We have been DVC members since 2000. We "LOVE THE MOUSE !":ROFLOL:Although at times we feel taken for granted of when we see package deals with super offers for much less then what our vacation is costing as a member. We know that as members when we bought in we were demonstrating our LOVE and support for DISNEY, and that investment was based on the economics of that time. We know and appreciate what we have acquired and understand the economics of today, and they are not pretty. We just would like to see some mutual appreciation at times and maybe offered some type of better discount on park tickets. A suggestion maybe based on length of stay, or advance ticket sale that are discounted further then what they are, maybe based on resort, a particular type of ticket ? some type of ticket promotion. Should I be unaware :veryconfu of any member ticket offers PLEASE someone let me know. We always have purchased our tickets at WDW to feel secure that they will be genuine, for we have read about those deals that tickets basically are not and will not be honored. I'm sure that Disney can come up with some sort of promotion for DVC Members that will generate income for them and be beneficial and a win win for it's members as well during these hard times. I hope to hear from those of you that are experiencing the similar thoughts for their up coming vacations,maybe together we can have Disney say "YES WE CAN". Thanks ! :wave:
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DVC Member needs more !
- Thread starter Daddyoh
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Cubs Brian
Active Member
You bought in with the understanding that you are locking in prices at a certain time that will be good for roughly 50 yrs. That's where your discount is. Look at the room rates over the last 15yrs and most have at least doubled if not tripled! and you do get a pretty good discount on AP.
chwilson88
Member
I agree with the OP. Room rates are heavily discounted lately, dirt cheap - does NOT appear that we are saving ANYTHING at the moment by buying in low with DVC. I have always thought (and others on here have agreed with me in the past, although some haven't) that discounted park tickets (not an AP) would be something that would be nice (or a VIP fast pass when I arrive in my villa or something). Also, they make a HUGE amount of money on the annual dues (I'm not convinced that the maintenance portion of dues goes right back into the resort). And I truly think that this should be taken into account with what we pay for and see little in return. So I agree, it would be great, but not likely to happen.
Cubs Brian
Active Member
Maybe you should have done more research before buying into DVC.DVC is NOT about what you will save now, but what you will save over the next 50 or so years. That savings will be a lot more than any discounted park tickets could ever be. And also by law the maintenance portion of the dues must be used for maintenance and upkeep. It's just like an association fee in communities that have those. They are very specific about how the funds are allocated.BTW there are plenty of discounts already for DVC members, from dining to shopping to golfing and more.
slappy magoo
Well-Known Member
Someone can correct me, but the management of DVC has to account for the money spent. They technically are forbidden to make a profit; if there's a year where it costs less to maintain the property than they took in, they have to offer money back to the owners of that property, or roll that into savings in other ways, like reducing the cost of maintenance the next year.
Now, where you can argue that profits are "hidden" is by virtue of the fact that a team is in place to manage the money of the properties. You may feel that they're paid too much, or are otherwise not spending the money wisely, but that money has to be accounted for, and the accounting has to be made available to members.
When we bought into DVC we felt it was a good value for future vacations, and we still feel that way. In the future I am confident that the "value" we realize will be even greater as normal room rates increase. The DVC resorts are very nice and the services offered to DVC members add to the enjoyment of the vacations. Over all we are still very happy with the investment we made in purchasing DVC.
That does not mean there are not extra perks I would like to see added if possible. Some additional discount on park tickets, other than just annual passes, would be great. Some type of "premium" pass with extra fast passes, even if there was some additional cost involved, would be a great perk. The other perk that would be nice if it could be expanded would be if there was a way to get additional discounts on dining. While DVC members do get some discounts now, it would be great if DVC members were able to purchase TIW cards to realize even greater discounts at more places. The TIW program seems like a good value to members who eat out all the time during vacations. I would not expect it to be free or even discounted, but at this point you need to be an annual pass holder or FL resident. With all the free dining that is offered these days, it would be great to feel that DVC members are also getting a value on dining
That does not mean there are not extra perks I would like to see added if possible. Some additional discount on park tickets, other than just annual passes, would be great. Some type of "premium" pass with extra fast passes, even if there was some additional cost involved, would be a great perk. The other perk that would be nice if it could be expanded would be if there was a way to get additional discounts on dining. While DVC members do get some discounts now, it would be great if DVC members were able to purchase TIW cards to realize even greater discounts at more places. The TIW program seems like a good value to members who eat out all the time during vacations. I would not expect it to be free or even discounted, but at this point you need to be an annual pass holder or FL resident. With all the free dining that is offered these days, it would be great to feel that DVC members are also getting a value on dining
googilycub
Active Member
I agree. DVC is about the long term.
MKCP 1985
Well-Known Member
When you purchase DVC ownership, you purchase a set number of annual points for a period of years. Technically, you could know on the day you close on your purchase a very close estimation how many nights you will have to spend until your ownership interest expires.
That said, if you calculated that number of hotel nights and purchase a corresponding number of park tickets with no expiration, then given traditional price increases, you will see incredible savings in your ticket media before the end of your time share* The annual increases in ticket cost has far exceeded the rate of inflation for the past 20 years.
I'm joking about doing this - sort of.
In all seriousness, if more "perks" were offered to DVC owners, it would make me more interested in buying in. Currently, the value to me of DVC ownership does not quite meet the price point of buying in. Obviously, Disney feels differently because they hand out the perks as needed to meet their sales goals, and then reel them back when they get the number of sales they are looking for. Case in point: Perks offered to Old Key West purchasers back in the day which included APs for a period of time if I recall correctly, and more recently - the various perks offered at Bay Lake Towers which at one point included a cruise vacation, no longer offered.
*assuming you do not die and the parks continue to exist, etc. etc. The time share interest is transferable but the ticket media is not. :shrug:
That said, if you calculated that number of hotel nights and purchase a corresponding number of park tickets with no expiration, then given traditional price increases, you will see incredible savings in your ticket media before the end of your time share* The annual increases in ticket cost has far exceeded the rate of inflation for the past 20 years.
I'm joking about doing this - sort of.
In all seriousness, if more "perks" were offered to DVC owners, it would make me more interested in buying in. Currently, the value to me of DVC ownership does not quite meet the price point of buying in. Obviously, Disney feels differently because they hand out the perks as needed to meet their sales goals, and then reel them back when they get the number of sales they are looking for. Case in point: Perks offered to Old Key West purchasers back in the day which included APs for a period of time if I recall correctly, and more recently - the various perks offered at Bay Lake Towers which at one point included a cruise vacation, no longer offered.
*assuming you do not die and the parks continue to exist, etc. etc. The time share interest is transferable but the ticket media is not. :shrug:
DVCOwner
A Long Time DVC Member
I agree that DVC is about the long term, but my complant is not with DVC but with Disney Parks. We have already purchased our "rooms" at Disney for the next 50 years. So Disney Parks are getting us returning guest year after year. I think that the Parks should reward the DVC members as loyal customers and during these hard times give us something back (as they are doing with everyone else). As the percentage of DVC rooms on WDW continues to grow, Disney Parks are going to have to step forward and say thanks in some way. It seems to me that Disney Park management is saying you have purchased your rooms so we do not have to give back anything to make you visit, so we are going to treat you differently than other quest and make you pay more than your share for tickets, meals, etc.
How are they giving something back to everyone else?
toolsnspools
Well-Known Member
Any discount is a good one, but I don't expect one just because I chose to buy a timeshare on WDW property. My personal rationalization for buying into DVC needed to include the fact that park tickets were not always going to be an option. Even with AP discounts and the cheaper AP renewal costs, buying tickets for a family of five is a lot of dough to drop on vacation every year. I have a list of all the things to do that aren't in the parks, so I can start planning to visit without buying passes. I guess if they miss me enough, they'll drop the price or give me a discount. I'm not holding my breath though.
chwilson88
Member
I think the poster was referring to the fact that there are a TON of deals for non-DVC members right now, between dining deals, hotel deals, etc etc, it's pretty crazy.
I hate these lectures about the fact that we "bought in for the long term at set room prices and locked in etc etc"....we all know this and we all made the decision for those reasons, but all some of us are saying is that it would be nice for Disney to throw in some extra perks once in a while...I'm sure with the profits they make it would be a drop in the bucket to throw us a VIP fast pass every now and then or something. Not saying I expect or deserve it, or that I bought in for the wrong reasons, because I didn't...but just thinking as others do that it would be great if they tossed a few park-related perks into the mix once in a while.
googilycub
Active Member
I hate people looking for pie in the sky stuff. Would some extra stuff from Disney be nice sure it would. It would also be great if the goverment gave me double my tax refund, my company gave me an extra week of vacation, or Ford to give me a new Mustang since I have bought from them before. None of it is going to happen, so why worry or waste bandwith about it?
chwilson88
Member
Your examples are in no way comparable to the "small" perks we're referring to here. A new car? Are you kidding me? Now who is wasting bandwidth?
Most will tell you that the "dining deal" isn't really a deal (especially at the deluxe and deluxe villa level), as you need to pay full price for the room.
As far as hotel deals go - these are offered to fill rooms. In the long term, DVC members will end up paying less for similar accommodations - even with discounts applied.
To qualify for the gift card offers full price had to be paid for the rooms.
The general public isn't getting any park perks - even the Buy 4 Get 3 Free was only worth a few dollars per person on the MYW tickets. (Less than $10 per ticket - similar savings could be had with a ticket broker)
Do the math and IF you plan on staying in DVC for the long term, you will find that these little enticements that they give to the non-DVC guests to fill rooms aren't worth your effort.
chwilson88
Member
You may be right, I guess it's just more of a perception thing. They try to go out of their way to please non-DVC guests in my opinion, but understood as they are trying to fill spots and make profits.
dizzney
Member
We always buy annual passes at least one to get us the TIW membership, its well worth it, soemtimes we all buy annuals depending on when we are returning, this year only DH and I since we will be there in august. But as long as we have the annual, we get TIW and from NYE to 1/9 this year we ranged from 5 to 8 people and took 20% off each bill, saved us about $450.00, and will use again in august. This is a great discount
That is exactly the type of perk that I think would be great for DVC members. I realize there is a cost for buying the TIW card and I would not expect that cost to be waived or even discounted. Just give all DVC members a chance to buy into the program even if they do not buy an annual pass or live in Florida, so they can realize some savings when they eat out during their vacations.
Seems like a win/win situation for both the members and Disney.
Seems like a win/win situation for both the members and Disney.
DVCOwner
A Long Time DVC Member
If I was the King of Disney here is what I would do:
I would say to all the DVC members that I want to reward them for the royality that they have shown to Walt Disney World. I these hard times DVC members have been key to keeping WDW the only major parks in the US that have not shown a decline in attendence. So to thank you for your support we would like to award you with a "name your offer here" for all DVC members that visited WDW for at least 5 days in the last two years. We thank you for buying park tickets, purchasing things from our gift shops, and eating at our resterants.
Once again, thank you and we look forward to your next visit where you can enjoy "name your offer here".
I would feel special and would visit Disney instead of trading my points for somewhere else and would recommend DVC to my friends. Than Disney would make even more money off my visits and selling more DVC points. This would bring additional people year after year to WD Parks and they would make even more money.
DVC is marketed to us all the time it is about time that Disney Parks do some marketing for those that support them year after year.
I would say to all the DVC members that I want to reward them for the royality that they have shown to Walt Disney World. I these hard times DVC members have been key to keeping WDW the only major parks in the US that have not shown a decline in attendence. So to thank you for your support we would like to award you with a "name your offer here" for all DVC members that visited WDW for at least 5 days in the last two years. We thank you for buying park tickets, purchasing things from our gift shops, and eating at our resterants.
Once again, thank you and we look forward to your next visit where you can enjoy "name your offer here".
I would feel special and would visit Disney instead of trading my points for somewhere else and would recommend DVC to my friends. Than Disney would make even more money off my visits and selling more DVC points. This would bring additional people year after year to WD Parks and they would make even more money.
DVC is marketed to us all the time it is about time that Disney Parks do some marketing for those that support them year after year.