Pigsty333
I get censored all the time
- Joined
- Jan 3, 2001
- Messages
- 762
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-bizdisneyworld11121103dec11,1,2228392.story
Disney cuts rates at 2 of its resorts to $55
The rates are available from Jan. 1 to Feb. 11, typically a slow period at the theme parks.
By Jerry W. Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writer
December 11, 2003
Anticipating a seasonal slowdown that usually begins right after New Year's Day, Walt Disney World said Wednesday it will cut rates at its new Pop Century Resort and its All-Star Resorts to $55 a night and temporarily shutter its Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot.
The announcements came a day after the company narrowly averted layoffs of more than 100 banquet servers and other resort employees after the workers agreed to potential cuts in hours in return for keeping their jobs.
A top Walt Disney Co. executive, speaking at an investors conference in New York, said the company's theme-park attendance was still running about 11 percent ahead of last year's first-quarter pace.
But Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said that year-over-year increase could shrink between now and the end of the fiscal quarter on Dec. 31, in part because of higher employee-benefit costs and money spent on marketing and sales initiatives to drive long-term growth.
"We continue to see positive trends at parks and resort," Staggs said, noting that spending inside the parks is currently "in line" with a year ago, while room reservations for the current quarter are running 9 percent ahead of last year.
The $55 room rates at Disney World are good for travel from Jan. 1 through Feb. 11 but must be booked by Dec. 29. Pop Century, Disney's single-largest economy-class hotel, with 2,880 rooms in its first phase, opens Sunday with rooms that normally start at $77 during slow seasons such as the post-Christmas period. The All-Star Resorts have the same basic rate.
Disney representatives said the deeper discounts were also offered last year. "We did the exact same thing," said Disney spokesman Craig Dezern, and in prior years other package deals were made available in January. "It's just a slower time."
Other local hotel operators said the Disney World discount was not surprising, given that families take fewer vacations in January. But they conceded the cut will tend to hold down rates for Disney's competitors as well.
"We are matching that rate," said Bud Watters, director of sales for the Courtyard at Walt Disney World, which is on Disney property but owned and operated by Interstate Hotels and Resorts.
Watters said the Courtyard, which is in the process of being converted to a Holiday Inn, had a $59 special in place but dropped it to $55 on Wednesday when the hotel learned of Disney's deal.
"We are reacting to what they are doing," Watters said, and sweetening the offer by allowing the rooms to be reserved any time during the Jan. 4 through Feb. 11 travel window . Disney is limiting its deal to reservations made by Dec. 29.
Watters and other hotel operators said the upcoming winter seems to be marginally stronger than last year, though not strong enough to declare the industry's post-9-11 rebound complete.
The $55 Disney deal represents a nearly 30 percent discount in the normal room rate for its moderately priced hotels, but Disney representatives would not characterize the offer as a sign the resort is having trouble filling rooms.
"From time to time, we pull levers to give some extra momentum," spokeswoman Rena Langley said.
Langley said the closing of Epcot's Wonders of Life pavilion as of Jan. 5 is also related to the seasonal slowdown. "It will be available during periods of peak attendance," Langley said, such as spring break.
Wonders of Life, which includes the Body Wars simulator ride, has been operating without a corporate sponsor since Metropolitan Life Insurance's contract expired at the end of 2000. But Langley said the lack of sponsorship had nothing to do with the decision to convert the pavilion to seasonal operation for the first time.
"We do have some others that operate seasonally," she said, including Timekeeper in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland section. She said there were no immediate plans to cut back on other attractions.
The 33 employees at Wonders of Life are being moved to other jobs, Langley said.
Pop Century General Manager Dave Vermeulen said the new resort is "booked solid through the holidays" and that he was pleased with the pace of reservations after Jan. 1, even before the $55-a-night announcement.
Vermeulen and other Disney representatives would not discuss occupancy rates at any of the company's 21 resorts in the Lake Buena Vista area.
The Jan. 1 to Feb. 11 time frame for the $55 discounts is the "value season" at Disney hotels, one of three slow periods of the year during which the company makes its rooms available at their lowest, regularly advertised rates.
Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721.
Copyright © 2003, Orlando Sentinel
Disney cuts rates at 2 of its resorts to $55
The rates are available from Jan. 1 to Feb. 11, typically a slow period at the theme parks.
By Jerry W. Jackson
Sentinel Staff Writer
December 11, 2003
Anticipating a seasonal slowdown that usually begins right after New Year's Day, Walt Disney World said Wednesday it will cut rates at its new Pop Century Resort and its All-Star Resorts to $55 a night and temporarily shutter its Wonders of Life pavilion at Epcot.
The announcements came a day after the company narrowly averted layoffs of more than 100 banquet servers and other resort employees after the workers agreed to potential cuts in hours in return for keeping their jobs.
A top Walt Disney Co. executive, speaking at an investors conference in New York, said the company's theme-park attendance was still running about 11 percent ahead of last year's first-quarter pace.
But Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said that year-over-year increase could shrink between now and the end of the fiscal quarter on Dec. 31, in part because of higher employee-benefit costs and money spent on marketing and sales initiatives to drive long-term growth.
"We continue to see positive trends at parks and resort," Staggs said, noting that spending inside the parks is currently "in line" with a year ago, while room reservations for the current quarter are running 9 percent ahead of last year.
The $55 room rates at Disney World are good for travel from Jan. 1 through Feb. 11 but must be booked by Dec. 29. Pop Century, Disney's single-largest economy-class hotel, with 2,880 rooms in its first phase, opens Sunday with rooms that normally start at $77 during slow seasons such as the post-Christmas period. The All-Star Resorts have the same basic rate.
Disney representatives said the deeper discounts were also offered last year. "We did the exact same thing," said Disney spokesman Craig Dezern, and in prior years other package deals were made available in January. "It's just a slower time."
Other local hotel operators said the Disney World discount was not surprising, given that families take fewer vacations in January. But they conceded the cut will tend to hold down rates for Disney's competitors as well.
"We are matching that rate," said Bud Watters, director of sales for the Courtyard at Walt Disney World, which is on Disney property but owned and operated by Interstate Hotels and Resorts.
Watters said the Courtyard, which is in the process of being converted to a Holiday Inn, had a $59 special in place but dropped it to $55 on Wednesday when the hotel learned of Disney's deal.
"We are reacting to what they are doing," Watters said, and sweetening the offer by allowing the rooms to be reserved any time during the Jan. 4 through Feb. 11 travel window . Disney is limiting its deal to reservations made by Dec. 29.
Watters and other hotel operators said the upcoming winter seems to be marginally stronger than last year, though not strong enough to declare the industry's post-9-11 rebound complete.
The $55 Disney deal represents a nearly 30 percent discount in the normal room rate for its moderately priced hotels, but Disney representatives would not characterize the offer as a sign the resort is having trouble filling rooms.
"From time to time, we pull levers to give some extra momentum," spokeswoman Rena Langley said.
Langley said the closing of Epcot's Wonders of Life pavilion as of Jan. 5 is also related to the seasonal slowdown. "It will be available during periods of peak attendance," Langley said, such as spring break.
Wonders of Life, which includes the Body Wars simulator ride, has been operating without a corporate sponsor since Metropolitan Life Insurance's contract expired at the end of 2000. But Langley said the lack of sponsorship had nothing to do with the decision to convert the pavilion to seasonal operation for the first time.
"We do have some others that operate seasonally," she said, including Timekeeper in the Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland section. She said there were no immediate plans to cut back on other attractions.
The 33 employees at Wonders of Life are being moved to other jobs, Langley said.
Pop Century General Manager Dave Vermeulen said the new resort is "booked solid through the holidays" and that he was pleased with the pace of reservations after Jan. 1, even before the $55-a-night announcement.
Vermeulen and other Disney representatives would not discuss occupancy rates at any of the company's 21 resorts in the Lake Buena Vista area.
The Jan. 1 to Feb. 11 time frame for the $55 discounts is the "value season" at Disney hotels, one of three slow periods of the year during which the company makes its rooms available at their lowest, regularly advertised rates.
Jerry W. Jackson can be reached at jwjackson@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5721.
Copyright © 2003, Orlando Sentinel
