Premium Passholder 20% -- GONE

[wdwmousetales]

Hey BwanaBob Disney buys plush dolls for .50 a piece and sells them for $18 to $23 that is a minimum of a 3600 percent markup. They and their stock holders don't care who buys it as long as they make their money. That 10% discount does not in any way effect the huge profits they make per item. You should look up the term fraud because you obviously have know idea what that is.

 

[menamechris]

I have had the Premium Annual for years now. I was debating whether to go back down to a regular annual pass when my renewal date comes up. I go to the waterparks - but with the last price increase - I could do without them (and it would be cheaper to just buy a WP annual separately anyway). My only hold out to not switch to the regular annual pass was the 20% discount. So....Thanks Disney! You just saved me a ton of money on my renewal - oh - and I will not be buying as much in the parks this next year either. I am THRILLED you have geniuses who make decisions like this working for you..

 

[Hakunamatata]

Hey BwanaBob Disney buys plush dolls for .50 a piece and sells them for $18 to $23 that is a minimum of a 3600 percent markup. They and their stock holders don't care who buys it as long as they make their money. That 10% discount does not in any way effect the huge profits they make per item. You should look up the term fraud because you obviously have know idea what that is.

So what exactly is fraudulent?

 

[wm49rs]

Hey BwanaBob Disney buys plush dolls for .50 a piece and sells them for $18 to $23 that is a minimum of a 3600 percent markup. They and their stock holders don't care who buys it as long as they make their money. That 10% discount does not in any way effect the huge profits they make per item. You should look up the term fraud because you obviously have know idea what that is.

If the 10% discount doesn't affect their profits, then why eliminate it?

 

[wdwmousetales]

It is deception made to damage the first party. Buying things with a 3600% markup in no way damages Disney.

 

[wdwmousetales]

The answer about why to get rid of it is simple. They need to show a increase in profits every year to justify to the stockholders they are increasing profits. That 10% will make a great show for them since most Disney fans just ignore this. Also they have increased the price of nearly every product they sell by 20% just this year.

 

[wm49rs]

The answer about why to get rid of it is simple. They need to show a increase in profits every year to justify to the stockholders they are increasing profits. That 10% will make a great show for them since most Disney fans just ignore this. Also they have increased the price of nearly every product they sell by 20% just this year.

And if they already have a supposed 3600% markup, and have been increasing prices across the board 20%, then alienating a loyal fan base for a 10% increase in profitability makes little sense.

 

[Lee]

The answer about why to get rid of it is simple. They need to show a increase in profits every year to justify to the stockholders they are increasing profits. That 10% will make a great show for them since most Disney fans just ignore this. Also they have increased the price of nearly every product they sell by 20% just this year.

Or...they could build better rides and sell better merchandise, thereby increasing ticket sales and guest spending.
There are other ways to show a profit than by cutting things out...

 

[Buried20KLeague]

There are many, MANY individuals out there who will purchase the Premium just for the merch discount.
Many of those will actually buy the pass and never intend to spend one day at the parks.
There are a few who will actually go into WoD and drop several thousands of dollars WEEKLY, with shopping assistants, and then apply their discount.
They then go back and sell everything they purchased, if it wasn't already sold, online for the same up-charge as their discount.
20% discount is a 20% profit / business to them.

This happens daily. This happens throughout the property. This is a big issue.

To add to this... want to know one of the reasons why all the Party Merchandise, Limited merchandise, etc disappears way before you make it to the party or special event? You can thank these same individuals. They know their limits, they know how to work around the loopholes, and will literally buy passes for every member of their 'families' and max-out the limited amounts per individual. There was ZERO Halloween merch after about Oct 15 this year... and boy did that suck. Even used a local supplier for shirts for MVMCP to avoid this happening again, but pins were long gone before the last 5+ parties.

It is not difficult to track these people down (they have actually HANDED CM's their business cards in the merch locations, while others will actually brag out loud in front of other guests about their intentions and then plug their websites).
The problem is linking them to the online transaction. Even if Disney is able to find the person and link the fraud to the premium pass, the most they would do is cancel the pass. In extreme cases, there are several sources out there trying to eliminate the fraud, but it is a big issue.

The common guest is catching on as well. These same scenarios are expanding at an increasing rate.

While you may be right about pass holders buying up merch to resell, there's absolutely nothing illegal about it. You make it sound as if these people are criminals... Far from it. It's completely legal.

And if this is the reason TDO has changed the policy... They're more insane than I thought. And I assure you, I already think they're INCREDIBLY insane!!

 

[wm49rs]

Or...they could build better rides and sell better merchandise, thereby increasing ticket sales and guest spending.
There are other ways to show a profit than by cutting things out...

Well, when you get into a habit, breaking out of it is often harder than making the right choices.....

 

[Lee]

Well, when you get into a habit, breaking out of it is often harder than making the right choices.....

Reckon we can get this dude involved?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Or...they could build better rides and sell better merchandise, thereby increasing ticket sales and guest spending.
There are other ways to show a profit than by cutting things out...

That is an old, outdated way of doing things. It doesn't work in this economy and this environment. It's the 21st century, Walt has been dead for nearly 50 years and you have to change or die. That's just the way it is and they way everybody does it now. It's not like there are any parks in the Orlando market building new experiences and offering unique merchandise. Oh, wait...

 

[George]

It would be a hard business to sink a ton of money into premium AP's, then buy a bunch of $20 items at a 20% discount and resell for the cost at Disney (hard to do) or for some price point in between and make any money at all. I'm not saying this doesn't happen, I just have a hard time believing it's a big deal. You could do it with higher priced items, but you sell less of those and I don't know that you could move any at all. Pssstt....I have some of those sweet Mickey Skagen watches for 8% less than you'd pay at WDW. Even if I'm wrong, and Disney is justified in removing this perk, they could replace it with another. How about you're enrolled in TiW? How about some free mini-golf? How about big discounts at the snack carts? Oh wait, I'll buy a ton of those sweet, strawberry Minnie bars and sell 870,000 at a slightly discounted price.

 

[wogwog]

This fits with all of the cost cutting and price increases going on at WDW. They will continue to chip away at what we consider a perk and raise prices as long as we only complain but continue to visit. The vast majority of WDW guests are a once a year or less often visitor. That occasional visitor is still coming even when prices increase. The public is not the only group upset. WDW is also getting cheaper with employee perks. Cast are prohibited from using comp entries for family to the Magic Kingdom from Nov 17 through Feb 23, 2013. This is presumably because they want to make more room for paying guests for the new less than great expansion of Fantasyland. By contrast, Disneyland only prohibited Cast comps on weekends in December and a few days in Jan. If the public is screaming cheap at WDW you should hear what friends who are Cast are saying about how cheap they are being treated. Seasonal cast had a gigantic increase in the amount of hours they must work to retain the few perks they are given. Some tell me they are not scheduled enough hours to meet the new requirement. Possibly a plan to reduce the amount of seasonal cast and probably replace them with more college program students. Additionally, Disneyland gives cast food discounts at nearly every place in the parks including what we would call "fast food" outlets while WDW cast are only given a discount at sit down restaurants.

 

[ChrisFL]

Or...they could build better rides and sell better merchandise, thereby increasing ticket sales and guest spending.
There are other ways to show a profit than by cutting things out...

yep, too bad most investors only care about quarterly numbers which makes most execs with MBA's WAAAAY too short-sighted. Like they can't see past their nose, to quote a classic.

 

[BwanaBob]

Sorry I used the word 'fraud' inappropriately.

Disney states that use of the pass in this way subjects the pass holders privileges to be revoked.
Debate the reasons why you think they are removing the discount...

I've been here for almost a decade.
Those who know me know my history
and where I am...
I don't argue. Take it for what its worth.

 

[captainkidd]

I don't say this as a doom and gloomer or as a "threat" to stop going, but honestly, the AP is becoming less and less worth buying each year. The current price is what, over $620? There's getting to be less and less of a break even point between an AP and park hoppers for 2 separate trips. Room discounts, for me personally, are useless since we only rent points anymore. The only advantage I see towards the AP is the TiW card. And if we start going to WDW just once a year, then that savings might be eliminated too.

I know we often complain about the elimination of discounts, and let's face it - Disney MUST know what they're doing. But I can't imagine my family is so different from other families. We're spending less and less time and money every year at WDW. And that translates, for us anyways, to spending more time and money at Universal. It's not out of bitterness towards Disney. It's just making more sense to give more of our vacation dollar to Universal, as well as other parks in Florida. The simple fact of the matter is, Disney is giving us less for the money and making things more complicated, example NexGen FP.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[JimboJones123]

We spent less than $200 at Disney after tickets for our 9 day trip in November due to rising costs. No souvenirs. Just food. We at off site for as many meals as possible. We went to Universal once. Heck, we spent more there in one day than we did during our 5 day passes. Oh, and we didn't get the park hopper option for the first time ever.

We usually bring about $1500 for a few CS meals, shipping, and 2-3 meals in the parks a day. Plus spending all 9 days in the parks.

The price hiking across the board actually saved us $500, added a Universal day for us, and cost Disney about $1300.

 

[JimboJones123]

Hey BwanaBob Disney buys plush dolls for .50 a piece and sells them for $18 to $23 that is a minimum of a 3600 percent markup. They and their stock holders don't care who buys it as long as they make their money. That 10% discount does not in any way effect the huge profits they make per item. You should look up the term fraud because you obviously have know idea what that is.

This.

 

[wm49rs]

We spent less than $200 at Disney after tickets for our 9 day trip in November due to rising costs. No souvenirs. Just food. We at off site for as many meals as possible. We went to Universal once. Heck, we spent more there in one day than we did during our 5 day passes. Oh, and we didn't get the park hopper option for the first time ever.

We usually bring about $1500 for a few CS meals, shipping, and 2-3 meals in the parks a day. Plus spending all 9 days in the parks.

The price hiking across the board actually saved us $500, added a Universal day for us, and cost Disney about $1300.

Personally, I came from from my last trip with a resort mug, and a handful of pins. Normally I'm picking up a few more things for myself than that, especially if I'm staying for a week. But with this discount being reduced, the incentive to buy anything will be that much less....