Possible things to come?

[lasloo]

Greetings all!

I'm one of those people who actually like to take surveys. I know, weird, right?
None the less, a while back I joined this online survey company called e-Rewards where you earn "cash/points" for taking surveys that you can then redeem for this or that. Definitely a lot of consumer/product-oriented type of surveys where companies are obviously trying to take the pulse of their customers to figure out the specifics of new product lines and/or services.

In any case, this is all to say... I got one recently that I took that was all about new "services" being proposed for Disneyworld!! Now, I don't think these are things they currently do RIGHT now ( or do they?) , but it definitely sounds like things they are thinking about doing (and thus they ask a lot of questions ranking which services you'd like more than others). So, for everyone's benefit here... here's a list of the services they were proposing :

* Walt Disney World offers a half-day ticket to theme parks for families traveling with kids 5 years old and under.

* When you visit Walt Disney World in January or September with a child 5 years old or under you can schedule a private welcome with their favorite character at the entrance of one of the four Disney theme parks.

* A new Disney Vacation Savings plan lets you save now so you can visit Walt Disney World sooner and have your trip paid for in advance.

* It's better together at Walt Disney World. Now you can share the magic with everyone you love with "The more the merrier" program. The more people you bring along, the more you save. You save on theme park tickets starting with parties of 5 or more, and save even more with 10 or more people.

* It's better together at Walt Disney World as you can share the magic with everyone you love with "The more the merrier" hotel and ticket packages. The more people you bring along, the more you save. Save on room and ticket packages when you book 3 or more rooms, and you save even more when you book 5 rooms or more.

* Walt Disney World now lets kids 5 years old and under visit all four theme parks, stay in a Disney Resort, and dine in Disney restaurants for free in January, February, May, and September.

* This year, every Disney theme park guest can choose one complimentary special item: Play Dates (seasonal/character dining), Play it Again (an extra Fastpass that allows you to get on popular rides with little or no wait), Play for Keeps (PhotoPass downloads), or Play it By Ear (Customized Mickey Ears).

* Walt Disney World offers a by-the-hour theme park ticket that gives families flexibility to come and go and only pay for the amount of time they spend in the park.

 

[lasloo]

If I were to personally rank those proposed "services" as to what I would be most interested in... it would be the following:


* A new Disney Vacation Savings plan lets you save now so you can visit Walt Disney World sooner and have your trip paid for in advance.

* It's better together at Walt Disney World as you can share the magic with everyone you love with "The more the merrier" hotel and ticket packages. The more people you bring along, the more you save. Save on room and ticket packages when you book 3 or more rooms, and you save even more when you book 5 rooms or more.

* It's better together at Walt Disney World. Now you can share the magic with everyone you love with "The more the merrier" program. The more people you bring along, the more you save. You save on theme park tickets starting with parties of 5 or more, and save even more with 10 or more people.

* Walt Disney World now lets kids 5 years old and under visit all four theme parks, stay in a Disney Resort, and dine in Disney restaurants for free in January, February, May, and September.

* When you visit Walt Disney World in January or September with a child 5 years old or under you can schedule a private welcome with their favorite character at the entrance of one of the four Disney theme parks.

* This year, every Disney theme park guest can choose one complimentary special item: Play Dates (seasonal/character dining), Play it Again (an extra Fastpass that allows you to get on popular rides with little or no wait), Play for Keeps (PhotoPass downloads), or Play it By Ear (Customized Mickey Ears).

* Walt Disney World offers a half-day ticket to theme parks for families traveling with kids 5 years old and under.

* Walt Disney World offers a by-the-hour theme park ticket that gives families flexibility to come and go and only pay for the amount of time they spend in the park.

 

[Carriemel]

aren't these surveys given out with a caveat not to disclose any information suggested within? As in, if they give you a survey about something, don't discuss it with anyone...

 

[SciFi]

aren't these surveys given out with a caveat not to disclose any information suggested within? As in, if they give you a survey about something, don't discuss it with anyone...

I've participated in a few surveys in the parks and have never signed a non-disclosure or been asked not to discuss it.

 

[ChrisnKim913]

Some of this seems highly unlikely... pay by the hour???? really?? I am not doubting this was on your survey, just doubting this could ever be enforced or come to life in a Disney Park.

 

[SuperDan523]

Some of this seems highly unlikely... pay by the hour???? really?? I am not doubting this was on your survey, just doubting this could ever be enforced or come to life in a Disney Park.

With MagicBand, they can easily time stamp you at the entrance turnstiles and exit turnstiles and bill your account for the hours used.

 

[lasloo]

aren't these surveys given out with a caveat not to disclose any information suggested within? As in, if they give you a survey about something, don't discuss it with anyone...

This is from one of those online survey companies where they dish out sponsored surveys to people once if not more than once every day. I don't recall ever signing a non-disclosure when I joined or seeing anything like that at the beginning of any of the surveys I've taken.

All in all, I'm not really sure how serious to take any of the options the survey put forward. Obviously, if it had been from some user group study they were doing IN the park, then maybe it should be taken more seriously.

For me, I've been hoping for some kind of Disney-sponsored Savings Plan type of thing for a while now. I could never put up the kind of money for the DVC stuff AND with DVC you're just paying for a nice place to stay. It doesn't include tickets or dining. Through a Saving Plan, it would be great to dish out some monthly amount and be guaranteed (at some point) a nice week at Disney that includes both accommodations, tickets, and dining.

 

[lasloo]

Some of this seems highly unlikely... pay by the hour???? really?? I am not doubting this was on your survey, just doubting this could ever be enforced or come to life in a Disney Park.

I assume they are just testing out the waters.
Out of all the options put forth, that was the one I liked least. I don't want to be looking at my watch the entire time I'm in the park with my kids.

"Hurry kids! Hurry!! We need to get from one side of the park to the next and then back to the exit all the while side-stepping parades left and right!!! We've only got one more hour before I'm charged another $100 or $200. Go! Go! Go!"

 

[nhmommy]

For me, I've been hoping for some kind of Disney-sponsored Savings Plan type of thing for a while now. I could never put up the kind of money for the DVC stuff AND with DVC you're just paying for a nice place to stay. It doesn't include tickets or dining. Through a Saving Plan, it would be great to dish out some monthly amount and be guaranteed (at some point) a nice week at Disney that includes both accommodations, tickets, and dining.

They have these for free at every Credit union I have ever seen just label it Disney and add to it when you have enough withdraw and purchase your trip.

I personally would love the more tickets you purchase the better deal It would be nice for larger families to be able to afford to go and it would be nice for family reunions and such.

 

[lasloo]

They have these for free at every Credit union I have ever seen just label it Disney and add to it when you have enough withdraw and purchase your trip.

I personally would love the more tickets you purchase the better deal It would be nice for larger families to be able to afford to go and it would be nice for family reunions and such.

Sure, true. Anybody can create their own "savings" plan. I have a savings account that I add to and then decide what it is that we can afford to do this year.

The value-add, though, with something THROUGH Disney directly is some level of discount or "extras" that would come of it. Not to mention a way to get around price hikes.

Say they did a point system, where you put $250 a month into their plan to get one point... maybe if you're in the plan for more than 6 months, you get an extra bonus point or some kind of system of getting extra points for this or that.
When you collect a minimum of say 12 points, you can guarantee yourself the minimum vacation package of a value-add resort for 4 people for 5 days including tickets and quick-service dining. Maybe then for an extra point, you can upgrade the dining to normal dining. For another extra point, you can add the "park hopper" option to your tickets. For an extra point, you can upgrade to a better resort. Etc. Etc. Etc.

I would buy into something like that.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

aren't these surveys given out with a caveat not to disclose any information suggested within? As in, if they give you a survey about something, don't discuss it with anyone...

think about this for a minute...

"non-disclosure" on random surveys conducted in the thousands?

they've been doing this for decades...floating ideas that have been in all sorts of phases of brainstorming/development.
Disney is very good at market research - warts and flaws aside on other things.

The thing i find particularly interesting is the concentration on "soft" periods and the concept of "kids go for free" resurfacing.

A year ago-2 years ago they specifically balked at that concept when they eliminated the childs ticket and then jacked up passes across the board 12% on average...

Now i know they always crap on the "loyal" (DVC, annual pass holders, florida residents, etc)..but these types of programs indicate for me that softer bookings are being detected on the horizon (or continuing...because it hasn't been that busy for awhile now).

That's great...the less "booked solid" restaurants...the better for everyone

 

[iheartjuppy]

I took a survey from Disney directly after our 2010 or 2011 park stay and it showed proposed enhancements and packages, with nothing about a disclosure. Almost everything was related to MagicBands and their functionality, and PhotoPass+ which at that time seemed so advanced, and now here we (almost) are! I'm not able to recall exact details other than there were pages after pages after pages of different permutations of virtually the same offerings with a "would you pay X for this package?" "Would you pay an extra $$$ for this option?" type of thing. Basically, would you pay for the bands (no), would you customize/upgrade your bands (no), would you pay extra to have characters greet you by name/present your daughter with a gift picked out by you (and paid for by you)? (no) Would you pay a nominal amount per person to include PhotoPass automatically (yes), would you pay extra/stay on-site/spend more days if the bands offered fastpass services, etc. It was shortly after our 2010 stay, and I had stopped to let a CM survey me in Epcot during that trip, so I'm not sure if that's why I got that survey but it took over 30 minutes to complete, which was surprising.

 

[Ed5781]

The private welcome thing would be cool. We usually go in September for our son's birthday. This will be the third year in a row (he will be 3).