promo phase out

[julluvsdisney]

I am wondering if the explosion in PIN codes being sent to us is a way to start phasing out public discounts? I was just thinking that since they are trying to get us all use to disneyworld without big promotions that this would be a perfect way to phase it out. (Hopefully no disney execs are reading this lol) It would cause us die hard disney fans to keep booking due to the "secret pins" we have recieved. Publicly the promos would slow but still keep the hotels filled with the pins, then the pins would slow. Then we would all be use to no promos at disney. It would avoid the disney backlash. but I hope I am wrong!! It just seems weird that so many people got the pins all of a sudden! I hope I am really wrong!

 

[Melodious]

I had much the same thought. Though are general public offers really slowing? I haven't paid much attention to Disney discounts since our last trip in 2006 but it seems like there have been plenty of discounts this year.

 

[carolinamama]

Despite our trips and my being on every Disney mailing list I can find, I still have never received a PIN. I've never paid rack rate, though.

 

[julluvsdisney]

they have not slowed yet but in all things released by disney about promos they have stated they will be cutting them down and eventually off. I think they want us to get use to the idea of not seeing promos but with the pins they are quietly keeping the promos going but then will eventually stop those too. It was just a thought. I have read alot from disney that they were going to cut off promos soon but I think they were trying to find a good way to avoid backlash. I hope they change their minds but its all about the $$$ I guess

 

[Melodious]

Yeah, I've heard they're cutting back promotions too...here on the DISboards I just haven't actually witnessed it yet. If they do, I can't say that I blame them. Disney for all it's magical-ness is still a business and as the economy picks back up and consumers begin spending more money again, they're probably going to try to go back to their old strategies. BUt maybe they're changing the pin system too. I don't know, but it seems as if most who receive a pin on these boards have upgraded. If the itinerary system works to generate a pin, then Disney knows that you're thinking of a Disney vacation. It seems more logical to send pins to people who are already thinking about a trip, even to get them to upgrade, than it does to send them out randomly. I wouldn't even know if I have received a pin before because I haven't really opened a Disney email since I last went in 2006. If I'm not thinking about a trip to Disney, I'm more likely to be swayed by a tv commercial advertisement than a random email or postcard.

 

[ElizabethB]

There have been promos steadily since the beginning of the year. Bounceback, free dining and tickets for kids, public code for % off rooms -- including during spring break which is one of the busiest times of the year for WDW, lots of PINs and lots of availability at the resorts with PIN codes. Now it's the traditional fall free dining which, no doubt, will be followed by another public code for % off.

Disney may be announcing that they want to reduce the public's reliance on discounts and promotions (and no doubt they do want to do that). But, what they want and what can actually be accomplished may well be two different things!

Remember, Disney doesn't just have to lure people to WDW -- it also has to convince people to go to WDW for their vacation rather than take a cruise, for example. So, Disney has to consider not just the state of the economy, but the price of a Disney vacation relative to, say, a Carnival cruise.

As, I said -- what Disney wants and what it actually can accomplish with respect to discounting may be two different things.