Walt Disney World of Discounts

[PhilharMagician]

Wow, Just got back for 2 weeks and I was shocked by the amount of discounts available all over the parks. I personally have never seen such discount mania except for Black Friday!

AP's get you merchandise discounts everywhere in WDW. !0% for AP holders and 20% for PAP holders. I knew they have had the ocasional day or 2 where they offer these discounts, but I was not aware that it was all the time and everywhere (merchandise only).

Also available are 20% merchandise discount coupons printed on your CS dining receipt available for use at the Emporium, Mouse Gears, Island Merchantile, Mickey's Of Hollywood, Keystone Clothiers or World of Disney in DTD from opening until 12:00 noon good until 01/04/2011.

Also as mention in WDWMagic news the 30% off quick service dining at select locations at certain times with presentation of coupon. This discount coupon is found printed on all mechandise receipts and also as a fold out attached to park time guides. Time restrictions and specific locations apply.

Most people I spoke to on my trip were also there taking advantage of free dining. (which I am not sure is a real discount seeing you are paying full rack rate for the room which is very high)

This bring me back to thinking about the statment from Iger about a year ago and that the discounts were going to be slowly weened away. I personally have not been to WDW and seen discounts like this. We have always waited to go to World of Disney to get our 10% AP discount on our purchases since that was the only discount we could get.

Question: Are all these discounts good or bad????

 

[powlessfamily4]

I noticed huge discounts all over during the week of Thanksgiving. Once in the stores I realized everything stamped 2010 was on sale... obvious reason.. making room for 2011. I can only figure the food discounts are an attempt to keep you purchasing. You make a purchase at a store they send you to a restaurant - you make a purchase for food they send you to a store. Not a bad strategy when you think about it. I think in a down market they are good. I don't believe it will bankrupt Disney - profits may come in lower.. but that is preferable to having empty parks.

Are the prices comparable at other area parks? I took 2 trips to Florida this year but only vistsed Disney both times. (Oh what fun I had!!!)

 

[PhilharMagician]

I noticed huge discounts all over during the week of Thanksgiving. Once in the stores I realized everything stamped 2010 was on sale... obvious reason.. making room for 2011. I can only figure the food discounts are an attempt to keep you purchasing. You make a purchase at a store they send you to a restaurant - you make a purchase for food they send you to a store. Not a bad strategy when you think about it. I think in a down market they are good. I don't believe it will bankrupt Disney - profits may come in lower.. but that is preferable to having empty parks.

Are the prices comparable at other area parks? I took 2 trips to Florida this year but only vistsed Disney both times. (Oh what fun I had!!!)

Ahh yes, I failed to mention that the 2010 merch was marked 50% off.

 

[Master Yoda]

Most people I spoke to on my trip were also there taking advantage of free dining. (which I am not sure is a real discount seeing you are paying full rack rate for the room which is very high)

This is one of those "It depends" answers. If you are already staying on property the chances of you leaving on a regular basis to eat it pretty slim. Because of this free dining is quite appealing and would apply to nearly every Disney guest. If it is the best deal or not depends on your party make up and where you stay. For the most part free dining will almost always be a better deal than room discounts at the values, its about 50/50 at the moderates and rarely at the Deluxes.

The first and only time we used it we had 2 adults and 2 kids over 9 in a room at a value. At the time it was a roughly $160 discount on a $100 room.

This bring me back to thinking about the statment from Iger about a year ago and that the discounts were going to be slowly weened away. I personally have not been to WDW and seen discounts like this. We have always waited to go to World of Disney to get our 10% AP discount on our purchases since that was the only discount we could get.

They are slowly getting less on resort rooms. Three years ago it really did not matter where you stayed or when you traveled you could almost always find a pretty steep room discount. That is no longer the case. Promotions now are littered with blackout dates and many of the more popular resorts are simply not available.

Question: Are all these discounts good or bad????

Yes and no. If the rack rate on a room or retail prices on merchandise is at a legitimate level where they are profitable without gouging then discounts are bad. However, if pries are artificially inflated discounts are just a marketing tool to reel in the less gullible stragglers.

 

[tampabrad]

A discount of %10, %20, or %30 off of an item that probably has a mark up of %500-%1000 isn't that much of a big deal.

 

[PhilharMagician]

A discount of %10, %20, or %30 off of an item that probably has a mark up of %500-%1000 isn't that much of a big deal.

I am assuming you are exagerating a little bit to make a point? 1000%? It is a big deal when discounts of any kind are rarely heard of. The point is that when you buy that Cheeseburger meal and it is $8.09 you can pay full price or the discounted price of $5.66. This discount has not been the norm! I personally think it is a big deal to keep as much money in my pocket as possible!

 

[dreamfinder]

The discounts mentioned actually work in Disney's favor. They drive traffic to non peak times. The 20% off merch discounts gets people from shopping at the end of the day, to the beginning of the day. This alleviates the stress of everyone cramming into the Emporium at park close. Easier for guests, no need to add extra CM's, so Disney probablly ends up coming out ahead.
Same with the 30% off dining. They get people to eat outside their comfort zones. Most people eat at the same time. So if they can get some people to eat earlier or later, they lessen the load on the existing CS restaurants. And if they can get away with not opening Tommorowland Terrace or the like buy using these coupons, they almost definitely save money. Not to mention there is a decent chance you will end up buying snacks from carts since your eating schedule is now thrown off.
Regarding the AP discounts, I think its about time. I still think lots of AP holders don't even know about it. They have been dropping the AP discount on lodging, so a bit off on merch isn't bad. They get your money one way or the other. And doing the merch discount makes people a bit more likely to buy items while at the parks. So what may have been a day trip for a family of AP holders that netted Disney no new income (tickets and parking already paid for), that family now buys a new toy or trinket and Disney suddenly makes some money off that trip. That is a no brainer to me.

 

[ToTBellHop]

A discount of %10, %20, or %30 off of an item that probably has a mark up of %500-%1000 isn't that much of a big deal.

That's a little excessive. I live in Connecticut, so I understand my views are skewed since everything is overpriced up here($3.09 for a gallon of milk...), but to me, Disney's prices are actually quite reasonable. Go to Six Flags for a day and see how you feel about Disney's prices...

By the way, the in-park discounts mentioned are meant to get people to shop and eat earlier. This time of year, the parks are so packed that people end up not wanting to buy anything or they go elsewhere (like off property) for food. By giving a discount, you are actually increasing foot traffic during off peak hours and increasing profits.

 

[PhilharMagician]

The discounts mentioned actually work in Disney's favor. They drive traffic to non peak times. The 20% off merch discounts gets people from shopping at the end of the day, to the beginning of the day. This alleviates the stress of everyone cramming into the Emporium at park close. Easier for guests, no need to add extra CM's, so Disney probablly ends up coming out ahead.
Same with the 30% off dining. They get people to eat outside their comfort zones. Most people eat at the same time. So if they can get some people to eat earlier or later, they lessen the load on the existing CS restaurants. And if they can get away with not opening Tommorowland Terrace or the like buy using these coupons, they almost definitely save money. Not to mention there is a decent chance you will end up buying snacks from carts since your eating schedule is now thrown off.
Regarding the AP discounts, I think its about time. I still think lots of AP holders don't even know about it. They have been dropping the AP discount on lodging, so a bit off on merch isn't bad. They get your money one way or the other. And doing the merch discount makes people a bit more likely to buy items while at the parks. So what may have been a day trip for a family of AP holders that netted Disney no new income (tickets and parking already paid for), that family now buys a new toy or trinket and Disney suddenly makes some money off that trip. That is a no brainer to me.

Not only was Tomorrowland Terrace open and serving last weekend, so was the Adventureland Terrace and it was serving food!! With a discount. Does anyone know the last time the Adventureland Terrace was open for anything besides M&G's and party treats?

Also open
El Pirata
Diamond Horseshoe

 

[NiarrNDisney]

Hey thanks for the heads up! I will be leaving soon so these discounts (if still availible) would be a great bonus.

 

[wdwmagic]

Hey thanks for the heads up! I will be leaving soon so these discounts (if still availible) would be a great bonus.

They will be, here are the details on the food
http://www.wdwmagic.com/Resorts/Wal...ce-dining-now-available-at-off-peak-times.htm