Hermie said:
You read a lot about people waiting for AP rates to come out, special packages to be announced, etc., etc. These hotels and their inflated rates, were most defenitely (in my opinion), the ideas and visions of Walt Disney. Michael Eisner yes. Walt Disney no. And while Mr. Eisner has done many great things for The Company, I don't think these resorts/rates are in keeping with the tradition of the man himself.
Nonsense. Walt was about offering a quality product, and making a profit on it. So much so that on regular intervals in the studio's early years, Walt would go weeks without paying his animators, just to keep the business afloat. Walt never had a problem with having higher costs than the competition, so long as the quality of the product reflected the value of the increased cost. When Disneyland opened, it cost more to get in that a standard amusement park. But wouldn't you rather go to Disneyland than, say, Miracle Strip in Panama City Beach?
Hermie said:
But somewhere along the way a group of adults got together and decided that these resorts would be a great idea for other adults in terms of luxury and pampering. (I don't think that saunas' and spas, and gyms, really matter that much to the vast majority of children.) And if these ideas were really working so well, they wouldn't be half-booked, closed, or being used by AP holders who get 40% discounted rates. My point being that had they stayed with the visions of Walt, just used todays technology and talent that obviously exists throughout the company, something tells me that ticket prices would be lower, resorts more affordable, attractions more attractive and the parks/rooms booked year round.
Totally wrong, and I'll tell you why. First off, check out your history. The first hotels built at Disney, based on their plans before Walt passed, were deluxe resorts: Contemporary, and Polynesian. The closest thing they had to a value resort was the Campground. In 1977 it cost 56 dollars a night to stay at Contemporary. Sounds cheap doesn't it? Then again, gas didn't cost 1.76 a gallon in 1977, a pay phone cost a dime, and so on and so on... You wanna know why the deluxe resorts cost so much, thank inflation. And thank the fact that the Disney resorts have a much larger ammount of upkeep costs, transportation costs, and so on.
The deluxe resorts are not half empty. I know because I'm having to turn guests away day after day at DRC. Passholders only get a 30% discount, same as florida residents. The only exception is Animal Kingdom Lodge, which occasionally runs the discount at better percentage. This stuff you read in the news about the company suffering is a joke. We actually made our sales quota for the last fiscal year. It's what's called a reverse-peak. Everyone we expected to come during the peak season held off due to the war. When that died down, they started calling again. So much so that all of us are stuck working 10 mandatory hours of overtime a week just to keep the phone lines from being overrun.
And did the company change the seasonal rates to recoup the loss of the peak season revenue? No. We didn't have to. People booking packages like the Fairytale plan and the new Magical Gatherings Plan made up the loss and then some.
The value resorts don't stayed booked up at a greater rate than any of the other resorts. It all has to do with season. For example. December 4th, 5th, and 6th are value season dates. But there's a special event going on, so several of the delux resorts are completely sold out... but the values still have rooms....
I've had numerous people booking for next march/April who wanted deluxe accomodations and had to settle for Caribbean or Pop Century because no deluxe rooms were available, short of 2000.00 a night suites at 1B or 1P (Grand or Poly.)
I'm averaging 21,000-35,000.00 a day in sales, and let me tell you... it's not all star rooms...
-M
