Yep, I agree...Called WDW to ask about a res for carriage /sleigh rides and had to tell the gal at Disney where the sleigh rides WERE and when they started etc.
Then, I switched to res number to add a preference for room number at AKL.
The guy noted it, was very sweet, but asked why I had listed that particular preference (a series of both odd or even numbered rooms which would get us closer to the safari feeding station) cause he hadn't even been to the AK resort complex. Yoi!
I think we all have to remember that the people on the phones arent' getting paid all that much per hour, and I suppose with all the changes, it IS hard to keep up!
RE: raising prices of hotel rooms. I'm a Disney Stockholder and wrote to Eisner when he first came on board and suddenly Disney was nickel and diming people to death. (Remember when strollers were just a $2 deposit that you got back at the end of the day and ballons were a buck?).
I wrote that for many people, just buying the tickets (and staying in an el cheapo Kissimmee motel) was about all they could afford....and that it seemed unfair to have balloons and extra charges for strollers and $$$food in the parks. I said that we were able to afford to stay at the Poly (well, at least back then!) and raising rates on the hotels just meant that if you couldn't afford it,you stayed elsewhere. My point was to get Disney to keep prices low once people bought that ticket to get through the gate.
The resonse was typical BUT I was told that Eisner decided that he would keep raising rates of the hotel rooms until they were booked up 90 days in advance (at the time it was over a YEAR for a lagoon front res at the Poly)....so he was letting demand create the price. As someone above stated: when the hotels on site are fairly booked, prices rise and when they are empty, prices drop. Remember when we all started seeing the little signs discretely posted around the Kingdom that said: 'on site accomodations are available now, please call'....I did and actually 'bargained' the price of my room!!!!!
Sorry for the long post.....To sum: try to be flexible with your stay dates to take advantage of low occupancy seasons and I'm sure there will be discounts for as long as there are vacant rooms! We've scored a pretty healthy Florida discount rate for a savannah room at AKL this trip. And back when I first called for Dec 10-13, I could have gotten Port Orleans for $79...a good rate IMHO.
Good Luck!
Colorado Belle
