Disneyland Paris to abandon old pricing policy.

[Jonjo]

Disneyland Paris has reached a deal with the European Commission that will ensure that all customers have equal access to on-line deals, The Financial Times is reporting.

German and United Kingdom consumers had complained that they could not access cheaper offers on the website of Disneyland Paris, something that residents of France could enjoy, the newspaper said on Friday.

Under the new deal with the European Commission, Disneyland Paris is abandoning its old pricing policy. The agreement will be formally signed “in the coming days,” The Financial Times said.

A spokesperson for Disneyland Paris said that they were “very happy with the co-operation” over the deal.

At this years AGM CFO Mark Stead said that the resort were going to be releasing fewer discounts from the base price during this financial year.

Disneyland Paris has faced negative publicity over its allegedly unfair on-line pricing policy since 2011. The European Commission had asked the French authorities to investigate the matter in July 2015, but under the new deal the probe will be dropped.

 

[BadPinkTink]

ooooh interesting, I knew this was in the courts but hadn't been following it. I wonder how much this will impact prices.

 

[Ware Bears]

Thanks for posting. Well, it's going to save time number-crunching with a calculator but I think there could be a clue in this sentence.

At this years AGM CFO Mark Stead said that the resort were going to be releasing fewer discounts from the base price during this financial year.

 

[Puffin]

Now finger's crossed they won't use this ruling to make tickets and fees more expensive for all of us.

 

[cwis]

I didn't follow this before reading this post, and I'm not sure what they are talking about: were you not able to benefit from all promotions, regardless of your country, by changing your region on your website or calling CRO?

 

[BadPinkTink]

I didn't follow this before reading this post, and I'm not sure what they are talking about: were you not able to benefit from all promotions, regardless of your country, by changing your region on your website or calling CRO?

yes thats correct but only those of us in the know figured this out. Also TA in a particular country could only access the deals for their country where as you and I could go online, change the country and away we go

 

[cwis]

yes thats correct but only those of us in the know figured this out. Also TA in a particular country could only access the deals for their country where as you and I could go online, change the country and away we go

Thanks for your reply. I hadn't thought about TAs, I guess it makes sense.

Let's hope they will continue with promotions as we are used to: free Dining Plans, free kids, one night free, one day free, XX% on rate…

 

[DLPDreams]

I'm a bit confused now as I thought the information Mark Stead gave had now all changed and they were abandoning that strategy?

I don't know how much difference it is going to make as the article I read said that DLRP had already implemented the change allowing cross booking. I think they have done this by making the 'change the language' bit clearer in the top right. But I think unless you know to look for that, you wouldn't know.

This is the bit I refer to on this from the FT:

"According to people briefed on the Disneyland Paris case, the company has agreed to make changes to its website even though French officials concluded last year that its actions did not amount to geo-blocking. The French investigation found that it was possible, albeit extremely fiddly, for consumers to access offers on other national websites.
Disneyland Paris has altered its website so that consumers can now, via the theme park’s homepage, choose between all the different national sites and compare offers. They can also buy tickets online on any of the national sites."

 

[cwis]

Just thinking of it, promotions are not always advertised clearly. You may need to switch countries to get the most advantageous quote, and what this is about may make things easier (by posting the same promotions everywhere).

But what about rack quotes (that may or may not be cheaper), PA rates, promotions on tickets that you may want to combine…

I believe the fuss here is that the European Commission is concerned that citizens across EU are not getting the same prices. This is definitively not about getting the customer the best price!

 

[ashley0139]

Because of this thread I looked at the French site vs American, and on the French site the package I am looking at is $300 cheaper. If I can fumble my way through the french site, would I be okay to book it through that? The French site is $535 for 3 nights/4 days vs the American site which is over $800.

EDIT: Is there no way on the website to book room only? I do not need 4 park days as I will be arriving late on the first day and leaving early on the 4th. Why do they do that?

 

[Jonjo]

Up until January the DLP website used Geographic Blocking to try and stop EU consumers from seeing the deals offered in other countries. It never did it well as most of us worked out they you just needed to change the website address to see and book via those offers.

 

[Jonjo]

EDIT: Is there no way on the website to book room only? I do not need 4 park days as I will be arriving late on the first day and leaving early on the 4th. Why do they do that?

'Room only' can only be booked via the DLP call center. With an inclusive hotel & ticket package it's normally much cheaper to buy a package not use the ticket for a day than buy tickets and book your room separately.

 

[DLPdaft]

Because of this thread I looked at the French site vs American, and on the French site the package I am looking at is $300 cheaper. If I can fumble my way through the french site, would I be okay to book it through that? The French site is $535 for 3 nights/4 days vs the American site which is over $800.

EDIT: Is there no way on the website to book room only? I do not need 4 park days as I will be arriving late on the first day and leaving early on the 4th. Why do they do that?

yes, you can use the French site to book, no problems, just leave the country at France when you're inputting your booking information, don't try to change it to US.

 

[ashley0139]

yes, you can use the French site to book, no problems, just leave the country at France when you're inputting your booking information, don't try to change it to US.

Thank you!

 

[Royal Consort]

At this years AGM CFO Mark Stead said that the resort were going to be releasing fewer discounts from the base price during this financial year.

Because that's a good idea when attendance is dropping and a trip to Walt Disney World can possibly be a cheaper alternative (accommodation wise; not to mention free dining).

The DLRP resorts seriously need to up their game in terms of quality and service for the price they're charging. Each time I go I seem to pay the same price as at WDW but feel half as satisfied.

 

[tennisfan]

Because that's a good idea when attendance is dropping and a trip to Walt Disney World can possibly be a cheaper alternative (accommodation wise; not to mention free dining).

The DLRP resorts seriously need to up their game in terms of quality and service for the price they're charging. Each time I go I seem to pay the same price as at WDW but feel half as satisfied.

The way I interpet that to mean is that by having the deals available to everyone (not linked to country) then that would mean fewer deals as there were different deals for different countries. This way cuts the need for that.