Top of the World Lounge at Bay Lake Tower at Contemporary Resort - *2 New Parties Added! “Enchantment at the Top” & New “Bound to Be Bad” Dates Added

[M:SpilotISTC12]

As long as you are eligible for membership extras...ie: blue card...you can go....its free. But, resale owners since 2016 can not.

Ah well that’s where I’m out. I’m not direct.

 

[Sandisw]

But you still need to have a "qualifying" membership to access the lounge even on a daily basis, correct?

Yes. DVC Y only.

 

[TCRAIG]

This resale plebian is disappointed, but I get it. DVC needs to differentiate more and give direct members more stuff to justify their increased cost per point over resale. I'm disappointed, but pretty sure I can find something else to do.

I use the term Resale Riff-Raff!

 

[McCrae]

$160 for the pre opening party…. Looking at what’s provided would prefer to wait till after 11th.

 

[UofMGuy423]

Very exciting! We'll be staying at Boulder Creek that week, so we'll plan to stop by and check this out!

 

[sethschroeder]

but NOT at $160

Open bar and buffet at Disney for $160 isn't that bad.

 

[UofMGuy423]

Open bar and buffet at Disney for $160 isn't that bad.

Honestly, with that open bar, they'd probably lose money on me.

 

[TCRAIG]

Open bar and buffet at Disney for $160 isn't that bad.

It’s not - but I don’t drink

 

[Sandisw]

Open bar and buffet at Disney for $160 isn't that bad.

That is what I was just thinking.. Won't be there for that, but if it was just me and a friend? I would probably do it for it being a special event.

 

[Jwaire]

Basically, it's going to be like the new Beauty & the Beast Lounge at Grand Floridian just with a Villain theme and limited to DVC direct members. I did read where the servers would be dressed up in "Disney bounding." Kind of cool.

Local DVC members are going to be upset though. They got used to using Top of the World lounge as a showoff to their friends and families even if they weren't staying on property.

Well that's 2 of the 3 monorail resorts. What's Poly going to get? I guess they have Trader Sam's though.

 

[DisneyOutsider]

Basically, it's going to be like the new Beauty & the Beast Lounge at Grand Floridian just with a Villain theme and limited to DVC direct members. I did read where the servers would be dressed up in "Disney bounding." Kind of cool.

Local DVC members are going to be upset though. They got used to using Top of the World lounge as a showoff to their friends and families even if they weren't staying on property.

Well that's 2 of the 3 monorail resorts. What's Poly going to get? I guess they have Trader Sam's though.

Technically the rules haven't changed in regards to needing a resort reservation. You were always only supposed to have access if you were staying on property at the time, but in my experience they were very lax on enforcing this unless things were expected to be busier than normal.

 

[gregskellington]

Very curious how this will go for them longterm...the lounge seemingly made no money when it was open to all members? I'm not sure the theme is enough but

 

[Sandisw]

Very curious how this will go for them longterm...the lounge seemingly made no money when it was open to all members? I'm not sure the theme is enough but

Since this is now part of membership extras, I have to believe that DVD is paying Disney for use of the space so the need to make the same amount of money may not be the same.

Plus, the website mentions special events so I bet we were see more of those that are paid and that will increase the revenue.

 

[gregskellington]

Since this is now part of membership extras, I have to believe that DVD is paying Disney for use of the space so the need to make the same amount of money may not be the same.

Plus, the website mentions special events so I bet we were see more of those that are paid and that will increase the revenue.

Yeah I get that, it just seems like such a weak benefit I'm struggling to understand what they think this is going to do. I can't imagine this will actually convince people to buy or have any real impact on member satisfaction but maybe direct buyers are more easily pleased than I thought.

 

[Jgc014]

Very curious how this will go for them longterm...the lounge seemingly made no money when it was open to all members? I'm not sure the theme is enough but

I agree with this.

I certainly also agree that Disney has been trying to widen the gap between direct and resale as much as possible, but when you look at the other direct perks, those are cost centers. Free access to snacks at the Epcot lounge. Free park admission and food with Moonlight Magic. Decreased revenue by offering dining, merchandise, and some ticket discounts. It makes sense Disney would want to limit those perks as it effects their bottom line negatively.

However, I see Top of the World as somewhat different. If they are not filling the lounge, they could be leaving money on the table with bringing in paying guests. If they think they can regularly fill the lounge with just direct members, then it makes sense to limit, but this hasn’t been the case historically. People largely seem to enjoy villain themes, so I think this could up attendance, but not sure it is enough to keep at capacity with just direct members. Or it could be that people who actually purchase something while at the lounge are in the minority, so Disney doesn’t think they are losing out on much by having attendance below capacity.

I also didn’t think there are many people purely choosing to buy direct based on Top of the World access, so this won’t really win over additional direct business. Ultimately I think it will just limit overall revenue, so I am a little surprised by the decision. But in the scheme of things, any lost revenue is probably going to be fairly minimal to a Company Disney’s size, and it does succeed in simplifying the direct versus resale perk comparison by giving resale members no perks.

 

[TraderStitch]

I assume this is just the start of differentiating Direct from Resale. They have to take away more perks to push their product.

 

[Disney mac]

Honestly, with that open bar, they'd probably lose money on me.

Great…that’s all we need is people walking around drunk who are trying to recoup their $640 for a family of 4 for a few hours.
Disney must have been watching Pirates of the Caribbean too many times…as they are on the sinking ship of the black pearl.

 

[pkrieger2287]

Update: Has the Direct vs. Resale page disappeared for anyone else? Seems to be a redirect now.

 

[Sandisw]

Yeah I get that, it just seems like such a weak benefit I'm struggling to understand what they think this is going to do. I can't imagine this will actually convince people to buy or have any real impact on member satisfaction but maybe direct buyers are more easily pleased than I thought.

No one perk will convince someone to buy but the point is to be able to tout that we now have two exclusive DVC lounges and that to access, at this time, you have to be eligible.

 

[AmishGuy91]

Update: Has the Direct vs. Resale page disappeared for anyone else? Seems to be a redirect now.

Nothing to see here....please move along.