Park Tickets No Longer Included for DLRP

[JsMom2]

Not only are park tickets no longer included when you use points at Disneyland Resort Paris, MS will not book for you unless you purchase length of stay passes from them! Even if you have an annual pass!


Here's a post from one disgruntled DVC member below.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=22397433#post22397433

 

[Chuck S]

Given that DLP is not a fully owned subsidiary of Disney, DVC has little control, they are having to play by DLPs rules. Many hotel companies are no longer including the "extras" that were considered standard. This is partly due to the internet and people wanting to book "by price" rather than quality or perks. The myriad of travel websites Hotels.com. Travelocity, etc. display accommodations "by price."

 

[JsMom2]

Given that DLP is not a fully owned subsidiary of Disney, DVC has little control, they are having to play by DLPs rules. Many hotel companies are no longer including the "extras" that were considered standard. This is partly due to the internet and people wanting to book "by price" rather than quality or perks. The myriad of travel websites Hotels.com. Travelocity, etc. display accommodations "by price."

I understand where you're coming from Chuck. I still think DVC could've done a better job of negotiating with them though. When you book DLRP direct the price includes the tickets.

And also why the forced purchase of passes for everyone for the entire stay?? This means if you are staying 3 nights, you must buy passes for 4 days, even if you were only planning on going to the parks for 2.

 

[CarolA]

DLPR has always been a nightmare to book! This is just a continuation of the trend. I had to buy two day tickets to book one night and I left for the airport at 7 am on day two. There was NO way to book a room only UNLESS you had an AP!

Those for whom this really hurts are the folks who wanted to stay at DLP and tour Paris...... Now you have this uselsess DLP ticket!

(Personally I would stay in Paris and daytrip to DLP. It's a nice park and all, but Paris is better LOL!)

 

[JsMom2]

DLPR has always been a nightmare to book! This is just a continuation of the trend. I had to buy two day tickets to book one night and I left for the airport at 7 am on day two. There was NO way to book a room only UNLESS you had an AP!

Sad thing is that now - according to the UK DVC thread - you have to pay for the tickets up front from MS before they'll make your ressie even if you have an annual pass!

I'm within a few hours drive of DLRP, so I wouldn't mind buying APs and just booking the room on points. But having to pay out of pocket for tickets I may or not be able to use?????

 

[Chuck S]

And also why the forced purchase of passes for everyone for the entire stay?? This means if you are staying 3 nights, you must buy passes for 4 days, even if you were only planning on going to the parks for 2.

Again, it is DLPs choice, not DVCs. DLP probably said, "Here's the deal, take it or leave it."

 

[rinkwide]

They really need to hurry up with the name change.

 

[JimC]

Interesting. I don't remember Jim Lewis making a big deal about that change. Maybe it slipped his mind.

I don't mind not including passes if the number of points required to book decreased appropriately. The requirement to buy LOS passes is only going to hurt Disney's most screwed up theme park even more.

 

[Sid74]

It is my post that is referred to at the beginning of this thread.

I am really not impressed that DVC chose to change the DLP points situation without telling owners or prospective buyers what was going to be happening from january.

I was specifically told by my guide when we toured at the end of october, and then when we went back the next day to sign the paperwork, that park passes were included for Paris and would still be in the future, as she knew we were planning 2 DLP trips for this year and wouldn't be back in WDW for a couple of years.

I appreciate that Disney want people that stay in the onsite hotels to go to the parks, but by not taking into account that people with points bookings might have annual passes or might want to add a points booking to a cash booking, so won't need length of stay passes, they are stopping people like me using my points and going several times a year to DLP, when I can't get to the US.

I am particularly upset by the policy of making you pay for the tickets before you make the points booking. In order to get a christmas booking I would need to book 11 months in advance, around the same time, just after christmas, when I have to pay my dues.

DVC has my address and also my booking details, why can't they do what the Disney travel company does when you book tickets from them, and bill me for the tickets a couple of months before I travel?

I don't believe that it is a stipulation that DVC members must have length of stay tickets for WDW hotels, some people have MYW tickets, some have annual passes, some, I believe, don't visit the parks at all, so why can't visitors to DLP choose which ticket media they want to have?

The points for the Disneyland Paris hotels has fallen by about 20 to 25 a night. Not actually having the planner, or the DLP details available on the member website makes it difficult to be precise, as this information is what I remember from before it was removed.

It is not so much that you now have to buy your tickets, but the complete inflexibility of having to book length of stay passes, and that you have to pay for them before you can have a booking made.

 

[JimC]

The problem is the DVC must negotiate with the rest of the Disney company (other theme parks, DCL, other resorts). And those negotiations may or may not be favorable to the members depending on quite a bit that we never see.

The decrease in points may be an appropriate compensation. I do not know what a day at the park costs at DLP but if we assign a conservative $5 to a point and a 20 point per day average decrease then you are saving $100 per day. Off hand that seems like a reasonable resolution.

I agree that the mandatory LOS and purchase before booking is heavy handed, particularly for a park so starving for attendance and such pathetic financial performance.

 

[bavaria]

(Personally I would stay in Paris and daytrip to DLP. It's a nice park and all, but Paris is better LOL!)

Carol, you know that I agree with you on that! I have done daytrips from Paris many times to DLRP. (So nice to wake up late on a Sunday morning, hop on the metro outside my door and arrive at the park 40 minutes later!)

I have also stayed many times at DLRP and will continue to advise that using DVC points is not good value.

I can find rooms at the Disney resorts for 80 Euros/night on the German expedia site easily most times of the year. Tickets to the parks are a very good value, especially the AP which allows a free year extension if you sponsor new members. Both kathleena and I took advantage of this offer and have two years of AP for less than the cost of a DL or WDW AP.

The change was poorly done, however. I strongly suspect that as a result of a thread here and on another website, DVC pulled the 2008 DLRP points charts to rework them. Someone sent me a screen capture as the originally posted charts showed a significant decrease in the number of points required, yet stated that tickets were included. At least one member was able to hold DVC to this (incorrect) information and have them issue tickets with the lower point price.