why should i still be a dvc owner

[keishashadow]

From most of what I read, though, the local AP holders are the ones who support the parks much

Guessing the majority of repeat visitors (locals & DVC owners alike) are less likely to spend $$$ each visit on TS food, souvenirs, tours, parking etc. every visit/day in the parks.

pricey add-ons help disney’s bottom line. IMO when the time comes to start rolling out sales of new APs, they’d be smart to initially offer an AP ticket up-sell on a limited number of pricier all-inclusive type resort packages.

 

[Salf777]

When I first started going to WDW there was no Magical Express you paid for shuttle service. Then magical express came great! Over the years many perks have come and new ones replaced it. Sometimes better sometimes not. Prices went up but so did food, gas, housing, etc in our everyday lives. Global pandemic hits and things get cut. Yes while I believe Disney is using the pandemic as a cover to do away with a lot of things they want to change (and so are most other corporations) I do also believe that there are things they must cut to keep things that are still there. I was shocked when I saw the reaction about the magical express. I don’t use it, fortunately I live in driving distance, but all I ever saw on boards was how awful it was, how long I had to wait, having to leave 3 hours early. I expected people to be happy it’s was gone. I know many business owners who had to cut certain things for many reasons stemming from the pandemic.
im not making excuses for Disney I’m certain they are exploiting the situation BUT I would rather have a scaled down open Disney World than A closed Disney Land, Disney Paris, and so on.
i actually just bought DVC with panic selling I feel I got a great deal because I want my vacation rooms locked in and any other perks that Disney Offers well great. In all the research I did here on these boards I was told the whole purpose of buying resale was the cheaper price and forego the perks because they aren’t worth the money. The one thing I took away from all my research here to buy resale was your buying a room only at a resort you want

 

[New Mouse]

When I first started going to WDW there was no Magical Express you paid for shuttle service. Then magical express came great! Over the years many perks have come and new ones replaced it. Sometimes better sometimes not. Prices went up but so did food, gas, housing, etc in our everyday lives. Global pandemic hits and things get cut. Yes while I believe Disney is using the pandemic as a cover to do away with a lot of things they want to change (and so are most other corporations) I do also believe that there are things they must cut to keep things that are still there. I was shocked when I saw the reaction about the magical express. I don’t use it, fortunately I live in driving distance, but all I ever saw on boards was how awful it was, how long I had to wait, having to leave 3 hours early. I expected people to be happy it’s was gone. I know many business owners who had to cut certain things for many reasons stemming from the pandemic.
im not making excuses for Disney I’m certain they are exploiting the situation BUT I would rather have a scaled down open Disney World than A closed Disney Land, Disney Paris, and so on.
i actually just bought DVC with panic selling I feel I got a great deal because I want my vacation rooms locked in and any other perks that Disney Offers well great. In all the research I did here on these boards I was told the whole purpose of buying resale was the cheaper price and forego the perks because they aren’t worth the money. The one thing I took away from all my research here to buy resale was your buying a room only at a resort you want

Why do you feel there are things that must be cut? Will they go bankrupt if they keep something like magical express?

 

[tgropp]

When I first started going to WDW there was no Magical Express you paid for shuttle service. Then magical express came great! Over the years many perks have come and new ones replaced it. Sometimes better sometimes not. Prices went up but so did food, gas, housing, etc in our everyday lives. Global pandemic hits and things get cut. Yes while I believe Disney is using the pandemic as a cover to do away with a lot of things they want to change (and so are most other corporations) I do also believe that there are things they must cut to keep things that are still there. I was shocked when I saw the reaction about the magical express. I don’t use it, fortunately I live in driving distance, but all I ever saw on boards was how awful it was, how long I had to wait, having to leave 3 hours early. I expected people to be happy it’s was gone. I know many business owners who had to cut certain things for many reasons stemming from the pandemic.
im not making excuses for Disney I’m certain they are exploiting the situation BUT I would rather have a scaled down open Disney World than A closed Disney Land, Disney Paris, and so on.
i actually just bought DVC with panic selling I feel I got a great deal because I want my vacation rooms locked in and any other perks that Disney Offers well great. In all the research I did here on these boards I was told the whole purpose of buying resale was the cheaper price and forego the perks because they aren’t worth the money. The one thing I took away from all my research here to buy resale was your buying a room only at a resort you want

Usually when these perks are added, the costs are factored into room rate increases etc. (Disney doesn’t give away anything for free). I am not sure if our dues helped to pay fo DME. Now that this perk is taken away, it’s just like an extra tax has happened. Now you see it, now you don’t.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Usually when these perks are added, the costs are factored into room rate increases etc. (Disney doesn’t give away anything for free). I am not sure if our dues helped to pay fo DME. Now that this perk is taken away, it’s just like an extra tax has happened. Now you see it, now you don’t.

Someone on here posted a picture of an email response from DVC regarding ME transportation fees. The email confirmed that the ME fees will be removed from DVC maintenance fees starting in 2022. If DVC didn’t remove those fees they would be violating the DVC contract. I don’t think there is some dark, sinister motive by Disney or DVC at play. The fact is that ME doesn’t make sense for Disney anymore. They will adjust the fees accordingly.

 

[Salf777]

Why do you feel there are things that must be cut? Will they go bankrupt if they keep something like magical express?

Well we are in the midst of a global pandemic, people aren’t traveling ships aren’t sailing, thousands of small businesses have gone under, people need stimulus from the government and expanded unemployment benefits,etc. yes Disney is a multi billion dollar corporation but like any business if something is not profitable you may keep it running as a perk for a while but when most of your parks aren’t open and one is operating at 35% that means the maximum ME could be operating is 35%. Space people out on the bus, pay for airport space and all that’s involved? This is a Mears operation Disney was paying them for. If you had a business and could only operate one part at 35% and it wasn’t profitable for you would you continue to run it? Yea it’s not an ideal situation but in the end they will do what’s best for Disney. Why must things be cut? Why did airlines cut service, why did cities close, why is Disney land still closed

 

[Sandisw]

Someone on here posted a picture of an email response from DVC regarding ME transportation fees. The email confirmed that the ME fees will be removed from DVC maintenance fees starting in 2022. If DVC didn’t remove those fees they would be violating the DVC contract. I don’t think there is some dark, sinister motive by Disney or DVC at play. The fact is that ME doesn’t make sense for Disney anymore. They will adjust the fees accordingly.

This is really it in a nutshell, DME was funded by DVC owners via dues and by cash guests as part of the room rates. Every guest that did not use DME paid for it anyway. For every guest that did paid for it anyway.

The difference at least for DVC owners is that we know it has to be taken out of the budget..cash guests won’t get that luxury.

 

[Wedgeout]

Well a great membership perk idea would be just re-skin the buses to ‘DVC Magical Express’.

 

[New Mouse]

Well we are in the midst of a global pandemic, people aren’t traveling ships aren’t sailing, thousands of small businesses have gone under, people need stimulus from the government and expanded unemployment benefits,etc. yes Disney is a multi billion dollar corporation but like any business if something is not profitable you may keep it running as a perk for a while but when most of your parks aren’t open and one is operating at 35% that means the maximum ME could be operating is 35%. Space people out on the bus, pay for airport space and all that’s involved? This is a Mears operation Disney was paying them for. If you had a business and could only operate one part at 35% and it wasn’t profitable for you would you continue to run it? Yea it’s not an ideal situation but in the end they will do what’s best for Disney. Why must things be cut? Why did airlines cut service, why did cities close, why is Disney land still closed

Or you could just rework the contract to fit the times like every other business in America. Instead they chose to ditch the contract and keep the guests money (non dvc... but ive got a bridge to sell you if you think we will ever see that refund).

 

[Sandisw]

Or you could just rework the contract to fit the times like every other business in America. Instead they chose to ditch the contract and keep the guests money (non dvc... but ive got a bridge to sell you if you think we will ever see that refund).

Legally, it will not be part of the budget. From what I understand, any owner can go and review the budgets in person.

So, while you may not actually get money back, the savings will be reflected in the transportation budget to offset any increase in costs for that item.

But this was shared on a different forum and I thought some good speculation as to why it May have rolled out this way.

https://www.disboards.com/threads/magical-express-to-end-in-2022.3822741/post-62630212

 

[eandt]

I am another that did not buy DVC for the perks. As far as I remember, the perks then we the the same as anyone staying onsite- noth8ng special just for DVC. DVC was a way to pay over time to stay on site. We would not have been able to take the vacations that we did take with our DVC points.
We didn’t buy enough points to go every year, and never planned on going every year or multiple times each year, so my feelings might be different if we had as many points as some of you.
I agree with the idea that “perks” will return in some form after the pandemic when Disney wants/needs to increase attendance, But based on the number of days where park reservations have been full, there is no need for Disney to offer any incentives to bring in more people right now.

Not an owner yet but keep seeing this "perks will return to increase attendance"statement. Perks for who? Cash guests? Correct me if I am wrong but isn't Disney already pretty much guarenteed your attendance since you will lose points if you don't use them?

We are in the process of making a decision to buy or to keep renting and also whether to go resale or direct. I can tell you that the perks or lack there of will be huge in making the resale/direct decision. They are using these as a sales incentive (I just got emailed the entire list again from my guide the other day when I mentioned we were leaning resale) to get you to buy so not really fair imo to take them away despite their fine print admonishment that they can change or be eliminated at any time. They sure don't mention that fact prominently during your sales tour.

 

[ITGirl50]

With DME gone, EMH gone, and APs gone, there really is no reason to buy direct right now, and we don't know if the APs are coming back may be Disney stops selling APs entirely at both DL & WDW. Maybe they think people who go 2 to 5 times a year will pay for tickets for each trip now. With all these "perks" and services gone Disney doesn't seem so "magical" for on-site guests anymore, much less DVC owners.

It would kill our trips if they stopped APs at WDW. We go multiple times a year because most all of our trip is pre-paid. Having APs leaves more money for extras like fine dining at Victoria and Albert’s or the safaris at AK.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Oh my word....
It’s not about DVC cuts, it’s about Disney cuts.
There is a thread here on The Dis, somewhere, about things never to be seen at WDW again.
1) Pleasure Island (Kungaloosh)
2) Swan Boats
3) Tapestry of Nations
4) The Fife & Drum at Epcot USA
5) Horizons
6) ....
7) .....
8, 9, 10....

The list goes on.
Point is that WDW is NOT what it once was.

You Poly owners got the shaft IMO. The putting green instead of the lush river, and all those bungalows.... Not to mention the waterfall. I truly hope the redo is better.

 

[we"reofftoneverland]

Well we are in the midst of a global pandemic, people aren’t traveling ships aren’t sailing, thousands of small businesses have gone under, people need stimulus from the government and expanded unemployment benefits,etc. yes Disney is a multi billion dollar corporation but like any business if something is not profitable you may keep it running as a perk for a while but when most of your parks aren’t open and one is operating at 35% that means the maximum ME could be operating is 35%. Space people out on the bus, pay for airport space and all that’s involved? This is a Mears operation Disney was paying them for. If you had a business and could only operate one part at 35% and it wasn’t profitable for you would you continue to run it? Yea it’s not an ideal situation but in the end they will do what’s best for Disney. Why must things be cut? Why did airlines cut service, why did cities close, why is Disney land still closed

I am not sure if you are really asking why is Disneyland still closed? Disneyland is still closed because California has an incredibly dysfunctional government.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Or you could just rework the contract to fit the times like every other business in America. Instead they chose to ditch the contract and keep the guests money (non dvc... but ive got a bridge to sell you if you think we will ever see that refund).

Um, what contract did they "ditch"? They are actually abiding by the contract. Anyone claiming Disney/DVC isn't living up to the contract because of perks they are eliminating didn't understand the contract. The contract never had perks guaranteed in it. And they are actually legally obligated to reduce the fees once they discontinue ME, and they will. Question for you: weren't your 2021 fees reduced because of the resorts shutting down in 2020? Yes, yes they were. And that is because DVC MUST do that. The actual costs didn't match the fees, so they refunded everyone via a reduction in 2021. They are not out to "get" everyone.

 

[ITGirl50]

Not an owner yet but keep seeing this "perks will return to increase attendance"statement. Perks for who? Cash guests? Correct me if I am wrong but isn't Disney already pretty much guarenteed your attendance since you will lose points if you don't use them?

We are in the process of making a decision to buy or to keep renting and also whether to go resale or direct. I can tell you that the perks or lack there of will be huge in making the resale/direct decision. They are using these as a sales incentive (I just got emailed the entire list again from my guide the other day when I mentioned we were leaning resale) to get you to buy so not really fair imo to take them away despite their fine print admonishment that they can change or be eliminated at any time. They sure don't mention that fact prominently during your sales tour.

The only meaningful difference between buying direct vs resale is 1) with direct you can stay at all resorts and future resorts 2) resale you cannot stay at Riviera and all future resorts (unless you buy Riviera, you can only stay at Riviera). This is guaranteed with the deed and how the timeshare is structured. Everything else is just sales fluff. Trading DVC into other Disney reservation points is a waste of points. The points cost too much direct to waste them on trading.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

Not an owner yet but keep seeing this "perks will return to increase attendance"statement. Perks for who? Cash guests? Correct me if I am wrong but isn't Disney already pretty much guarenteed your attendance since you will lose points if you don't use them?

We are in the process of making a decision to buy or to keep renting and also whether to go resale or direct. I can tell you that the perks or lack there of will be huge in making the resale/direct decision. They are using these as a sales incentive (I just got emailed the entire list again from my guide the other day when I mentioned we were leaning resale) to get you to buy so not really fair imo to take them away despite their fine print admonishment that they can change or be eliminated at any time. They sure don't mention that fact prominently during your sales tour.

I bought resale, but there are several people on here who bought direct and commented that their DVC guide went out of the way to make sure they understood that perks are not included and can change at any time. Do not make your decision based on perks and you won't be disappointed later on. We bought into DVC strictly for the opportunity to save a ton of money on deluxe resorts into the future. That's it...nothing more.

I just went on the DVC website and they list many "membership extras" as a benefit of buying direct. Then at the bottom there is this statement: "Membership Extras, such as vacation options in the Disney and Concierge Collections, certain discounts, offers, and special events are incidental benefits. These incidental benefits are subject to change or termination without notice, may require the payment of a fee and cannot be combined with any other offers or promotions." I think there will always be "extras" to be enjoyed if you buy direct. Disney has to offer those otherwise why would people buy direct. The doom and gloom comments on here stating that soon there will be no extras is over the top. There will be, and there may even be new ones added to replace some that are gone. But those extras can (and WILL) come and go. None of them are guaranteed. As long as that fact is completely understood when you buy, then you will avoid being angry later on.

 

[New Mouse]

They are not out to "get" everyone.

They arent out to help everyone either. Recent history would suggest they dont care if you enjoy their product as long as you have paid.

Did I get my money back for 2020? I mean to a small degree yes, but not to what one would imagine considering the resort was closed for 3/4 of the year. And yes, I understand operations and maintenance costs. I wasnt give any assistance during that same time for my membership. Ill use the harshest example here... why did DVC members have to pay for the salaries of cast members when the resorts were completely closed? I use that example because generally speaking, I agree that Disney did the right thing paying their staff in the parks for example, but if you dont think the DVC "discount" on paying those subsidized by DVC dues factored in, you are kidding yourself. They used membership dues as yet another form of corporate welfare when there is 0 reason that should have happened.

They jerked around with the OKW extension and were most certainly out to get the consumer. They intentionally deflated the cost of aulani dues to lock people into 50 year contracts. They illegally changed point charts hoping no one would notice...and theres a chance they did it again. They have gone against major advertising principles that they have used for decades to sell dvc. Sorry but the bottom line is dvc leadership doesnt care as long as they are hitting sales goals, which is also in alignment with the "independent" main company.

 

[DVCSunDevil]

They arent out to help everyone either. Recent history would suggest they dont care if you enjoy their product as long as you have paid.

Did I get my money back for 2020? I mean to a small degree yes, but not to what one would imagine considering the resort was closed for 3/4 of the year. And yes, I understand operations and maintenance costs. I wasnt give any assistance during that same time for my membership. Ill use the harshest example here... why did DVC members have to pay for the salaries of cast members when the resorts were completely closed? I use that example because generally speaking, I agree that Disney did the right thing paying their staff in the parks for example, but if you dont think the DVC "discount" on paying those subsidized by DVC dues factored in, you are kidding yourself. They used membership dues as yet another form of corporate welfare when there is 0 reason that should have happened.

They jerked around with the OKW extension and were most certainly out to get the consumer. They intentionally deflated the cost of aulani dues to lock people into 50 year contracts. They illegally changed point charts hoping no one would notice...and theres a chance they did it again. They have gone against major advertising principles that they have used for decades to sell dvc. Sorry but the bottom line is dvc leadership doesnt care as long as they are hitting sales goals, which is also in alignment with the "independent" main company.

Wow. You seem really angry. I'm sorry if I came off argumentative, but we will just have to agree to disagree on some of this stuff. I have no problem that our DVC fees went towards cast members during the lockdown. I mean, cast members were still working at the resorts. Just because the resorts were closed doesn't mean there literally wasn't a soul on premise. There was still maintenance that needed to be done. At the end of the day, our 2021 fees were reduced pretty substantially versus what they would have been. If DVC was trying to get one over on us and be shady then they could have just done a very minor reduction and explained it away. They have to answer for every line item in our fees when they are audited. I believe they abide by that.

If DVC did do something "illegal" with the points charts, why hasn't there been lawsuits? I don't think DVC would do anything illegal over something like points charts. I mean, there are only "x" number of points out there per resort. What would they benefit from that? Time will tell, because if DVC really did do something illegal then I suspect litigation will follow.

You said "They arent out to help everyone either". Remember when things first shutdown last March and everyone on here was freaking out that points would be lost? DVC could have said "sorry, it is what it is" and let points expire. They didn't have to do anything. But they did do something...they did a lot, actually. They went out of their way to implement new policies that helped everyone not lose points. I obviously don't have the mentality that DVC is out to get us at every turn. I think they try to do things that are best for their members, but you can't make everyone happy all of the time. The comments on these boards are proof of that.

 

[New Mouse]

Wow. You seem really angry. I'm sorry if I came off argumentative, but we will just have to agree to disagree on some of this stuff. I have no problem that our DVC fees went towards cast members during the lockdown. I mean, cast members were still working at the resorts. Just because the resorts were closed doesn't mean there literally wasn't a soul on premise. There was still maintenance that needed to be done. At the end of the day, our 2021 fees were reduced pretty substantially versus what they would have been. If DVC was trying to get one over on us and be shady then they could have just done a very minor reduction and explained it away. They have to answer for every line item in our fees when they are audited. I believe they abide by that.

If DVC did do something "illegal" with the points charts, why hasn't there been lawsuits? I don't think DVC would do anything illegal over something like points charts. I mean, there are only "x" number of points out there per resort. What would they benefit from that? Time will tell, because if DVC really did do something illegal then I suspect litigation will follow.

You said "They arent out to help everyone either". Remember when things first shutdown last March and everyone on here was freaking out that points would be lost? DVC could have said "sorry, it is what it is" and let points expire. They didn't have to do anything. But they did do something...they did a lot, actually. They went out of their way to implement new policies that helped everyone not lose points. I obviously don't have the mentality that DVC is out to get us at every turn. I think they try to do things that are best for their members, but you can't make everyone happy all of the time. The comments on these boards are proof of that.

We were also paying for cast who were sitting at home. Again, I agree with the decision but DVC did not cut owners a break for that specific decision. Im not talking about what it took to run the place when it was closed.

Lawyers werent involved with the point charts last time because they were called out on it and retracted. If they werent called on it they werent going to change it. Something similar is going on with the newly released charts this year where they are creating points.

Dvc did not help everyone when things were shut down. I was one where I was told use them or they would expire and basically that I should have known better. It was pretty much the most undisney response I had ever received. No extension for a few months, no exception. Many others were in the same boat.