One thing to remember -- the Jan ~ March free ticket upgrade that was offered in the fall -- was offered to Canadians FIRST... before the guests from the USA.
So Canadians got their pick of resort bookings for the covered dates while Americans got the left overs on that promotion.
I think Disney does a really good job about being fair with all these different offers. They didn't HAVE to offer that previous promotion to Canadians first.
In my experience dealing with codes and discounts - Disney sends them to some mystery grouping of their customers and the criteria for North America is generally not geographically based.
It may be that for whatever reason, not a lot of Canadians were selected to receive this offer -- or it may be that not a lot of Canadians who were selected to receive this offer are members of the DIS! It is clear that at least *some* Canadians received the offer. There really isn't any way for us to know the extent of the full picture.
(I KNOW - perish the thought!)
True, that promotion was offered to Canadians first, then Disney Visa holders then general public. The delay, however, was quite short. Within two weeks, anyone could use that code. We're approaching a month now with (apparently) very few Canadians being able to get the 40% discount.
Additionally, I think there are more "hard feelings" on this one because the 40% offer really is one of the best discounts offered by Disney. It seems to be a toss-up between this one and the Free Dining as the "choice" discounts that save the most money - albeit 40% is better for those staying in Moderates (except maybe during value season) and Deluxes, while the Free Dining seems best for those in the Values.
The last deal (ticket upgrade) was good, but I'm not sure it was on par with either the 40% or Free Dining - although I haven't done the math.
Getting the ticket upgrades are great if you use them - our kids don't swim, and we don't go to the water parks (yes, there are the kid areas, but they are just as happy in the splash pools at the resorts). Also, the more people in your group, the better this deal would be. IF you use hopping and the water parks, this deal saves you about $100/person.
Additionally, from what I understand, this promotion also included about a 15% discount on the room rate. Good, but depending on where you stayed, this may not have been a significant discount.
Essentially, the ticket upgrade promotion sucked you into a package - so does Free Dining, but you can always get away with buying just a one day base ticket - this one had the greatest discount on the tickets themselves. So, this discount wasn't all that appealing to AP holders. Free Dining, on the other hand, CAN appeal to AP holders. The 40% discount can appeal to ANYONE, as it was room only, AND it appeared that the proper policy was to allow people to turn it into a package if they wanted to add tickets and dining at the regular rates.
Basically, we do feel shafted since the 40% is one of the best discounts offered by Disney. You can 1) save a LOT, 2) anyone can benefit (even AP holders), 3) it's flexible, room only or package. Free Dining is a close second. You can 1) save quite a lot, 2) anyone can benefit (even AP holders willing to buy a one day base ticket), but you ARE stuck with a package. The ticket upgrade room discount isn't as good. Savings are extremely variable based on how many in your group. It is virtually useless to AP holders, and you are restricted to a package deal.
So yeah, we're bummed. We can still hope for Free Dining, maybe. All I know is that the last deal didn't save us anything really. We want to go from August 25 to September 2 '08, two adults, two juniors staying in the Family Suites with 5 day Hoppers and the Regular Dining Plan (with two travel days, our last day would be a room only ressie to cut down on un-needed dining credits). I priced these all out (no discounts at all, direct from Disney cost about $3,375). With the 40% offer, it cost about $2,700. If free dining came up, it would cost about $2,650. The previous offer with ticket upgrades (the water park portion of which would not be used), would have cost about $2,900. Okay, at most a $250 difference - but throw that into your spending money, and that's pretty significant.
Anyway, sorry I rambled. While I agree that the Canadians were given first crack last discount, I feel as though we've been given virtually NO crack at this one - and one that could have saved us a LOT!
Does anyone else find this really strange?
as per Pirates of the Caribbean? 
)
I had a code attached! The CM was VERY surprized that I didn't recieve the email / snailmail. She asked 3x.
