Rowdy
Member
Exactly. Notice there's hardly any "Walt Disney World'' commercials anymore. It's "Walt Disney World.... and this discount!". There's no need for them to advertise the parks, just the discounts.
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Less discounts at Disney
- Thread starter lt94
- Start date
Exactly. Notice there's hardly any "Walt Disney World'' commercials anymore. It's "Walt Disney World.... and this discount!". There's no need for them to advertise the parks, just the discounts.
SyracuseOrange
Well-Known Member
Disney is playing the retail game. And ever since the economy went sour, retail is a discount-driven industry. You mark-up so that you can discount. Disney knows what they are doing.
Hakunamatata
Le Meh
Criticize Disney all you want about pricing structure etc.....bottom line they are a popular, profitable vacation destination that keeps drawing people back (burned out light bulbs or not). They are doing something right.
Brian Noble
Well-Known Member
Huh? I can't turn around without seeing Eli telling me that he's going to Disney World. Granted, I watch a lot of ESPN, but still...
Rowdy
Member
Hardly - 1. Scarcely; almost not; barely
Yes, I believe there is one commercial where they don't talk about a discount. Being that the Super Bowl was not even a week ago, I'm sure that commercial will be long gone in 2 weeks.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I hate to point this out to you, but WDW doesn't really market itself to locals. You guys don't spend nearly as much on your day trips as we vacationers do when we are staying in the resorts for a week and eating Disney food.
If you need more proof of the fact that TDO couldn't care less about locals making day trips, you need only look to the upcoming changes to Fastpass. If you want a park that panders to the locals, you may need to move to Southern California.
BigThunderMatt
Well-Known Member
They aren't catering to the locals with the resort prices I can tell you that. Grant it, I'm a CM but I can get 50-60% off on rooms here at WDW, but the rates they offer to CM's there are practically rack rate for Grand Floridian here, I shudder to think what regular guests pay at their resorts.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
All of their hotels are "deluxe" (so they claim). Luckily, there are plenty of fantastic Good Neighbor Resorts in Anaheim that are reasonably-priced and closer to Disneyland than most WDW resorts are to the parks. We loved our stay at the Sheraton Anaheim which is literally right behind Disneyland (you can watch the fireworks from the parking lot).
Rowdy
Member
You put an enormous amount of words in my mouth for absolutely no reason, lol. But sure, that's why there's a Florida Resident discount. Although, I don't know why you typed any of that. It really had nothing to do with what I said. I never said Disney did or didn't care about locals. I said what I said, take it for face value, and you'll know exactly what I meant.
Bottom line, if it were $10 cheaper I know tons of more people who would go, and the overhead would be greater than the $10 they lost. I'm sorry you typed out that useless amount of information that I'm pretty sure everyone knows, and like I said, was totally irrelevant to what I was even saying.
worldfanatic
Well-Known Member
Frankly, I don't want to go to a place where "tons of more people" will show up because it's only "$10 cheaper".
Sounds like a "low end crowd" I don't want to be around.
And I can pretty much guarantee I spend much, much more on my visits than the average local does. MUCH MORE!!!!
Disney knows what they're doing.
Trust me....they don't need your business advice.:wave:
Dwarful
Well-Known Member
Just curious as to the percent of people who pack rack rate on Disney vacations. We have received numerous pin codes this year...from room rate discounts to free dining good through the end of June. I couldn't tell you the last time we paid rack rate for any of our Disney vacations.
zweltar
Well-Known Member
I have never gotten a pin code. I could use some of your secrets....
JimboJones123
Well-Known Member
The only crappy Pin codes I have gotten are 10% off value, 15% off moderate, 20% off deluxe.
I have gotten this pin more than a half dozen times the past 6-7 years. That is the only one.
I have gotten this pin more than a half dozen times the past 6-7 years. That is the only one.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I'd rather that type of person stay over at Gatorland, personally. If charging $90/day keeps out the riff raff, I'll pay it.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
First, many 'locals (both WDW and DL) drive in and spend many days at the resorts. I'm three hours away and have spent two weeks up there and as many as 12 nights in a row at a WDW resort.
Oh, we 'locals' also largely kept the lights on in times like the 1991 and 2000-01 recessions and in the 2-3 year post 9/11 period.
DL doesn't 'pander' to any group. That's largely why it is such a quality product and in many ways getting better all the time. DLR management looks at putting out the best quality product for all because that will make the most people happy.
WDW is catering to the 1-2 times a year on-property guest and they largely have been throughout the Decade Plus of Decline. All guests aren't treated equally (as VIPs ... notice they NEVER use that Walt line in PR anymore or on construction walls!).
But if the topic is discounts (right?) while Disney has dialed back on some ... they have plenty out there (although, no, I don't think I'll take advantage of that 'great'
AP offer of $86 a night for a value motel, that arrived in my email today, when I can Priceline a resort for less!) ... and the discounting isn't simply visible to many WDW-centric fans. DL and DLP are tossing out discounts almost as regularly as WDW ... and some great deals can be had if you want a seven-night Wonder cruise to Mexico (one reason why they abruptly decided to pull the ship from it's LA 'base' and port it in Miami starting in December) ... oh, and let's not forget the Aulani deals ... and the offers to CMs too (smart fanbois have many CM friends, so they can go to lunch at 40% off and buy Christmas goodies at 50% off and sometimes even stay at resorts for 60% off!)
It's all a numbers game and if you torture them enough, they'll say anything ... but discounting is a HUGE driver of P&R these days and WDW is the worst offender. ... But I haven't paid rack rate for a WDW resort since 1998 myself and will never again!
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
They've gone waaay up. I can tell you I used to get AP rates at PPH in 2005-06 frame (when I lived in the area but didn't want to drive home late or wanted a long weekend) in the $69-79 range. Some CM pals recently stayed there and paid close to $200 a night, which is insane. I enjoyed my $50 a night Pricelined room at a nearby Marriott.
But DL is much more capable of getting a larger percentage of people to pay more because there is a scarcity of 'on property' rooms.
WDW has close to 25,000 ... so for everyone rich/dumb enough to pay rack rate for a night at the Poly, there are 3 or 4 people paying 30-50% less depending on time and discount offered.
WDW1974
Well-Known Member
Funny ... (or not) ... but I see more riff raff at WDW now with prices higher than ever (discounts or not) than I ever did say 15-20 years ago when it cost a whole lot less to visit, stay, dine etc.
A friend told me tonight that he again noticed (he's a local with family visiting) that WDW crowds appeared a whole lot more like 'riff raff' than the crowds at UNI/IOA this week.
Rowdy
Member
Where did I say they did? :wave:
Your assumptions hold no water. Because frankly you have no idea what locals spend.
Understand: Disney offers discounts for THEIR benefit...nobody probably cares whether YOUR vacation is affordable or not. Face it: Their projections are pretty accurate. If data shows more people coming and spending more money, they can offer fewer discounts and make more money per room. The occupancy may grow slowly, but if your goal is $ per room, then that's what you base discounting on.