Disney Vacation Club Planner 2008

[Marti Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Marti]

January 25, 2008

Received the latest
Disney Vacation Club
Planner for 2008-2009

Disney VC did a really nice job
on this book. Very Impressive!

If you own at any of the DVC
your copy should be in the mail.

[arlene22 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close arlene22]

I got mine, too. It is pretty amazing. We are fairly new owners, so this is our first. Do they do this every year? It must be incredibly expensive. I thought the "Dream" book we got when we toured was nice. This is even nicer, although softcover.

[Denise Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Denise]

We got ours in CA, too. The one in 2007 was very nice, also, and the one in 2006 had cut-outs and patterns for the kids.

I have always wondered what it costs to print something of that size and quality. Heavy paper stock, many colors, many pages, etc. I used to work in marketing communications, so I had to price out projects like that, but it was many years ago.

It's funny that my trips are booked before the planner comes, and I always seem to be in "borrow" mode!

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I work in publishing. I haven't seen the book, but it costs a lot to produce and print a book like you're describing. However, the unit cost comes down and down as you produce more and more and more. I imagine Disney prints many, many copies of this book to distribute to all of its thousands of Vacation Club members. So as a per-member cost, it's probably not a significant expense, as marketing goes.

[arlene22 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close arlene22]

Wacky, the thing is about 1/2 inch thick, and probably 11 x 14 inches (from memory-- not looking at it right now). Many pictures, descriptions of each resort, floor plans, whole sections describing the II exchange process and other exchange options. Lots of big pictures of DVC member families/kids. It is really cool, but I've got to wonder if it's a good use of my maintenance fees. This is way more comprehensive than the owner's manuals I got with any of my other timeshares, and they do it every year? Pretty incredible.

[arlene22 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close arlene22]

Also, I understand from reading the Disboards that they made an error in the original printing and had to make a second run, which is why it was delayed (supposed to come by the end of December).

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Wacky, the thing is about 1/2 inch thick, and probably 11 x 14 inches (from memory-- not looking at it right now). Many pictures, descriptions of each resort, floor plans, whole sections describing the II exchange process and other exchange options. Lots of big pictures of DVC member families/kids. It is really cool, but I've got to wonder if it's a good use of my maintenance fees. This is way more comprehensive than the owner's manuals I got with any of my other timeshares, and they do it every year? Pretty incredible.

Somehow they must have decided that this is an effective marketing tool. Look, we're talking about it, so to some degree, it's working!

They probably feel that it makes DVC owners feel like a family, a privileged group, like members of, aha, a CLUB. Do they wave this book around at the DVC presentations? I bet they do, or I bet they at least mention it as a benefit of membership.

Are there a lot of die cuts and special effects? The photographs and text and color printing aren't all that expensive, even printing in such a huge format isn't that bad. Die cuts and special printing effects like acres of glitter or shiny Rainbow Fish-style foil--THOSE are expensive. Pop-ups add up pretty fast, too. But the unit cost drops when you're printing a zillion of them.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

Also, I understand from reading the Disboards that they made an error in the original printing and had to make a second run, which is why it was delayed (supposed to come by the end of December).

This is the kind of story that makes editors feel sick. There but for the grace of God....

[blome Member Find all posts View Profile Close blome]

Somehow they must have decided that this is an effective marketing tool. Look, we're talking about it, so to some degree, it's working!

They probably feel that it makes DVC owners feel like a family, a privileged group, like members of, aha, a CLUB. Do they wave this book around at the DVC presentations? I bet they do, or I bet they at least mention it as a benefit of membership.

Are there a lot of die cuts and special effects? The photographs and text and color printing aren't all that expensive, even printing in such a huge format isn't that bad. Die cuts and special printing effects like acres of glitter or shiny Rainbow Fish-style foil--THOSE are expensive. Pop-ups add up pretty fast, too. But the unit cost drops when you're printing a zillion of them.

I'm not quite sure what you're driving at, but yes, I like the Disney planner... A LOT.
I also like the quality letterhead that our reservations come on.
Is that a marketing ploy? Perhaps, but it's one I like, and am willing to pay for.

[wackymother Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close wackymother]

I'm not quite sure what you're driving at, but yes, I like the Disney planner... A LOT.
I also like the quality letterhead that our reservations come on.
Is that a marketing ploy? Perhaps, but it's one I like, and am willing to pay for.

Not driving at anything. Just saying it's not THAT expensive to print, and Disney considers it a worthwhile marketing expense in any case.

[JudyS Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close JudyS]

This is the first year that Disney has sent out this type of book. I believed the letter sent with it said that it combines the new member handbook with the annual planner that they used to send existing members. They have changed a number of reservation policies lately, so perhaps that's the reason for the more comprehensive guide.

In the past, some of the materials they sent were paid out of DVC's marketing budget, not the members' fees. For example, DVC sent each members a glossy print a few years ago, which they said their marketing budget paid for. I would guess that this handbook comes out of dues, but I don't know.

[blome Member Find all posts View Profile Close blome]

This is the first year that Disney has sent out this type of book. I believed the letter sent with it said that it combines the new member handbook with the annual planner that they used to send existing members. They have changed a number of reservation policies lately, so perhaps that's the reason for the more comprehensive guide.

I don't think this is the case, although it's possible I don't understand what you are saying.

This combo planner/handbook is sent every few years, followed by a few years of just "planners". Once the rules change a bit, they send out the entire thing again.

Does that make sense?

[arlene22 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close arlene22]

That makes more sense. This is our first year as owners so I didn't know. Sending it every couple of years, when they've made changes to rules (banking, etc.) and added a new resort (AKL wasn't in my Dream book) makes more sense than sending it every year.

[blome Member Find all posts View Profile Close blome]

That makes more sense. This is our first year as owners so I didn't know. Sending it every couple of years, when they've made changes to rules (banking, etc.) and added a new resort (AKL wasn't in my Dream book) makes more sense than sending it every year.

You know, now that I'm looking through my things, last years planner was also larger than years before. It's almost as large as this years.

Perhaps they went back to the old way of sending the whole thing every year...

[SDSunshine Member Find all posts View Profile Close SDSunshine]

One thing I wish they had was a resort map for each location. That helps me so much in figuring out where we'd like to go each year.

I thought the Dreams book was a bit over the top. The hardcover and fed exing it -- it must cost them a fortune. I'd take a couple more $ discount off our points and take a softback instead. It really didn't have that much info in it -- just lots of pix of happy families.

The Planner on the other hand I thought is much more useful. Just wish the maps were in there....

K