The new "Magic Pass" poll

[BobBrazeal]

Rich, I have really enjoyed your posts over the last week. Maybe it is just me getting used to your humor as I'm fairly new to this board but I've LOL at many of your recent posts. I've sensed more humor and less controversy but I think you are getting your point across all the same. Keep it up. I like the new Rich.

I voted no as well as it isn't really that useful to me. Yes, I'm also an AP holder. I can see the point of those that would argue that we are not the one toward which this pass is aimed. I bought enough points so that I could go more than once a year.

What come to my mind is the fact that the minimum number of points to get into DVC is now 150. Maybe many people are buying in at that minimum level. With the point costs of BWV and even moreso VWL that doesn't get you much more than a 5 days a year or even every other year in some cases. Maybe they were putting this pass package out there to give more incentive to those that are buying in at the minimum.

And there is nothing wrong with that. For those of us that want to go more than once a year, the AP is there. For those that want 5 days every year or so, this may be just the ticket!!

Just MHO.

<img src=http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/brazeal/sm14dvcdis.gif>

 

[MN_DizNut]

Altho I can't officially vote as I am still non-DVC...I am terrified to report that I'm actually agreeing with Rich on something...sounds like a crappy idea for a pass to me, too.

Sorry to agree with you, Rich, I'll try not to let it happen too often!

Jon

WDW '85 offsite
DL '85
DL '87
WDW '89 offsite
WL '97
WL '97 (again!)
WH '99
WL '99
AStSp '99 (YUCKY!!!)
DCL/Poly Jun/July '02

 

[sratay]

I've forwarded this string onto Member Services. I'm not sure it will do any good, but at least they'll have it. My guess is that they monitor a lot of boards. It would only make good sense for them to do so. The Magic Pass IMHO is only a bit more than nothing. But leaving a waiter a 1% tip is also more than nothing, but is also an insult.
Hopefully DVC rethinks this idea. But if they don't, I'll still be spending 2-3 weeks a year at their resorts. Maybe just not inclined to visit the parks.
Steve in Iowa

 

[RobDoc]

For those unaware of past "discussion" of this topic, here is a link to a thread from last summer.
At that time, there was no Magical Years Pass and the "discussion" consisted of comments about a replacement for the expired Park Admission Program offered at OKW for a few years.

You may find some similar comments....from a familiar cast of characters! Enjoy!

DVC DIScount DIScussion!

Doc
doc@wdwinfo.com

 

[PinMan]

you know rich $160.00 bucks a year is a bargain(florida residence), also who would want to go on the black out dates there so crowded.when i went to wdw in feb. the cost of plane fare& hotel was less than the hopper passes for my family& i.is that unbelievable or what ?......and yes we had a great time but, we will check out otherparks next time too.

 

[Richyams]

I am not going to be living in this third world country forever. I will be returning to civilation one day. When I do and I can no longer get the Fl Res pass, I will definitely be using the Orlando FlexPass or whatever incarnation exists then. Without the "Golden Handcuffs", the amount of money I spend at WDW will fall dramatically.

BTW, our old friend Scott Watum(sp) was the first I saw use the term "Golden Handcuffs"

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs", Karl Marx,This has failed every time it has been tried, why do we still have liberals?

 

[msdis]

Well, all we can hope for is that the economy continues to fall and Disney revenue continues to fall while ALL OF US have our hard earned dollars on the sidelines of the stock market ready and waiting for Disney to start negotiations with us. Hey, maybe we could form a DVC union or something. Just kidding of course! I voted no on the "crummy" pass also, and had been buying AP's like everyone else. I don't believe Disney has any plans on giving us a deal no more than the deal they offer those poor folks staying at the other resorts with their length of stay passes. I do however feel that by not offering a less costly alternative we too WILL make other choices in the future. IOA, Universal, and Sea World AP's DO look very reasonable by comparison and we have not gone to these parks in about 4-5 years. Even though I am also a Disney shareholder, I still look at my short term cash flow for the best deals.

 

[Werner Weiss]

The Magical Years Pass was never meant for those DVC members who spend two weeks or more weeks in the parks every year, and for whom annual passes make the most sense. Fine.

The Magical Years Pass was meant for families like ours. We're fairly likely to spend an average of five days each year, possibly for four of the next five years. So the the pass would be ideal for us, right? Wrong!

The restrictive rules almost guarantee that we would lose some of the days unless we can adhere exactly to the rules for next five years.

I can't predict my exact vacation pattern for the next five years.

DVC is about flexibility -- flexible resort usage, borrowing, banking, cruises, Concierge Collection, Disney Collection (including Paris and California), Getaways through Interval International, perhaps 10 nights at WDW one year and only 3 the next.

The Magical Years Pass is about rigidity. Exactly five park days and exactly two plus features during exactly four of the next five years. Period.

-----
Werner Weiss, Curator of Yesterland, featuring discontinued Disneyland attractions

[This message was edited by Werner Weiss on 03-21-01 at 11:31 PM.]

 

[Toxicesq]

I love my Park Hopper. No pressure to use it or lose it. Doesn't cost me anything if I decide to spend a day at the pool, or shopping and DQ'ing at DD. These days, there are enough restaurants at the Resorts and DD to keep me from feeling deprived if I can't go to an Epcot restaurant one night because I don't want to "waste" a PH day that was otherwise unused. I bought an AP a few years ago, planning to go back for a second time within the year. Plans changed, ticket wasted. Who needs the pressure? That's the problem with the Magic Pass. You're committed to going to WDW (not HH or VB), and going once a year, no more, no less. (Unless you purchase additional tix--but then, what's the point?). Those of us who don't have unlimited vacation time just can't commit like that. Love WDW, but don't want to go there 4 years out of 5 to the exclusion of everything else just because I don't want my Magic Pass to go to waste. A DVC discount on the PH, or a bigger discount on the UMP would have been much more useful and appreciated.

 

[AnnK]

I agree Disney has no reason to offer a discount on AP's to DVC members because the majority of members buy them anyway. We used to buy them, but not anymore.( Beginning this year) Disney IS getting LESS of our money. We bought AP's at Universal because our kids are bigger now and they LOVE it there. Universal offers much better discounts for Ap holders than Disney EVER has. Toxicesq I agree with you. Our children are getting older and we can't always plan our vacation to land 3x within the calender year. We bought the 7 day PH plus (from Dis). We did not enter the parks just to eat as we have in the past, but we also are no longer on the use or lose philosophy.( Trying to get enough vacation days within the year to justify the Ap) We went to USF and IOA 6 days on oour last trip, and Disney 2. Did Disney lose money? We are a family of 7, had 3 extra guests,We all bought Aps at Usf and IOA. We spent 6 full days at those parks, spending our money IN those parks. I would say they lost a bunch from us.

 

[DownNeckBoy]

I've read the entire string of coments on this poll. I voted no, but also agree that the way the poll is structured, it would be hard to say that the plan is "perfect."

I have no desire to vacation at WDW every year. When I discussed purchasing a DVC interest with my spouse, we spent a significant period of time analyzing our past vacations and what we envisioned for the future. WDW every year was not in our plans, although our children (3 and 7)would surely disagree. Simply on that basis it would be hard for us to seriously consider this new pass. If there was no expiration date, that might be another issue.

Finally, can someone explain the "golden handcuffs" term for me? Thanks. <IMG SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_confused.gif" alt="confused">

 

[eva]

I have no idea if this pass would ever fit into any of our vacationing plans. Some years we go for two weeks and some for 3 or 4 nights. This year we are going for 6 nights in May. We weren't planning on going into the parks at all until I came upon 4 5-Day passes with 1 day left on each of them. So I guess that my husband and I will spend 2 of our 7 days in the parks. If I could find a great deal on Hopper Passes, APs, or the UMP we would probably spend all 7 in the parks. I find that we are spending less time in the parks every trip. It is getting so expensive and there are other great things to do in the Orlando area.

 

[dianeschlicht]

My farmer grandfather would have had a good saying about what this pass is as useless as!! We get so much value with an AP, why would we spend so much to have so little use? I agree with Drusba that it seems to encourage Sun.-Fri. use of DVC. They did make the AP a little less for us when they made renewal automatic from the date of expiration, but I can still hot renew and just buy a new one and hold onto it for a year to save money. I would never go just 5 days in a year! It would be a wast of my DVC ownership! With travel costs what they are, we are planning to change from 3-1 week trips/year to 2-10 night trips/year. If we time them for within a 12 month period, we get at least 20 days on an AP. Last year we used our APs 29 days. That means we spent $10/day for passes. That really makes the Magical pass laughable!

Disneydiane

 

[bicker]

The issue here isn't whether or not the Magic Pass is "perfect" or not. The issue here is what admission option could DVC offer that was a win for them and a win for us. The Magic Pass could very-well be the best option that qualifies. For the folks who happen to visit WDW in such a way that the pass meets their needs, they clearly get a benefit from the pass. The structure of the pass probably tends to encourage a few members to change their touring habits a bit to visit the parks 5 days per visit instead of 4. In that way Disney sucks a little more business away from other area attractions.

A Win-Win scenario for a pass must be structured so that the customer gets a better deal for what they're buying than if they had bought that specific set of admission through other generally-available passes. A Win-Win scenario for a pass must be structured so that Disney gets more revenue that they would have gotten had the pass not been offered, and guests were forced to purchase their admission through those other generally-available passes.

The reality is that if you're buying APs, then there is no better deal that Disney could offer you and get more revenue. The only logic in providing a discounted AP would be if that would spur folks who would have otherwise bought less expensive passes to buy APs in such large numbers that the extra revenue makes up for the loss in revenue represented by all the DVC members who would have bought APs anyway. The fact is that so many DVC members buy APs that there is almost no chance that there are enough DVC members buying 4-day park hoppers who would buy APs instead at a discounted price to make up for the revenue lost represented by the discount granted to the DVC members who would buy APs anyway.

The multi-year aspect of the Magic Pass is perhaps the only way Disney can find a means to offer a discounted pass (other than LOS) that they would garner more revenue from than the generally-available admission choices.

Brian Charles Kohn
"in my own words"
Some Imagination, huh? - Mickey Mouse

 

[Mperry]

We also vote NO!! We did buy in (in 2000) at nearly the minimum with hopes to add-on. We've been three times with two more trips planned. That's 5 trips in 15 months! We have never bought an AP, but would in a heartbeat, if a discount was offered. Before we purchased our own DVC interest, we vacationed with DVC with parents for five years. We always buy some sort of hopper and do many things other than the parks. Usually, saving some days for the next trip. They would definitely get more money out of us, if there was a discount!

I would venture to say, that that will never happen and hoping for it would a waste of time. Instead, we should pray they don't take something else away from us. Ie; the no expiration rule on hoppers. Wouldn't that just be the straw that breaks a lot of backs!?

 

[Tony-NJ]

I agree with most! I never go to WDW for less than 8 days! And as others stated, we also go to parks at times just for meals. I'm sure they were not loosing money when they gave the passes away to members prior to 2000. I wonder if we, the members can write enough letters / email to possibly have DVC create something better? Hey, if they were giving passes away, and they offered the AP's to DVC members for lets say 50% off, then thats a 50% increase in income to Disney! Not bad! they would probably make more money that way than they are now.

 

[garrett79]

The last time I checked, planes, trains , and automobiles leave this "third world country' for New York and destinations beyond everyday. Why stay here and suffer? Martyrdom can be such a huge weight. I love the FL seasonal pass, it works great for us.

 

[RobDoc]

The previous pass program was NOT free! DVD had to reimburse Disney about $35 for each day we used those passes. That cost was paid by DVD sales. It was not treated as an AP, but as a LOS.
There was certainly a cost associated with that program.

I can envision scenarios where the Magical Years Pass would benefit some guests. I don't really agree that it encourages 5 day stays (DVC members already use that strategy anyway). I think it is geared towards those who go for 1 week and will go to parks 5 of those days and water parks, IOA, etc, the other 2 days.
Personally, I will continue to purchase an AP and spend my time at WDW the way I have for many years. This pass is not something I will likely use, but it is another option. Whether it fits everyone's travel plans shouldn't really matter. It does allow for a viable option for some members- just like some enjoy staying in a studio and others will only reserve a 2BR or GV. It's nice to have those options also. Flexibility!

Doc
doc@wdwinfo.com

 

[diaman]

Here's a thought.... maybe Disney is using this "crappy" pass to drive us DVCer's to buying the AP which have NO discounts. We started buying APs when we became members since it worked out for our family the best. Hmmmm... wonder if their AP sales have gone up???

 

[kem330]

I voted no and I'm probably one it might be targeted to. As much as we love WDW, we do like to go other places and can only go down once a year- so an AP wouldn't help us. This pass is NOT flexible. As previously stated, what if one year we go down longer than another, etc. etc. I don't think LOS is that great a deal either. Personally I would rather have a discount on hoppers, because you can reuse them if you don't go in the parks all the time. A way to make this pass more attractive would have been to give you x amount of days to use within the 5 year time period,ie the same 20 days, just not split up into 5/year for 4 of 5 years. I think what is really iritating is that Disney promotes DVC as something SPECIAL- so you do have certain expectations that this specialness is more than a nice resort to stay in, but also privileges not afforded other guests. We are after all investing a good chunk of change in DVC and I feel conned when thrown these meaningless discounts- instead of bona fide values. It's like those cheesy offers your get, buy this get this and they are really no deal at all.