$100 photobook with free dining= Disney epic fail

[tonyolily]

I was just thinking about this. I had expected the offer to possibly be QSD free at mods instead of DDP. So in that regard, I'm much happier with the photobook being added rather than it being free QSD as that would have saved us even less when we had to upgrade to DDP.

I was thinking the same thing! The last few free dine offers have been for free quick serve at values and moderates with the opportunity to upgrade to the dining plan. With this offer those staying in moderate resorts are getting the dining plan - not having to pay the difference for the upgrade. And you get the photobook! That's not too bad...

 

[tinkerbell555]

I just booked the free dining package for 6 . We did the 2 rooms at asmu. The suite was unavailable. The package if you do 2 rooms has 2 photo books. I really wished the suite was available.This doesn't make sense. I am glad about free dining though it is about 200 for the photobooks.

 

[KatieCollette]

The photobook isn't free? It really adds on 100 to the price? blechh. I'm buying this package this week. I didn't really want the photobook but I was waiting for the free dining. Maybe I should just wait till they offer the package again for the winter months and see if they still throw it in....

 

[aaronella]

We booked our initial reservation using the 30% off mods pin, added Dxdp out of pocket. When the new promo came out, I called my travel agent and we will be saving 190.11 for our room. (2a, 1c)So for atleast a few of us the new promo was a good thing as we missed out on the original free dining pin. We will have the 190 deducted from what we owe and will get the book as well!

 

[WDWCastMember]

 

[lisaisanurse]

Disney is a buisness, one day there may be NO DISCOUNT at all...it's a choice, if you don't like the price/deal, you just don't go! I am really confused how people are complaining and thinking Disney is doing something wrong with promotions and dates of promotions that come out! Disney is a buisness out to make money, PERIOD!

*this is a message board and anyone is entitled to their opinions, but some people are really thinking Disney is doing something wrong to the public!

 

[nonsmom]

I booked the original free dining package last fall. I think it was open until Dec. I am not sure why people are so upset about the photo book. I don't think that you are obligated to get the dining plan, are you? Will people save more if they just do the room only discount and pay for the dining plan instead of getting the FD. I think this sometimes works for Deluxe resorts.

 

[Colleen27]

One word.. Marketing... With the lower cost of great DSLR cameras, you end up taking better pictures than the CMs. So you don't get that many photo pass prints, hence they probably have been loosing money on this.

So now you are buying 20 pictures in a book

Yep. I'm not complaining - even with the photobook it is saving me a few hundred bucks over the 30% offer I was booked with before. But I know perfectly well that most of the pictures that make it into the photobook will be my own that I upload, because for two trips in a row now we've had terrible luck with photopass photographers. We don't run into many of them just walking around the parks, and the ones at the character locations often do a terrible job of photographing two or three kids with a single character - we've got dozens from the last trip with heads, legs, arms cut off, one kid half out of the frame, etc.

 

[GAGirlInVA]

Yep. I'm not complaining - even with the photobook it is saving me a few hundred bucks over the 30% offer I was booked with before. But I know perfectly well that most of the pictures that make it into the photobook will be my own that I upload, because for two trips in a row now we've had terrible luck with photopass photographers. We don't run into many of them just walking around the parks, and the ones at the character locations often do a terrible job of photographing two or three kids with a single character - we've got dozens from the last trip with heads, legs, arms cut off, one kid half out of the frame, etc.

Have you considered asking them to take several pictures and perhaps let the children take pictures individually? Trust me, I get that it is hard to get more than one child to all look the same way, etc. But I think that the photopass folks that we encountered really did try and I was pretty happy to not be lugging out my big camera. FWIW, we just went to a professional studio and out of 60+ pictures taken, we narrowed it down to 7 or 8 that we thought were "acceptable." It happens.

The photopass folks took over 600 pictures in a week of our crew and I found plenty of really great shots in the mix.

 

[Whitegloves]

" I think we will switch things up and when we next return to Orlando our boys will be big enough to switch to the Universal parks instead."

Is it that much cheaper to go to Universal? I haven't been there for years and when I did go, it was an add-on to a Disney trip and we stayed elsewhere.

 

[smidgy]

there are pretty good deals for 2 park tickets. universal charges for "express pass" (their version of fast pass. free for universal resort guests.

while these 3 resorts are not cheap!!! (royal pacific being the cheapest) Icannot imagine going there without staying "on site". walking to city walk, wlaking to either park the express pass for the rides (although I think it still is not available for the harry potter, Forbidden Journey.

 

[Iwant2BAprincess]

" I think we will switch things up and when we next return to Orlando our boys will be big enough to switch to the Universal parks instead."

Is it that much cheaper to go to Universal? I haven't been there for years and when I did go, it was an add-on to a Disney trip and we stayed elsewhere.

Sorry, didn't mean to imply anything cost realted, simply that the next time we are putting out for a big vacay we will probably switch parks since my kids will be large enough to enjoy universal.

 

[ElizabethB]

We find ourselves spending more of our vacation days at Universal and fewer at Disney. The resorts, while not cheap, are excellent. The RPH can sometimes be had for the price of a moderate at Disney -- and RPH is so much nicer. We love Portofino Bay Hotel. While we have enjoyed GF RPC, it is terribly over-priced and was less than amazing for the price. We would pick a club level stay at PBH over GF RPC any day of the week.

The Universal parks are great fun and the FOTL access that comes with an on-site stay can't be beat and takes a lot of stress out of the day. The restaurants have not all been dumbed down due to a so-called dining plan -- so one can have some truly excellent meals at places like Baci, Tchoup Chop, Mamma Della's and Emeril's (and even in-park at Mythos).

We, too, find the free dining promotion is not worth the bother. And, unless we get a 40% off rate on a deluxe, they are so wildly over-priced that it's ridiculous. We just stayed in a one bedroom villa-style suite at Stein Erikson Lodge at Deer Valley for less than $200 per night. Stein Erickson is a truly four-star experience, unlike the Disney hotels.

The only way Disney rooms come, even remotely, into a pricing scheme of some sanity is with the discounts Disney offers. Even then, they are over-priced. Because a lot of the Disney experience is pretty old hat for us, now, we can definitely see ourselves going elsewhere on vacation if the price is not somewhat reasonable.

Disney is a business and, of course, can choose to give discounts or not. And, I am free to choose a different vacation if I don't like what Disney is offering. Lately, we haven't been liking it very much. The hotels are really overpriced, the parks aren't very clean, the CMs seem demoralized, there is nothing exciting and new like WWOHP (sorry, an expanded Fantasyland doesn't do it for us), the F&W Festival is a pale imitation of its former self, and so on. That is what should concern stockholders.

 

[sharadoc]

Have you considered asking them to take several pictures and perhaps let the children take pictures individually? Trust me, I get that it is hard to get more than one child to all look the same way, etc. But I think that the photopass folks that we encountered really did try and I was pretty happy to not be lugging out my big camera. FWIW, we just went to a professional studio and out of 60+ pictures taken, we narrowed it down to 7 or 8 that we thought were "acceptable." It happens.

The photopass folks took over 600 pictures in a week of our crew and I found plenty of really great shots in the mix.

Plus playing around with cropping and zooming can yield some very neat shots. I got a great one of DH and DS as they stood off to the side while DD got her photo with Pluto. Or just me and DD out of a group shot, etc. If you take some time, you can get a LOT of cool angles and shots out of the standard Photopass photos.

 

[Condorman]

Disney is a business and, of course, can choose to give discounts or not. And, I am free to choose a different vacation if I don't like what Disney is offering. Lately, we haven't been liking it very much. The hotels are really overpriced, the parks aren't very clean, the CMs seem demoralized, there is nothing exciting and new like WWOHP (sorry, an expanded Fantasyland doesn't do it for us), the F&W Festival is a pale imitation of its former self, and so on. That is what should concern stockholders.

And yet the Magic Kingdom sees 18 million visitors a year, more than Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Sea World combined. It's no wonder. USO is a shoddy patchwork quilt of other companies' brands and products just to piece together a measly pair of one-day parks. Dudley Do-Right? Popeye? The Blues Brothers? Really? How about the Rip-Off Ride Rockit, a.k.a. Rock 'n Roller Coaster 2? As for WWoHP... One new E-Ticket that's like a baby Soarin' on a track and re-themed previous rides, which, BTW, were designed by Disney Imagineers, just doesn't cut it. USO appeals to people who care more about saving money than making memories; parents who let their teenagers go their own way, and not families who like to spend time with their children. Sadly, that says everything right there.

Disney FTW!!!

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

And yet the Magic Kingdom sees 18 million visitors a year, more than Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure and Sea World combined. It's no wonder. USO is a shoddy patchwork quilt of other companies' brands and products just to piece together a measly pair of one-day parks. Dudley Do-Right? Popeye? The Blues Brothers? Really? How about the Rip-Off Ride Rockit, a.k.a. Rock 'n Roller Coaster 2? As for WWoHP... One new E-Ticket that's like a baby Soarin' on a track and re-themed previous rides, which, BTW, were designed by Disney Imagineers, just doesn't cut it. USO appeals to people who care more about saving money than making memories; parents who let their teenagers go their own way, and not families who like to spend time with their children. Sadly, that says everything right there...

Need to ease up on the Disney kool aid, my friend.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

We have been annual passholders for 8 years. When free dining first was offered we stayed at Pop with regular ding plan which included appetizers and tip and only needed to purchase one day pass. Next Disney eliminated the appetizers and tip. This was followed by a downgrade to Quick service dining plan. Then a purchase of a two day pass was required. Now a forced $100 purchase of a photobook, which we do not want. What was once a great deal is no longer a deal at all for passholders IMHO. We have decided to not renew our AP's and go elsewhere for vacation this year. We are so disappointed.

Epic Fail in your opinion.

Epic Money Maker in Disney's opinion.

 

[LAH LAH]

For us this is far from an epic fail! I am happy to spend the $90.90 to get 7 days of Free Dining.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

For us this is far from an epic fail! I am happy to spend the $90.90 to get 7 days of Free Dining.

I have to agree. We have been able to take advantage of the Free Dining Discount many times since it was first introduced in the fall of 2005 and it usually saves us between $1,200 and $1,500.00. To this day, it is the best discount WDW has ever made available for our family.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Good for you. The only way to "protest" Disney's deals is with your wallet. And it has to start somewhere. If enough people say "this isn't good enough", then they'll HAVE to lower prices.

Of course, this attitude is a good argument for Disney needing to wean the public of these discounts. "How dare Disney not give me a HUGE discount on my vacation! Screw you Disney!"

Disney is attempting to this, but cannot do it quite yet. Both their CFO and CEO have made public announcements in their earnings releases that have stated that they expect to begin reducing the number of discounts when they can.

Obviously, it's too early right now to stop this particular discount program (which has been diluted over the years to keep it from affecting profits as much as in the past). Removing tips and appetizers while increasing room prices have made the program less costly to Disney. Also, the Values were reduced to just the QSDP. Forcing a purchase of a book that has very little cost to Disney helps their profits nominally, but does create further dilution of FD. I think this trend will only continue to shrink the discount. If they find that they've shrunk the discount too much, they'll expand it to draw more "lower profit" guests.

As long as Disney believes that they will make more income by adding more guests at a lower profit margin than fewer guests at a higher profit margin, they will continue to offer FD programs and other discounts. But they continue to monitor these programs and attempt to continue to limit it where possible as stated by their CEO and CFO. But, they still have a lot of rooms to fill!

On the cruise line, they recently stopped the Kids Sail Free promotions in lieu of a new program for last-minute discounts. These are generally offered after the paid-in full date, so those passengers who have already booked their cruise cannot change their reservation to take advantage of the discount without incurring a substantial penalty. In the past, it was easy to change your reservation to get the discount, but not anymore. This is much more difficult to accomplish at their theme parks as the penalty-free cancellation period is quite generous. For that reason, I could possibly see some of these off-season deep discount programs having more cancellation fees in the future as the theme park division learns from the cruise line division.

And speaking of which, why doesn't WDW have some type of loyalty program like on the cruise line? They could base it on the number of nights in WDW resorts or something similar. Frequent resort-staying visitors could receive special perks above and beyond what resort guests currently receive.