Perk predictions,anyone have any?????

[Mad4Dizne]

Does anyone have any predictions on any new perks that may be announced after the association meetings?????

 

[SpoonfulofSugar]

Would love to get some kind of perk involving Fast Passes!!!!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

Would love to get some kind of perk involving Fast Passes!!!!

1) Why?
2) The general paying public doesn't get any.
3) Many of them pay more than DVC members.

 

[SpoonfulofSugar]

1) Why?
2) The general paying public doesn't get any.
3) Many of them pay more than DVC members.

1) Why?
Why Not?
2) The general paying public doesn't get any.
The general paying public hasn't committed the next 50 years of vacations to wdw
3) Many of them pay more than DVC members.
For many of them this is a once in a lifetime trip, and because I go very often and stay on site I spend alot of money on their property. So in the long run, IMHO-- they don't spend more total money.

 

[tjkraz]

2) The general paying public doesn't get any.
The general paying public hasn't committed the next 50 years of vacations to wdw
3) Many of them pay more than DVC members.
For many of them this is a once in a lifetime trip, and because I go very often and stay on site I spend alot of money on their property. So in the long run, IMHO-- they don't spend more total money.

All true. But Walt Disney World has 25,000 cash hotel rooms to fill every night of the year. the DVC total is less than 10% of that.

One of the figures that Disney tracks very closely is average guest spending during a stay. I don't think there's any question that a one-time or infrequent guest has much higher average daily expenditures during a Disney trip than a DVC member.

Spending habits of both cash guests and DVC members are both part of the mix. Don't kid yourself into thinking that Disney is going to toss us every perk that we may consider "low overhead" based upon the "why not" argument.

If some functional changes are made to the FastPass system, I can see DVC members getting perks on par with cash-paying Deluxe resort guests. But I don't see any compelling incentive to just giving additional FP benefits to DVC members.

Would any of us sell our contract if we didn't get some additional FP benefit? Would any potential member decide to buy based solely upon DVC's offering additional FP benefts? I doubt it.

Forgot to add: The Condo Association meetings really aren't a forum to discuss things like member perks. I wouldn't anticipate any formal announcements coming out of that venue. The AP perk may have been discussed last year. But if so, it was only because the perk was so eagerly anticipated by members. First mention of the AP perk came when the November '04 Member Clubhouse noted that a "long-awaited member perk" would be announced in the next issue of Vacation Magic.

 

[disney-super-mom]

IMHO, a fast pass "perk" would cost Disney nothing, and it would be a nice complimentary gift to Disney's most loyal patrons.

I'm thinking Disney has realized the high income potential of it's return customers. The more someone visits WDW, the more money they will spend there, plain and simple. After all, have you noticed what Disney is devoting the majority of it's expansion budget into lately? It's not building more cash hotel rooms...

It's building more DVC rooms. I just wish their expansion would include DVC rooms at DL too! Bummer!

They did manage to open a DVC sales office at DL though...of course.

It really doesn't matter for us though because for some reason it costs us (a family of four) the same amount of money (actually a little less money) to fly from Spokane to Orlando as it does to fly to Anaheim. Go figure. So I guess...

...Orlando, here we come!

 

[jamzots]

Does anyone have any predictions on any new perks that may be announced after the association meetings?????

Hopefully availabilty of Dining Plan for DVC members!!!!!

 

[Sammie]

1) Why?
Why Not?
2) The general paying public doesn't get any.
The general paying public hasn't committed the next 50 years of vacations to wdw
3) Many of them pay more than DVC members.
For many of them this is a once in a lifetime trip, and because I go very often and stay on site I spend alot of money on their property. So in the long run, IMHO-- they don't spend more total money.

I don't think Disney is going to offer anything to DVC that they are not willing to offer to nonDVC. For one reason some guests while maybe are not going to commit 50 years to going to Disney, spend more in one trip than you have spent to purchase DVC. I had a friend who attended a wedding for a 4 days at a cost of $350,000. So I think you will have to spend a lot more in your 50 years to match that.

I would like to see them offer a dining plan since this is something they offer to nonDVC.

 

[tjkraz]

IMHO, a fast pass "perk" would cost Disney nothing, and it would be a nice complimentary gift to Disney's most loyal patrons.

No perk is free.

Roughly 2000 DVC rooms on-site with capacity ranging from 4-12 guests. You could easily have 10,000 - 15,000 staying in DVC rooms at any given time.

The point to FastPass is to allow immediate access to a ride. The more tickets you allow to DVC members, the fewer left for other groups. This results in FP machines running out of tickets sooner on busy days, longer standby lines, more disgruntled cash guests.

I'm thinking Disney has realized the high income potential of it's return customers. The more someone visits WDW, the more money they will spend there, plain and simple.

In the long run, yes, DVC members probably spend more than the average guest. But what's most important to Disney is the average spending per guest, per night. Yes, repeat business is important. But realistically, which of these groups is going to spend more in a single week-long trip to WDW:

1. 1000 families making their first trip.
2. 1000 DVC families making their 20th trip.

DVC members know where to get souvenirs for half price (and probably have a closet full of stuff from prior trips.) DVC members have kitchens in their rooms and make stops at Publix on the way from the airport.

My point is simply that we DVC members shouldn't be so arrogant to think that Disney is going to bend over to pander to us at every opportunity. Those 15,000 members we may represent in the theme parks on any given day is just the tiniest percentage of what it takes to make the parks profitable.

After all, have you noticed what Disney is devoting the majority of it's expansion budget into lately? It's not building more cash hotel rooms...

I'm not sure how meaningful that is since cash rooms outnumber DVC by about 12 to 1. Pop Century just opened two years ago. It has 3500 rooms. OKW, BWV, BCV, VWL and SSR total about 1700 rooms. I'd say that cash room construction has far outpaced DVC over the last decade.

 

[SpoonfulofSugar]

But Walt Disney World has 25,000 cash hotel rooms to fill every night of the year. the DVC total is less than 10% of that.

From a business perspective, a fact is that most companies realize that 90% of their business is done by 10% of their customers.

One of the figures that Disney tracks very closely is average guest spending during a stay. I don't think there's any question that a one-time or infrequent guest has much higher average daily expenditures during a Disney trip than a DVC member.

Unless I use my kttwc disney does not know how much cash I put out on a typical visit--- and with several young children in tow there is no way my expenditures are lower than a one time guest--- but that's just me, I wouldn't have bought DVC if I was thrifty.

Don't kid yourself into thinking that Disney is going to toss us every perk that we may consider "low overhead" based upon the "why not" argument.

Believe me I don't fall for the old "the check is in the mail" line every time I hear it.
My OP stated I would love a fastpass perk, I don't expect perks, I don't need perks-- but if someone asks I answer and if their tossing perks out like you say, someone better get me my catchers mitt and look out for the elbows .

 

[SpoonfulofSugar]

I don't think Disney is going to offer anything to DVC that they are not willing to offer to nonDVC. For one reason some guests while maybe are not going to commit 50 years to going to Disney, spend more in one trip than you have spent to purchase DVC. I had a friend who attended a wedding for a 4 days at a cost of $350,000. So I think you will have to spend a lot more in your 50 years to match that.

I would like to see them offer a dining plan since this is something they offer to nonDVC.

They are called member perks because you have to be a member to get them-- offering them to nonmembers would defeat the whole concept.

Your friend spent $350,000 attending the wedding-- he must be a big spender-- or the whole entire wedding cost that?

A dining plan---- that would be nice but if DVC'ers don't like to spend money as you say, why would they spend money out eating when they have a kitchen?

 

[DrTomorrow]

[...] The more someone visits WDW, the more money they will spend there, plain and simple. [...]

IMHO, not necessarily - particularly in the case of DVC owners.

Comparing DVC owners to on-site resort guests, I (again, IMHO) suggest the following:

- More DVCers own APs (or can take better advantage of longer MYW passes) than Guests do; Disney isn't getting much extra $$$ there

- DVCers eat fewer meals at Disney restaurants per trip than Guests do; DVCers have kitchens & fridges and easier access to off-site dining.

- DVCers buy fewer souvies per trip than Guests. After the fifth trip, I bet that DVCers have pretty much most of the souvies they want (pins, gifts, etc excepted).

- And, of course, the obvious - Disney isn't making a penny off of lodging when a DVC books a villa.

Tickets, food, souvenirs & lodging - in every case a Guest spends a lot (2 times, 3 times, more?) than a DVCer on a given visit. Not sure that Disney is all geeked up about the money they'll make from us off the $2 bottles of water at the MK (oops, we buy water at Winn-Dixie and chill it in our villa )

I recently had a thought (no wise-cracks, folks) about the oft-mentioned "DVCers are the most loyal" comment. From a marketing point of view, we are a captive audience. We've already spent the (tens of) thousands of dollars, Walt has cashed the check and we're locked in to coming back year after year after year. Why waste perks on us? The same thing applies to those who say that "many companies reward loyal customers"; yes, they do - ONLY WHEN THE CUSTOMERS HAVE OTHER OPTIONS! Sure, airlines have frequent flier clubs - so that you won't fly with the competition! I bet that few people who depend on a monopoly utility for gas, electric or water get "frequent user" discounts? Here in AZ, the more you use - the higher your per kWh cost!

Sure, Disney offers some DVC perks - they still have SSR points to sell. But to expect a perk when you've already paid the money and aren't likely to spend much more....

ETA:

I wouldn't have bought DVC if I was thrifty.

But many DVC owners DO buy DVC to reduce the costs of regular Disney deluxe visits, and they also justify the expense of DVC by the reduction of $$$ they will spend during a DVC trip.

IMHO - YMMV

 

[DrTomorrow]

From a business perspective, a fact is that most companies realize that 90% of their business is done by 10% of their customers.[...]

Could you point me in the direction of a source for this fact? Granted, my MBA is quite dusty ::cough::, but I've never heard this statistic applied to "most companies". I have heard that in some areas - large equipment manufacturing, for example - the 80/20 rules applies. But I've never heard a credible source state that the entertainment / theme park industry gets 90% of it's income from only 10% of guests. If this is true (and I'm sceptical until I see the citation), I'd wager that the 10% are the folks who pay rack rate for 3 weeks of a Grand Floridian Suite ever year, buy full-price APs for a family of five, and eat every meal on-site, than the $15-20K one-time buy-in at DVC.

ETA: Some stats to back up my comments. From Deb Wills' site:

Grand Floridian Main Building 2 Bedroom Suite: Regular Season - $1,890
$1,890 x 21 days = $39,690. And that's before tickets & food.


IMHO - YMMV

 

[RobDoc]

From a business perspective, a fact is that most companies realize that 90% of their business is done by 10% of their customers. ...

Whoa - where did that "fact" come from?

Do you really think that 90% of McDonald's business, or 90% of GM's business , or 90% of Disney's business comes from 10% of their customers?

Disney, as a company, has no incentive to offer more to DVC members. Even when we got free park passes (from 1991 thru 1999) DVD actually paid the Theme Parks division each day one of those passes was used. It was NOT a perk "given" to DVC members by Theme Parks - it was negotiated by DVD, in advance, with that division of the company as an incentive to purchase DVC and the cost was funded from the sales themselves- not from the parks.

Any perk offered at this point will come from the same source- either DVD will pay for it from sales or it will come from the annual fees paid by members. DVC has no "free" lunch program- someone must pay for it- either the developer or the members.

In order for Theme Parks to offer FastPass to DVC members, they would need to see some direct financial benefit, or else DVC would have to pay for that perk (either thru sales or annual fees).

 

[tjkraz]

Unless I use my kttwc disney does not know how much cash I put out on a typical visit...

Well obviously they can't track every penny to its source. But they know how many bodies are in the theme parks and in the hotels on any single day, and they know how many dollars came in. It's pretty darn simple to calculate average guest spending.

In fact, per-room guest spending was highlighted in the 2004 annual report. For the east coast parks (WDW), the average was $198 per guest room per night. That's the average over 8.5 million guest room nights for the year.

It wouldn't be difficult to make some reasonable assumptions regarding DVC vs. non-DVC. Assuming that DVCers use their KTTW cards with about the same frequency as cash guests, they can easily extrapolate how spending levels differ on average.

...and with several young children in tow there is no way my expenditures are lower than a one time guest--- but that's just me, I wouldn't have bought DVC if I was thrifty.

So you're saying that your family of four (or five or six) spends more than a family of four (or five or six) staying at the Grand Floridian on their first trip to WDW? What's your basis for concluding that?

All I can do is relate my own story. During my first visit to WDW, my wife and I spent $1500 for food and souvenirs alone during our week-long stay. That didn't include the room, tickets or transportation. No tours. No golf. No boats. Food and trinkets only.

Now, nearly 10 years later as a family of 4, we don't spend any more than $600-700 in a week. And that includes about $100 that goes to Publix for groceries.

This isn't about thrift...it's about the unavoidable reality that you can only have so many Mission: Space t-shirts before the dresser drawer just won't close anymore. It's about the reality that the kitchen in our room means we don't have to pay Disney prices for our breakfast and late-night snacks. It's about the fact that Annual Passes mean we spend a fraction as much for our theme park admission (on a per-trip basis) as someone who buys a 7-day MYW pass.

I don't pretend that my family is the de facto example of a "typical" DVC family. But I just don't see any evidence that DVC members, on average, spend as much or more than cash guests on per-trip basis.

 

[thelionqueen]

I am not trying to say I expect any other perks than what was outlined originally, but if someone were to ask what our family would like, I would say a dining plan.

Before you flame, I know DVC is not obligated to offer anything and no other timeshares offer a dining package, I am just saying, Disney is like no other timeshare, and I think they could easily offer the dining plan to DVC owners as well as guests.

I wouldn't expect a discount, just to be able to take advantage of a program that other guests staying onsite are offered. That's it. It would make dining on our trips easier and much more pleasurable.

Just my .02

 

[BEACHCLUBVILLAS]

IMHO, not necessarily - particularly in the case of DVC owners.

Comparing DVC owners to on-site resort guests, I (again, IMHO) suggest the following:

- More DVCers own APs (or can take better advantage of longer MYW passes) than Guests do; Disney isn't getting much extra $$$ there

- DVCers eat fewer meals at Disney restaurants per trip than Guests do; DVCers have kitchens & fridges and easier access to off-site dining.

- DVCers buy fewer souvies per trip than Guests. After the fifth trip, I bet that DVCers have pretty much most of the souvies they want (pins, gifts, etc excepted).

- And, of course, the obvious - Disney isn't making a penny off of lodging when a DVC books a villa.

Tickets, food, souvenirs & lodging - in every case a Guest spends a lot (2 times, 3 times, more?) than a DVCer on a given visit. Not sure that Disney is all geeked up about the money they'll make from us off the $2 bottles of water at the MK (oops, we buy water at Winn-Dixie and chill it in our villa )

I recently had a thought (no wise-cracks, folks) about the oft-mentioned "DVCers are the most loyal" comment. From a marketing point of view, we are a captive audience. We've already spent the (tens of) thousands of dollars,

I (again, IMHO) suggest the following:
I respectfully disagree with most of your points.


More DVCers own APs (or can take better advantage of longer MYW passes) than Guests do; Disney isn't getting much extra $$$ there
Pre my ownership in DVC, I bought park hoppers that never expired. On more than one occasion I used park passes that were 5 years or older. I had already pre-paid, Walt cashed my check and I was in the park "free". At least with an AP we pay more upfront and their liability is limited to one year. And, I'm in the parks now 2 or 3 times a year spending money where before I went once every few years. I spend a lot more at Disney in a year than I ever had.


- DVCers eat fewer meals at Disney restaurants per trip than Guests do; DVCers have kitchens & fridges and easier access to off-site dining. People use that kitchen? I thought it was for show and to keep milk cold for cereal so you don't have to keep refreshing the ice bucket.

- DVCers buy fewer souvies per trip than Guests. After the fifth trip, I bet that DVCers have pretty much most of the souvies they want (pins, gifts, etc excepted). My souvies purchasing pattern has not changed between my non DVC and DVC days.

- And, of course, the obvious - Disney isn't making a penny off of lodging when a DVC books a villa They sure are. I pitch in to help with the overhead every year.

We've already spent the (tens of) thousands of dollars, - Exactly! That's money upfront and in bank. That's a dream customer if I ever saw one.

 

[BEACHCLUBVILLAS]

One other thing to think about. I have no figures to prove this but after 9/11, I bet it was the DVC'ers that came back first. Because we are "invested" in Disney. We didn't want to lose points and were more likely to find a way to get to Disney. Should something else happen, it'll be nice for Disney to know they have some loyal guests to count on.

 

[TEK224]

I haven't even made my first trip "home" yet, since I just bought in Aug. But I'd be happy with any perk that is offered. I look at it as just that - a "perk". Something extra that I wasn't expecting.

I think a dining plan would be nice. Then maybe some of the people who do eat in their rooms at DVC would eat at the restaurants (at dining meal discounts) and bring in money to Disney that they wouldn't have gotten w/o the plan.

Just my thoughts!
Terri

 

[tjkraz]

- DVCers eat fewer meals at Disney restaurants per trip than Guests do; DVCers have kitchens & fridges and easier access to off-site dining. People use that kitchen? I thought it was for show and to keep milk cold for cereal so you don't have to keep refreshing the ice bucket.

If that made you the typical Vacation Club member, DVD wouldn't continue to construct resorts where every single room has a kitchen.

- DVCers buy fewer souvies per trip than Guests. After the fifth trip, I bet that DVCers have pretty much most of the souvies they want (pins, gifts, etc excepted). My souvies purchasing pattern has not changed between my non DVC and DVC days.

You should really check-out the off-site outlet stores sometime. 50% discounts on genuine Disney merchandise.

- And, of course, the obvious - Disney isn't making a penny off of lodging when a DVC books a villa They sure are. I pitch in to help with the overhead every year.

You pay to cover the operating expenses of the unit you own, but that doesn't put any profits in Disney's pockets. Eliminate the DVC resorts and member dues, and you're basically at the same place as today.

We've already spent the (tens of) thousands of dollars, - Exactly! That's money upfront and in bank. That's a dream customer if I ever saw one.

Bottom line: Could Walt Disney World survive without DVC members? Absolutely.

Could Walt Disney World survive without cash guests? Not a chance.

We DVC members can delude ourselves into thinking that we deserve to have Disney throw the sun, moon and stars at us, but that won't make it so.