Pretend You're a WDW Executive

[Werner Weiss]

Assistant: "Boss, a bunch of DVC members think they should be given real discounts. I read it on the Web. See for yourself at 'I just have one Disney DVC wish....' They feel their loyalty, as evidenced by their dropping $20K to buy into DVC, should be recognized and rewarded."

Executive: "You know darn well that WDW is a business. I've been given a profit plan by you-know-who. He expects me to increase profits despite the economic slowdown. I don't want to find myself reading in the Orlando Sentinel Tourism column that I've left Disney 'to pursue other interests.' How am I going to make the numbers if I take in less money from DVC members who are going to buy the same passes for full price anyway? If they want discounts, let them join Disney Club for $39!"

Assistant: "Gee, maybe there's a way that we could offer meaningful discounts in a way that actually increases revenue and profits. If we do it right, maybe we can get DVC members to spend more money here on the property. Right now, we aren't giving DVC members -- who are a pretty savvy bunch, and who may be getting a little tired of the same thing year after year -- any reasons not to spend their money at the many off-site attractions, shops, and restaurants that are a short drive from here."

Executive: "You may be right. Let me see if I can come up with some new ideas.

Pretend you're the executive. What are your ideas?

 

[PKS44]

I would need to know a few things to give the kind of answer a good executive should know in formulating a response.

What are the profit margins on the various products? Restaurants, souvenirs, mini-golf, greens fees for golf, admissions media for the various parks, water and otherwise...

Once armed with that information you could fashion discounts on things that don't make a lot to get the traffic to things that do make a lot. In the grocery store biz I believe they call them loss leaders. Turkey for 10 cents a pound at Thanksgiving with any purchase of $100 of other groceries, etc...Sales on many items are just there to get you in the door to buy other stuff. In the old days casinos had the $2 steak to get you in their doors, now they stage a pirate show outside.

I don't know how much admission media makes for them, the parks are expensive to run I am sure. The real profits have got to be in those sodas and burger "meals," and merchandising...etc...
Now with DVC they already have us at the door. Do they really need us to go in the parks? Only if we are going outside for a lot of purchases--
I would offer discounts maybe like one I got at Disneyland a few years back- 5 days for the price of 2days expiring 5 days after first use... maybe the number of days would need to be altered or make them single park passes not hoppers.

That's a start...

Paul

 

[gscott8075]

Here is an example of Disney margins ---

The lovely Port Authority DVC logo jacket is advertised in Vacation Magic for $115.

The exact same Port Authority jacket with a Costco logo is $34.

That's a 338% markup.



So, lemme see, we'll give 20% off to DVC members on clothing and still make 270%.

 

[Lisa F]

one thing that I think MIGHT be reasonable from an economic standpoint for Disney is to allow DVC members to join the "disney dining experience" program that is currently only open to florida residents. For $60 annually, you get 20% off most sit down restaurants as well as the "perk" of free valet parking when you have dinner at a resort restaurant. Basically you break even after spending $300 in the restaurants, so the option to join might encourage people who might otherwise use the kitchens in DVC units to eat out more often than they do now. I don't really know, though... just throwing that out there.

Lisa

 

[vernon]

I would offer DVC owners "Florida resident rates" for ANYTHING Fl residents get. It would encourage people to visit the parks, even if it was only BWV and BCV owners using Epcot restaurants at night instead of eating in their kitchens or off site. IMHO the "loss" in ticket takings from the discount would be made up by higher sales and the restaurants, bar sales and shops would benefit in a major way.

Golf looks a decent deal now, I'll probably take up the membership on my next visit. I hope the extra business makes up for the price cutting, IMHO it will.

 

[Beth]

Please understand ... I am NOT trying to be selfish, here...

But, the last time I saw one of those maps, the state of Florida had one of the largest share of DVC members in the US - behind NY & NJ, maybe?

What would offering the Florida discounts offered to DVC members do for <i>us</i>?!?

And, as someone has pointed out before during one of these threads - the seasonal pass we get here in Florida obviously wouldn't work for DVC members - as the blackout dates would discourage DVC usage during certain times of the year.

Just a thought...

 

[TheWho]

I think until DVC sales show any signs of slowing down, any new "perks" or "incentives" will only be window dressing.

 

[Lisa F]

Originally posted by Beth
Please understand ... I am NOT trying to be selfish, here...

But, the last time I saw one of those maps, the state of Florida had one of the largest share of DVC members in the US - behind NY & NJ, maybe?

What would offering the Florida discounts offered to DVC members do for <i>us</i>?!?

This may be the crux of the reason why DVC is so resistant to offering Fl. resident discounts to DVC members... because no matter what they do, SOMEONE is going to be unhappy and people are going to want more. I'm not entirely sure what more you'd want since Fl resident benefits are the best out there. Between the opportunity to participate in the disney dining experience program (we went to V&A's with friends of ours using their DDE and saved over $100 on that bill alone!) and the fl resident discounts on passes, plus the savings with DVC, FL resident DVC members have the best deal out there, with the exception of disney CM's. The only other place for you guys to go would be to have discounts equal to CM's and I don't forsee THAT happening (nor do I think it would even be fair or reasonable to ask for).

Lisa

 

[vernon]

I don't think Werner ( and I certainly didn't) meant this to be a sales drive for DVC points sales. The idea is to get DVC owners into the parks,spending money at WDW and not sitting around the pool/going to other parks, spending their money elsewhere.

Fl residents may be the biggest SINGLE group but I think they are still a minority if you look at the total number of members. Fl resident , generally , stay on Disney , to visit Disney, those that travel thousands of miles, come for longer and are more likely to go off site. Fl residents are more likely to make a day trip if they want to visit SW or Universal. I don't think seasonal passes would change peoples vacation dates ( they'd simply do what they would as it stands) but it would get more people into the parks spending money JMHO

This isn't a "perk" it's getting people into the park to spend money on Disney, with as little an outlay to Disney as possible. I think that was the original question

I know you didn't mean it that way but if asking " what's in it for me" isn't a self interest driven comment what is LOL??

 

[Beth]

Sorry you took it that way, Vernon.

It truly <i>wasn't</i> a selfish question, though. We DO represent a large group, and, like Lisa F said, no matter what Disney does - not everyone is going to be happy. But, you have to agree with me that, if Disney only offered what we FL residents already have as the "DVC Perk," then I'm sure I'm not the only one who may think it not entirely fair.

I, for one, was promised nothing from my DVC guide that I have not received - so I'm not "asking" for any more - sorry you took my post as selfish....

Isn't the "what's in it for me?" what EVERYONE is asking, here?!? ... "I'm receiving an excellent vacation value for my investment - but I WANT MORE!!" ?!?

 

[spruce]

Well Boss, I see that the Fla resident annual renewal AP is $269 and the non-resident annual renewal is $327. Let's across the board offer a $250 annual AP for all DVC members. This will give both the Fla resident and non-resident a discount. If Fla residents want to see a bigger discount, they can move out of state, but then they'd lose out on other discounts like the after 4 EPCOT pass and so on. We could adjust the child AP's in a similar fashion then as non discounted passes increase in price, we could adjust the DVC annual pass rate by that same percentage.
Buy offering this on only the reg AP, we'd still have water park revenue, Dvc'ers would be more likely to visit twice in a one year period and the good will to our very loyal customers would help to keep them in the parks spending money.
Boss, Not everyone will be happy about this, some will want discounts on hoppers or premium AP's but this is a business and I can see making this compromise which I think is really a good deal for all DVC'ers.
What do you think Boss? Oh and can I have a raise since I know park profits will increase from the DVC sector.....spruce

 

[JonHM]

Yeah, well I'd be ecstatic with what you have.

No offense intended.

 

[vernon]

Beth
1) I said I know you didn't mean it that way , so you have no need to be sorry, you're termanology was ambiguos

2) Why would extending what Fl residents already get be unfair to Fl residents? It isn't like someone else is getting something you're not ? I don't see how ANYONE would say that's unfair. Or do you think that other people getting the same discounts you do is unfair to you?

I think you're missing the point, the idea ( I think) is for Disney to offer something that can be seen as a benefit to DVC members while Disney can see they make out of the deal as well. It's a symbiotic relationship. No one is giving anything away. The idea is that Disney offers something that Disney benfits from.

The exercise is to come up with something that will get more people to spend their money at Disney as opposed to somewhere else. If those people feel they are getting a "benefit" out of it all the better. Approach the idea from the aspect of a DISNEY EXECUTIVE trying to extract more profit from the punters.

To try to put it in plain language. I have a MAXIMUM of $1000 to spend ( for arguments sake).
I would spend $200 on park tickets per person. If that meant I get 4 days in the parks and I spend at a rate of $50 per day per person Disney get $400 out of my vacation ( the rest I spend at other off site parks) .
If they sell me a pass that allows me 10 days in the parks for $200 and I still spend $50 per day per person Disney gets $700. Disney is up $300 on the trade and (for example) Universal/SW/BG misses out on the $500 I'd have spent there. Nett result is

Disney is up $300
I've saved $200 ( which I'd probably spend on memorabilia and seeing as I spend ALL my time at WDW I think they'd have a decent chance of getting most of that)
and Universal/SW/BG is down $500

I could be wrong but I think thats the sort of thinking Werner is talking about?

 

[sgtpet]

Maybe somebody should push the issue with the DVC. And start spending your dollars at Universal or anywhere off the Disney World properties.

 

[vernon]

I do

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

Executive: How can I thwart the evil plans of Johnnie Fedora to buy his passes every three years????

He plans to buy APs every three years, and use them for two longer vacations (maybe more) within one year. Then, the third year he plans to stay at DVC but NOT buy APs. Instead, he will visit other Orlando attractions


If WDW wants his entertainment $money$ every year, they need to offer him a real $$$discount$$$ to encourage pass purchases every year. That will keep him coming back.

Hummmm........What would be a real incentive???........30-35% on APs......or buy three consecutive years of APs and get the fourth year free.

 

[PKS44]

Vernon-
>>To try to put it in plain language. I have a MAXIMUM of $1000 to spend ( for arguments sake).
I would spend $200 on park tickets per person. If that meant I get 4 days in the parks and I spend at a rate of $50 per day per person Disney get $400 out of my vacation ( the rest I spend at other off site parks) .
If they sell me a pass that allows me 10 days in the parks for $200 and I still spend $50 per day per person Disney gets $700. Disney is up $300 on the trade and (for example) Universal/SW/BG misses out on the $500 I'd have spent there. Nett result is

Disney is up $300 <<

Boss:
Um, to get that $300 we just gave you $300 worth of admission (6 more days) Of course that assumes a simple 4 days for $200=$50/day admission rate...as the days get longer we do discount the per day rate to about $43-$48...) I think that trade is not a good one...let's give 10 days for the price of 7 and make those 10 consecutive days from the date of first use...that ties the DVC 'er to us for the bulk of the longer vacations...the people who buy 7 day hoppers to use on different trips/ splitting them won't be affected, the people who don't want to buy the AP since they are really only coming for one long trip a year do spend more time in the park than they would if they just buy hoppers...
So I think I may give myself the raise, you, on the other hand,...well we will be making another round of cutbacks.....

Paul

 

[spruce]

Let's look at this another way Boss. Let's say there are 55,000 DVC member families. Each of these families has 4 members in their family. So, let's say we have 55,000 x 4 = 220,000 annual passes sold at $250 each to DVC member families. That's 55 million Dollars. This $250AP price reflects about a $75 discount on the non resident ap renewal rate. That discount cuts into our margin by 16.5 million, we should have collected 71.5 million.
Now let's say though that these families now spend 4 additional days in our parks each year spending $100 each day. That's 55,000 x $400 = $22,000,000. That 16.5 million discount is offset by a 22 million increase in park spending a net gain of$5.5 million dollars assuming our park expenses are covered by the discounted pass.
Of course, those members that buy the childrens ap for less dollars will change these numbers a bit but I believe that the $100 per day is a solid figure counting on 1 counter service meal of about $35 and a sit down meal of $65. Plus additional drinks and souveneers.
Boss, I hope my numbers are right, I double checked them, if I'm wrong fire me. If I'm right, everybody wins....spruce

 

[sgtpet]

Tell them your scenarios.

You deserve the discount. DVC members are the most loyal.

 

[AnnK]

Giving a break on Ap's is a win-win for DVC members and Disney. I would love to see a program like mentioned where it is a flat 250.00 fee for all DVC members, but since the FL program is already in place, it would probably be easier just to add us to an already existing program. I am sorry if Fl DVC residents don't feel that it would be enough of a discount, but for the rest of us, it would be a good incentive to buy an AP. We did not buy AP's this year, and likely will not buy them again unless we are offered some type of incentive. The parks are great, and I love to eat at the restaurants, but it just seems like we were planning all our trips around our passes, and then "forcing" ourselves to enter the parks because we had the AP. We have AP passes for USF/IOA. They are a good price, and they offer more in discounts (free parking or 1/2 price valet, room discounts,savings on food and merchandise,) our kids even got to ride on the Mardis Gras floats every night we were there during Mardis Gras, because we had AP's and were staying onsite. We are spending more time at other parks because we don't have the Disney AP. We are also spending more time at USF/IOA because we DO have an AP there.