Free Dining Oct-Dec Is Here!!! (And a whole lot more) ~ Part 3

[black562]

Hey, Disney Whisperer,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAHAAHAAAHAAAAAA I'm going to have to change my phrase under my name to say that. Too funny.

 

[xipotec]

Saving it all for Disney and wearing an "happy 40th" button the whole time.

Got a case of rum for ya on a deserted island with Keira Knightley....

 

[chester629]

Disney's Q3 Earnings released this evening showed the theme parks and resorts posting the highest revenue growth of any division, at 7% growth.

Some interesting items:

-- Per capita spending was up 7 percent, due to higher ticket and food prices.

-- Hotel occupancy and per-room spending were "comparable" with a year ago, even with the recent opening of the $350 million Disney's Art of Animation Resort. I find this interesting due to the fact that discounts continued to be offered throughout the year to obtain this number.

-- Q3 showed a more muted outcome, particularly after operating profit had shot up 73 percent during the second quarter. This was due to two new cruise ships, as well as Easter falling in Q2 this year.

-- According to Bob Iger, Disney is now targeting a "probable full rollout in the early part" of its 2014 fiscal year for MyMagic+, which begins in October. It will be interesting to see if this holds, which I have my doubts...unless "early" means January.

-- Disney said reservations at its U.S. hotels, most of which are in Orlando, are running about 3 percent ahead of last year. Remember, most reservations from this point forward are relying on either free dining or room discounts both from PIN codes, as well as public offerings.

We are now getting set to enter September, which has always been an historic slow time for the parks and resorts. Disney will be looking to see if the discounts offered will provide a boost over last year.

In the end, Disney is looking for more people, staying longer, and spending more money. Part of that is in-park spending, part is ticket sales and part is "heads in beds". They have to keep their resort occupancy at a healthy level in order to realize increased spending in other areas. It is this reason, at this time, I still believe September (and only September) could continue to be in the cards for free dining, as it has a proven track record to put "heads in beds" during the slow time of the year.

More to come...

What a great recap by Joe! I work in finance and your insights to the always encrypted earnings reports seems pretty spot on!

Unfortunately though I tend to agree with your theory on FD next year. Prior to the start of FD WDC stock was headed downward. They knew they needed something to correct the ship in a struggling economy and even more importantly, convince the shareholders to approve a new billion dollar expendature (MyMagic)...even though DVC really financed the project. Enter FD offers during slower months to boost ocupancy rates during this period (in addition to other pushes of course too like the steady push on DVC and etc). This all worked great and over the last 3 years have been showing a steady increase and kept shareholders at bay. That said with the new system expected to increase the average spending total per family, handsomely to boot, I doubt they see a need to continue the FD program. It may very well stick around next year during historic low occupancy time periods, like Sept as Joe noted, but I think sadly the program we know and love will change drastically and verry soon disappear.

 

[JLKennedy]

We need to come up with a code word!!

RUM???

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[G719]

Anyone need Keens for Disney? They are on zulilly.com today! Got my kids sandals for November. But I forgot to shop through mypoints. Oh well.

 

[chester629]

I like it!

 

[Eric in TX]

-- According to Bob Iger, Disney is now targeting a "probable full rollout in the early part" of its 2014 fiscal year for MyMagic+, which begins in October. It will be interesting to see if this holds, which I have my doubts...unless "early" means January.

More to come...

I guess it partially depends on how you define "full rollout...for MyMagic+." Does that mean all aspects, including FP+ will be in full use by all guests? Does it mean that by Nov or Dec, they'll be opening up the 60 day window to start booking FP+ for for Feb & March?

Given that the tests to this point have been relatively smalled compared to full attendance in all 4 parks in a single day, I have to think that they will proceed cautiously, right? The last thing they want is to rush the full rollout so it's all in place before Christmas, and then have the system go belly-up during the most crowded time of the year. Ooooy vey....can you imagine the headlines?!? "Disney Ruined my Family's Christmas!!!" or "Blue Christmas for Disney!"

The smart thing to do is keep testing and refining over the next 4 months, and keep growing each test phase. Then go for a system-wide release in January - use the slower time of year to run it full scale, tweak any problems, and not risk failure during your big-money season. Iger & Co. can claim they hit their targets b/c the system is accepting bookings for FP+ and customization of Magic Bands in calendar 2013 and early fiscal 2014, and if something goes wrong in mid-January, a whole lot less people will be affected.

And I admit -- much of that is wishful thinking on my part. We've got a family trip planned for the first week of November, and would like to do Disney the way we're comfortable with. I don't have any interest in being part of the testing, or dealing with any of the hiccups that we all know will be there when it first goes live. Selfish, I know But I can't help it!


And Happy Birthday Joe! (errr....Disney Whisperer)

 

[chester629]

RUM???

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

Perfect!

 

[Nechville]

Anyone need Keens for Disney? They are on zulilly.com today! Got my kids sandals for November. But I forgot to shop through mypoints. Oh well.

Got some for my daughter right when they went on sale! Didn't find any I liked for my 6 year old son though. Great deal!

 

[Nechville]

I guess it partially depends on how you define "full rollout...for MyMagic+." Does that mean all aspects, including FP+ will be in full use by all guests? Does it mean that by Nov or Dec, they'll be opening up the 60 day window to start booking FP+ for for Feb & March?

Given that the tests to this point have been relatively smalled compared to full attendance in all 4 parks in a single day, I have to think that they will proceed cautiously, right? The last thing they want is to rush the full rollout so it's all in place before Christmas, and then have the system go belly-up during the most crowded time of the year. Ooooy vey....can you imagine the headlines?!? "Disney Ruined my Family's Christmas!!!" or "Blue Christmas for Disney!"

The smart thing to do is keep testing and refining over the next 4 months, and keep growing each test phase. Then go for a system-wide release in January - use the slower time of year to run it full scale, tweak any problems, and not risk failure during your big-money season. Iger & Co. can claim they hit their targets b/c the system is accepting bookings for FP+ and customization of Magic Bands in calendar 2013 and early fiscal 2014, and if something goes wrong in mid-January, a whole lot less people will be affected.

And I admit -- much of that is wishful thinking on my part. We've got a family trip planned for the first week of November, and would like to do Disney the way we're comfortable with. I don't have any interest in being part of the testing, or dealing with any of the hiccups that we all know will be there when it first goes live. Selfish, I know But I can't help it!


And Happy Birthday Joe! (errr....Disney Whisperer)

I'm with you -- wouldn't be a part of the test even if we were offered for our November trip. Since my daughter is two, we can benefit more from the plain fasspass system and getting a rider swap ticket. My older kid gets to ride the rides twice in a row!

 

[Nechville]

We take our kids out. School board has a policy that they must report any more than 3 unexcused absences to a social worker. You are allowed 7 unexcused absences per year( no MD note).

Even if we told the teachers and principal before we went we still got the warning letter about the 7 limit.

So this year we are not bothering to inform anyone. Their teachers never gave them their work ahead of time anyway. They just had to catch up.

We have learned that spending time as a family is much more valuable in life , especially when one considers is only 5 days of missing school. ( 4 actually since we go veterans day week.

You only live once and you never know how long you have in this world with your kids. They will be grown up and gone someday too. Best to live life to the fullest now!

I agree. I'm not even sure if our school has a policy like that. We are only in kindergarten so I'm not too worried about taking him out this year, even though he is missing 7 days of school! I do worry as he gets older it will be harder but there are more important things in life. We've learned you never know what tomorrow will bring, so do it while you can! (note to self -- buy travel insurance when get home.) I am 100% sure when you look back at the trip, you won't remember the hassle of catch up work, going to school boards, appealing absences, or any of the other things you might have to deal with. You will have wonderful memories of a family trip and fun times.

 

[black562]

I'm with you -- wouldn't be a part of the test even if we were offered for our November trip. Since my daughter is two, we can benefit more from the plain fasspass system and getting a rider swap ticket. My older kid gets to ride the rides twice in a row!

Those selected to test it aren't required and can simply decline.

 

[Nechville]

Those selected to test it aren't required and can simply decline.

But could you turn down an exclusive offer??? I would have a hard time turning it down knowing it would be something special. Hence, I don't want the option!

 

[smitch425]

 

[Nechville]

Joe -- I see you are staying at CSR for your trip! I'm sure lots of us who are staying there (not as a first choice) will be looking forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences and seeing pictures from there. Every time you post a new instagram picture I get more excited!

 

[thill]

Still working on trying to get my FD or RO discount setup for my trip and I have to say I think the current hold song is broken. It sounds like the battery is dying in a record player and I keep getting static/ocean sounds. I'm actually hoping Small World comes back on soon, or of course a CM picks up.

 

[darnheather]

But don't forget. There's a difference between September free dining and free dining the rest of the year. September got it due to kids in school and hurricane season. It had nothing to do with economic conditions, but was all about a slow time of year. Those conditions so far haven't changed.

Think about this, the week I'm going, crowd predictions on a range of 1-10 vary between 1 and 2. That's with free dining. What kind of levels would it be without free dining??? Does the level go to zero?

Oh yes I agree with you. I see September staying due to school etc, but the others will go away because of the economy improving.

 

[wunkmom]

Happy Birthday to the Disney Whisperer, aka, Joe!

Have a magical day!

 

[darnheather]

Still working on trying to get my FD or RO discount setup for my trip and I have to say I think the current hold song is broken. It sounds like the battery is dying in a record player and I keep getting static/ocean sounds. I'm actually hoping Small World comes back on soon, or of course a CM picks up.

Hope you get it!

 

[darnheather]

Happy Birthday Joe Black! I hope you have a magical birthday.