announcement from DVC. You can't say that isn't DVC's responsibility. Or do you think Mears should do that? Should they take the inititive to e-mail all DVC members?