[rlcarmichael]

Originally Posted by jo-jo

From now on, all greet and meets should become sit ins at the castle.....who still have bell bottoms and love beads???? Who's old enough to know what I'm talking about???

I remember reading about them in History of Western Civ in college.

Ouch. Where did that brick come from?

They MUST be catching some grief on this already. I have gotten a personal message, but I haven't talked to them yet. Keep those cards and letters going to them.

[M5ward]

I knew I was saving those bell-bottoms for something..as for love beads-are there people who REALLY don't have them? We've only used valet parking a couple of times but have been considering taking the auto train again soon. Without valet parking,
forget it. I'm not about to hoof it to self-park our car (nor is my husband) when I need ALL my energy for the parks..guess it will have to be cabs if we decide to go to Universal or SeaWorld. I do feel bad for the CMs who do the valet parking..this is going to hit them hard.

[Mickeybug]

Originally Posted by jo-jo

From now on, all greet and meets should become sit ins at the castle.....who still have bell bottoms and love beads???? Who's old enough to know what I'm talking about???

fortunately I came about on the end of it

I know it's not the same but I feel your pain. The on-site non-Disney owned resort we favor (Shades of Green) started charging a few years ago. $5 a day to self park, double that to valet. Where the similarities are is that there was not a fee tacked on when resort first opened but ended up changing later. Not something we were used to but figured it was still cheaper to pay that and take resort bus than to pay theme park parking fees and graze in with the rest. I know, I know we're not locked in under contract like DVC members are and have the opportunity to stay somewhere else if we don't like it, but the initial shock and disappointment was the same. I believe the Swolfin and DTD Dis resorts already charge a "resort fee" to cover parking in their's too.

[XQIXX]

I guess between the DVC and non-DVC increases, they will have that
4 BILLION to pay for Marvel in no time!!

[KingOMiami]

The thing that bothers me the most is the negligence or total lack of proper communication in letting members know about these kind of things. We don't use valet, so it doesn't really bother me, but it is the principle of it. As others have mentioned, we bought into DVC because we wanted to be able to stay at deluxe accommodations whenever we come to WDW. I do believe I saw something that says that perks can be changed at any time and for the most part we have not taken part in a lot of the perks.

I find it rather disappointing though, that for the investment that we as members have made, that DVC can't be professional about this. I get it, they want to change the perks, it is their right to whether we like it or not. At least be professional about it. Regardless of how you handle it, you will have people complain about it. If they had been upfront about it, maybe done something else to soften the blow it would not be so bad.

Instead, there are people on all the different boards up in arms about this. They have no trouble with putting in the first couple of pages of Disney Files to encourage people to give to the PAC that Jim Lewis is now chairman of. I am sure they could have come up with something to put in the issue about it.

Funny, I received a letter from DVC aasking me to take part in a survey which I completed before hearing about all of this. I gave high marks to Member Services because when I deal with them on the phone, they are always fantastic. After seeing something like this that is so poorly handled, I wish I had waited a couple more days to post it.

This could have been handled better and if this the "new" Disney, I am sorely disappointed and I am sure Walt would be too. I am still going to enjoy our membership as I am sure the rest of us will. I do think that everyone who is a member should write to express our disappointment in how this was handled though

[PeterPansPixie]

Originally Posted by KingOMiami

The thing that bothers me the most is the negligence or total lack of proper communication in letting members know about these kind of things. We don't use valet, so it doesn't really bother me, but it is the principle of it. As others have mentioned, we bought into DVC because we wanted to be able to stay at deluxe accommodations whenever we come to WDW. I do believe I saw something that says that perks can be changed at any time and for the most part we have not taken part in a lot of the perks.

I find it rather disappointing though, that for the investment that we as members have made, that DVC can't be professional about this. I get it, they want to change the perks, it is their right to whether we like it or not. At least be professional about it. Regardless of how you handle it, you will have people complain about it. If they had been upfront about it, maybe done something else to soften the blow it would not be so bad.

Instead, there are people on all the different boards up in arms about this. They have no trouble with putting in the first couple of pages of Disney Files to encourage people to give to the PAC that Jim Lewis is now chairman of. I am sure they could have come up with something to put in the issue about it.

Funny, I received a letter from DVC aasking me to take part in a survey which I completed before hearing about all of this. I gave high marks to Member Services because when I deal with them on the phone, they are always fantastic. After seeing something like this that is so poorly handled, I wish I had waited a couple more days to post it.

This could have been handled better and if this the "new" Disney, I am sorely disappointed and I am sure Walt would be too. I am still going to enjoy our membership as I am sure the rest of us will. I do think that everyone who is a member should write to express our disappointment in how this was handled though

I could not agree with you more. We purchased for the deluxe accomodations and the only perk we have ever used is the annual pass perk. We were buying annual passes long before we were members though, so this perk is really just an added bonus. We still would have bought even if it didn't exist.

I will say though that I feel like I pay enough each year to get at least an email saying were sorry, but we have discontinued free valet parking to members. I cannot believe such a large company can do something so unprofessionally.

[nubeanie]

All dvc members should get free scooters so they can get on the busses first since the convenience of being able to pull up to your resort and have someone park your car has been taken away

[MissDisney]

Originally Posted by KingOMiami

I do believe I saw something that says that perks can be changed at any time and for the most part we have not taken part in a lot of the perks.

True!

I do wonder, though, at what depth can those perks be cut? In other words, first to go is valet parking, next is.... No 11 month reservation window? No towel service or housekeeping, even for long stays? No AP discount? No stays in non-home resorts? Etc...

[MissDisney]

Originally Posted by nubeanie

All dvc members should get free scooters so they can get on the busses first since the convenience of being able to pull up to your resort and have someone park your car has been taken away

Great idea, but maybe we should just each get our own private WDW vans with drivers to take us directly where we'd like to go, whenever we'd care to be there...

[leslieh]

I wrote a good letter- and by the way, DVC big-wigs if you are listening: Our DVC member perks are going down as the general public perks go up.

[XQIXX]

Originally Posted by leslieh

I wrote a good letter- and by the way, DVC big-wigs if you are listening: Our DVC member perks are going down as the general public perks go up.

That is exactly how I feel. I think they figure that they already have our money so why bother offering them more or maintaining what they have. There are times when I question if I was better taking less trips and taking advantage of the free offers instead of DVC. My general feeling has not been as positive on DVC as before. Right now, I would not recomend it to any friends or family and that is sad!

[bransworld]

I emailed DVC Member Services about the Member Perks or Lack There Of... and here is the response i got back...

As part of the normal course of doing business, we regularly evaluate
and adjust our pricing. As a result, effective Sunday, October 11,
2009, complimentary valet parking for Disney Vacation Club Members at
the Walt Disney World Resort has been discontinued. The valet parking
charge is $12.00 per day, however complimentary self-parking is always
available. Similar to other fee-based services, such as additional
housekeeping service or additional room amenities, only those Members
who choose to valet park will be charged instead of increasing the
annual dues for all Members.

Thank you again for contacting us.

[MissDisney]

I sort of figured that would be the response. It makes perfect sense -- for regular guests at a resort. I mean, if I checked into my favorite Sandals in Jamaica and there was an extra charge for something that had been complimentary in the past, it would be fine. But this is different -- many of us bought DVC for those little luxuries. And while they seem to be slipping away, it doesn't seem that anything is filling in those gaps.

I know I sound like a whiner, but we plunked down a HUGE chunk of change to do DVC, like everyone else. It was a pleasure to do so because of the quality of the resorts and the lavish perks...

[WishUponAStar]

I haven't gotten a response yet.

[Andrea]

I do not have DVC, I do not expect to have DVC anytime in the future... and this just ticks me off, too.

And Brandon, I think that letter you received is horrible. They might as well have said, "So what? Too (bleep)ing bad."