Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[PREMiERdrum]

I just dont get how saying giving people staying “deluxe” free genie helps? Those people have the money anyways and now all you are doing is letting people who didnt buy it get access to it limiting others now.

It's not about increasing system access, it's about adding incentive to fill empty rooms.

 

[Lilofan]

It's not about increasing system access, it's about adding incentive to fill empty rooms.

In the hotel industry it is called " heads on beds ". Also to sell out the hotel nightly is an operational goal. At times if a guest checks out at 6pm, housekeeping will be dispatched to quickly clean the room to have the room available for the front desk to sell the room again ( ie heads on beds ).

 

[Splash4eva]

It's not about increasing system access, it's about adding incentive to fill empty rooms.

Does Disney really think giving say a $100 “discount” on an already overprice room is going to get people to stay deluxe?!? I really hope not

 

[JD80]

Does Disney really think giving say a $100 “discount” on an already overprice room is going to get people to stay deluxe?!? I really hope not

You'd have to combine it with the rack rate discount.

 

[Disone]

I just dont get how saying giving people staying “deluxe” free genie helps? Those people have the money anyways and now all you are doing is letting people who didnt buy it get access to it limiting others now.

It's about adding value to an incredibly overpriced product.....

It's not about increasing system access, it's about adding incentive to fill empty rooms.

You'd be surprised at how high Disney's "low occupancy" actually is. The average occupancy rate of hotels across the United States is about 66% and Disney is well, very well, north of that.

Does Disney really think giving say a $100 “discount” on an already overprice room is going to get people to stay deluxe?!? I really hope not

Again it's more about adding value. Just as having universal express has part of your benefits for staying at a top tier universal resort, including Genie plus with your deluxe resorts they would add value and reason to choose a deluxe resort over a value or moderate.

 

[Splash4eva]

It's about adding value to an incredibly overpriced product.....

You'd be surprised at how high Disney's "low occupancy" actually is. The average occupancy rate of hotels across the United States is about 66% and Disney is well, very well, north of that.

Again it's more about adding value. Just as having universal express has part of your benefits for staying at a top tier universal resort, including Genie plus with your deluxe resorts they would add value and reason to choose a deluxe resort over a value or moderate.

At what cost tho?!? Book a moderate/value and pay for Genie and its way cheaper than booking deluxe and getting free genie… its like when they tiered the free dining packages. I simple upgraded the dining that was offered at my value resort and it still was way cheaper than staying deluxe. As i said. Yea its a great pr spin to try and fool someone but anyone with any intelligence should see right through it

 

[Disone]

At what cost tho?!? Book a moderate/value and pay for Genie and its way cheaper than booking deluxe and getting free genie… its like when they tiered the free dining packages. I simple upgraded the dining that was offered at my value resort and it still was way cheaper than staying deluxe. As i said. Yea its a great pr spin to try and fool someone but anyone with any intelligence should see right through it

That argument could be used for any of the benefits that used to be associated with staying at a Disney resort. Airline check-in and Disney's magical Express.... Could you not just get a shuttle to another hotel and stay for vastly cheaper price than staying on property? Of course you could. That didn't change that those added value and became something they guessed truly miss now that they've have been removed. So genie Plus could be something to replace the value of airline check-in and dizzy's magical Express. Your mileage may vary but others we get a lot of value out of it.

 

[Splash4eva]

That argument could be used for any of the benefits that used to be associated with staying at a Disney resort. Airline check-in and Disney's magical Express.... Could you not just get a shuttle to another hotel and stay for vastly cheaper price than staying on property? Of course you could. That didn't change that those added value and became something they guessed truly miss now that they've have been removed. So genie Plus could be something to replace the value of airline check-in and dizzy's magical Express. Your mileage may vary but others we get a lot of value out of it.

Listen i agree on the others. I immensely miss the luggage being dropped off day you leave. I never used ME (always rent a car) but that was a huge mistake by Disney eliminating that. I just dk how offering free G+ solves any problems if any only creates bigger ones because now you have even more people on the program (not paying may i add) and annoying even more guests who are cut off from purchasing

 

[Nubs70]

This is going in a different direction, but one thing that drives me crazy is their refusal to run attractions at full capacity all day long.

There is no reason one side of Space Mountain should ever be closed from park opening to park closing. Same thing for using only half of the load platforms for Thunder, Guardians, or Remy... or closing a theater or two for Soarin'. It's horrible customer service and it contributes to the artificial crowding.

The less efficiently an attraction operates the more income from G+ and LL.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I was going to save this story for another time, but this seems relevant.

Last Sunday I was doing a VIP tour with my extended family. Everyone but the old people (my mom) and the delicate people (me and my sister Chrissy) go on Guardians. Mom, Chrissy, and I go to Connections Cafe to wait in chairs, with A/C.

As we're waiting to order, the two families in front of us start talking. The first family is telling the second how great DAS is - they've been on 7 rides by lunch, no waiting, they've already got stuff lined up for the afternoon, etc.

The dad in the second family says "It sounds great but I don't think we qualify."

The first dad says (and I'm paraphrasing) "No no no no no - they can't check. You just say something about autism and how your kids can't wait in line. And it's FREE! We're saving so much money!" HE CONTINUES to explain the DAS process, including the minimum you need to say, and urges the second family to go sign up right after eating.

I look at Chrissy (she's done the DAS counting). Chrissy looks at me. We exchange the "people suck" look and continue to wait for our sodas.

People do suck, because then so many look at families like ours and assume if they don't see a visible disability that we're faking it too (I assure you we are not).

 

[Angel Ariel]

They need to go back to how it was with paper FP. If you had DAS you went to the attraction and they gave a return time of whatever the posted wait time was.

I always thought the point of DAS wasn't to give them shorter waits but to avoid waiting in line.

That is still what happens. You can preselect two return times/day if you register DAS ahead of time, but beyond that everything you reserve in the park day of is based on the current standby time.

 

[John park hopper]

I just dont get how saying giving people staying “deluxe” free genie helps? Those people have the money anyways and now all you are doing is letting people who didnt buy it get access to it limiting others now.

You are making the assumption anyone staying at deluxe has the extra money.

 

[LSLS]

I just dont get how saying giving people staying “deluxe” free genie helps? Those people have the money anyways and now all you are doing is letting people who didnt buy it get access to it limiting others now.

I mean, Universal is doing the same thing. It incentivizes spending more and staying on site. I mean, people dropping $5k to travel and stay at Disney have the money to afford $100 in transportation, but there was a huge outcry at the loss of the Magic Express..

 

[CntrlFlPete]

the difference I see between Comcast and Disney is that Comcast is diversifying their portfolio by building up the theme park aspect, they see it as a growing business.

Disney's seems to be diversifying their 'theme park' portfolio by growing their cruise ship business. Regardless, it always seems (as an outsider) that Disney uses their parks to feed others (not really different from Comcast using parks while they still have cable funds coming in).

Therefore, I conclude that Disney still does not see 'growth' in Orlando (I say FL for they do seem to think they can grow CA capacity).

 

[Splash4eva]

You are making the assumption anyone staying at deluxe has the extra money.

Well its a safe assumption if you ask me and honestly if you are running a budget that tight where say an extra 5-600 is a big deal. You may want to reconsider things just my thoughts on the subject

 

[Splash4eva]

I mean, Universal is doing the same thing. It incentivizes spending more and staying on site. I mean, people dropping $5k to travel and stay at Disney have the money to afford $100 in transportation, but there was a huge outcry at the loss of the Magic Express..

To me it wasnt about the money. It was the fact Disney was basically ensuring people are in the bubble the minute they land to the minute they leave. Or at least doing their best to make that happen.

 

[LSLS]

To me it wasnt about the money. It was the fact Disney was basically ensuring people are in the bubble the minute they land to the minute they leave. Or at least doing their best to make that happen.

Sure, but why would that exact same thing not apply to free genie + for deluxe guests? It's not about the fact people can afford it, it's about giving people the perception of added value if you stay on site with one of their deluxe hotels.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Oh it's going to be a blood bath. The average person in 2025, before looking at pricing, is thinking about an Orlando trip in three different ways:

1) Standard WDW trip but with a day for EU
2) Universal Trip but with a day for WDW
3) Universal Trip

Regardless if that person is a WDW fan or not, EU is going to be on everyone's mind in 2025. Disney and Universal are going to bitterly fighting to get days from people and Uni has the upper hand.

Disney is going to have to fight to get as many #1s as possible. You are going to lose a lot of people to a single day at EU. That is the baseline attrition you need to fight for.

The problem for Disney is that Universal is going to play hard at making their resort a full week stay. In order to do that, they will have no issue to HIGHLY incentivize you for a multi day stay like you said. Buy 2 days at EU and get 2 days at UFL/IoA for steep discounts for example.

To prevent that from enticing too many people, Disney is going to have to do something to incentive at least more day trips to WDW from Universal to at least capture some losses. Disney has to fight hard for as many #1s as possible while being aggressive to save as many #2s from being #3s.

Ultimately we win in every scenario as a consumer.

edit:
Yes there will be plenty of people who are doing a WDW only trip and won't consider Universal at all. There is still a demo of families with very small children that Universal won't capture yet.

In the past - universal couldn’t make a discernible dent - which is why this coming year or two is a fascinating new case study

1. Disney has not had the “product” problems to this extent in many decades. Not good timing for the parks biz.
2. Disney has never allowed uni to expand without a slate of responses. The bobs really screwed up here. But they’re being proven to be awful park managers - it just took awhile to really manifest itself.
3. After the south campus opens - universal will be close to offering a comparative size rival. 3 parks…a water park…15 hotels…
Remember when universal opened…wdw could eat it. Same with IOA…
Now you can gobble a week if you want…or at least 5+ days. That’s a landscape shift

Disney has really screwed up. They “tinkered with philosophy” with their golden goose. And they have been far too willing to try and push it…bleed it as opposed to care for it.
And Comcast took the opening.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I see we have gone to the inevitable:

“What about free genie for deluxe?”


Customers have always fundamentally misunderstood this “deluxe” thing. They are not that…they just have the highest surcharge of locales. That’s it. Nothing different really about the service or operation.

So when you pay for the poly…it’s not that you are a “whale” and therefore get incentives…you just want to pay more for the theming and want to be able to talk about it later. Their commitment to you ends there.

They also don’t want to start the giveaway game. The pressure they want to exert is: “why do you want it for free when you can AFFORD it”

It’s stupid…it’s Bobism…
But you didn't have a spine when they set you up during/after the housing crash…why bother growing one now?

 

[Disstevefan1]

In the past - universal couldn’t make a discernible debt - which is why this coming year or two is a fascinating new case study

1. Disney has not had the “product” problems to this extent in many decades. Not good timing for the parks biz.
2. Disney has never allowed uni to expand without a slate of responses. The bobs really screwed up here. But they’re being proven to be awful park managers - it just took awhile to really manifest itself.
3. After the south campus opens - universal will be close to offering a comparative size rival. 3 parks…a water park…15 hotels…
Remember when universal opened…wdw could eat it. Same with IOA…
Now you can gobble a week if you want…or at least 5+ days. That’s a landscape shift

Disney has really screwed up. They “tinkered with philosophy” with their golden goose. And they have been far too willing to try and push it…bleed it as opposed to care for it.
And Comcast took the opening.

It will be interesting if the family from Denver use the majority of their finite number of vacation days at Universal instead of Disney going forward.

Disney will only react AFTER they see what happens to THE MONEY!