Jan 2009 Code Watch

[emh1129]

For cryin' out loud.. still nothing??
Come on, Disney! Show us some magic... please!

 

[justtobeme2]

A week ago I hit the refresh button for DV and Disney specials about every 15 seconds...now I have slowed down to about once every two minutes. Am I the only one?

 

[jurgens824]

I'm starting to agree with the theory that any new discounts will be released after the election. If they wait to see the reaction of Wall Street, then it maybe end up being later this week....Thursday or Friday?

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

Thank you so much, justtobeme2. Now I'm not sure if I think they will offer a code soon or not. UGH, this waiting is driving me crazy - and it wasn't a long trip. I have to get some work done but I can't concentrate anyway and I'm sure it will be wrong and I will have to do it again anyway. I still have to try and book my airfare for January. Trying to decide if that will come down or not. I don't think I will have any hair left after this is all said and done or it will be grey.

 

[dr28326]

This is crazy! I am so tired of waiting for a deal. I may be booking that Cruise and canceling this trip after all.......
Granddaughter may be disappointed at first but she will love just going away with us anyway. She loved the last cruise we took her on.

 

[justtobeme2]

This is crazy! I am so tired of waiting for a deal. I may be booking that Cruise and canceling this trip after all.......
Granddaughter may be disappointed at first but she will love just going away with us anyway. She loved the last cruise we took her on.

My suggestion, and not that I have any inside knowledge, but if it's tied to the election maybe give it until the first of next week before you cancel?

 

[Monny2AE]

I think they will definitely be offering SOMETHING I just think it's being delayed until they get back the data from their last quarter earnings and because of the state of the economy and pending election results. I think they are trying to figure out just how much they'll have to offer to get people to FL. It may actually be in our favor to be patient.

I tried to open the link to the Jim Hill article and all I got was the banner and some advertising stuff. I'm on dial up access and everything takes FOREVER so I don't really want to try again. Could someone give the "Cliff Notes" version of the article. Why does he think there won't be any codes? Thanks for any help. As everyone else here, I have been lurking on these boards instead of working, instead of doing house work, instead of feeding the critters, etc. waiting to see if there are any codes coming out and I really should get back to doing what I am supposed to do. Especially work, if I want to pay for this vacation .

Here's the article cut and pasted from http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/print/16695.aspx ( I hope it's okay to do this )

"It all comes down to what happens tomorrow night. More importantly, Wednesday morning. As in: Who winds up in the White House and how Wall Street & consumers then react to this news.

That's what I've repeatedly been told by Mouse House personnel. That the Walt Disney Company wants to see who wins the Presidential election before it then commits to a definite plan of action for its stateside Resorts in 2009 & 2010.

Oh, sure. There have been lots of meetings lately. As well as a number of high priced projects that have been placed on hold (The folks from the Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts were reportedly not pleased when they learned that Disney had decided to postpone construction of Jungle Trek. Especially since this ultra-exclusive niche theme park was one of the main reasons that Four Seasons agreed to build a new resort on WDW property). But no official decision has come down from on high in regards to the Disneyland & Walt Disney World Resorts. Not yet, anyway.

But given current financial trends (Consumer spending slowed considerably in the third quarter) as well as how soft advance reservations for the Resorts are right now ... Something will have to be done. And soon.

Even so, you shouldn't expect to hear all that much about this plan during Thursday's earnings call. When CEO Bob Iger and CFO Thomas Staggs will discuss how Disney did over this past quarter as well as reviewing the overall results for fiscal year 2008. But as for revealing any contingency plans that the Company may have mapped out and/or shedding some light on how the Parks & Resorts plan on getting through the next 18 months ... That ain't happening, folks.

Which brings us to the obvious question: Who would Mouse House officials prefer to see as President? To be honest, I don't know. But I can tell you that -- when it comes to Vice Presidents -- Mickey is a much bigger fan of Joe Biden that he is of Sarah Palin.

Why For? Well, Joe was one of the most influential members of Congress when it comes to the protection of intellectual property. And Disney execs hope that -- should Obama and Biden actually wind up in the White House -- he'll then continue to champion this issue. Put some real teeth in anti-piracy laws.

Which -- given the amount of money that the Mouse already pours annually into its own anti-piracy efforts ... Well, Mickey would be thrilled if the government picked up the slack here. Actually got China & Russia to go after those folks who make millions off of duping Disney's movies and music.

But as for having any real preference when it comes to who our next Commander-in-Chief might be ... Mickey's gone out of his way to appear non-partisan here. Even going so far as to have Valerie Edwards, WDI's Director of Sculpture, sculpt busts of both Obama & McCain. So that -- once the results of this year's Presidential election has officially been announced -- Imagineering can then immediately get to work creating an AA version of that candidate. So that this robotic statesman can then be placed in a revamped version of "The Hall of Presidents." Which should re-open as part of next year's Fourth of July celebration at the Magic Kingdom.

But whoever our next President is ... Disney executives just hope that this individual can then inspire some consumer confidence. Given how spending slowed from July through September (Consumer spending shrank 0.3% over that three month period. That was the first drop in over 17 years and the sharpest decline since 1980), people are now thinking twice about scheduling vacation trips to Disneyland and/or Walt Disney World. And given that the Mouse now has 32 hotels and over 31,000 rooms to fill in Orlando (and 3 hotels and over 2,200 rooms to fill in Anaheim) ... A prolonged recession here in the U.S. could have a profoundly negative impact on the Walt Disney Company.

Which -- again -- is why the Mouse hopes, whoever wins tomorrow, that this candidate can then go on and do something similar to what George W. Bush did during the days directly following 9/11. When the President actually went on television in an attempt to inspire people to " ... fly and enjoy America's great destination spots. Go down to Disney World in Florida. Take your families and enjoy life the way we want it to be enjoyed."

Of course, the credit crunch is a very different animal from what Disney was dealing with back in the Fall of 2001. But -- even so -- given the current grim financial outlook, Mickey will take whatever help he can get right now.

So which candidate do you think will actually bring about the results that the Walt Disney Company desires here? Which is to get the American people to fly on down to Orlando and/or out to Anaheim in 2009 & 2010. And -- most important of all -- to bring their wallets along."

 

[Mrs D]

DH is working from home today due to that his building overlooks Millennium/Grant Park in Chicago and they order the building evacuated by 2pm today (Obama will accept from the open air stage in Grant Park and FBI will clear all high rises with a direct view of it).
So, today was my chance to sleep in. Well, I slept in for about 45 minutes until I woke up frantic that a code had been released. I agree it will likely be later in the week or next week before we see a code.
I REALLY hope it's a good one to make up for the waiting.

Sings in head "The Waiting is the hardest part".

 

[jurgens824]

I'm trying to keep the attitude that we had planned and budgeted for this trip without the discount. So any discounts would just be a bonus!

 

[JackieLand]

http://disneyrewards.disney.go.com/newsandoffers.html

Thanks so much!

 

[justtobeme2]

This article is a little disheartening about all the financial cutbacks starting in January so it applies to us. It also talks about how "great" the free birthday day is going to be. Personally it won't be good for me but it might be good for disney because most folks outside of fla won't be going on their birthday so they save money...anyway this is a really good read. It's very long or I'd post it.
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2008/10/10/wdw-officials-knew-that-09-was-going-to-be-a-challenge.aspx

Lots of closing at WDW in Jan to save money.....you know I think that's why the DTD closed the clubs.

It says Disney knew that 09 was going to be hard so they started making cutbacks, closing PI and cutting back on the number of shows and cutting back on Fantasmic, etc...

 

[Disney_dreamer]

"(Obama will accept from the open air stage in Grant Park and FBI will clear all high rises with a direct view of it)."

correction - Obama will accept or concede....

As someone said earlier, no codes today, so plenty of time to GET OUT AND VOTE.

Think for a moment, what a country we live in, where many of us have time to obsess over discount codes while we plan vacations for ourselves and loved ones.

And even if the lines are long at the polls today, anyone who has been on this thread the last week or so (or even months) has perfected the art of waiting....

Pixie dust for America

(Oh yes, and pixie dust for all the code watchers too! )

 

[Monny2AE]

This article is a little disheartening about all the financial cutbacks starting in January so it applies to us. It also talks about how "great" the free birthday day is going to be. Personally it won't be good for me but it might be good for disney because most folks outside of fla won't be going on their birthday so they save money...anyway this is a really good read. It's very long or I'd post it.
http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2008/10/10/wdw-officials-knew-that-09-was-going-to-be-a-challenge.aspx

Lots of closing at WDW in Jan to save money.....you know I think that's why the DTD closed the clubs.

It says Disney knew that 09 was going to be hard so they started making cutbacks, closing PI and cutting back on the number of shows and cutting back on Fantasmic, etc...

Wow! Interesting!

 

[WDWMaiselFamilyWDW]

Think for a moment, what a country we live in, where many of us have time to obsess over discount codes while we plan vacations for ourselves and loved ones.

And even if the lines are long at the polls today, anyone who has been on this thread the last week or so (or even months) has perfected the art of waiting....

Pixie dust for America

(Oh yes, and pixie dust for all the code watchers too! )

YOU SAID IT! Let's all be thankful today for what we have...code or no code!

 

[Advent]

I'm still hoping for a code today! Don't jinx me!

We've decided we're waiting until Thursday at noon for a code before we execute a backup plan.

 

[KJ Luvs Pluto]

Monny2AE, thank you so much for posting that information.

Certainly I am very thankful that I am even getting to go on a vacation and worrying about codes and such is a trivial thing compared to worrying about whether I will be able to keep my home or put food on my table. But this is all a perspective thing. We do what we can to help others and volunteer and help them to put food on their tables and heat their homes etc. But it is nice to come here and just worry about the trivial things like discount codes for just a moment and leave those bigger worries aside for a few moments. Then when we turn away from our computers we go back to those things and do what we can to help those we can, even if we can't take them all to Disney World (although we would if we could).

 

[txmommy34]

Just doing my morning check-in. So tired of waiting!

I wish we knew what the discounts were like around the 2004 election, but mousesavers doesn't go back that far. I think we will just have to be patient and hope it pays off in the end. We have budgeted to cover the full amount of our trip, but I'd sure like to be able to keep some of what we've budgeted!

Here's some pixie dust for all of us!

 

[dizneydiva2005]

this is crazy! I finally decided at this point, to skip Disney in Jan and head to NJ for Thanksgiving.
I couldn't wait any longer to decide which to do. Disney is taking WAY tooooo long getting the codes out for us 'general' people.

So it looks like I can stop watching.

 

[patten]

"(Obama will accept from the open air stage in Grant Park and FBI will clear all high rises with a direct view of it)."

correction - Obama will accept or concede....

As someone said earlier, no codes today, so plenty of time to GET OUT AND VOTE.

Think for a moment, what a country we live in, where many of us have time to obsess over discount codes while we plan vacations for ourselves and loved ones.

And even if the lines are long at the polls today, anyone who has been on this thread the last week or so (or even months) has perfected the art of waiting....

Pixie dust for America

(Oh yes, and pixie dust for all the code watchers too! )

Nicely put, Disney Dreamer! I would love a discount code, but it sure isn't the most important thing today!

 

[mana_liz]

From the Michigan AAA Site:

http://www.aaa.com/AAA/999/TravelMarketing/PartnerStimulus.html?zip=48206

Thanks...I didn't see a sales event link.

We're already booked at Pop Century, but I wonder what the price difference would be with this deal...might be able to upgrade.