Do you think they will offer any "special" discounts on annual passes?

[freediverdude]

I think the answer to that is to increase capacity, either add new lands or a new park. They can't limit attendance unless they increase guest spending to make up for it.

 

[jdkdorn]

How about they stop offering free dining every quarter that jams all the parks. We are going in mid-January staying DVC, which used to be a slow period, and every hotel is booked and it is because of the free dining being offered. If they really want to limit attendance stop offering so many deals on the resorts. People are going to come when you can spend $2500 for three people for 7 days and that includes Art of Animation hotel, an upgrade to regular dining plan and your tickets. My daughter just booked this with her friends. Raising the price of annual passes penalizes the best customers and offering deals benefits the one time customer and overfills the parks.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

How about they stop offering free dining every quarter that jams all the parks. We are going in mid-January staying DVC, which used to be a slow period, and every hotel is booked and it is because of the free dining being offered. If they really want to limit attendance stop offering so many deals on the resorts. People are going to come when you can spend $2500 for three people for 7 days and that includes Art of Animation hotel, an upgrade to regular dining plan and your tickets. My daughter just booked this with her friends. Raising the price of annual passes penalizes the best customers and offering deals benefits the one time customer and overfills the parks.

First, DVC availability Has nothing to do with free dining...

They only would offer very small numbers of leftover rooms to room
Promos in the first place and I'm not sure they are ever offered for the dining promo.

If DVC is booked...blame DVC members.

Second...they stopped offering widespread dining promos 3 going on 4 years ago...they literally are limited to the most dead of times now and exclude more and more hotel options each year. It literally is the leftovers.

Third...and this is where the system has changed...
You can't get DVC in many spots at many times - some never - unless you get them within hours of their window opening up.

That is just because they have way more contracts/points in the system after opening more and more...
My in laws still want to call 6 weeks out and get what they want 6 weeks out...or go on a wait list and have somebody southern call them the next morning all bubbly with a confirmation number.

That ship has sailed...it's not that way with several hundred thousand individual contracts out there now.

Look at those bungalows at the poly? They just flood points into the system.

They won't rest until they have 100% occupancy in all rooms at 7 months...

And then your annual pass will cost body parts and possibly a small child

 

[jdkdorn]

If you would have read the post a few before mine you would have seen that they asked how they are going to reduce park occupancy not DVC occupancy. My post had to do with price increases to reduce park occupancy nothing to do with DVC deals or occupancy.

I do not know where you get the idea that they stopped widespread dining promos in non-DVC bookings, they have one starting in January - March and just had one late August through early October. They offer them at least twice a year.

This thread was about discounts in annual passes and the reason they will not offer better deals and the prices keep going up. Occupancy of the parks is too high and they are trying to control it with park ticket prices. I was just offering other options.

 

[disneynutz]

Disney is just getting DL and WDW where they want it, full of people spending money. They want full rooms and full parks even if some guests don't like the crowds, others will take their place.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

If you would have read the post a few before mine you would have seen that they asked how they are going to reduce park occupancy not DVC occupancy. My post had to do with price increases to reduce park occupancy nothing to do with DVC deals or occupancy.

I do not know where you get the idea that they stopped widespread dining promos in non-DVC bookings, they have one starting in January - March and just had one late August through early October. They offer them at least twice a year.

This thread was about discounts in annual passes and the reason they will not offer better deals and the prices keep going up. Occupancy of the parks is too high and they are trying to control it with park ticket prices. I was just offering other options.

I understand that and I do agree with some of what you say...

I just can't agree with any tying of DVC with free dining. No matter the context.

DVC had become its own problem...throw another log on a fire.

Free dining is very much reduced from its original form...which was a straight real estate crash move. I hated the dining plan from day one because I smelled a rat...and unfortunately everything I feared has come true.

Though I am looking a little closer at the winter promotions now...that is an unusual move. Winter travel has gone up dramatically these last ten years. Crowds are higher than they have been. Disney has been effective at drawing....

However...I've been inundated with airline promo emails for months now...very unusual in the New York/Philadelphia area...

Usually you don't have to discount and beg.

Rooms are pretty readily available for spring break in DVC...not the case in the past. Could it be that travel is declining (cost have gone up well ahead of inflation these last couple years) and promos are there to recapture forecasted vacancy?

Or has DVC shuffled the point charts around enough to force people to spread out? I believe they flooded points from the rarely wanted 1 BR down to the studios over the last few years to extract more points and try to eliminate "cheap DVC" travel.

It sucks...frankly.

 

[JWG]

I've given up on a deeper ticket discount. Purchased a PH on Undercover Tourist that I will bridge to an AP during our next visit.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

It's unlikely any special DVC rates are coming...

I think they have to take a hit from an economic slowdown before we will see that again...

 

[DisDadDVC]

It's unlikely any special DVC rates are coming...

I think they have to take a hit from an economic slowdown before we will see that again...

Agreed. Having said that, I believe we will see that slowdown start in 2016...

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Agreed. Having said that, I believe we will see that slowdown start in 2016...

Agree...there's something going on with advanced bookings...airlines are promoting the hell out of everything and there are some huge wholesale discounts out there for wdw hotels.

 

[senadler]

Agreed. Having said that, I believe we will see that slowdown start in 2016...

I was originally planning a trip for mid April that I moved to mid May. I have been surprised at the availability of ADRs for both time periods. Even the locations that you typically need to book almost immediately have been available at very good times. Our trip this past October was a completely different experience. I booked at 180+ and still did not get everything I wanted right away.

 

[DebbieB]

How about they stop offering free dining every quarter that jams all the parks. We are going in mid-January staying DVC, which used to be a slow period, and every hotel is booked and it is because of the free dining being offered. If they really want to limit attendance stop offering so many deals on the resorts. People are going to come when you can spend $2500 for three people for 7 days and that includes Art of Animation hotel, an upgrade to regular dining plan and your tickets. My daughter just booked this with her friends. Raising the price of annual passes penalizes the best customers and offering deals benefits the one time customer and overfills the parks.

It's typically only in the fall the past 2 or 3 years. Free dining isn't being offered in January except for maybe UK visitors. There is another package offered but it's not as good as free dining.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

It's typically only in the fall the past 2 or 3 years. Free dining isn't being offered in January except for maybe UK visitors. There is another package offered but it's not as good as free dining.

That's what I thought...free dining has all but been marginalized.

But there are chinks in the armor out there that indicates perhaps they're a lot closer to the price threshold than many of us believed...

Two years running there are ample rooms and dining still open for the Easter weeks...

And I was quoted a 60% room rate for jujy and even more for August into September just today...

Theres a disturbance in the force...

In fact...I think that's why we didn't get a tiered ticket rollout in October...I think they might be in a holding pattern.

 

[jdkdorn]

It's typically only in the fall the past 2 or 3 years. Free dining isn't being offered in January except for maybe UK visitors. There is another package offered but it's not as good as free dining.

My daughter has free dining in January and we do not live in the UK. It is the Play, Stay and Dine deal. I think it is pretty good too since the price outside the package was $2800 and in the pkg around $2400. I hope they offer some deals in the spring for our next visit. The airfare so far is off the wall high from WI on Southwest. We most likely will drive

 

[lockedoutlogic]

My daughter has free dining in January and we do not live in the UK. It is the Play, Stay and Dine deal. I think it is pretty good too since the price outside the package was $2800 and in the pkg around $2400. I hope they offer some deals in the spring for our next visit. The airfare so far is off the wall high from WI on Southwest. We most likely will drive

Southwest is ridiculous everywhere...and all the others are advertising coupons and silly rates.

We got frontier to Florida for a family visit to the gulf coast in March during spring break for $98 round trip

I knew southwest was done when they bought value jet

 

[DebbieB]

My daughter has free dining in January and we do not live in the UK. It is the Play, Stay and Dine deal. I think it is pretty good too since the price outside the package was $2800 and in the pkg around $2400. I hope they offer some deals in the spring for our next visit. The airfare so far is off the wall high from WI on Southwest. We most likely will drive

The Play, Stay, Dine deal is not free dining.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/stay-play-dine-2016-calculation-thread.3451389/

 

[lockedoutlogic]

The Play, Stay, Dine deal is not free dining.

http://www.disboards.com/threads/stay-play-dine-2016-calculation-thread.3451389/

Good point...it's not even close.

The pieces are starting to come together on what is going on...is it possible that people are actually balking at the price?

Ghast...
That deal tells me two things:
1. That they're down and need the promotion
2. It's a half hearted smoke and mirrors attempt. A 15% discount on strictly food is nice...but it's not really anywhere close to Good enough when you compare it to the ticket and room bumps in the last...well..."everyday when Iger had been in charge"

 

[DebbieB]

Good point...it's not even close.

The pieces are starting to come together on what is going on...is it possible that people are actually balking at the price?

Ghast...
That deal tells me two things:
1. That they're down and need the promotion
2. It's a half hearted smoke and mirrors attempt. A 15% discount on strictly food is nice...but it's not really anywhere close to Good enough when you compare it to the ticket and room bumps in the last...well..."everyday when Iger had been in charge"

I think the whole "free dining" deal is smoke and mirrors. Every year the rack room rates go up, dates become more limited, they took away the appetizer, they took away the tip, this year they added the requirement of a park hopper or water park ticket add-on. People love their "free dining" but the truth is it is probably twice as much as it used to be.

I've been here since Saturday and the parks have been packed and free dining is not offered this week. Disney is not hurting. I'm glad I have DVC and come pretty often, I can sit back and relax, have 2 more trips on the AP I just activated. Love the photo pass included! Magic Bands have been flawless. Love FP+.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I wasn't talking about "hurting"...they never have since day 1...

I'm talking about a small decrease in advanced forecasts...

And you might as well stab a Disney account than suggest that

 

[DebbieB]

I wasn't talking about "hurting"...they never have since day 1...

I'm talking about a small decrease in advanced forecasts...

And you might as well stab a Disney account than suggest that

I was responding to your comment "are people balking at the price?". I say no, their discount packages aren't as good as they used to be and yet they still keep coming. They make people think they are getting a great deal (like the above who thought Play Stay Dine was free dining) when the reality is they are taking in more than ever. Look at food prices - I was looking at the menu outside Brown Derby last night and almost fell over.