What exactly happened with the free park passes?

[tjkraz]

Just curious....for those of you who purchased a decade ago, what happened with the free passes? Were they only guaranteed through 1999 from the very start, or did DVC later notify members that they would be phased out at the end of '99?

 

[DebbieB]

They were only guaranteed through 1999 from the start. I believe when BWV was ready to open in 1996 is when they discontinued the offer for new contracts. If you bought a resale contract that had the free passes, you could get the free passes. I believe it only applied if you were staying at OKW. Vero owners also had a deal with passes, not sure how that worked.

 

[spiceycat]

both OKW and VB had the passes - but only if you were staying at OKW.

the first few years (91-94) - they were also for WDW resort hotels (of course the points were alot more - I think they are finally around that amount now)

they were GREAT!

of course we went to the parks alot more then than now - now if I go to the parks even one day - it had better be for a good reason - then we went to the parks just to eat!!!

 

[Doug Wolfe]

Although I doubt the free passes would ever return, I would like to see a special/significant DVC discount.

We DVC owners are the folks that come back year-after-year and spend a bundle at WDW. For the amounts we spend, I am sure they would more than make up the $$$$ from the passes on the additional money I would spend on restaurants & merchandise.

 

[GAIL HAYDEN]

Originally posted by spiceycat
both OKW and VB had the passes - but only if you were staying at OKW.

the first few years (91-94) - they were also for WDW resort hotels (of course the points were alot more - I think they are finally around that amount now)

they were GREAT!

of course we went to the parks alot more then than now - now if I go to the parks even one day - it had better be for a good reason - then we went to the parks just to eat!!!

I don't recall them being available if you were not staying at OKW in the early years. I am almost positive they were only IF you were staying at OKW on points.

 

[fl]

Wholeheartly aggre, Doug. At least they should offer us a substantial discount when buying our passes. It would be interesting enough to find out how many of us commited a trip to WDW when the economy took a dive for the worst. You can easily cancel a hotel ressie with 72 hours to go without the inconviniences we DVC member have (holding accounts, begging for rescheduling vacations, etc). Oh, those days when you found those free passes attached to your room key. Thanks for the sweet memories.

 

[Pa@okw95]

The program was to be phased out at the end of the 1999 year as I remember it. They were not passes like annual passes, but they were given to everyone staying in your unit. They were good only for your stay, no longer. They were good for the first 3 parks built not AK. They were outstanding and saved us thousands of dollars, BUT, and it is a big BUT, it started us only staying in the parks for an hour or two, something we still do today, when we have to pay for the passes. I think they will find that more and more DVC members will not go to the parks as time roles by and will offer us some kind of ticket that will make it worth our while to go to the parks at least a couple of hours everyday.

 

[niks81]

I'm glad someone posted this! I was very curious about this as well. My uncle bought into DVC in 1992 and they never really mentioned until recently that they had those passes! What a nice deal that must have been...park passes for us seem to run higher then even airfare!

It looks like someone answered the question I would have asked...about who exactly got the passes...I distinctly remember my uncle taking his wife's family in a GV at OKW....so they all got to go to the parks free!!

 

[KNWVIKING]

***"They were not passes like annual passes, but they were given to everyone staying in your unit."***

Are you sure about that ? The way I understood it you were given passes for half your units max number of guests. In other words, 2 tickets per studio & 1 BR, 4 for 2 BR and 6 per GV ?

 

[WOW]

KNWVIKING---You are correct, 1/2 of the max allowed in the unit.

Remember those free passes very well!!!!!!!!!!

 

[NancyDVC]

We became members in early 1992 and received free park passes. We were told from the beginning that the free passes would end in 1999. The passes only included the 3 main parks that were open when DVC began-MK, Epcot and the studios not AK.
Yes KNWVIKING-
The park passes were for half your party staying at OKW (or if your contract was at VB when you stayed at VB). The number of passes was dependent upon what size unit you stayed in and how many people were staying. So if you stayed in a studio or one bedroom (capacity 4) you could receive 2 passes. ina 2 bedroom (capacity 8) up to 4 passes, grand villa (capacity 12) up to 6 passes. You could not get more passes than people in your unit. (If you had 2 in a 2 bedroom you wouldn't get 4 passes.)
If you stayed in any other resort-GF, Poly. WL etc. on points you did not get any passes. They were good only for your length of stay. Five night stay=5 days of passes, 9 night stay=9 nights of passes.

The free park pass program was designed initially as an incentive to get people to buy into DVC.
We stayed at WL on one visit and had to buy our park passes for that visit. When we stayed at OKW in 1998 when AK opened we had to pay for a pass to AK.
It was well worth it. I know that those early condo meetings included medntion of how much the park passes cost DVD. And that was very pricey. Remember each part of WDW is a separate company for purposes of bookkeeping etc. So parks are separate from resorts separate from dining separate from DVC separate from transportation and so on. So when one 'division' 'buys' something from another division it has to pay the other division for it. So when a resort (DVC or not) has guests using the buses or other part of the transportation system the resort (in our case DVC) pays the transportation division for our use of the buses. In the case of the park passes DVD (Disney Vacation Development) paid for the number of passes issued each year.
I miss those passes and wish that another discount for passes would be offered to DVC members. We used to use the Disney Club mainly for the discounts and miss it.

 

[Jimbo]

Originally posted by NancyDVC
The free park pass program was designed initially as an incentive to get people to buy into DVC.

That's an important point. The passes were a sales incentive, and were written into your contract. It wasn't a gift. Remember, in the first few years there was no guarantee that DVC would take off as it has. DVC had to do some selling in those days.

And that's quite a different situation than giving existing members a discount on passes. I wouldn't hold my breath on that one.

 

[dvcdudes]

I would love some kind of pass discount BUT I won't be holding my breath. I used to think that if we didn't go into the parks the powers that be would want to get us into the parks to spend money. I now realize I spend money whether I'm in the parks or not. We still eat at hotel restaurants so they're getting my $$$ anyway. A ticket discount would be great but I'd really like front of the line passes!!! Even if they can't give it to all Disney Resort guests, It would be a great perk for DVC members and wouldn't cost them a dime. Or even unlimited fast passes with a DVC room key. Then it wouldn't take 6 hours to do 2-3 rides and I could relax by the pool at my DVC Resort sucking down my favorite Adult Beverage after I got my fill of the rides.

 

[PamOKW]

The park pass program was included in the documentation and was referred to as "the limited park admission program". It included all 3 major parks when AK was just a glimmer in Eisner's eye. It was no more an "incentive" than banking and borrowing were. It was just part of the program. (Being able to trade outside DVC has an end date of 12/31 every year.) I also recall the guides indicating that they thought the pass program would be renewed in 1999 with something even bigger and better. Of course, this was before Disney Vacation Club grew to include additional resorts and additional resorts right at WDW. Disney decided that it didn't have to include passes with the program. When AK wasn't added, even with a nominal additional cost like the APs did, the handwriting was on the wall that we would be on our own for passes.

I joined in 1993. I think it must have been 1994 when I stayed at the GF. We did get 2 passes included there as well. Sometime after that you no longer got the passes at the resorts and when BWV opened you did not get the passes there. This was true even if you had Vero points that were part of the Limited Pass program.

The points required to stay at the WDW resorts were far less costly than they are now. The point chart for 1993 breaks out Luxury (GF, Yacht, Beach) and Premium (Poly, Contemporary and Disney Inn). The seasons are the same as the DVC seasons. You got the "best available" room which almost always was a terrific waterview, etc. (not concierge or a suite). You could not book concierge.

For comparison the weekday cost for the GF ran from 24-52 points and the weekend nights from 49-107, depending on the season. For 2004, the GF lagoon view runs from 44-66 points weekdays and 79-119 points weekend. Current points also follow the hotel seasons so "day-to-day" increases can be even more dramatic.

That concludes tonight's walk down memory lane for me.

 

[Regina]

That concludes tonight's walk down memory lane for me.

And a fine stroll it was.

All I know is, those passes ended at midnight on 12/31/99, even if your stay crossed over from '99 to '00.

It was fun while it lasted.

 

[spiceycat]

No back in 93 for sure - the WDW resorts were including with the DVC passes - if you stayed there on points - but expensive - very expensive - the Polyn was around 41 point (this was in 93) - I remember because being stupid I allowed my brother to do this - in 94 or 95 DVC did away with this -

then if and only if you were staying at OKW with either OKW or VB points - were you allowed the passes.

the studio and 1-bedroom had 2 passes
the 2-bedroom has 4 passes
and the GV had 6 passes.

I still have the tape - if anyone wants to see it.

 

[Pa@okw95]

They were given to everyone staying in my unit, I knew the minute I printed that someone would correct me. I never stuff people into the units so I usually got tickets for all of us, at times I had to buy one for a guest, that is correct and others I actually did not take all the tickets I had coming. Since I usually used a 2 bedroom unit I got 4 tickets and once in awhile I had to buy a extra ticket for the fifth person. Yes I only got 4 tickets for a 2 bedroom. It saved me thousands of dollars, that is for sure.

 

[Jimbo]

Originally posted by PamOKW
The park pass program was included in the documentation and was referred to as "the limited park admission program". It included all 3 major parks when AK was just a glimmer in Eisner's eye. It was no more an "incentive" than banking and borrowing were. It was just part of the program.

Maybe it's not technically an incentive, but it was there to induce you to buy. That makes it an incentive in my book. Just like SSR having an end date 10 years beyond the rest of the resorts may not technically be an incentive, but it is.

The point I was trying to make is that in the early 90s, the DVC passes benefited DVC, by jump starting sales. If existing members were to get passes now, or a better discount on passes, it would have to benefit the parks. That's a lot harder to justify, IMHO.

 

[Cfabar1]

Revisiting this thread today, it is interesting to see the evolution of the AP/DVC program. You’d think even access to purchase APs would be a major incentive for future DVC sales. Amazing that they used to give you admission for free. Those days will never return is my guess.