Don’t ask me. I just work here.

Image: Disney

The second and vastly more alarming aspect of this discussion involves the information coming from Disney. On April 4th, the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Sales Strategy at Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Ken Potrock, posted a message to all current DVC members. He explained the rationale behind the changes while announcing the new rules.

At the time, the people most affected by the modifications were new buyers currently going through the resales purchase process. For obvious reasons, resale companies quickly wrote emails to Disney. They requested clarification about the hard deadline of April 4, 2016. If you’re unfamiliar with the resales purchase program, it can take three months or more to complete. My sole resales purchase to date actually took five months due to no fault of our own. Getting strangers to sign documents can be a challenge.

Disney is aware of this, which is why the original quotes from their employees reflected the correct strategy. Anyone who had finished Right of First Refusal, the point where Disney passes on the opportunity to reclaim a contract, would enjoy the full benefits. That was the April 4th evaluation. On April 5th, Disney reneged on this promise. They sent out notifications to the major DVC resales sites, indicating that anyone who wasn’t a member by April 4th was out of luck. Even people who started their paperwork in calendar 2015 wouldn’t enjoy Membership Extras. It’s a tone-deaf policy change, and it reflects the lack of strong infrastructural communication among Walt Disney World employees.

The power of the card

Image: Disney

The logical question here is how Disney will police such an arcane rule. If they line up five people Usual Suspects-style, there’s no way to tell who is a direct DVC purchaser as opposed to a DVC resales member, right? That’s where the DVC membership card comes into play. As one of the new highlights of the 25th anniversary celebration, Disney trumpeted that it’d send new identification cards to members. That means (at least some) Disney employees knew in January of 2016 that they were going to incorporate a major policy change in April.

For two years now, DVC members and annual pass holders have wondered aloud why Disney doesn’t store their information on a Magic Band. Instead, the company requires its cast members to ask people if they’re entitled to additional discounts, one of the proverbial Membership Extras. Qualifying participants must display their card to earn the discount. The pre-2016 cards will no longer work for these purposes. Anyone lacking the blue 2016 card is out of luck. And that’s the catch here.

New DVC owners who buy via resales from this point forward will not receive a membership card. It’s almost as if they don’t exist in the eyes of Disney’s overlords. This does lead to a fundamental question.

How great are Membership Extras?

Image: Disney

That’s not the million-dollar question, but it is, at least, the several thousand-dollar question. Given the pricing disparity between resale and direct purchase, which is as much as $60 per point, what are you giving up from now on if you choose resale? The most obvious different is the price discount at shops and restaurants. The offshoot of this tactic by Disney is that they’re also eliminating Tables in Wonderland as an option for resales buyers. Effectively, if you join through resales purchase, you’ll pay more on your Disney merchandise and especially your meals. While I don’t love it as much as some, Tables in Wonderland is a wonderful way to eat cheap at Disney. The company isn’t pulling any punches by eliminating it.

What is Disney’s goal here?

Image: Disney

Their business maintains the same objective as they’ve demonstrated throughout the past few years. They’re trying to maximize their revenue stream as much as possible. They understand that while some DVC participants will see the Membership Extras as trivial, others will want them. What’s their only option? They’ll have to buy some points directly through Disney.

Current DVC members must acquire at least 25 points when they add on to their existing contract. Even at the lowest possible price of $110 per point, that’s $2,750 per transaction that Disney will receive from each person who chooses to “upgrade” to full membership. Disney also has the right to boost the minimum number of points to 50, which would double that profit per customer. In other words, Disney is no longer just targeting non-DVC members with their sales pitch. They’re tweaking the rules of their longstanding system to pressure resales owners to give Disney more money.

The ultimate outcome from this is one I worry Disney isn’t considering enough. Membership in the Disney Vacation Club looks less attractive today than it did at the start of 2016. It’s an odd choice to trumpet the 25th anniversary of the program then reveal an insidious change to the membership rules. As one of the strongest champions of DVC, I’m taken aback by this aggressive move.

Whether this strategy proves to successful in boosting DVC sales or sets back the program is the story to follow in coming months and years. If you’ve been on the fence about purchasing DVC, this probably isn’t the best time to buy. You should wait until the dust clears.