2011 points charts - They did it again

[Donald A]

Looking through the new vacation planner and the 2011 point booklet I noticed that once again they are increasing the weekday points while decreasing weekend points. Compared to the 2009 points charts this really effects the way I vacation. I like to take the 5 night Sunday through Thursday vacation because of the lower point values and the fact that I drive down after I complete my work week on Friday. I am not going to complain any more but must admit I am unhappy. This is not how the club was presented to me. I guess it just means less trips down to Disney in the future.

[DizneyRox]

It's pretty interesting that the DVC points seems to be leveling out, but the cash rooms everywhere else on property seem to be doing the opposite.

Almost makes it seem that they are gouging customers that are paying cash for rooms (weekends cost more, etc).

But that can't be!

[Donald A]

I said the same thing last year. They are not doing it due to "member feedback," they are doing it for financial reasons.

[DizneyRox]

I somewhat agree... I do think that in some twisted way this does benefit DVC members. By having things on a point system and not a week system, Disney put themselves in a bit of a predicament. With people trying to optimize their points and length of stay, I've got to imagine that there were a lot of DVC rooms "empty" on weekends and members possibly complaining that they can't get in to use their points.

I know with my upcoming trip certain days through the weeks were unavailable, just like one or two days and they WERE NOT consecutive.

So, this point reallocation does help stem that, so I sortof agree with it, HOWEVER when the cash cost of rooms is all over the place, higher on weekends and you need THREE reservation numbers of a 5 night stay, I have to beleieve they are just gouging customers that actually pay for rooms (not necessarily DVC rooms) which is unfortunate. That is just a money grab... Disney has always looked for ways to milk customers instead of luring people to come.

[DVC Mike]

I'm happy with both point reallocations, as I typically spend 5 week nights and 3 weekend nights, so the total points I need per trip has gone down both times.

:blush:

[1DisneyNut]

I would not be surprised if this was the plan all along. Sell a lot of DVC memberships over a time span of five years representing a weekday 5 day vacation requiring "this" many points and then start shifting the point structure around so many of the members would decide to add on to their points. We actually almost bought two years ago but I did a lot of research after we got back from our trip and decided to hold off and see how things played out since they were selling so many at the time. I have been seeing a lot of negativity from recent DVC purchasers over the point structure and difficulty in getting reservations when desired. On top of all of that they keep reducing the perks that DVC members get. We are no longer even considering DVC.

[DizneyRox]

I thionk much of the complaints are due to people not spending a lot of time figuring out how many points they really need. I'd be surprised if the majority of folks don't get caught up in the "magic" and just sign away on the dotted line for a minumum point contract.

For me, a minumum point contract didn't get me much. It would have been barely a week at the minimum accomodations for the weeks we normally vacation.

We got for two weeks usually and knew that we would at some point need more than a studio. We spent hours running the numbers... If this year we do this, we'll have this many point left over so we can do this, and that. When we get older, we'll be able to do this, or if we wanted to do this, how many points would we need and could we do that with three years worth of points, etc.

Ultimately settled on an odd number of points and it hasn't let us down, not once. These point reallocations actually help us for the most part.

But I do see both sides of the story... I find it hard though to feel sorry for anyone. Shame on Disney for using the "magic" to persuade people in what is, it he end, a real estate contract. And shame on people for entering into a real estate contract without all the facts.

[Jeffybob]

I have nothing but good things to say about my DVC membership.

Agreeing with DVC Mike as I too have seen my point costs go down each time these changes have occured since we tend use the membership for long weekends.

Also agreeing with DisneyRox that people get swept up in the thought of ownership without considering all the variables. :mickey:

[Hammer]

I agree with DisneyRox, DVC Mike and Jeffy bob in principle, I only agree with them to a point. Yes, you should not rush into a DVC purchase. However, there are some DVC sales people who are not very forthcoming or just downright lie to make a sale. When I was looking to buy through Disney, I specifically asked if 150 points would always be enough for how I vacation at WDW, 5 nights in a 1BDR, usually Sun-Thursday to combine with a visit to my parents and 1 night in a 2BDR the week before Christmas. My sales guy told me yes, no disclaimers. I decided to buy through resale but the resale salesperson never said anything different. Now it is getting harder and harder for us to keep vacationing like that. I do think next year our 5 night trip may end up becoming a 4 night trip.

While what the sales person told us wasn't wrong, I think it was a bit sleazy to give only some of the information.

[Donald A]

I agree with DisneyRox, DVC Mike and Jeffy bob in principle, I only agree with them to a point. Yes, you should not rush into a DVC purchase. However, there are some DVC sales people who are not very forthcoming or just downright lie to make a sale. When I was looking to buy through Disney, I specifically asked if 150 points would always be enough for how I vacation at WDW, 5 nights in a 1BDR, usually Sun-Thursday to combine with a visit to my parents and 1 night in a 2BDR the week before Christmas. My sales guy told me yes, no disclaimers. I decided to buy through resale but the resale salesperson never said anything different. Now it is getting harder and harder for us to keep vacationing like that. I do think next year our 5 night trip may end up becoming a 4 night trip.

While what the sales person told us wasn't wrong, I think it was a bit sleazy to give only some of the information.

I am not going to rehash the discussion from last year. All-in-all I think my DVC membership will pay off, but I feel at best misled and at worst lied to about the point totals. I specifically asked my guide "So you are telling me that a studio at SSR in the cheapest time of year will always be 11 points?" I was told that yes, it can not change and was told that is what is the beauty of the club. I recently read the contract and see how what they did is within the rules but sorta hidden.

However, I do not believe that they did it to help me. They did it so members would buy more points after looking at how people like me (and you Hammer) vacation. I will not buy more points and in fact I inquired about selling my membership. I will just go less often now or pay cash for a couple nights like at the Grand Floridian before I "buy more points."

I want to clear up something though regarding knowing what I was getting into. To say that I just signed on the dotted line may be right, but to blame me for being unhappy about these changes is absurd. Those 150 points for $12500 is the most I could afford and will still be a good deal in the long run. I just think I was misled about the process and 4 years later realize now that I am going to have to be careful in the future.

[Donald A]

I would not be surprised if this was the plan all along. Sell a lot of DVC memberships over a time span of five years representing a weekday 5 day vacation requiring "this" many points and then start shifting the point structure around so many of the members would decide to add on to their points.

You said it better than what I just said in the previous post.

[MarkC]

Do remember that they are not changing the points in total-- just moving them around. I'm guessing they are trying to even out room availability. What they take here they have to give there, so it will even out.

[DizneyRox]

Correct, but, people have apparently been lied to by DVC guides. If Donald was told that SSR would always be 11 points for X day, that is an outright lie. I'm not sure what part of the contract would elude to that and make it seem OK to answer yes to that.

We asked a similar question, and were told no, but they haven't made any point adjustments that he remembers. Or something to that effect. It was so long ago I don't recall that exact words.

We didn't take these adjustments into account in our determination of points, but we do have extras to play with. We knew we would need them.

With Disney, you really need to know the questions to ask, and need to ask in a way that gets an answer that doesn't need to be interpreted.

[Ian]

I'm sort of hesitant to comment on this for a couple reasons ...

#1, overall I'm very happy with our DVC ownership.

#2, I've publicly stated the name of our guide and I love the guy and would hate for people to get the wrong idea about him.

#3, I'm mostly okay with the point reallocations and don't have a major issue with the way it changes the cost in points for our vacations. In fact, since we typically used to stay weekends, but book a cash room somewhere to avoid the excessive weekend point costs it actually probably helps us out.

But I do have to say that, while I can't claim to be 100% certain about it, I'm near-certain that we were told pretty clearly that point costs cannot change. I pretty vividly remember our guide saying something to the effect of, "And the beauty of DVC is that a weeknight in a studio at Saratoga Springs during value season will always cost you 11 points."

Basically he said that the only thing that will change year-to-year is the specific dates for each season (due to shifting holidays, etc.). But the points were fixed and would not change.

So look ... were we intentionally mislead or do even some DVC guides not fully understand how the program works? Based on my impression of our guide and what I think of him personally, I think it's probably the latter. Not to mention that Disney is pretty well-known to have horrible internal communications.

[Donald A]

I remember being told pretty much the same thing as Ian.

I am all-in-all still thinking it is a pretty good deal. I am taking a trip in November on basically a years points and it is worth $3500 if I paid cash for that room (AKL villas) for 5 nights.

I think I sorta agree with Ian about being mostly happy with the membership and its value. However, I am unhappy with the point changes to the point that I will probably not add on more points.

[DVC Mike]

So look ... were we intentionally mislead or do even some DVC guides not fully understand how the program works? Based on my impression of our guide and what I think of him personally, I think it's probably the latter. Not to mention that Disney is pretty well-known to have horrible internal communications.

I tend to think it is the latter as well. Many sales guides never read the POS and were unaware of the points re-allocation rule.

[Hammer]

#1, overall I'm very happy with our DVC ownership.

#2, I've publicly stated the name of our guide and I love the guy and would hate for people to get the wrong idea about him.

#3, I'm mostly okay with the point reallocations and don't have a major issue with the way it changes the cost in points for our vacations. In fact, since we typically used to stay weekends, but book a cash room somewhere to avoid the excessive weekend point costs it actually probably helps us out.

But I do have to say that, while I can't claim to be 100% certain about it, I'm near-certain that we were told pretty clearly that point costs cannot change. I pretty vividly remember our guide saying something to the effect of, "And the beauty of DVC is that a weeknight in a studio at Saratoga Springs during value season will always cost you 11 points."

Basically he said that the only thing that will change year-to-year is the specific dates for each season (due to shifting holidays, etc.). But the points were fixed and would not change.

So look ... were we intentionally mislead or do even some DVC guides not fully understand how the program works? Based on my impression of our guide and what I think of him personally, I think it's probably the latter. Not to mention that Disney is pretty well-known to have horrible internal communications.

I agree with Ian and I am basically happy with my membership. If I could switch around how I visit or take longer than a week's vacation, this would not be a problem.


I thionk much of the complaints are due to people not spending a lot of time figuring out how many points they really need. I'd be surprised if the majority of folks don't get caught up in the "magic" and just sign away on the dotted line for a minumum point contract.

For me, a minumum point contract didn't get me much. It would have been barely a week at the minimum accomodations for the weeks we normally vacation.

We got for two weeks usually and knew that we would at some point need more than a studio. We spent hours running the numbers... If this year we do this, we'll have this many point left over so we can do this, and that. When we get older, we'll be able to do this, or if we wanted to do this, how many points would we need and could we do that with three years worth of points, etc.

But I do see both sides of the story... I find it hard though to feel sorry for anyone. Shame on Disney for using the "magic" to persuade people in what is, it he end, a real estate contract. And shame on people for entering into a real estate contract without all the facts.



Also agreeing with DisneyRox that people get swept up in the thought of ownership without considering all the variables. :mickey:

I have to say these comments bother me. If you ask anyone who knows me, they'll tell you I'm not naive. I resent being labeled as being stupid. I received bad info from 2 separate sources as well as from current DVC owners.


I tend to think it is the latter as well. Many sales guides never read the POS and were unaware of the points re-allocation rule.

Disney needs to fix that. That should not be acceptable to anyone.

[Ian]

I received bad info from 2 separate sources as well as from current DVC owners.Which probably reflects the fact that the DVC owners you asked didn't understand how it worked either.

I suspect this may be a case where Disney had this ability in the contracts, but didn't want to highlight it to anyone. They also may not have anticipated needing to use it, so they figured no harm/no foul. Either that or previous DVC leadership had no intention of using it, but new leadership decided to get crafty with it or something.

But bottom line, I think it's safe to say since very few owners seemed to understand that this was a possibility that it was intentionally downplayed to some degree.

[Aurora]

Which probably reflects the fact that the DVC owners you asked didn't understand how it worked either.

I suspect this may be a case where Disney had this ability in the contracts, but didn't want to highlight it to anyone. They also may not have anticipated needing to use it, so they figured no harm/no foul. Either that or previous DVC leadership had no intention of using it, but new leadership decided to get crafty with it or something.

But bottom line, I think it's safe to say since very few owners seemed to understand that this was a possibility that it was intentionally downplayed to some degree.

I don't know that few owners understood this -- the boards are a very unscientific sampling of owners, and this issue tends to draw complaints because that's what the topic is about. The only way to really find out is to do a scientific poll.

I'm not at all doubting those who said their guides told them the points could never change. I totally believe that's what they were told. I do know that our guide explained to us clearly about the point system, and that within the system itself, the points could never change, but that the points for a particular week could change. He told us that if they did, the changes would probably be minor, because they had to balance out throughout the year.

This to us was reason to make sure we had enough points to do what we wanted, because even if the points for the week never changed, maybe our vacation desires would.

[DizneyRox]

Absolutly, they can only sell as many points as they have availability. I'm sure it's more complicated than that, but without adding or deleting rooms, they can't just make up more points.

So, the number of points for the resort needs to stay, but how they are allocated for different accomodations to keep them filled makes sense.

And you are 100% right about careful planning. We started in a studio, but knew that a 1BR was going to be necessary at times. I've always told people to buy up their accomodations as you can't exepct the accomodations that you want to always be available.

For example, on paper, 63 points will get you a value studio at AKLV in January. But there are only so many value studios. You might need to spend 70 points for the week or even 91 for a Savannah View. Even those should be taken into account hen determining your point needs. That's an almost 30 point swing just for a studio.

[NewDVCowner]

I'm not at all doubting those who said their guides told them the points could never change. I totally believe that's what they were told. I do know that our guide explained to us clearly about the point system, and that within the system itself, the points could never change, but that the points for a particular week could change. He told us that if they did, the changes would probably be minor, because they had to balance out throughout the year.



This is what my guide told me. He said that the points could change, however the total number of points per year will always be the same.

[Donald A]

This is what my guide told me. He said that the points could change, however the total number of points per year will always be the same.

I am wondering if what the guide told "us" was based on "when" he told us. I was told that they wouldn't change in November 2006 when the points were not really changing. Did your guide tell you this more recently? I am happy that at least now they are telling people or at least being a little more clear on the whole process.

[Ian]

I am wondering if what the guide told "us" was based on "when" he told us. I was told that they wouldn't change in November 2006 when the points were not really changing. Did your guide tell you this more recently? I am happy that at least now they are telling people or at least being a little more clear on the whole process.I had the same thought.

[DizneyRox]

We've been owners since 2000...

[1DisneyNut]

When we were considering DVC I read the documents, including fine print, cover to cover. I also did research on the way the DVC system was structured. By Florida Law they can only sell so many points for a particular room/resort. They must reserve a certain amount of rooms for rent not DVC ownership. The number of points for a room for the total year's reservations cannot be changed, it is a fixed total. They can however, adjust the points required for certain days, or seasons as they want as long as the total for the year remains the same. This is all hidden in the literature somewhere and can also be found in Florida's real estate code concerning time shares. I believe they intentionally down play these aspects and try to avoid discussing them. I am sure they receive training in this area. I also believe, as I mentioned in my earlier post, that the point system was structured to help sell DVC memberships based on points for a 5 night vacation as that seems to be what most people including myself were "pitched" by the agents. In my opinion, they had all of these newest developments and they wanted to sell them quickly as possible so they made it look sweet as possible but had a long range plan to redistribute the points over the seasons and days to foil the 5 day vacation planning for most members so they would desire to add on more points. It is so simple but yet brilliant, you know this has to be true. With all that said, DVC does work well for some people but those considering buying in should take at least a month and do the math and their homework. DVC is a real estate transaction so it should not be taken lightly.

[Donald A]

When we were considering DVC I read the documents, including fine print, cover to cover. I also did research on the way the DVC system was structured. By Florida Law they can only sell so many points for a particular room/resort. They must reserve a certain amount of rooms for rent not DVC ownership. The number of points for a room for the total year's reservations cannot be changed, it is a fixed total. They can however, adjust the points required for certain days, or seasons as they want as long as the total for the year remains the same. This is all hidden in the literature somewhere and can also be found in Florida's real estate code concerning time shares. I believe they intentionally down play these aspects and try to avoid discussing them. I am sure they receive training in this area. I also believe, as I mentioned in my earlier post, that the point system was structured to help sell DVC memberships based on points for a 5 night vacation as that seems to be what most people including myself were "pitched" by the agents. In my opinion, they had all of these newest developments and they wanted to sell them quickly as possible so they made it look sweet as possible but had a long range plan to redistribute the points over the seasons and days to foil the 5 day vacation planning for most members so they would desire to add on more points. It is so simple but yet brilliant, you know this has to be true. With all that said, DVC does work well for some people but those considering buying in should take at least a month and do the math and their homework. DVC is a real estate transaction so it should not be taken lightly.

You make very valid points. I am wondering if the "higher ups" knew all this and just didn't "share" it with the guides. DVC has added a lot of members since I joined in 2006. I have heard when I inquired about selling my timeshare that in the past they actually raised the points for weekends a few years prior to me joining. Does anyone know if this is true? If so, 1DisneyNut's thinking may be valid.

[dlpmikki]

I probably said this last time the discussion came up. I knew about the possibility of changing the points and I joined back in 92. At the time we were told that weekends were more expensive because they were more popular. If weekdays have become more popular then it makes sense that the points are changing. My understanding from way back then was that Disney wanted the rooms filled on as many nights as possible and the spread of points costs was one way of trying to make that happen. It was made clear that the total for the whole year could not change. I seem to recall there was some maximum change they could make each time.

Until last year they had only ever changed the points once but I can't remember which way it went then.

[DizneyRox]

This may be hard to believe, but I don't think this is part of some master plan.

Downplayed during the sales pitch? Sure...

But some master plan to sell more points? No, that doesn't make sense. They are still building more resorts that I don't could possibly be sold out to existing members. They need new members to keep building. Showing their hand now doesn't make sense to me.

I do agree that things are stacked againt members though. They could reserve all the cheap rooms for cash and make them unavailable to members forcing up the point costs to stay. There are a number of tricks probably that are within the rules.

Are other things like the DDP part of a master plan? Sure... MYW tickets were a cleverly designed price increase.

[MinnieMommie]

My guide was clear to us when we purchased that the points may shift a bit but that within a given framework they would remain the same. I think evening out the week days and week end points is good in some ways. When we first purchased I was more reluctant to use points for Friday and Saturday night stays. That is not really a major concern anymore. I feel better about selecting my days based on things other than just the point schedule. I don't feel tied to that anymore. I am ok about the changes. :mickey:

[NewDVCowner]

I am wondering if what the guide told "us" was based on "when" he told us. I was told that they wouldn't change in November 2006 when the points were not really changing. Did your guide tell you this more recently? I am happy that at least now they are telling people or at least being a little more clear on the whole process.

It was late 2008/early 2009 when I started talking to DVC.

[DVC Mike]

I listened to my sales guide as she gave me an overview of how DVC works, but then when I got home, I read all the documents they provided me cover-to-cover. Thus, I've had no surprises.

[DVC2004]

Re-allocation has always been part of the contract, however DVC hadn't done it for years. I remember my guide telling me when we toured.

[seanyred]

I'm not completely surprised that the points have been reallocated again. I wonder if due to the current economy peoples vacation habits have changed and these reallocation are a response to that.

Also I don't fully understand why people get so upset. I have a minimum amount of points so I don't have a ton of flexibility, but I still feel fortunate that I am an owner. If it impacts my vacations slightly so be it as long as I get my Disney fix.

[Ian]

I listened to my sales guide as she gave me an overview of how DVC works, but then when I got home, I read all the documents they provided me cover-to-cover. Thus, I've had no surprises.I don't think I said it in this thread, but I did last time this topic came up ... I absolutely take personal responsibility for not knowing they could move points around like this. It's obviously in the documents that were given to me and I just didn't take the time to read them.

But again ... I really don't care. It doesn't bother me at all and I'm actually kind of happy they're evening the points out a bit.

That being said, there could have been other nasty little surprises in there that I wouldn't have been aware of because I didn't take the time to read my docs, so shame on me. And I definitely encourage anyone thinking of buying to take the time and read that paperwork.

[diz_girl]

The number of points for a room for the total year's reservations cannot be changed, it is a fixed total. They can however, adjust the points required for certain days, or seasons as they want as long as the total for the year remains the same. This is all hidden in the literature somewhere and can also be found in Florida's real estate code concerning time shares. I believe they intentionally down play these aspects and try to avoid discussing them.

I've never actually met with a guide, so I can't speak for that experience. However, it is pretty clear on the DVC promotional DVDs and DVC Web Presentations that I've viewed (which my guide has sent me) that the total number of points on the chart can't change but the point requirements for different dates will vary form year to year.

The DVC Web Presentation that I've seen (and saved in my Favorites for an occasional Disney 'fix') states, "The total number of points on this chart can never change for the life of your membership. While reservation requirements for seasons and dates will vary from year to year, the total number of vacation points for the year will be exactly the same this year as it would be in 2015 and 2025 and 2045." That's pretty clear to me. They actually say that the points will vary, rather than may vary, so I expect some change from year to year.

So I bought enough points to cover the time of year that I plan to go to WDW (non-peak, non-holiday), but I also built in a cushion in case they start to reallocate points from peak and holiday times to the (currently) less busy times of the year.

[Hammer]

I've never actually met with a guide, so I can't speak for that experience. However, it is pretty clear on the DVC promotional DVDs and DVC Web Presentations that I've viewed (which my guide has sent me) that the total number of points on the chart can't change but the point requirements for different dates will vary form year to year.

The DVC Web Presentation that I've seen (and saved in my Favorites for an occasional Disney 'fix') states, "The total number of points on this chart can never change for the life of your membership. While reservation requirements for seasons and dates will vary from year to year, the total number of vacation points for the year will be exactly the same this year as it would be in 2015 and 2025 and 2045." That's pretty clear to me. They actually say that the points will vary, rather than may vary, so I expect some change from year to year.

So I bought enough points to cover the time of year that I plan to go to WDW (non-peak, non-holiday), but I also built in a cushion in case they start to reallocate points from peak and holiday times to the (currently) less busy times of the year.

When I met with a DVC guide in 2002 and 2003 I was never given any DVDs or web links. What paperwork my guide gave me spoke of how a week could be shifted based on holidays, but nothing about point reallocation for days of the week.

Look, I'm not saying some of this doesn't fall on me. When I had the money to consider buying into DVC in 2007, I probably should have taken another tour and gotten more paperwork. I was there for Icot's 10th anniversary and I did not want to miss out on things. Not to mention I knew I was going to buy resale because the price per point was decidedly higher with Disney and I was paying cash for my purchase.

You can't tell me, though, that the fact that they have reallocated points the last 2 years after having only done it one other time in the history of the program is a coincedence. The economy is slowly starting come back, but people aren't spending money on luxuries such as DVC yet. That area is usually the last part of an economy to recover. So, Disney is looking for ways to get some revenue flowing in. That's why I think they started the once a year option to rent points. They figure if they keep reallocationg points, those who bought in at 150-160 points will be persuaded to add onto our contracts.

Hey, I do enjoy DVC and I may eventually purchase a small add-on when I can comfortably do it without touching my savings, but it won't be through Disney as their price per point is way too high. It will be on my terms, not theirs. Until then, I'll just make due with what I have. If it means less days at the parks, so be it.

[Aurora]

I would LOVE to see the algorithms they have to create to try not only to figure out current vacation patterns, but to try to anticipate future ones. I'm sure the reallocation of points in the last two years and the fact that they're offering rental points are not coincidence.

As many others have said, that tells me that there are too many people staying in one category (maybe Thursdays, or a certain season), and they're trying to even out the points. With MILLIONS of points in circulation, they HAVE to keep a balance.

Here's a theory: We know there is a certain segment of the membership that vacations only every other year, because they don't have enough points for an annual vacation. With the current economy, Disney may have a situation where even more members than usual are banking their points to use next year because they can't afford a vacation this year. Then next year rolls around, and there are too many points in the system for people to be able to find a room.

The solution? Move points around, to get people to take shorter, weekend trips, and offer rental points, to get people to use their points and not bank.

It's a possibility.

[Tiggerish]

Back in 1997, when we did the DVC sales presentation, I remember being told that the point values for the different rooms in the different seasons could and likely would change, however, as others have mentioned, the total number of points required for the year would not and could not change.

We bought enough points to be able to stay for 1 week in a 1BR at our preferred time of year, which is generally Choice, and we have always been content with that, never even thought about adding on.

Before the recent point-leveling, we would generally vacation from Sunday-Thursday becuase the points for Fri-Sat were so dramatically higher (IMO). Now, however, we are as likely to take a long weekend. Just yesterday, I called MS and was able to book a savannah-view studio at AKL for the final weekend of the Food & Wine Festival. That would not have been possible at this time last year; I think they moved around the points because they were finding that they would be booked Sun-Thurs and not so much on Fri-Sat. Just my opinion.

[DizneyRox]

You can't tell me, though, that the fact that they have reallocated points the last 2 years after having only done it one other time in the history of the program is a coincedence. The economy is slowly starting come back, but people aren't spending money on luxuries such as DVC yet. That area is usually the last part of an economy to recover. So, Disney is looking for ways to get some revenue flowing in. That's why I think they started the once a year option to rent points. They figure if they keep reallocationg points, those who bought in at 150-160 points will be persuaded to add onto our contracts.

Another option could be they have a boat load of points they had to take back because of foreclosures, etc and instead of eating the costs of those until they can be resold, they rent them out to members who need a little more.

I haven't seen anyone complain about Disney taking their points through ROFR. I think Disney has a ton of points on hand and nothing is going on with them.

I don't think Disney cares too much about people banking points. I don't think it matters if people are able to use the points, but I might be wrong. If there's no availability, because other members booked all the rooms, I don't know if that's Disneys fault. That's another good question though.