DVC Annual Pass Discount - any news?

[disfanforlife]

Please expand on HP; I'm not sure what this is....

Thanks

It is Harry Potter ( universal)

 

[Ms.Minnie]

Thanks Disfanforlife I was racking my brain but just couldn't come up with what HP meant. Now I get it. Universal just doesn't do if to me, we went there just to see HP about 2 yrs ago, it was ok but not really worth the time & effort it took to get there (IMHO).

 

[permavac]

...Take something like the $399 Premium Annual Pass from last year. DVC certainly benefits from that. It's a great perk for members which increases good will. Helps sell new buyers on the value of DVC. More trips for owners could lead to add on sales...

IMO, this discount was put out more as an income generator than anything else - that's the primary reason behind most "deals" in the sales world anyway (i.e. low price, high volume = profit). The $399 PAP was available for purchase for a limited time which meant the revenue from those sales was clearly defined. I saw it as a toe in the water to see if they could generate a large number of PAP sales out of DVC members based on offering a "good deal". If they do offer it again then we will know that they made enough money off it the first time. Fingers crossed for an announcement the first week of January!

Terri

 

[culli]

Not sure if this has been said but they could offer the discount like last year only to direct sales contracts and leave resale out. Of the changes they made to discourage resale this might actually make people think about going direct instead?

 

[mrsR123]

I thought for sure that they would announce this about five minutes after I upgraded four tickets to DVC annual passes Thanksgiving day...

 

[tjkraz]

IMO, this discount was put out more as an income generator than anything else - that's the primary reason behind most "deals" in the sales world anyway (i.e. low price, high volume = profit). The $399 PAP was available for purchase for a limited time which meant the revenue from those sales were clearly defined. I saw it as a toe in the water to see if they could generate a large number of PAP sales out of DVC members based on offering a "good deal". If they do offer it again then we will know that they made enough money off it the first time. Fingers crossed for an announcement the first week of January!

Terri

I disagree.

Selling Disney theme park passes to DVC owners is quite a bit different than your typical consumer product. While there are long-time members who don't visit the parks with the same frequency they used to, most owners who book WDW resorts plan to spend significant time in the WDW parks.

The $399 Premium Annual Pass amounted to a discount of 43% off the regular price of a PAP. Many of the people who took advantage of that ticket already had plans to buy the same or similar passes for higher prices. Consider now many additional passes they would have had to sell to make up the difference.

Additionally this discount was offered during a period when Disney was reporting record attendance at its parks and all park tickets are seeing a sharp upturn in prices. Nothing about the way Disney has priced its park tickets in recent years suggests they were desperate enough to see higher revenues to prompt discounts of that magnitude.

About 8 years ago when the DVC AP discount first materialized, I was told that DVC actually subsidizes part of the savings. In other words, for every discounted AP or PAP purchased, DVC partially compensates the Disney Theme Parks division for the price reduction. Personally I think this makes a great deal of sense. DVC has more to gain from an AP discount than the Parks division does--it's a good marketing ploy for selling points and the high volume of trips generated by AP ownership often leads to add-on point purchases.

If the theme park execs thought they would make money off of lower-priced APs, they would simply lower the price for everyone. If they needed a quick cash infusion or higher park attendance, they'd hold a limited time sale for everyone and sell 10x as many PAPs.

 

[alicat07]

Just spoke to a CM at DVC on the phone (helping me link my resort reservations to MDE) and asked her about the PAP promotion. She said that they did tell her there will be some sort of discount but they have not released to them what it will be. I asked if it was going to be on the PAP again or something different, and she said she thinks its going to be something different. Of course, once again just rumor but it does look like something is coming!

 

[permavac]

I disagree.

Selling Disney theme park passes to DVC owners is quite a bit different than your typical consumer product. While there are long-time members who don't visit the parks with the same frequency they used to, most owners who book WDW resorts plan to spend significant time in the WDW parks.

The $399 Premium Annual Pass amounted to a discount of 43% off the regular price of a PAP. Many of the people who took advantage of that ticket already had plans to buy the same or similar passes for higher prices. Consider now many additional passes they would have had to sell to make up the difference.

Additionally this discount was offered during a period when Disney was reporting record attendance at its parks and all park tickets are seeing a sharp upturn in prices. Nothing about the way Disney has priced its park tickets in recent years suggests they were desperate enough to see higher revenues to prompt discounts of that magnitude.

About 8 years ago when the DVC AP discount first materialized, I was told that DVC actually subsidizes part of the savings. In other words, for every discounted AP or PAP purchased, DVC partially compensates the Disney Theme Parks division for the price reduction. Personally I think this makes a great deal of sense. DVC has more to gain from an AP discount than the Parks division does--it's a good marketing ploy for selling points and the high volume of trips generated by AP ownership often leads to add-on point purchases.

If the theme park execs thought they would make money off of lower-priced APs, they would simply lower the price for everyone. If they needed a quick cash infusion or higher park attendance, they'd hold a limited time sale for everyone and sell 10x as many PAPs.

I know. These are our own personal opinions. Having experience in the sales world I do know that offering a discount has nothing to do with being "desperate". Companies that are doing well set ever higher sales goals for themselves. If you have a year where you aren't reaching these lofty goals, a sure way of reaching them is to offer a lower price in exchange for higher volume. These are just tactics to stuff your pockets even more. Park tickets AND resort income are up yet Disney still offers discounts (in the form of Florida resident, DVC, and annual passes). If these discounts were not income generators then they would just jack the prices back up. Same with the resorts. You can get an Animal Kingdom room in January for $212 per night. That's a huge discount from their regular price and is not something they forgo just because they had record sales this year. Discounts are a money-making strategy and Disney is the only one who has the actual numbers to figure out which discounts to offer to shake money out of people who weren't going to spend it in the first place

Terri

 

[J and R's mom]

Just spoke to a CM at DVC on the phone (helping me link my resort reservations to MDE) and asked her about the PAP promotion. She said that they did tell her there will be some sort of discount but they have not released to them what it will be. I asked if it was going to be on the PAP again or something different, and she said she thinks its going to be something different. Of course, once again just rumor but it does look like something is coming!

Thanks for sharing!

I typically don't buy APs and certainly never PAPs (we don't do the water parks). But when they offered the incentive last year, we went ahead and bought them right up and used them for our November 2012 trip. Because we had PAPs, we decided to also make an additional May 2013 trip for DD's 10th birthday (and even went to Blizzard Beach since we had PAPs).

I went ahead and renewed those PAPs--but down-graded to the regular APs. We'll use them next week, but....now that I have them....it gives me all the excuse I need to go again....which is what, I believe, Disney was aiming for to begin with. WIN-WIN!

So I hope they bring back some sort of major discount. I'll be glad to buy those vouchers and use them when my current APs expire.

 

[Jenntx]

Florida residents also have the option of using a payment plan to pay for their tickets. With 5 of us that would make the expense a little easier to handle. I know that I could just purchase 1 per month and do it that way but if they are offering a "deal" on the ticket price offer the payment plan too so that the cost all at once does not break us. Spreading $2000 over 12 months is a lot easier than purchasing them all at once.



Judy

Do you think a pymt plan for DVC AP will ever happen? We are a family of 5 as well & that would help us tremendously! I know in our area we have a water park & they offer a pymt plan & it really helps us to have 6 months to pay off our season passes before the parks open for the season.

If they can do it for FL Residents why couldn't they do it for DVC members. Here's wishing!!

 

[tjkraz]

Do you think a pymt plan for DVC AP will ever happen?

Not unless they intend to offer such a payment plan to the general public.

Offering a payment plan to all would result in a higher rate of defaults. FL residents buy APs because they want to visit the Disney parks often. AP owners from more distant regions would be much more cavalier about defaulting on the payment obligation, after they have completed the trip in which the pass was acquired.

In fact, signing up for a payment plan--and then defaulting--could become the latest-and-greatest way to "save" on a Disney vacation. rather than spending $2000 on park tickets for a family vacation, just give them a $200 downpayment and then close the bank account / cancel the credit card earmarked for the recurring payments.

Instead of limiting its collection activities to just one state, Disney then has to work with authorities in 50 states to try and recover its funds.

If a payment plan would help your budget, create one for yourself. Open a vacation savings account at your bank or one of the many online lenders. Schedule funds to be moved from your primary savings to the vacation fund on a recurring basis (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.) When you need the money to pay for vacation expenses, it will be sitting there waiting for you.

 

[stefanospops]

We did the PAP deal. We usually try to get three trips out of one annual pass. Was sent a survey about the PAP and the questions that struck me most was touched on by a pp: Did you plan an additional trip as a result of the PAP?

I think that was what they were looking for. If people plan extra trips they wouldn't have done otherwise then we need more points. I imagine they wanted to see if there was an addonitis outbreak as a result. The thing is, if they offer the PAP at discounted rates on a regular basis I imagine people would be less inclined to book extra trips.

 

[tjkraz]

The thing is, if they offer the PAP at discounted rates on a regular basis I imagine people would be less inclined to book extra trips.

Bingo.

And since DVC points are a limited commodity, Disney's most direct way of benefitting is if buyers end up ADDING MORE points.

Many people have said that they rearranged their travel schedules around the PAP offer. Instead of a consistent 1-2 trips per year, they borrowed as many points as possible and pack 3-4-5 trips in that 366 day PAP usage period. In that limited period of time, yes, PAP buyers ended up spending a lot more than they had planned on food, souvenirs, etc.

But now they have no points to use for a year or two. So Disney is losing dollars.

Without the PAP offer, trips would have been spread over a longer period of time with owners likely spending MORE money on park tickets and other incidentals. In a sense, Disney mortgaged long-term returns for a faster short-term infusion.

IF the PAP offer helped to drive significant add-on point purchases, ONLY THEN was it a clear success IMO. At least from DVC's perspective.

If it didn't drive more point sales--and merely prompted guests to take their 2014 trips in 2013--then I don't see where Disney gained much of anything through the promo.

 

[WMorganS]

At least from DVC's perspective. If it didn't drive more point sales--and merely prompted guests to take their 2014 trips in 2013--then I don't see where Disney gained much of anything through the promo.

Interesting observation! Now that you put it that way, I have no doubt that PAP drives DVC sales from my perspective. We added on at BCV this year particularly for summer trips.

Even from Massachusetts, for our family of 4, no AP = skip a year or go just once and bank the rest, AP = go twice but during cooler months, PAP = go at least 3 times with at least one summer trip.

 

[JustTinking]

Without the PAP offer, trips would have been spread over a longer period of time with owners likely spending MORE money on park tickets and other incidentals. In a sense, Disney mortgaged long-term returns for a faster short-term infusion.

Most corporations are myopic in this way. They do look at how make money in the short-term. I don't think Disney lost any long term returns on this deal. They have probably introduced another dozen ways to get us to take out our wallets NOW.

 

[tjkraz]

Most corporations are myopic in this way. They do look at how make money in the short-term. I don't think Disney lost any long term returns on this deal. They have probably introduced another dozen ways to get us to take out our wallets NOW.

That doesn't take into account the unique nature of DVC. After buying into the program, owners are all but obligated to spend additional dollars on park tickets. Sure there are some people who bought PAPs specifically because of the offer. But did those additional purchases more than offset spending by those who would have otherwise paid higher prices?

If Disney truly believed they benefitted from ticketing discounts, we'd see a lot more of them. Not just for DVC members but the general public.

In reality, Disney has VERY little track record for discounting park admission. Only thing that immediately comes to mind was an offer 3-4 years ago where they extended AP renewals for 15 months instead of just 12.

Historically, Disney's practice has been to raise admission prices 1-2 times per year at rates much higher than inflation. Those who want to visit the parks have no choice but to pay.

 

[lovin'fl]

I think I saw where another poster asked this, but never saw the answer. Does anyone know if I can renew our PAPs (bought during last year's special and expire Jan 25, 2014) as just APs and get the DVC AP renew price ($394)?

 

[HookdonWDW]

I think I saw where another poster asked this, but never saw the answer. Does anyone know if I can renew our PAPs (bought during last year's special) as just APs and get the DVC AP renew price ($394)?

Yes you can. You can renew a PAP as an AP or an AP as a PAP.

 

[lovin'fl]

Yes you can. You can renew a PAP as an AP or an AP as a PAP.

Woo hoo...thinking about going to F&W with just my DDs and mom. DDs and I have the PAPs that expire on 1/25 and the cost of getting 4 day hoppers is $359.97pp, so might as well renew as APs for $35 more. We'll see how our Dec trip goes with MDE/MB/FP+.

 

[disneygal55]

Getting close to the end of the year...anyone with info?