New Premier Pass for DVC Stays…

[noreenkate]

What’s your thoughts- For us this is a hard NO for most trips at least to WDW.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/lightning-lane-passes/lightning-lane-premier/

According to blog Mickey https://blogmickey.com/2024/10/brea...y-announced-for-walt-disney-world-disneyland/

• Magic Kingdom: $329 to $449 per person, plus tax
• EPCOT: $169 to $249 per person, plus tax
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $269 to $349 per person, plus tax
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $129 to $199 per person, plus tax

 

[rickandcindy23]

It's crazy. Who would do that, except people who have so much money, they don't know what to do with it? We do have money in savings for withdrawing in emergencies. Disney trips don't fall under that category.

I read about this yesterday and told two of our kids, and they were in disbelief.

Disney is truly trying to create two classes of people: 1)Those who can afford whatever they want to charge; 2) Average people who will be standing in lines. The second is ME.

 

[bizaro86]

The no park hopping at WDW is a deal breaker for me (aside from the obvious huge downside of the price).

At Disneyland I might be willing to pay that on a 1-day trip to see everything. It certainly wouldn't be a regular thing.

 

[noreenkate]

It's crazy. Who would do that, except people who have so much money, they don't know what to do with it? We do have money in savings for withdrawing in emergencies. Disney trips don't fall under that category.

I read about this yesterday and told two of our kids, and they were in disbelief.

Disney is truly trying to create two classes of people: 1)Those who can afford whatever they want to charge; 2) Average people who will be standing in lines. The second is ME.

I will say we were big fans of the “Ultimate” tours pre-covid that were pretty much VIP light and we enjoyed them very much, they were priced similarly but included snacks, pins and certain ride access. This new premier access doesn't have that same kinda special event feel.

The no park hopping at WDW is a deal breaker for me (aside from the obvious huge downside of the price).

At Disneyland I might be willing to pay that on a 1-day trip to see everything. It certainly wouldn't be a regular thing.

Yeah I don't know we had used genie plus ( now multi pass ) there in January. It worked well as a $35 option.
DLR is a whole different animal though…

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

What’s your thoughts- For us this is a hard NO for most trips at least to WDW.

https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/lightning-lane-passes/lightning-lane-premier/

According to blog Mickey https://blogmickey.com/2024/10/brea...y-announced-for-walt-disney-world-disneyland/

• Magic Kingdom: $329 to $449 per person, plus tax
• EPCOT: $169 to $249 per person, plus tax
• Disney’s Hollywood Studios: $269 to $349 per person, plus tax
• Disney’s Animal Kingdom: $129 to $199 per person, plus tax

Lol, not a chance in hell.

 

[Janann]

Its a no for me due to the price, but also the pass only gives you access to each ride once per day.

Now if they came up with a pass where you could go on your three favorite rides five times in one day, maybe I would think about it.

 

[oceanlane96]

At that price point - it's absolutely insane! I feel like depending on the size of your group - a VIP Tour (which is much more personalized) wouldn't be that far off in price...

 

[rickandcindy23]

At that price point - it's absolutely insane! I feel like depending on the size of your group - a VIP Tour (which is much more personalized) wouldn't be that far off in price...

Those will probably just get more expensive.

 

[bizaro86]

At that price point - it's absolutely insane! I feel like depending on the size of your group - a VIP Tour (which is much more personalized) wouldn't be that far off in price...

I don't know - I'm an introvert and don't really like tours. If you offered me an unlimited priority pass or a tour where someone would take me around to all the attractions with front of the line access I'd prefer the unlimited priority pass.

And for smaller group sizes this is WAY cheaper than a VIP tour because it is priced per person.

 

[simpsontruckdriver]

As a (53 weeks) WDW Cast Member, this is an option, although pricey. If you planned to come during low-demand times (definitely not Summer), you could get less expensive admission, rides have less than 60 minute wait, and be able to walk around without major crowds. When I went for my birthday on 09/06, every ride was 15-45 minute wait.

TS

 

[jp10558]

As a (53 weeks) WDW Cast Member, this is an option, although pricey. If you planned to come during low-demand times (definitely not Summer), you could get less expensive admission, rides have less than 60 minute wait, and be able to walk around without major crowds. When I went for my birthday on 09/06, every ride was 15-45 minute wait.

TS

How bad is it during the first week of December? I'm going to be (hopefully) in Orlando then and are on the fence about checking out Disney Christmas stuff with the price of the tickets...

 

[Fido Chuckwagon]

How bad is it during the first week of December? I'm going to be (hopefully) in Orlando then and are on the fence about checking out Disney Christmas stuff with the price of the tickets...

First week of December isn’t low season anymore, but it’s not high crowds either. It’ll be tolerable.

 

[TheHolleys87]

How bad is it during the first week of December? I'm going to be (hopefully) in Orlando then and are on the fence about checking out Disney Christmas stuff with the price of the tickets...

Parks aren’t empty as in the past, but those first two weeks of December are among the least crowded during the fall season.

 

[TheHolleys87]

How bad is it during the first week of December? I'm going to be (hopefully) in Orlando then and are on the fence about checking out Disney Christmas stuff with the price of the tickets...

Just thought I’d tell you that some of the best Christmas stuff is in the resorts. The Grand Floridian’s gingerbread house, Beach Club’s gingerbread carousel (both of those are full size, not tiny), Wilderness Lodge’s huge tree - all the deluxe resorts have something special in the lobby, and the value and moderate resorts are decorated too. Parking can be an issue, in that they usually won’t let you in unless you have a dining reservation there, and you can’t leave your car there all day. So I’d either pay the fee to park at TTC or the Epcot, DHS, or AK parking lot and then ride Disney transportation to whichever resorts you want to visit, or park for free at Disney Springs and then catch a bus to the desired resort (although at that time of year the DS garages can be pretty full!).

It’s not hard to visit several resorts clustered near each other. Park at TTC and ride the monorail and boats to those resorts, including WL. Park at DHS and walk, Skyliner or boat to the ones in that area.

So buying park tickets isn’t necessary.

 

[noreenkate]

How bad is it during the first week of December? I'm going to be (hopefully) in Orlando then and are on the fence about checking out Disney Christmas stuff with the price of the tickets...

It’s not terrible- but managing expectations is a thing. Especially Magic Kingdom- check the dates when the Christmas Party is happening don’t waste a park ticket to MK on a day when the party is scheduled, they close pretty early on party nights. That said of you have the opportunity to go to the party its great and the crowds are manageable.

@TheHolleys87 bringd up a great point- visiting the resorts for the decorations is great fun

 

[dioxide45]

It’s not terrible- but managing expectations is a thing. Especially Magic Kingdom- check the dates when the Christmas Party is happening don’t waste a park ticket to MK on a day when the party is scheduled, they close pretty early on party nights. That said of you have the opportunity to go to the party its great and the crowds are manageable.

@TheHolleys87 bringd up a great point- visiting the resorts for the decorations is great fun

Sometimes those party days can be good days to go to MK because many others avoid those days because of the short hours. If you go at park opening, you can still get a lot of hours in and the crowds really don't start to pick up until 4pm when the park opens for party goers.

 

[heathpack]

I’ve been toying with buying more DVC points as I move out of Hyatt ownership. DVC is the one timeshare ownership that I’m reasonably happy with. My hesitation in buying has been my sense of never-ending money grabs from Disney.

And now this! Crazy town. But it shows the mindset- try to grab more more more, and degrade the experience for those who don’t pay. Makes me reluctant to buy any more DVC. I think we’ll see how we feel about Disney after our upcoming trip.

 

[noreenkate]

I’ve been toying with buying more DVC points as I move out of Hyatt ownership. DVC is the one timeshare ownership that I’m reasonably happy with. My hesitation in buying has been my sense of never-ending money grabs from Disney.

And now this! Crazy town. But it shows the mindset- try to grab more more more, and degrade the experience for those who don’t pay. Makes me reluctant to buy any more DVC. I think we’ll see how we feel about Disney after our upcoming trip.

Not sure if you saw my other post/thread but now there is an upcharge for members to use their perks. $99 dollars a year for a fastpass to the lounges etc.,

I have had a bad case of add-on-ittis also. I squashed it and choose to adopt/add-on in other system. There are some new wrinkles with the current offerings that made me leary & pretty much stopped me in my tracks- I was set to add on at VDH - what stopped me is the dues no longer include the transient tax so while dues were $ 9.50 ish per point the per point tax is an additional $2.85 per point. This along with the parking fee$ 35 a night per vechicle for VDH puts this at the most expensive to own and use and drastic difference from your Grand Californian contract. The cabins on the other hand also have high dues but what few people are discussing in most forums is that these are no longer deeded contracts but a Trust - run by the same company that controlled the Marriott Trust points. From what I read in the Marriott forums there seemed to be a lot of growing pains with the transition. Lets not discuss the fact that they are trailers, nearly $30k for a week in a trailer sorry it makes me nuts.
The changes in resale really only leave the original 14 as a viable option, again IMO even if purchasing direct. Most of the bigger resale companies admit these impact the resale value of RIV and the others.

My above comments may sound negative - but I would love a lively discussion of the pro/cons of adding on here on tug especially. Many Tuggers actually see the Mouse selling a timeshare not necessarily magic.

 

[TheHolleys87]

Let’s not discuss the fact that they are trailers, nearly $30k for a week in a trailer sorry it makes me nuts.

One quibble - The new ones aren’t trailers. They’re built onsite from the slab up, although they are prefabricated. I’m not sure there’s a difference in terms of maintenance and replacement costs compared to the trailers, but based on discussions early on there might be differences in how they’re classified or regulated under Florida law.

 

[ljmiii]

Not sure if you saw my other post/thread but now there is an upcharge for members to use their perks. $99 dollars a year for a fastpass to the lounges etc.,

The sad part is that for AP holders, there is no "etc." DVC Membership Magic Beyond's sole benefit for APs is that for $99/yr you get put in an 'express queue' if there is a waitlist at a DVC lounge.

 

[ljmiii]

My above comments may sound negative - but I would love a lively discussion of the pro/cons of adding on here on tug especially.

My understanding from reading the 'boards is that the Cabins at Fort Wilderness come under the same classification as mobile homes and have the same expectations of shorter longevity and increased MFs over time.

As for the trust issue...it depends. DVD had to create a trust to sell CFW because it isn't real estate. But shortly before CFW was announced I (and many others) were sent a survey asking about our interest in a trust product that would give 11 month access to all DVC resorts. And DVD had their legal beagles write the POS docs such that the CFW trust could fulfill that role. But who knows what will actually happen.

 

[noreenkate]

One quibble - The new ones aren’t trailers. They’re built onsite from the slab up, although they are prefabricated. I’m not sure there’s a difference in terms of maintenance and replacement costs compared to the trailers, but based on discussions early on there might be differences in how they’re classified or regulated under Florida law.

Seriously though my quibble is less about trailer vs modular vs prefab but more about what is acceptable as a luxury villa. Comparing them to bungalows at poly or the cooper creek cabins which I would assume were also so sort of pre-fab, I could be wrong, there is a huge difference.

https://www.floridabuilding.org/fbc/Manufactured_Buildings/Mobile_vs_Modular_Homes_rev.pdf

Finding out if they fall into the still built on chassis is key lol but who knows? Now don't get me wrong prior to DVC we spent some great times in the old wood style cabins - I loved it but it was classified as a moderate and IMO appropriately so that brings things again back to is DVC going with Marriott type ownership levels with the trust - throwing in an interesting DVF article

Are the Cabin's at Fort Wilderness the First DVC Moderate?

Could The Cabins at Disney's Fort Wilderness Resort represent the first Moderate category offering in Disney Vacation Club's portfolio?

dvcfan.com

What I find really interesting is that the fully furnished cabins that were removed are were sold for under 50k -

Want to own a piece of Disney's Fort Wilderness history? It can be yours ... for a price

As the old Fort Wilderness cabins are being removed and sold, 350 new cabins are being built and reservations are now open.

www.floridatoday.com

 

[noreenkate]

The sad part is that for AP holders, there is no "etc." DVC Membership Magic Beyond's sole benefit for APs is that for $99/yr you get put in an 'express queue' if there is a waitlist at a DVC lounge.

Yeah its the OTU bogo that I find interesting - but not being math skilled it seems if you don't go close to the max of 24 it not really a great deal.
Most years we have used maybe 8 tops - except our Aulani stay full 24
At $20 per point for 8 points 160 but with the upgrade $ 99 plus $80 for the bogo points - house wins…

 

[noreenkate]

Again not saying that the cabins are a bad choice just that the recent changes within the system DVC has made definitely put me on hold for any new purchases at least till I see how this all plays out.

 

[elaine]

Ridiculous. I told kids (20s), “be glad we got DVC AP for $300, cause wdw days are about done.” Likely selling AKV DVC points after 2027 Hawaii trip and wdw trip to see new stuff. Keeping tiny HHI points to get DVC benefits. I cannot stand the money grab.