questioning my membership

[Kupiecb]

Hi everyone,
I just returned from my long awaited, yearly trip to Walt Disney World.
I have been a DVC member for a couple of year now and this is the first time I am truly wondering if it is worth it. Please dont get me wrong I love Disney World. But being a DVC member is almost like being a second class citizen.
Used to be when you checked in, you were greeted with "Welcome Home". Have they stopped doing that? Well at the Wilderness lodge Villas they have.
We stayed in a Studio this time and let me tell you the NO Housekeeping thing was hard. I called down to get more towels and were told I had to do laundry. Its not bad in a 1 or 2 bedoom but in a studio you have no washer or dryer so you have to go to the laundry. In my case this was all the way down the hall. We are not given baskets, or bags or anything to get the wet, dirty towels down to the laundry.
Also being a DVC member you would think we would at least be given our room choices. I asked for a smoking room. When I checked in, none were available. She looked at me and said all 4 of you are staying in a studio? and rolled her eyes. I recieved the worse room location a patio room at the end of the hall.
Maybe it is just me but it gets harder and harder to pay those dues, and not be treated any differently than anyone else staying at the same hotel. I wonder how my non DVC members were staying there in better rooms than I was.
Help me again remember why I am a DVC member!!

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Hi, Kupiecb. Let me start by saying I am sorry that you did not enjoy your stay at VWL. I hope I don't come across as callous here, as that is not my intention.

I do not notice the “second class citizen” thing at all. I have stayed several times on points, and loads of times with cash, and we were always treated ‘Disney good’. As far as the “Welcome Homes” at The Lodge, sometime we get them, sometime we don’t. I like to hear it, but don’t feel like a second class citizen if I don’t.

I am not sure what to say about housekeeping other than we all knew the cleaning and towel schedule before we purchased. Of course, extra towels and extra cleaning are available for a fee. You are correct that the studios do not have washers & dryers in the rooms, but again, we all knew this prior to buying into DVC.

Unfortunately, it would be impossible to give every member their room choice. While it would be nice to receive all of our requests, and they will make every effort to do so, we can’t realistically expect it. Overall I feel Member Services together with the room assigning Cast Member do an excellent job handling the plethora of requests they must get.

Remember, our dues pay for the upkeep, day to day expenses, and management of the resort. Someone who does not own DVC also pays all of those expenses in the form of a bill at check-out.

Again, please don't take my reply as a negative response. We all have our different things that we would like to see improved, and you are certainly entitled to yours.
I hope you have a better experience on your next trip!
Thanx for the report….

MG

 

[Desperado]

If you don't get a welcome home, note the person's name and report them to the manager. If you feel like a second class citizen, make those complaints to the manager, write the president of DVC, or our representative:

DVC Member Satisfaction Manager
Jackie Lueders, 800-800-9800,
Disney Vacation Club,
Attn: Jackie Lueders,
200 Celebration Place,
Celebration, FL 34747.

There's also another person, but I don't remember thier name. Perhaps someone else can help us with this person's name.

 

[castleri]

First of all - sorry you felt you had a not so great Disney experience with DVC.
Even as a "paying" guest I don't know if you get to pick your room - although I did get a choice of two rooms at AKL because they had mistakenly given me a smoking room at first. In Oct we got welcome homes at both BCV and WLV so maybe it's just the way you hit it that day. The welcome home that confused me was when I pulled through the security gate at AKL on the day of check out to move to OKW in Dec. I had gotten up early and gone to OKW to ckeck into our GV while my son slept. Miracles do happen and it was ready at 8 am. After unloading the car I went back to AKL and the guard there gave me a big Welcome Home which I thought was strange. It wasn't until later I realized I had the parking permit for OKW on the dash covering the AKL one. That sure didn't make me feel anything but great, definitely not a second class citizen. That said I don't know that not getting a welcome home would make or break my trip.
April will be My DH and I only trip and in a studio at OKW. As someone else said we all knew about studios not having washers when we bought so try to plan accordingly. I guess we'll just have to suffer by the pool while the laundry gets done but will take a tote bag or use one of the garbage bags to get it there .Please don't give up on DVC- you just seem to have hit all the not so great CM's at the same time. If you use a studio again you might request near the laundry room - they probably don't get that one too often. I don't know about you but DVC is the only way I would be able to have such great vacations in far better rooms than I would ever be able to afford even with some of the discounts out there. This will be only the second time we have used a studio since we bought in 1997. We did have CM's at the DVC salesroom on Boardwalk ask about which of us was wasting points when we told them we had only 5 people in a GV the week after Christmas. It wasn't a waste - just one of the wonderful options DVC offers.
Hope you have many more trips that do live up to your expectations.

 

[poj7]

Hi.

Sorry to hear that your expectations were not met on your last trip. Thank you for your honest report. Maybe it's time to take a break and rent out your points for one or two years. If you do that you will be able to pay for your maintenence fees and save a little so you don't feel like you're still shelling out a lot of money.

After a break maybe try again for a shorter trip with a larger accomodation ie: a 2-bedroom which as you know, as the washer dryer. Borrow points if you need to.

I can certainly see how, as members, our expectations get higher and higher and I think doing a "re-entry" after a period of time may do a world of good because DVC may seem fresh again. WELCOME HOME!

 

[Doug Wolfe]

I think it is safe to say not everyone is going to like DVC.

They should have given you the "Welcome Home." Maybe they put you in a room with a patio so you could step outside to smoke? Who knows? Maybe you would realize more of the DVC benefits if you saved your points and did a one or two bedroom? As far as mousekeeping, I really like not having it.

Again, not everyone is going to like it. Consider the fact you did not write a check when you checked out of the room. Maybe try OKW next time which will give you more options for rooms and more space. Hope it works out better next time!

 

[PamOKW]

Once a resort sells out, we are all members staying in the resort. This makes it extremely hard to satisfy everyone but I think DVC does their best to be fair in the room assignments. Of course, some of us will be disappointed at least some of the time --- and that's when we can feel annoyed. We can feel that way but there's not much to be done about it. There are only so many rooms on any given day. The number of rooms available to you is also govverned by the need to have a smoking room. The demand for these is low so DVC has cut back on the number that are available. Just as handicap rooms are not available in every section, neither are smoking rooms. Did you finally get a smoking room or was the room also non-smoking?

The towel policy is well-known and spelled out. Housekeeping should have offered to sell you the $6 pack. If not, you should have requested it as an option over using the washer. In the future, you might try speaking with a maid directly. They sometimes can provide the spare towel or two. If you call, you are going through official channels and will get the official response. I agree that the policy creates the greatest hardship on the studio guest. I have never liked this policy and struggled to have it changed back in the days when it first began. Looks like that's not going to happen and we must live with it.

The "Welcome Home" is a point of confusion at the combo resorts. Personally, I'd rather just get my check-in done than worry about whether I get the "Welcome Home".

However, the eye-rolling was uncalled for. Like you, a CM editorialzing with sighs or eye rolls would get my Irish up.

I hope you feel better now that you vented. Desperado is right that the only way to really ask DVC for change is to contact them directly. They take everyone's comments into consideration when they make future decisions.

 

[MarkRG]

I honestly agree with some of what KupieCB has said. We've stayed at VWL. I truly feel it is treated as the red-headed stepchild of WL. I'll give you a number of good examples. We get there and check in. No welcome home then either. We then get to the room, and surprise! Someone's already IN it! They scramble to find us another room meanwhile, which takes them another full half hour to figure out. I then have a small problem, the device I use to get the pictures out of my camera needs a video in on the tv so I can use its menus. I hadn't brought a notebook to save hassle in the airports. 'oh, you're in the villas' definitely said with distate is a coment that stands out in my mind from the phone conversation. I finally solved it by stopping one of the hotel engineers, describing my situation and a reply of 'oh, I can have a tv with inputs there in a bit' easily took care of it. Would that have been so hard for the front desk person to do? I really got the impression they treat the villas as something less than WL. Maybe they're jealous of our deal. Or that we're not paying cash so they don't have to put forth such an effort. I don't really know or care. I've stayed in the past at WL and loved the resort, so I was expecting the same with VWL and it just didn't happen.

I really think the physical distance from the lobby to the villas puts up a barrier between the two. Why it doesn't have at least 1 dedicated CM in VWL to be the front desk to us escapes me. They did build one, but the lack of anyone there makes it like an outbuilding or something. I would honestly think twice about staying there again, sorry VWL members.

 

[floridafam]

Yes, I have issues with the front desk staff at WL.

They act like the Villas are horrible. We experienced the same thing on our last trip.

If this is going to be an ongoiing problem then they should just get a seperate check-in desk.

 

[lenshanem]

It would be a nice touch if they supplied laundry baskets for the studios to help with taking the towels to wash.

On another note, after reading about changing the trash and towel day by calling housekeeping, I have looked at my next two trips this summer and by requesting my trash and towel day a day earlier it really helps! For five nights, by doing this we would have a set of towels to last two mornings each. Does that make sense?

Also, what is the difference in four people staying in a standard resort room or a studio in the villa. Does she roll her eyes to those people, too? I wouldn't worry about that at all.

I got a tad bit of attitude last time at VWL checking in cause I asked if she could show me on a amp a general area as to where my room might end up later in the day. I've gotten over it, though. LOL

So far by staying in studios we have really stretched our points and we're not the type to stay in the room for very long anyway. I have a family that likes to be on the move and entertained.

Studios are just fine.

 

[RweTHEREyet]

Sorry, but it sounded to me that you expected that because you are a DVC member you think you should be treated better. Regular guests are not given laundry baskets, etc to do laundry, in fact, they often have to leave the building they are staying in to do laundry since the laundry is usually near the pool, not just go down the hall.

We stayed at the Wilderness Lodge Friday a week ago, not as DVC members, but in the Lodge, paying cash. I can tell you that after that one night, I will never, ever do that again. Room was small, only an ice bucket, no mini-fridge (I could have paid an extra $10.00 a night on top of the very high room rate, if I wanted one) and no microwave for breakfast, but an opportunity to eat at Roarking Forks for $30.00 for the 3 of us.

The Security Guard "Welcomed" us home every time we drove into the resort, even though we were not checking in as DVC. When the bellman saw our DVC card for valet parking and we told him we were not in the Villas, he couldn't understand why.

I will also tell you that VWL is my least favorite DVC resort, but I would rather stay there in a studio than in a regular room every chance I could.


There was nothing in your report that should have been a surprise to you you. Maybe you should take a trip paying regular rack rates and see what you think after staying at DVC resorts. I feel very lucky to be able to be a DVC member and I am sure that if you decided to sell your points that someone would gladly snatch them up.

 

[jarestel]

I've stayed at VWL many times and though I've recognized many of the waitstaff at WC and in the general store, the front desk people always seem to be different. Maybe it's a training issue with the front desk staff. Though I haven't had any major issues at VWL, the front desk is always the lowest rated part of my trip. Maybe it would make sense to have a dedicated VWL checkin person.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Check your PMs.

 

[CarolA]

Attitude is 99% of life.

If you make a decision to let small things bother you they will. In the overall scheme of life "Welcome home" is SMALL!

I do think that sometimes people get this "I am a DVC member" method going that seems to make them want "perfection". Nothing in life is perfect. Sorry!

 

[lenshanem]

Regular guests are not given laundry baskets, etc to do laundry, in fact, they often have to leave the building they are staying in to do laundry since the laundry is usually near the pool, not just go down the hall.

But, they get fresh towels every morning. They really don't need to take towels to get washed. I think a laundry basket in the studios would be a nice and helpful touch. JMO

 

[Chuck S]

When I stay in a studio, I just use a pillow case for a laundry bag and throw it in with the wash. You could probably call housekeeping and request a laundry basket, since they have them in the larger units they probably stock a few extras.

It is very rare for me not to get a Welcome Home at OKW, but at the combined hotel/villa type resorts that share a front desk I wouldn't let it bother me. But, from several reports it does seem as if there may be a few issues with the WL front desk.

Room requests are just that, requests, that is stated on almost every piece of literature from DVC.

The extra towel pack policy ($6) was instituted several years ago and well publicized in DVC publications. Housekeeping policies have changed little since the inception of the DVC program (Trash & Tidy became Trash & Towel).

It really sounds like a studio is just too small a unit for you to be comfortable.

 

[jimmytammy]

First, let me say we LOVE WLV! It is our home resort. Now thats said, let me say this....I agree with all here who say the front desk staff there do seem to act different to us DVCers.
There is one young man in particular who comes across as just as plain rude. Having a bad day, understandable, this guy had 7 bad days.
If I had a question or needed something I did all I could to avoid asking for his help, yet I would seem to get stuck with him half the time.
As for the trash and towel deal, we actually now enjoy not having to deal with mousekeeping coming by everyday. That is something we never thought we would get used too.
You should not have been told you had to do the laundry. Report your dissatisfaction with DVC. That is the only way they will know.
After our trip in Dec we were given a survey and I reported my dissatisfaction with the front desk person. DVC needs to know.

 

[Desperado]

Originally posted by jimmytammy
First, let me say we LOVE WLV! It is our home resort. Now thats said, let me say this....I agree with all here who say the front desk staff there do seem to act different to us DVCers.
There is one young man in particular who comes across as just as plain rude. Having a bad day, understandable, this guy had 7 bad days.
If I had a question or needed something I did all I could to avoid asking for his help, yet I would seem to get stuck with him half the time.

Report him to a manager immediately!!!! This is unacceptable!!!! It should not be tollerated!!!!

 

[crisi]

I haven't stayed at VWL but I have stayed at WL and the front desk was not the best. I don't think they treat DVC guests any better, I think their front desk staff can just be "unmagical."

(I wasn't spectacularly impressed with the BWV front desk staff either...in fact, I can't think of a Disney check in experience I've had where the desk staff has really shone. We did not get a Welcome Home at BWVs - even though the CM checking us in said he was on "loan" from MS for the day and should have known.....but I didn't even notice it lacking).

The WL resort is lovely, but the regular hotel rooms are very small for Deluxes. And, while they will change towels every day, they ask that you reuse your towels (as they do now a days at all hotels) to save on water and washing - and the rack rate starts at $200 plus tax. The Su-Th point rate starts at $12 per point. The savings will easily get you a $6 towel package. (The F-Sa point rate is 22 - something less than a bargain as you can often get some sort of discount on rack rate. But for a full week - 104 points vs. $1400 plus tax isn't bad.)

I prefer the integrated feel of BWVs than the tacked on feel of BCVs or VWL. I think it would be hard for me not to feel "special" far outside the main building - whether that is "special" good or "special" bad I don't know.

But if DVC isn't for you, it isn't.

 

[PamOKW]

Originally posted by lenshanem
I think a laundry basket in the studios would be a nice and helpful touch. JMO

This points out some of the decision making problems DVC faces. A guest says they think having a laundry basket in the studio would make life simpler going to the laundry room. Sounds simple -- makes sense. You can bet that once the laundry baskets are put in the rooms some guests will complain that the valuable limited storage space in the room is being taken up by unnecessary items like laundry baskets!

One thing to always keep in mind. If there is something you need/want, call and ask for it. The worst that can happen is that they'll say no. As already mentioned, since the other units do have laundry baskets, chances are very good that one could be provided to a studio guest who requests it. Studio folks used to request (and were given) toasters. I guess the demand gave DVC the idea to just provide them in the units as they have now done.