Pricing Frustration

[DerpyDisney]

I have booked and fully paid for our first Disney vacation at rack-rates due to room availability. (June 6-13) I became bothered when I started researching the food options and realized UK visitors are getting free dining, free park hopper, free water parks and free 14 day tickets for the same dates we will be there!!! (Plus a $150 spending card>)
I costed all this out on both the UK site and US site and a trip for a UK family is 1245.00 cheaper.
I could not afford park hopper, water parks or the dining plan. We are a family of 5 so are staying at the POR.

Can someone please tell me something that will take away this bitter taste in my mouth? I really don't want to go to Disney with a poor attitude to start but when I'm telling my munchkins to share a meal this is really going to bother me!
Sorry my first post is a bit disgruntled just looking for some reassurance here!

 

[kathie859]

Have you priced trans Atlantic airfare recently?

 

[Missytara]

UK visitors pay a ton for airfare and they often stay 14 days, so they spend a lot of money for this trip already. They are pumping major bucks back into the parks in terms of merchandise, etc.

If you saw how much it is to fly a family from the UK, you wouldn't be so bothered by it. We are lucky to pay about $225.00 round trip from BWI to MCO. You won't see airfares like that from the UK. They will be paying four times as much.

Also, how many families do you see that stay 14 days unless they are retired. Most of us cannot take that much time off work or pull our kids out of school for that long.

I wouldn't even give it a second thought.

 

[bowbat]

Have you priced trans Atlantic airfare recently?

This.

 

[ladyhiss]

Hi, I am from the UK and you are correct in saying that early bookers from the UK can have free dining (QSDP for moderate resorts, no DP's offered for value resorts) but we do not get free park tickets. There are special offers where you can obtain a 14 day pass for the price of 7 day ticket; adults tickets are around £235.00 each. As others have commented the fare from the UK in June average about £700 each so it's an expensive holiday for UK visitor's as well although I do understand how frustating it must be for non UK guests who do not have access to the same offers.

 

[Lynne M]

I know how frustrating it can be to see a discount you're not eligible for. But, you'll see that sort of thing all over the travel industry. Airlines, hotels, cruises.....they all target discounts at specific groups, depending on what segment of the market they want to 'bait' at that particular point in time.

It's easily to take that personally, and think 'they're favoring that group over me'. But you'll make yourself crazy doing that, and there's nothing personal about it. Discounts are tools to influence consumer behavior - it's purely a numbers game.

Disney isn't giving a deeper discount to UK visitors because they like them better. They know from past consumer behavior that those visitors stay longer (and therefore spend more money at WDW), but since travel to the US is time-consuming and expensive, they need a little extra push to get them to come here. So, they get a better discount. And Disney makes that discount back and a whole lot more.

 

[Missytara]

Hi, I am from the UK and you are correct in saying that early bookers from the UK can have free dining (QSDP for moderate resorts, no DP's offered for value resorts) but we do not get free park tickets. There are special offers where you can obtain a 14 day pass for the price of 7 day ticket; adults tickets are around £235.00 each. As others have commented the fare from the UK in June average about £700 each so it's an expensive holiday for UK visitor's as well although I do understand how frustating it must be for non UK guests who do not have access to the same offers.

Also, the exchange rate between the pound and the american dollar as well.

I am glad you clarified the thing about the tickets as well.

Really, the OP is comparing apples to oranges. You may be getting a lot of booking incentives, but in the end, you will pay just as much as we will for our same trip.

 

[GrnMtnMan]

Can someone please tell me something that will take away this bitter taste in my mouth?

God will forgive you for breaking the 10th commandment?

But seriously...are you mad about Florida resident prices? Or military discounts? Or senior/kid discounts at the movies? Bottom line is you really shouldn't look at discounts you can't take advantage of....there's no point unless you can change yourself into one of those things.

 

[ToddyLu]

Do not stress OP. Dh and I are vested in Disney with DVC, APs (annual passes) and TIW card. We do not ever get free dinning with DVC but we do get $100 off our annual passes. In the end, Disney costs us twice as much as you each year....and I pay it lovingly and without regret or remorse.

Enjoy your trip--I am a true believer in you get what you pay for--that is why Disney gets our money.

 

[chimo2u]

Also, the exchange rate between the pound and the american dollar as well.

I am glad you clarified the thing about the tickets as well.

Really, the OP is comparing apples to oranges. You may be getting a lot of booking incentives, but in the end, you will pay just as much as we will for our same trip.

I'm pretty sure the pound is doing better than the US dollar.....I know if I want to buy the pound with Canadian money, I am paying about 1.5 times more for that $1.00
I agree though, they do have further to come, and tend to stay longer. there are deals out there for the US consumer as well, you just have to book when those discounts are offered to you....value season, free dining, room discounts.....they are offered to everyone eventually, just at varying times

 

[gabzee]

First of all, there is a special offer available for the general public when you are going. It ends on June 14,2012. In fact, they have availability at the POR for your stay in a garden view for $1287. You can take advantage of this special offer.

Disney is a business and they offer special offers to certain people to entice them to come to Disney. If you are upset that they are offering a good discount for UK residents then do you get mad when they offer FL resident discounts or military discounts, etc. While I understand that you want to save money, you have to understand that they can't always make a discount available to everyone.

I hope that you take advantage of the discount available for you! Have a great trip!

 

[Caitriona]

I'm British and would LOVE those discounts/perks, but because we are now living in the US and don't have to spend the money on airfare that we would have spent coming from the UK, I'm happy with whatever (much smaller) discounts/perks come my way over here

 

[shannonstar]

God will forgive you for breaking the 10th commandment?

 

[PaulaSB12]

I have booked and fully paid for our first Disney vacation at rack-rates due to room availability. (June 6-13) I became bothered when I started researching the food options and realized UK visitors are getting free dining, free park hopper, free water parks and free 14 day tickets for the same dates we will be there!!! (Plus a $150 spending card>)
I costed all this out on both the UK site and US site and a trip for a UK family is 1245.00 cheaper.
I could not afford park hopper, water parks or the dining plan. We are a family of 5 so are staying at the POR.

Can someone please tell me something that will take away this bitter taste in my mouth? I really don't want to go to Disney with a poor attitude to start but when I'm telling my munchkins to share a meal this is really going to bother me!
Sorry my first post is a bit disgruntled just looking for some reassurance here!

WE not getting free park hopper what you get is the 14 day ultimate ticket for the price of 7 days and yes we are getting the free dining and $150 but this is the first time we have had that deal, disney wants us over there so I am going for that deal.

 

[Hooves]

We're lucky enough to be UK citizens and trust me, taking advantage of this deal is the only way we can afford to go to Disney, stay on site and eat in Disney restaurants! Or just go to Disney at all! I like to think their acknowleding our airfares...

 

[Tara]

UK visitors tend to come for much longer periods of time than the typical US visitor, so there's a lot of incentive for Disney to lure them to the parks where they're going to be spending their money on tickets, souvenirs, etc. It's all about getting people to come and stay on site and never leave, i.e., never spend their money anywhere else.

 

[CanadianGuy]

If, like on certain TV commercials, people were walking around with the price tags they paid for the seat on the plane next to me.. it would probably drive me nuts. While i like to think I got a pretty good deal, it's highly likely that while a bunch of people maybe paid more.. if there was even ONE that paid significantly less.. it would tend to eat at you.

This is the equivalent of that.

As a previous poster pointed out.. there are offers that could result in some significant savings for you that cover that time period. Hope you can work something to take advantage of that.

 

[Sammie]

Are you from the UK< if not why would you be pricing a trip on the UK site.

 

[wdwgreg]

I'm pretty sure the pound is doing better than the US dollar.....I know if I want to buy the pound with Canadian money, I am paying about 1.5 times more for that $1.00
I agree though, they do have further to come, and tend to stay longer. there are deals out there for the US consumer as well, you just have to book when those discounts are offered to you....value season, free dining, room discounts.....they are offered to everyone eventually, just at varying times

The pound is not doing better, when we traveled in 2008 it was $2 to every £1 in October it was closer to $1.5 to £1, and that sure made a massive difference to the cost of our holiday and the amount of TS restaurants we booked. All because of some stupid bankers

 

[aubriee]

I have booked and fully paid for our first Disney vacation at rack-rates due to room availability. (June 6-13) I became bothered when I started researching the food options and realized UK visitors are getting free dining, free park hopper, free water parks and free 14 day tickets for the same dates we will be there!!! (Plus a $150 spending card>)
I costed all this out on both the UK site and US site and a trip for a UK family is 1245.00 cheaper.
I could not afford park hopper, water parks or the dining plan. We are a family of 5 so are staying at the POR.

Can someone please tell me something that will take away this bitter taste in my mouth? I really don't want to go to Disney with a poor attitude to start but when I'm telling my munchkins to share a meal this is really going to bother me!
Sorry my first post is a bit disgruntled just looking for some reassurance here!

As an AP holder I go to WDW several times a year, getting at least 4-6 trips out of each AP. No matter the time of the year, I've always been able to find a discount (AP, stay four nights/get 3 nights free, bounceback deals, GP discounts, free dining, etc). My airfare is normally around $200.00. Because I go so frequently, I seldom buy anything down there anymore. Alot of trips the only item I may bring back is a WDW tshirt for my mom (she collects them, so I try to find her a different one each trip). I also have the TiW card to save 20% on my meals. Between the room discounts, TiW card, getting several trips out of a single AP, and me seldom buying souvineers, Disney makes very little money off me anymore. On the otherhand, our UK friends spend 3-4x what we do on airfare, stay an average of 14 days each trip, buy park hoppers with waterpark options on them, and also buy alot of souvineers, so put ALOT of money into the Orlando economy. Most also stay in a Moderate or Deluxe, so that's more money in Disney's pockets. I have no problem with Disney offering them a little more incentive to get them over here. They're sure not getting very much money from me other than a discounted room rate and my TiW discounted meals.