Rumor Pre-Arrival Survey - AP Discounts, Lightning Lane Pre-Booking Discounts, Hotel Upgrades

[Touchdown]

I can spend a week in Orlando, Anaheim, Gatlinburg and Williamsburg, VA without issue with theme parks being a major focus. In Orlando I can chose to go to two major chains and perhaps a third for a day and just do theme parks, Anaheim is mostly Disney (with a day at Knotts,) but the last two locations I can’t just do theme parks for that long I need to fill part of my trip with other things (Great Smoky Mountain NP, Colonial Williamsburg) so they aren’t fully analogous but they are the closest comparisons to the two main park hubs.

 

[MrPromey]

My argument was never about Dollywood and regional parks competing with WDW. My original point was about customer service and how Disney isn't that much better now compared to Dollywood and other places

Which is fair but I was responding to this:

If that’s the case why would you ever go to Disney? Isn’t it a lot more expensive?

And my point was customer service probably doesn't even factor greatly into it. (which I think, sadly, current Disney management realizes)

If you want to do large dark rides; if you have family members who are older or have medical conditions that make certain kinds of attractions difficult or impossible to ride; If you happen to be taking a cruse and have a day or two to kill or want to add-on; if you want to vacation during the winter months, etc, etc, etc - that's some of the many reasons people would still choose a trip to a WDW park, despite the service not being as good and prices across the board being higher than the alternatives.

Heck, from an accessibility standpoint alone, Disney I think, may be unmatched by anyone else in the US. Universal just opened a brand new park that I'd argue is actually less accessible than either of the two already in Florida which already aren't super-great. That alone puts a significant limit on their audience and many others in the theme/amusement park industry that focus heavily on the teen to healthy adult market to their detriment when it comes to attracting other crowds.

 

[KDM31091]

I guess Disney is finally realizing that upwards of $2000 for a pass is not sustainable. Your average family of 4 just simply cannot afford to shell out almost $8k for passes especially in this economy. At some point there's a ceiling, and I do think it's being reached. Especially with no major new offerings and tons of construction/closures, discounts are going to be necessary at least for the next couple years.

Of course, they won't ever permanently lower the base price. They'll just market it as a discount. That's just typical corporate America marketing. But something needs to be done. The prices are just not sustainable at this point.

With lightning lane I stand on my viewpoint - just get rid of it - no paywall, no lightning lane. One standby line everyone stands in which moves quickly and efficiently. The attractions are designed to be efficient. LL does not help that at all. Instead of "oh look, a LL discount" how about just get rid of it entirely? Maybe after the sticker shock at the gate not everyone is keen on forking over yet more money for LL. And there's a whole separate conversation to be had about how many people will fork over the money but are going into massive debt to do so. But at some point the cards are maxed out.

 

[MrPromey]

I guess Disney is finally realizing that upwards of $2000 for a pass is not sustainable. Your average family of 4 just simply cannot afford to shell out almost $8k for passes. At some point there's a ceiling, and I do think it's being reached. Especially with no major new offerings and tons of construction/closures, discounts are going to be necessary at least for the next couple years.

Of course, they won't ever permanently lower the base price. They'll just market it as a discount. That's just typical corporate America marketing. But something needs to be done. The prices are just not sustainable at this point.

With lightning lane I stand on my viewpoint - just get rid of it - no paywall, no lightning lane. One standby line everyone stands in which moves quickly and efficiently. The attractions are designed to be efficient. LL does not help that at all. Instead of "oh look, a LL discount" how about just get rid of it entirely? Maybe after the sticker shock at the gate not everyone is keen on forking over yet more money for LL. And there's a whole separate conversation to be had about how many people will fork over the money but are going into massive debt to do so.

Sadly, I don't think we're ever going to see LL (or whatever name they attach to future versions of it) go away. Genie+ showed Disney a way to turn attractions from loss leaders to revenue generators that stand their own against merch and food & beverage.

It'll also drive a lot more focus on E-tickets at the expense of smaller, simpler attractions that don't garner ungodly waits because they'll never have the same revenue-generating potential as the big ones, now. The smaller stuff was already at a disadvantage because unless attached to a bigger new "land" project, current management had no way to use it to drive attendance with big marketing pushes but this is a much bigger nail in coffins of those sorts of projects than that was.

Carsland will generate much more money than Tom Sawyer's Island or the riverboat ever did. Not only will we see far less of that kind of stuff being built in the future (if at all), everything that still exists like that now is probably on borrowed time unless the space is too small or the cost is too high to convert it. (Country Bears, Tiki Room, for example)

 

[Chi84]

Which is fair but I was responding to this:

And my point was customer service probably doesn't even factor greatly into it. (which I think, sadly, current Disney management realizes)

If you want to do large dark rides; if you have family members who are older or have medical conditions that make certain kinds of attractions difficult or impossible to ride; If you happen to be taking a cruse and have a day or two to kill or want to add-on; if you want to vacation during the winter months, etc, etc, etc - that's some of the many reasons people would still choose a trip to a WDW park, despite the service not being as good and prices across the board being higher than the alternatives.

Heck, from an accessibility standpoint alone, Disney I think, may be unmatched by anyone else in the US. Universal just opened a brand new park that I'd argue is actually less accessible than either of the two already in Florida which already aren't super-great. That alone puts a significant limit on their audience and many others in the theme/amusement park industry that focus heavily on the teen to healthy adult market to their detriment when it comes to attracting other crowds.

That was one time I didn’t mean “you” in the general sense.

 

[MrPromey]

That was one time I didn’t mean “you” in the general sense.

Curious if my answer fits them in that instance or if they're someone who only goes to Disney for the IP as they think is the reason for most people going.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

IP's not the only reason, Cosmic rewind is a pretty cool coaster, even if it's in the wrong park and Flight of Passage has proved very popular with people who knew nothing about Avatar when it opened. Even not tied to IP, these are specific attractions you won't find anywhere else.

FYI, FoP is not what it once was.

The film has become quite blurry, so no 3D. I thought I had a bad set of glasses, but the rest of my group all had the same problem. When I mentioned my bad glasses to a CM, he said my glasses weren't the problem.

As it happens, I rode standby on a slow day. If I had paid the ILL price, I 100% would have asked for a re-ride or a refund.

It was THAT bad.

 

[brettf22]

So their idea is to make you buy tickets for a stay (probably at least a 4 day), then give the option to purchase a discounted pass, not upgrade? I’m not so sure how well that will go. Why wouldn’t someone just upgrade their tickets (which cost more than $400 each) for a “discounted” pass then?

It definitely seems odd. But that’s what the survey question said. I missed it the first time, since it’s (purposefully) in smaller and lighter text. But at the bottom of the question it says

(This discount is applied to the full price of an Annual Pass only. Your ticket value cannot be applied or credited toward this offer.)

 

[MrPromey]

FYI, FoP is not what it once was.

The film has become quite blurry, so no 3D. I thought I had a bad set of glasses, but the rest of my group all had the same problem. When I mentioned my bad glasses to a CM, he said my glasses weren't the problem.

As it happens, I rode standby on a slow day. If I had paid the ILL price, I 100% would have asked for a re-ride or a refund.

It was THAT bad.

That stinks.

Sounds like something was misaligned with the projection equipment. If something's not right there, the polarized lenses don't work right and you get something similar to the mess you see if you take them off mid-movie.

Good news is, if they're aware of it, that shouldn't be a difficult fix. Bad show though that they'd continue to operate the theater knowing this was an issue. Of course, with ILL, they're under pressure to keep the train rolling, regardless and a 25% loss of capacity was probably a non-starter for them. I wonder if any of the other theaters were having this problem. If not, I wonder if they were sticking ILL in this one too or prioritizing them to the others for a better "paid" experience.

 

[Laketravis]

It definitely seems odd. But that’s what the survey question said. I missed it the first time, since it’s (purposefully) in smaller and lighter text. But at the bottom of the question it says

(This discount is applied to the full price of an Annual Pass only. Your ticket value cannot be applied or credited toward this offer.)

If that's the case then I suspect they are testing pricing psychologies, not offers.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Disney should focus on providing the Disney Difference again, and work to have the best experience possible instead of everything they have been doing since Iger forced out Staggs.

The company is worth less than it was a decade ago under Iger's leadership, so the day he leaves can't come soon enough.

Pre-Bob, there was a true Disney Difference. Since 2006 (or arguably 2015), this is the new Disney Difference:

 

[akileese]

Totally agree with this. As out of state DVC we used to get a very good discount on our passes and that has been missed especially as our kids aged into tickets. We also would consider going back to two trips a year if this was the case along with a decrease in the lightning lane. Everything has just gotten a little bonkers price wise in recent years especially with the removal of perks. This was the first year we haven’t renewed our passes since 2014 and I felt Disney forced my hand with it

2016 here and yeah, same. I just can't see the value with the price hikes, closures, construction. I think if they allowed me to get a lower tier pass since I don't travel during blackout date periods anyways, I would've been more likely to renew instead of letting it lapse. I'm just thankful I got to go to Festival of the Arts before it expired.

That stinks.

Sounds like something was misaligned with the projection equipment. If something's not right there, the polarized lenses don't work right and you get something similar to the mess you see if you take them off mid-movie.

Good news is, if they're aware of it, that shouldn't be a difficult fix. Bad show though that they'd continue to operate the theater knowing this was an issue. Of course, with ILL, they're under pressure to keep the train rolling, regardless and a 25% loss of capacity was probably a non-starter for them. I wonder if any of the other theaters were having this problem. If not, I wonder if they were sticking ILL in this one too or prioritizing them to the others for a better "paid" experience.

Been that way the last two times I've done it and the space between those rides was about six to eight months. This last time felt way worse as far as the misalignment, so I wonder if it's actually getting worse, or if I'm just imagining it.

 

[MrPromey]

Been that way the last two times I've done it and the space between those rides was about six to eight months. This last time felt way worse as far as the misalignment, so I wonder if it's actually getting worse, or if I'm just imagining it.

I'd have gone to guest services over that one, especially if the cast on-site were clear this was a known issue.

If you'd paid the upcharge to see a movie in a theater in 3D and this had been your experience, you'd rightfully expect a refund, wouldn't you? This being a simulator style attraction, something like that could cause motion sickness, too.

At the very least, I'd want to lodge a complaint so there was documented guest dissatisfaction with the condition of one of their top tier attractions on property.

 

[Touchdown]

Speaking of the “Disney” Difference. Recently stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, standard room, AP rate. I got a personal email from an actual human (whom I met at check in) asking for any requests. I asked for an early check in and to be near the elevator. They were able to fulfill both and when I checked in, this greeted me in my room:

Sure as heck beats a DVC advertisement.

 

[Jrb1979]

Speaking of the “Disney” Difference. Recently stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, standard room, AP rate. I got a personal email from an actual human (whom I met at check in) asking for any requests. I asked for an early check in and to be near the elevator. They were able to fulfill both and when I checked in, this greeted me in my room:
View attachment 906347

Sure as heck beats a DVC advertisement.

That's great but as others have said if you don't like Universal or it doesn't work for your extended family like Disney does it means little.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Speaking of the “Disney” Difference. Recently stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel, standard room, AP rate. I got a personal email from an actual human (whom I met at check in) asking for any requests. I asked for an early check in and to be near the elevator. They were able to fulfill both and when I checked in, this greeted me in my room:
View attachment 906347

Sure as heck beats a DVC advertisement.

You don't like Josh popping up on your room TV at random??

 

[Touchdown]

That's great but as others have said if you don't like Universal or it doesn't work for your extended family like Disney does it means little.

I thought we were talking about trying to get repeat guests to come back by going the extra mile.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I thought we were talking about trying to get repeat guests to come back by going the extra mile.

Nah. Disney has an endless supply of guests just waiting to book trips. They don't need repeat guests, they just cost more money to keep happy.

Not to mention those stinking AP people... they prevent millions of high-spending international travelers from booking trips to WDW.

 

[Jrb1979]

I thought we were talking about trying to get repeat guests to come back by going the extra mile.

Yes but as been told to me many times that going to extra mile is great but if you don't like Universal it won't mean anything.