Can Disney be bamboozled?!

[holcomb-mania]

The only "loophole" I have, which isn't a loophole, is to buy an extra ticket if you're short on time and want more fastpasses.

My guess is that there is no policy against one person paying twice to enter the park, so I felt OK about posting that.

On behalf of myself and other Disney shareholders, thank you.

 

[Cool-Beans]

On behalf of myself and other Disney shareholders, thank you.

We try.

 

[gibmom]

Hi! I've been out of touch for awhile: what is different about the dinner plan? Last trip we only bought the plan for one room (we're a big family so need 2 rooms) because it's so much food and never noticed whether it was for child or adult. How has it changed?
We once parked at WL in the morning because we were going to end our day there with dinner ADRs. Didn't know it was a no-no.
Gibmom

 

[Cruz91]

So it wasn't in my thread... but this is what I was looking for.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1515163

 

[Brian Noble]

I remember a "loophole" with the original FastPass machines for the first couple of years. They accepted any ticket media - even expired/used tickets and special event tickets like MNSSHP.

Once upon a time, Knott's annual passes worked in Disneyland's FP kiosks, too! That's been closed off for several years, though.

 

[kaytieeldr]

Hi! I've been out of touch for awhile: what is different about the dinner plan? Last trip we only bought the plan for one room How has it changed?

No sharing with Guests not on the Disney Dining Plan.

 

[TMB1203]

Good point about Disney reading here. So...um... Hello - Mr. Disney? Where do I apply for the job of reading DISboards all day?!?!

What a job! I would love to get paid for spending all day on the DIS...oh wait I do, I'm just suppossed to be doing my "real work"....

 

[TMB1203]

Yes, those infomercials for Appliance Direct... Hilarious!

Everytime we check-in, my DH immediatly turns on the TV too look for this infomerical. They are hilarious! So corny!

 

[wilde_oscar]

The generic mugs seem to be an opportunity, for those going more than once per "promotional period."

This has been discussed on the Dis podcast before. Disney gets they syrup for the fountain drink dispensers for, now get this, FREE. It is a promotional deal with Coke. So the $11 bucks or whatever the cost now goes a lot further toward Disney's cost of soda water and cold. This is another case where abuse is just not an issue. No point in it. At Holiday World in Southern Indiana, all soda is free all the time. It is a selling point of going there.

 

[Geoff_M]

Disney gets they syrup for the fountain drink dispensers for, now get this, FREE. It is a promotional deal with Coke.

That's an Internet legend that's used about as often as the one that says Walt's body is stored in liquid nitrogen! At best it's an over simplification of the way that exclusive soft drink deals work. If you do some reading on the subject, you see that they way that it works is that McDonald's, Burger King, etc. sign deals with Coca-Cola or Pepsi that, in exchange for being the the exclusive soft drink for the retailer, allow them to receive X cases of syrup free for every Y that they purchase. The terms of such deals are also never publicly announced, so I'm not sure how anyone outside senior Coke and Disney management would be able to know the terms of the deal for sure. Since the promotion is two-way (Coke getting the rights to use some of Disney's characters for advertising) I'm sure the deal is pretty (excuse the pun) sweet and probably better than McDonald's gets, but as much Coke product as all of the Disney parks use across the globe I have a hard time believing in Disney's case Y=0.

Google this supposed "free" syrup deal and you'll only people repeating the notion without attribution, or people that say things like "A CM at a restaurant at DL told me it's true". I have no doubt that this story also circulates in the CM world, but I'm going to guess that unless they've read the contract or have access to WDW's accounts payable system, they're just repeating what they've heard themselves.

Here's an example of the extended of what is known about such Coke/Disney deals from 1990:

COMPANY NEWS; Coke-Disney Pact

Published: January 26, 1990

The Coca-Cola Company and the Walt Disney Company signed a 15-year marketing agreement, extending an association that dates to 1942. The deal calls for Coke products to be available exclusively in all Disney theme parks. Coca-Cola will also have exclusive rights to use certain Disney characters in advertising. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Link

 

[mikey13v]

If Disney starts checking resort IDs that could cause some trouble. The tickets will let people on the transportation between the parks and TTC for free, but to get onto the resort transportation you're supposed to have a resort ID. I've only been checked once or twice for resort ID, but it can happen. Then someone could get stuck at a park with the car back at a resort, and no easy way to get back to the car. Without a reservation or resort ID it might not be easy to get back into the resort by taxi, since the person would have no reason to be there. I know that isn't likely because checking resort IDs for boarding busses and boats will make loading take longer and delay guests getting back to their rooms, but I believe Disney has stated that they can check.

This is not true. If you have admission to the theme parks, you are entitled to use the Disney Transportation System. This includes resort transportation. An example of why this is permitted is so off-site guests can dine at resort restaurants durring their visit without having to drive their cars. There is no distinction between the different routes the buses take, admission tickets allow use of ALL Disney transportation (Monorail, Buses, and Boats). Of coarse Magical Express is something different all together.
Disney welcomes off-site guests to visit the resorts to dine, shop, and maybe inspire them to stay there on their next vacation.

 

[marcbelt]

Yes, and the funny thing is, I was told TWICE by different CMs that I was kinda dumb for paying a ticket (back then they were Park Hoppers) for my DS who had just turned 3. Went again when he was 4 and the same thing happened. That CM told me they dont care if a kid pays or doesnt pay a ticket. So the next time, I went, DS was 6, I didnt buy a ticket and, sure enough, no one said a word. Dont know if this is enforced now, but back then the CMs made me feel stupid for paying Park Hoppers....

 

[disphoto]

First annual pass purchased for DD was on 10-20, she turned 10 on 10-13, the CM said I should have changed her b-day and paid for the child's ticket.

 

[G8RFAN]

My son turned 3 while staying at WDW. The CM at the gate said that we didn't need to buy a pass this trip. We knew we were coming back in a month and our AP's renew 4 days after his birthday. To keep things simple we bought an AP and pin lanyard for him for his birthday. Funny thing was, I clearly remember a couple of times before that trip where the CM had asked him how old he was. I'm not sure if it was just because he is as cute as a button or if they were checking on his parent's honesty.

 

[Geoff_M]

Dont know if this is enforced now, but back then the CMs made me feel stupid for paying Park Hoppers....

Such comments wouldn't bother me. One of my favorite song lyrics is:

"An honest man's pillow is his peace of mind."

 

[klj27]

This isn't a loophole but something I was told by a castmember last week. My son is exactly 40 inches and hated being measured when we entered a line (SM, Soarin, TT, BTMR). He would also have to be measured right before we boarded a ride. A castmember told us that they are required to measure all children who are being carried. I am sure they don't all do this, but from that point on we let him walk in hopes of bypassing the measuring fiasco, which he could not stand.

 

[fla4fun]

This is not true. If you have admission to the theme parks, you are entitled to use the Disney Transportation System. This includes resort transportation. An example of why this is permitted is so off-site guests can dine at resort restaurants durring their visit without having to drive their cars. There is no distinction between the different routes the buses take, admission tickets allow use of ALL Disney transportation (Monorail, Buses, and Boats). Of coarse Magical Express is something different all together.
Disney welcomes off-site guests to visit the resorts to dine, shop, and maybe inspire them to stay there on their next vacation.

I do remember a time when Disney did check for resort ID on all transportation that ran between the resorts and the parks. I can remember showing my resort ID to get on buses and boats at the resorts, because I was always afraid at the boat docks that I would drop it in the water. It wasn't like they scrutinized it closely, but basically glanced at the check out date to make sure it was still valid. It was a real pain back when they had the paper ID cards (anyone remember those?) because they got worn quickly as well. The only transportation you could get on at that time without showing your resort ID was the express and Epcot monorails and the ferry boat at TTC. They even checked ID to board the resort monorail at TTC.

However, it was easier to park at a resort back then, so that was one way of curbing the people trying to dodge the parking fee. If you didn't have a resort ID, it was pointless to park at the resort and try to get into the parks (this was also pre MK walkway). Plus, if you could park easily at the resort, you could still dine and shop there without using Disney transportation. Now that the resort access is more restricted, I can understand that the transportation system has been opened up to pretty much anyone. But I'm sure Disney could change their policy at any time and start checking those ID's again if circumstances warranted it.