DDP its not fair

[BigG007]

I am currently feeling punished for not booking a vacation package with Disney, for my next vacation I am using my DVC points to stay at AKV

for people in the UK who book a Vacation to Florida and staying at a Disney Resort, Disney are giving them free Disney Dining Plan for the duration of their vacation

What are us loyal DVC members getting for free?

[xipetotec]

Well you could argue that we get a bunch of discounts and perks that non members don't get. These add up and could easily cover the cost of a dining plan. Not to mention staying in deluxe villa accomodations.

but bottom line, DVC is not run by the same business unit as Disney reservations and the latter is the one running this promotion.

[DizneyRox]

You're not paying rack rates for your hotel room, that's a perk!

[KineGirl]

not that its comparable to free food but since you asked... us DVC members get free internet

LOL

[thrillme]

I'm betting with the rise in fuel costs. It's becoming costlier to get to Disney from overseas.

They always like to collect demographic data when you come in perhaps they've noticed a drop in UK visitors and are using the proverbial "carrot" to attract them.

[dlpmikki]

The UK deals have the same caveat that the US deals do - with what you are paying for the rooms the dining plan isn't free! Yes, it may be a nice to have but give me DVC rooms any day.

[Raye3201]

I totally agree that it doesn't seem right - but it's nothing new. DVC members don't get the perks that they used to when the program started. I was talking with an older couple who mentioned that when they first joined there used to be a lot of perks like passes etc given to them.
Wish it was still like that! I think the "best kept secret" is that once Disney has you as a DVC member they don't need to entice you and your specials end.
That being said, I'd rather have DVC and the small little perks like the beautiful rooms and the variety of accommodation.:mickey:

[WRWDisney]

You have to remember, free dining is a promotion. They use it at slow times to try and increase the number of guests (rooms rented). You have already rented your room (your points are the same as a rented room, whether you use them or not--the beauty of DVC to Disney) and while they would also like you to buy park tickets and souvenirs,etc. they are happy with the room rentals and assume you will come rather than let your points go to waste.

Also, as everyone pointed out, to get the free dining you have to book the rooms at rack rate and that greatly reduces the free part of free dining.

[LynneM]

Disney is a business.

Businesses don't give discounts just to be nice, or to reward people. The purpose for giving a discount is to entice you to spend MORE money than you normally would have. For instance, when they have a sale at a store, they're betting that you'll buy more things and spend more money at the store than you would have normally.

Free dining is a way to get people to book trips to WDW who wouldn't come otherwise. This isn't kindly old Grandpa Walt giving people a present. This is a carefully calculated business decision, betting that if they take a loss on the dining, they're still getting you to pay the highest possible cost on the room and pay for tickets. In other words, they're still making money even though they're giving you the dining plan.

Now, for DVC.......we've already prepaid the cost of the room for the next several decades. Note what I said above about getting people to come who weren't planning to come. They KNOW we're coming. We've essentially promised to visit WDW for the next 40 or so years. What earthly reason would they have for giving us hundreds of dollars worth of free food? From a business perspective, that would be a really bad move.

And please don't say 'because they owe us freebies because we bought in.' They owe us what's in the contract. Nothing more.

[badkitty]

I personally don't see the DDP as a perk. It isn't cost effective for me. I have to eat a lot of food to make it worthwhile. I would rather take a DVC villa any day. Maybe some day I may be able to afford the membership...

[BigG007]

I have recently had a family member taking a vacation to WDW, leading up to their vacation I was telling them how good DVC is and they should take a look.

On their return I asked them did they join and they said “No, if we joined DVC we wouldn’t get the special offers on the hotels and parks when we book through our tour operator”

I didn’t know what to say in return

I’m sure these current promotions don’t help the DVC sales persons sell memberships

[jonahbear2006]

Disney is a business.

Businesses don't give discounts just to be nice, or to reward people. The purpose for giving a discount is to entice you to spend MORE money than you normally would have. For instance, when they have a sale at a store, they're betting that you'll buy more things and spend more money at the store than you would have normally.

Free dining is a way to get people to book trips to WDW who wouldn't come otherwise. This isn't kindly old Grandpa Walt giving people a present. This is a carefully calculated business decision, betting that if they take a loss on the dining, they're still getting you to pay the highest possible cost on the room and pay for tickets. In other words, they're still making money even though they're giving you the dining plan.

Now, for DVC.......we've already prepaid the cost of the room for the next several decades. Note what I said above about getting people to come who weren't planning to come. They KNOW we're coming. We've essentially promised to visit WDW for the next 40 or so years. What earthly reason would they have for giving us hundreds of dollars worth of free food? From a business perspective, that would be a really bad move.

And please don't say 'because they owe us freebies because we bought in.' They owe us what's in the contract. Nothing more.

AND this works, because we got free dining, we rationalized that in FEB we camped and spent $2800, and since we didnt pay for dining this time, we stayed at the beach club and Spent $2600. We would've never stayed at the beach club if we didn't get free dining. I suppose we could've camped still and spent about $600 but nah, we got a deal, let's go all out, so yes, this psychological promotion works!

[BigG007]

You didn’t include the price you paid for your DVC membership and your annual dues

[Carol]

I didn’t know what to say in returnYou tell them you are staying in a villa instead of a single room. AND, as everyone else above pointed out, the dining plan is not free. They are paying top prices for the room in order to get the dining plan "free".

It's a hook.