Has Disney Forgotten their Park Strategy?

I 1000% agree with this. They just added a bunch of weekend hours. Make those EMHs and BOOM I guaranteed you’re filling rooms.

Like my inbox isn’t full of Marriott or Hilton sales right now? If we weren’t DVC you can bet I would be booking something dirt cheap right down the road.

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It is a bit of a vicious cycle

I posted something about this the other day…Not sure why. They could easily reallocate Park passes to hotel guests and away from walk up and AP guests (as they did for the first 2 months they opened when AP spots filled up very quickly)…In the earnings report they even commented on how revs were being affected negatively because 50% of the guest were AP holders and they obviously make way more money on a hotel guest (hotel room, park tickets, food, merch, etc) vs an AP guest…DVC is going to be a problem with all the unused inventory…If Disney doesn’t do anything about it i can see a flood of contracts on the market and Riviera and all of the other properties severely devalued

Remember Disney (as in WDW Parks & Resorts) doesn’t really care about DVC. There’s a reason the management company for DVC was created.

It is true though that it seems like DVC are driving the onsite guests right now. And Disney are taking advantage of empty rooms in the DVC resorts to avoid having to open up more of the regular resorts.

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I am heavily considering reducing my 13 night trip to 5 or 6 nights (the nights I’m using my DVC points) because of the limited offerings. I would consider not going at all if I wouldn’t lose my points. Thankfully, my trip isn’t until late April, so I have hope that things will change. But no club level, no FP, no after hour events, no dessert parties, no fireworks, no character meets, and the limited dining options has me really bummed and rethinking things.

I may not be the majority, but I’m sure there are others that feel the same. COVID is definitely not what is keeping me from WDW.

ETA - The no new AP sales is also playing into my decision. I don’t want to pay for 2 separate 7 day tickets when should be paying $719 for a year’s worth of entrance. For 5 people.

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DVC has kind of the opposite problem of WDW resort hotels. They already have made the sale.

DVC has contractual obligation to provide rooms to DVC members who already paid and have a contractual right to a DVC resort.

For DVC, not being open and available to members is a bigger problem than being open and not having guests showing up.

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This is a very common theme and reinforces the idea that what is keeping things going at all is DVC membership

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Maybe we should do a poll and see how many of the recent trips that have been taken were because of DVC. It would be interesting to see what motivated people to take their trips.

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They sunk alot of $ into Riveria

I think we are seeing the limited capacity hurt businesses. Around here, resturants, bars and entertainment venues are complaining that 25-50% capacity while maintaining a full staff actually costs the business money. So, I wonder if even though Disney is seeing increased attendance, maybe their break even point is higher than the level of attendance they can handle with Covid measures in place. So, things must go for now. Until the safety measures can be laxed, I can understand that Disney had to cut back. Its a tight rope act Disney is walking. Too far one way or the other and Disney could get to a place where it may never recover to its former glory. Just my opinion. I wish it were different. Disney is such a complex organization.

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This is exactly what I was going to say as I scrolled through. Reservations ahead of time is not enough of an incentive. But extra hours are. I think they would probably need to be at the end of the day to avoid large crowds in the morning. But exclusive park time would pull in people who decide to go for cheaper lodging because of lack of incentives.

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DVC membership gives you points to use to book a resort room or to use elsewhere (Disney Resort, DCL, RCI etc).

It doesn’t give you a “right” to the room you want at the resort you want at the time you want.

There will be people who can’t get what they want and as a result use them for something else (a trade), rent them out or lose them. That happens each and every year. For the next couple of years there will be a lot more people in that position.

Are there extra points in the system? Yes. Is this a problem? Yes. However if you can’t use them at a DVC resort they aren’t contractually obliged to find you a DVC room. You always have the option to trade into RCI or to book a regular room with Disney. That meets their obligation.

They did. I just looked up how new DVC resorts are financed. They are built by the Disney Parks and Resorts branch of Disney, and that is why can use the inventory that is not yet declared into DVC inventory. So if Riviera does not sell quickly, Disney own the undeclared inventory. Whilst DVC are responsible for the maintenance fees for the unsold declared points.

And of course Disney can make a ton of money by renting out their rooms at Riviera. Except of course they won’t make as much as they might have done if they have to move people from the Beach Club or Boardwalk Inn to Riviera instead of selling the Riviera rooms direct to the public.

But Disney Parks & Resorts don’t have any reason to be concerned about the running of DVC. That is a separate company.

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DVC has a contractual obligation to provide a product to their buyer. The buyer has a right to the product they bought, ultimately a room at a Disney resort.

If DVC fails to provide this product, they would be in a whole world of hurt. That’s why Disney has DVC resorts are open and available. DVC members might not like the options currently available and choose to “lose” the points by not using them, but that’s a big difference from the members losing their points/room reservation because DVC has decided to close the resort/product is not available.

There would be a Class Action Lawsuit filed quicker than you could say Morgan & Morgan.

DVC is a wholly owned subsidary of the Walt Disney Company and a division of Parks and Experiences.

https://disneyvacationclub.disney.go.com/media/dvc_v0500/prospects/corecatalog/uk/Standard_Information_form_for_timeshare_contracts.pdf

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They do have a lot of divisions listed there that they don’t in fact own some/most?

This is what I was looking at

Disney Vacation Club Management Corp. (“DVCMC”), a Florida corporation, is the management company for all of the DVC Resorts except the Aulani Resort.
Disney Vacation Club Hawaii Management Company, LLC (“DVCHMC”), a Florida limited liability company, is the management company for the Aulani Resort.
DVCMC and DVCHMC are referred to as the “Management Companies.” Buena Vista Trading Company (“BVTC”), a Florida corporation, is the internal exchange
company responsible for managing exchanges among DVC Resorts. DVCMC, DVCHMC and BVTC are located at 1390 Celebration Boulevard, Celebration, Florida
34747. DVD, DVCMC, DVCHMC and BVTC are subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company (“TWDC”), a publicly traded Delaware corporation

I don’t think owners have the guaranteed right to book at any specific time. For example, in the “normal” world, I might not be able to find any rooms at 7 months in December or October. As a CC owner, I can’t book a studio in December at 11 months at 8am.

I have the right to book some time, not always?

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I am not saying that they have a right to book at any specific time. But they have points that expire, use it or lose it.

If they don’t book during the available time, that’s their tough luck.

If they don’t book during the available time because there is absolutely nothing to book since the resorts are closed, then DVC is in trouble.

So what I am reading is that Disney owns multiple subsidiaries. Walt Disney World is one, DVC is another. I do not think this allow any of the subsidiaries any control over another. DVC does not have any control of any financial interest in DCL. When DVC owners book with points their is a cash exchange between the two subsidiaries. The Walt Disney World Resort has the same relationship with DVC. There is a relationship because they are both under the Disney “umbrella” but resort operations do not control DVC?

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