RUMOR: Disney Vacation Club Considering Paid Member Perks Program

[tjkraz]

Could it be that those premium members or whatever you would call them could reserve particular rooms within a category? Like a garden view next to a fountain instead of the dumpster view or ground floor next to an access door? Just imagining what is possible

Allowing guests to pick their own rooms is very tricky, especially when it comes to lockoffs (nearly all of the Studio and One Bedroom villas are lockoffs at many resorts.) If you have a guest arriving with a reservation for a Two Bedroom Lockoff, the room assigners work days ahead of time to make sure that the parties in both a Studio + 1B which connect are departing on the same day.

Imagine it's a low-turnover Tuesday at VGF. You have one party checking out of a Standard View one bedroom and one party checking out of a SV Deluxe Studio. Arriving is one party with a reservation for a Standard View lockoff Two Bedroom. Problem is the departing group in the 1B chose a room on the 4th floor and the studio group chose a room on the 2nd floor. We've got two empty rooms to meet the inventory need, but the rooms aren't connecting and thus cannot accommodate the Lockoff 2B reservation. These are the sorts of issues room assigners help avoid. Any room category with few rooms would be problematic (AKV club, BLT Standard & Theme Park, BWV Standard, BCV, VGF, etc.) Even the larger resorts / categories can encounter problems on low turnover days, when maintenance issues occur, etc.

 

[DisneyTarheel]

This will come down to simple math for me. Will I save more than the cost of this program? If so, I will consider it so long as the hassle factor is low. If they instead include benefits that don’t have a direct $ value, I’ll have to weigh the perceived value vs cost.

 

[xdan0920]

This is very funny. Strip away all benefits, then charge to bring them back.

All while being defended tooth and nail by the proletariat.

What a business model.

 

[tjkraz]

This is very funny. Strip away all benefits, then charge to bring them back.

All while being defended tooth and nail by the proletariat.

What a business model.

Honest question: What benefits have been stripped away by DVC?

There is some risk that they could move things like the EPCOT lounge or Moonlight Magic to a paid tier. But in the article, this was framed as being new perks rather than an elevation of old ones.

 

[Pooh12863]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1538586845885382658

Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and stay tuned for more information about this DVC “Membership Magic Diamond Level” program as it becomes available! What do you think about this new paid member perks program? What would you like to see offered? Will you be joining?

Somebody been talking to a bus driver again?

 

[mlayton14]

Allowing guests to pick their own rooms is very tricky, especially when it comes to lockoffs (nearly all of the Studio and One Bedroom villas are lockoffs at many resorts.) If you have a guest arriving with a reservation for a Two Bedroom Lockoff, the room assigners work days ahead of time to make sure that the parties in both a Studio + 1B which connect are departing on the same day.

Imagine it's a low-turnover Tuesday at VGF. You have one party checking out of a Standard View one bedroom and one party checking out of a SV Deluxe Studio. Arriving is one party with a reservation for a Standard View lockoff Two Bedroom. Problem is the departing group in the 1B chose a room on the 4th floor and the studio group chose a room on the 2nd floor. We've got two empty rooms to meet the inventory need, but the rooms aren't connecting and thus cannot accommodate the Lockoff 2B reservation. These are the sorts of issues room assigners help avoid. Any room category with few rooms would be problematic (AKV club, BLT Standard & Theme Park, BWV Standard, BCV, VGF, etc.) Even the larger resorts / categories can encounter problems on low turnover days, when maintenance issues occur, etc.

Good points !

 

[PsycProfPlum]

This is DVC version of Genie+. It's very similar to what we already get with a couple of small additions. It looks good on paper but priced so affordably that almost every pays it, no one really experiences any real improvement of experience, and we end up with more or less what we have now just $100 (for now) poorer. Alternative vacations are looking better every day.

 

[bbeagle]

This is DVC version of Genie+. It's very similar to what we already get with a couple of small additions. It looks good on paper but priced so affordably that almost every pays it, no one really experiences any real improvement of experience, and we end up with more or less what we have now just $100 (for now) poorer. Alternative vacations are looking better every day.

Exactly.

If it's just $100, it's Disney nickel-and-diming us. It won't be taken well by anyone.

If it's something substantial (say $1000-$2000/year) that only 10-20% of people opt for it, then it's a worthy program. There will be the few people that complain, as there always are, but most people will choose to opt in or opt out of the program, and take it as another paid perk.

If it's crazy substantial (like $100 a point), then Disney is catering to the rich.

 

[bbeagle]

Another option I thought of:

Recently sports stadiums have sold PSLs ('personal seat licenses') where you'd pay anywhere between $500 and $100,000 for the ABILITY to buy season tickets. You pay a one-time large fee, and then every year you can buy season tickets until you die or pass on the PSL to someone else. If you don't pay the fee, you can still buy individual tickets, but not season tickets.

Would Disney go this route?
Say Disney said you could pay $100 per point, and the contracts you chose to do this would be 'made magical' with free park tickets and free genie during all DVC stays (using the 'magical' points) until the end of your contract.

If you sell your contract, the 'magic' doesn't go with the resale. But pass it down to family members, it stays 'magical'.

This would greatly incentivize people to keep DVC and not sell if it after they've made their contract 'magical'. Therefore slowly killing the resale market. Or.... Disney even makes money if you resell, because the new owners might want their new resale to be 'magical'.

 

[mlayton14]

Another option I thought of:

Recently sports stadiums have sold PSLs ('personal seat licenses') where you'd pay anywhere between $500 and $100,000 for the ABILITY to buy season tickets. You pay a one-time large fee, and then every year you can buy season tickets until you die or pass on the PSL to someone else. If you don't pay the fee, you can still buy individual tickets, but not season tickets.

Would Disney go this route?
Say Disney said you could pay $100 per point, and the contracts you chose to do this would be 'made magical' with free park tickets and free genie during all DVC stays (using the 'magical' points) until the end of your contract.

If you sell your contract, the 'magic' doesn't go with the resale. But pass it down to family members, it stays 'magical'.

This would greatly incentivize people to keep DVC and not sell if it after they've made their contract 'magical'. Therefore slowly killing the resale market. Or.... Disney even makes money if you resell, because the new owners might want their new resale to be 'magical'.

Wow that’s a cynical idea , but it’s funny that thought crossed my mind as well with PSLs , people pay for this “right to buy more”

 

[Chuck S]

Another option I thought of:

Recently sports stadiums have sold PSLs ('personal seat licenses') where you'd pay anywhere between $500 and $100,000 for the ABILITY to buy season tickets. You pay a one-time large fee, and then every year you can buy season tickets until you die or pass on the PSL to someone else. If you don't pay the fee, you can still buy individual tickets, but not season tickets.

Would Disney go this route?
Say Disney said you could pay $100 per point, and the contracts you chose to do this would be 'made magical' with free park tickets and free genie during all DVC stays (using the 'magical' points) until the end of your contract.

If you sell your contract, the 'magic' doesn't go with the resale. But pass it down to family members, it stays 'magical'.

This would greatly incentivize people to keep DVC and not sell if it after they've made their contract 'magical'. Therefore slowly killing the resale market. Or.... Disney even makes money if you resell, because the new owners might want their new resale to be 'magical'.

At $100 per point, I doubt any 2042 owners, who often have a larger number of points per contract, would be interested. And that's about double what we paid per point for the contract, directly from Disney.

 

[SarahC97]

So after paying thousands (or tens of thousands) of dollars more to buy direct for "perks" you may have the opportunity to pay even more to get things that were mostly free previously. What a joke.

The fact that the "perks" are not guaranteed was our biggest turn-off to buying direct. I mean, I get what you're saying because they present things like lounge access as perks -- but personally if I had paid a premium to buy points directly and they tried to upcharge me for things they gave me for free before, I'd be angry. I don't trust Disney enough after the last couple of years not to just take things away, hence our resale purchase. At least that way I know what I'm not getting upfront.

 

[New Mouse]

How are the vacation club guides going to sell things without advertising the free perks we currently get?

There is 0 Disney can offer that is going to be a value to each of us but at the same time not so limited that it's actually achievable.

I can see it now.

DVC membership perks plus
1. No need for park reservations.
2. Free Mears Connect
3. Access to genie plus at 5am.
4. Free valet parking
5. Park hopping at any time.
6. Access to an unlimited dining plan created specially for dvc members.

 

[john7994]

So all of this is based on a rumor (not sourced to anything), and everyone is all twisted on it?

 

[MICKIMINI]

It better be Charmin, or they ain't getting our Ben Franklin. (That's the guy on the US $100 bill for international DISboarders who don't know.

How are the vacation club guides going to sell things without advertising the free perks we currently get?

There is 0 Disney can offer that is going to be a value to each of us but at the same time not so limited that it's actually achievable.

I can see it now.

DVC membership perks plus
1. No need for park reservations.
2. Free Mears Connect
3. Access to genie plus at 5am.
4. Free valet parking
5. Park hopping at any time.
6. Access to an unlimited dining plan created specially for dvc members.

#6!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[SleeplessInTO]

So all of this is based on a rumor (not sourced to anything), and everyone is all twisted on it?

I'm enjoying the wild speculation! Somebody from Disney is probably reading this thread going "oh yeah, thats a great idea!"

The cynical part of me thinks this is just the sort of "rumour" I'd want to float to get an idea of the issues/complaints/pushback that I'd get. Like a free focus group, made up of avid Disney DVC fans. Lots of deniability if it turns out to be a horrible idea. Just a rumour, after all...

 

[Mickey of the Villages]

I sure would like it if they'd add discounted passes to Universal, especially that new park they're building. It looks terrific.

 

[kahblue]

I really don't know what to expect. BUT, whatever they do, I hope the DVC guides "get the memo"! We were there for 2 weeks in May. My husband stopped to talk to a person at the DVC table at Wilderness Lodge about something. My dh mentioned we got to ride Cosmic Rewind a few days earlier due to it being a DVC preview. He knew nothing about it. I consider that a perk.

He talked to someone else when we moved to Boardwalk. Mentioned Moonlight Magic. The guide's response was, "Oh! I didn't know they were doing that again." Again, that's a perk.

People in the DVC lounge are also clueless and they know that. "You'll know when things happen way before we will". How can they sell direct without being able to tell you some of the perks you may be able to get. If we were looking to buy direct when we were there, they didn't have a chance to get our attention without being able to tell us why direct is more appealing than resale. (We own both so it doesn't matter anyway).

All that being said, I think they will offer whatever this is to all members but have some things only for direct members at an additional cost.

 

[john7994]

I'm enjoying the wild speculation! Somebody from Disney is probably reading this thread going "oh yeah, thats a great idea!"

The cynical part of me thinks this is just the sort of "rumour" I'd want to float to get an idea of the issues/complaints/pushback that I'd get. Like a free focus group, made up of avid Disney DVC fans. Lots of deniability if it turns out to be a horrible idea. Just a rumour, after all...

I like the way you think ...

 

[tjkraz]

Undoubtedly there is a grain of truth to this. Some of the things mentioned in the first couple paragraphs of the story are consistent with member surveys and other leaks over the years. Things like "Enhanced Park Access" and "Expanded Access to Members Only Spaces" strike me as clear value-added offerings. Disney hasn't announced any long term plans for Extended Evening Hours. This could be DVC's way of trying to subsidize continuation of that perk as a recurring DVC-only.

Certain elite perks would require an elite cost to make it worthwhile. But I don't see that as being the goal here. This seems more like a group-buy situation. If 200k members agree to spend $100, that's $20m annually. Can you fund a second theme park lounge and some amount of DVC-only park hours--plus a few random ticket offers and other low-cost perks--for $20 million? Probably.

Things spin a little off the rails when speculating that TOTWL access, AP discounts and free lightning lanes could be part of this tier, along with priority access to DVC reservations or Moonlight Magic. That's all wild fantasy and not worth getting worked-up about, IMO.