Welcome Home Wednesdays

[merby]

We have never attended this in the past, but it is looking like the Wednesday during our upcoming trip is going to be a light day for us and we are considering attending. I just have a couple of questions for those of you that have been to one recently. Is this worth it? What are the benefits of attending? How many people are usually at this event? How long is it?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[tjkraz]

It lasts about an hour.

From DVC's perspective, it's an excuse to market more points to you. But the "sell" is very light. They'll talk about incentives, play some games, give away some free DVC logo merchandise. Usually each attendee gets something small (baseball cap, pin, window sticker, etc.) while larger prizes are given out in some random fashion.

If you're the cynical type, you will probably be left with the impression that it was just another sales pitch.

But if you're more laid-back, it's a opportunity to have a little fun and leave with some free DVC swag.

 

[Friendofpluto]

We attended in Sept. I was picked to be one of the game players. It was fun!

 

[TIGGERmetoo]

We always try and go if it fits into our plans. The first time we went, everyone got a DVC cap and this last time we got a DVC pin.

 

[CleoPahd]

I wouldn't break plans just to try to go, but we had fun doing it on our last trip. We actually scheduled it in because we wanted to have a nice laid back day in the middle of our trip and we thought it would be fun to do. We love to spend some time at the boardwalk, so we planned Wednesday for our boardwalk afternoon. They had a bunch of items being raffled off and they gave away free hats & things and provided a snack. It was only an hour long so I felt it was worth it.

 

[BLLB]

We went for the first time last year. I was glad we went, but I probably wouldn't go out of my way to go again.

 

[leamom2princesses]

We went to our first Welcome Home Wednesday in May. It is as described by a PP-light sales pitch done in a fun environment. I was lucky and my name was drawn for a prize. I won a free PhotoCD/photo session. I chose the Poly. The pics were so nice, we used them on our Christmas cards this year. I will probably go back just because I love the thrill of winning things and we usually travel during warmer months. It's a nice air-conditoned break for us. We enjoyed our Cracker Jacks and lemonade and my husband especially appreciated the free baseball hats. In my opinion, if you have time, you should check it out at least once.

 

[HappyMatt]

We'll have to give it a try on our next trip in February. Thanks for the info.

 

[merby]

Thanks for the help. I think that we will probably give it a shot unless something else comes up.

 

[ELKHUNTER]

I believe they changed the time week before last for WHW from the normal 4:00 to 2:00 for the season. We were told this after we went on Dec 23 Merry Mixer. Just be sure to check!

 

[ariel5884]

Definitely go, it is awesome. There is a game show and you get dvc merchandise when you leave. We got embroidered hats the last time. Also if there is someone there signing people up for a sales presentation at blt you should think about going b/c they give you instant fastpasses for each person for three rides. These fastpasses get you on the ride instantly with "no" wait. If you like mini golf there is an awesome course across from the swan. If you have an annual pass it's half price

 

[wdwfan1]

We go when we stay at BWV. It is fun and last time I was chosen to be in the show. I won and got some DVC merchandise.

 

[hab321]

Well I tried it out after reading the comments. My 11 year old daughter attended with me. It was just as described, but I'll be honest, I thought it was a complete waste of time. We got there about 40 minutes early (due to the water ride schedule). Well there was no one there that early, so we went and did some pin trading at the main office. We returned with 20 minutes to go and there were about 100 people hanging around. So we quickly got in line and started the wait (upper 90s and in the sun - ugh). Well the doors opened on time and of course there was the typical "Disney shove" as I call it. Everyone trying to mash through the double doors to get it. As I entered, I was given two pieces of paper with no explanation of what they were. One was a snack voucher the other had a place for my information (for a drawing I figured out). Well of course everyone had to start filling out the forms, but only 3 pens were provided. So that caused another jam. I saw a cast member and asked what the procedures were. She explained them as I noticed a pen on the table in front of us. I picked it up (silly me) and started using it, and the cast member immediately said "Thats mine, you can't use it!" Not a "friendly" manner at all. Alas, I found a pen after about five minutes, filled out my card and dropped it in the box. Daughter in hand we found a couple of chairs in the front row of the stage. By this time the snack line was about 20 people deep. So we waited until the show started and got our snack. I didn't know if you could get refills or not as again, no one explained the "system" to me (or made a simple announcement). The game show started and was fairly funny. But after that they did the drawing (3 names) and gave them very nice gift cards or items packed with DVC stuff. Kind of a let down that a small group of people got a bunch of stuff. I would have thought they would have divided it up by giving one or two items out to each person, but it ain't my show. Anyway, that ended and everyone shot up and bolted to the exit for the free hat. As we waited, I had three groups of adults push their way in front of my daughter to get in line ahead of her....typical "me first" attitude. Well we ended being the last ones in line and got our hats and left.
To sum it up (for me) as I stated before, a complete waste of time. I won't go back, and to all those "adults"....you should be ashamed of yourselves, pushing a little girl out of the way to get your hats. Sad, very sad.

 

[erinna]

I did it once, and I'll probably do it again -- I like to combine it with a visit to the Boardwalk (where it seems like I can most easily find golf stuff for DH). And lunch -- and a beer sampler.

 

[dismichael]

we like it. They usually give you a free item at the end for attending and some chips and a drink. It's pretty light-hearted and humorous, so go into it with an open mind. They have a few giveaways as well.

 

[n2mm]

Well I tried it out after reading the comments. My 11 year old daughter attended with me. It was just as described, but I'll be honest, I thought it was a complete waste of time. We got there about 40 minutes early (due to the water ride schedule). Well there was no one there that early, so we went and did some pin trading at the main office. We returned with 20 minutes to go and there were about 100 people hanging around. So we quickly got in line and started the wait (upper 90s and in the sun - ugh). Well the doors opened on time and of course there was the typical "Disney shove" as I call it. Everyone trying to mash through the double doors to get it. As I entered, I was given two pieces of paper with no explanation of what they were. One was a snack voucher the other had a place for my information (for a drawing I figured out). Well of course everyone had to start filling out the forms, but only 3 pens were provided. So that caused another jam. I saw a cast member and asked what the procedures were. She explained them as I noticed a pen on the table in front of us. I picked it up (silly me) and started using it, and the cast member immediately said "Thats mine, you can't use it!" Not a "friendly" manner at all. Alas, I found a pen after about five minutes, filled out my card and dropped it in the box. Daughter in hand we found a couple of chairs in the front row of the stage. By this time the snack line was about 20 people deep. So we waited until the show started and got our snack. I didn't know if you could get refills or not as again, no one explained the "system" to me (or made a simple announcement). The game show started and was fairly funny. But after that they did the drawing (3 names) and gave them very nice gift cards or items packed with DVC stuff. Kind of a let down that a small group of people got a bunch of stuff. I would have thought they would have divided it up by giving one or two items out to each person, but it ain't my show. Anyway, that ended and everyone shot up and bolted to the exit for the free hat. As we waited, I had three groups of adults push their way in front of my daughter to get in line ahead of her....typical "me first" attitude. Well we ended being the last ones in line and got our hats and left.
To sum it up (for me) as I stated before, a complete waste of time. I won't go back, and to all those "adults"....you should be ashamed of yourselves, pushing a little girl out of the way to get your hats. Sad, very sad.

A Pretty good description! Yep, just like that. We go often, mostly because we stay at the BWV alot. I've been about 25 times now, never had my name choosen, nor have I ever been choosen to play the game (I agree, it can be a let down when you don't win, but I'm use to it now). Guess it's not in the cards for me. I've gotten more than my share of hats and once a beach bag. It's OK. We've gone and there was maybe 25 people there, and we went another time and both levels were filled and people were standing -- over 150. You just never know how the crowd will be, afterall alot of local Florida members come to, because you don't have to be staying at a resort to attend, just a member. We've also been there when they ran out of snacks before we got to the counter....yea, my 2 yo granddaughter was not happy about that. As other's have said, if you're in the area and nothing to do around 2:00PM, you should go, but if we did not have a rental car, and were not staying there, I would never make any effort to get over there, unless I was at the Studios or EPCOT that day.

 

[tara98]

We have never been but always wanted. Hopefully next time we are down there we will have some free time to attend. It seems like fun!

 

[disneyobessed]

I thought Welcome Home Wednesdays were held at Saratoga...?? We are staying at BCV next mos and Wed is actually our day off... where at BWV is it located..??

 

[thewesterberg]

I thought Welcome Home Wednesdays were held at Saratoga...?? We are staying at BCV next mos and Wed is actually our day off... where at BWV is it located..??

It's located in the Atlantic Dance Hall.

DS and went in May. We were at Epcot in the morning and then went over to the Boardwalk in the afternoon to hangout, explore, etc as I had never been there before.

We enjoyed it. We laughed, ate our snacks, enjoyed being out of the sun. On our way out the door, Dee Vee Cee commented on DS's Perry the Platypus hat. She said she knew the guy who does his voice. He thought that was neat. The host of the show had a leftover pin that they had been giving out to people and he gave it to DS who thought that was pretty cool too! We got our free hats on the way out of door.

Ended up being a good way to get out of the sun for awhile. Don't think we'll go every trip, but at least now we can say we've done it.

 

[BirdsOfPreyDave]

For some reason I thought this was at SSR, too. We'll be at BCV next month. We've never taken the time to do this, before. I'll have to give it a shot.

We have some friends staying with us. Is it only for members with blue membership cards, or can those staying with us who have a room key also get in?