It's not about me or my situation, it's about the value (or lack thereof) in buying direct. And the lack of reasonable entry to blue card status (unless you want to buy VGF, then maybe) A topic that seems to upset many and trigger defensive justifications. My situation was simply an illustrative example. The topic itself being obviously triggered by this move by DVD to change the status of a venue and remove a perk from one class.
For those that don't understand why some of us are upset about it or think it's "cheesy" it's that they've not added anything. Blue card members are getting nothing new, they're retaining a benefit they already had, while others are losing a benefit they previously enjoyed. So to make one class of people feel special they do it at the expense of the other class of people. That's all. Are they allowed to do it? Sure. Do some of us think it's a crappy way to add value and entice more direct members, yes. If you paid many thousands of dollars for a blue card I hope you get extra benefits to justify the cost, you deserve it. I just wish they wouldn't accomplish that by taking benefits away from other members. As far as I can see, aside from perks you can get you get yourself by opening a credit card or renting points, you get a lounge in Epcot, evening access to a bar with a view in BLT and moonlight magic. Maybe discounted passes return at some point? Is there more that I don't understand? But I understand you don't want to talk about this you want to talk about a bar with cartoon villains so I'll move along now and look for a thread that drills down more into these topics as I find it interesting and want to learn more.
Again, for you, you see very little value in direct and what it can offer people but moving TOTWL to being only for those who have invested in direct supports the model DVD wants.
I added my adult kids to be direct owners because we all now get access to the perks when they exist, They get the discounted APs or whatever ticket deal could come around, they get the shopping discounts, or to attend those extras without me.
Did I buy expecting them? No. But did I buy direct because they included them? Sure did.
The only option DVD has to guide people to buy direct over resale is to make their product appear a better value. So taking this away from resale is a great way to do that. Now, those with membership extras know it’s going to be available to fewer owners, accessible by car…which it wasn’t…and include special paid events that might be fun.
Of courses for use, the restrictions are more important and owning unrestricted points are worth it. I do also understand that for many resale buyers they simply can’t justify direct because they want a sold out resort.
But DVD doesn’t want to sell you those, and so making this an exclusive benefit they may just get someone to buy active selling resort and not worry about 7 month booking.
Does it bother me that they made changes to distinguish resale vs direct? Honestly no.
Would I care if they got rid of the differences? Nope. But, what they have done has indeed gotten me, as a buyer, to pay more to buy from them because they have the product, with the potential extras, I want access to and in the end, it’s exactly why they do it.
I am happy for anyone who buys resale because they really don’t care about restrictions and perks, I tried it when I bought BLT resale in 2020 and sold in 2021 because having points restricted from RIV just didn’t work.
I also think it’s okay that those of us with direct benefits, and who buy direct, to be happy with our decision as well and to not be upset that DVD is giving us exclusive access to TOTWL.
