Are you saying that a new magnet, temporary lounge at a closed Epcot pavilion, and 1-month dining discount increase (oh, and who could forget the 6-week, 20% discount at DisneyStore.com!) doesn't make you feel valued and activated to go spend money?
I don’t think it’s meant to “activate” you to spend money.
As usual, this is a matter of perspective.
If you’re holding out your hand asking, “What will you give me,” you’re likely to be disappointed often.
I was just there for a few days. You can see in my TR, when there was a line to get the magnet, I passed, with no hard feelings. When I happened to be in the area later and there was no line, I got a magnet.
I’m not much into Stitch, but it will go on the fridge with the others, and that’s kind of cool. Plus memories and all that.
Not only do they cover the cost of many magnets, but there were at least 3 extra CMs assigned to work the station all day, every day. That’s a huge extra payroll expense to give away free stuff. They’d do better to mail them out. But having the line in the park is advertising to non-APs (for better/worse.)
I have not bothered with the merch discount.
The lounge: again, in my TR, I posted this, obviously an exaggeration to be funny.
That was about the guests and nothing else. It was crowded. There was no line to get in. There was tea and water, I didn’t happen to look at the snacks. It was not easy to find a seat. The phone chargers were not all around the room. They were in some kind of portable kiosk with lockers, so you couldn’t use your phone while it was charging.
However, charging my phone in the heat at MK was much worse. (The drain on my battery was bizarre.)
So I appreciated the lounge, and if I weren’t an AP, I couldn’t have accessed it. That 20 minutes or so out of the heat, charging my phone at least out of the danger zone, and a nice big cup of water/tea (I combined them) vs. little sips of Florida dirt water from fountains everyone touched in the parks - yep, that improved my day.
I made sure to catch the eye of a CM on my way out to say thank you.