Disney's gotten cheap !!

[Disneymailmn79]

i got my vacation package yesterday and is it just me or has disney gotten cheap in the last 7 or 8 years. i can't believe that all they give you is ONE !! select entree at planet hollywood!!! wow now thats cheap 4,000 thousand dollar vacation package and all they give is one lousy select entree not even one per person !!! i recall back in 97 they gave one meal of your choice. those were the days. oh well still love disney so who cares.

[tiggerbell]

Um, PLANET HOLLYWOOD is NOT owned by Disney.... I think it's Planet Hollywood who's being cheap here!

[msmayor]

Something is better than nothing.

[J.C.&ALI'SMOM]

Since the packages have become a better value in the last few years, you are still getting more for your money. The packages used to cost more than their individual components purchased separately. Then WDW would throw in a character meal, souvenir, etc. of your choice. Most of the time you were paying for all of that and more.

Now the packages are more cost effective, so you are actually getting a entree for free instead of overpaying for one.

[Kitka]

Eh, I would like to get a lot of free extras too, but when people are filling up the resorts they don't need to offer freebie incentives, I suppose!

[Disneymailmn79]

back in the mid 90's disney was making alot more money so their goes that theory, and i think if you spend over 5'000 dollar's on a vacation like i did on my last trip before this one coming up i think you should at least get one free dinner at a sit down restaurant of your choice excludeing victoria and alberts of course. thats not to much to ask for a company that makes untold millions because of our loyalty. that being said thier's still no place like disney world and nothing would keep me from going their every time im able, besides it becoming like great adventure lol. god forbid

may 8th to the 17th pofq with dining !!!! :cool1:

[firemanx]

what about free dining? I booked 5 days/4 nights @ Poly with tckets, and it was 2800$. Now with the way my family enjoys meals on vacaton were saving about 1000-1500$

[Disneymailmn79]

thats because you have the disney visa card right? still you only get that deal if you go during certain times which i believe is hurricane season. im just saying it would be nice to get something a little better then one "selected" entree at planet hollywood which is a pretty crappy place maybe if this was 1995 i would be more excited since planet hollywood was "kool" and "hip" back then. but i do have to say the disney dining plan is a very good deal , never used it before. but i figured by looking at all the menus at the places we have adr's plus counter savings and snacks it will be well over the 1000 bucks we are paying for the three of us. i love to eat so this is right up my alley. really i would not care if the didn't give you anything extra i love disney , it's like a drug lol i need my yearly fix, sometimes twice a year. nothing better then driving into the world seeing that sign and having all your problems get washed away for how ever long you stay. 27 days and counting

[disneyfan61]

Um, PLANET HOLLYWOOD is NOT owned by Disney.... I think it's Planet Hollywood who's being cheap here!
Exactley!!!!

[DISUNC]

i got my vacation package yesterday and is it just me or has disney gotten cheap in the last 7 or 8 years. i can't believe that all they give you is ONE !! select entree at planet hollywood!!! wow now thats cheap 4,000 thousand dollar vacation package and all they give is one lousy select entree not even one per person !!! i recall back in 97 they gave one meal of your choice. those were the days. oh well still love disney so who cares.

Yes! I agree with you. Alas, this is the sign of the times! They, like every other corporation now give less service/ammenities for more $$$ and label it 'Value". Before the "magic your way"/"value" pacakages kicked in...It was physically LESS $$$ (not much of a difference ..but enough to make you go hmm!)to go to Disney. They use to give you pins or posters, pics, etc (little things) and I also had a free lunch @ Planet Hollywood from disney travel.

[Elfstar]

I love a deal as much as anyone but I get so TIRED of people looking for something for nothing and complaining bitterly when they don't get it. Flame away, children, I'm fireproof here :firefight . Work to pay for what you want, and you'll value it all the more. A freebie should be pixiedust - an unexpected surprise, not a given. Think about people who can't afford any vacation, or any necessity for that matter, for their children, let alone a $5,000 vacation. I was a single mom for many years, with a deadbeat ex-, and took care of everything myself.

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

:wave2: Elfstar.... :thumbsup2

[Elfstar]

Hey, Thinktinknpixiedust!

I moved to NC from Ithaca! We were almost neighbors! :yay:

[Thinktinknpixiedust]

Howdy almost neighbor... close enough for me!! We honeymooned in Murphy NC :bride: Guess we are kinda following each other around!! Now we're both here :rolleyes:

[grimley1968]

I'm all for a good "cheap vs. not-cheap" debate. But the OP first of all put this thread in the "Countdowns and live reports" forum. To top it off, the OP assumed that Planet Hollywood was part of Disney, which is of course incorrect.

I disagree that Disney is being "cheap". I think they're getting more expensive, overall, but I think there is still plenty of bang for the buck. But if we're going to argue that Disney is cheap, let's use true Disney offerings, and not Planet Hollywood. ;)

And you don't need the Disney visa to take part in free dining. True, it is only available at certain times of year and requires a package with a resort, but geez, it's FREE. We did it during value season in October last year, and saved over $700, and the rack rate for the room really wasn't bad at all. Free dining is a heck of a lot to give away. I don't think Disney is being "cheap" by not offering it all year when their resorts might already be full. We do live in a market economy, after all.

I've never heard of any other time, and I've been going to WDW since about 1972, that Disney has just given meals away, like the OP seems to suggest. To not give meals away is not being cheap, it's just being a business. I'm sorry the OP spent $5k on his WDW vacation. You can spend $2k less than that for a week's stay at a deluxe resort during value season, WITH free dining, if you do a little research.

[Kitster]

back in the mid 90's disney was making alot more money so their goes that theory, and i think if you spend over 5'000 dollar's on a vacation like i did on my last trip before this one coming up i think you should at least get one free dinner at a sit down restaurant of your choice excludeing victoria and alberts of course. thats not to much to ask for a company that makes untold millions because of our loyalty. that being said thier's still no place like disney world and nothing would keep me from going their every time im able, besides it becoming like great adventure lol. god forbid

may 8th to the 17th pofq with dining !!!! :cool1:If you want something for free, change the date of your trip. FREE DINING runs May 13 - Sept. 30. You'd just have to move your trip back 5 days to get ALL you meals free, not just "one free dinner at a sit down resturant of your choice", excluding Victoria & Albert's, of course. And no, you don't have to have a Disney Visa to take part in this promotion. They (Disney) just opened up the booking to cardholders 4 days before they opened it up to the general public. I was able to save my BIL's family over $700 by letting them know about this perk and we also saved over $500 by booking a package.

We are booked 9/9 - 9/17 and 9/28 - 10/2 at Pop Century WITH free dining and this portion of our vacation, including airfare, rental car and hotel & food will end up costing us less than $2000. Since we're on the 11-night Southern Caribbean Disney cruise 9/17 - 9/28, I guess you could say we're eating for free nearly the entire month of Sept !!! What a honeymoon this is turning out to be :love:

[Shagley]

If you want something for free, change the date of your trip. FREE DINING runs May 13 - Sept. 30. You'd just have to move your trip back 5 days to get ALL you meals free, not just "one free dinner at a sit down resturant of your choice", excluding Victoria & Albert's, of course.

Just a little correction, Free Dining runs Aug 13 - Sept 30th, :sunny:

[mlwear]

I'm curious to know how many will use the Planet Hollywood voucher anyway. Prior to free dining when I figured out it was for one member in our party and for the cheapest meals I decided there was no way I would use it. Nice attempt by Planet Hollywood to get folks in there to spend $ to buy more expensive meals for the rest of the party. Lots of other places I would rather spend my money. I'm sure it will pay off for Planet Hollywood to some extent, but not from us. Wonder if you can give your voucher away? Can a group use more than one? If a family or couple collects more than one, then I guess they could have a nice cheeseburger lunch for free. :goodvibes

Free dining was a generous enough deal from Disney to cause us to alter our vacation plans a bit to take advantage. :cheer2:

[Disneymailmn79]

that's not going to work for me since i don't want to go during hurricane season. look im not asking for much here , seriously i really don't want anything. my point is disney has gotten a bit cheaper during the last 7 or 8years i still love going their and that will not change anytime soon. but when you stay at a deluxe resort for 10 days and stay in a room that cost more since it has a better view you expect to get more then a voucher for planet hollywood. like i said their's no place like disney world and you can't find that kind of experience anywhere else, maybe the mr.eisner is gone now (thank god) and his massive ego disney will put more back for us instead of buying going into bad business ventures. like they did during the last years of king eisners rein.

[grimley1968]

that's not going to work for me since i don't want to go during hurricane season. look im not asking for much here , seriously i really don't want anything. my point is disney has gotten a bit cheaper during the last 7 or 8years i still love going their and that will not change anytime soon. but when you stay at a deluxe resort for 10 days and stay in a room that cost more since it has a better view you expect to get more then a voucher for planet hollywood. like i said their's no place like disney world and you can't find that kind of experience anywhere else, maybe the mr.eisner is gone now (thank god) and his massive ego disney will put more back for us instead of buying going into bad business ventures. like they did during the last years of king eisners rein.

Again, Disney does NOT OWN Planet Hollywood! I don't know how in the world Disney could have ever given a voucher for Planet Hollywood in the first place, unless they paid for the meal. I wish I could get meal vouchers for places Disney has 0 control over.

7 or 8 years ago, there was no dining plan, much less the free dining plan special. Yes, it's during hurricane season, but in most years hurricanes come nowhere close to Orlando.

Every year we stay there, we get some sort of discount on the rooms, even during value season (we never stay outside value season). But that free dining plan topped any kind of room discount we ever got.

You may dislike Eisner (I do as well), but I'm sorry, your point is kind of lost in the torrent of discounts, specials, free dining, etc. that have been offered more recently that were not available until now.

I don't know of any resorts that just give free stuff away like you wish Disney would. You get what you pay for, and in Disney's case you sometimes get what you DON'T pay for, like the free dining plan deal.

When you stay at a room that costs more because of the better view, you're staying there and paying more because of, well, the better view and only that. It's beyond me why anyone should expect more goodies because of this. :confused3 What about the people who stay in the least expensive room at POP? Shouldn't they get goodies, too?

Why is it that some people expect free extra goodies from Disney just because they spend money there? No other place offers this, and they are just as expensive as WDW or more. You get what you pay for. If you get anything extra, like free dining, etc., consider it pixie dust. :rolleyes:

[Disneymailmn79]

their is a word for someone who blindly defends ones pasion or pasion's i think it's fanatic. disney is a billion dollar company that got that way because of people like us who go every year and sometimes twice a year. i don't think it's so terrible to make a point that disney has gotten a bit cheaper in the last few years i am not the only one who has said this. i have read articles in major vacation and travel publications by writers who have pointed out a small decline at disney in the last 6 years or so. i myself don't feel this way that's why i spend my hard earned money their every year. as for your point that you shouldnt get something extra if you spend alot more money well sir thats they way things work. if you go into a car dealership and want the best car thier with all the extras you can expect to have your fanny kissed a bit more then if your buying the cheapest car on the lot.

[Shagley]

my point is disney has gotten a bit cheaper during the last 7 or 8years i still love going their and that will not change anytime soon. but when you stay at a deluxe resort for 10 days and stay in a room that cost more since it has a better view you expect to get more then a voucher for planet hollywood.

I see what you are saying, but I guess to me - I never expect to get anything more than what I pay for and what I am told that I am getting. It would be like going to a restaurant and ordering a steak dinner, then, out of the blue the waiter says "and here is a complementary brownie". Would you then say "What do you mean you are only giving me a free browie, you are cheap, I just paid for a steak dinner, even though I wasn't expecting it to begin with, you should give me an entire free chocolate cake". I understand what you are saying as far as maybe some of Disney's promotions aren't as good as they were in the past. But, also, if you want a good promotion, you have to arrange your trips according to the promotion schedules. You can't just go whenever you want, then complain that you didn't get something that you were never told that you would get in the first place.

Of course, everyone has the right to their own opinion, and this is just my opinion.

[grimley1968]

So I'm now a "fanatic" and "blindly defend" my "pasion" (should be "passion" I think). I don't think I'm the one that's being blind. Just realistic. Shagley is right. There are plenty of promotions available (free dining is the best one they've ever done IMHO), but you have to go during the schedule. It's their way of filling the resorts during what would normally be off season.

You can make your point all you want, but it would be far more powerful if you came up with evidence of your point, rather than just pointing out that others have the same opinion. That's not evidence or proof. Let's gather that and show it, rather than calling those who disagree with you and show evidence to support their case "blind fanatics." :sad2: Facts are much more useful in an argument than name-calling.

[eblack0409]

I love a deal as much as anyone but I get so TIRED of people looking for something for nothing and complaining bitterly when they don't get it. Flame away, children, I'm fireproof here :firefight . Work to pay for what you want, and you'll value it all the more. A freebie should be pixiedust - an unexpected surprise, not a given. Think about people who can't afford any vacation, or any necessity for that matter, for their children, let alone a $5,000 vacation. I was a single mom for many years, with a deadbeat ex-, and took care of everything myself.

AMEN to that!!!!!! I can remember as a kid not being able to go to Myrtle Beach because it was too much....let alone Disney......my first Disney trip was my honeymoon last September! pixiedust:

I work in retail....the attitude "I want, I want, I want" really annoys me....just be greatful for what you have....

[Kitster]

Just a little correction, Free Dining runs Aug 13 - Sept 30th, :sunny:
You are correct....my bad.

[Disneymailmn79]

lol i guess im not going to win this fight so we can agree to disagree . still before i drop the topic i just want to answer those who thing im wrong to want a little extra from a company who make millions upon millions of dollars. let my tell you something about a little experience we had a disney a couple years back that would not have occured back in the mid to late nineties when disney was at its peak. we went to the world in late september 2004 which to everyone knows was at the tail end of one of floridas worst hurricane seasons. we stayed at the poly which everyone knows is one of the more epensive of the resorts. so we check in and get our room all is well in the world. right of the bat we detected an odor which can only be described as a mix of mildoo and dead animal more of the former then latter but still pretty bad. being that the room had such a great view we decided it wasn't that bad and thought the smell was worst when you first came in so we called house keeping and the the house keeper said yes she smelled something also in our room and in many other rooms in that wing. but keep in mind she didn't say what but she knew, still she was very nice and said she would do something for the rugs while we where out. so we came back that afternoon of our first day smell still their slighty masked we decided to give it one night. so next day smell got worse

[Disneymailmn79]

funny thing was that day my g/f on her way back from the lobby told me that their was a group of disney engineers walking the hallway down stairs. she heard them talking about water damage , so she asked whats wrong with this area ofl ong houses. the engineer said this sextion was hit hard by the hurricane and received heavy water damage to alot of the rooms. he also said we and other people in his opinion should never been put in these rooms since they knew about the damage. to make a long story short we and the other familys did get new rooms and we got to go to two dinners of our choice which was very nice of the mananger att he poly who was form jersey like us. my point is i looked at disney a little differently after that knowing they put us and other people in rooms knowing they had water damage that would effect our experience so i don't feel like i want it all when i make the point that disney has lost a bit of magic in the last years. i don't want anything for free i am more then capable of going to a TSR everynight of our stay before the dining plan if we choiced . i just don't want to see one of my favorite places slip a little when they should not. i love disney as much or more then many people and being a bit critical doesn't make me whiny or otherwise. some folks on this board need to stop drinking the koolaid. same people who are critical of me write post's of how universal studios is awful and theirs no reason to go their what so ever and if u do you not a "real" disney fan. we mind as well be comunists if nobody is allowed to have any type of negative thoughts about our favorite place, which i really don't being that in 25 days we will be heading to the world for another great trip. i respect everyones thoughts and i hope you respect mine