why can we non FLoridians get the same discount

[bjlc57]

Hi.. I have been going to WDW since it opened. I remember the BIG TREE in the front of the park before you went through the turnstyles. This was before a number of the rides were opened, like Pirates ... Way before space mountain or splash mountain.

Any way .. I love the place, however as a working class stiff, it costs me $3000 min. for a 10 day trip from Wisconsin, and we travel on the cheap.

Why can we not get this discount if we want to go to WDW when others can, especially this year?

Heck Cypress Gardens closed last week, tourism is down. I know that I can get a deal to go to Universal, but its not why I go to Florida.. it 's to pay homeage to the Mouse.

When is Disney going to remember the poor, hard working guy, and not just the ultra eliete. I know that I could convince the BOSS of the purse, if Disney would for one time, give us all a break. It would be good for Disney, and good for Florida, as well as the rest of the economy..

Just a guy who has NEVER HAD A BAD DAY AT DISNEY..

 

[Sketch105]

I'd agree or disagree, but first I need to know what discount you are talking about..

 

[MicBat]

Originally posted by Sketch105
I'd agree or disagree, but first I need to know what discount you are talking about..

Floridians have (or had at one time) a discount at certain times of the year on WDW admission. Yeah... WDW is very expensive, but if you look at it, so are all forms of entertainment... Look at how much it costs to see a movie. Look at the price of some concerts and cd's. It's a price we all pay to keep ourselves entertained!

 

[RAZORBRAD]

Flprida residents dont pay state tax do they? Well heck we shouldnt have to either.

 

[bjlc57]

here is the discount...

Florida residents now pay $114 or in that general range for a four day park hopper pass.. Well for a family of 4 like I have, that is a sizeable discount.

Why won't the powers that be at WDW extend that to the rest of the loyal following?

That one discount alone would be enough to convince my wife to travel to see the Mouse..



Just a guy who never had a bad day at Disney...

 

[Cosmo]

Why shouldn't Floridians get a special discount? If you think about it, it all kind of works out in the end. For example:
I'm a FL resident (FL NATIVE!!:sohappy: ) and I go to disney at least once a month, usually twice. Somebody from outside FL may only go to Disney once a year (on average, this is just an approximation, so don't flame me with the number of times your individual family goes). Who do you think is going to spend more money? Yep, we stay overnight most of the time, and yes we stay for multiple nights at a time. We eat the same food and shop at the same stores and pay the same prices other than room rates. If i spend on average $300/trip (what we budget for a nice long weekend staying on Disney property) and go at least 12-15 times a year (we went 20 last year) then that works out to be $3600-4500 a year WITH discounts. You said it would cost you about $3000 for a trip that you might take once a year, or even less.
In the end, even with discounts, it works to disney's advantage to give a better rate on resorts than those who don't come as often. Same thing as annual passes (which I also have and pay the same amount as everyone else). Sometimes its cheaper with an annual pass, sometimes its cheaper being a florida resident, but either way I'm going to eventually give the mouse more of my money than somebody who might only be able to come every now and then.
Please don't take my discounts away! :lol:

 

[strobe]

Re: here is the discount...

Originally posted by bjlc57
Florida residents now pay $114 or in that general range for a four day park hopper pass.. Well for a family of 4 like I have, that is a sizeable discount.

Why won't the powers that be at WDW extend that to the rest of the loyal following?

That one discount alone would be enough to convince my wife to travel to see the Mouse..



Just a guy who never had a bad day at Disney...

I second that motion. We were there at this time last year for our honeymoon, and we REALLY wanted to go this year too, but we just can't afford it after buying a house and trying to get on our feet.

For now, I get to just look at the calendar and remember what we were doing 'last year' at this time. We drive from Michigan and do everything as cheaply as possible, but it is still EXPENSIVE. If we go, we really want to stay on the park, so I guess we are just stuck until next year.

If Disney does not want to extend the discount to everyone, you would think that they would at least offer it to repeat customers. Say someone who comes every other year or something like that.

Just a thought.

 

[agdbeanie]

Disney World has always had a FL residents discount for as long as I've been going. I personally think it makes a lot of sense. It's not like they don't offer discounts to everyone else too. Does Disneyland offer CA residents discounts? What's the big deal? The discounts encourage me to go more and I end up probably spending more money than if they didn't offer the discounts and I didn't go as often.
If you want the discounts, move to Florida.:lol: just kidding.

 

[Stitch79]

Originally posted by Cosmo
Why shouldn't Floridians get a special discount? If you think about it, it all kind of works out in the end. For example:
I'm a FL resident (FL NATIVE!!:sohappy: ) and I go to disney at least once a month, usually twice. Somebody from outside FL may only go to Disney once a year (on average, this is just an approximation, so don't flame me with the number of times your individual family goes). Who do you think is going to spend more money? Yep, we stay overnight most of the time, and yes we stay for multiple nights at a time. We eat the same food and shop at the same stores and pay the same prices other than room rates. If i spend on average $300/trip (what we budget for a nice long weekend staying on Disney property) and go at least 12-15 times a year (we went 20 last year) then that works out to be $3600-4500 a year WITH discounts. You said it would cost you about $3000 for a trip that you might take once a year, or even less.
In the end, even with discounts, it works to disney's advantage to give a better rate on resorts than those who don't come as often. Same thing as annual passes (which I also have and pay the same amount as everyone else). Sometimes its cheaper with an annual pass, sometimes its cheaper being a florida resident, but either way I'm going to eventually give the mouse more of my money than somebody who might only be able to come every now and then.
Please don't take my discounts away! :lol:

Amen to that! I live in Florida as well and I would bet that I spend more money at Disney with my frequent visits than someone from out of state would. I think the discounts are quite justified.

 

[bjlc57]

yes..but...

since you live there you are not taking into account the "other money" we WOULD SPEND in the area, like hotels, food, gas and other items.

You live there, you have to eat and buy gas there on a daily basis..

not counting that we may have gone to Cypress Gardens, Silver Springs or other attractions.

Your dollars are spent at the park , mine may help the whole community as well.

 

[Cosmo]

Re: yes..but...

Originally posted by bjlc57
since you live there you are not taking into account the "other money" we WOULD SPEND in the area, like hotels, food, gas and other items.

You live there, you have to eat and buy gas there on a daily basis..

not counting that we may have gone to Cypress Gardens, Silver Springs or other attractions.

Your dollars are spent at the park , mine may help the whole community as well.

A. We DO stay at the hotels. Most of the trips are overnighters spent at Disney hotels, not just day trips. One of the reasons is because of the discount!

B. We're talking about Disney discounts for florida residents. These discounts are on Disney things. Why would Disney want to give you a discount to go to Cypress Gardens or Silver Springs? Why would they care or give you a discount for you to buy gas? The discount is so that people who live relatively close will come spend money at Disney resorts over and over and over. Its a discount given by Disney, not the State of Florida.

C. Even if it was a discount given by the state of Florida its should STILL be only given to Florida residents because my property tax bill is quite hefty and the last time i checked, non-florida residents didn't pay property tax to the state, only sales tax (which we have to pay too).

 

[bjlc57]

missing the point..

I guess that you are missing the point.. if WDW offered discounts THIS YEAR, I would be coming and putting my money in YOUR STATE COFFERS.

General Motors announced today that they are given 0 percent financing so that more people buy cars THIS YEAR.

If WDW gives a deal THIS YEAR, then me and the person from Michigan would both be coming and spending $6000 plus. Right now you are getting NOTHING from Us and others, who are not traveling.

as for state taxes.. Wisonsin is one of the highest taxed state in the country , we all pay taxes wherever we live.

 

[strobe]

Re: Re: yes..but...

Originally posted by Cosmo
A. We DO stay at the hotels. Most of the trips are overnighters spent at Disney hotels, not just day trips. One of the reasons is because of the discount!

B. We're talking about Disney discounts for florida residents. These discounts are on Disney things. Why would Disney want to give you a discount to go to Cypress Gardens or Silver Springs? Why would they care or give you a discount for you to buy gas? The discount is so that people who live relatively close will come spend money at Disney resorts over and over and over. Its a discount given by Disney, not the State of Florida.

C. Even if it was a discount given by the state of Florida its should STILL be only given to Florida residents because my property tax bill is quite hefty and the last time i checked, non-florida residents didn't pay property tax to the state, only sales tax (which we have to pay too).

Everyone is making excellent points here, and I can certainly see both sides of the debate. I totally understand the need for Disney to support Florida residents, therefore keep that program in place and DON'T TOUCH IT! However, quite a few entertainment facilities do offer frequent visitor programs.

I would like to see the Disney equivalent of a Frequent Flyer Program. Many of us non-Florida residents support Disney's corporate interests all over the country. I think if they put in a system to keep track of this and offered discounts in accordance, everyone would make out.

Disney would be smart to provide discounts to families like mine who would otherwise not be able to make the trip. Granted, when tourism is at peak levels, my theory may not pan out. But given the current circumstances, Disney would be able to fill up some of their empty hotel rooms, serve some extra dinners, and sell some extra merchandise. They would also know this in advance if they offered me the discount based on my history with them.

When tourism is hitting on eight cylinders, the current system might be OK. But when things are slow at the parks, and Disney is fighting the economy, what would it hurt to open up the discounts to their loyal customers? A profit is a profit, and they wouldn't be losing anything by offering reduced rates to families that would otherwise not be able to come at all!

Plus, they would earn kudos from me, bjlc57, and many others who would become even MORE loyal Disney customers.

And to address what Cosmo mentioned about us out of state vistors not paying taxes.... That is only partially true. Disney pays taxes to the state based on their properties and earnings, therefore the more money they make on us 'out of staters', the more money the State of Florida gets to provide its residents with improved services. So indirectly, we do contribute to Florida's tax base - sorta :lookaroun.

Just my two cents!

 

[bjlc57]

and if you say that we don't need your ...

One last thing .. if you say that as Florida residents, that Disney and Florida doesn't need my or other non residents money, ask the people from Cypress Gardens who lost at least 527 jobs this week, because of lack of business, especially since 9-11.

ask Winter Haven if they didn't want our business.

 

[NowInc]

Theres a few reasons why us floridians get a discount::

First off...the off season! Most of the people who go to the parks during the non-holiday times are in fact floridians...and most of us only go cuz we get the discount. They know that.

Second...TOURIST season...before i begin...in NO way do i want this to offend anyone..but...during the tourist season...Florida becomes a pretty unpleasant place to be. Traffic, crouds, and the occasional rude tourist do make this place a pretty uncomfy place to live. In a way, I think its disney's way of saying "thank you" for us residents having to go thru a lot of that. I know that florida IS a tourist state..and I for one dont have a personal problem when the season hits..but i have heard the complaints of others...

Third...those who save money on tickets, will spend more money on merchandice They make more profit from that then they do from tickets.

 

[strobe]

Originally posted by NowInc
Theres a few reasons why us floridians get a discount::

First off...the off season! Most of the people who go to the parks during the non-holiday times are in fact floridians...and most of us only go cuz we get the discount. They know that.

Second...TOURIST season...before i begin...in NO way do i want this to offend anyone..but...during the tourist season...Florida becomes a pretty unpleasant place to be. Traffic, crouds, and the occasional rude tourist do make this place a pretty uncomfy place to live. In a way, I think its disney's way of saying "thank you" for us residents having to go thru a lot of that. I know that florida IS a tourist state..and I for one dont have a personal problem when the season hits..but i have heard the complaints of others...

Third...those who save money on tickets, will spend more money on merchandice They make more profit from that then they do from tickets.

But tourism really cascades into the heart of the Florida economy. If we come from out of state, we obviously are going to buy more souvenirs for our families back home, along with other items. Just as an example, last time I was there, I purchased merchandise from Disney, International Drive, and several produce stands. I wasn't ready for the heavy heat in early April, so I ended up purchasing a bunch of clothes as well. Not to mention sunscreen, sunglasses, tennis shoes, and everything else I forgot to bring with me.

Now, I know that none of this is related to the Disney discount. But I think it plays directly against the notion that Florida residents and businesses don't want us there.

I'm not saying that residents don't spend their fair share of money, but you live there and have to deal with Mouse merchandise 24/7. You can buy most of it any time you want. The trinket shops practically start at the Georgia border.

But for people like us, we eat that stuff up! We buy it by the boat load and take it home with us. I can't tell you how many 'Florida' trinkets I handed out after my trip. I also love the Florida fruit and I always buy a few cases of oranges everytime I come down.

So all in all, I'm just trying to say that the tourists may help the economy in more ways than initially meets the eyes.

 

[bjlc57]

and it all starts at WDW... not only do I stay in Orlando when we come, and I have been coming to Florida for over 30 years., but I stay one or two days on one coast or the other..

Plus I start spending money at the fruit stand where 231 enters the state before we get to highway 10 from Alabama.

We buy tomatos, peanuts, and citrus.

All I am saying and the person from Michigan is saying is AT THIS TIME, DURING THIS ECONOMY, During this time of war, why can't Disney pass on the discount to others who could come otherwise?

 

[Stitch79]

Re: and if you say that we don't need your ...

Originally posted by bjlc57
One last thing .. if you say that as Florida residents, that Disney and Florida doesn't need my or other non residents money, ask the people from Cypress Gardens who lost at least 527 jobs this week, because of lack of business, especially since 9-11.

ask Winter Haven if they didn't want our business.

When has anyone ever said that Disney did not want non-resident money??! All we are saying is that there is a legitimate reason for the resident discounts as we do contribute alot to Disney's overall visitors.

Disney also makes of money off of out of state and out of country visitors. Lately there have been a TON of discounts available to everyone on hotel/resort stays and packages due to the lagging economy. Perhaps you should check out http://www.mousesavers.com for the latest offers.

 

[Cosmo]

Good point, Stitch! There are plenty of discounts READILY available to people all over the country and the world. The florida resident perks are just one of many. As a matter of fact, like I said earlier, many times its better for me to use my annual pass discounts than florida resident prices and annual passes can be used by anyone regardless of residence.

I by no means am saying "stay away". Just justifying the Florida discount (as one of many available).

 

[agdbeanie]

Stop complaining long enough to figure out that Disney DOES offer discounts to non-Floridians.

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