30% off rooms- does this mean occupancy is down?

CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
Disney never ever ever publishes rack rates expecting to actually get rack rates. They build discounting into all of their models. It's called price discrimination. If Disney charges a market rate and the demand increases (i.e. the market changes), Disney would be unable to raise prices. Instead, they publish rack rates above market value and then discount to market. Then if demand increases, they can "raise prices" by simply offering less discounting than they had originally intended.
 
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CaptainAmerica

CaptainAmerica

Premium Member
stretchsje said:
My gut reaction is that demand for Universal has decreased the value of staying on WDW property.
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That's certainly a concern for Disney. They use things like the Dining Plan and Magical Express to protect their bubble. Once a single thing pops that bubble (i.e. a family deciding to do a day at Universal), the floodgates open. All of a sudden it looks like a good idea to rent a car. When you're renting a car you might stay off property, eat at Applebees, and do your own grocery shopping. That's bad for the business model.

However, occupancy rates above 90% say this isn't happening in any significant way. There was a burst of it with the original WWoHP, then a smaller surge with Potter Phase 2, but I think that's plateaued.
 
Goofnut1980

Goofnut1980

Well-Known Member
You know what is funny, I have been looking at the wait times while I am at work and it doesn't seem busy at all. The waits seem so low compared to other years.
 
sxeensweet

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
Goofnut1980 said:
You know what is funny, I have been looking at the wait times while I am at work and it doesn't seem busy at all. The waits seem so low compared to other years.
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It's not that the crowds are less it's because now there is a fast pass line for all rides now (unlike before not all rides had one and it's much easier to use so more use FP now) and standby line, and the App only shows the standby line wait times. So you can't tell crowds just by the standby wait times. :)
 
Goofnut1980

Goofnut1980

Well-Known Member
sxeensweet said:
It's not that the crowds are less it's because now there is a fast pass line for all rides now (unlike before not all rides had one and it's much easier to use so more use FP now) and standby line, and the App only shows the standby line wait times. So you can't tell crowds just by the standby wait times. :)
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But they haven't even used phased closings yet. The parks are not hitting capacity.
 
sxeensweet

sxeensweet

Love a little Disney every day!! ;)
peter11435 said:
The weather hasn't been the greatest lately with several rainy days on some of what would have been the busiest days. Also keep in mind that between new fantasyland and the fully expanded hub the Magic Kingdom now phases closes at higher numbers than in the past.
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True. Forgot about the weather right now and capacity is higher now. :)
 
EpcoTim

EpcoTim

Well-Known Member
The news down there said the airport was facing its busiest day ever on Sunday, not sure how that directly translates to attendance but I'm sure we can make something up.
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
GhostHost1000 said:
it's not 30% off all resorts... only deluxe and deluxe villa rooms... discount goes down from there

not uncommon really and with the ridiculous amount it costs to stay at some of the deluxe resorts, 30% still doesn't do much
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And it's usually a Bait-n-Switch you see the 'select rooms' this means Disney may only have ONE discounted room at any given resort, Basically these are just clickbait to get people considering a WDW vacation.
 
MagicHappens1971

MagicHappens1971

Well-Known Member
NelleBelle said:
Even with the 30% discount, it's still ridiculous! We've always stayed on-property in the past but after having taken a break of visiting WDW (our last visit was 2010), we were literally gobsmacked at how much it was to stay on-property!

Never have we gotten a pin code :( Do they even offer them anymore?
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They still send pin codes, I just got one a couple weeks ago.
 
NelleBelle

NelleBelle

Well-Known Member
Can I ask if it was just an "out of the blue" thing or had you been on their website looking at vacations? Just curious if it's like a "lottery drawing" where it just gets randomly selected and sent out? I know when we hadn't been to WDW in years, we kinda stopped getting 'junk' mail from them, inviting us to "come visit us!" It wasn't until I started looking at the website that I started really getting peppered with mail again (and having taken a cruise didn't hurt either, I'm sure). :p
 
MagicHappens1971

MagicHappens1971

Well-Known Member
NelleBelle said:
Can I ask if it was just an "out of the blue" thing or had you been on their website looking at vacations? Just curious if it's like a "lottery drawing" where it just gets randomly selected and sent out? I know when we hadn't been to WDW in years, we kinda stopped getting 'junk' mail from them, inviting us to "come visit us!" It wasn't until I started looking at the website that I started really getting peppered with mail again (and having taken a cruise didn't hurt either, I'm sure). :p
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I may have been looking on the website but I don't really remember. I'm a passholder and I go pretty often so idk if that's why they sent it but I haven't stayed on property since last January.
 
Witchy Chick

Witchy Chick

Well-Known Member
Since I feel like I get these offer emails all the time, I just dug through my email for pin codes and offers sent to me for the past 6 months.

  • March 16 2016 -- 20% off premium rooms Grand Californian or DL Hotel, 10% off Paradise Pier (no pin code)
  • March 7 2016 -- 30% off select rooms WDW (included pin code)
  • December 29 2015 -- 30% off select rooms WDW (included pin code)
  • November 23 2015 -- 30% off select rooms WDW (included pin code)
  • November 23 2015 -- 20% off premium rooms Grand Californian or DL Hotel, 10% off Paradise Pier (included pin code)
  • October 30 2015 -- 20% off premium rooms Grand Californian or DL Hotel, 10% off Paradise Pier (included pin code)
  • October 1 2015 -- 30% off select rooms WDW (included pin code)

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:


Wow -- they really want my money. Of course, I'm in the "desired demo" also. Married, two kids (7-year-old girl and 6-year-old boy). But wowza.
 
devoy1701

devoy1701

Well-Known Member
30% off of a ridiculously high rack rate... And "30%" isn't even a higher than normal "discount". So to answer your question, no. Room rates are still higher than ever, and the 30% off in of itself is not a sign of reduced room occupancy. However, I do wholeheartedly believe that WDW is NOT putting all of their rooms in circulation and is purposely given a false appearance of high occupancy rates.
 
devoy1701

devoy1701

Well-Known Member
TheGuyThatMakesSwords said:
Worth emphasizing..... the key here is to check your dates, and preferred places to stay. VERY often, the WDW search Engine will show "no availability". It's enlightening to search an "offer" with "ALL HOTELS" checked - VERY often, the only "available" hotels are the usual suspects.... about 4 locations.
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Yes...usually the Campgrounds at Fort Wilderness, Port Orleans at some absurdly high rate, and the Boardwalk, Contemporary, and GF Villas.... I have no idea what game their trying to pull.
 

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