Not sure $149 Disney After Hrs event is doing well... (ETA: reviews in 1st post)

[Sammie]

I wasn't referring to you specifically. I was speaking generically. Yes, of course there are people who will see Broadway shows more than once. As I said, I'm one of them. That is not the majority of the Broadway-going audience, however.

I don't think anyone that attends this event will be a frequent repeater but to me the cost is not that prohibitive when compared to other events. I know I would pay more for an exclusive concert event than a large stadium event.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

And someone else can think that staying at GF is obscene price-wise -- DVC points or not.

We just stayed in a 3BR theme park view at BLT for the Dark Side race weekend with our DVC points. CRAZY, right?!?

It's all subjective.

But yet those poly bungalows low occupancy...

 

[Kimberly9701]

I think it is the opposite of smart marketing for people everywhere to see photos accompanied by the words, "We got free tickets!" If people know there are free tickets being handed out, they aren't going to line up to pay $150 per person.

So when Jimmy Johns does their $1 sub day.. Do people not purchase a $5 sub the next?
Does that $5 sub now become worth $1?

 

[Kimberly9701]

I don't think I mentioned at all whether it was a success or not, I have no idea. Not sure where you got that idea.

Everyone just keeps saying the tickets were free and all we know for sure is they were free to the guest but we have no idea if they were paid for by DVD. It is very possible they were part of the package for the Anniversary events at MK paid for by DVD.

.. And not all guests. As people from DVC have said they were there and didn't receive the email.

 

[Angel Ariel]

I don't think anyone that attends this event will be a frequent repeater but to me the cost is not that prohibitive when compared to other events. I know I would pay more for an exclusive concert event than a large stadium event.

But that was my point...

Someone said that they doubted most people would pay for this event *after* having experienced it for free because of the price.

That was then countered with how people spend for concerts/broadway shows as a way of saying why wouldn't people pay to come back to event like this again, given what they spend on broadway shows/concerts....but simply attending a show or a concert is not the same thing.

The comparison to be made is would one pay the $$$ for a concert or a broadway show AFTER having had that same experience for free. And that's where I say (and where you seem to agree ) - that no, I highly doubt that most people would pay $$$ for something like a show or a concert - or, in this case, the DAH event - *after* having experienced for free. Disney lovers may, sure - just as Broadway lovers may pay to see a show after having seen it for free - but the die hard fans/lovers are not enough of a population to sustain the event.

 

[Angel Ariel]

So when Jimmy Johns does their $1 sub day.. Do people not purchase a $5 sub the next?
Does that $5 sub now become worth $1?

There's a huge difference between paying a $4 increase for something and paying a $149 increase.

 

[Kimberly9701]

I have been in the last 12 months. I have not complained. Does my position now have merit?

Though--they left our lockout actually locked out....and a couple of other things on our last visit. But it was otherwise good.

Oh--and at the poly, they left the last guest's milk in my fridge. That's not magical.

I still felt like a guest though. That has no bearing on whether or not that I agree that if you paid mega bucks for a ticket that in an example most guests got for free was fair. Feeling like a guest also doesn't influence whether or not observations are less than magical. Unless you have an anectdote on how leftover milk is a magical experience.

I know it makes me sound like a schill to some--but I take each visit as it is for that visit. Some are great and some have hiccups.

And on the $149 event---working with YOUR examples, IF 95% of guests got in free, then 5% didn't get what they paid for. As I don't think they intended to cover the costs of those guests.

There was that time I stubbed my toe and obtained a laceration and bled in the lobby of the Coronado. That was several years back--It was lest than guest like that the CM's didn't care that I had shared biohazard in their lobby. I was kind of mortified that they were ambivilent. I didn't expect a comped night in the castle, but I did expect Mousekeeping to be called to clean it up. When I worked at Vero Beach Resort as a mouskeeper for the lobby, that was something I would have been called to assist with. Paper towels and hand soap that I got myself as a guest just really aren't protocol.

That last part- agreed 100%!

As far as tickets.. We do not know how many were purchased and how many were given away. That's the main point. I can not imagine that a majority were given away.

As a former Floridian I know that myself and my friends would see value in something like this. I'm sure others do as well. The same with Orlando area guests and people onsite.
And I'm positive that even if these people are not on disboards, as I never was .. They still somehow find out about things going on at WDW.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

So when Jimmy Johns does their $1 sub day.. Do people not purchase a $5 sub the next?
Does that $5 sub now become worth $1?

Setting a sale during a window is not the same as setting an event at a certain price and then giving it away.

We got Free Ben and Jerry's one day--Fully advertised and available to anyone who showed up in between certain hours. It was no secret and those who were considering paying full price the day before had the free option to wait a day and get their free scoop. These sales are not comparable to your hypothetical scenario.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

That last part- agreed 100%!

As far as tickets.. We do not know how many were purchased and how many were given away. That's the main point. I can not imagine that a majority were given away.

As a former Floridian I know that myself and my friends would see value in something like this. I'm sure others do as well. The same with Orlando area guests and people onsite.
And I'm positive that even if these people are not on disboards, as I never was .. They still somehow find out about things going on at WDW.

No, we don't know. But when you pitched the crazy notion that 95% of the tickets were free and that would still be justified to have required those 5% to pay full price--you cannot justify that at all.

We don't know how many--but IF they gave away MORE than they sold, then they had no business having those who paid full price covering the comps. Any guest would be in the right to request reconsideration if they felt the WDW company took advantage of them.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

There's a huge difference between paying a $4 increase for something and paying a $149 increase.

Or paying $1 for something fully advertised as an option between certain hours on a certain day.

 

[Kimberly9701]

There's a huge difference between paying a $4 increase for something and paying a $149 increase.

Nope. It's all relative.
A $4 increase on a $1 is astronomical, right? But what if that item was always worth $5? And every now and again it's offered for $1.
What's not relative in my statement above- the tickets were never offered to the general public for $0. Ever.
SOME people got emails or an offer.. We don't know how many.
What we do know? Not every onsite guest received it.

 

[Hikergirl]

No, we don't know. But when you pitched the crazy notion that 95% of the tickets were free and that would still be justified to have required those 5% to pay full price--you cannot justify that at all.

We don't know how many--but IF they gave away MORE than they sold, then they had no business having those who paid full price covering the comps. Any guest would be in the right to request reconsideration if they felt the WDW company took advantage of them.

They didn't cover the comps, if they did they would have paid alot more than $149.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Or paying $1 for something fully advertised as an option between certain hours on a certain day.

Right.. See my statement above.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Nope. It's all relative.
A $4 increase on a $1 is astronomical, right? But what if that item was always worth $5? And every now and again it's offered for $1.
What's not relative in my statement above- the tickets were never offered to the general public for $0. Ever.
SOME people got emails or an offer.. We don't know how many.
What we do know? Not every onsite guest received it.

My point was that most people's budgets aren't thrown off by an additional $4/person on something. $16 additional for a family of four is a LOT different when it comes to a family's budget than an additional $600 is. Both % increases may be "astronomical", but the impact on the family budget is significantly different.

 

[Kimberly9701]

Setting a sale during a window is not the same as setting an event at a certain price and then giving it away.

We got Free Ben and Jerry's one day--Fully advertised and available to anyone who showed up in between certain hours. It was no secret and those who were considering paying full price the day before had the free option to wait a day and get their free scoop. These sales are not comparable to your hypothetical scenario.

Here's what's comparable-
Something that is given for free does not reduce it's value to free.
Especially when it is a select few who receive it. And there has been 0 proof that it was offered to more for free than those who paid.

 

[Ambear]

Something that is given for free does not reduce it's value to free.

But if value is subjective then this isn't always true for everyone.

 

[Kimberly9701]

My point was that most people's budgets aren't thrown off by an additional $4/person on something. $16 additional for a family of four is a LOT different when it comes to a family's budget than an additional $600 is. Both % increases may be "astronomical", but the impact on the family budget is significantly different.

But we all have different budgets. And even more so- we have things that are important to us and things that aren't.
The $16 additional is less than one character dinner for the same family of 4.
Maybe they skip a character meals and choose DAH instead. Who knows? But there is a million scenarios as to why and how someone could fit it in.

However, if they don't want to..then they won't. Simple.

 

[Kimberly9701]

But if value is subjective then this isn't always true for everyone.

Lol

 

[Angel Ariel]

Especially when it is a select few who receive it. And there has been 0 proof that it was offered to more for free than those who paid.

There's equally zero proof that more paid for the event than attended for free. There will never be definitive proof for *either* side, as Disney will never officially release that number.

Len Testa, author of the Unofficial Guide, said on his podcast with Jim Hill that the number of tickets sold was appx 400, IIRC. I believe he also said in the same podcast that his sources said there were about 1000 attendees. That's as close to an official source as anyone will ever get. You can choose whether to believe his numbers or not, but personally, given his track record and history, I choose to put faith in his numbers.

 

[WillAustin]

Here's what's comparable-
Something that is given for free does not reduce it's value to free.
Especially when it is a select few who receive it. And there has been 0 proof that it was offered to more for free than those who paid.

Your hypothetical evidence isn't any more valid than anyone else's. Your opinion isn't any less anecdotal. There is also "0 proof" that they filled the event with mostly paying guests. As I said before, I'm expecting changes as they move forward. Those changes will be the proof either way.