No More USA Today?

[carlbarry]

I just got back from WDW, with stays at Kidani and Jambo. I also visited Wilderness Lodge.
I didn't see USA Today papers available free at either Jambo or WL, like there used to be.
Did Disney stop this freebie? (And yes, I know it was for non-DVC visitors.)

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Think so. It was too non-bubble.

 

[carlbarry]

"non bubble"? I don't get it.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

You're at Disney. You walk into the lobby and the lead story is an ambassador in Ankara getting shot. Not very Magical.

Disney build a bubble. Newspapers in the lobby burst it.

 

[carlbarry]

Ah yes, good point. No sense letting in the outside world to detract from the fantasy. Actually, I also looked for a newspaper in the store in Jambo and didn't see any there, either!

 

[_auroraborealis_]

I think it's deliberate. It's not a cost issue, as USA Today generally provide them for free or nearly so. (It's a circulation thing -- USA Today provides them to hotels, then inflates the number-of-people-per-unit who look at it. Ad $$!)

 

[kydisneyfans]

USA Today discounts to hotels, they do not provide them for free. It was roughly .25 of the newsstand price, depending on chain.
In order to claim circulation, the hotel must add a per copy amount to the hotel bill, plus sign an affadavit yearly that they have done so.
In theory, you can tell the hotel that provides a "free" paper that your don't want one and the price of the room will drop by the amount you "paid" for that paper.

For Disney, I have only seen USA Today for free at the bellstand at 1 hotel-I believe it was the Poly. It normally is for sale in the hotel gift shops, but with out of town printing and delivery partnerships, if there is any delay at all, the gift shops would not receive papers for sale that day.

 

[carlbarry]

For Disney, I have only seen USA Today for free at the bellstand at 1 hotel-I believe it was the Poly. It normally is for sale in the hotel gift shops, but with out of town printing and delivery partnerships, if there is any delay at all, the gift shops would not receive papers for sale that day.

The first time I stayed on property (via my DVC purchase) was December 2010. I was at Jambo. USA Today was put out in front of each door that was not DVC. Next Time I went in 2012, piles of the paper were on tables in the hallways.
Same thing at Wilderness Lodge; they were on tables in the hallways. At Grand Floridian, none at VGF of course, but at the GF itself, there would be a table inside, near the entrance of each building, and there would be a stack of papers. Which reminds me, it was that way, too, at the Poly when I stayed there this past January 2016. But only in the non-DVC buildings, of course.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Yes, when you stayed at Jambo you found one at your door in the AM. Then they had them piled on a chair near the elevators in the front corridor.

When I stayed in September, I became aware they were no longer available.

 

[bwbuddy5]

Been reading USA Today e-edition for years now. I think it's a sign of the times.

 

[Flossbolna]

USA Today was available at the bell stand at the WL on weekdays for free when we stayed there at the beginning of December. However, it was a small supply and usually by early afternoon there were none left.

 

[BillPA]

What is a newspaper? Is that like printed MSNBC or Google?

 

[goofy4prez]

You're at Disney. You walk into the lobby and the lead story is an ambassador in Ankara getting shot. Not very Magical.

Disney build a bubble. Newspapers in the lobby burst it.

I hear you and agree, but IMO so does Starbucks.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We're staying at a Doubletree right now and recently at a Hampton. Every morning there are a stack of USA todays in the lobby at both hotels. I think it's a nice touch, and I'll miss them at Jambo.