'74 mentioned a certain exec who got fired for cooking the books. We DVC members know for a fact that it was Jim Lewis. During his time at DVC, management tried to replace ceramic coffee mugs with styrofoam. All during a "green" campaign at DVC, and "going green" the lead story on the DVC member magazine. Member feedback was swift, and the styrofoam was taken away. Later Old Key West owners were pressured into buying another 15 years to extend their contracts. It was later said that Jim fumed over the low price original owners at OKW paid for their memberships, and as they could trade into higher priced DVC villas, they should pay the price.
He was also front and center at the opening of Aulani, which Al Lutz is now saying is in trouble. We DVC members smelled something fishy when sales of Aulani suddenly stopped, just when they had started. The next thing we read in the various forums is that Jim, and 2 others have left DVC, and Disney. Of course Jim now has a letter of recommendation from Disney, AND a retainer from Disney that puts him in an advisory position to the company.
Bay Lake Towers, another DVC add on is not without issues. Many members think it was built on the cheap, with villas already showing wear and tear much sooner than it should. DVC also had to redesign, and refurb villas recently because of member complaints. Is this TDO's fault? It might be, but I can't say as DVC is a different division than the parks. '74, or anyone else with more knowledge than I, is welcome to correct me on that. My take on any cheapening of DVC is an FLA based problem, and I will say why I think that.
I live in CA, and we go to DLR often, and now with our DVC membership, we stay for several nights. That's much different from before we were DVC members. Before we were 1 day visitors only. The Grand California DVC villas blow away anything the DVC villas in WDW have to offer. They are nicer, bigger, have more bathrooms per the larger villas, offer better services such as 24/ 7 room service, upscale gas grills, HD flat screen TV in the laundromat, high quality bath robes, and member perks that give members discounts on just about everything at DLR. Not so at WDW. Is that because TDA has a hand in the GC DVC? I don't know, but I think it is more likely the management of the GC has a hand in it. I do know that DLR's hotel division wanted nothing to do with DVC initially. I have no idea if that mindset has changed, but I can say this. The DVC at DLR has only 50 villas, and is booked when I try to get a villa. My home resort is Wilderness Lodge, so I can only book DLR DVC at 7 months out. Anything less, and the place is booked solid.
We haven't been to WDW in 2 years, and don't have any plans to go in the near future. We found that we can trade our DVC points for a 7 night cruise on the Disney Wonder here in CA. No Airfare, and meals included. We are basically trading a trip to WDW without paying for food, and not paying for park hoppers, or an AP.
'74, and many others dislike the expansion of DVC at WDW, I don't understand why because of my perspective of being a member. But I'll toss you a crumb of why we like the expansion of the DVC at WDW. It's the only new thing to experience at WDW.
