FREE DINING UPDATE- RUMOR and SPECULATION / Update Page 80 !

[Halloweenqueen]

I've tried to look at the bright side of all this. It actually may work out better for our family. We would ONLY do August with free dining. We take my parents, my nephew, and my family for a Grand Gathering. Only one of my children is a "child" in Disney's eye. FD is the biggest discount for us. No other discount scenerio works better for an on site vacation.

The only other benefit for my family was not having to take the kids out during school days. We have done this for years, but it gets more difficult as they age.

We have always taken our trips in late October or after Thanksgiving. No FD means we postpone our trip to our usually time. We will stay offsite and get the added benefit of going to Universal this year. My kids are HUGE Potter fans. The crowds will still be there, but August would have been insane to try to get over to HPW. We also have GAD tickets which we would have used for fastpasses with our FD package. Now we can just use them as tickets and upgrade. This will be a nice savings. Savings to use for our Universal tickets.

So all is good. I hate that my ticker will be moved forward a few months (no ticker yet because August was going to be a surprise). But I will have MNSSHP to look forward to!

 

[Melanie230]

Since my head has been spun I went back to some emails and realized I goofed in the original post slightly -- specifically.. I said Disney was very concerned about Q4 (July to Sept) when the original notes I had said they were very concerned about Q3 and therefore might be focusing more closely on the April May June time frame before tackling 'fall discounts'.

I have edited my original post to reflect the changes.

But with that in mind.. some kind of promotion for kids (not necessarily whats being tossed around mind you) might be a great fit right up til the end of August..

Hmm..

We went to Disney in Sept/Oct 09. We were there for 7 days at Pop. Our vacation was $1300 which included park hoppers and free dining. This was for 2 adults and 2 kids. If they can come close to that this year we will book at Disney again and cancel Universal...if not...Universal...here we come!

 

[mking624]

Please tell me the latter is just a rumor! We knew about TSMM and were disappointed but ST being closed is going to really make us wonder if we should go to DHS at all (and it's been our favorite park!)

Carole

Star Tours will be closing to update to Star Tours 2.0. An exact date hasn't been given except that it would happen sometime later this year.

 

[KTJAY]

Please tell me the latter is just a rumor! We knew about TSMM and were disappointed but ST being closed is going to really make us wonder if we should go to DHS at all (and it's been our favorite park!)

Carole

What dates is tsmm closed?

 

[disneyfantotheend]

Wow Star Tours and TSMM. Makes my DHS day a littl;e easier to manage. One good thing in all this drama.

I think I will be fuming if another Q3 deal comes out instead of one for us. Unless the next deal is good up until the end of August. Then I can accept that, being we are going Aug 13-24TH.

 

[clanmcculloch]

Not a rumor they are updating SW to SW2.0 3D experience...Sorry to be the bearer of this bad news...my DD's were looking forward to this ride as well again!

They're scheduled to be closed on different dates (well, TSMM isn't even officially scheduled but stitchkingdom seems to have really reliable sources and it generally pretty accurate about this stuff). According to stitchkingdom, the refurb dates are as follows.

TSMM 08/15/10 - 09/04/10
Star Tours 09/08/10 - 05/19/11

Guests should be able to ride one or the other during their trip depending on their trip dates. If your dates fall right then you might actually get both.

 

[disneyfan55]

Who knows what is really going on the the minds of those that decide. I do recall in the fall of 2008 I think that mousesavers had a notice a few days before a big offer made by WDW It may have been the 4/7 offer with the giftcards (could be wrong on which offer). They don't have anything out there even as a hint.

 

[Sugar Jones]

Star Tours will be closing to update to Star Tours 2.0. An exact date hasn't been given except that it would happen sometime later this year.

Someone on another post quoted a statement by "someone" (I'm not sure where the statement came from) that Star Tours would be closed for updates in October 2010.

 

[DISNEY1975]

At this point, I just want to see something beyond 08/14. I dont care if its only for 08/15 - 08/20, at least they will be moving in the right direction. It seems like the 08/14 promo has been out there for 12 years already!!

 

[n2mm]

If you can swing it...STAY ONSITE at Universal. When you stay onsite...your hotel key gets you UNLIMITED FRONT OF THE LINE passes. If the line at Men In Black is 75 minutes long...you use your hotel key and get to go through a different line that puts you ahead of the regular line. My son and I did this one year in July...we watched a man go into the regular line for Men In Black, and we were able to ride Men In Black 8 times going on our ninth when that man got on for the first time. Staying onsite is worth every dime.

I agree! I'm an AP holder for USF (and for Disney too and DVC member) and the room discounts for USF are very good for AP holders. I was crunching some numbers for June and the AP rate or Royal Pacific is 45% off (the room was regular $249, but the AP rate was $139). If you want to check out the AP holder rates, just type in APH on the resort availability page under promotions. Plus they do lots of different perks every month. My favorite is several times a year they offer AP holders to purchase tickets for friends and family for 50% off. I always take advantage of this perk. Keep in mind that they have 3 different annual passes and the lowest (the power pass) does not include perks. I have a preferred AP and I renew it yearly to keep the price down. This year I renewed it for $109 and they offered me 15 months. (Their renewal has gone up slightly since then--Oct 09). You might want to check out the USF boards for more info if you take this route.

 

[CanadianGuy]

At this point, I just want to see something beyond 08/14. I dont care if its only for 08/15 - 08/20, at least they will be moving in the right direction. It seems like the 08/14 promo has been out there for 12 years already!!

Amen and pass the ketchup!

 

[mking624]

I think there's reason to believe that the WWoHP is having an impact on what summer discounts are being offered since it opens in June. I think it would also be smart of Disney to continue offering these nice discounts considering that I doubt Universal's attendance rate will decline during the fall months. The reason being that the new HP movie opens in November and I'm sure Universal will be doing some promo(s) as it gets closer to tie in WWoHP with the new movie. It's a big year for Harry Potter between WWoHP and the new movie. I am positive a promo will be released for the fall...it's a matter of what type. With WDW having seen a decline in attendance in Q4 last year, it probably wouldn't be in their best interest to start being modest with discounts considering the lure HP will be having.

 

[mking624]

Someone on another post quoted a statement by "someone" (I'm not sure where the statement came from) that Star Tours would be closed for updates in October 2010.

I've also seen it having a close date for as early as next week (same thing for Toontown...). I doubt they'd close it before Celebration V, considering that takes place in Orlando this year. I've heard the October statements way more consistently and am hopeful for that...I'd like to go on the original just one more time.

 

[ShhhQ]

They're scheduled to be closed on different dates (well, TSMM isn't even officially scheduled but stitchkingdom seems to have really reliable sources and it generally pretty accurate about this stuff). According to stitchkingdom, the refurb dates are as follows.

TSMM 08/15/10 - 09/04/10
Star Tours 09/08/10 - 05/19/11

Guests should be able to ride one or the other during their trip depending on their trip dates. If your dates fall right then you might actually get both.

If this is correct... we should be good... we will be at HS on 09/06

 

[Stormin'theCastle]

Another thought on the business side of things is that Disney is going to have to fight even harder to gets folks onsite to combat Harry Potter opening at Universal.

And let's also remember that Disney has that Fantasyland expansion to pay for!

 

[sjs314]

Since CanadianGuy has corrected his post to reflect that it is 3rd Q Disney is worried about would make total sense if the promotion is a package deal with the current ending date of 8/14 since package have to be paid for 45 days prior to arrival. Then a little later come out with a fall promo.

 

[CanadianGuy]

Since CanadianGuy has corrected his post to reflect that it is 3rd Q Disney is worried about would make total sense if the promotion is a package deal with the current ending date of 8/14 since package have to be paid for 45 days prior to arrival. Then a little later come out with a fall promo.

Yup that *would* make sense.

Now watch them do something else. HAHA..

"Dear Mr. Iger:

I think I should run your company, because you guys just aren't very good at it. "

 

[scdisneyguy]

Not to rain on anyone's parade here at all but no discount is a given. People just act like FD was written into the Constitution or something. I mean I know all the promos and deals are great and lord knows I have used them. With 4 kids, I love any deal that means less money spent, but in the end the way I always look at it is can I afford to go at normal prices. I then book what our needs or what we want, then if something hits that works for us then that is even better means more for less.

In the end however, Disney is a business with one thing in mind, MAKING MONEY. Do CM's and such make it a more magical experience for people well yes for the most part, however the goal is still to make money.

The company I work for just cut ALOT of jobs. I sat in on a meeting 2 days ago where they were deciding where and who got cut. Do they hate the people that work for them???? No, are they careless people without a thought about their employees?? On the surface it may seem so, but in reality cost per unit was sky high and payroll was the quickest and easiest way to take money straight off the top. I have alot of people that work for me, that won't be there come tomorrow, the company made what it thought was best decision for the interest of the company as a whole.

That being said I would love a 4/3, or maybe even FD, but as it stands now, my ressie is made and I am going regardless.

People get spoiled sometimes, just the reality of life and then they expect something.

I am sure a fall deal will roll out soon, but if it doesn't keep in mind one thing

As much as I love Disney ( over 40 trips) I know that in reality if Disney began to lose money and kept doing it at a rapid pace then there may be changes coming that no one would like to see.

End of rant, here is hoping for pixie dust for all come fall.

 

[LaDonna]

oh I thought wow if it was 4/3 w/ fd that would be good right, but when I did the numbers it was actually about $450 more!

 

[my3squeals]

If this is correct... we should be good... we will be at HS on 09/06

Us too!!!! And will DH be glad to know he can ride his beloved ST before refurb

BTW what is TSMM? I am having a blonde moment or maybe a brain fart from playing out every $$$$ scenario possible!!!