Want Better DVC Benefits?

[CarolA]

I must be missing something

One day ticket Universal $58

One day ticket Disney $58

Now Universal has more AP discounts, but to be honest I can't spend that much time there and driving off site is just a pain!

Also, if you look around a LOT of people stay at Disney and don't rent a car. They are probably not doing a lot of off site things during thier visits. (One Mears transport disaster to Universal will probably scare them off for life)

And as to Roy Disney's idea.... I worry that if you cut admission revenue then you have to cut costs someplace else. Roy seems to want to run Disney as a charity!

 

[TheRustyScupper]

1) OK, call me dense.
2) We all bought a timeshare - just a timeshare.
3) We get some discounts now (shopping, dining, tours and UPH)
4) We don't even own a part of Disney (only part of a lease).
5) Why do so many DVC people expect more discounts?
6) Stockholders don't get any benefits, so why should DVC?

7) Please help me understand.

 

[CarolA]

Rusty,
There are people who spent a long time complaining when they took stockholder benefits away LOL!

Hey discounts are nice and I am not going to turn them down, but I can see why we don't get them. (We bought we are considered converted, marketing to the converted is just not as profitiable! LOL!)

 

[skelooch]

How many members do you really think bought into DVC because they were going to get 10% or so discount on any merchandise or dining, I suspect probably none.
How many prospective buyers do you think would only buy because they were going to get a 10% discount on an annual pass, again probably none.
We all got exactly what we paid for, why can't everyone just be happy with that.

 

[alsipd]

No! As has been pointed out many times, we bought for the accomodations.

But, you will never get anything extra unless you ask!

Ticket Discounts will get more people from DVC in the parks.

Just my two cents,

Dennis

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Originally posted by alsipd
No! As has been pointed out many times, we bought for the accomodations.

But, you will never get anything extra unless you ask!

Ticket Discounts will get more people from DVC in the parks.

Just my two cents,

Dennis

I completely agree, no one is saying we "expect" anything, only that we "would like" a discount. Big difference!

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Originally posted by skelooch

We all got exactly what we paid for, why can't everyone just be happy with that.

In my opinion it has nothing to do with being happy(or unhappy for that matter) with what we have.

DVC is a business, businesses always look for ways to increase sales/revenues while at the same time increase customer satisfaction. i cant think of a better way to do both than with discounts on passes.

The savings that is lost in ticket prices will easily be outweighed by increases in food/merchandise/etc in the parks.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Originally posted by sjdisneywedding
[...] The savings that is lost in ticket prices will easily be outweighed by increases in food/merchandise/etc in the parks.

And here, IMHO, lies the heart of matter; I don't believe that statement is true. After 2, 5, 10 years of DVC ownership, I have to think that most of us will have pretty much reached our limit for discretionary Disney souvenirs and meals (as opposed to pins/collectables, and special meals like CRT ). So I don't see that much extra revenue being generated, much less enough to replace what is lost due to discounts.

The one exception to this I'll make is that a fair amount of DVC owners might be lured into more EPCOT WS meals - here I'd like to see an "EPCOT After 5" discount program for DVC.

 

[sjdisneywedding]

Originally posted by chris1gill
We've totally changed the way we vacation down at Disney... we stay at the DVC resorts for the atmosphere, but we now spend a lot more time off site & it is a result of the ticket media pricing... AP's for four are 1600.00 & 7 day park hoppers would set us back 1100.00, so we bought PH's a while back & only use one day in the park's, this last time we went to MNSHHP & that bought us time there... without a sizeable discount we'll keep enjoying ourselves at Seaworld & Bush Gardens (and Universal in another year or so)....

I don't expect a discount, but unless I get one, our plans aren't changing.....

Here is the reason that there would be increases in revenue from merchandise/food/ and etc. Its not in the fact that dvc'ers would necessarily be buying more toys and stuff for their kids or just simply going to Epcot for dinner after 5.

Its a matter of keeping them at WDW and spending their money there instead of places like Universal. Its an increase in revenue throughout WDW, not just in the parks.

On top of that, with a slight discount on AP's WDW probably would even make money on the tickets themselves. Any type of discount would probably entice the purchase of the AP's even though they still would be more expensive than PH's.

WDW would be selling AP's to people who normally wouldnt buy them anyway. This in turn could possibly lead to increased trips to WDW per year. If people have that huge purchase of tickets out of the way, they could be tempted to squeeze another vacation in.

Using the example above of $1600 for a family of 4 for AP's and a 10% discount of $160, I cant imagine that the family of 4 wouldnt make up most of if not all of that difference in one meal somewhere at Disney.

Just my opinion

 

[DrTomorrow]

Originally posted by sjdisneywedding
Here is the reason that there would be increases in revenue from merchandise/food/ and etc. Its not in the fact that dvc'ers would necessarily be buying more toys and stuff for their kids or just simply going to Epcot for dinner after 5.

Its a matter of keeping them at WDW and spending their money there instead of places like Universal. Its an increase in revenue throughout WDW, not just in the parks.

On top of that, with a slight discount on AP's WDW probably would even make money on the tickets themselves. Any type of discount would probably entice the purchase of the AP's even though they still would be more expensive than PH's.

WDW would be selling AP's to people who normally wouldnt buy them anyway. This in turn could possibly lead to increased trips to WDW per year. If people have that huge purchase of tickets out of the way, they could be tempted to squeeze another vacation in.

Using the example above of $1600 for a family of 4 for AP's and a 10% discount of $160, I cant imagine that the family of 4 wouldnt make up most of if not all of that difference in one meal somewhere at Disney.

Just my opinion

[sarcasm] Hey, you might want to give Disney Marketing a call - you seem to have stumbled on to something they've obviously missed. [/sarcasm]

Ah, some numbers. I guess I don't believe that such a minor discount (10%) is going to cause such a dramatic shift in peoples' plans.

I'd really like to hear from chris1gill if having to pay only $1440 would have them rushing for WDW APs and keep them out of Universal, Sea World & Busch Gardens....

 

[bobbiwoz]

"Epcot after 5" is definitely something we would use!

Bobbi

 

[chris1gill]

Originally posted by DrTomorrow

I'd really like to hear from chris1gill if having to pay only $1440 would have them rushing for WDW APs and keep them out of Universal, Sea World & Busch Gardens....

I just went to the wdwig site, and it would seem that for us, the Florida discount would bring our AP cost down to 1112.00 vs. 1424.00, IMHO that is a discount (22%) that we would seriously look at & yes, if we could go in March & then the following December for our vacations, we would in fact buy the AP versus the PH's....

Additionally, if we were afforded the Florida Season Pass, that would cost us 745.00 & we wouldn't hesitate to buy it & go into the Disney parks daily (like we used to do when there were just three of us)....

 

[DrTomorrow]

Originally posted by chris1gill
I just went to the wdwig site, and it would seem that for us, the Florida discount would bring our AP cost down to 1112.00 vs. 1424.00, IMHO that is a discount (22%) that we would seriously look at & yes, if we could go in March & then the following December for our vacations, we would in fact buy the AP versus the PH's....

Additionally, if we were afforded the Florida Season Pass, that would cost us 745.00 & we wouldn't hesitate to buy it & go into the Disney parks daily (like we used to do when there were just three of us)....

OK, so it would take a discount of over 20% for you to "seriously look at" an AP. Thanks; that clears up for me why Disney isn't offering AP discounts to DVC owners....

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by sjdisneywedding
..(snip).....Using the example above of $1600 for a family of 4 for AP's and a 10% discount of $160, I cant imagine that the family of 4 wouldnt make up most of if not all of that difference in one meal somewhere at Disney.

Just my opinion

The question really needs to be -

Will families like those in the example spend enough to make up for the families (like mine) that are already buying APs and would happily take advantage of the discount, but not spend any more than they are already spending?

Apparently, Disney doesn't think so (and neither do I, even though I would really, really LOVE a discount on APs or PAPs).

Best wishes -

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by DrTomorrow
OK, so it would take a discount of over 20% for you to "seriously look at" an AP. Thanks; that clears up for me why Disney isn't offering AP discounts to DVC owners....

I suspect the discount would need to be more than 20% to get people to look at them on an ongoing basis. More like 30-40% to get people to look at them for multiple years in a row.

 

[DVCPAT]

Originally posted by TheRustyScupper
1) OK, call me dense.
2) We all bought a timeshare - just a timeshare.
3) We get some discounts now (shopping, dining, tours and UPH)
4) We don't even own a part of Disney (only part of a lease).
5) Why do so many DVC people expect more discounts?
6) Stockholders don't get any benefits, so why should DVC?

7) Please help me understand.

The Orlando area has a lot of attractions for vacationers. Competition is a great thing and treating your core visitors (DVC members) with equal perks and discounts offered to others is not out of line.

If Disney thinks competition doesn’t exist, that worries me about the future. I think Disney made a terrible decision not working with Pixar in the future. Bugs Life, Toy Story and the Incredibles make great park attractions and generate revenue.

I think DVC and Pixar are great rain makers for Disney’s bottom line. Its good business to realize this and treat them as such.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

When we bought DVC we went in knowing that we'd have to shell out $$$ for park passes. If we didn't think we could afford the increasing price of passes over the years, we wouldn't have considered locking ourselves into DVC.

edited to add
We bought APs this year thinking we'd have about 10 days -- turns out we had over 15 days (in fact, I was supposed to go to SSW next week, but pregnancy changed my plans - would have made it over 20 park days on my AP). Personally, we spent $$$ more this year on Disney than we thought we would mostly because we had the APs and thought we'd try to squeeze as much out of them as we could -- dining discounts, resort discount (on top of DVC stays). We'll probably continue to renew our APs year after year and get at least 7 or 8 days a year -- perhaps more. The flexibility and discounts of the APs are worth it for us.

We knew we'd be spending this kind of money year after year. You really have to know what you're getting yourself into as far as $$$ is concerned.

 

[BELLE16127]

I think that YES as DVC members we should get some kind of for lack of a better word "PERKS". Yes we can shop and get 10% but that isn't everywhere is it???? I forget which trip but I was told that you only got your discount when you shopped at the Marketplace?

When you look at the perks and discounts that other people get then it makes what DVC members really arn't anything big. Companies that are somehow intertwined with Disney get discounts at the Stores also, ABC employees for example get a disount at the stores. Now that the stores have been sold of to A Childrens Place how long will we be able to use our discounts in the stores away from the Parks??? I think that a discount on passes would be a great thing to give DVC members. I have a feeling that there will be a bit of backlass from this but it is what I feel.

I posted about thinking of selling off my DVC Membership because of the major increase in the points it takes to cruise, when we purchased it was a major selling point that they kept talking about durrring the tour. Have sailed 3 times and each time the points and cash is going UP......Soon there will be NO WAY to cruise with points unless you have an extrordinary amout. Now when I posted that MANY people said that it is my fault and that DVC was mad so you stay in the resorts, yes I do get that but then they should really NOT push the cruise aspect of the membership the way that they do.

As a "GUEST" to WDW and I have seen it happen as I work at a Disney Store....If I go to a park and make a fuss about anything and I do mean anything I am offered a Free 7 night stay or a Free 7 day hopper pass for my entire family, the list of things I have heard goes on and on. It is totally amazing what people have been given for being complete pains in the rears while visiting the parks.

So NO I don't think that it is totally out of the question for us to maybe look for a bit of an EXTRA for all the $$$$ that we have and will spend over the years with our OWNERSHIP.

 

[DrTomorrow]

Originally posted by BELLE16127
[...]As a "GUEST" to WDW and I have seen it happen as I work at a Disney Store....If I go to a park and make a fuss about anything and I do mean anything I am offered a Free 7 night stay or a Free 7 day hopper pass for my entire family, the list of things I have heard goes on and on. It is totally amazing what people have been given for being complete pains in the rears while visiting the parks. [...]

Well, there's your answer right there: go to a park, complain about some peeling paint, and get your free passes.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by DrTomorrow
Well, there's your answer right there: go to a park, complain about some peeling paint, and get your free passes.

I agree.
It's people who complain about every nook and cranny to see what they can get -- or people who 'work the system' like this that....well, I won't say any more.



Like I said earlier, when spending this much money and making such a big commitment, you really should know the details of the provisions and contract. I read (not too long ago) when making my decision on buying DVC that the perks were not a guarantee and that point costs for DCL and other exchanges are likely to experience an increase. I expected all of this.