Monday, July 09, 2007

DVC hard sell on Main Street

I've long known that DVC has kiosks in the theme parks. Their very presence is a problem in some ways; it's not the pure Disney park with those things in there. But at least they don't intrude and turn into carnival barkers - that would be worse.

I've also long known that the Main St. exhibition hall in Orlando (where Lincoln is at Disneyland) is used an hour per day for a DVC presentation. This week I learned that they give out water, small snacks, and DVDs when you attend. I'm slightly more uncomfortable with that. It's not the hard sell you see about timeshares out there on 192, but it's still more than I think Disney should be doing. Do the gifts and water increase guest 'guilt' and make them more likely to buy? If that's even very slightly true, then the whole thing stinks.

If the product is strong enough to sell on its own without any external force (ie, the free bottled water), then fine. But Disney is on slippery ground here.