Could terrible AP rates be linked to FL resident AP payment plan?

[jettyspagetti]

I'm just wondering as I look at the current fall AP discounts and previous years AP discounts if the new payment plan has increased AP owner ranks enough that Disney doesn't need to discount the rooms as much for us?

I don't know what the numbers are or even where to find them but with the new payment plan I know that many families in the NW Florida region where I live have purchased APs this year for the first time. My friends seem to be evenly split between staying onsite and offsite. If the payment plan has swelled the numbers of AP holders perhaps Disney won't offer the bigger AP discounts for onsite rooms.
While the payment plan is only for florida residents and they can also take advantage of florida resident room offers- the AP rates let us also take advantage of the dining plan which was a big factor in our decision to purchase APs this year.

Any thoughts?

 

[bicker]

I think that there are simpler explanations for the difference between AP rates this year versus last: First among these is that the economy has substantially improved.

 

[AquaDame]

I don't know if I would say substantially... where I live unemployment has not improved at all - it is still hovering around 10%, and that's not including all the people who have given up on finding jobs or have retired since this mess started...

I think people are tired of not treating themselves though - rather than taking several mini trips a year or splurging to go overseas people are staying put and vacationing closer to home, or saving up for a couple of years on a true extravagance. Now more than ever people want to be happy, feel safe and feel good, and Disney has certainly advertised to that market.

There is no denying the hotels are getting fuller quicker but the general public promos are far and beyond larger than the AP discount so I don't think its just a lack of need for promos so much as AP holders aren't where they are making their money... you already have a pass and aren't interested in packages nor do are they the ones who stay on property for long vacations as much as non-AP holders. I'm not Disney so I don't know, but it seems like its just not as large a market so its becoming more of an afterthought maybe, a last ditch effort to fill the lingering rooms rather than bringing us in. I know the discounts at the hotels in California are abysmal; even with my AP the cheapest hotel is $260/night WITH the discount, $333 for the DLH and even more for the Grand Californian... we are staying offsite for certain!

 

[bicker]

I don't know if I would say substantially... where I live unemployment has not improved at all - it is still hovering around 10%, and that's not including all the people who have given up on finding jobs or have retired since this mess started...

I don't know where you live, but I know people who live in the Detroit area. It really is sad what's going on there. They hit bottom first, stayed there the longest, and are barely seeing much of any upward momentum. And it's doubly distressing to be in that situation while so much of the rest of the country is firmly in recovery.

I think people are tired of not treating themselves though

Yes that could also help elevate demand, and therefore be putting a damper on discounts. However, I generally hear that talked about in terms of folks deciding to no longer defer maintenance. Figure folks in dire straights don't replace a cranky washing machine, and/or try to get an extra few thousand miles between oil changes; and after a while they'll realize that things aren't going to get better for them soon, so they relent on those things, and start spending that kind of money again. I don't remember hearing much talk of that sort of thing happening for something as extravagant as a WDW vacation though. Sure it prompts some people to go to their local amusement parks during their "staycations", but I wonder if enough people would in such tough situations would buy APs, and spend days in Orlando on vacation, just because their difficult situation has gone on a while.

 

[AquaDame]

Happily no, not in Detroit.

I live in Portland, OR and have luckily stayed employed despite my company cutting staff to a skeleton crew. Currently I am doing the jobs of three others who were laid off in addition to the job I was hired on for and have not seen a dime increase since 2007. Despite being overworked I feel very fortunate to be working through all this naturally. So many far more talented people have not fared as well... I visit at least a couple other places every week during my duties in IT and its the same tune - barely scraping by after severe layoffs and wondering when things will pick up because we are all just so tired of working so hard and having to feel 'lucky' and happy all the time when things just aren't good. The older generation has taken to complaining that the recession of the 80s were certainly not this bad this long either... a lot of the ad agencies are losing their contracts due to lean independent start ups and contract workers who could not find jobs undercutting what the typical overhead would be. They simply can't compete against them a lot of the time... I am glad things are picking up where you are though bicker and hope the rest of us will pull through too!

 

[havoc315]

The mediocre AP rates actually suggest that future general public discounts will be even worse.
Rumors of Disney mostly ending general public offers, get more credible with each passing day. The mediocre AP discount will look good compared to no discount.