75 point minimum for membership extras

[Saratoska]

Originally Posted by geoffa

It's where someone books a cheap one night stay (usually at Campsite at Fort wilderness) so they can get the 60 day Fastpass for the arrival day and check out day. They don't turn up for check in. It also allows them to then book further Fastpasses (from day 3) at 60 days on a rolling basis. Its a loop hole which Disney need to close as it is unfair to those who make bookings with the intention of staying either there or at other resorts.

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Am I reading this right so for one nights stay it allows them to book 14 days fast passes even though they then stay offsite, if so that's so unfair for those that have paid full whack for duration onsite
Also a shame for genuine people looking for accommodation during peak times

[fudgie]

Originally Posted by Saratoska

Am I reading this right so for one nights stay it allows them to book 14 days fast passes even though they then stay offsite, if so that's so unfair for those that have paid full whack for duration onsite
Also a shame for genuine people looking for accommodation during peak times

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There's a big thread running, something about "throwaway bookings" in the thread title, which is full of people who have booked one night at Fort Wilderness Campground for under $100. They have no intention of using the camp site, many of them aren't even going to go to FW to check in but are doing online check in and having their magic bands delivered to their villa. It gives them 2 days parking, free magic bands and fast passes galore - another Disney loophole which is being exploited to the max

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Lets be honest the campsite is predominantly American visitors and they are being blocked out.

Whats that Game of Thrones expression? Oh yes Shame shame shame.

[Guest]

Originally Posted by Saratoska

Am I reading this right so for one nights stay it allows them to book 14 days fast passes even though they then stay offsite, if so that's so unfair for those that have paid full whack for duration onsite
Also a shame for genuine people looking for accommodation during peak times

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no, FP at 60 days for the checkin and checkout day, then on a rolling basis its 60 days, so on 60 days before day 3 they can book another day, then 60 days before day 4 they can book day 4

of course its a loophole and the only way to get disney to change it is to e.mail them about it, say it will effect peoples vacation experience of staying on-site, keep at it, I have a senior member of staff going to phone me on Tuesday about it, they e.mailed me and asked for a good time to phone me

I think it should be FP for the day of checkin and check out, then back to 30 days when you are not on-site

[unixgirl]

I'm not a DVC owner yet (and even the resale prices are climbing scarily at the moment) but I am an AP holder. I think you get AP a bit cheaper as a DVC owner and last year it was 13 months as a special offer but only to DVC. With AP you get food discount anyway. I admit the moonlight magic and the lounge seem like good perks (mm only if you can book last minute as it's not on all year as I understand it). I don't understand how much of a draw the AP would be. I upgraded my UK ticket to an AP at around $220. Since then I visited in Dec so no paying for parking or the parks (went to 2 of the parks). I also have managed to book another trip in April where I will use the last days of my AP for my first week so no paying for a ticket then either.
Apologies for joining in the discussion as I am not a DVC owner but this forum is interesting to me as I like to do a lot of research before buying, I will be buying resale and now it seems I won't buy an add on direct.

[YorkshireT]

The AP offer last year was Platinum pass for gold price. If you went for more than a couple of weeks (the UK 14 day tickets were about £50 cheaper) it was a very good offer as a big discount and you could use it in all parks incl water parks, no blackout dates, mini golf, memory maker. Basically a UK 14 day ultimate ticket for a year for about £50 more, and it gives discounts and free parking.
Now DVC owners can buy the gold pass. This is a bit of a lesser pass with blackout at Xmas and Easter, no waterpark. It is open to only Florida residents and DVC owners.
Yes you can buy a 14 day ticket and upgrade, as stated it's about £50 cheaper than the pass, so I suppose the worth of the discount is the difference between that and what you are paying to upgrade BUT you may be upgrading to a better AP than the gold.
I only go to WDW at the moment every other year (will switch to annually when the kids are grown and we won't book a 1 or 2 bed then as we do now) so I personally never buy an AP at the moment.
I did toy with the idea of getting one of them this year for a few additional discounts, but they've now expanded DVC TS discount to nearly all restaurants now, and the UK ticket price dropped a bit at Xmas, so I decided not to bother as it wasn't financially worth it.

[unixgirl]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

The AP offer last year was Platinum pass for gold price. If you went for more than a couple of weeks (the UK 14 day tickets were about £50 cheaper) it was a very good offer as a big discount and you could use it in all parks incl water parks, no blackout dates, mini golf, memory maker. Basically a UK 14 day ultimate ticket for a year for about £50 more, and it gives discounts and free parking.
Now DVC owners can buy the gold pass. This is a bit of a lesser pass with blackout at Xmas and Easter, no waterpark. It is open to only Florida residents and DVC owners.

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As a DVC owner you get parking for free anyway don't you? My upgrade was to a platinum pass, ok so this was between twice and 3 times the upgrade cost with DVC. I would only get this if I were planning on going at least twice twice in a year with the second vacation falling inside the dates of the first. The discounts and the extra days etc. more than make up for the upgrade cost. If I were only going once a year with a DVC I wouldn't pay for the direct points to be able to get this as you never know when they are going to change those perks as you have wisely pointed out a number of times.

[YorkshireT]

Originally Posted by unixgirl

As a DVC owner you get parking for free anyway don't you? My upgrade was to a platinum pass, ok so this was between twice and 3 times the upgrade cost with DVC. I would only get this if I were planning on going at least twice twice in a year with the second vacation falling inside the dates of the first. The discounts and the extra days etc. more than make up for the upgrade cost. If I were only going once a year with a DVC I wouldn't pay for the direct points to be able to get this as you never know when they are going to change those perks as you have wisely pointed out a number of times.

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Only free parking when staying on site.

I wouldn't worry too much about perks, if the cheaper contract is on resale, buy that.

[unixgirl]

Originally Posted by YorkshireT

Only free parking when staying on site.

I wouldn't worry too much about perks, if the cheaper contract is on resale, buy that.

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I think the perks are seeming less valuable. Now if they launch some new perks that make it worthwhile I'd rethink. Until then, I don't see the point - thanks for the information, I've learned a lot from reading your posts.

[Erial]

Well my 25 points came through at the 11th hour. Got my call yesterday afternoon to add on to our resale SSR contract with matching use year. Very happy, not just for the 'perks' but for the flexibility those extra 50 points (every other year) gives us.

Claire
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