RESALE POLICY CHANGE!

[_auroraborealis_]

Deal was had, and has been previously, through a travel agency not to be mentioned on this site. They do some fantastic packages, yes, unreal pricing. Google magical deal and you should find what I am talking about. (You'll also find many posts on disboard about them as well). Their packages vary from year to year, but generally FAR better then Disney ever offers directly.

(For reference, I booked back in October - 12 days, 11 nights. The two weeks is our over all trip, but still fantastic pricing)!

And you're booking a Poly room, not the "deluxe studio." So you have two real beds and the sofa bed, not a bed, a sofa bed and a murphy. You do give up that second shower, aw drat.

 

[tinks624]

Hi, I'm sure that somewhere in this thread someone may have asked but, my resale offer was accepted and my purchase was sent to Disney for ROFR 3/25/16. Am I in or out ? Thanks for any info!
Christine

 

[southerngirl528]

I do hope you're checking for that night every single day? Please don't rely on the wait list. Check manually every day.

Thanks, Bumbershoot. I've been doing this DVC thing for 23 years so I am of course checking. But honestly I have a couple of GV weeks booked as I'm not sure which dates/location will work best for my large and spread out family yet so I am not too concerned or I would be checking a few times/day.

I was thinking of the benefits that this might cover, and tell me if I'm wrong: use of free laundry, Top of the World visits, Merry Member Mixer, pool hopping. Hey, maybe DVC will cut out the "free" supplies in the rooms, too.

Folks, PLEASE read what these new rules entail. You will NOT lose the TOWL or pool hopping. It is clearly delineated. Mercy, folks please please read before freaking out. This is not as broad a negative swath as some are making it. The way I understand it things like the Merry Mixer will no longer be an option for resale purchasers going forward. Free supplies going away? No way. And the laundries have always been available and free.

I can care less about most member perks. all I want is my discount on my season pass and my discount for the tables card. that helps for our multiple trips and how eat.

I understand your frustration, Jimim, but when you say you 'can care less about most member perks" but then state how you DO want the annual pass discount & TIW discount, those ARE the member benefits that are currently offered. Those discounts are quite recent. I'm a VERY longtime member and we didn't have those discounts at all in the early years. All contracts clearly state that we as members are buying a TIMESHARE INTEREST, not a Disney discount club card. Perks are going to come and go as they have for years. Even those of us that did buy direct have seen perks/benefits come and go. It's the nature of the beast.

Lastly, every other TS I know of has restrictions for resale purchasers. The resale week I own with Marriott has restrictions, some of them pretty stringent. I do not care because I bought that week to be able to travel to a place I love and stay much more cheaply. I knew I was not buying some sort of revolving discount program, just access for a week (or 2 weeks if I pay the MVC fee of $85 to lock off that 2 bdrm. YES, I have to PAY to lock off. Mean ol' Marriott....)

 

[NoodlesMom]

Hi, I'm sure that somewhere in this thread someone may have asked but, my resale offer was accepted and my purchase was sent to Disney for ROFR 3/25/16. Am I in or out ? Thanks for any info!
Christine

I'm in the same situation. From what I've seen on here and what I was told by my broker, as long as the contract went to ROFR by April 4th, you're fine.

 

[Wobbley]

Hi, I'm sure that somewhere in this thread someone may have asked but, my resale offer was accepted and my purchase was sent to Disney for ROFR 3/25/16. Am I in or out ? Thanks for any info!
Christine

You are in. If it is in ROFR before April 4th you are in.

 

[southerngirl528]

What is really being discounted in this type of punitive action is the Goodwill that exists or existed between Disney/DVC and its' "Best Customers"...........

In this policy change, DVC has just told their entire membership that it has taken 25 years to create that the marketing of our new product is more important than the value of your personal asset. I take that back. DVC isn't telling just the entire membership. It is telling the entire membership and every potential member that DVC Marketing is more important

Many of us were not interested in timeshares.........Disney marketed DVC by taking the worse parts of timeshares, changing them in unique way tha made it better. For example, instead of going to a specific size unit on a certain week every year the point system allowing flexibility in accommodation size, length of stay,time of year was created. The closing argument for this new type of timeshare program was simple........We're Disney and you can trust that we are going to keep the high standards in place for the entire length of your contract. Also, a selling point was that if you have to sell your membership for whatever reason your equity would be safer because you purchasing from Disney.

We have been members since 98. The first 6-7 years if someone asked, Would you recommend DVC, our response would have been ""Absolutely". The Jim Lewis regime came into power and started to erode our response of absolutely. The extension of the OKW contracts were handled in such a heavy handed way by DVC that was the downward spiral. The last change that people who bought a DVC Resale could not use their points on the RCI exchange never made sense because people bought into DVC because they wanted to go to WDW not Branson,MO.

Disney's Survey Team and Market Studies have allowed Disney to alter market their product to keep the customer on site and maximize their spending at WDW. They used to have a 3 day pass. Disney figured out that people would vacation 4 days on average. They would buy a 3 day pass go to MK and EPCOT then they would go to Sea World Busch Gardens or Universal. Disney stopped offering the 3 day pass and built Living Seas, Animal Kingdom and MGM. This was all done to thwart competition.

We are no longer Members or even "Best Customers". We are now officially "The Competition". If DVC is going to treat future members who purchased via resale as 2nd Class Citizens and current Members as Competition then DiVC no longer has any Goodwill. To bad, DVC didn't consider offering free passes until 2020 to market their overpriced new inventory instead of alienating their membership. Maybe, it would have generated 400 post in a day that I want to buy new inventory vs how DVC has screwed us over!

Then you must hate the WDW company. They used to offer multi-day Hopper passes with a no-expire option for purchase. The do NOT offer those no-expire options anymore. For myself that ticket option was far and away my cheapest option as I do not go to the parks frequently enough to warrant an annual pass purchase, and I have a very large, spread out brood so having no-expire options allowed me to invest a chunk but have it not expire to parse out over a course of years. I can no longer do this. WDW has made a lot of changes to their park pass options in the last very few years and IMO they are not with the guests like me and you in mind. At ALL. They've really jacked up the parking and valet parking fees. Big time. I could go on. There's a lot of decisions WDW has made that are not with "Best Customers" in mind at all. I wish they had not made these big changes but they did so if I'm still going to go to WDW I just have to look for other ways to save $$. And my DVC membership is the prime way I do that. Just sayin.....

I agree. it's like the new commercials about all the stuff you get for free by staying on property. . . transportation, fast pass differences, extra magic hours. . . that whole extra magic hour thing should have an little clarifier to it that you will soon have to pay for it since that will be the next thing to go. . .

You do know that you ARE paying for all those "freebies", right? There is no free lunch. Like you, I wish there was, but there isn't. We're paying for it one way or the other.

 

[tinks624]

You are in. If it is in ROFR before April 4th you are in.

Whew! Thank goodness! I still am happy with my purchase but perks are nice too!

 

[Sammie]

I am surprised that some of you state you would not buy if not for the perks. Those perks have come and gone many times over the years. None of them were ever a guarantee and to buy based on them, is not wise in my opinion. The only product you are buying is a discounted room. If you buy thinking you are always going to get more, you are setting yourself up to be disappointed. And that includes resale and direct buyers.

You might not have thought you were buying a timeshare. And DVC might have dressed it to took look a bit different, but underneath that pixie dust is a timeshare and nothing more. Again buyers should know that.

I am so shocked over Tom Staggs leaving Disney, this seems like nothing.

 

[disneynutz]

I am surprised that some of you state you would not buy if not for the perks. Those perks have come and gone many times over the years. None of them were ever a guarantee and to buy based on them, is not wise in my opinion. The only product you are buying is a discounted room. If you buy thinking you are always going to get more, you are setting yourself up to be disappointed. And that includes resale and direct buyers.

You might not have thought you were buying a timeshare. And DVC might have dressed it to took look a bit different, but underneath that pixie duet is a timeshare and nothing more. Again buyers should know that.

I am so shocked over Tom Staggs leaving Disney, this seems like nothing.

This is the second top executive to leave Disney, Staggs was going to be the new CEO, not a good feeling of what must be going on behind closed doors.

Bill

 

[tinks624]

I'm in the same situation. From what I've seen on here and what I was told by my broker, as long as the contract went to ROFR by April 4th, you're fine.

I'm happy to hear this!

 

[ziravan]

As usual, a change like this will fire up the boards for a few days, but longer term I don't think DVC sales will be harmed by this change. True, DVC will lose the goodwill of some existing members who think this is yet another of the changes that are making DVC more like a typical timeshare and less of how they envisioned DVC.

I don't think DVC would make such a business decision without considering the pros and cons that would result. Disney obviously feels that this will help their direct sales more than hurt them. We can argue about whether they are right or wrong, but only time will tell.

Mike, take a look at the driver of all this, crappy sales at Poly. I'm sure Disney focused tested all studios, misuse of double bathroom space too.

And they are wrong.

They are wrong here, too.

You can't have a "club" with 2nd class members. This will have a large impact.

I paid $22 thousand dollars to buy into DVC resale a few years ago. No way I would have spent that much money to be a 2nd class citizen.

This is more than a few perks. It's an attitude. "You don't even deserve a stinking card." It will chill the resale market.

 

[Sophie_inBflo]

Mike, take a look at the driver of all this, crappy sales at Poly. I'm sure Disney focused tested all studios, misuse of double bathroom space too.

And they are wrong.

They are wrong here, too.

You can't have a "club" with 2nd class members. This will have a large impact.

I paid $22 thousand dollars to buy into DVC resale a few years ago. No way I would have spent that much money to be a 2nd class citizen.

This is more than a few perks. "You don't even deserve a stinking card." It will chill the resale market.

I agree with this- we're in the middle of our first (resale) purchase (passed ROFR yesterday), and I can say without a doubt that we would be purchasing 50 points direct from Disney tomorrow if we had lost those few perks. So if this is what Disney wants (why wouldn't they? they'd effectively sell an additional 50 points that they wouldn't have otherwise!), it would have worked on us. And I'm certain we're not the only people who would do this (based on this thread alone!)

 

[WalleandEve]

I bought direct in 1999. After I met my 'someday to be' wife (five years to be a couple, and nine to get married), my points lingered. I used them at the Sagamore, and at Windham Hill Inn, but she was not into Disney, or into cruising. I was glad we had the points, but I was not getting much value out of them. After I convinced her to go on an Alaskan cruise with me (we LOVE mountains and glaciers), she bought 100 points direct on the cruise, adding on to my contract (saving the extra closing fees for a new contract). Two years later, she finally went to the World with me for three nights after a cruise, since a few points were going to be lost. We bought one-day tickets for the Magic Kingdom (some people actually do that). When she saw the Castle and the Main Street Electrical Parade, she fell for it all. She added 200 points to my contract the next day.

The only down side was, she had given the Mouse A LOT of cash, but was still not an official 'Member'. She adored for BLT last year, and three weeks ago, we offered resale for 100 points there, with her primary. We are now awaiting ROFR. All I want is a damn card with her name on it, and we'd rather not pay Disney another $500 to change the existing contract (though I will, but don't tell her that).

It appears that we might just have gotten in under the wire.

Wish us luck!

 

[southerngirl528]

Mike, take a look at the driver of all this, crappy sales at Poly.

Someone I know that works for DVC said they had record sales this last week, so sales must not be too bad. As a longtime member that virtually never stays in a Studio, even if there's just the 2 of us, I agree that an all Studio resort was kind of.....odd for DVC. As far as Studios go w/DVC I do think the ones at the Poly are set up very well. The bungalows?? Mercy, the cost per night with points is outrageous. Yeah, I know they are a specialty product and pretty but holy cow! I have enough points to book a few nights a year but no way would I ever blow that kind of points on a 2 bdrm when I can get a gorgeous 3 bdrm GV for that kind of points, and at the fanciest DVC resorts at that.

 

[tjkraz]

There are two components to consumer response: Intellectual and emotional.

Intellectually we've been telling people for years that "perks could go away at any time...don't buy for the perks!!" In that regard, little has changed. Except for people who may have been willing to roll the dice and bet that they would get SOME perks for SOME amount of time.

On the emotional side, perhaps some people will be so offended by this that they'll refuse to buy. Frankly I think this number is fairly small. Even without AP discounts or the other smattering of perks, buying AKV or SSR points resale is far cheaper than paying cash for the next 30-40 years.

Disney will package this move as perks being a reward for owners who choose to buy direct. And it's hard to object to that. For years Disney has offered sales incentives to direct buyers, most notably the 8-9 years of free theme park tickets for some of their very first customers.

Back in 2011 many people argued that the original resale restrictions would cause the bottom to drop out of the resale market. Yet here we sit with prices as high as ever despite every contract having 5 fewer years remaining. One could argue that resale prices would be even higher if not for the restrictions, still the most dire doom and gloom scenarios never came to pass.

As good as the AP discounts are, I don't think buyers put enough value in that for the resale market to take a huge hit. In fact, people who really want those discounts will probably just buy some modest amount of points direct.

Meanwhile, if DVC plans to continue offering new and appealing perks like the exclusive theme park nights, lounge, etc., it will be a nice bonus for owners who choose to make themselves eligible for those perks.

 

[ziravan]

Someone I know that works for DVC said they had record sales this last week, so sales must not be too bad. As a longtime member that virtually never stays in a Studio, even if there's just the 2 of us, I agree that an all Studio resort was kind of.....odd for DVC. As far as Studios go w/DVC I do think the ones at the Poly are set up very well. The bungalows?? Mercy, the cost per night with points is outrageous. Yeah, I know they are a specialty product and pretty but holy cow! I have enough points to book a few nights a year but no way would I ever blow that kind of points on a 2 bdrm when I can get a gorgeous 3 bdrm GV for that kind of points, and at the fanciest DVC resorts at that.

DVC is doing something they didn't have to do at VGF to generate those sales: offering discounts for Poly. That generated a 130k month. Before that, they had two 75k months.

DVC wants to sell at $171. That record week came from discounting $168 down to effectively $154.

 

[Anthony1971]

someone please dig out the 2011 change thread.............I think BLT was the problem then or so it was thought by some... Bottom line is you are buying a timeshare that you are guaranteed a room in your home resort ONLY. EVERYTHING else is not guaranteed buying direct or whatever access to the non guaranteed things DVC chooses to include or restrict with a resale... Do not see how DVC could use any discount or trade option as a selling point as NOTHING is guaranteed as per your contract??????
At the price Disney charges for ice cream and soft drinks why not include the value of the free ice cream bar and soft drinks at SSR in a decision to buy direct or resale...

 

[disneylovinfamilyof6]

I feel like we are in limbo. We passed ROFR on our 1st resale contract as new members for BLT on 3/29 and we signed a 2nd resale contract on 4/1, though I still don't have confirmation if/when it was sent for ROFR. Basically, if it wasn't sent 4/1 we are screwed on that one, right? (Contract wouldn't have been sent on a weekend, so 4/2 and 4/3 are out and the verbiage reads "before April 4th"). So if the contract was signed last week but not sent until 4/4 or 4/5 we are out of luck, right?

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

When was the Poly selling at $154?

 

[Wanna be Ariel]

Not super happy about these changes. We lost out on a resale for BCV with a UY of October a few months back and able to find another one. Now this happens. Now I am thinking buy 50points at Poly and seeing what happens to resale. At least I am then locked as a member.