Do we deserve to be treated differently?

[Galahad]

Galahad,
"WDW makes more profit from the infrequent guests than the frequent guests as a group."
Where did you get this data from?

Thanks,
Kelly

As I said in the next post, it's from data gathered at WDW on profitability. This is true in almost all businesses. I worked on similar systems in a bank. Folks that did a lot of business with the bank, for example, often earned a lot of interest compared to what the bank was spending on maintaining their accounts and lock boxes, etc. As a group, guests that make a once in a lifetime trip to WDW tend to spend money on things with a larger profit margin. Much of what we frequent DISers do are things that have a much smaller margin. AP's for example are "loss-leaders" to make sure you get into the park frequently to spend money. But after the 10th time in the park in a given year, you're less likely to spend money one an item that has a high margin. That's why marketing for most companies is aimed at the people that are not regular customers.

The technology is called Data Warehousing and Data Mining. It can be controversial I suppose. It is the kind of systems I've been working on for the last 7 or 8 years.

 

[cardaway]

Like Galahad I have experience in similar systems. Depending on your point of view, it's either very cool or very scary how much Disney can track of your visits, and spending during those visits now that most transactions are done using systems that track transactions.

I suspect the problems they have enountered is a lack of discipline and planning by the many different areas collecting data.

In my experience they have had a lot of very useful and accurate data about my previous trips, but also a lot of mismatched data that was pooled from the different places that Disney collects data.

 

[Zippa D Doodah]

Like many, I don't advocate special treatment for frequent guests. But a customer loyalty program sure would be nice. I freely give a lot of info to WDW, and would hope for some scratch in return. Disney knows (or could) how many Diet Cokes I buy and where on my visits since I use my Visa rewards card or KTTW card for almost all transactions. That kind and volume of info is extremely valuable to any company.

 

[ducklite]

Like many, I don't advocate special treatment for frequent guests. But a customer loyalty program sure would be nice. I freely give a lot of info to WDW, and would hope for some scratch in return. Disney knows (or could) how many Diet Cokes I buy and where on my visits since I use my Visa rewards card or KTTW card for almost all transactions. That kind and volume of info is extremely valuable to any company.

I was thinking almost like you could get a keytag like they've got at CVS or the grocery store. If you are staying at a WDW resort, it coould be swiped and matched to your folio. Otherwise it would just get swiped before each purchase.

I definitely would love to see a rewards program. Lately we've veered from a lot of the WDW restaurants, even with DDE, and that might be enough to bring us back more often.

 

[tndisneyfan]

I haven't read all the posts in the thread, but I think some kind of discount would be nice. I like the how at the Universal hotels you can earn upgrades by staying at the hotel. I don't think we should be "treated" any better, but some kind of point system where you could "earn" hotel discounts or resort/room upgrades.

 

[ZPT1022]

It's a sticky topic...

If any of us were going to The World for the first time we would want the exact same treatment/perks/experience as everyone else...

However, for those of us who are Disney fanatics and spend a great deal of time spreading Disney magic (aka getting other people to go there) and spending our vacation time (and money) at WDW would love a little extra.

You know Disney tracks people's visits and what not, how cool would it be to have even something small like a little postcard in your Welcome folder with a coupon for a free Dole Whip or something (we did say little perks!) that says "thanks for coming back?"

I guess I just want The World to love me as much as I love it!

The part that I bolded would be perfect. Nothing huge, but just a little "Thanks for coming back again (and again and again and again....)" I think that if a card were dropped off in the room that said "Thanks XX family for coming back for your _________th visit" that would be really nice. If it included some sort of small freebie- popcorn or ice cream credit, balloon, pin, etc...... even better. By leaving it in the room you would avoid some of the hassles where someone else checking in sees that you are getting something and they're not. Again, nothing huge, but just a little something to acknowledge frequent and/or return guests. I know that finding a card in my room would make my day!

Any such programme would be discriminatory for people who live outside the US - very few people from the UK etc could afford to visit more than once a year!

It's not discriminatory. That's just the way business is done, rewarding your most loyal customers. Also, I've noticed that people who live outside of the US tend to come for longer stays too- I don't really hear of anyone in the UK coming over for a long weekend, whereas for someone in the US that would be feasible. So if it were based on room nights, that would still benefit the person with one 2 or 3 week trip just as much as the person who comes once a month but only stays one or two nights.

 

[goofy!]

Here's some food for thought;

Do families that go to WDW regularly deserve special perks?
I'm not talking about FL residents that can drop in every weekend, I'm talking about those of us who travel a good distance and come more than once a year. Those of us who don't go anywhere else on vacation, should we have perks?

Putting on my flame retardant suit before I submit so please, let's just hear your humble opinion and be easy on me.
I'm not saying that this should or shouldn't be the case, just want your thoughts and feelings on the subject.

I am going to be the one needing the flame retardant suit

This is exactly why Universal now gets our lodging dollars vs. Disney. Even when we have a Disney vacation planned, we stay at the Portofino or one of the other Universal on-site hotels.

Why? Because we have earned Platinum Loews status solely from visiting Orlando. Now, for the price of the cheapest room, I am guaranteed a suite at check-in, late checkout and many other perks.

Previous to our decision to stay onsite at Universal, we had spent thousands of dollars staying at the Poly several times a year without any kind of loyalty recognition.

Loews / Universal chooses to reward me for being a loyal customer, so they will get my loyalty. And I get a 4* hotel for far less than the cheapest I have ever paid for a deluxe at Disney.

Besides the fact that FOTL is the best perk ever!

 

[Aidensmom]

While I think it would be kind of nice for selfish reasons, I don't think Disney has the need to do so.

And just kind of wondering why the OP thinks FL residents should be excluded? We really don't get any perks that AP holders (which are available to everyone) don't get....except maybe for the seasonal pass. Codes for rooms tend to come out for FL residents and AP holders at the same time, for the same rates. Even the DDE card is cheaper for AP holders than FL residents. And if us FL residents want to do the show/ride previews, we have to be an AP holder to do so (yes, technically having a seasonal pass entitles you to the same thing, but not when they schedule the previews during periods seasonal pass members are blacked out. )