Beat Disney At Their Own Game.

[MACDADDY]

Guys Wake up!!! Disney is a major corporation in business not to make magic but to make money. There will be a price increase every year until attendance falls off significantly. There is one way to beat this. Passes are always good. If you buy a five day pass today and don't use 2 days you can use those 2 days of passes any time in the future (5 years, 10 years...) We came into a very small inheritance a couple of years ago and instead of wasting that money we bought as many 5 day passes (I believe the best deal) as we could and have them stored in our safety deposit box. So whenever we go to WDW they are available. If you are major WDW freaks (as we are) and know you will be going for years to come, this is the best way around price increases.

 

[travelitis]

While buying ahead is certainly an excellent money saver, I'm going to play devil's advocate and say that I don't think it's much of an investment. The last thing I would do with my inheritance I recently got is spend it on future vacations. I'd rather stash it toward retirement. What I'm saying is that all situations are different, but if there's an illness or death, you can't buy food with Disney passes. With 3 children to raise I'll feel much better knowing I have actual cash instead of something I'd have to sell if push came to shove. The price increases are so little that our regular budget can absorb them without a big impact. Trying to save the money to replace the inheritance spent would be a much more difficult task.

 

[ceecee]

I have to agree...not a good investment. Even with the stockmarket the way it is now. CD are low interest too, but if there's an emergency, you can get your $.

 

[MUcrick]

MACDADDY,

I usually don't reply to many postings but I thought you raised an intersting point -- Disney is in the business of making money. What publically held company ISN'T in the business of making money? The #1 objective of Michael Eisner (and any CEO of a publicly held company, for that matter) is to make money for its shareholders. If that means Disney has to cut 10,000 to 20,000 employees to reduce costs, at the expense of losing a less proportionate amount of revenue, Michael Eisner has to do it. No matter how much we want to believe that the customer is #1 in teh minds of a business, they always follow behind the shareholders. I'm sure you're employer is in the same position -- as are you. Don't you work to make money for your family so that you can take them on trips to WDW?

As much as we would like to believe that Disney is in the business of "making magic", we need to step back and realize that Disney is in business to make money -- it just happens to "make magic" to generate that money.

One last item. Because Disney is in the business of making money, how did you beat them at their own game? From what I can tell, you just gave Disney several hundred dollars up-front for services that you won't even use for 2, 3, 5 or even 10 years down the road. Disney can use those dollars however it wants -- earn interest, pay down debt, etc. Didn't Disney just beat you at its own game, "making money"?

mucrick

 

[eeyore0062]

Hey, that is old news... we still have days left on a 1998 hopper!

 

[baileybrad]

MacDaddy,
I am glad that you had the foresight to do something with an inheritance that brings your family much joy. I don't recall you asking for investing advice but, hey, you got some for free. Hope your passes bring your family many days of happiness in a place that you love.

 

[simonmunro]

WOW!!! I LOVE the idea. A little stack of park hoppers, ready to hop in your suitcase on a whim... Just so you know some of us "got it" and it's brilliant. Almost like a Christmas club account only with pixie dust instead of Elf sparkles. How you use YOUR inheritance money is a highly personal choice.

 

[DocRafiki]

hooray to mucrick. it seems the public schools don't teach economics very well.

wow... it took you ten years to save $10 per ticket. what an accomplishment! OR I could work one extra day and make enough money to buy an annual pass in ten hours.

 

[jgates]

that seems rather cold? If I work a day of overtime, after taxes, at the most I am clearing an extra $80. I am also exhausted, my feet hurt and I have missed spending another day with my dd.

I worked close to 70 hours per week while my ds was little (dh was laid off for a long time due to bad economy - had a back injury leaving him unable to work for awhile and then was seasonal for several years). Consequently, my ds is now in college and when I look back I missed a great deal of his childhood.

Sooooo, even though it may not be the most 'economically sound' idea - it might be the best idea for their family!!! And not much different than some of the others who have their change in change jars where it doesn't earn interest, or me putting rewards program redemptions on my webcertificate which is a non-interest bearing account also. Our money is just sitting - waiting for us to go buy a pass with it.

 

[MACDADDY]

...financial opinions you need to read these post throughly. I said "very small inheritance". I may be WDW crazy but not that crazy!!!

 

[Man-o-Man]

macdaddy,

I think your idea was great, even though there are people saying otherwise. When I read different post, here on these boards, people tend to care greatly about those few extra dollars
on Disney tickets.

 

[hercamore]

Good for you MacDaddy!.

Enjoy your park passes. One less thing to buy when you're ready to go!


Herc.

 

[antkim]

Again I have to say sometimes people give unwanted advice on these boards.I'm not trying to start an argument AT ALL but he didn't ask "Do you agree with my decision?" or "Did I make the right choice"? he simlpy told us what he did to get around the ticket price increase.We all know that like EVERTHING else in this country prices increase.I'm sure that if people didn't complain on these boards about ticket prices he would never have shared his philosophy-hope I spelled that right!
Anyways,we my not all agree but do we have to bash one another?
Just MY opinion,for what it's worth!
Kim

 

[Tigger Woods]

I think this is the quote that got him in trouble:
"Guys Wake up!!! Disney is a major corporation in business not to make magic but to make money." It's kind of melodramatic, and not the best thing to say on a Disney board. I agree some of the responses were a little harsh, but that seems to be the trend nowadays.

 

[antkim]

I agree with both of your points!

 

[BoyLovesBuzz]

I swear the physcology of internet message boards is a case study or masters thesis waiting to happen.

This is a budget board. If there is room for change jar challenges there is certainly room for this. Perhaps everyone doesn't know that passes never expire. I am sure a family of six that will pay $200 more for tickets next month then they would have paid last month would have appreciated this tip.

Gosh, I am paying off my room for our December trip $200 a month. I thought I was being smart and avoiding a big hit when the rest of the Christmas bills roll in. What a jerk I am. I should have saved my money and gone short on some junk stock yesterday and made a killing by noon to day.

 

[MUcrick]

It appears that I stirred up a bit of controversy with my reply to MACDADDY. In no way did I intend to suggest that MACDADDY was wrong for buying the passes. Everyone has their own opinions for what is best for their financial situation. If it means using an inheritance to buy WDW passes for future family trips, great. If it means paying off your house with a 15 year mortgage rather than a 30 year mortgage because you will feel more secure, great! Everyone has to make their own choices. I for one did something similar to MACDADDY by purchasing DVC points. My wife and I know that vacations are tremendous opportunities to strengthen family relationships -- to break away and enjoy one another's company in this fast paced world that we live in today. Since the opportunity came our way to pay today for vacations my family and I can share over the next 40 + years, we took it and haven’t looked back!

TIGGER WOODS captured the intent of my reply best. What caught my eye was the comment that "Disney is not in the business of making magic ..." I was only trying to point out that Disney, like every other big business, is out to do one thing -- make money. We shouldn't try to kid ourselves that Disney set out to create all of the wonderful parks, cruise line, movies, toys etc. just for our enjoyment. They've done so because they know that there are people like me (and, I imagine, others reading this reply) who will pay for the "magic" that they create so well. I for one know that Disney made money off of me when I purchased DVC points -- and I’m fine with that.

MACDADDY, sorry if my comments offended you (or others on this thread).

I think I spelled everything correct that time.

mucrick

 

[BethR]

Why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends, why can't we be friends?

I am sure that no one set out to intentionally make anyone mad. Let's try to read things in the spirit of that "Disney Magic" (for profit or not ).

 

[laf0165]

I have two 5-day park hopper passes from 1985 that are still valid. I will have them replaced with two new plastic passes when we are there in January 2003. They are only good for Magic Kingdom & Epcot, but that's ok. We can also upgrade them to be used at all Disney parks if we choose, at an additional cost.

No advice given here except, "to each his own"!

 

[MACDADDY]

... no offense taken. I'm just an old fiesty Irishman that likes to mix it up once in awhile. I don't mind spending money but don't like to waste it. See you're from Independance MO. I was born and raised in K.C. Have been to the Truman Library a couple of times.
We too are DVC members, and although not cheap, enjoy it a great deal. So everyone kiss and make up, go buy multiple Disney tickets for future trips and keep those budget tips coming. I'lll be watching. (Good airline rates going now.)