You better travel to WDW now, 2011 going to get more expensive.

[wm49rs]

Yes. Glad to see you agree with me. Don't get me wrong, I want the poorer element to enjoy vacations too. That's why six flags and IOF will ALWAYS have a market.

Hey, even Wal Mart employees need a day off!

That was sarcasm.......

 

[lebeau]

That is not really the point. I was just saying, you don't want disney to ignore any part of the market, and with all the deep discounts they are hurting their highest paying market.

Disney can do pretty much anything they want to the DVC crowd. They already got paid. I'm sure they don't want to upset them too much because they want to sell more DVC. But they don't have to court those who have already committed anymore.

 

[misterID]

Yes. Glad to see you agree with me. Don't get me wrong, I want the poorer element to enjoy vacations too. That's why six flags and IOF will ALWAYS have a market.

Hey, even Wal Mart employees need a day off!

I seriously hope you're joking, because this line of thinking is completely moronic and pretty tasteless. Those "poor" people you obviously don't want at WDW can't afford Disney Trips no matter what the discount and haven't been able to for a long time. And if your line of thinking was correct, Disney would have never needed the discounts anyway. Since the 90's Disney has carved that section of the population off because mostly, they don't spend excess money on overpriced merch. That poor element that's soiling "your" park is the middleclass, who Disney needs desperately and can't function without. That "elite" element is not the demographic that pays Disney's bills.

And that "elite" clientel isn't going to WDW like they used to anymore, anyway. That ship sailed a long time ago. Sorry you're finding that out now.

No matter what they say, there will always be discounts while this recession is going on. And whether people like it or not, those discounts have helped Disney immensely during this recession.

 

[wm49rs]

I seriously hope you're joking, because this line of thinking is completely moronic and pretty tasteless. Those "poor" people you obviously don't want at WDW can't afford Disney Trips no matter what the discount. And if your line of thinking was correct, they would have never needed the discounts anyway. Since the 90's Disney has carved that section of the population off because mostly, they don't spend excess money on overpriced merch. That poor element that's soiling "your" park is the middleclass, who Disney needs desperately and can't function without. That "elite" element is not the demographic that pays Disney's bills.

And that "elite" clientel isn't going to WDW like they used to anymore, anyway. That ship sailed a long time ago. Sorry you're finding that out now.

No matter what they say, there will always be discounts while this recession is ging on. And whether people like it or not, those discounts have helped Disney immensely during this recession.

Yeah....he's not.

 

[Korfar]

I seriously hope you're joking, because this line of thinking is completely moronic and pretty tasteless. Those "poor" people you obviously don't want at WDW can't afford Disney Trips no matter what the discount and haven't been able to for a long time. And if your line of thinking was correct, Disney would have never needed the discounts anyway. Since the 90's Disney has carved that section of the population off because mostly, they don't spend excess money on overpriced merch. That poor element that's soiling "your" park is the middleclass, who Disney needs desperately and can't function without. That "elite" element is not the demographic that pays Disney's bills.

And that "elite" clientel isn't going to WDW like they used to anymore, anyway. That ship sailed a long time ago. Sorry you're finding that out now.


No matter what they say, there will always be discounts while this recession is going on. And whether people like it or not, those discounts have helped Disney immensely during this recession.

If he isn't joking than that elitist mentality is irritating. But there are people out there like that. I thought he was joking and still hoping that is the case. The funny thing is the wealthy that do think that way always forget they wouldn't be wealthy without the middle class. The middle class supports everything in this county and make the rich richer. Without us the entire country would be in poverty. Same goes for Disney. They need the middle class to survive. Weather that is with discounts or not.

 

[PittFan]

They need to both get rid of discounts and raise the rack rate. When the discounts abound, you tend to get a lower class of guests who expect the top service for low dollar and no tips.

It will be good to get where only the elite can go again.

Apparently Disney doesn't agree, that is why they're building an additional VALUE resort.

 

[jcs4evas1298]

Even though my wife and I have enjoyed the steep discounts over the last couple years, we knew it would only last so long. I know there are plenty of doom and gloomers who cry about how the economy is still getting worse -- but nearly every economic indicator would disagree with you. More jobs are being created, more companies are reporting profits, most stocks are rising (including Disneys!), etc... What does that mean? The days of buying a car or boat for cost or lower are ending, the days of banks allowing people who choose not to pay their mortgage to live in their houses for free are ending, and the days of Disney forgiving a large part of your vacation costs are ending as well. Hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did while it lasted!

 

[geubux]

Apparently Disney doesn't agree, that is why they're building an additional VALUE resort.

Ah, yes! But, have you ever noticed the poor quality of bus service from the value resorts? do you think that is accidental? WDW doesn't mind your money for hotel space, but please keep out of the way of the paying customers, thank you.

 

[DisneyJoe]

Ah, yes! But, have you ever noticed the poor quality of bus service from the value resorts?

Poor? I find I get the BEST bus service from my favorite value resort, Pop Century! I find the moderates to have some of the worst bus service, due to their size.

 

[BrerFrog]

But I don't have the money to travel right now.

 

[wm49rs]

Ah, yes! But, have you ever noticed the poor quality of bus service from the value resorts? do you think that is accidental? WDW doesn't mind your money for hotel space, but please keep out of the way of the paying customers, thank you.

Do you honestly believe there's a different bus line running strictly for the value resorts?

And if they're staying at a resort, value or otherwise, aren't they paying customers as well?

 

[RiversideBunny]

Expensive is a relative term.
The new resort will be a 'Value' resort in name but the room prices for the family suites can be whatever the market determines.

 

[jakeman]

Remember though, unless we did an analysis of the average per guest rate for lodging, dining, and admission (or anything else that has been discounted in the past few years, not per guest spending), and compared that to a year ago, then we, as the consumer, really won't know if there are truly the same amount of discounts as last year.

We had a former poster here claiming back in February that Iger had lied about discounts.

Just because the consumer can't pinpoint the decrease in discounts, doesn't mean they aren't there, just that Disney is doing a better job of hiding them.

It is simply too early to tell how the discount situation for 2010 will turn out.

 

[hokielutz]

Think more about this. Basically they said that attendance (overall) was flat Y-O-Y. From what I have read, the "turnaround" hasn't really materialized from all their typical indicators. Even with all the so-called bargains they have offered in the last year, that has not increased visits. And from what I see in general here and in other communities, the expectation has been set that this should be their business model from now on. That's just foolishness.

Yes, in one sense, the company did this to themselves. Then again, they were also a victim of worldwide financial circumstance and had to do something to stem potential downturns in attendance. It may be painful, maybe moreso to those here than the company, but they have a fiduciary responsibility to other people than members here. Don't forget, regardless of how many people may be registered here, it's an extremely small majority compared to the vast pool of consumers around the world who will never notice the changes under discussion.

Lets also keep in mind the recent reports on attendance for last year. Most parks, including all of the non-Disney Orlando theme parks lost attendance from the prior year. The fact that Disney maintained its total says the sales helped keep the Dis-resort occupancy rate somewhat stable.

Peeling back the discounts is just part of the business cycle.

 

[jcs4evas1298]

Ah, yes! But, have you ever noticed the poor quality of bus service from the value resorts? do you think that is accidental? WDW doesn't mind your money for hotel space, but please keep out of the way of the paying customers, thank you.

Absolutely not true. I think Pop has the best bus service going... I consistently wait the longest for buses at Deluxe resorts.

 

[floridabill]

They need to both get rid of discounts and raise the rack rate. When the discounts abound, you tend to get a lower class of guests who expect the top service for low dollar and no tips.

It will be good to get where only the elite can go again.

TRUE THAT!!! That is what I loved about disney, always thinking this is great people are so cool and somewhat decent cause it was people with class and money. Then the economy tanked and it's been nothing but cheap trouble and big groups with flags!

 

[wm49rs]

TRUE THAT!!! That is what I loved about disney, always thinking this is great people are so cool and somewhat decent cause it was people with class and money. Then the economy tanked and it's been nothing but cheap trouble and big groups with flags!

Yeah, tour groups only started showing up when the economy went downhill.........

 

[Mouse Man]

Honestly I will still plan to be going back to Disney in 2011 & 2012. This gives me a heads up to start saving just a tad more. Before the economy tanked I never really had great discounts and still went to Disney without a care in the world. So why should that feeling change? Will this announcement deter me from going to my favorite Vacation resort, NO. Honestly we all knew this was going to happen down the road so it should be no big surprise. The economy is slowly turning around and I mean slowly. This is just an economic sign that things will start to go slowly back to normal. This also means that I will start planning and saving just a little more like I use to before the economy went downward.

 

[Korfar]

I think a select few on this thread need to go live in communist China where they can tell people what to do based on social class. Some of the comments on here about only the wealthy should be allowed in Disney World are ridiculous.

 

[ChrisM]

I don't think the "elitist" sentiment expressed by a few (of my now favorite) posters in this thread is any more crass or rude than the perpetual circle jerking we constantly got from the "discount" crowd about the dizzying array of pins, discounts, free dining, etc and how it's allowing them to put their Nth Disney vacation in X months on the credit card which they probably can't really afford anyway.

You embraced and constantly celebrated the Walmartization of what was once a premium entertainment experience while we sat on our hands and bit our lips. Don't be too put off by a little celebrating from the other side at measures we hope will, at least, staunch the incessant diminishing by degrees that has been going on.

Going to Disney is not a right. And it once cost more and was a better product. There's a correlation there.