Disney Guided Tours Survey

[erikthewise]

I just finished doing an online survey concerning various guided tours offered by a hypothetical Disney Tours operation. There were several detailed all-inclusive tour plans with specific resorts, specific itineraries, and prices. They seemed VERY upscale. I'm not used to pricing all-inclusive tours, but they were quite expensive, from $2000 to $5000 per adult and child rates a little more than half the adult rates (airfare not included).

The most interesting (and most expensive) was a Hawaiian tour that included three very nice resorts: Kona Village on the Big Island, Royal Hawaiian on Waikiki, and (I think) the Princeville on Kauai.

Of course a marketing survey doesn't mean anything will ever come of it, just that they're thinking about it.

 

[castleri]

Glad I'm not the only one to get the "expensive" feeling about these proposed guided tours. Guess being a DVC member has made me very concious of how far you can make money stretch if you plan and plan and plan ahead and book things separately. Guess the tours won't be for me unless I win the lottery

 

[PKS44]

Actually I thought all the tours sounded really cool --and I am glad to hear that I am not the only one who thought it all sounded REALLY EXPENSIVE! I am not an expert on package deals but all of them for a family of four came out to over $1000 a night some as much as $1400 a night..not including airfare, or getting to the places...those hotels are nice but all could be had for no more than $400 a night...all meals included is worth something and the activities are too--but every other tour package I have ever seen -and I have been on at least one guided tour- gives some price break when you buy a package...This seems an awful lot like the Disney packages at WDW--lots of things you could put together for yourself but for even more money than a la carte pricing. You are paying for them putting it together and for the Disney brand name and it seems they are charging a lot for that....I like the idea of it as we just took a trip to France last year with our kids and it would have been nice ot have a tour with kids in mind in essentially grown up places like Europe---(we had a wedding to go to--just my luck the last two weddings we had to attend were in France and in Hawaii.


Paul

 

[erikthewise]

I could be wrong, but I don't think you can get the Kona Village for $400 even for two adults, and certainly not with a family of four. On the other hand I'd be perfectly happy with a resort that you CAN get for $400 or less, such as Mauna Lani, or even Hilton Waikoloa Village.

And have you looked at the prices on the restaurant menus at some of these resort?! They are even more outrageous than the rooms. You could save a bundle just by renting a car so you can go get a reasonably priced meal somewhere.

 

[PKS44]

I can't say for sure about the prices at some of the places...but we stayed at the Princeville for $300 a night 3 years ago and with Hawaiian tourism down I can't imagine it being much higher now...and the prices for the kids only got you one room still ---like you said I can't imagine not being quite happy in a place that is $400 a night and imagine spending $400 every day on food for two adults and two kids?! Say that would be 3 meals and a snack each costing $100---that is some breakfast and some snack and a really nice lunch and a decent dinner even at those overpriced hotels--and who is going to eat like that?

How does it compare to the price of a cruise?
Also, erik--which name for the new venture did you like best?
I think I settled on Magic Journeys by Disney...

 

[WDWguru]

I took the same survey earlier today. I agree, they are pricey, especially considering airfare is not included. Personally, DH and I are not "tour" types and prefer to do things more independently, but Disney tends to do things right. It could be a fun option to consider in the future.

I especially liked (and commented on) the fact that they mention both family dates and adult-only groups. Looks like Disney is finally recognizing their large fan base of childfree couples and retired folks who want to travel without the grandkids.

 

[PKS44]

I did an Internet shopping search to look at other guided tours and of course there is a wide variation in prices...iwth Abercrombie and Kent being the most expensive---but for the most part it looked the prices were not that far off for a Luxury trip but a bit high for a deluxe level trip--which is more what I think Disney would be offering. as compared to the lower 1st class level---

 

[jlambrig]

I took it too and stated that instead of spending money trying to devise new ways of capturing people's money, they should simply go back to delivering the product that made people want to come to the resorts in the first place, i.e. new rides, consistent renovations, restored hours, etc. While Disney may do this right, they will be doing it at the expense of doing other things right, like the parks. I am all for this type of initiative once they get their current house in order.

 

[PKS44]

I also said something about Disney's latest "slide."

They asked me if I would be interested and I said yes if it were done well as Disney used to do---but not if it were like much of the recent efforts which had the name but not the devotion to quality and service as in the past...I wonder if they get this message enough that they might do something--but I suspect these surveys are done to prove what they already want to hear...

In the case of these tours in virtually every case given I said that I had little interest but only because they seemed too expensive...what did others say? And what name did you pick as your favorite???

Paul

 

[erikthewise]

I was more generous about interest: just marked each tour down one notch for being too expensive, e.g. Hawaii tour I marked down from "extremely interested" to "very interested". However when it came down to likelihood of doing it I gave lower marks. And in my final comments I mentioned that in the end I would decide against it because I could have "a very nice Hawaiian vacation for several thousand dollars less".

I liked "Disney's Magical Vacations" best, followed by the pedestrian but simple "Walt Disney Tours" and "Disney Tours".

 

[WDWguru]

I liked Disney's True-Life Adventures best, closely followed by Disney's Magical Journeys.

 

[CWIPPERMAN]

Just curious...

Who is doing this survey? I don't understand when you say "Hypothetical Disney Survey". Is this the WDW Travel Company, or is this some other travel agency?

 

[WDWguru]

The e-mail was from Disney (seemed to be the same survey format/programming as the post-stay surveys they request via e-mail). There was no mention of specific departments or agencies in the e-mail invitation or on the survey itself other than Disney.

 

[erikthewise]

The phrase "hypothetical Disney Tours" just meant that there is no such tour company at present. The whole survey was from the point of view "If such tours existed, what would you think?"

 

[Maxwell]

My comment to Disney at the end of the survey was to stay out of this business. Focus on the parks!