Why are DVC seasons different?

[Maistre Gracey]

I am just curious....
Okay, certain times such as September are low season across the board, but what about some others?

For example, early February is Dream season with DVC, but value season at non-DVC resorts.
Another example: July & the first half of August are Magic season at DVC, but value season at the WDW deluxes.

I would think popular times of year would remain somewhat constant between the WDW deluxes and the DVC resorts, but perhaps I am overlooking something.

MG

 

[rocketriter]

I don't think Disney ever makes financial decisions without holding hands with statisticians. My guess is that, after a dozen years, they know exactly what our travel patterns are and have calculated the dates and costs of various seasons to level the use of rooms as much as possible.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Originally posted by rocketriter
My guess is that, after a dozen years, they know exactly what our travel patterns are and have calculated the dates and costs of various seasons to level the use of rooms as much as possible.

I agree. I am just surprised that travel patterns at the WDW deluxes differ so much as to warrant the seasonal differences.

MG

 

[mikesmom]

My best "guesstimate" would be that non-DVC people are mostly families with children, not frequent visitors, that have to travel during school breaks, particularly the longer breaks like summer vacation.

DVC people, may attend in summer (if children are with them) , but also will attend for other type of "adult" events like the F&W fest or just in lower point times to enjoy the resorts. I suspect the DVC demographic contains more childless or empty nest folks that have the freedom to travel outside of high season. I'm not saying DVC folks don't have families, but that these families will be more balanced by people who can travel without children at times.

If you aren't controlled by school seasons, you will naturally travel when the weather is cooler and the place is less crowded.

 

[dianeschlicht]

I don't think the charts have changed appreciably since the start of DVC, so I doubt they are looking at DVC statistics to determine the point costs. I think it was initially a way to fill the parks with DVC members when parks are usually not full. Now the fluctuating of seasons for the non-DVC resorts would definitly be ruled by statistics. I suspect it would be difficult to change the DVC seasons now without totally upsetting the point system. I think those seasons were determined by the vacationing stats from other timeshares when DVC was started. Tradition would say that folks don't use timeshares as much certain times of the year, so they wanted to be sure they were being utilized to the fullest.

 

[Dean]

There are really two questions. Why did they chose these seasons initially and why are they still the same. I'd bet they were initially done by statistical info from Disney and timeshare info from Orlando. Now sthe question is whether those are the right seasons or should DVC rebalance. If things get too off, they will have to rebalance. Frankly, I've been expecting it for a awhile now.

 

[Pa@okw95]

A lot of the points are high also during the busy times down at WDW also like Christmas and Easter Weeks. There is some difference but for the most part points are higher during busy WDW times and lower during less crowded times for example January is the lowest point time of year and is the least popular time with all visitors, so far anyway. For those times that are different like you pointed out, I guess somehow they knew that DVC travelers would be much more savvy when going to WDW, zigging while all others are zagging. You find that a lot more DVC people go between Thanksgiving and Christmas then non-DVC. Summer I would think would be a time for DVC owners to avoid WDW at all costs unless they have children are forced to go then.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Dean, I have been expecting a reallocation also. I think the popularity of the October and early December times at DVC will ultimately mean those points could go up and maybe summer time points go down. I hope not!

 

[Pa@okw95]

I agree that they might change the points a little but any large change would cause a major problem I would think with the members not wanting it. I hope January does not change unless it goes lower, I only plan on going down there in Jan and early Feb from now on. I could see them doing something with raising points for early December and lowering the summer time like one of you have suggested.

 

[dianeschlicht]

Originally posted by Pa@okw95
I agree that they might change the points a little but any large change would cause a major problem I would think with the members not wanting it. I hope January does not change unless it goes lower, I only plan on going down there in Jan and early Feb from now on. I could see them doing something with raising points for early December and lowering the summer time like one of you have suggested.

I'm with you on that one! I LOVE going in January. I like the no crowds touring and it is so nice to get away from Minnesota weather in January and February!

 

[erikthewise]

I'm not sure that DVC has any moral or financial obligation to adjust seasons in order to match demand levels.

There doesn't seem to be any motivation for them to do so. Once a resort is sold out, it is essentially filled year-round from the sales point-of-view. There is no concern of it losing money by going half-empty in slow seasons as with non-DVC resorts. The points are already paid for and will be used one way or another.

Even from the point of view of member satisfaction, if dates are swapped between two different seasons, roughly equal groups will be pleased or displeased. If anything, there will be more unhappy members when points are raised during the more popular dates!

Only if there is a truly disruptive and unfair mismatch between point levels and demand would it make sense to consider attempting to make an adjustment. This doesn't seem to have happened.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by erikthewise
I'm not sure that DVC has any moral or financial obligation to adjust seasons in order to match demand levels.

There doesn't seem to be any motivation for them to do so. Once a resort is sold out, it is essentially filled year-round from the sales point-of-view. There is no concern of it losing money by going half-empty in slow seasons as with non-DVC resorts. The points are already paid for and will be used one way or another.

Even from the point of view of member satisfaction, if dates are swapped between two different seasons, roughly equal groups will be pleased or displeased. If anything, there will be more unhappy members when points are raised during the more popular dates!

Only if there is a truly disruptive and unfair mismatch between point levels and demand would it make sense to consider attempting to make an adjustment. This doesn't seem to have happened.

ITA. AFAIK, there is no time of the year that is consistently a lot more "empty" than others. It's just that some times of the year (and it's not the majority of the time by any means) , members have to call when the 11 month window opens to be sure of getting exactly what they want. Don't see that as a problem since all have an equal opportunity to do so.

I see no incentive for DVC to adjust anything unless the resorts are consistently ending up at way less than capacity during certain times of the year. JMHO.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

There doesn't seem to be any motivation for them to do so. Once a resort is sold out, it is essentially filled year-round from the sales point-of-view. There is no concern of it losing money by going half-empty in slow seasons as with non-DVC resorts. The points are already paid for and will be used one way or another.

Well... sort of. SSR is still in active sales, and that resort follows the same seasonal schedule.

Even from the point of view of member satisfaction, if dates are swapped between two different seasons, roughly equal groups will be pleased or displeased. If anything, there will be more unhappy members when points are raised during the more popular dates!

Hmmm... Well, by that logic, weekend points shoud be equal to weekdays.

MG

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

Originally posted by rocketriter
I don't think Disney ever makes financial decisions without holding hands with statisticians. My guess is that, after a dozen years, they know exactly what our travel patterns are and have calculated the dates and costs of various seasons to level the use of rooms as much as possible.

I agree with this completely and think Disney got together with the statisticians ahead of time and came up with point charts that would help drive DVC attendance to certain low attendance times at WDW and discourage it at high times. IMHO keeping some of the seasons different between DVC and CRO customers helps level off the business.

HBC

 

[pmcpmc]

stays Florida doesn't have seasons

 

[erikthewise]

Originally posted by Maistre Gracey

Hmmm... Well, by that logic, weekend points shoud be equal to weekdays.

MG

LOL! The point I was hoping to make was just that juggling point charts isn't going to make more people happy, just different people happy.

If we've survived the differences between weekdays and weekends, surely we can survive the minor-by-comparison differences in points and demand between the seasons.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by Pa@okw95
I agree that they might change the points a little but any large change would cause a major problem I would think with the members not wanting it. I hope January does not change unless it goes lower, I only plan on going down there in Jan and early Feb from now on. I could see them doing something with raising points for early December and lowering the summer time like one of you have suggested.

What major problems could they cause. All that could happen is some people could fuss about it. Some would be happy and others not.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by erikthewise
I'm not sure that DVC has any moral or financial obligation to adjust seasons in order to match demand levels.

There doesn't seem to be any motivation for them to do so. Once a resort is sold out, it is essentially filled year-round from the sales point-of-view. There is no concern of it losing money by going half-empty in slow seasons as with non-DVC resorts. The points are already paid for and will be used one way or another.

Even from the point of view of member satisfaction, if dates are swapped between two different seasons, roughly equal groups will be pleased or displeased. If anything, there will be more unhappy members when points are raised during the more popular dates!

Only if there is a truly disruptive and unfair mismatch between point levels and demand would it make sense to consider attempting to make an adjustment. This doesn't seem to have happened.

Actually DVC has a responsibility to equal out usage based on the points schedule. If things get too far off, they will have to change it at some point.