The Disney Club

[pfanenstiel]

About a month ago, I made reservations at ASMu for 9/14-21. It came to $77. Not too bad. Last week I joined the Disney Club and called to see what sort of discount I could get on the room. With the club membership, the room dropped to $61 a night. Wow! That made my day. We'll get $10 off of our 5-day hopper passes and 20% off at our favorite place to eat (Wolfgang Puck).
I know this sounds like a commercial for the Disney Club, which its not, but I was impressed by the savings (of course you have to spend to save!). Can't wait to go. Now if I could find decent air fare from Syracuse. A few weeks ago I found a fare of $189 r/t per person. Should have jumped on it. Now up to $227.

Steve and Karen

1987 Off site
1999 Off site
9/02 ASMu!

 

[cindyfan]

Don't want to bust your bubble.....
but you can get these same discounts if you are a AAA member, or if you have an American Express card.

I am a DC member too, but have been disappointed with what DC has been offering compared to other travel opportunities.
Just wondering if it is worth the membership fee.???

 

[pfanenstiel]

hmm...

At least I got the membership for $31 thru the Entertainment Coupon book!

 

[Humpbacks1962]

I agree, with AAA you'd have EXACTLY the same room discount, saving yourself the $31. Use a discount code and you beat them all.

What is more, sites like ticketmania.com and floridaorlandotickets.com give you deeper disocunts on hoppers than DC. The restaurants, DQ and other attractions are discounted as well through AAA, AMEX and/or Entertainment.

I have been a member of the DC for two years, so nobody can tell me that DC offers better discounts. I do not shop at the store that often, so I am thnking about maybe letting my membership expire at the end of the year as well, since I have not been able to get unbeatable discounts with it and spending $30 to save 10% on DS purchases does not make a big difference in my wallet. I do not shop at the store that often.

Wanda

 

[CamColt]

Im excited with Disney Club too. I joined with the discounted price of about 30.00. Then I was able to save 10% on my hotel room(no other discounts apply to me for that room for that night), plus I got a 50.00 shipboard credit for our cruise(again, no other discounts apply to me). I figure I am now up about 56.00 and Ive only been a member for a couple months. Just wait til I hit the Disney Store next and use that discount.

 

[Tluvs2talk]

I live in SC, so we used Disney Club to book a Villa at Hilton Head Island. The 1 bedroom Villa was $84.00 with my Disney Club Card. It would have been over $100 with my AAA card. You do have to check to see which card or code is better. So far this year my Disney Club Card has saved me over a hundred dollars.

 

[Disneybelle66]

I'v been debating on getting the DC membership. We already have AAA, but I was hoping for better rates at our resort. I guess it can't hurt to get it? It's only $40, so I guess untill I hear something really negative, we'll go for it.

 

[pfanenstiel]

I went to the ticketmania.com and floridaorlandotickets.com web sites and the discounted 5-day hopper tickets were more expensive than on disneytickets.com. Plus, with the Disney Club, you get $10 off. I'm pleased with the club and I've only been a member for a week!

 

[pjacobi]

I joined the Disney Club in December and booked my vacation in January. I saved the expected 10% off the regular rate or about $400.00 on a 1-week vacation at a deluxe.

When the Disney Club magazine arrived, I found a discount code for Disney Club members that was worth another $600.00. The code is also posted on this site.

For now, I've saved $1000.00 with the Disney Club!


-Paul

 

[cindyfan]

pjacobi, the point is you did not need to be a Disney Club member to get the $1000 savings!!
Those codes were for anyone.
Yes, I have used my DC card for savings. BUT....There has never been anything "exclusive" to DC members. I've only seen discounts that I could have also received as a AAA member or American Express card holder, or other ways!

I am not against the DC.....I am just still waiting to find out if it has been worth the $$ for the membership.

 

[LAinSEA]

now DC has a discount for joining AAA - which I'd feel better driving around with if DH will just decide it would be a good thing to join. Having the roadside assistance if I ever needed it would be great peace of mind.

IMHO - you have to do the research about discounts etc. yourself even if you are having a travel agent do the booking for you. If you do book everything yourself - either through CRO or DC-WDTC it makes a big difference which CM you get on the phone. For our first trip - we had magic kingdom club membership through DH's employer...the first CM I talked to get quotes was terrible and I didn't think we'd be able to afford to go and go first class (a belated honeymoon). The 2nd time we called we got a great CM who not only spent the time to look up any discounts but kept adjusting our travel dates until we got a super deal at the GF! For our May trip - the CM I worked with, Cecelia, stayed on the line with me while I made sure I got the airfare booked at the price I wanted before putting everything through...her computer wouldn't show the discount that I was getting at the airline's site at the time.

It pays to shop around and the info from the the DIS boards is the best! thanks to everyone who shares their expertise everyday!

-LA

 

[pjacobi]

cindyfan,

The discount code that I used was valid *only* for Disney Club members.

There may have been a similar discount code available for AAA members, but I was not away of any. I am also an AAA member!

I wish Disney would get rid of these silly discount code. I think that a first-come, best discount model, like the airlines use would be more fair.


-Paul

 

[Beverly Lynn]

your air should be going back down. its only march and you're traveling in sep!

 

[cindyfan]

pjacobi, I have been a DC member for 2 years and have never been aware of a "DC ONLY" code??!!
What was it and when was it offered?
Could it be that it is just a variation of a code that was available to the general public??
That is the point I am trying to make.
I have never seen a code or anything that someone couldn't just get the same thing in another way.

For example.......AP holders......it used to be AP was just about the best discount anyone could get. Up to 60% off at times. Yes maybe it was limited to certain times of year etc. But at least the offer was there.
DC has made some offers. But nothing that great.

 

[gm]

I have been a disney club member for 5 years and there is not anything in those 5 years that I can say WOW i am glad I am in disney club. I paid for my membership for all these years and it is about to expire and I am not going to renew. The discounts are so ridiculous. The discounts you get as passholder are so much better including the state codes. The maximum I have seen is 20% for dc members which I used in 98 because i was not aware of this site and all the discounts. I had paid for beach club for $232 with dc when i could have gotten it for $169 with the summer discount offered that year which i found out until much later. The biggest complaint I have is this is the "DISNEY"club card but no DISNEY owned restaurants offer discounts such as the characters meals etc. It is a shame that only non disney restaurants except this card for discounts exlanet hollywood,rainforest cafe,and the downtown NON disney restaurants and we are expected to pay for this card!!!!! No not ever again until they can do better.

This card is good for people who shop a lot at disney stores.
I good thing about this card is that you can excess a toll free # but I dont think i want to shell out money for only a free phone line

 

[Disneyolic]

Hi neighbor (also from the Syracuse area). I have been doing a lot of research about the DC membership vs AAA and AMEX. We don't have AAA and that has a fee also. We don't have an AMEX card either and don't really want another credit card to worry about... We can get a discounted DC card from our credit union so why not spend a little to save a lot on hotel discounts? That's the main reason I want to get the card. I would definitely do some shopping around even with the DC. Everyone is competitive and some places are willing to bargain with you, but not always at first. Good luck with the airfare! Doesn't Jet Blue have good fares down to ORD?

1996 - CBR
1997 - DLR
1998 - offsite (never again)
2003 - hopefully, WL

 

[cascadecupcake]

I think Disney club has advantages--for me anyway. I don't belong to AAA. If I wanted to join, I would have to pay their $50 sign up fee (much more than the DC cost) and the insurance rates are 25% higher that what I'm paying now. (I check rates on insurance EVERY six months at my renewal time because I'm so cheap! )

I have had situations where the resort I wanted to stay at was not part of the current "code" rates. (or the rooms were gone) I still was able to get a discount with my DC. There is a benefit in knowing that you will NEVER pay rack rate to me.

I also like the mailers and online notifications. And I shop at the Disney store often and 10% off everything I buy adds up during the year for sure.

Oh, and I also feel good pulling the pretty little thing out of my wallet! heehee!

 

[LBYC-19]

Everyone has to do what is in their family's best interest. I joined DC for our upcoming April trip and this is how our family will be utilizing their discounts:

Dolphin: 50% rack rates (this is huge to us as we chose a prime peak week to travel, and the Dolphin has been the only deluxe resort to discount so deeply).

Rental car: DC had biggest discount (I think more than Emerald Aisle, but that is for another discussion board).

20% food at the Swan/Dolphin.

20% both golf and mini golf (tee times are close to $200 each that week for my DH and DD). I believe water mice are also 20% off (or is that AE?)

Last, but not least, all of the phone calls to CRO's 800# you are provided with DC membership. I've changed ressies and dining ressies many times and have been on hold long enough to make up for the $39 fee I paid just with the phone calls alone, let alone the above-mentioned savings.

We did not use them for park hopper passes (Connections) and we really don't do enough shopping to make a difference.
Forget to mention, the Disney Magazine is lots of fun to read!
I will not renew DC it expires, but when we plan our next trip, I'll gladly renew.