GP discounts not that great

[ShellyLynn3630]

Do these GP discounts seem not to be that great or is it just me? I guess Disney is trying to save themselves some money.

 

[mrsz06]

I agree the new set of discounts that have come out are a little disappointing but they only cover the winter and a little bit of April. You would think they would offer better deals in the winter since it is a slower time. Hopefully things will get better and not worse. I NEED room discounts and wish they would do away with FREE DINING!!!!

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

Well I must admit, I have certainley utilized free dining!!! But I did get lucky and got a pin code that is better than the GP codes that are out right now. And that is exactly what I needed for next year, not a free dining code. I just wonder if thier bookings are down or not. With these scrimpy GP discounts it would make you think not.

 

[Sue M]

The new GP discounts are the lowest I've seen I have an AP, and the new AP rates have just come out too, and for my dates at WL, I can't get a regular room, only bunk beds available! Glad I booked when the last GP discounts came out, and paying for DDP. I'll just have to tuck away the 1 day park tickets for another time.

We also have booked our Aug vacay with the last free dining promo at POR. I love free dining if we are staying at a mod, it ends up cheaper for us then a room discount. I like being on the DDP, we enjoy having dinner at a TS.

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

Ya this could come back to bite Disney in the butt!!

 

[Sue M]

Ya this could come back to bite Disney in the butt!!

Maybe! I think they are testing the water to see if as many people are willing to book with the lower discount %.

I know for me, we won't book deluxe resorts at the lower %. And at the moderate level, if we can't get free dining (the best mod discount for us) then we'd take the (20% or 25% current discount) off, not book DDP, and eat CS. Even though we really love the TS. We'd have to make it affordable for us.

People will vote with their feet, it will be interesting to see how it develops.

 

[kleigh1969]

I guess they are a little lower, but I just saved $291 for 5 nights in a standard room at Coronado just for making a phonecall.

Better than a poke in the eye!

 

[Grumpy's Gal]

we might need to call back. Mine was about as good as a poke in the eye. (previous poster)

She said it would only save us $5.

I don't know how that's possible. we are at POP and paying $149 a night. How is that possible? She tried both codes.

Anyone else having problems?

 

[jillhou]

the OP said Disney was trying to save themselves some money by offering lower discounts.....not sure I get that logic. They are actually trying to make some money by offering some discounts so people will come. We had already booked - and in all likelyhood - would have gone without the discount. So in OUR particular case - they lost money on us.

Discounts are not guaranteed - they are offered when and if Disney determines they need to attract more guests to meet their desired outcome.

Glad I saved 1200 in March!!!!

 

[beansmom]

seeing as how disney doesn't HAVE to offer ANYdiscounts, I'm mighty glad to get one. I would have taken my trip regardless so I'm glad to save the $200 i saved.

 

[staceymay00]

We have to remember that they offer discounts to fill empty rooms, not to be nice. Supposedly the economy is improving and WDW wants to wean people off the deep discounts. My original 5 night reservation was at a moderate resort with a AAA discount. I upgraded to a deluxe with a 42% off AP rate. The mouse is getting more money from me due to the discounts. Some poeple like me end up upgrading, and some people move from off site to on site if they can get a discount. Ultimately they end up filling more rooms and making more money even though some keep the same resort and pay less money once the discounts come out. I wonder how many of thoses people spend more on souveniers and food since they saved on their room. The deluxe AP discount this year (42%) is actually almost as good as what I had last year (45%) except at Poly and AK. They must already have decent bookings at Poly and AK.

 

[HaleyB]

The Poly fills, so I understand the discount.

AKL has grown in popularity since it opened. Back in the day I could extend our stay at the last minute (on my check out day) easily, and they always honored whatever rate I had originally booked.

I think they are testing the waters to see what AKL fans will tolerate, they added a new premium view category this year for the same reason.

Disney will do what it needs to fill their rooms. As for the state of the economy, that is the question every one wishes they could answer with certainty.

 

[ElizabethB]

They are testing the waters to see what kind of response they get with discounts that are not as attractive as this time last year. If they do not get sufficient bookings, we'll see a better deal, probably in January. The fact that the passholder discount is 42% speaks volumes to me as to how bookings are really going (not well). There was a time before the Sept. 2008 market crash that passholder discounts were few and far between. Many of us AP holders were wondering what was the point in keeping it.

Now, the strategy seems to be to cut the discount to the general public, but try to make up for it with bookings from AP holders. I guess we'll see how this plays out.

Last year, they offered a great public code discount over spring break for students in the Northeast. But, that offer came later, after they assessed bookings. As I recall, it came sometime in February. This time, the code discounts and AP discounts end on the first day of spring break. It will be interesting to see if rack rate holds for that week (especially since they have pushed rack rates into the stratosphere). My prediction is that it won't.

We'll see.

 

[Rachaelt]

I agree the new set of discounts that have come out are a little disappointing but they only cover the winter and a little bit of April. You would think they would offer better deals in the winter since it is a slower time. Hopefully things will get better and not worse. I NEED room discounts and wish they would do away with FREE DINING!!!!

January and part of February is a slower time. They did offer better discounts that covered that time, they expired a few weeks ago.

 

[wdwexpert]

We have a room booked at ASM for ONE night, couldn't get an AP discount in JANUARY mid-week. They could get us one night with an AP discount at All Star Sports but it would have ended up costing more than the regular room rate. Something is definitely wrong with the system....

Could not get a premium site at FW with an annual pass discount for the entire month of January, beginning of February or for any date in March.

Feeling completely frustrated with the so called AP discounts.

Since we stay at the Fort often we don't "qualify" for free dining so it is useless to us. And...with free dining offered it is almost impossible for those of wanting to PAY for a sit down meal to even get a table...

PLEASE DISNEY...Is an AP discount too much to ask??? That's why we bought them.

Is anyone else having this problem???