Future Incentives to Stay on Property

[WDW Insider]

I posted this elsewhere in the rumors forum about how Jim "GoS" Hill speculated/hinted that Disney would charge a premium for the RFID effect on rides, and that it would be bundled with a video diary of your day.

That's not being planned at any level as far as I am aware. RFID is being planned as an incorporation into every single ticket and will potentially be used for everything from dining to fast passes to ride experiences to recreations... it will be part of the Walt Disney World experience, not a premium service.

 

[GothMickey]

That's not being planned at any level as far as I am aware. RFID is being planned as an incorporation into every single ticket and will potentially be used for everything from dining to fast passes to ride experiences to recreations... it will be part of the Walt Disney World experience, not a premium service.

So, will this basically be something like name recognition for attractions where charcaters call your name out like on ET in Universal? Or is it going to be a lot more indepth, like the interactive buildings that are said to be part of the Harry Potter experience in IOA?

 

[xtimMOOthyx]

Sounds nice. I'm not jumping around excited, but it's nice.


What's this about a Poly Refurb, though?

I was thinking the refurbishing of the rooms and Great Ceremonial House. I'm not aware of another DVC addition. I wouldn't be surprised, however...

 

[EPCOT Explorer]

I was thinking the refurbishing of the rooms and Great Ceremonial House. I'm not aware of another DVC addition. I wouldn't be surprised, however...

Would you think it needs it? I've never stayed there, and only love Poly for it's ambiance and beach.:lol: Needless to say....It's a strong love.:lol:

 

[trr1]

the point system sounds like it might cost more money for thing to do at WDW
example
package gives you 4 points for parks.Then you buy points for park hopper, and more points for waterparks ,then more points for disney quest ect
:fork::fork:

 

[lentesta]

And I say all of that to get to the tidbit of information, that yes, the company is looking at providing even more incentive for park guests to stay on-property. Some of these incentives include reduced golf rates for guests of Deluxe Resorts, a more casual Wishes Cruise for guests of the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Polynesian and Wilderness Lodge Resorts, a more casual Illuminations Cruise for guests of the Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Boardwalk Resorts (Swan and Dolphin are possibilities at this point), and even semi-personalized phone calls / messages from your favorite Disney characters in your room. All of these are still on the table, and they are all in relation to the future rollout of RFID cards.

I suspect very few people care about any of these things, or would use them to justify the increased cost of a deluxe resort. It's either woefully bad thinking on Disney's part, or the OP is pulling our legs.

 

[Vince3]

I gotta agree with lentesta. ho-hum.

len nice job on the new edtion...it kicks.

 

[Goofy Tourist]

Will the new rates be in place for the Christmas season, or is this further away than that?

 

[wannabeBelle]

Hey there all, Thanks for the interesting information. I Am a big fan of staying on property for any number of reasons, but the one thing I am noticing, is that with the advent of the great dining plan options, it is getting tougher and tougher to find restaurants to utilize them at!!! Any chance of more restaurants being built or re-opening some of the venues that were closed recently such as Boatwright's for breakfast, the Garden Grill for breakfast and lunch, Chef Mickey's for lunch etc? I understand building new restaurants could be time consuming, but to open a restaurant that already is open for other meal times would probably be relatively simple. Even re-opening a restaurant such as Bon Famile at French Quarter might not be so difficult. Any thoughts on this? Belle

 

[s8film40]

I don't really see any of this as an effective incentive to stay on property. The only thing that sounds half way interesting is the fireworks cruises, however with the number of hotels assigned to each cruise I don't think the cruises will be anything close to casual, with a conservative estimate of 7000 people staying in the Magic Kingdom resorts it seems obvious that only a select few guests will be able to participate. Not that I'm for it but the only thing I see as an effective way to drive more business for the hotels will be to give them some type of FastPass advantage, I'm sure this well eventually happen.

 

[JamieD]

I am not too familiar with the RFID concept, but reading about it here and there reminds of a few years ago...'03 maybe...I talked to a guy who was shooting footage for a promotional video for some kind of Mickey who talked and gave tidbits of info as you moved through the park. I don't remember actually seeing this "toy" at the World, though. Was it scrapped? Is the RFID newer technology with a similar concept?

 

[DisneyJoe]

Pal mickey

 

[Figment4Ever]

I'm not really sure how these incentives will convince people to stay on property if they weren't already planning on it. ("you know, I was thinking I'd stay in my 3 bedroom suite for $100/night off property, but HEY! I CAN TAKE A CRUISE IF I STAY AT THE GRAND FLORIDIAN!" - really?? How is that an incentive?) Maybe it would convince people to upgrade to a deluxe from a moderate, but even that doesn't seem likely to me.

However I can imagine that business is suffering on a lot of the recreational attractions mentioned...people come down to the hotels on these great deals and eat at the restaurants because they get the dining plan and go to the parks because that's the point - but who wants to spend money on all the "added" things in this economy, when there's plenty to do in the parks to keep you busy? What I see this package doing, depending on how it's priced, is convincing people to do recreational activities they otherwise might not have, alleviating some of the crowds in the parks and making those activities look busy. (Also, it could trick people into believing they're saving money when they really aren't...but that all depends on how the "incentive" works)

Extra magic hours, magic express, shipping packages to the room - those are incentives to stay on property. A new package plan is really just a way to make the WPF&M pass "worthwhile" now that they stole Pleasure Island away from us, if you ask me.

But who knows, maybe when the full info comes out I'll change my mind...

 

[GeneralZod]

If Disney wants me to continue to stay on property, then they need to make fixing the bus system a priority. We stayed at Boardwalk for the first time a few months ago and I have to admit that the buses alone made me, for the very first time, wish I had paid LESS to stay at a moderate. From any park to our hotel was no less than five stops; and to go to any park it was no less than two! Seriously... I know Disney doesn't OWE me anything other than the bed I am paying for (been a lurker here for a while, so I know those people will inevitably come out of the woodwork), but it they want me to stay on-site and continue to pay deluxe resort prices simply for location then they really need to work on this.

Contemporary is my home, but in the future I will not rule out Riverside again for the transportation alone.

Each deluxe resort should have it's own bus system. There, I said it.

 

[ryguy]

I do like the discount golf idea for deluxe resort guests and I would agree Deluxe hotels should have free wi-fi. The coffee shop idea is a good one. Other than that nothing really jumps out at me as "more enticing" to stay on property. As far as the bus system, I rent a car, it keeps me sane. :lol:

 

[Maerj]

If Disney wants me to continue to stay on property, then they need to make fixing the bus system a priority. We stayed at Boardwalk for the first time a few months ago and I have to admit that the buses alone made me, for the very first time, wish I had paid LESS to stay at a moderate. From any park to our hotel was no less than five stops; and to go to any park it was no less than two! Seriously... I know Disney doesn't OWE me anything other than the bed I am paying for (been a lurker here for a while, so I know those people will inevitably come out of the woodwork), but it they want me to stay on-site and continue to pay deluxe resort prices simply for location then they really need to work on this.

Contemporary is my home, but in the future I will not rule out Riverside again for the transportation alone.

Each deluxe resort should have it's own bus system. There, I said it.

Improving the bus system is THE best incentive Disney could offer! That goes for all the resorts in general.

 

[scbb11Sketch]

Just to put in my two cents on the wifi, we stayed at Swan and Dolphin over Christmas and they offered free wifi, and it made the stay so much more enjoyable. It didn't effect my time spent at the parks at all. If anything it was nicer to be able to check their website for times and info, come on here to see if there was anything new I was missing, and upload pictures for my friends to see. So free wifi needs to be implemented soon. Those other "incentives" won't do anything for the normal once a year family.

 

[hrcollectibles]

Hey there all, Thanks for the interesting information. I Am a big fan of staying on property for any number of reasons, but the one thing I am noticing, is that with the advent of the great dining plan options, it is getting tougher and tougher to find restaurants to utilize them at!!! Any chance of more restaurants being built or re-opening some of the venues that were closed recently such as Boatwright's for breakfast, the Garden Grill for breakfast and lunch, Chef Mickey's for lunch etc? I understand building new restaurants could be time consuming, but to open a restaurant that already is open for other meal times would probably be relatively simple. Even re-opening a restaurant such as Bon Famile at French Quarter might not be so difficult. Any thoughts on this? Belle

Isn't that why they closed Pleasure Island.. More Dining and Shopping and we see how that is going :shrug:

 

[Scar Junior]

Thought I'd give a small update on some of the park going-ons. No, I will not be discussing the new Fantasyland plans as all of that is still in-company and being formulated. The only thing I will say about the monorail is that you can expect not to have riders in the front cockpit for at least the next six months. Everything else is being formulated. Now, onto what I can say =)

Refurbishment work on the Polynesian Resort is ahead of schedule, Bay Lake Tower is finished and ready for its grand opening, Kidani Village has been open for some time (and yes, we're getting ready to do more and better pemanent signage at AKL to help with some confusion), and the Grand Floridian is even receiving some exterior work... all in all, it's going to be a very nice few years at Walt Disney World Resort for on-property guests. And I say all of that to get to the tidbit of information, that yes, the company is looking at providing even more incentive for park guests to stay on-property. Some of these incentives include reduced golf rates for guests of Deluxe Resorts, a more casual Wishes Cruise for guests of the Grand Floridian, Contemporary, Polynesian and Wilderness Lodge Resorts, a more casual Illuminations Cruise for guests of the Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Boardwalk Resorts (Swan and Dolphin are possibilities at this point), and even semi-personalized phone calls / messages from your favorite Disney characters in your room. All of these are still on the table, and they are all in relation to the future rollout of RFID cards.

Also in relation to the way tickets are being upgraded in the future, plans are being made to change the way Options work on tickets. We're currently looking at changing them to a point system where many extra activities take a certain number of points (1-2). Guests would be able to add additional points to their tickets should they need to do so. Some of the categories we're looking at right now are:

Gold (2 Points):
- Walt Disney World Water Parks
- DisneyQuest
- Oak Trail Golf Course
- Moderate Watercraft Rental
- Horseback Riding

Silver (1 Points):
- Walt Disney World Miniature Golf
- Small Watercraft Rental
- Bicycle Rental
- Arcade Freeplay

The goal is to streamline these activities more so that guests are more aware of these opportunities and take advantage of them. It's much more enticing and convenient to participate in many of the extras offered at WDW besides just the theme parks, if they can be bundled on your ticket rather than having to be reserved and purchased separately.

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I just want to make sure I have it right...

The point system is only in relation to park tickets and would have nothing to do with on-site incentives. Correct?

 

[wannabeBelle]

Isn't that why they closed Pleasure Island.. More Dining and Shopping and we see how that is going :shrug:

As far as Dining, there are several of the newer restaurants in DTD that arent on the Dining plan so that isnt a win for an onsite guest. I think that having a variety of dining options is great but I wouldnt want to head to DTD first thing in the morning. I prefer either a sit down option at my resort or someplace great in the park that I am heading to in the morning. Belle