Tipping for housekeeping services within the hotel industry is a topic that seems to garner a wide range of responses. Some religiously tip on a daily basis while others have never considered leaving a gratuity for that type of service.
Things are a bit more complicated in the Disney Vacation Club world with most guests staying in multi-room suites and the limited nature of cleaning services.
For most making a 40-50 year commitment to The Walt Disney Company is not a risk taken lightly. While the potential impact on one's finances is obvious, there is also a great degree of uncertainty over what the next several decades may hold.
Material changes to either the Disney Vacation Club program or the Disney parks & resorts would have an immediate impact on members. The changes could be somewhat minor (and subjective) such as a declining quality of service at the parks & resorts or DVC policy changes. Or we could witness major upheaval like the sale of one of Disney's key business units (hotel operations, theme park operations, dining, DVC.)
Disney's FastPass has been a staple at Walt Disney World and Disneyland for about a decade now. The system allows guests to effectively obtain a reserved ride time later in the day, dramatically reducing the amount of time guests must wait in line for some of the more popular attractions.
Currently the system provides equal benefits to all guests. However, there have been persistent rumors of Disney further developing the system in ways which would allow them to dole-out FastPass benefits differently to groups of guests (i.e. those staying in on-site resorts may get a different FastPass benefit than those staying off-site.)
Although Disney produces a selection of merchandise featuring the Disney Vacation Club name, their offerings are certainly open to criticism.
Items are available featuring the "Disney Vacation Club" name or the resort name, but rarely do items feature both brands. Member merchandise varies from resort-to-resort, making some items difficult to find. Mail order purchases are available but not highly publicized nor supported with a catalog or other mailer / website. Prices are high. Quality is often times questionable.
Despite a struggling economy, Disney has managed to keep its theme parks quite busy in recent months. Discount programs and the continuing growth of Disney Vacation Club--which virtually guarantees a steady supply of business from owners--have left the parks as busy as ever.
In fact, crowd levels have lead some to suggest that the parks have grown too busy during many times of the year. Economic principles suggest that the most direct way for Disney to reduce crowds (while maintaining profitability) is to increase ticket prices.
