Another Disney Parks "New Years Eve Announcement" 2012

[Disneyhead'71]

I believe that it will be another free pass for volenteering promo.

You get a free pass if you charitably donate 4 hours of that free day picking up trash, painting, and generally spit shining one of the domestic Disney Parks.

 

[dcibrando]

The announcement will be their new promotion

A year of a thousand tarps and nets to keep you magically safe because we are living in fantasyland when it comes to maintaining the parks like we use to

Or maybe it's just
A year of a thousand cutbacks

I think it'll work. What do you think? lol

 

[harveyt0206]

Sure but one thing to consider is there is a difference between being announced and being announced on national television. For us who regularly post on these threads, it's easy to forget that most other people's lives don't revolve around Disney.

The "New" Fantasyland was announced years ago and has been open for months. Yet I suspect the majority of people watching the Disney Christmas Day Parade had no idea. To them, it was news.

The New Year's Eve announcement could be "real" news or simply something that will be news to the majority watching the show. Either way, it's fun to speculate!

Your point here is something I often forget. I forget that the average person really doesn't pay attention to every sneeze and hiccup that comes out of Disney. While we here on the forum will discuss a new trash can for 28 pages, the average Disney visitor has no clue that Starbucks is new to Disney parks or that extra magic hours were available for three hours instead of two in the evenings. My husband and I can have a Disney centric conversation for hours, as could everyone else who visits this forum. John and Jane Doe just want to take their little girl to meet Cinderella for a price that doesn't bankrupt them.

 

[ExtinctJenn]

While we here on the forum will discuss a new trash can for 28 pages,

This made me LOL... how true is that??

 

[lebeau]

I guess I tuned that part out...as I did much of the commercial.

I watched it on fast forward and slowed down when something caught my interest. I stopped for a minute just to verify that yes, they were publicly acknowledging the GF DVC.

The whole show flew by in about 10 minutes. It's the only way to watch the "parade".

 

[cslafferty]

Perhaps that's the catch 22 the company has placed themselves in now. And the hole they've dug keeps getting deeper. The longer they wait to climb out the harder it'll be.

All I know is if they take away free dining, then they'd better replace it with something that will save me just as much money (and I know that some will argue that free dining isn't free - but I've done the math and it saves DH and I approx. $300/trip). TDO has just about priced us out of our annual trips.

 

[marni1971]

^ and therein lies a problem. Put prices to where they should be and guests don't like it or can't manage it. Keep things artificially cheap and people expect it all the time.

And yet prices as they are warrant a premium product already. Were they to rise even more you'd expect things to be of a Tokyo standard.

Or of course stay off site and get more for less. Which will really mess with the NextGen math.

 

[asianway]

Stitch kingdom is reporting it to be the the Disney time sweepstakes-sounds about right

 

[ExtinctJenn]

Stitch kingdom is reporting it to be the the Disney time sweepstakes-sounds about right

I've seen 3 separate sites saying it's a contest as well. Seems a little odd being that contests are ran constantly but ok...

 

[jlsHouston]

I love these threads..even when they get a bit heated or nasty...they are always so original.. I think if Walt were still alive and running Disney he'd be putting you all to work..

 

[awoogala]

They very much care. I've read two quotes from Iger saying the discounts have to end. I'm sure one of TWDC's top business objectives is to figure out a way to greatly cut back on the "Free Dining" and "Room Only" discounts.

simple solution: price the rooms at what they are actually worth to begin with, and stop the insane price hikes. That way, the average person won't have to mortgage their home or wait for "free" dining or other % off deals. Reasonable hotel prices could save all of this hassle!

 

[Disneyhead'71]

simple solution: price the rooms at what they are actually worth to begin with, and stop the insane price hikes. That way, the average person won't have to mortgage their home or wait for "free" dining or other % off deals. Reasonable hotel prices could save all of this hassle!

Disney NEVER lowers prices. They only increase them and then discount or offer "Free Perks" when the occupancy rates drops.

 

[cslafferty]

simple solution: price the rooms at what they are actually worth to begin with, and stop the insane price hikes. That way, the average person won't have to mortgage their home or wait for "free" dining or other % off deals. Reasonable hotel prices could save all of this hassle!

Exactly! If they just offered deeper resort discounts during the off season, their rooms would be full without offering free dining, the restaurants could go back to being what they once were (better food and not booked up 6 mo. in advance with no chance of a walk-up), and all would be well with the World. Well . . . better, anyway.

 

[menamechris]

Disney NEVER lowers prices. They only increase them and then discount or offer "Free Perks" when the occupancy rates drops.

Exactly. And this creates the problem. Disney feels that its a bad business model to lower prices - yet the consumers do not recognize the product as worth the inflated price. Which makes your brand look stronger? A high, premium price that a middle-class family can realistically splurge on occasionally? Or a "HOLY $#!*" price that the target demographic would otherwise refuse to pay without deep, severe discounting? I don't think Disney will ever "lower" their prices - but I sense a very radical price restructuring happening soon...

 

[Taylor]

The park will be open all day for Groundhog Day

 

[righttrack]

I'm guessing the following:

They were successful in prying the original prints of the original Star Wars Trilogy from Lucas' hands and they are going to re-release the films in their original splendor. No grafted in aliens, no newly colored backgrounds and get rid of that god-awful Hayden Christensen from the Episode VI ending and Han will shoot first!

 

[Rasvar]

I'm guessing the following:

They were successful in prying the original prints of the original Star Wars Trilogy from Lucas' hands and they are going to re-release the films in their original splendor. No grafted in aliens, no newly colored backgrounds and get rid of that god-awful Hayden Christensen from the Episode VI ending and Han will shoot first!

Now, that would be a worthy announcement!

 

[puntagordabob]

\

Last year they announced one more Disney day for leap year, most thought of it as a dud announcement.

What goes on this year???

Actually THAT particular promotion was pretty awesome... Watching the Tiki Room at 5AM and the M,M,&Y Castle show at 5:30AM was PRICELESS! My entire family had a Blast!

 

[Maerj]

Prepare yourselves for....DISNEY TIME!


WWW.DISNEYTIMESWEEPSTAKES.COM

 

[harveyt0206]

It is true that Disney will most likely never "reduce" their prices at this point. I think a massive economic collapse would have to happen before we saw something like that take place. But it does frustrate me to know that I will probably never have the opportunity to stay at the Polynesian due to its high price. $405 per night in a standard room during value season ( week nights only..weekends are higher) is just too rich for my blood. That is $2,025 for five nights. And that's just the room. Add another $1,500 for park hoppers and dining and you see where the theory that Disney is focused on the once in a lifetime vacationers comes in to play.

I'm not saying that there aren't people out there who can afford to pay $4-5k each year for an amazing Disney trip. I'm just unfortunately not one of them. I am one of those folks who watches and hopes for a good discount so that I can rationalize another trip. But, even with the current discounts being offered to Disney Visa card members, a four night stay (Monday to Friday) at the Pop with park hoppers and dining came in at $1,800.00 for two people. That is before travel expenses. Maybe it's just me, but I think that is still too high for four nights. So unless Disney announces deeper discounts than what is currently out there, I don't expect the announcement will be for anything I can enjoy. But I will still watch. I'm a Disney loyalist that way.

My point, I suppose, is that if I could go more often, I absolutely would. And isn't that ultimately the best kind of customer to court? Even if it means keeping your ticket and room prices stagnate for a few years? Disney has raised their prices faster than my household income has increased. I simply can't keep up. And that is quickly going to turn me from a very loyal, annual visitor in to a less loyal and less frequent visitor.