To be fair, things are going to get better ... this sorta is the run up (yes, already) to DL's 60th ... things will be chaotic for the next 12-15 months ...
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
The Spirited Sixth Sense ...
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
To be fair, things are going to get better ... this sorta is the run up (yes, already) to DL's 60th ... things will be chaotic for the next 12-15 months ...
CDavid
Well-Known Member
Well, one of the 29 is actually a Disneyland photo...
the.dreamfinder
Well-Known Member
Soarin' Over Pgh
Well-Known Member
Is there any chance at all of Disney reducing ticket prices and/or hotel rates in an attempt to stay competitive and relevant if their numbers start to dip down too low?
Is this something they've ever done? Besides 30% off offers?
Is this something they've ever done? Besides 30% off offers?
Why do people continue to go to WDW in larger numbers. Service is down and costs are way up.
We have been going to WDW since the early 90's. Last August we had a trip that was the worst one ever. It was so bad that we cancelled our Dec trip to WDW and went to DL instead. We have a May trip planned to WDW. If this trip isn't a lot better than the August trip, it will be our last trip.
I am sure that hordes of people will fill in our gap. Hopefully they will buy our DVC points for a nice premium. The only way to impact Disney is with $$$$.
If I keep my magic band in a metal box while at the parks, will it prevent the data mining?
We have been going to WDW since the early 90's. Last August we had a trip that was the worst one ever. It was so bad that we cancelled our Dec trip to WDW and went to DL instead. We have a May trip planned to WDW. If this trip isn't a lot better than the August trip, it will be our last trip.
I am sure that hordes of people will fill in our gap. Hopefully they will buy our DVC points for a nice premium. The only way to impact Disney is with $$$$.
If I keep my magic band in a metal box while at the parks, will it prevent the data mining?
71jason
Well-Known Member
Fair enough, and no question DCL was the driver behind that. I remember being on the "fun" ship a decade ago when you were still looked at askance if you didn't wear a jacket to dinner. No question but that DCL has made things a lot more casual.
That said, the service is still impeccable--in December, my server offered to grab things not on the menu--and I personally find the Disney theming tastefully done by and large. It's not cartoon foamheads every 10 feet, it's things like concept art from Fantasia or reproductions of the Castle mosaics. And even the corners of the ship that don't feature anything resembling a cartoon--like the bars--still have the Disney attention to detail that made the parks so amazing in the first place.
71jason
Well-Known Member
Reputation. Why do people line up 50+ deep at Food & Wine, but walk right past the booths with better food at Flower & Garden?
baymenxpac
Well-Known Member
i took my magic band with me to universal when i was there. i hope they tracked me all the way there.
wogwog
Well-Known Member
Not that small of a number. I am frugal and demand value. I also have wide interests and have traveled a lot for business and pleasure. Was fortunate to make a good chunk of $ when our central government allowed it a few decades back. Guessed correctly when the RE bubble would burst in California in the 90's and liquidated several pieces of real estate I held for decades as at the right time. Have visited over 70 countries in my travels and lived in several of them for work reasons. Visited all Disney parks in the world multiple times. Grew up in Southern California in the great days of Disneyland. Always liked Disney. Don't like the present WDW. Despise all things MyMagic anything. I could visit the parks daily through the same type of connections you have at no charge. Other than obligatory visits with visiting friends and relatives I think I have been in just on my own twice in a year. Don't like what I see.
As for cruising, just the best. DCL service suits me. I do not even travel with children and love Disney and a few of the others. Moved to central Fla a few years back to deliberately be in a few hours drive of five cruise terminals. Florida resident discounts, military discounts, old guy discounts and several family and friends work for the Mouse at various levels. You get the picture. I never pay retail for any cruise and am free to travel on a few days notice most of the time on space available.
Besides only two of the cruises were 14 days one was 5 and one only 4. The rest were seven. The two 14 day ones ended in California that allowed me to visit old friends and spend a few days at Disney so I could remember what WDW could be. It isn't like I sail every month. Sarc.
alissafalco
Well-Known Member
I think the food is way better at F&W, IMO...
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Right now, there is no need for WDW to lower theme park ticket prices. Guests are paying them. However, there's something to be said for slowing down the rate of the increases before WDW falls off a cliff. (Price increases are rather like credit card spending. It seems like a good idea at the time but there are long-term consequences if not kept under control. It takes discipline not to abuse.)
The real problem is associated with the hotels, specifically, the combined cost of tickets plus the higher priced room categories. (Not all categories; there's always a "money is no object" crowd.)
There are several potential strategies to address WDW's Deluxe and (to a lesser extent) Moderate Resort occupancy problem:
- Lower rack rates - Never popular and it's doubtful the right price point could be found to offset lost revenue from those already paying current prices.
- Offer discount theme park tickets with Deluxe and (maybe) Moderate Resort hotel stays - This is something WDW used to do. The nice thing is that unlike "Free Dining", there's little cost associated with this and, unlike "Room Only" discounts, discounted tickets helps assure these guests are in the theme parks spending money rather than visiting elsewhere in Orlando. Maybe offer ticket discounts based on resort level. Definitely limit discounts to one per registered guest for length-of-stay. The key is to make the theme park ticket discounts meaningful, not play cheap tricks like "5th day free", which any reasonably intelligent person knows saves all of $10. Frankly, Disney shouldn't even care if the ticket gets used, at long as the high-margin Deluxe Resort room is booked.
- Drive more value into the hotels - Guests don't stay at WDW's hotels to hang out at the hotels. There are better hotels for that, even in Orlando. They stay at them because of their association with the theme parks. Leverage that even more than Disney already does. For example, use MyMagic+ to offer more/better FastPass+ selections, limit Extra Magic Hours to Deluxe and Moderate Resort guests, etc.
- Advertise to an audience able to afford WDW's Deluxe Resorts - This is something WDW used to do regularly. However, with the exception of the Food & Wine Festival and the Flower & Garden Festival, WDW has kiddified its product so much that WDW has lost much of the appeal it once had to adult couples or families with older children, market segments better able to afford expensive hotels. WDW would need to change its current public image to be more inline with what it was like in the 1990s when it was trendy for adults to go to WDW without children, or earlier times when WDW was more attractive to teenagers. Maybe nationally advertise F&WF and F&GF seasons as "adult time" at WDW. Since both occur while schools are in session, there's something to be said for trying to draw adults to WDW hotels during these times of year, especially mid-week. The key is to appeal to adults, not children.
- Stop building DVC - These already are boomeranging on the Deluxe Resorts.
- Invest billions in the parks to attract a high-end clientele - Yeah, right, like that's ever going to happen.
Last edited:
Soarin' Over Pgh
Well-Known Member
@ParentsOf4 I was secretly hoping you'd answer my post 
I agree with you, especially on offering a discount on theme park tickets with resort rooms. That would certainly have more people looking a little harder at the prices and justifying xx per night at a WDW hotel if they knew a good discount on a day ticket was attached.
It goes without saying that a solid upgrade in the hotels themselves would be a good thing but most importantly, adding stuff... No, wait.
ADDING NEW ATTRACTIONS to the parks would pull in better numbers and people may have an easier time justifying yearly ticket hikes with new experiences.
And as always, you're spot on.
I agree with you, especially on offering a discount on theme park tickets with resort rooms. That would certainly have more people looking a little harder at the prices and justifying xx per night at a WDW hotel if they knew a good discount on a day ticket was attached.
It goes without saying that a solid upgrade in the hotels themselves would be a good thing but most importantly, adding stuff... No, wait.
ADDING NEW ATTRACTIONS to the parks would pull in better numbers and people may have an easier time justifying yearly ticket hikes with new experiences.
And as always, you're spot on.
Next Big Thing
Well-Known Member
Very worrisome. I suppose that's what happens when you put the head of the worst maintained WDW theme park in charge of the entire DLR though.
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
Glad to hear that, I recently found out my schedule for the next two years and realized I could visit in January 2016 instead of waiting until May/June.
I'm always interested in the chatter... I'm still waiting for TDR to make their next big move, they've been too quiet.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
It's why committing to 3 per day at all parks is downright stupid. 1 per day in advance, and then you can book additional ones when you get to the park. It should be as close to the old system as possible, just digitized.
flynnibus
Premium Member
It's not useless... they are examples of what people are willing to pay for a finite amount of entertainment. They are references to what the market will bear for a form of entertainment outside the home.
Concerts are so the band makes money. They have better revenue streams for them for concerts vs albums (even before album sales evaporated). It's about who gets to collect the revenue and who it's split with.
jt04
Well-Known Member
Next Big Thing
Well-Known Member
Well, at this point they are pretty limited in what/where they can add DVC onto existing hotels anymore. Pretty much every Deluxe has DVC now. I'd expect the next DVC after Poly to be either at the Fort or the rumored one in EPCOT.
ParentsOf4
Well-Known Member
Or on the site of the once-planned Venetian between the Contemporary and the TTC.
WDW has space for tens-of-thousands of timeshare rooms.
Too bad Disney doesn't show the same zeal for building at the theme parks that they demonstrate for DVC.
