I think that all the people who booked rooms with discounted rates and codes would be very disturbed to find out that, according to a previous poster's criteria, they were not financially stable, not altogether very intelligent, and didn't have very good jobs.
If a prospective guest is not calling Disney to inquire about the best rates available at a given time, that is one less room that may be rented. That is one less family that doesn't buy park passes; that doesn't eat over and over and over again at inflated prices. That is one family that doesn't spend funds on souvenirs and t-shirts and boat rentals and tours and film and drinks at the pool bar. Do you really think Disney wants us to stop calling and asking about room rates? If we stop calling: bad, very bad. Bad for business. If the phones stop ringing, they stop renting rooms, and stop selling vacations. Let's not worry about the multi-BILLION dollar Disney company with it's movies, and themeparks all over the world, and it's toy companies, and it's Rosie O'Donnell show tapings, and it's National Car Rental Tiger Woods golf tournament, and it's nationally televised holiday parades, and it's ABC network. I'm sure they'll survive a few really diligent vacation planners.
It is ridiculous to think that WDW is providing discounts as charity work. They are in business to make money. Every marketing tool they use is designed to bring in business. Every dollar they spend on advertising and promotions is intended to get someone to spend a WHOLE lot more money in the resorts and parks than the ads cost.
What a nice sentiment to think that all these discounts are designed to help underpriviledged families take a vacation, as someone said earlier on this thread, but that is not it. That is not it. That is not it. Underpriviledged families are probably not spending $ .50 per day on USA Today to get the codes so they can take a vacation. That is not to say that they aren't. But, that would not be the appropriate vehicle to reach a particular segment of the market.
Remember that WDW execs (think of Eisner's salary, stock options, 401k, retirement, and bonuses) are in it to make money for shareholders. Everything they do is designed to make money. Every marketing tool they use is for the sole purpose of enticing people to visit their resorts and parks so that they spend money there. The money that is spent in the parks and resorts has to hugely outweigh the amount, dollar for dollar, that is spent on marketing. Every advertising and promotions dollar that is spent is done so to bring in business of people that will spend money. It's a business. Yes it's "the happiest place on Earth", but it's a business, plain and simple.
Could you imagine going to the grocery store and being told that the price was less for you because you are Hispanic or African American? What an insult. Could you imagine how you would feel to be the Caucasin, Asian, Indian, Canadian behind them in line who didn't get the same price? Could you imagine being told that you were expected to pay more because you lived on Oak street instead of Maple Street? What if there were those that said "well those Hispanics can't afford the groceries, so they should get the discounts". That would be just so insulting to the Hispanics. Maybe an earlier poster thinks we should pay rates for rooms based on our incomes or tax filings.
People sometimes make a lot of assumptions. I am not one of those people who calls CRO and makes a stink. I am always appreciative of the work they do to help people plan their vacations. That is a great job to do. I don't feel that I "gotta get me mine" at all costs, as someone implied earlier, but I do feel that if there are discounts being offered, that they should be offered to everyone, whether they are shared here on the boards or not.
Agreed, the Webmaster can do whatever he wants.
These boards by design, are intended for the sharing of information. They are posting boards. If the information needs to be censored first, then perhaps the posts should go to the moderators who can post them. By the way, I think the moderators have a fun job here and do good work to encourage the continued use of these boards for the sharing of information by disney friendly folks. If you notice, there are ads here on this site. These are intended to get your business. If you continue to visit this site, guess what, you may be more likely to do business with the advertisers on this site and with WDW resort and parks. This site is a business, too.
[This message was edited by a1a on 03-17-01 at 05:00 AM.]