New Policies for Discount Marketing Offers.

[lewisc]

I'm sure those numbers are a trade secret. Previous news reports seem to indicate first time guests spend a lot more $$$ on souvenirs and restaurants. Guests who make one or two trips in their lifetime don't care how much they charge.

Repeat guests are much more likely to take advantage of budget techniques and may not see the need to do HDD every year.

I don't see any problem of limiting AP discounted rooms to holders of AP and verifying that AAA discounted rooms are going to members of AAA.

I'd be interested to see the revenue %'s of new guests vs. return guests. Anyone have an idea of what these numbers are?

 

[donaldfan]

When will AP discount rooms for October be available for booking?

I'm thinking about getting an AP if I can get a room at the Poly for the dates I'm going.

 

[shoppingnut]

I'm sure those numbers are a trade secret. Previous news reports seem to indicate first time guests spend a lot more $$$ on souvenirs and restaurants. Guests who make one or two trips in their lifetime don't care how much they charge.

Repeat guests are much more likely to take advantage of budget techniques and may not see the need to do HDD every year.

I don't see any problem of limiting AP discounted rooms to holders of AP and verifying that AAA discounted rooms are going to members of AAA.

This is not necessarily true as on this last trip we stayed in a deluxe, ate a sit down restaurants every night, and even did Cirque du Soleil. So while I might not be spending on souveniers, I'm spending on other big ticket items.

This definitely affects me as I am a single person, so can now only book one room, so no one will be coming with me and I will now be looking for rates off-site if going with others in my family. This is a typical situation of not looking at the overall picture. I could see reducing the amount of rooms to 2 per pass, but one is just shooting yourself in the foot because if I find a hotel off property that I like much better, you can bet I will be staying there from now on and when travel suffers a downturn, they will have to come across with some very hefty discounts to get me to stay with them.

 

[ieffectfor_disn]

This is not necessarily true as on this last trip we stayed in a deluxe, ate a sit down restaurants every night, and even did Cirque du Soleil. So while I might not be spending on souveniers, I'm spending on other big ticket items.

This definitely affects me as I am a single person, so can now only book one room, so no one will be coming with me and I will now be looking for rates off-site if going with others in my family. This is a typical situation of not looking at the overall picture. I could see reducing the amount of rooms to 2 per pass, but one is just shooting yourself in the foot because if I find a hotel off property that I like much better, you can bet I will be staying there from now on and when travel suffers a downturn, they will have to come across with some very hefty discounts to get me to stay with them.

I totally agree! I am on the only passholder in my family as I live in FL and the rest of my family lives in NJ. Now with this change from 3 rooms to 1, unless 4 adults are going to share two beds, I'm going to have to fork over more money for an additional room in the case that the rest of my family comes down.

I also think that they should've changed the policy to 2 rooms. It's been 3 rooms for a long time, why did they need to make such a drastic change?

 

[cabihler]

just some rambling on my part

my family and i have been going there for quite a few years. back in the day when there was just the original 3 on property resorts like everyone else we would stay on Rt 192. about a year after the Caribbean Beach was built we stayed there and loved it and of course the benefits of staying on property. yes it cost a little more but it was worth while.

many years later i now fine myself going solo more times than not since my wife passed 10 years ago and the kids are grown. we were all just there in june but i have plans for going SOLO in october for 12 days and again in february for 5 days staying on property. my point is this... i love staying on property in that it adds to the magical feeling of disneyworld and i try to save money by staying at the POP now (which i also love) instead of the Caribbean Beach.

But if the costs of the rooms continue to get too high i might just begin to think of staying on rt 192 again. i can get a room to sleep in at the roadway for $35 to $50 per night most times of the year which in effect cuts my room costs in half. yes i lose out on the extra magic hours and of course the disney transportation to & from the rooms which i do like....

but somewhere disney does need to think are they pricing themselves into a niche where they become a once every couple of years vacation spot and in doing so losing the families that go 3 or 4 times a year. you can follow the trends and see it happening... no more 4 or 5 day passports but the magic your way tickets (isn't this why a 10 day ticket is only a couple of dollars more than a 5 day ticket because disney seems to be saying we would rather have you once for 10 days than maybe several times for 5 days); the changes in the AP program where years ago you KNEW what the ap discount was for the entire year & only had a couple of dates blocked out; the steady increase in resort room costs (and now they are pricing you different on the weekends from the weekdays).

i do not post a lot but all of my previous posts have always been positive about the disney experience. in our prime my family would travel to WDW 5 or 6 times a year and each time we would stay there from 5 through 9 days originally off proprotery but then on property. i/we have not stayed off property since the Caribbean beach opened but i can look out there and see how disney is making it virtually impossible for families to enjoy the wonders of DISNEYWORLD as often as my family was lucky enough to. and i think that was the point that a previous poster was trying to say. its not just reserving 1 or 3 rooms but that change is indicative of all the other subtle changes that have been made over the recent years that seems to help tarnish the lustre of WDW.

sorry about rambling but i hope disney wakes up.... sometimes to hit a slightly larger profit percentage today you could effect your abilities years down the road.

 

[Nemo14]

my family and i have been going there for quite a few years. back in the day when there was just the original 3 on property resorts like everyone else we would stay on Rt 192. about a year after the Caribbean Beach was built we stayed there and loved it and of course the benefits of staying on property. yes it cost a little more but it was worth while.

many years later i now fine myself going solo more times than not since my wife passed 10 years ago and the kids are grown. we were all just there in june but i have plans for going SOLO in october for 12 days and again in february for 5 days staying on property. my point is this... i love staying on property in that it adds to the magical feeling of disneyworld and i try to save money by staying at the POP now (which i also love) instead of the Caribbean Beach.

But if the costs of the rooms continue to get too high i might just begin to think of staying on rt 192 again. i can get a room to sleep in at the roadway for $35 to $50 per night most times of the year which in effect cuts my room costs in half. yes i lose out on the extra magic hours and of course the disney transportation to & from the rooms which i do like....

but somewhere disney does need to think are they pricing themselves into a niche where they become a once every couple of years vacation spot and in doing so losing the families that go 3 or 4 times a year. you can follow the trends and see it happening... no more 4 or 5 day passports but the magic your way tickets (isn't this why a 10 day ticket is only a couple of dollars more than a 5 day ticket because disney seems to be saying we would rather have you once for 10 days than maybe several times for 5 days); the changes in the AP program where years ago you KNEW what the ap discount was for the entire year & only had a couple of dates blocked out; the steady increase in resort room costs (and now they are pricing you different on the weekends from the weekdays).

i do not post a lot but all of my previous posts have always been positive about the disney experience. in our prime my family would travel to WDW 5 or 6 times a year and each time we would stay there from 5 through 9 days originally off proprotery but then on property. i/we have not stayed off property since the Caribbean beach opened but i can look out there and see how disney is making it virtually impossible for families to enjoy the wonders of DISNEYWORLD as often as my family was lucky enough to. and i think that was the point that a previous poster was trying to say. its not just reserving 1 or 3 rooms but that change is indicative of all the other subtle changes that have been made over the recent years that seems to help tarnish the lustre of WDW.

sorry about rambling but i hope disney wakes up.... sometimes to hit a slightly larger profit percentage today you could effect your abilities years down the road.

i totally agree with what you're saying. My family started staying at CBR back in the 90's before the Values were around, and we've stayed on site several times since. Now that the kids are grown my husband and I like to spend a couple of weekends there every year, just to get away. However with the new pricing, I've figured out that we can stay off-site, rent a car and pay for parking for considerably cheaper than we can stay on-site on a weekend now. Pity, but it's probably what we'll do now -

 

[shoppingnut]

i totally agree with what you're saying. My family started staying at CBR back in the 90's before the Values were around, and we've stayed on site several times since. Now that the kids are grown my husband and I like to spend a couple of weekends there every year, just to get away. However with the new pricing, I've figured out that we can stay off-site, rent a car and pay for parking for considerably cheaper than we can stay on-site on a weekend now. Pity, but it's probably what we'll do now -

And I know I've seen rates at the Hilton in LBV for $99 per night and they have EMH too. If you have a regular AP parking is free and since I like to rent a car to do other things, it's not like that is an added expense for me. I've also seen rates at the Marriot World Orlando Center for $105 a night and this was just this last May.

 

[cabihler]

thanks for the thoughts

i totally agree with what you're saying. My family started staying at CBR back in the 90's before the Values were around, and we've stayed on site several times since. Now that the kids are grown my husband and I like to spend a couple of weekends there every year, just to get away. However with the new pricing, I've figured out that we can stay off-site, rent a car and pay for parking for considerably cheaper than we can stay on-site on a weekend now. Pity, but it's probably what we'll do now -

both posts after my original post in this thread are well put. we see the specialls posted on this site as well as on mousesavers and debs and i am sure a lot of us subscribe to different things on the internet so we are aware of DEALS out there. Disney ALWAYS did cost more but that slight cost differential was worthwhile because we love disney and we love the added special feeling we would get from staying on disney property.

but as was so well describe by Nemo14 you could now stay easily off property and enjoy the magic of disney for 3 or 4 trips a year at the cost of 1 trip depending on resort. if you already have an annual pass and if you drive or are going to rent a car no matter where you stay then perhaps off property is becoming a wiser decision.... and i would rather NOT give that up but more than that i think potentially disney may be losing more than it is gaining.

anyway thanks for the posts

 

[jasondiff]

While I love deals as much as the next person, here is something to keep in mind: Disney doesn't offer deals and special prices for our benefit. They are a business, and they are trying to maximize their profit. In the past it was better to fill rooms for less money because an occupied room is better than an unoccupied room, for the obvious reasons mentioned: tickets, food, souvenirs, etc. Recently and for the projected future, Disney's parks have been pulling in record attendance. Because of this, there is more demand for hotel rooms. Thus, Disney does not feel it is necessary to offer the same level of discounts to fill most of its rooms. That is the reason discounts are disappearing and prices are going up. If Disney actually thought it would have a negative impact on it's profits, they wouldn't do it. The fewer rooms booked at AP discount rates mean more rooms available at full price, and evidently as shown by recent travel trends, the demand is there for the full price rooms. It would be foolish for Disney not to attempt to sell rooms at full price if the demand is there. For everyone who says they will now stay offsite or go less often, that is what they are trying to achieve, for Disney knows there are customers willing to pay full price lining up to occupy those rooms you will now leave available.

I too lament the lack of discounts but this is how the business works. Wait and see, if the discounts return then you know Disney's projections were off. But if the discounts don't return, you can be sure somebody is filling the rooms at a higher price than APs were paying.

 

[cabihler]

you got it

jason all that you wrote is dead center correct. and that is the shame of it. i understand and knew before you expressed it so well what they were up to and the WHY. before moving to memphis i was EVP of Information Services for Dean Witter sp the corporate reality was never in question. it was the sentiment of an earlier post that i was addressing and agreeing with that it seems that some at disney have lost what i would call "THE SPIRIT OF WALT" (we talked about this somewhat in another thread). He too was a business man as well as this creative spirit. I hope this makes sense it is past 2 am and i am half asleep writing this LOL.... it just seems to me that there are people/families who will take advantage of every break given and go on their way and there are smart business people who act in the same manner. and somehow that just does not seem to fit into my feelings, my sense of being part of the DISNEY FAMILY.

you are right of course. and i too lament. my eventual hope is that in about 4 or 5 years i will retire early and move to lake buena vista and work part-time in what my youngest daughter (she is 27) and I refer to as OUR HOME because that is what WDW is to us. thanks again and if i recall you are from PHILLY so LET GO GIANTS... THE FOOTBALL GIANTS OF COURSE..

 

[Bluewaves]

What it breaks down to is that some people were taking advantage of the system, now we all have to pay thats it plain and simple, a few rotten apples ruined the bunch. So all I have to say is that the only people you have to blame are the people that would take 3 aps split up in to 9 rooms.

I don't think they took this decision lightly and probably won't effect Disney and since the travel industry and the mouse seem to be making more money they are trying to maximize profit like any good company should.