DVC Point Charts for 2011 - Post chart release discussion begins on Pg 14

[palhockeymomof2]

did the long island ny area receive their book yet??

we haven't received ours yet

 

[KBoopaloo]

I may be off the mark, but I think the reason that so many of the posts in this thread have expressed disappointment over the point reallocations is that many new members (like myself) have not yet had the benefit of years of DVC trip planning and experiences to weigh against this sudden change.

I haven't revisted this thread from the beginning in a while, but I do remember seeing a fair amount of disappointed posts from new AKLV owners (again like myself). Though it may be good in the long run for the points to be reallocated the way they have been, it is still a big shock to new owners who may have not even taken their first trip home yet to suddenly have to think about changing the way they were planning on using their DVC points.

In ten years, when I am at my home resort on a Saturday night using less points than I would have on a Saturday night in 2009, I will likely be content with the reallocation. But right now, while I am still trying to figure out how to make my planned 2011 vacation work now that the points needed have gone up by about 15% from 2010, I am still feeling very frustrated and I think that is what it boils down to for a lot of the frustrated posters who have expressed their disappointment here.

 

[Nancy F]

I may be off the mark, but I think the reason that so many of the posts in this thread have expressed disappointment over the point reallocations is that many new members (like myself) have not yet had the benefit of years of DVC trip planning and experiences to weigh against this sudden change.

I haven't revisted this thread from the beginning in a while, but I do remember seeing a fair amount of disappointed posts from new AKLV owners (again like myself). Though it may be good in the long run for the points to be reallocated the way they have been, it is still a big shock to new owners who may have not even taken their first trip home yet to suddenly have to think about changing the way they were planning on using their DVC points.

In ten years, when I am at my home resort on a Saturday night using less points than I would have on a Saturday night in 2009, I will likely be content with the reallocation. But right now, while I am still trying to figure out how to make my planned 2011 vacation work now that the points needed have gone up by about 15% from 2010, I am still feeling very frustrated and I think that is what it boils down to for a lot of the frustrated posters who have expressed their disappointment here.

When I bought in Dec. at BLT I was told that the Point chart had just changed. And that it only changd twice before in 15 years. So when it changed again for 2011 and I hadn't even had my 1ST trip yet... well I was a little mad. I'm used to going the last week in April and now have to move it to May. No big deal. But that's not when I wanted to go. Can't do anything about it, but I don't have to like it either.
Nancy

 

[dis2cruise]

we haven't received ours yet

ok that makes feel better I thought mine got lost in the mail LOL

 

[Chuck S]

When I bought in Dec. at BLT I was told that the Point chart had just changed. And that it only changd twice before in 15 years. So when it changed again for 2011 and I hadn't even had my 1ST trip yet... well I was a little mad. I'm used to going the last week in April and now have to move it to May. No big deal. But that's not when I wanted to go. Can't do anything about it, but I don't have to like it either.
Nancy

That is a seasonal change for Easter week. It is in late Arpril in 2011. It will happen every few years, and really isn't a reflection of the larger re-allocation. Easter Premier season changes every year, whether there is any other re-allocation or not. Easter is late again in 2014.

You may not like it, but that particular change isn't DVC's, it has been that way since the 4th century.

Future Easter dates:

2009 April 12
2010 April 4
2011 April 24
2012 April 8
2013 March 31
2014 April 20
2015 April 5
2016 March 27

 

[Deb in IA]

Sorry in advance if this has been discussed before.

I don't check my DVC stuff every day, and usually only look at the points chart when I am making a reservation.

We have been members since 2001, and when we bought our DVC, one of the selling features was that we were told "the points will never increase" for reserving the DVC resorts.

Well, now it appears that they HAVE increased. For example, in 2009, Sun-Thurs in the Magic Season for a BWV Preferred view was 40 points/day. In 2010, the same room in the same season is now 44 points/day.

The weekly rate for a one-bedroom at our home resort, VWL, in Magic Season used to be 270 points. Now it is 272.

So, what's the scoop? Why did this happen, and is this not quite the truth from what we were told when we bought our DVC?

Thanks for any info/insights!

 

[erionm]

See this thread for the discussion on the point reallocation: http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2346668

 

[88golf88]

Sorry in advance if this has been discussed before.

I don't check my DVC stuff every day, and usually only look at the points chart when I am making a reservation.

We have been members since 2001, and when we bought our DVC, one of the selling features was that we were told "the points will never increase" for reserving the DVC resorts.

Well, now it appears that they HAVE increased. For example, in 2009, Sun-Thurs in the Magic Season for a BWV Preferred view was 40 points/day. In 2010, the same room in the same season is now 44 points/day.

The weekly rate for a one-bedroom at our home resort, VWL, in Magic Season used to be 270 points. Now it is 272.

So, what's the scoop? Why did this happen, and is this not quite the truth from what we were told when we bought our DVC?

Thanks for any info/insights!

DVC has just moved around the points between weeknights and weekends. The total amount of points for each resort can not change, be they are allowed to reaalocate point values for different nights and seasons. It looks like DVC is trying to balance out weeknights and weekends and this is causing many members stress because they bought their point allotment with weeknights in mind...

 

[chalee94]

We have been members since 2001, and when we bought our DVC, one of the selling features was that we were told "the points will never increase" for reserving the DVC resorts.

as stated, you may have misunderstood: the total points for a resort for a whole year can never change - but the way those points are allocated is subject to change.

it changed in 2010 AND it changed again in 2011. in short, weeknighters are agitated and weekenders are pleased...but the discussion of the 2011 changes is being limited to this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2346668&page=14

 

[Mtnman44]

I understand your frustration. This has also thrown a wrench in my plans. However, being able to re-allocate the points to balance against demand trends does benefit all of us. At least, that is what I keep telling myself.

 

[btrim]

There was no formal announcement about the point changes. It has been cussed and discussed on these boards for the last two years because the first change, I believe came last year. It appears DVC is trying to equal out weekdays and weekends. I also think if they raise the points in one week, some other week has to go down the same number of points. I am not sure on that, but I am sure someone on this board will know better than I.

 

[Deb in IA]

THANKS to all who responded! I knew folks here would have an answer!

OK, so it seems the biggest change is increased points Sun - Thurs, and decreased points Fri - Sat.

As for the communication, yes, I agree that there seems to be a lack of that. Why didn't DVC put this information about the point reallocation in the Disney Files magazine? (Or maybe I missed that too . . . ).

I just got my 2010 Vacation Planning catalog in the mail yesterday. Now, I know a lot of folks go to the website for the points infomation, but I still find it frustrating that the catalog comes to us when almost a 1/4 of the year is over!

 

[chalee94]

As for the communication, yes, I agree that there seems to be a lack of that. Why didn't DVC put this information about the point reallocation in the Disney Files magazine? (Or maybe I missed that too . . . ).

nope - you didn't miss it. disney files is just a cheesy advertising vehicle for the disney corp - it'd be great if it actually addressed the issues DVC owners are interested in...but that's just not what disney wants to use it for.

 

[shortypots]

OK, so it seems the biggest change is increased points Sun - Thurs, and decreased points Fri - Sat.

Keep in mind from 2010 to 2011 the only change was not the weekend to weeknight points change. AKV had a significant increase in Savannah view points needed, and some say that this was due to them changing some of the savannah view rooms to standard view. This is one of the items that pissed me off because we bought AKV for the Savannah views and now they are outrageously priced. And lets not forget the change in the Grand Villas there. I am staying 6 nts in a Grand villa in April this year for 598 pts(Magic season), the same for next year is 646!! This year I had enough points to do this every other year, now I have to do it every 3 years! or 2.5 depending on how you look at it!

 

[Deb in IA]

Hmmmm. Not sure exactly why this was moved from the Operations board to the Mousecellaneous board, since this is more information rather than rumors at this point.

I may be off the mark, but I think the reason that so many of the posts in this thread have expressed disappointment over the point reallocations is that many new members (like myself) have not yet had the benefit of years of DVC trip planning and experiences to weigh against this sudden change.

I know this has been difficult for those of us who have owned DVC for a while now too. We have become used to essentially the same points charts for at least the last 10 years, and have taken them into account for our vacation planning, as in weekend vs. weekday, standard vs. preferred view, 1- vs. 2- bedroom, etc.

Now, with things changing, and sometimes by a LOT, it makes it tricky.

Just for kicks, I pulled out my very first Vacation Planning book, from 2002. In it, the points for OKW, 2-BR, Magic Season was 30 for Sun - Thurs, and 73 (!) for Fri-Sat. That's a difference of 43 points! I can see how that would significantly affect occupancy patterns - I'm sure they had a lot of vacant rooms, or, as they say, "unfilled inventory" during weekends.

For 2011, the points will be 40 for Sun - Thurs and 48 for Fri - Sat. I'm sure DVC is thinking that with only 8 points difference, there will not be as much fluctuation in the weekend vs weekday occupancy.

And I'm sure they are using the same strategy for the other changes too, such as Savannah vs. Standard view, etc.

 

[missy2217]

?

 

[childsplay]

Agreed...but I'm more interested in what drove this change, meaning there must have been some fairly significant shift in the dynamics of DVC usage in general, what caused that??

 

[Chuck S]

Agreed...but I'm more interested in what drove this change, meaning there must have been some fairly significant shift in the dynamics of DVC usage in general, what caused that??

I think it has probably been building for some time, and was not a sudden and dramatic shift. Several factors contributed, including the lowering of the initial minimum purchase. Th smaller contacts meant members would be more conservative with their point usage, leading to an increase in the Sunday to Friday travelers, occasionally lower airfares for Sunday, etc.

 

[childsplay]

Interesting, Chuck, and I'm sure this has all been covered in the the previous pages so I apologize if I'm just rehashing...but my top reasons for the changes in no particular order would be...
1. More small add-ons becoming available via resale as the program ages. Meaning people who bought a small add on of 50-75 points years ago selling those off. While Disney requires a 150 minimum it is possible to only own 25 if you bought through resale, the smaller the contract the less likely weekend points are involved in the stay.
2. Internet sites/message boards which make finding information about the opportunity to stay Sun-Thur much easier and also make it much easier to rent those type of reservations.
3. Doubling the size of DVC in 5 years with AKV and SSR under the full court press of "Best Kept Secret" whose entire marketing premise was that you can stay DVC for far cheaper than regular resorts, and that the ultimate "cheapest" way is Sun-Thurs. I think to a certain extent the point charts are a victim of DVC's marketing success.
None of these in of themselves are bad its just the natural evolution of DVC.

 

[Dean]

Interesting, Chuck, and I'm sure this has all been covered in the the previous pages so I apologize if I'm just rehashing...but my top reasons for the changes in no particular order would be...
1. More small add-ons becoming available via resale as the program ages. Meaning people who bought a small add on of 50-75 points years ago selling those off. While Disney requires a 150 minimum it is possible to only own 25 if you bought through resale, the smaller the contract the less likely weekend points are involved in the stay.
2. Internet sites/message boards which make finding information about the opportunity to stay Sun-Thur much easier and also make it much easier to rent those type of reservations.
3. Doubling the size of DVC in 5 years with AKV and SSR under the full court press of "Best Kept Secret" whose entire marketing premise was that you can stay DVC for far cheaper than regular resorts, and that the ultimate "cheapest" way is Sun-Thurs. I think to a certain extent the point charts are a victim of DVC's marketing success.
None of these in of themselves are bad its just the natural evolution of DVC.

As I noted earlier in this thread, and in last years, my info suggests a change should have been made in 2000-2001. The discrepancies have been further exaggerated by the evolution of the small point add ons and specifically the SSR development. Members have become more and more sophisticated at using the system as set up, the internet has certainly exaggerated the options even further. But there is one more component that I believe has changed, those in charge previously seemed too afraid to upset even a subset of the membership that there were frozen from doing what they knew should be done.

The real question to me was why take it to such an extreme. Is this an indication of an even larger change to come such as a possible minimum stay or just an over compensation to adjust members behavior requiring a pendulum swing back the other way in a few years to balance the teeter totter?