Cutting back on Specials?

[Sugar Jones]

I was talking to a travel agent yesterday about going to Disney in September. She told me that she got an email from Disney a few weeks ago saying that they are going to be scaling back their discounts and specials this year. She told me she thought maybe they would be cutting out the free dining or shortening the length of it.

Has anyone heard anything similar?

 

[LadyTrampScamp&Angel]

I haven't heard anything official from Disney like that but there are signs that travel is picking up. As soon as Disney can book rooms/get people into the parks without offering as many or as deep discounts - they won't. It's just business, supply and demand.

So, I could see less deep discounts coming if travel continues to pick up - although fall free dining is during hurricaine season and as kids go back to school, they still need to entice people to Disney World. You know some people have already booked free dining in the fall with pins . . . whether they offer it to the public, only Disney knows!

 

[cm8]

I hope not, my mom plans on taking 10 if not all her grand kids and she will need a HUGE discount for them to stay on property!!!!

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Right now there is a Gift Card discount offer, 20/30/40 room discount offer, Visa Kids Stay & Play Free Offer and pin code offers for free quick service dining for pretty much the entire summer.

They don't seem to be cutting back on discount offers yet. Most people are looking for the annual fall free dining offer to be announced on March 28 and I think it's a pretty safe bet.

 

[Port Orleans fan]

Most people are looking for the annual fall free dining offer to be announced on March 28 and I think it's a pretty safe bet.

I hope so. I love free dining.

 

[stitchfriend]

I am hoping for free dining at the end of the month. If there is no free dining our family of 4 will be canceling our vacation. In order for us to do a WDW we need some type of discount. Free dining works best for our family. It saves a $1100 . I am not one of the lucky ones who get pin codes.

 

[VeroBeach]

Right now there is a Gift Card discount offer, 20/30/40 room discount offer, Visa Kids Stay & Play Free Offer and pin code offers for free quick service dining for pretty much the entire summer.

IMHO, in most cases, the only one of those offers that is really worth anything is the 20/30/40 room discount offer...

 

[lojikal1]

IMHO, in most cases, the only one of those offers that is really worth anything is the 20/30/40 room discount offer...

If you are going to go deluxe then that is true. However, if you are staying Mod or Value YMMV.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

IMHO, in most cases, the only one of those offers that is really worth anything is the 20/30/40 room discount offer...

If you have 4 kids like we do, the kids stay and play free discount is better than any of the room discounts.

 

[Lehuaann]

I am hoping for free dining at the end of the month. If there is no free dining our family of 4 will be canceling our vacation. In order for us to do a WDW we need some type of discount. Free dining works best for our family. It saves a $1100 . I am not one of the lucky ones who get pin codes.

One of the Mods recommended not booking a trip in hopes of FD. No reason for Disney to offer FD if all the rooms are being booked ahead of time. I never thought of this but it makes sense.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

One of the Mods recommended not booking a trip in hopes of FD. No reason for Disney to offer FD if all the rooms are being booked ahead of time. I never thought of this but it makes sense.

People say that every year, but they still offer free dining every year.

 

[Sugar Jones]

One of the Mods recommended not booking a trip in hopes of FD. No reason for Disney to offer FD if all the rooms are being booked ahead of time. I never thought of this but it makes sense.

I thought about that too, but I want to make sure to get a room at POR with a trundle. We can't afford any deluxe rooms for our family of 5 so that is our only option. I am eager to get it booked just to make me relax knowing we have that room. We will go regardless of getting any specials, it would just be nice to get something

 

[CanadianGuy]

I do know that Bob Iger said this during a conference call with investor types earlier this year going over the Disney quarterly results and earnings.

But he also added that they would only do so when they felt that the rooms could and would be occupied at lesser discounts or non-discounted rates.

Since he said that.. Disney hasn't shown any signs of reducing the promos... so far.

 

[Missytara]

One of the Mods recommended not booking a trip in hopes of FD. No reason for Disney to offer FD if all the rooms are being booked ahead of time. I never thought of this but it makes sense.

I think there was also a comment about don't plan on only going on your vacation unless you can get free dining. A lot of people say that they can only go that way. While for a large family, it does probably pay, but people forget that now they are paying rack rate for the room.

I booked my trip regardless, and if a discount comes along, it is all the better. Quite frankly, last year, I got a discount, but I had to change resorts, and I regretted it after the first day I got there. I should have stayed where I was at - but the promotion didn't cover my resort, since it was already full. My trip was already paid for and everything; I took the pin and I got upgraded to a deluxe, but it didn't do a thing for me.

I am also one of those people that will be thrilled to see free dining go away - except for the usual August/September time frame. It makes it very difficult to get adr's, it forces you to make adr's, and I have seen the food quality dip a bit, in order to appeal more to the masses of people that are now using TS. Just my thoughts....

 

[CanadianGuy]

I think there was also a comment about don't plan on only going on your vacation unless you can get free dining. A lot of people say that they can only go that way. While for a large family, it does probably pay, but people forget that now they are paying rack rate for the room.

I booked my trip regardless, and if a discount comes along, it is all the better. Quite frankly, last year, I got a discount, but I had to change resorts, and I regretted it after the first day I got there. I should have stayed where I was at - but the promotion didn't cover my resort, since it was already full. My trip was already paid for and everything; I took the pin and I got upgraded to a deluxe, but it didn't do a thing for me.

I am also one of those people that will be thrilled to see free dining go away - except for the usual August/September time frame. It makes it very difficult to get adr's, it forces you to make adr's, and I have seen the food quality dip a bit, in order to appeal more to the masses of people that are now using TS. Just my thoughts....

I was that mod and my line was "Don't book before the promo comes out in HOPES of the promo if you have no intention of going without it. Because it reduces promo rooms.

I've already gotten a PM saying "But don't they just adjust the rooms as the promo goes along.." -- And the answer to that is sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. We have no way of knowing how it will be handled in a given year.

AND I completely agree with you. I know it's not a popular opinion.. but I too wish FREE DINING wasn't one of the offers.

I know. I'm a bad person for even thinking that.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Free Dining makes it possible for us to visit Disney each year. There is not better discount for our family.

40% Room Discount saves us $650.00

4/3 Deal saves us $780

Free Dining Discount saves us $1,200.00

 

[Missytara]

I was that mod and my line was "Don't book before the promo comes out in HOPES of the promo if you have no intention of going without it. Because it reduces promo rooms.

I've already gotten a PM saying "But don't they just adjust the rooms as the promo goes along.." -- And the answer to that is sometimes they do and sometimes they don't. We have no way of knowing how it will be handled in a given year.

AND I completely agree with you. I know it's not a popular opinion.. but I too wish FREE DINING wasn't one of the offers.

I know. I'm a bad person for even thinking that.

Ah, yes, you are the one.

We also had a discussion over on the resort boards, when someone posted over and over and over again, that if there wasn't free dining, they couldn't afford their trip - most of the discussion was that if you cannot afford to go unless there is some kind of deep discount, then you might not be able to afford it at all - in addition, we commented they were paying full rack rate for the room, which they also didn't realize - they thought they also were still getting the reduced rate for the room.

I am so glad there is another naughty old person out there that doesn't like free dining - misery loves company!

 

[marcielm]

If you have 4 kids like we do, the kids stay and play free discount is better than any of the room discounts.

That all depends... the kids that are free are only the ones that fall in the 3-9 age range. So for your family (based on your sig), you would only get 2 kids free. For me at the ASMu family suite, my 30% off PIN was only $20 different than the kids free (and I have 2 'kids').

 

[PrincessTiffany]

Ah, yes, you are the one.

We also had a discussion over on the resort boards, when someone posted over and over and over again, that if there wasn't free dining, they couldn't afford their trip - most of the discussion was that if you cannot afford to go unless there is some kind of deep discount, then you might not be able to afford it at all - in addition, we commented they were paying full rack rate for the room, which they also didn't realize - they thought they also were still getting the reduced rate for the room.

I am so glad there is another naughty old person out there that doesn't like free dining - misery loves company!

Did you really just insinuate that if someone can't go to Disney without a good discount then they shouldn't be going at all? Because that's what it sounds like. We are fortunate to be very financially stable, and that is partly due to the fact of being cautious and conservative with our money. Free Dining saves our family about $1,200.00 on a 8 night trip.

We go to Disney a lot and I'm perfectly aware, as are most of the other Disers that take advantage of the free dining discount, that you are paying rack rate for your room. If you read my post previous to this one, you will see that Free Dining saves us double the amount of a room discount - $600.00 more. Free Dining is not the best discount for everyone, but just like every other thing Disney on this boards, that's just something you have to reseach for yourself. Insisting that most people aren't really getting a good discount with Free Dining is ridiculous.

40% Room Discount saves us $650.00

4/3 Deal saves us $780

Free Dining Discount saves us $1,200.00

Your post is borderline insulting.

 

[PrincessTiffany]

That all depends... the kids that are free are only the ones that fall in the 3-9 age range. So for your family (based on your sig), you would only get 2 kids free. For me at the ASMu family suite, my 30% off PIN was only $20 different than the kids free (and I have 2 'kids').

I know that 3 - 9 year olds considered kids, and I was talking about people with large families in general. We've booked under that promo twice before in the past. I called yesterday and priced out two standard rooms at All-Star Movies with the Visa offer and it's still cheaper than the room discount.