Owning DVC is still better than eating broccoli

[BeachClub2014]

I spend a lot of time reading the various posts here on the DIS and see many lamentations on how badly DVC has evolved over time and the many, many negative posts about how DVC, WDW, and Disney, in general, have become by not caring about customer service, the constant money grabs, etc. I myself am guilty of doing so and have contributed to that mantra on occasion, especially about Genie+ and park reservations. But, I have to wonder if it is really that bad.

There are literally how many millions upon millions of points within DVC? How many different contracts are held by how many different families? Can it really be that bad? There are currently 1,866 contracts up for sale according to a popular DVC sales search engine. I would hazard a guess that those contracts add up to less than 500,00 total points, which seems like a very small percentage of the overall picture.

Granted, there is always room for improvement and I am no Disney apologist, but sometimes it feels as if the favorite pastime here on the DIS is to pile on about how bad things have become.

What do you like, love, or at least tolerate about DVC and WDW? I mean, after all, owning DVC is still better than eating broccoli, right?

 

[zavandor]

Quoting a user who hasn't posted in a while, owning DVC and going more often, you start peeking behind the wizard's curtain. It is normal that after a while a bit of magic fades away. Add to this the pandemic and all the changes that it brought, and it's easy to see why so many people are not happy.
Personally, my last visit was also my worst. Which doesn't mean it wasn't pleasant, but that many of the changes I experienced (and the huge crowds) were all for the worst. I still like vacationing to WDW, just slightly less so.
And I also like broccoli.

 

[Her Dotness]

Personally, my last visit was also my worst. Which doesn't mean it wasn't pleasant, but that many of the changes I experienced (and the huge crowds) were all for the worst. I still like vacationing to WDW, just slightly less so.
And I also like broccoli.

Ditto our return trip last fall.

And I love broccoli. Had it for dinner last night. Now, had you mentioned kale...definitely better.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Quoting a user who hasn't posted in a while, owning DVC and going more often, you start peeking behind the wizard's curtain. It is normal that after a while a bit of magic fades away. Add to this the pandemic and all the changes that it brought, and it's easy to see why so many people are not happy.
Personally, my last visit was also my worst. Which doesn't mean it wasn't pleasant, but that many of the changes I experienced (and the huge crowds) were all for the worst. I still like vacationing to WDW, just slightly less so.
And I also like broccoli.

Broccoli is terrible, which obviously clouds your other perspectives

There are definitely aspects that many are unhappy about. My question remains: What do you still love, like, or at least still tolerate about DVC? There must be something or we would see far more contracts for sale.

 

[DVC92]

I believe the current management doesn't understand the value of DVC members, or why they purchased DVC. We should have perks for our loyalty to Disney. We should be able to go into any park w/o a reservation and get at least 3 FPs a day while staying on property. We should also get ticket discounts.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Ditto our return trip last fall.

And I love broccoli. Had it for dinner last night. Now, had you mentioned kale...definitely better.

Kale isn't even worth mentioning.

 

[Marionnette]

I spend a lot of time reading the various posts here on the DIS and see many lamentations on how badly DVC has evolved over time and the many, many negative posts about how DVC, WDW, and Disney, in general, have become by not caring about customer service, the constant money grabs, etc. I myself am guilty of doing so and have contributed to that mantra on occasion, especially about Genie+ and park reservations. But, I have to wonder if it is really that bad.

There are literally how many millions upon millions of points within DVC? How many different contracts are held by how many different families? Can it really be that bad? There are currently 1,866 contracts up for sale according to a popular DVC sales search engine. I would hazard a guess that those contracts add up to less than 500,00 total points, which seems like a very small percentage of the overall picture.

Granted, there is always room for improvement and I am no Disney apologist, but sometimes it feels as if the favorite pastime here on the DIS is to pile on about how bad things have become.

What do you like, love, or at least tolerate about DVC and WDW? I mean, after all, owning DVC is still better than eating broccoli, right?

I like broccoli

 

[RoseGold]

I mean, yea, I care when Disney decisions impact me, when I own high five figures of this stuff.

I care a lot about these decisions, an obvious one being APs. IMO, some have been good for DVC overall (VGF2, Poly2) but most have cut against DVC owners. This isn't the same product as when I bought in 2019. There's a lot I don't like about Disney's direction in general, and I probably will be selling some soon. That's why I bought DVC, so my options would be open and I could sell. And it's why I post here to talk about it and to learn all the things they don't bother to tell us.

 

[BeachClub2014]

I like broccoli

I should have started a "who likes broccoli" poll instead of asking what people actually like, love, or at least tolerate about DVC.

 

[RivShore]

but sometimes it feels as if the favorite pastime here on the DIS is to pile on about how bad things have become.

Is this your first time on the interwebs? I kid!

In reality, we here are a tiny sliver of the total customer base and the complainers an even smaller subset of that.

WDW has been thru so much change the last few years, from the addition of uber popular lands like GE, to a new CEO, to a country with full employment leaving it nearly impossible for a WDW to hire people, to all those fully employed people looking to spend their money at WDW, to the mother of it all in Covid. Any one of those things would have caused issues, combine them all within months of each other and I'm surprised things are not much worse!

If you own DVC, you are obviously in it for the long term, it will be interesting to see what things look like in a few years, once most of the current macro issues are far in the rearview mirror.

ETA: I like Broccoli!!!

 

[BeachClub2014]

I mean, yea, I care when Disney decisions impact me, when I own high five figures of this stuff.

I care a lot about these decisions, an obvious one being APs. IMO, some have been good for DVC overall (VGF2, Poly2) but most have cut against DVC owners. This isn't the same product as when I bought in 2019. There's a lot I don't like about Disney's direction in general, and I probably will be selling some soon. That's why I bought DVC, so my options would be open and I could sell. And it's why I post here to talk about it and to learn all the things they don't bother to tell us.

I care as well, a lot actually.

Is there anything you like, love, or tolerate about DVC?

 

[BeachClub2014]

Is this your first time on the interwebs? I kid!

In reality, we here are a tiny sliver of the total customer base and the complainers an even smaller subset of that.

WDW has been thru so much change the last few years, from the addition of uber popular lands like GE, to a new CEO, to a country with full employment leaving it nearly impossible for a WDW to hire people, to all those fully employed people looking to spend their money at WDW, to the mother of it all in Covid. Any one of those things would have caused issues, combine them all within months of each other and I'm surprised things are not much worse!

If you own DVC, you are obviously in it for the long term, it will be interesting to see what things look like in a few years, once most of the current macro issues are far in the rearview mirror.

ETA: I like Broccoli!!!

Good golly, another crazed broccoli eater!

DVC is definitely a different program from when we first bought back 2000. Some things are better, others not so much.

 

[Minniesgal]

We had a nice DVC trip in Jul/AUG this year. I wasn';t blown away like i normally am just by being there but I was happy to be there.

One thing I think needs addressing is check out.

We had two resort stays.

The first sent us a push notification that we could check ourselves out anytime on the app up to 11 am and at 11 am they checked us out automatically. Fine by me. I looked at the app and saw where to check out and there was a button to click on.

Fast forward to 9:30 am and hubby starts to go don to the car getting ready to think about packing. His key doesn't work on return I look at the app we have already been checked out automatically.

Second stay mousekeeping are trying to get in my room at 7am. They can't as I have it locked but by now I'm awake. Go down to the frnt desk oh you were checked out automatically at 7am and we can't undo it. We don't kno why the software did that. Phone won't work to get back in. They tried to make me a key but system wouldn't let them.

I think they are sneekily tryng to pus people to check out early which is not on.

 

[Marionnette]

Changes that I like:

• Not having to wait until the last day of my trip is within the 11-month window in order to book.
• Online booking.
• Online modifications.
• Using Chat instead of email or calling.
• The new pull-down sofa beds
• Moonlight Magic events

Changes that I dislike but can work with:

• Resale restrictions
• Longer waits to load resale contracts and points
• DVC's trend toward retrofitting hotel rooms
• The refreshes that make DVC rooms look no different than a Marriott

Things I hate:

• Really late check ins. I'm okay with after 4 PM as long as that doesn't mean "any time between 4 PM and midnight".
• No TiW. Boy do I miss it! But if we can't have TiW, a better dining discount that includes alcohol would be a nice improvement.

 

[Brian Noble]

I don't have any suggestions about DVC, but try roasting your broccoli in a little olive oil, sprinkled with salt. It's a game-changer.

Okay, that's not quite true. The two best things about DVC (and, really, any timeshare) is that (a) the use-it-or-lose-it nature makes taking vacations a priority rather than something you fit in around everything else, and (b) having a more comfortable home-like place to stay make the stay qualitatively better.

At some point during most of our timeshare stays, my wife and I will be sitting in the living room, relaxing, and look at each other and say: "Hotel rooms. Huh." As in: we understand that families take vacations of more than a day or two in a hotel room, but we don't understand how or why.

I believe the current management doesn't understand the value of DVC members, or why they purchased DVC. We should have perks for our loyalty to Disney.

DVC owners are not Disney's target customer. DVC buyers are. It's no accident that most of the Blue Card perks sound better in theory than they are in practice.

It's even worse than that. The point of a loyalty program is to make the product more "sticky" in the MBA sense. DVC owners are already "sticky" customers, because selling takes serious work. There's not much of a need to add more reasons for them to stay.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Changes that I like:

• Not having to wait until the last day of my trip is within the 11-month window in order to book.
• Online booking.
• Online modifications.
• Using Chat instead of email or calling.
• The new pull-down sofa beds
• Moonlight Magic events

Changes that I dislike but can work with:

• Resale restrictions
• Longer waits to load resale contracts and points
• DVC's trend toward retrofitting hotel rooms
• The refreshes that make DVC rooms look no different than a Marriott

Things I hate:

• Really late check ins. I'm okay with after 4 PM as long as that doesn't mean "any time between 4 PM and midnight".
• No TiW. Boy do I miss it! But if we can't have TiW, a better dining discount that includes alcohol would be a nice improvement.

Thanks for sharing something about DVC that you like!

 

[BeachClub2014]

I don't have any suggestions about DVC, but try roasting your broccoli in a little olive oil, sprinkled with salt. It's a game-changer.

I'll have to give this a whirl. No amount of melted cheddar has made broccoli palatable

 

[Brian Noble]

You can toss pretty much anything with olive oil and salt, and then roast it at 450' and it will be good.

 

[BeachClub2014]

Okay, that's not quite true. The two best things about DVC (and, really, any timeshare) is that (a) the use-it-or-lose-it nature makes taking vacations a priority rather than something you fit in around everything else, and (b) having a more comfortable home-like place to stay make the stay qualitatively better.

At some point during most of our timeshare stays, my wife and I will be sitting in the living room, relaxing, and look at each other and say: "Hotel rooms. Huh." As in: we understand that families take vacations of more than a day or two in a hotel room, but we don't understand how or why.

Agree with you here. I would add that another DVC positive is the wide array of accommodation offerings. There is really something for every taste.

 

[crisi]

Broccoli is terrible, which obviously clouds your other perspectives

There are definitely aspects that many are unhappy about. My question remains: What do you still love, like, or at least still tolerate about DVC? There must be something or we would see far more contracts for sale.

I'm a single data point. I haven't been to Disney since - 2017? We've used our points for HHI mostly - and Aulani once (and I don't have that many - we were every other year people to start with). I've thought about selling, but it doesn't work out.

I can rent my BWV points and make a profit - I've owned for twenty years, so the initial buy in wasn't that much - and the capital I'd get from selling it isn't significant. It makes more sense for me to rent when I don't want to use points. Our points work well for a mid-Winter HHI trip when its easy to get HHI as seven months - and and HHI we are using Disney for the room and the room alone.

So for me, yes WDW has gotten "that bad" but since there is a market for rental and availability at HHI for a mid-Winter trip, I'm not selling at this point. For other people, their DVC room is a place to sleep for Universal. Maybe in another two or three years I'll revisit selling. But I wouldn't assume, with an active rental market, that the lack of resales indicates people are happy since there are other things that they can do with their points. So, I like HHI. I like being able to rent out points if I don't want to go to Disney - which I really do not want to do anytime in the near future.

In the 40 years I've been going to WDW I've come to recognize that the parks have a cyclical pattern of up and down. I think we are pretty down right now, but I also think it won't last. I think Disney is feeling a huge pinch from their covid exposure - from people not traveling to people not going to movies they were really exposed - and the issues with the labor market right now aren't helping. All that is contributing to a more expensive and hassle full vacation. And I'm overexposed on the stuff that's old, and the stuff that's new I don't want to deal with crowds on - I can wait until the lines get a little shorter.... But all that will settle and there will be a time - two years, ten years - from now where I'll enjoy Disney again.