DVC Member Pricing Benefit?

Duckbug.Ducktales

Listening to the music to Fantasmic!
Joined
Feb 5, 2020
I read that DVC Members can secure opening day prices on ABD trips regardless of when they book. It's this true?
 




I read that DVC Members can secure opening day prices on ABD trips regardless of when they book. It's this true?
I just called and the tour I was asking about (CA/Disneyland) did not have a DVC discount. She said that it's only for select dates. I wonder if she was mistaken or if it does indeed change according to demand. I even asked her to check different dates but most tours after summer do not allow children (my son is 13).
 
I just called and the tour I was asking about (CA/Disneyland) did not have a DVC discount. She said that it's only for select dates. I wonder if she was mistaken or if it does indeed change according to demand. I even asked her to check different dates but most tours after summer do not allow children (my son is 13).
My understanding is that it's not so much a discount but the ability to have the opening day prices, which are usually the lowest. But you may already have the lowest price... It also seems like not all the vacationistas are aware of this so it's all a bit confusing
 
My understanding is that it's not so much a discount but the ability to have the opening day prices, which are usually the lowest. But you may already have the lowest price... It also seems like not all the vacationistas are aware of this so it's all a bit confusing
This is my understanding, too. NOT an actual discount, but a special price (that equals opening day price) just for DVC members. However, it's the price *without* any opening-day Early Booking Discounts.

Again, this is my understanding, and I could be wrong, but I thought that if you book your ABD *through* DVC, and anyone in your party is paid for using cash rather than points, there is a set price for that cash person, and it's the opening day price, and does not change. So the price you get if you book through ABD and are a DVC member, is that same "DVC pricing".

But I'm not DVC, so it's just stuff I've read & heard from folks.

Sayhello
 
This is my understanding, too. NOT an actual discount, but a special price (that equals opening day price) just for DVC members. However, it's the price *without* any opening-day Early Booking Discounts.

Again, this is my understanding, and I could be wrong, but I thought that if you book your ABD *through* DVC, and anyone in your party is paid for using cash rather than points, there is a set price for that cash person, and it's the opening day price, and does not change. So the price you get if you book through ABD and are a DVC member, is that same "DVC pricing".

But I'm not DVC, so it's just stuff I've read & heard from folks.

Sayhello
I called DVC first and he could help me with the points aspect but not the DVC pricing (other than points and cash). It's point prohibitive really... I could rent my points and come out ahead. I asked him about the initial day pricing and he had no clue what I was talking about and then said I needed to speak with ABD directly. I called ABD and the rep tried for different dates and again, I mentioned "initial tour prices" and she tried to apply something to the different dates without success.

* I called again and spoke to a different rep. The pricing I had initially was for the SoCa Land package and not the Escape. When she quoted me the Escape price there is a $200pp difference (ABD website $3499 vs telephone call $3299), but the Land package is the same. I guess the Land package doesn't come with any sort of price difference, only the Escape.

I guess the big difference in the trips is the backstage workings of both CA and DL. Day 2 adds Hollywood and you get to tour the TCL Theater, see the hand prints and the Jim Henson Company. The big difference for us would be the in-depth tour of the DL/CA attractions.

Hmmm..... so many decisions!
 
* I called again and spoke to a different rep. The pricing I had initially was for the SoCa Land package and not the Escape. When she quoted me the Escape price there is a $200pp difference (ABD website $3499 vs telephone call $3299), but the Land package is the same. I guess the Land package doesn't come with any sort of price difference, only the Escape.
Perhaps the departure you're looking at hasn't increased in price since opening day? That's the only explanation I can think of, because if you call ABD and tell them you are a DVC owner, you should get the opening day price. I have *never* seen anything saying "only for certain departures".

Did you buy your DVC directly from Disney? Because I vaguely recall that DVC purchased from someone other than Disney don't get all the same benefits as if you purchase directly from Disney. But I'm not sure if this is one of the benefits that's included in that. But again, I don't own DVC, so that part gets confusing to me, and is only stuff I've heard/read.

Sayhello
 
From what I’ve been told, ABD refers to the opening day price as the “DVC offer”. You have to be an “eligible DVC member” which has to do with when and from whom you bought your DVC points. If you’ve only bought them directly from Disney, you’re “eligible”. If you bought them in the secondary market, the timing matters.
 
This is my understanding, too. NOT an actual discount, but a special price (that equals opening day price) just for DVC members. However, it's the price *without* any opening-day Early Booking Discounts.

Again, this is my understanding, and I could be wrong, but I thought that if you book your ABD *through* DVC, and anyone in your party is paid for using cash rather than points, there is a set price for that cash person, and it's the opening day price, and does not change. So the price you get if you book through ABD and are a DVC member, is that same "DVC pricing".

But I'm not DVC, so it's just stuff I've read & heard from folks.

Sayhello
@sayhello, you are correct. I always book my ABDs using points. When I call DVC to book my ABD, they tell me the number of points I need or how much cash I would pay. The points charts don’t change once they are determined for the trip year, so that’s evidence that the price for DVC people who qualify doesn’t change either. DVC then calls ABD and books the trip. I call ABD directly whenever I have questions about the trip logistics before and after I’ve booked the trip. Because I often book new ABD itineraries on the day they come out, I also qualify for the early booking discount. ABD lets DVC know how much the discount is and the conversion is done behind the scenes for how much less in points I need to pay.

The only time I booked first through ABD was for the New Zealand ABD. The wait time was less for them than to speak with a DVC representative. They gave me the DVC pricing and reminded me that I could switch my reservation to DVC if I wanted to use points and they would refund my deposit. That’s what I did and all of my discounts were applied.
 
Perhaps the departure you're looking at hasn't increased in price since opening day? That's the only explanation I can think of, because if you call ABD and tell them you are a DVC owner, you should get the opening day price. I have *never* seen anything saying "only for certain departures".

Did you buy your DVC directly from Disney? Because I vaguely recall that DVC purchased from someone other than Disney don't get all the same benefits as if you purchase directly from Disney. But I'm not sure if this is one of the benefits that's included in that. But again, I don't own DVC, so that part gets confusing to me, and is only stuff I've heard/read.

Sayhello
Yeah- I am part of the "honorary blue card carrying club". (x2 actually) lol They never asked for my membership number or if I am a direct buyer either.
It's a mystery. I'm on the same boat with you, maybe the price hasn't changed?
Someday soon when I get some free time I'll call the DVC side of ABD and ask more questions.
 
I also had some trouble with this depending on who you get on the phone. I had better luck using Disney Vacation Club and not DVC. Definitely don’t ask for discounts but opening day prices. It could still be that prices didn‘t increase. I definitely used the DVC benefit for the full trip during the summer a few years ago.
 
I loved the old ABD vacationistas pre-COVID. They were very knowledgeable and nice. I called Nat Geo one time and spoke to an old ABD rep I recognized. New ABD vacationistas may not know the discount so ask to speak to a supervisor. I had a new vacationistas make an error for our airport pickup and was a potential disaster. I will be calling to confirm my pick ups several times from now on.
As for the DVC discounts, it’s for opening day pricing, if that price has gone up, sometimes they haven’t. They just have to put in the code to see the discount. I had a newer vacationistas that didn’t know of this and I was put on hold for them to verify it. As others have mentioned, that discount is stackable to other offers.
 
Just to add a data point, when I called to book the Rhine on opening day for DVC/CC members, the price went down when they added our DVC info. Now, booking had already been open for a couple days for Adventure Insiders, however I had looked at the pricing on the website prior to booking opening for anyone and it had not changed. So we paid less than any pricing that had ever been listed on the website. Now, maybe they had "opening day" pricing that was lower than they listed online? I can't say. I was just happy to take any discount they were going to give me 😂 This was also stackable with the early booking discount.
 

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