I don't understand WHY Disney is offering all of these codes!

[limabeanmom2003]

that is becasue you DO travel there yearly! I have been to disney 22 times and going several times a year, I always used an AP discount and never got codes in the mail. Well, I have not been for 1 1/2 years now..so they MUST be getting worried I got my first 40% code in the mail this week....that is my thoughts on that one!

Exactly! Disney doesn't need to send codes and pin #'s to guests who visit twice a year or even once a year - those people are coming with or without a code. If Disney knows John Doe has been here twice a year for the last 10 years, why would they be sending him a discount code? The whole idea of sending discount codes to select people is to try and target the consumer who probably wasn't going to come to Disney this year.

I'm just surprised that Disney is letting people who don't have a pin # from an email or postcard book rooms at 40% off. They usuallly seem to stick to that rule.

I'll tell you one thing though - if I had got the discount without a pin code, I wouldn't have been shouting it from the rooftops on the boards. Big brother (or should I say Big Mouse) is watching and you could end up ruining it. Isn't that what happened with the "Boardwalk Deal"?

 

[FayeW]

Not really. Targeted discount don't foster "brand loyalty" but rather provide incentive to guests who are less likely to exhibit loyalty (defined by business as the willingness to pay a premium for the service). So with PIN codes, Disney is reserving discounts for guests who they have determined, through their marketing research, are less likely to visit WDW in the absence of a discount. They're also making it less likely that a guest can get a discount if Disney determined, through their marketing research, that that guest would be more likely to visit WDW even without a discount.

So discounts available through targeted mechanisms (such as PIN codes) say very little about whether a service provider is "desperate" (as mentioned earlier in this thread), as compared to discounts available to the general public. If Disney is offering strictly PIN coded discounts while Universal is offering lots of general public discounts, that says something about their relative situations. That would tend to be consistent with what we've read, regarding how much DME and the Dining Plan have hurt non-Disney hotels.

I think those are some pretty fine hairs you are splitting, Bicker. Both types of promotions are designed to put people in their parks and hotels. It is advertising, plain and simple. Everybody wants increased revenues and a bigger share of the market. When Disney does it, it's "brilliant"; when Universal does it, it's "desperate and pathetic". It's very amusing.

 

[bytheblood]

Well said FayeW!!

Discount codes are random. I have been the year before and received a code for $79 a night in a moderate room, but not visit for 4 years and not be offered one and pay rack rate.

In addition, Disney is about making money, not creating loyalty in the big scheme of things. Iger could care less if you (generally speaking) go yearly as long as Disney is continuing to make money and turning a profit! A moderate room at $115 a night makes Disney more money than an empty room. A moderate room at $80 a night does for that matter.

Codes are random and in recent years, most, not all, but most of the better codes are for slower times...

 

[princessvacg]

Disney is giving year round discounts and strangely enough I just received a postcard from southwest airlines with a pincode giving 20% off my next flight.

 

[bicker]

I think those are some pretty fine hairs you are splitting, Bicker. Both types of promotions are designed to put people in their parks and hotels. It is advertising, plain and simple.

Yes, true, but the intent and the effect are both different.

Discount codes are random.

I don't think you're correct. There does appear to be very clear patterns to the PIN codes. They may seem random to any one individual person, because we don't always "fit" in the demographic group we sometimes are placed into. Market segmentation is not perfect.

In addition, Disney is about making money, not creating loyalty in the big scheme of things. Iger could care less if you (generally speaking) go yearly as long as Disney is continuing to make money and turning a profit!

Absolutely. The value of loyalty is actually pretty over-estimated by most customers, typically because they define loyalty different from businesses. They think the fact that they like to visit often makes them loyal, when in reality how much the customer is willing to spend each time factors greatly into a business' definition of loyalty.

A moderate room at $115 a night makes Disney more money than an empty room. A moderate room at $80 a night does for that matter.

There is a limit to how far that goes, though. Discount too much and/or too consistently, and you devalue your product/service.

 

[Trekker]

Hello

Please stay on topic - this is the Disney Resorts board and we are discussing Disney codes.

There is an awesome board here for discussing Universal at the Universal Resorts & Hotels board.

Please take your discussion of Universal discounts over to the correct board.

Here is a quote from the Guidelines that you are all expected to know, understand and follow.


6. STAYING ON TOPIC: Each of the DIS boards focuses on a specific topic. Please look the choices over before posting on the wrong board. For instance, you don't want to ask about park hours on the Restaurants Board or tell everyone about your stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort on the Disney Cruise Line Board. It makes it easier for everyone to find what they're looking for when the boards stay on topic.

 

[FayeW]

Hello

Please stay on topic - this is the Disney Resorts board and we are discussing Disney codes.

There is an awesome board here for discussing Universal at the Universal Resorts & Hotels board.

Please take your discussion of Universal discounts over to the correct board.

Here is a quote from the Guidelines that you are all expected to know, understand and follow.


6. STAYING ON TOPIC: Each of the DIS boards focuses on a specific topic. Please look the choices over before posting on the wrong board. For instance, you don't want to ask about park hours on the Restaurants Board or tell everyone about your stay at the Caribbean Beach Resort on the Disney Cruise Line Board. It makes it easier for everyone to find what they're looking for when the boards stay on topic.

Deleted

 

[bonnielynn]

They need to send some codes to me.

me 2... I haven't gotten anything...

 

[MagicKingdom05]

I'm not complaining, mind you!

I just find it curious that Disney is having to push so much to fill rooms when the travel industry, and the economy in general, has rebounded so far.

Anyone have any theories?

Because they are smart. Originally we were going to stay at POR, but when I got the 40% off pin code, we changed our mind and decided to stay at Poly instead. By given our the pin code, Disney got $500 more out off us then they would have if we never got the pin code in the first place.

 

[bicker]

Wow, so layers upon layers -- not only are they aiming discounts at folks not likely to visit without discounts, but perhaps they are also aiming discounts at folks who are likely to use the discount to upgrade to a deluxe resort, and therefore pay more! That would be super-smart, for sure.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Wow, so layers upon layers -- not only are they aiming discounts at folks not likely to visit without discounts, but perhaps they are also aiming discounts at folks who are likely to use the discount to upgrade to a deluxe resort, and therefore pay more! That would be super-smart, for sure.

I'm not so sure they are aiming the discounts towards people who haven't been as much as trying to get those people to upgrade to more deluxe resorts.

I mean when the rack rate for a gardenview room at Poly is $370.13 and you can get it for $222.08, you can't blame people for upgrading to a room where they may not normally beable to stay.

 

[lucincia]

that is becasue you DO travel there yearly! I have been to disney 22 times and going several times a year, I always used an AP discount and never got codes in the mail. Well, I have not been for 1 1/2 years now..so they MUST be getting worried I got my first 40% code in the mail this week....that is my thoughts on that one!

That's why we plan to do WDW every 2 or 3 years, and go to other places for vacation in between. Get them a bit worried and send us the codes

Marketing's purpose is to attract new clients and retain existing ones. If you are diehard multi-trips per year visitor, there is no financial incentive to give you anything. You'll be back no matter what!

 

[lucincia]

Wow, so layers upon layers -- not only are they aiming discounts at folks not likely to visit without discounts, but perhaps they are also aiming discounts at folks who are likely to use the discount to upgrade to a deluxe resort, and therefore pay more! That would be super-smart, for sure.

They did with us. We were staying at WL (AAA discount @ $3800 package). Then code came out. We upgraded to code for $2900.

Yeah!

No!

DW said why not look at GF. So now we are at GF for $4100 package, $300 more than what we budgeted for AAA package at WL (though much less than $5800 rack price for GF).

Darn Mouse.