What about us (4 nights buys 7)?

[WilsonFlyer]

I just watched Iger's announcement on CNBC. That's all wonderful but you know things are bad when Disney starts giving things away at the parks.

Given that, it makes me wonder what they are going to do for us.

Before someone says, "But they already have our money.", my argument would be "No they don't.".

You're going to see a LOT of DVC members cutting way back on vacations if things keep going like they are. The rooms may be paid for but Disney puts a lot of dependence on getting our spending money every year to the tune of 350,000+ members. That's a lot of dining money and park money in general. Certainly Iger hasn't forgotten that just because the rooms are paid for doesn't mean that we all still have to go.

Does anybody think they'll sweeten our pot with incentives or will a huge part of park revenues be largely ignored and will we be overlooked entirely? Hmmmm...

 

[wdw1972]

They can't give us free nights - there are enough points to fill each room every night. Give away freebies, and suddenly members have points that can't be used.

Honestly - we are saving a BUNDLE on our lodging. What more can anyone ask for??? If anyone wants to get incentives to visit WDW then skip the dvc and book the free dining or whatever Igor mentioned (7 for price of 4). In my opinion we're still coming out way ahead of those people.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

I would have assumed points were off the table.

There are a LOT more things they could do for us. Sounds like you don't think they have to. OK. I can accept that. We'll just agree to disagree though.

As for the "deal" we're getting; I understand what you're saying but I could stay every year at one of the values and maybe even the moderates for what my dues are. I understand it's my choice but let's not sugar-coat this too much. There are real costs associated with DVC each and every year. We don't get free trips just because our points are paid for.

 

[cn123]

I agree.. I think DVC should at least offer something else, maybe discounted dining plan or even more discounted ap's. If they go the ap route then most often guarantees 2 vacations with 12 months, which translated to more money being spent on food, souveneirs etc..

 

[Brian Noble]

Before someone says, "But they already have our money.", my argument would be "No they don't.".

Ah, but yes, they do.

The psychology for most DVC Members is totally different: "Well the room is free, so we can still go down even though things are tight." If you don't use the points, what's the alternative?

You could rent them, but then someone is still in the room, spending money---and, they are probably not a frequent visitor, so they may be spending more money than you would be.

You could exchange them and vacation somewhere without all the extra costs of a Disney vacation, but some other Interval member is going to exchange into the relinquished unit. Again, someone is there spending money.

You could let them just expire. But, then they go into breakage inventory, and rooms backing the points are turned over to CRO. Because the room is already "paid for", Disney isn't going to much care what they get in return for it, as long as they can fill it. Again, someone is there spending money. Remember all those Value guests that got upgraded to DVC studios during Free Dining a year or two back? You can expect to see similar things if Members start letting points expire in large numbers.

So, no matter what, DVC either provides a captive audience, or a source of cheap room inventory that will be easy to fill. This is not by accident. Since 9/11, Disney has not started construction on a single cash-rental hotel room. Not one. But, they've been building an awful lot of DVC units, in part for exaclty this reason---DVC is a buffer in the face of an economic slowdown. In fact, they *removed* cash rooms from the books by letting the half-finished "other side" of Pop rot, converting the top two floors of AKL to AKV, and bulldozing the North Wing at CR to make way for BLT.

The Mouse is one clever Rat.

 

[Brian Noble]

It's also worth wondering whether the parks or the hotels are the real profit center at WDW. After all, they give away hours each day in the theme parks to guests staying in the (very expensive) hotel rooms. That suggests that the hotels might be the real money makers.

If that's the case, Disney wouldn't even care if no one occupies the room---as long as it's paid for.

 

[addiedisney]

I almost buy dvc every year, and then something comes up. This year my dad gave us an exchange to stay at SS with his timeshare. Sweet. Now looking at the deals (7 for 4) I can't honestly say it's worth it to buy DVC in this economy. I'm sure it will be again in another 5 years, but if I can get sweet deals (even deals staying at a DVC resort ) for just a little more than yearly dues, why buy?

 

[Brian Noble]

I can think of only one thing that Disney would be worried about with respect to DVC members: a flood of points on the resale market. If that happens, Disney has a hard choice. They can either ROFR everything in sight, which is going to require a lot of captial, or they can let the resale/developer spread grow reducing the need for folks to buy direct.

 

[DebbieB]

Buy 4 nights get 3 free is in effect a 40% discount on rooms (with a 7 night committment). The 5th to 7th night on passes is not that much, the cost is front loaded. The $200 gift card is nice. But I don't think the deal is as great as people think, they are just pitching old discounts a new way.

As far as DVC members, don't hold your breath.

 

[riggins]

They offered this and other good deals after the tourism industry took a hit following 9/11. We bought in to DVC when 40% off rack rate was a fairly common discount and despite the special offers on cash rooms, we still felt like DVC is/was a good value. Back then, DVC didn't offer any perks to members, so I don't suspect they will now either. But, I still might take advantage of this offer and save my points for another time. I'm always borrowing myself in to a hole anyway, so maybe this is an opportunity to get caught up (although I'll probably use it as an excuse to take an extra trip!!).

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Buy 4 nights get 3 free is in effect a 40% discount on rooms (with a 7 night committment). The 5th to 7th night on passes is not that much, the cost is front loaded. The $200 gift card is nice. But I don't think the deal is as great as people think, they are just pitching old discounts a new way.

As far as DVC members, don't hold your breath.

Most EXCELLENT points. I hadn't thought about how the MYW tickets are front-loaded anyway and how deceptive that really was. And you're right, 40% isn't that unusual anyway. As an AP holder for years, I got 40% off a lot of times for cash.

GREAT points.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Ah, but yes, they do.

The psychology for most DVC Members is totally different: "Well the room is free, so we can still go down even though things are tight." If you don't use the points, what's the alternative?

You could rent them, but then someone is still in the room, spending money---and, they are probably not a frequent visitor, so they may be spending more money than you would be.

You could exchange them and vacation somewhere without all the extra costs of a Disney vacation, but some other Interval member is going to exchange into the relinquished unit. Again, someone is there spending money.

You could let them just expire. But, then they go into breakage inventory, and rooms backing the points are turned over to CRO. Because the room is already "paid for", Disney isn't going to much care what they get in return for it, as long as they can fill it. Again, someone is there spending money. Remember all those Value guests that got upgraded to DVC studios during Free Dining a year or two back? You can expect to see similar things if Members start letting points expire in large numbers.

So, no matter what, DVC either provides a captive audience, or a source of cheap room inventory that will be easy to fill. This is not by accident. Since 9/11, Disney has not started construction on a single cash-rental hotel room. Not one. But, they've been building an awful lot of DVC units, in part for exaclty this reason---DVC is a buffer in the face of an economic slowdown. In fact, they *removed* cash rooms from the books by letting the half-finished "other side" of Pop rot, converting the top two floors of AKL to AKV, and bulldozing the North Wing at CR to make way for BLT.

The Mouse is one clever Rat.

It's also worth wondering whether the parks or the hotels are the real profit center at WDW. After all, they give away hours each day in the theme parks to guests staying in the (very expensive) hotel rooms. That suggests that the hotels might be the real money makers.

If that's the case, Disney wouldn't even care if no one occupies the room---as long as it's paid for.

A very excellent analysis of the situation and points I hadn't even thought about. They get paid regardless and maybe even more. Got it.

 

[WilsonFlyer]

Wow. Excellent points.

Let's angle it from a different perspective.

Let's look at it from the perspective of a DVC member looking only at the surface as I did initially without the benefit of watching people carry this through a careful analysis like you guys did. A lot of members don't know you guys are out there to bounce things off of like I do.

So I'm not DIS. I'm DVC and I think I'm getting jipped. Disney must have taken this scenario into consideration. I mean the last thing I want to do is to tick off the people that effectively carry the banners in hometowns around the WORLD.

OK. Let's appease them. What do we do that costs us little and pacifies those that don't get it or do we even worry about them? Maybe they're not important and it's not important what their take is on all this if their numbers are small?

 

[Brian Noble]

How about pool hopping and a hearty Welcome Home!

More seriously---DVC is built in part around the idea that what Disney is really selling is that you own (well, lease) a Piece of the Magic---you are Special. You Belong. You are a Member. That's not to say that the sales pitch doesn't point out (and often stretch) the economic benefits, but a big part of the pitch is that you aren't Just Visiting, you are Home. The word Member was not chosen by accident.

In that context, a few "We're all in this together" messages, along with some additional token discounts on dining and merchandise, might be enough to keep most in the fold. You're right---you can't ignore these people, because if pushed too far, they'll start to sell their contracts. That's Bad news with a capital B.

 

[Disney MAINEiac]

I'm in the position right now that the room is paid for and the expense of being there was factored in when we decided to buy. what is making me think I might have to skip a trip is the air fare that has more than doubled as of right now. I just have a hard time justifying $2000 - $2500 for 4 people to fly down for a week.

 

[famsen]

Sorry, but I also think that as DVC members we should be given a little somthin'-somethin' to help us out on our visits. I noticed since we purchased last year, the perks have been less and less. I know perks are subject to change but one of the things that we were excited about was a discount at Boma. At the time of purchase we raved about Boma with our guide and how great it would be to get the member discount now. We never even used the discount before it was taken away.
While we will be able to use our points for our stay next year, we won't be able to eat at the WDW restaurants and take shopping excusions on property like we used to with the economy the way it is. We will be eating every meal in our room with our own groceries and just make do without bringing back any souveniers next time(we have plenty of Disney stuff already).

 

[WilsonFlyer]

In that context, a few "We're all in this together" messages, along with some additional token discounts on dining and merchandise, might be enough to keep most in the fold. You're right---you can't ignore these people, because if pushed too far, they'll start to sell their contracts. That's Bad news with a capital B.

That's kinda my point, Brian. I'm not whining but I'm family. Aren't you going to do anyting for me? See what I mean?

We are family, effectively; and we are certainly amongst the strongest of Disney's supporters outside stockholders. Arguably, Disney needs us and needs to keep us happy now more than ever.

(I'm happy anyway, for the record. I'm perfectly content to just be DVC. I'm just stimulating the conversation to see where this all goes. It's an intellectual exercise to me. I'm not expecting a eureka moment here just some fun exchange of ideas that will likely never come to fruition anyway. )

 

[Deb & Bill]

I was just over at the Disney website checking out what 7 nights (for the price of 4) would cost at the CR - Garden Wing room. It was almost cheaper than the same stay at the CS resort, way cheaper than GF or Polynesian. So I could add 7 nights at the CR before I hit 7 nights at the BCV. Only buy the one night ticket (the extra three days are only a few bucks) and use my AP that expires in mid-June. And I do like the CR Garden Wing room.

But the three of us really want to head to Marco Island for four nights before we head to BCV (unless we can get AKV - Kidani Village for the nine nights).

So DVC members can take advantage of this to add another week at WDW, stay at a favorite non-DVC resort and bank a few points.

 

[jpolak]

Ah, but yes, they do.

The psychology for most DVC Members is totally different: "Well the room is free, so we can still go down even though things are tight."

Our thinking exactly!

 

[alldiz]

This "package" that gets the last 3 nights free.....Does this include the DDP?
Thanks
Kerri