Poll: Membership Magic Beyond

[MerlinandtheMouse]

I’m not wowed by the offerings but at this price point and the fact that we’ve purchased OTUP the 2 last years so I sense we’ll do the same next year, I think I’ll get it since the savings are apparent.

We’ve never had issue getting into the lounges, and it does make me a little bit uncomfortable paying to cut ahead of other members, so I’m not sure I’d take advantage of that even if we had the opportunity. My assumption is they’ve introduced this particular benefit because they expect the new MK lounge to be incredibly popular with really long wait times.

I’m also curious about the ticket discounts and even more so now learning that DLR includes LLMP. I don’t know why they can’t do that for WDW too, that’s a bit annoying.

 

[McManus]

Just an FYI, if more than 1 person is a member on your contract, Member Services told me we both would have to pay $99 each. Doesn't really make sense.

 

[Sandisw]

I'm the same, but opposite. I will not buy this unless the 5-day ticket discount is significant (which I doubt).

Frankly, I'm surprised at the number of posters who are interested in the OTU point perk - I had no idea that many people made use of that. I've never used it or even considered using it.

And the tiered lounge access makes me angry, TBH - it seems like a slippery slope towards creating the DVC "haves" and the DVC "have nots".

To be fair, DVC has been doing the have and have nots since 2012…slowly changing how things work and who gets offered what.

 

[Fangorn]

Just an FYI, if more than 1 person is a member on your contract, Member Services told me we both would have to pay $99 each. Doesn't really make sense.

This is NOT what the official FAQs say.

From the FAQ;

Q: Does everyone on our Membership or in our household need to purchase the Membership Magic Beyond option in order to use the benefits?
A.No. Enrolled Members may share certain benefits with family members and their Guests; however, the ability to book, reserve or purchase any benefit is limited to the enrolled Member and cannot be assigned to any other person. The number of people that can use each applicable benefit varies by the benefit. Please see 2025 Membership Magic Beyond Option Terms and Conditions for details.

Steve

 

[McManus]

This is NOT what the official FAQs say.

From the FAQ;

Q: Does everyone on our Membership or in our household need to purchase the Membership Magic Beyond option in order to use the benefits?
A.No. Enrolled Members may share certain benefits with family members and their Guests; however, the ability to book, reserve or purchase any benefit is limited to the enrolled Member and cannot be assigned to any other person. The number of people that can use each applicable benefit varies by the benefit. Please see 2025 Membership Magic Beyond Option Terms and Conditions for details.

Steve

Steve, thank you! It didn't seem right that we'd have to purchase for my husband and myself. Maybe I misunderstood!

 

[Willow Ufgood]

I chose maybe. The rollout comes too late for our next trip amd I'm not sure that we will visit in 2025. We have never used OTUP and are actually still in the habit of banking points ever since the pandemic. I don't think we would take advantage of the AP for points because if we have points we don't want to use, we aren't going to be visiting anyway. The discounted tickets sound interesting but it would depend on how good the discount is. And I'm unsure that it is worth it just for MM. The fastpass for the lounge sounds nice but we rarely went to the Epcot lounge so I wouldn't be buying MMB for just this benefit.

 

[Fangorn]

Steve, thank you! It didn't seem right that we'd have to purchase for my husband and myself. Maybe I misunderstood!

The way I read this is if I purchase this, I am the member with the benefits, but my wife does not have the benefits (we're both on the contracts). Meaning, if we want to use any of these benefits, I have to be the one to call MS to buy tickets, OTUP, etc. And if wanting to skip the line at the lounge, I have to be there - DW can't do that without me. That's no big deal for us, since I do all the booking anyway and she won't be going to the lounge by herself (I'm the one pushing her wheelchair ). But it could be an inconvenience for some.

Steve

 

[OnThisMagicNight]

I voted yes - this actually looks like it will save our family money. We only take 1 big trip a year and we always purchase memory maker, so getting it for $99 instead of $185 is a no brainer. I'm very hopeful regarding the ticket discounts also. We normally purchase 7 day park hoppers but I think I can probably get away with the 5 day tickets considering we'll probably do a Christmas Party ticket plus use the free water park days with the resort stay. I understand this doesn't work for many people, but I've felt they haven't had anything to offer those of us who don't go frequently enough to purchase an annual pass before this option. Of course I wish this was a free perk rather than a paid add on, but considering how much memory maker costs these days, this is still a discount for us.

 

[Swaggerwagon]

Yes, our next trip is Princess RunDisney weekend so I would be getting Memory Maker anyways. This is a good deal for our family! Might use the OTU BOGO deal as well for another trip. We don’t usually use the lounges but maybe now we will remember to check it out.

 

[ehh]

Voted no.

I'm usually one to sign up for elevated experiences (it's likely we will use LLPP, for example) and even minor conveniences (preferred parking, occasionally valet at resorts), but the value just isn't there for us. Going through the list I'm just not sure what we would even use:

• WDW 5-day tickets
  • Have, and intend to continue to renew, our Annual Pass
  • No weekends is a major limiting factor for us as about half of our park days are weekends
• DL 3-day tickets
  • Have, and intend to continue to renew, our Magic Key
  • No weekends is a major limiting factor for us as about half of our park days are weekends
• 30-day WDW Memory Maker
  • We'll continue to use the annual version; we wouldn't be able to cover 2 trips with a single 30-day window
• Exclusive character meet & mingles
  • Mildly interesting, though we're not really character meet-and-greet people
• Priority access to lounges
  • Only applies when lounge access is restricted by a waitlist
  • We've never been on a waitlist for DVC lounge access before, so if history continues then no realized benefit
  • Our zero waitlist history is probably because we rarely go to DVC lounges, and when we do we tend to visit right as they open
• Use points to buy Sorcerer Pass
  • Sorcerer Pass's blockout dates don't work for us
  • Not a great value! (based on rumored 95 points)
• OTUP BOGO
  • A genuinely attractive discount/perk, by the math
  • However, we've only used OTUP once and for our expected stays through end of 2027 (yay spreadsheets) we come nowhere near needing OTUP (and definitely not for the rare stay booked at 7m)
• Transaction fee waived for Disney Collection Resorts and experiences
  • We have never, and likely will never, consider booking these experiences with points

All that said, if we traveled differently (and likely less), this would be a value for sure. I think the 2016-2018 versions of us would likely buy this.

 

[pinkxray]

I didn’t vote yet. I need to see the prices of the discounted tickets. We don’t get Sorcerer passes because we only do short trips and they usually have some dates blacked out. We might be looking to do a week in July so as long as the 5 day tickets don’t have July 4th and days surrounding blacked out, we would use them.

I have also purchased OTU points a few times. Like 3 of the 4 last years. I know eventually I need another contract, but while we are paying 3 tuitions, OTU points gets us through.

I have little kids and Memory Maker is the only way I get to be in any pictures. So I buy it.

I don’t like the priority access for the lounges. I have never been to a lounge, bc we have only been resale members until 2 years ago. We sold our cheap resale SSR points to buy direct at VGF. Which was a lot of extra $$$. I feel like I already paid for possible access to the lounge when paying double for direct points.

The waterpark will work if we go in the summer. I’m assuming we can still do the arrival day waterpark and then a waterpark on a different day?

On other years none of this might work for us. And to be completely honest, after hearing Big Thunder Mountain is closed most of 2025, I’m really thinking about cancelling this year and renting our points to go to Epic Universe. Lol. I know, crazy. But riding BTM during fireworks is my favorite thing ever.

 

[Geomom]

I voted NO because our only 2025 trip will be early January before you can use the benefits of the $99 that you spend. Depending on the price for 2026 and what kind of ticket discounts there are we 'might' buy it that year if we save more than we spend. I have a distaste for spending extra money on things though, especially for things I used to get free (like fast passes.)

 

[Dobermanns]

I was a no initially, because the discounted tickets, memory maker, points for AP, OTUP and Disney collection/ABD are of no interest to me.
Then the characters. I love characters (always do multiple character meals at every trip) but don’t like waiting in line for them. So maybe. Let’s see what the details are.

 

[McManus]

I'm a little concerned about taking the bait. If Disney sees that DVC members are willing to pay for perks, they may very well eliminate free perks altogether!

 

[T00dles]

We usually get the memory maker. So this is a great deal for us!

 

[Willow Ufgood]

I'm a little concerned about taking the bait. If Disney sees that DVC members are willing to pay for perks, they may very well eliminate free perks altogether!

They will always have something to toss to blue card members in order to distinguish between direct purchasers and resale buyers. Until there are more "new" DVC resorts, there has to be something more than "you can't use your resale points at RIV, FWC and the new DL resort".

 

[lovin'fl]

Voted maybe. We don't often use OTU points and the few times we have was years ago. We renew our annual pass as we live local and pop over often. And with DH still working, we do weekends mostly. But we could buy the ticket deal for our girls when they visit but they too usually do long weekend visits. BUt if a great deal, maybe we could make it work once a year. We used to go in the DVC lounge at Epcot a lot and have been on wait list a couple times. But we don't really go anymore since we live local and just leave whenever we get over heated or tired. Don't care about memory maker or the character meets.

Now one thing we recently used and might use this for...the free transaction for the Disney Collection. We recently booked a club level room at Grand Destino and have interest in trying a couple more club levels at WDW. ANd then we might actually need some OTU points. What's the current cost? And how many can we buy per year?

 

[Sandisw]

Voted maybe. We don't often use OTU points and the few times we have was years ago. We renew our annual pass as we live local and pop over often. And with DH still working, we do weekends mostly. But we could buy the ticket deal for our girls when they visit but they too usually do long weekend visits. BUt if a great deal, maybe we could make it work once a year. We used to go in the DVC lounge at Epcot a lot and have been on wait list a couple times. But we don't really go anymore since we live local and just leave whenever we get over heated or tired. Don't care about memory maker or the character meets.

Now one thing we recently used and might use this for...the free transaction for the Disney Collection. We recently booked a club level room at Grand Destino and have interest in trying a couple more club levels at WDW. ANd then we might actually need some OTU points. What's the current cost? And how many can we buy per year?

The program for 2025 is $99 for a member to buy. The OTU points benefit is BOGO free. The limit is still 24 OTU per UY and the cost is $20/each.

So, those enrolled in this program will be able to purchase up to 12, for $240 and get 24, that will cost $480 for those not in the program.

If that was the only thing you take advantage of, you’d need to add the $99 to the $240 you’d pay.

But, if you have used the Disney Collection and decide to use again, the waiving of the $95 fee for one trade makes this a wash and so now, you get the full benefit of the BOGO free OTU.

 

[matt and beth]

Open to resale and absolutely

 

[rlk]

We will. It makes sense for us just for the Memory Maker alone.