Great Marketing

[connie1042]

This is just my take on this whole "code" thing. How much did Disney pay for this "code" advertisment? 0 Thats right! How many booked trips they were not going to take? MANY Some people even booked 2 trips. Beleive me, Disney is going to make alot more money than this CODE thing would cost them. I think it was a great gimmick and it worked!

 

[MagicKingdom05]

You may get some who disagree because of some of the issues it caused, but I for one agree with you.

 

[lucincia]

Viral marketing at its best. Basically taking a page out of the politicians' "sanctioned news leaks". Release a bit of information, pretend that it's a mistake, and watch the public run with it and turn into a wild fire.

I wonder if this will be studied in business school somewhere?

 

[NewJersey]

It's been a week since I've booked and I check this board regularly for more on this code stuff to see what the latest is.

They got me to book a trip when I wasn't even expecting to go, AND I figured with all the money I was saving, I would go ahead and add on a surprise night at the Poly and upgrade to MK view.

Genius move on disney's part.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Well we were originally going to book at POR for $180 a night for our Sept 4-Sept 13th honeymoon. When we got the pin code e-mail, we changed our plans and upgraded to Poly for $222.08 a night.

While it's not a ton, moving to Poly cost us actually $385 more including two more days of passes we have to add. With the non discounted difference being $1715 there would be no way that we could have upgraded like we did, so the $385 more we have to spend is worth it.

I would say Disney know exactly what they are doing.

 

[Cinderumbrella]

I agree, we were originally slated to stay at the CR (with the hope of free dining) and we upgraded to the GF because of the code- so they ultimately got more money out of us too!

Also, when I mentioned it to my friend, she cancelled her summer trip to the Atlantis in the Bahamas and booked a fall trip to the GF instead!

 

[goofydad621]

I posted this on another thread but I really agree

"WE need to remember that the DIS'ers are a great network and word spreads like fire here about all sorts of subjects, rides, dinning codes etc. But in all reality we are just a tiny bit of Disney business. Tiny but dedicated, just because a bunch of folks jumped all over this from these boards it does not mean the general public would feel the same way, some would but allot would not unless they were already planning disney trip, for some once is enough(go figure) by us and other fanatics jumping on this may just being Disney a favor, maybe they won't have free dinning this year this may offset that but if you look at Disney history they don't always offer the same promo more then twice in a row anyways example buy 4 nights get 3 free the next year buy 5 nights get 2 free the next year free dinning no free nights this would have been the 3rd year maybe this deep code WAS the new offer?

Good bad or indifferent Disney will play this out as they see fit! IF it meets their needs financially they will use it to their advantage. Promotions cost cash- cash comes from the bottom line- hurts profits, stock holders corporate bonuses. "

 

[kribit]

I have to agree with you on this. I just can't see Disney making that many errors. We all know how politicians "slip" and mention something they "didn't want anyone to know."

ooopppsss....Disney just put a lot more money in the bank as a result of the "mistake." I really wonder.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I have to agree with you on this. I just can't see Disney making that many errors. We all know how politicians "slip" and mention something they "didn't want anyone to know."

ooopppsss....Disney just put a lot more money in the bank as a result of the "mistake." I really wonder.

I guess we will never really know for sure if this was a big error made by disneys reservation dept as some have said, or if it was something the Disney wanted to happen.

 

[kribit]

From where I sit, Disney made double the money off of me. We were only going to take one trip in May and had plans for POR. Against my better judgement , we're going twice this year and staying at 2 deluxe resorts. We're nuts!

 

[sailors_wfe]

We weren't even thinking about disney again this year.. DH is deployed and when he gets home we might be getting new orders so I hadn't been able to talk him into the trip since everything is so uncertain.... found out about the code.. told him the great rates.. told him the rack rates... told him that if I didn't book the ressie i'd put on hold we'd loose the great rates... so we're booked so disney is getting our money again this year... and we're going from staying in a value resort w/out dinning and buying tickets at SOG to getting the full package... so they dif. got money from us that they normally wouldn't have gotten at all!

what I want to know is where did the "mysterious" code come from if Disney doesn't want it released? I heard it first on TMFL e-mails.. hadn't seen it anywhere else until this past week or so

 

[kribit]

what I want to know is where did the "mysterious" code come from if Disney doesn't want it released? I heard it first on TMFL e-mails.. hadn't seen it anywhere else until this past week or so

I wondered this too. I think someone slipped on the boards, but where did it stem from?

 

[MagicKingdom05]

From where I sit, Disney made double the money off of me. We were only going to take one trip in May and had plans for POR. Against my better judgement , we're going twice this year and staying at 2 deluxe resorts. We're nuts!

This is why they are smart about this.

What they have done by offering this great discount is they got both of us to upgrade from moderates to deluxes, thus freeing up moderate rooms for someone who can't do a deluxe resort, but might want something a little nicer than a value resort.

 

[sailors_wfe]

what i don't understand.... is that when I called a few weeks ago, I was calling for prices for a friend, trying to get the park tickets upgrade for May... I had the code wrong.. instead of giving them the ZEC code (i think that's what it is) I gave them a ZFC code... the CM said it was a ligit code but i had to have a pin... so why in the world didn't this happen from the beginning with the other code.. if it was a pin code then you should have required the pin to book it... seems kinda fishy to me

 

[MagicKingdom05]

We weren't even thinking about disney again this year.. DH is deployed and when he gets home we might be getting new orders so I hadn't been able to talk him into the trip since everything is so uncertain.... found out about the code.. told him the great rates.. told him the rack rates... told him that if I didn't book the ressie i'd put on hold we'd loose the great rates... so we're booked so disney is getting our money again this year... and we're going from staying in a value resort w/out dinning and buying tickets at SOG to getting the full package... so they dif. got money from us that they normally wouldn't have gotten at all!

what I want to know is where did the "mysterious" code come from if Disney doesn't want it released? I heard it first on TMFL e-mails.. hadn't seen it anywhere else until this past week or so

what i don't understand.... is that when I called a few weeks ago, I was calling for prices for a friend, trying to get the park tickets upgrade for May... I had the code wrong.. instead of giving them the ZEC code (i think that's what it is) I gave them a ZFC code... the CM said it was a ligit code but i had to have a pin... so why in the world didn't this happen from the beginning with the other code.. if it was a pin code then you should have required the pin to book it... seems kinda fishy to me

Who knows. All I know is that I got a pin code e-mail from Disney, gave them the 15 digit code that was on the bottom of my e-mail and made the reservation.

 

[kribit]

What they have done by offering this great discount is they got both of us to upgrade from moderates to deluxes, thus freeing up moderate rooms for someone who can't do a deluxe resort, but might want something a little nicer than a value resort

EXACTLY! Disney marketing definately deserves the salaries they make because they know how to get us coming back.

My husband said the same thing with the "Disney Pin Trading." We were at breakfast one morning and a very wonderful manager came over to our table and was chatting with us. Like all the other Disney employees, she was wearing the lanyard with all the pins and she offered one of the cast member pins to both our ds and dd. By the end of the trip we had spent $50 on pins for both our kids that we wouldn't have normally. The CM was being nice, but they were also "targeting" us that morning. That manager knew right then that we would be "sucked into the black hole of pin trading." They are brilliant.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

EXACTLY! Disney marketing definately deserves the salaries they make because they know how to get us coming back.

My husband said the same thing with the "Disney Pin Trading." We were at breakfast one morning and a very wonderful manager came over to our table and was chatting with us. Like all the other Disney employees, she was wearing the lanyard with all the pins and she offered one of the cast member pins to both our ds and dd. By the end of the trip we had spent $50 on pins for both our kids that we wouldn't have normally. The CM was being nice, but they were also "targeting" us that morning. That manager knew right then that we would be "sucked into the black hole of pin trading." They are brilliant.

Yes they do. The know exactly how to turn a 8 day/7 night reservation into a 10 day/9 night reservation really quickly. All they have to do is send me a discount and I'm hooked.

 

[lucincia]

EXACTLY! Disney marketing definately deserves the salaries they make because they know how to get us coming back.

My husband said the same thing with the "Disney Pin Trading." We were at breakfast one morning and a very wonderful manager came over to our table and was chatting with us. Like all the other Disney employees, she was wearing the lanyard with all the pins and she offered one of the cast member pins to both our ds and dd. By the end of the trip we had spent $50 on pins for both our kids that we wouldn't have normally. The CM was being nice, but they were also "targeting" us that morning. That manager knew right then that we would be "sucked into the black hole of pin trading." They are brilliant.

Yes, pin trading is evil. It takes you away from rides and attractions, freeing up the lines for other people. It makes you waste more time at the parks so you have to stay more days to see the stuff you want. They can sell those expensive $8 pins at cost and can still add money to the main revenue stream of the Mouse.

 

[G&J's Mom]

So, let me get this straight. Disney has come up with this brilliant Marketing idea to give incorrect or incomplete information to their CM's, who a person has to call back 5 or 6 times until you get a CM who will actually honor a discount for which you are never quite sure that you are actually eligible for, leaving the public rattled and worried, and in the interim making themselves look like total buffoons??? Wow, that is just genius!!!

 

[DISNEY FIX]

So, let me get this straight. Disney has come up with this brilliant Marketing idea to give incorrect or incomplete information to their CM's, who a person has to call back 5 or 6 times until you get a CM who will actually honor a discount for which you are never quite sure that you are actually eligible for, leaving the public rattled and worried, and in the interim making themselves look like total buffoons??? Wow, that is just genius!!!

Yes exactly, as they back up the Brinks Truck.