Free Dining for the Fall tied to crowd predictions?

[monothingie]

This is a really great point. I just wanted to quote it for emphasis. If WWoHP was just Diagon Alley shops I'd still go. If it was just Hogsmeade, I'm still there. Hogwarts and no rides, I'm still in. But you make it some location that's not relevant to the places I love from the books, and I'm not really interested anymore.

I don't really get into Star Wars so I didn't really understand the angst before about this being a different location. I get it now. So thank you!

I think this touches on the most understated problem with what Disney has done here, the assumption that SWGE will be reason why a majority of guests will visit WDW and it helps explain the slowness. Because of the breadth of entertainment options at WDW people go to WDW for a variety of reasons. Food and Wine, Halloween Parties, Dining, princesses, whatever. SWGE will bring in people but for many it won’t be the driver for their visit. Add to the fact that everyone will have to pay extra through parkwide price increases regardless of their interest really creates a problem that maybe should have been expected.

 

[wdisney9000]

About a month ago I struck up a conversation with a random guy sitting at the bar. We were talking about Game of Thrones and then Rise of Skywalker came up. He was a big Star Wars fan. He had heard about Star Wars GE but didnt know much in regards to opening dates. I gave him some info without trying to sound like to much of a Disney nerd and he was definitely excited about it.

Fast forward to yesterday evening and I ran into the same guy while getting some hot wings. He was with a friend (also a Star Wars fan) and they asked me if Star Wars land had opened yet. I gave them an update on info for WDW. They asked a bunch of questions about the land. These guys were obviously big time Star Wars fans. They knew their stuff (in regards to Star Wars, not WDW). Both said they hadnt been to WDW since they were kids. I asked if they were gonna make a trip to check out Galaxies Edge. They both said yes, but probly not until some time next year. I asked them why would they wait and wouldnt they wanna check it out asap? Both said if the main ride (RoTR) wasnt opening until later this year, they'd rather wait, and that they knew WDW was expensive and they werent in any rush to spend a lot of money just to see it.

Perhaps this could be the attitude of many people who are Star Wars fans, but not necessarily WDW fans. Excited about it, but not in a rush to drop WDW vacation prices. They did ask how much ticket prices were and I told them prices for one day and multi day tickets, which didnt help convince them much. The kicker was that one of them said, "have you seen that Harry Potter World at Universal, that looks awesome"!! I was cracking up (in my head).

 

[LuvWDW2]

About a month ago I struck up a conversation with a random guy sitting at the bar. We were talking about Game of Thrones and then Rise of Skywalker came up. He was a big Star Wars fan. He had heard about Star Wars GE but didnt know much in regards to opening dates. I gave him some info without trying to sound like to much of a Disney nerd and he was definitely excited about it.

Fast forward to yesterday evening and I ran into the same guy while getting some hot wings. He was with a friend (also a Star Wars fan) and they asked me if Star Wars land had opened yet. I gave them an update on info for WDW. They asked a bunch of questions about the land. These guys were obviously big time Star Wars fans. They knew their stuff (in regards to Star Wars, not WDW). Both said they hadnt been to WDW since they were kids. I asked if they were gonna make a trip to check out Galaxies Edge. They both said yes, but probly not until some time next year. I asked them why would they wait and wouldnt they wanna check it out asap? Both said if the main ride (RoTR) wasnt opening until later this year, they'd rather wait, and that they knew WDW was expensive and they werent in any rush to spend a lot of money just to see it.

Perhaps this could be the attitude of many people who are Star Wars fans, but not necessarily WDW fans. Excited about it, but not in a rush to drop WDW vacation prices. They did ask how much ticket prices were and I told them prices for one day and multi day tickets, which didnt help convince them much. The kicker was that one of them said, "have you seen that Harry Potter World at Universal, that looks awesome"!! I was cracking up (in my head).

I have had many similar conversations. In fact, many Star Wars (not Disney)fans don’t understand that there are identical lands on both coasts and don’t know which one is currently open. I get a lot of “oh, I thought it was already open?” Me: just at Disneyland in CA. Them: “oh, they have one too?”

Additionally, because I’m in my mid 40s, most of my SW friends care more about the Falcon simply because the OT are our favorite SW movies. RotR may be the better ride but it’s still sequel stuff. YMMV.

 

[LSLS]

About a month ago I struck up a conversation with a random guy sitting at the bar. We were talking about Game of Thrones and then Rise of Skywalker came up. He was a big Star Wars fan. He had heard about Star Wars GE but didnt know much in regards to opening dates. I gave him some info without trying to sound like to much of a Disney nerd and he was definitely excited about it.

Fast forward to yesterday evening and I ran into the same guy while getting some hot wings. He was with a friend (also a Star Wars fan) and they asked me if Star Wars land had opened yet. I gave them an update on info for WDW. They asked a bunch of questions about the land. These guys were obviously big time Star Wars fans. They knew their stuff (in regards to Star Wars, not WDW). Both said they hadnt been to WDW since they were kids. I asked if they were gonna make a trip to check out Galaxies Edge. They both said yes, but probly not until some time next year. I asked them why would they wait and wouldnt they wanna check it out asap? Both said if the main ride (RoTR) wasnt opening until later this year, they'd rather wait, and that they knew WDW was expensive and they werent in any rush to spend a lot of money just to see it.

Perhaps this could be the attitude of many people who are Star Wars fans, but not necessarily WDW fans. Excited about it, but not in a rush to drop WDW vacation prices. They did ask how much ticket prices were and I told them prices for one day and multi day tickets, which didnt help convince them much. The kicker was that one of them said, "have you seen that Harry Potter World at Universal, that looks awesome"!! I was cracking up (in my head).

Obviously that is hugely anecdotal, but if they represent the norm (and am not saying they do at this point), that would mean Iger made a GIANT whiff with his "We don't even need to advertise" statement.

 

[wdisney9000]

I have had many similar conversations. In fact, many Star Wars (not Disney)fans don’t understand that there are identical lands on both coasts and don’t know which one is currently open. I get a lot of “oh, I thought it was already open?” Me: just at Disneyland in CA. Them: “oh, they have one too?”

Additionally, because I’m in my mid 40s, most of my SW friends care more about the Falcon simply because the OT are our favorite SW movies. RotR may be the better ride but it’s still sequel stuff. YMMV.

Our conversation was similar in regards to them not knowing that Disney built one on each coast.

Obviously that is hugely anecdotal, but if they represent the norm (and am not saying they do at this point), that would mean Iger made a GIANT whiff with his "We don't even need to advertise" statement.

I completely realize that this was just 2 people and they dont represent every Star Wars (or Disney) fan. But as @LuvWDW2 mentioned, I too have had other conversations with Star Wars fan who arent exactly WDW fans and their lack of knowledge about GE was surprising. Even my own brother, (who is a huge WDW fan) and has read all the Star Wars novels/cannon and is a bigger SW fan than me, isnt chomping at the bit to book a vacation. IMO, they took a big chance going with a land based off little from the original series aside from parking the Falcon smack dab in the middle. Light Sabers and blue milk may not be enough to have the hard core fans drooling to get there and check it out on opening day. Excited about it? Yes. But not enough to rush there. I think the crowds that will swamp opening day will be a majority of WDW fans that wanna check out the new land. Of course there will be hard core SW fans there, but id bet about only 30%. Again, just IMO.

 

[LuvWDW2]

And don’t discount the feelings of Star Wars faithful that are still mad that Lucas sold to Disney.

To bring it back to the thread at hand, I’m going opening weekend and the new Disney Visa room only promo did save me a few extra bucks per night over the Sun & Fun promo I booked the day SW:GE opening day was announced. So maybe I will try the blue milk to see if it’s as bad as I fear

 

[larryz]

Obviously that is hugely anecdotal, but if they represent the norm (and am not saying they do at this point), that would mean Iger made a GIANT whiff with his "We don't even need to advertise" statement.

I'm surprised he didn't say "I could shoot Greedo in the middle of 5th Avenue and nobody would blink an eye..."

 

[bUU]

From what I've read the free dining offer is commonly a worse deal for guests over room discounts, but people still wait for it.

Precisely. It's a sought-after feature, even though it often isn't the best financial decision for guests.

Sooooo what is happening is the expected result that all these professionals with loads of success behind them expected to happen?

It is called a "model" because while its structure and artifacts are determined in advance the end result responds to environmental variables and analysis done continuously within the parameters of the model.

Your mistake in your reasoning is that you assume the professionals with loads of success are competent and not just lackeys in the corporate echo chamber.

Your "mistake in your reasoning" is that (a) you don't read what you reply to for comprehension and understanding (see highlights, above, though I wonder if you can go over what you wrote and what I wrote and realize what you missed); and (b) you're allowing your fan-brain to overrule your business-brain, and in the process desperately resorting to inanely baseless derision toward people who are doing their jobs exceedingly well.

The dichotomies are interesting, like the complainers are desperately grasping at straws to fabricate some way to complain. I noted yesterday how, here, one set of complainers are highlighting how (they think that) free dining means that Disney sees fewer people visiting than they anticipated, while (in another thread on another forum) another set of complainers are highlighting how anemic the free dining offer was this year. Grasping at straws.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I have no horse in this race. We do neither free dining nor room discounts. But we are in Disney’s Q4, when they will trot out whatever tricks they need to in order to ensure the numbers are what they need them to be so the stock price doesn’t get hammered. Throwing out a free dining offer later this year than in years past, especially in light of the self-inflicted stumbles with the “we don’t even need to market it” SW:GE opening, is ... suspicious...

“Hey Brain, we gotta bring up them spendin’ numbers, they ain’t lookin’ too good cuz we screwed up in California and we can’t do the same thing in Florida. What are we gonna do??”

“Just do what we always do, Pinky, throw out a free dining offer and milk the cash cow in Florida.”