Disney should have either no discounts or discounts for all!!

[disneypharm]

I think Disney should either offer discounts (no pins or codes-just general discount to all public) to everybody or no discounts at all. What is the point of black outs dates when some people can get a discount (eg, pin holders) and others can't!?

In the last 6 years, my family of 4 have spent a total of approximately $30,000 to go to WDW. We always enjoyed our trips and have great memories.
Last year we decided to go to California instead. I never received any pins in my emails until last April 2009. It was a free dining pin for October 2009. Since we were going to California in June, I decided not to book any trip to WDW at that time.
This year we decided to go back to WDW the week of October 15. Yes, the black-out period.
My step brother's family are British and live in London. They decided to go to WDW on the same week, actually for 14 days. He could make plans about a year ago when free dining came out for British residence. He also could get a great airline rates since he had plenty of time to look for a great rate. His package is the same price as mine but I have 7 days and staying in moderates. In addition, a co-worker is going on the same week but she got the pin for free dining that activates in July 13.
I called Disney to see if I have any pins for that period attached to my name. The CM informed me that there is no such a pin and after I mentioned Disboard and all the people who are waiting for July 13 to book free dining for the black-out dates, he said that there are a lot of inaccurate information on Disboard!!!!

Anyway, if I go this year, I could be sitting next to my brother who is paying the same as me but for 14 days, deluxe resort (don't know which one yet), with free dining, OR next to my co-worker who is paying $1200 less than me to get the same package!!
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind paying the full price rate and I have many times. But, I don't want to feel like I am getting ripped off!

In addition, we never bought our plane tickets because we were waiting for the packages to come out. Since I didn't have a year to look for great rates on tickets (like my brother), I have to pay $350-$400 a person for 4 people to travel across the country. I am actually glad that we didn't get the tickets since we are canceling the package we booked in April and spending our money some place else.

Oh, well, I guess Disney is not getting my $4500 this year!

So, who else is feeling the same!
By the way, for those of you who are getting great deals, congratulations and have a great time.

Now, I have to put my flame suit on!!

 

[tish9774]

I agree 100%. I don't think it is fair that some people get awesome discounts and some don't.
I am on "pay no mind" list over at WDW because I am totally shut out. Booked fully (flights and all) for blackout week and no pin code. Looks like I am paying full price!
Tish

 

[msjprincess]

It's not just Disney though.

The same thing happens at all hotels, cruises, airlines etc...For our November trip I paid $152 roundtrip for our airfare. Those same flights are now $253. And no I didn't book it a year in advance I just booked it 2 weeks ago.

I've been going to WDW regularly since 1993 and I've never received a pin.

 

[DisneyDadNY]

The problem I have with all of this is that some people can call and are told they have a pin, some people already have the pin#, and some people, like myself, are told by the CM that they cannot look up codes.

Congrats by the way to the people getting this code!

I also cannot disagree with the OP. I have a co-worker who is also going in October who called, has the PIN for the 13th, and was given the PIN.

I called today, was told there is no PIN for the 13th and CRO would not know about it today even if there was.

So I asked to speak to a supervisor, she told me pretty much the same thing. I then asked her how then I was looking at a PIN code on my screen that was given to my co-worker today but could not be used until 13th. She said 'oh, those are not supposed to be given out over the phone'.

She asked me to give her the code but as it is tied to a specific person I suspect she could have looked up what CM spoke to that person and I certainly do not want to get anyone in trouble.

Now there have been years I did not get a discount beyond a general public offer and years I have gotten PIN codes that saved me quite a bit. I book what I can afford and if a discount comes along great, if not I go and have a great time.

I really fail to see the logic in the way Disney hands these out anyway. Last year I had some extended family come on the trip with my family and we had 9 people in 3 rooms at POP with dining plan. Trips were 100% paid for (20% room discount I think) when I received a PIN for Free Dining. For just my family that was about an 1800.00 (minus the room discount) savings so not only did that PIN fail to fill up extra rooms it literally cost Disney money as they credited back my card.

Personally, I would like to see Disney just do away with the PIN codes and if they need to fill rooms just put out a public discount so everyone has a fair shot at the same time to book it. First come first serve and when the room allotments are gone they are gone.

I really do not like the way the system basically says family A gets to come and save x amount on their trip but family B has to pay full price.

Or....how about Disney just price their packages a bit lower so discounting becomes irrelevant?

In the end the system is what it is and I will be checking my email account on Tuesday for this elusive 'mystery' PIN. I hope everyone who needs it gets it!

 

[disneypharm]

It's not just Disney though.

The same thing happens at all hotels, cruises, airlines etc...For our November trip I paid $152 roundtrip for our airfare. Those same flights are now $253. And no I didn't book it a year in advance I just booked it 2 weeks ago.

I've been going to WDW regularly since 1993 and I've never received a pin.

My issue is not with the airline tickets. I understand that they fluctuate. You also have never received a pin! Let's assume you were going with your sister's family (don't know if you have one), and she got a pin code and she is paying $2400 for her package and you are paying $4000, wouldn't you be a bit annoyed!

 

[disneypharm]

I really do not like the way the system basically says family A gets to come and save x amount on their trip but family B has to pay full price.

Or....how about Disney just price their packages a bit lower so discounting becomes irrelevant?

This is exactly what my point is. I agree with you.

 

[msjprincess]

My issue is not with the airline tickets. I understand that they fluctuate. You also have never received a pin! Let's assume you were going with your sister's family (don't know if you have one), and she got a pin code and she is paying $2400 for her package and you are paying $4000, wouldn't you be a bit annoyed!

I know your issue isn't with airline prices. I was just using that as an example to point out that it happens with all forms of travel.

I'm going away next month. I originally booked a hotel for $160 a night but I kept searching and I now have that same room down to $113 a night. Same thing with cruises some people are paying half of what others are for the same category.

I get pins in my brother's name all of the time. Yeah it's annoying, but that's life. Actually though if we were traveling together you can book up to 3 rooms with a pin so I could still get a discount.

 

[tfoster]

I'm in the fire with you too!

I got so frustrated with hearing about so many people getting PINs, especially with my neighbor saying she and her relatives get them regularly, AND with our not even offered the bounceback offer last year during a time when others were that we're going to SeaWorld and Universal this year. I figured "Fine. If Disney doesn't have any interest in enticing us to be return visitors, then we'll go somewhere else."

 

[disneypharm]

I know your issue isn't with airline prices. I was just using that as an example to point out that it happens with all forms of travel.

I'm going away next month. I originally booked a hotel for $160 a night but I kept searching and I now have that same room down to $113 a night. Same thing with cruises some people are paying half of what others are for the same category.

I get pins in my brother's name all of the time. Yeah it's annoying, but that's life. Actually though if we were traveling together you can book up to 3 rooms with a pin so I could still get a discount.

Ok, I see your point now. I still don't want to go this time because I don't want to feel ripped off! I guess it's ultimately our decision to go or not!
Since my brother lives in London, I didn't think he can make reservations for us with a US address.

 

[sunshineNJ]

I agree about the pin codes. It's not fair some people just randomly get a pin code and some don't. Free dining is offered at slower times. I think that is fair, other hotels do that to. That is really about supply and demand.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I totally agree with you. Its very frustrating. Its one thing to pay full rack rate but its another to pay that and know that a pin or code was out there, you just didn't get it.

My brother gets them all the time and I can't help but be jealous! And its a double whammy since his wife works for Disney and they get half off resort rates, 35% off meals and free park tickets. Talk about not needing a code, but they get them all the time.

I sweated bullets for free dining to be extended, we are a family of four, and our two kids are adults. So for a ten night trip, we are talking about over $1600 worth of food and even with paying rack rate, that is an awesome deal. My husband was laid off recently (starting a new job though) so a discount in light of what we've been through was a must. I did get free dining, we arrive the 21st, so we have a room only that night then will convert to the package the next day. My heart breaks for those of you going earlier in October. And that would have been me in years past, our district used to have its fall break around the middle of October then switched to the last week of the month, last year.

They say knowledge is power, but us disboarders sometimes know too much for our own good! I know when the pins start to come out and since I never get one, it stinks. I am happy for others, but yeah, it bites when you don't get the discounts.

Yes, like all things its part of life. But that doesn't make it any less annoying and when you are talking about what can amount to thousands of dollars you could save but won't, its a bitter pill to swallow!

 

[maxiesmom]

I understand what you are saying, but I don't agree with it.

Disney uses pin codes as a way to entice people to make a trip. I didn't get one until I went to their web site, entered travel dates, and then saved it as a possbile trip. Then bingo! Got a pin.

Car dealers do something similar. So do cable companies. It is a normal business practice to try to encourage certain people to use your services a little more than others. Once they know you are hooked, the need to entice you is no longer there.

It just makes good business sense to try to encourage new customers. And for us old customers, there are always room only codes, or free dining codes, or AP discounts. It is not like we are shut out from all deals.

Spend what you can afford, and don't worry about what your neighbor spends. Do you worry that you spend more on your cable each month? Or on your car? Or groceries? That is a sure way to make yourself unhappy. And a little crazy.

 

[KyleeB]

I agree it sucks! We were originally going to go the end of October but changed it and now we are during a black out date. Sigh.

If we hadn't already bought airline tickets, we probably would have re-thought our trip.

I feel ya!

 

[lilclerk]

Or....how about Disney just price their packages a bit lower so discounting becomes irrelevant?

This! I admit, I have been lucky enough to get great discounts recently, but if they would just price their hotels reasonably, there wouldn't be such a problem! But you know what, they did their job. They got us all addicted with these discounts, and now they're seeing if people will still pay rack rate... that's what they want.

Maybe if they just didn't raise the rack rates for a year or two, it would be a bit easier to swallow.

 

[Amy&Dan]

I understand what you are saying, but I don't agree with it.

Disney uses pin codes as a way to entice people to make a trip. I didn't get one until I went to their web site, entered travel dates, and then saved it as a possbile trip. Then bingo! Got a pin.

Car dealers do something similar. So do cable companies. It is a normal business practice to try to encourage certain people to use your services a little more than others. Once they know you are hooked, the need to entice you is no longer there.

It just makes good business sense to try to encourage new customers. And for us old customers, there are always room only codes, or free dining codes, or AP discounts. It is not like we are shut out from all deals.

Spend what you can afford, and don't worry about what your neighbor spends. Do you worry that you spend more on your cable each month? Or on your car? Or groceries? That is a sure way to make yourself unhappy. And a little crazy.

And I see what you are saying but don't agree!

For one thing, I too set up various yahoo accounts, went into Disney's site and set up various trips, saved some, exited out of others to take the survey and never got a pin. I have literally spend hours and hours doing this. No pin.

And while I do know for a fact people pay all sorts of differing things for their cable, their cars etc, I don't find out about it that much. My friends don't have cool tickers in their email signatures saying "3 months, 2 days until I save x amount more money on my cable bill".

I mean I would see tickers for months on here of people going the same time as me in October with their "free dining" while I didn't know if I'd ever get the same. Now I have one too and am probably tormenting some poor person. But at least my dates fall into the non blacked out period.

Poor OP wants to go at a time when many people got the pin for free dining and now she is blacked out from the general public discount as well.

 

[disneypharm]

I agree about the pin codes. It's not fair some people just randomly get a pin code and some don't. Free dining is offered at slower times. I think that is fair, other hotels do that to. That is really about supply and demand.

I agree that it's based on supply and demand and that's why the black-out dates exist. Too many bookings for those dates. However, if the demand is so high for those dates, why are they free dining pins in July 13 for so many people who are already booked?! Is it because they'll be a lot of cancellation for those dates and Disney is hoping to fill these cancellations with the July pin code?
I guess I should stop analyzing this.

 

[Sandisw]

I agree that it's based on supply and demand and that's why the black-out dates exist. Too many bookings for those dates. However, if the demand is so high for those dates, why are they free dining pins in July 13 for so many people who are already booked?! Is it because they'll be a lot of cancellation for those dates and Disney is hoping to fill these cancellation with the July pin code?
I guess I should stop analyzing this.

I think that the pins are just random and they don't necessarily know they are sending them to people who are already booked.

I never have gotten a pin and worked with a few people who get them all the time. One does visit WDW occassionaly, but the other never does. It was a bit frustrating as I would have loved them.

I solved the problem last year by last year by just joining DVC. Now, I don't have to worry and over the long run, have my discounts locked in for several years to come.

 

[BillSears]

I agree. With airlines and such it's based on when you buy your ticket. With Disney it's often based on who you are. Totally unfair.

It reminds me of this series of commercials...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qb0vquRcys

 

[larryz]

I solved the problem last year by last year by just joining DVC. Now, I don't have to worry and over the long run, have my discounts locked in for several years to come.

That's what I thought when I saw OP's figures -- sounds like they should have bought DVC first time they visited -- they'd be in the black by now!

 

[Amy&Dan]

I agree. With airlines and such it's based on when you buy your ticket. With Disney it's often based on who you are. Totally unfair.

It reminds me of this series of commercials...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qb0vquRcys

Bill, every time I see these commercials, especially here lately when I have been foaming at the mouth doing all the tricks to get a pin, I think of Disney and their weird discount system!