I wonder how many people will be turned off by disney now...

[digman6]

with the new discounts and changing the rate to daily at a certain point this year.

I think they are really going to find there numbers decrease a bit after these past few weeks of all the changes weather its cost or plan or what have you!

Its left me with kind of a sour taste in my mouth if you will

They change the DDP drop the price a 1.00 and then take away food on it.

increase the rate of the tickets ( what else is new)

Change the room rate the way its figured from season to day of the week and or weekends.

Then before the year is even over they change the way the give a code out by letting it not roll over into Xmas /

Then they raise restaurant prices if its during the holidays at some place.

At what point does it draw a line and people find they can not afford to go. Don't get me wrong I know people will still go and if they can not go they can not go. Its not a right to go its a luxury I get all that. I just think its very sad that in this day and age they have to suck every last dime out of someones pocket.

I think they may find alot more people will start cutting back in one area or another to try and go. I just its a shame thats all. I know its life, its a business and thats how the entire world works. I just wish they would make it even so the average joe could go for a few days to give there kids a fun experience that may not find at another park at the young age they are and not think how broke they had to work extra jobs or how broke they are from trying to get a trip together for the family.

Oh well after a eventful week of codes and all that sort of stuff. Ijust thought how it really is kinda sad how hard one has to work to give your family a trip. If this this the year of a million dreams so far its not very dreamy for many people when it comes to the pocket book

 

[fla4fun]

The only thing that I think has been unfair is that when they announced the new rate system, they said it was for 2008. They never said that any new reservation for 2007 would be subject to that type of pricing structure. But then when they released the codes for the last quarter of 2007, they DID price them according to the new pricing structure. However, if you're booking a rack rate reservation, it's still the OLD pricing structure. It's the inconsistency that I feel is unfair. If they want to make it effective immediately, do it across the board, not in bits and pieces.

However, as far as the actual changes go, Disney is just doing what every other hotel chain has been doing for years. So it means that we have to adapt and change our plans a little if we want to continue going. It means I have to take my winter trip in January instead of February, so that half of my vacation doesn't fall into peak season rates. It means I wait until discounts are actually released and book what I can afford instead of booking ahead and not getting a discount at all.

The changes to the dining plan don't affect me, because I never book the dining plan anyway. I think it would have been more fair to offer people a choice of EITHER an appetizer or dessert if they wanted to take away one or the other. I also feel that for convenience sake, they should have left the gratuity included and raised the price (but I understand this had more to do with the union negotiations than anything else, as the servers weren't being paid efficiently under the auto grat system). However, it's up to Disney to review their products, and to make the adjustments they feel are needed. If they were seeing a lot of people wasting food, then they will cut down on the food offered.

I will continue to go to Disney until I can't afford to go to Disney, and then I won't go to Disney any more.

 

[A Mickeyfan]

Disney raises their food prices in a holiday season. Where I live, SW Fl, we have tourist season from basically Thanksgiving to Easter. Our electric company raises our electric rates!!! Now that is not fair!! We have many seasonal residents that will come and spend the winter months here. Therefore our electric company, LECO, will up our rates to what they call, winter rates, for that time frame. So while you are all complaining about the price of your meal going up on vacation, my electric goes up while others vacation where I live full time Now that is something to complain about even so, it doesnt' change the fact that they can do it. It is called, supply and demand. The demand is there.....they supply it and they get away with the fee's both LECO and Disney... it is business..... we pay it and as long as we do, they will continue to raise prices. For me, unfortunatly, I have no choice, I have to have electric, but while at Disney, many can stop going to those places to eat.... however, no one does... so Disney will never stop

 

[digman6]

I think them dropping the bomb on us all at once with all the changes is what makes it feel "Over the top" with changes. this all happened in a few weeks really

 

[DisneyJimbo]

with the new discounts and changing the rate to daily at a certain point this year.

I think they are really going to find there numbers decrease a bit after these past few weeks of all the changes weather its cost or plan or what have you!

Its left me with kind of a sour taste in my mouth if you will

They change the DDP drop the price a 1.00 and then take away food on it.

increase the rate of the tickets ( what else is new)

Change the room rate the way its figured from season to day of the week and or weekends.

Then before the year is even over they change the way the give a code out by letting it not roll over into Xmas /

Then they raise restaurant prices if its during the holidays at some place.

At what point does it draw a line and people find they can not afford to go. Don't get me wrong I know people will still go and if they can not go they can not go. Its not a right to go its a luxury I get all that. I just think its very sad that in this day and age they have to suck every last dime out of someones pocket.

I think they may find alot more people will start cutting back in one area or another to try and go. I just its a shame thats all. I know its life, its a business and thats how the entire world works. I just wish they would make it even so the average joe could go for a few days to give there kids a fun experience that may not find at another park at the young age they are and not think how broke they had to work extra jobs or how broke they are from trying to get a trip together for the family.

Oh well after a eventful week of codes and all that sort of stuff. Ijust thought how it really is kinda sad how hard one has to work to give your family a trip. If this this the year of a million dreams so far its not very dreamy for many people when it comes to the pocket book

Well said!

Disney doesn't owe us vacations, but it's getting harder and harder for us "average Joes" to afford to go there.

 

[tofubeast]

I think them dropping the bomb on us all at once with all the changes is what makes it feel "Over the top" with changes. this all happened in a few weeks really

I think you nailed it with this comment. It just seems like it all happened at once. AND the codes were quite dissapointing (esp. for AP and FL resident room only codes.)

Supply and demand...capitalism...disney!

 

[dburg30]

With the exception of the DDP being changed everything else IMO, looking at it from a business standpoint, makes perfect sense.. Well so does the DDP change from a business standpoint..

Charging more for hotels during the weekends then during the week? Makes sense, higher demand on weekends / less so somewhat on weekdays. Lots of hotels are doing this now.

Holidays, charging more for pretty much everything during absolute peak crowds / times? Almost a no brainer. It would have to get VERY VERY bad for them to actually not be pretty much booked solid for those times.

IMO other then the normal rate increases, just like everything else in the world. They are just getting in line with a lot of other businesses that charge more for a time when there is a higher demand.

No, that doesnt mean you have to like it, and also it probably will mean some folks wont be able to do it since they have children and dont want to pull them from school, or cant pull them or whatever. Since it's just my wife and myself we can pretty much do what we want when we want, but I do feel for those of you that dont have the luxury..

Disney has to find that point where they are still as busy as ever, making magic as they can, but also making magic for their shareholders..

 

[Befferk]

Our trip in Feb '08 is only our 2nd trip, and really, we will be re-examining any future trips. Yes prices go up, but we all just "take it". And I can't take it anymore when everything goes up (groceries, utilities, etc) and our wages don't go up to compensate. So I think that for any future trips, we will at the very least stay offsite, and make our park days less. Then we can enjoy some other Florida attractions And I know some feel that it's more room for them, and that's fine. We will spend more time somewhere where we feel we are getting a better value for our money. But meanwhile, I am trying to not let this spoil the magic of our upcoming trip. What's a little more debt when it comes to the happiness of my child

Beth

 

[Liz]

This will be the first time I'm not already planning next years Disney vacation before we've even taken this one. We will always go back but it won't be an automatic thing. I'll wait for a deal/PIN, good rate, etc. instead of knowing we will go anyway and hoping for a discount.

 

[peel]

For me it has come to the point that offsite hotels are going to be the only option for me. The benefits of staying onsite are not enough to justify the costs anymore. I don't like to stay at the values because I like having a bit more room to spread out. And it really is just "a bit more room" going from value to mod and from mod to deluxe.

Here's an example....if I were to stay on property I'd be at POFQ (have that booked right now for January actually). I plugged in a 1 night standard room stay on 12/22 and it came out to $225. Then I checked Hotel Royal Plaza in Downtown Disney. A standard room on 12/22 is $120. For $168 I can get an Executive King Suite. This is a newly renovated hotel with much more space in a standard room, plus a Royal Bed pillowtop mattress, a balcony or patio, a sleeper sofa, wireless internet, a heated pool, and free transportation to the parks, which are still very close. I did a split stay on my honeymoon in May....half at Wilderness Lodge and half at Hotel Royal Plaza. I stayed in a Premier Tower room which had extra space including a sitting area and a view of the city and paid less than half of what WL cost.

The only reason I didn't compare HRP to a deluxe is because there is an added benefit to being on the Monorail or ferry line, or within walking distance to parks. But based solely on accommodations, HRP is the equivalent of a deluxe (which incidentally would cost $525 on 12/22 ).

It used to be that the added cost was worth it to me in order to take part in the DDP. But now appetizers are off the menu (I couldn't care less about desserts but I love the appetizers), so I have to pay out of pocket for those and the gratuity, making the convenience of handing my card over and not having to carry cash go right out the window. The resort transportation was a bonus, but we rented a car in May and found we could get everywhere twice as fast and not have to fight crowds, and could also avoid the time it takes to use ME. Taking advantage of EMH is great, but not enough to justify spending so much more money on the hotel that it equals buying another admission ticket every day so we can spend a couple more hours in the park.

Don't get me wrong, I love the theming and atmosphere of the on site resorts but I can live without it if it means getting a LOT more for half the price.

I think January will be the last time I stay on property, and it's only because my mother still wants to use the DDP although I feel it's not worth it anymore. To be fair, since it's value season at WDW the price differences aren't as dramatic as I listed above, so there's that to consider too. However, any non-value-season future trips I take with my husband will be off site.

Just my two cents.

 

[KittyKitty]

I still have a few cost saving steps to do before I decide to not go.
1. Stay offsite
2. Stay shorter amount of time
3. Eat at counters, or eat off site.
4. No shopping at WDW.
5. Get a second job.

All of these will affect Disney's bottom $(except the job part ), while I still get to go.

My 1st trip to Disney was in 1972. It was expensive then, and has always been.

 

[tnkr_bell]

For me it has come to the point that offsite hotels are going to be the only option for me. The benefits of staying onsite are not enough to justify the costs anymore. I don't like to stay at the values because I like having a bit more room to spread out. And it really is just "a bit more room" going from value to mod and from mod to deluxe.

I have to agree. We have a trip planned for next year in hopefully April, but possibly not until Oct. We will be staying on site and we will probably get the DDP only because with younger kids it will still save us money. Plus this will be our first real vacation since the last one in Jan '05. However, after that, if we want to go back on any regular basis we will definitely be staying off site. The cost just simply isn't worth the convienence of being on site. And as others have pointed out, there are some really nice hotels off site for a lot less money.

 

[jdb0822]

I think the only people that will care about the changes are those of us that are repeat visitors. We notice the price changes from year to year. A family planning a June 2008 trip for the 1st time will not know they are paying more than last year, or know that the dining plan has changed,etc.

Disney is changing the prices for one reason: Because they can. The travel industry has rebounded well in the past 6 years. Disney still offers discounts during certain parts of the year, but those discounts are very limited.

Also, Disney is a marketing power house. Just look at the hotels for instance. They values go for $99-109 per night. Most of us balk at that price. Then along comes a discount and the room is $79 a night, and we scramble to book the room. In all honesty, the room is probably worth $60-$80 a night to begin with, but because the rack rate is high, we look at the discount price as a real discount, its all marketing.

The tickets are high only for the short-day tickets. 6,7,8,9 and 10 day tix are cheap, why? cause as we all know, the longer you're at disney, the more you will spend.

As for meals, EVERY theme park in the country serves over priced meals, why? cause who is gonna leave MK at lunch and goto McDonalds instead? No one. Its not worth your time to do that.

I do say that Disney is better when it comes to drinks/snacks being brought into the park. They do allow it. Six Flags (at least in New England) doesn't let you bring in anything. They claim its for security purposes, although its odd how high they charge for drinks & food. They really got you trapped there.

As for the tip on the DDP, I suspect that the union will regret that change in the end. The DDP helped fill resaurants, my 2007 trip includes the DDP and 7 ADR's at TS restuarants. My 2008 trip will not include the DDP and I am planning 1 or 2 Character TS's and the remainder will be CS meals. Less crowds at TS meals means less tips for the servers. Unions never cease to amaze me with their backwards look on things.

 

[dburg30]

As for the tip on the DDP, I suspect that the union will regret that change in the end. The DDP helped fill resaurants, my 2007 trip includes the DDP and 7 ADR's at TS restuarants. My 2008 trip will not include the DDP and I am planning 1 or 2 Character TS's and the remainder will be CS meals. Less crowds at TS meals means less tips for the servers.

This is the only part that I dont agree with, at least I dont agree with 100%. With the number of people at WDW on ANY given day (even the lowest) I still think that TS's will be pretty busy. THere are just too many people that want TS. They dont want CS, they want served. Plus folks that used to maybe get turned away because of booked adr's could now get in a TS's. I dunno, only time will tell, but I still feel that lots of the TS will be busy.

 

[kid-at-heart]

I am turned off by Disney. Next trip (2008) we will stay off-site and eat most of our meals off-site. In the past we have visited Disney every couple of years, staying on-site and spending $$$$$$. If I had not already promised the wee ones we would go next year then we would be heading elsewhere. For the amount of money we tend to spend at Disney we can visit another country - so now, unless Disney decides to become "guest friendly" again, I guess we will go to Ireland or Cancun or ...

What was it just a year or so ago Disney was promoting - affordable vacations for all - not anymore.

 

[dburg30]

I am turned off by Disney. Next trip (2008) we will stay off-site and eat most of our meals off-site. In the past we have visited Disney every couple of years, staying on-site and spending $$$$$$. If I had not already promised the wee ones we would go next year then we would be heading elsewhere. For the amount of money we tend to spend at Disney we can visit another country - so now, unless Disney decides to become "guest friendly" again, I guess we will go to Ireland or Cancun or ...

What was it just a year or so ago Disney was promoting - affordable vacations for all - not anymore.

I just ran some figures, not using the special that's going on (at least it didnt show it).
Family of 4 (this year advertised at less then 1600 for a family of 4) I did 2 adults 1 13yr old 1 7yr old (2 adults, 1 jr, 1 child). 12/8-12/15 all star movies.. 7 day hoppers. 1675.62
Ran it for next year 12/6 - 12/13 and got 1833.38. 9% difference, or 158 for the 7 nights. IMO that's not really horrible. Now, if you are budget minded you probably wouldnt eat a lot at TS's or in the parks a lot anyway, you'd probably try to get food that you would make and eat yourself.

So I really dont see where it's such a big deal for a week. AND they probably will still have some specials to lower those prices..

Even at 1833 for 7 nights, for 4 people that's $65 / person / day. Includes a place to stay, a way to get around and tickets to WDW. I just dont see how that's overly expensive.. Yes, I know it's a lot, but still it doesnt seem over the top

 

[raven69david]

I'm one of the few that doesn't mind the changes cuz they basically don't affect me. I don't do DDP, tickets went up a few bux and my resort of choice (AKL) went up $10.00 bux per night. Big deal!!! What's a few bucks more to take the family to the best place on earth?!

I'll continue to pay whatever the cost is as i've been going for years and enjoy the experience. I haven't noticed the hit in my pocket, but then again i pay for the trip throughout the year so i don't feel the hit when it comes time to depart on our vacation. I always see alot of people *****ing about the prices, but it seems funny to me to see the people balling that are staying at a Deluxe resort and paying extra for an upgraded room & dropping over $3k on the vacation. If you can afford that, then you can afford the slight increase in prices. You know it's gonna happen and you don't have to like it, but seeing everyone whine about it drives me crazy. Sometimes it is amusing to see people whining though.

 

[peel]

Speaking for myself, I'm not "whining" about a 9% raise in prices, I'm realizing that the benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks compared to off site accommodations. And prices going up 9% annually seems pretty steep anyway, since I believe the national cost of living average only increases by 4%. Could be wrong about that though.

 

[dizneydiva2005]

The OP asks:

I wonder how many people will be turned off by disney now

I say, I hope a lot- less crowds for when I go!

 

[fla4fun]

Speaking for myself, I'm not "whining" about a 9% raise in prices, I'm realizing that the benefits do not outweigh the drawbacks compared to off site accommodations. And prices going up 9% annually seems pretty steep anyway, since I believe the national cost of living average only increases by 4%. Could be wrong about that though.

And considering my paycheck only went up 2%.

But seriously, those of us with Disney in our blood will find a way to adapt. With the roller coaster ride the stock market has been on and the housing bubble deflating, if the economy continues to go south, Disney may be back to square one and having to offer good discounts to get people to travel. And if the economy gets stronger, we'll just have to hunt a little harder and plan a little more to make the trips affordable. There was one year that I was unemployed for 9 months. I already had my AP for that year, and I got my Disney fix with day visits. Sure, it's more fun to stay on property, but I will only do what I can afford.