Ridiculous Disney Math

[jthelman]

I'm exhausted playing games with Disney over what they are charging for a vacation.

They have super pricey room rates, that vary by "season", then discount, then blackout, then add "free" dining.

No one knows what anything really costs. Disney was whining that Discounts are killing revenue, but that is chop logic. They probably charge too much to begin with, scare people away, then overcompensate with discounts to get them back.

It's a $10 chicken sandwich, but from December 2-10, it's only $9. Now with a public discount is 40% off, so it's $5.40, unless you opt for the free french fry plan, then the whole meal is $7 -- Unless you have the frequent customer annual card, then you can add the extra cheese for only $.10.

Just sell the friggin sandwich for $5.50 and skip the advanced math. Save bad PR of people spending time on the phone making 6-7 calls and waiting on hold each time to see if they can get a better deal on the lunch.

 

[B-Ride]

I certainly sympathize with you on this one. There is no doubt your product is over priced when you are constantly having to discount it. On top of that they keep raising the prices every year even though they know it is over priced.

That said, I can see a couple of reasons why they do this:
1. They still manage to get some people to pay full price. This is either people travelling in the absolute peak times or those who are not well informed and don't realize there are deals available.
2. There are people, and I admit I am one of them, who like to get a deal. Even though we are kidding ourselves we feel good when we get a deal.

 

[stepdisney]

Yes and yes to both posts.

 

[Matt'sMom]

LOL. As an ethologist, and someone who has formerly worked in both wholesale and retail sales... I can tell you that Disney knows exactly what they are doing, and that the 'special offers' are indeed a very effective practice.

A lot of it has to do with perceived value. You keep rack rates set at a certain level to lend a base value... then offer discounts/specials to create the feeling that consumers are getting a high value product/service at a significantly reduced cost. And if one needs to watch and wait and then crunch numbers a bit to get the best possible deal, that all lends a certain sense of accomplishment to sweeten the pot too. 'Shopping is the modern day version of hunting and gathering.'

How many people were on the phone or the web site asap the morning that WDW released the most recent special deals? How many of those people switched resorts/dates, or extended their length of stay, or spent just a little bit more to upgrade their resort category? Similarly, how many Americans go shopping at the after Thanksgiving Day sales? People love a perceived bargain, and trust me, the companies know how to use that fact to their advantage.

 

[disneyfan55]

LOL. As an ethologist, and someone who has formerly worked in both wholesale and retail sales... I can tell you that Disney knows exactly what they are doing, and that the 'special offers' are indeed a very effective practice.

A lot of it has to do with perceived value. You keep rack rates set at a certain level to lend a base value... then offer discounts/specials to create the feeling that consumers are getting a high value product/service at a significantly reduced cost. And if one needs to watch and wait and then crunch numbers a bit to get the best possible deal, that all lends a certain sense of accomplishment to sweeten the pot too. 'Shopping is the modern day version of hunting and gathering.'

How many people were on the phone or the web site asap the morning that WDW released the most recent special deals? How many of those people switched resorts/dates, or extended their length of stay, or spent just a little bit more to upgrade their resort category? Similarly, how many Americans go shopping at the after Thanksgiving Day sales? People love a perceived bargain, and trust me, the companies know how to use that fact to their advantage.

yes, I esp. like the hunters/gathering! So true.

 

[jthelman]

People love a perceived bargain, and trust me, the companies know how to use that fact to their advantage.

I absolutely agree, however 2 quick points:

• There becomes a point where you alienate more people with the hassle than you gain from the bargain hunt. IMHO, It's a fine line and Disney is going over the line to the hassle side.
  
• Disney is really making a lot of guesses on consumer spending habits. While I don't doubt these are educated guesses, the economy is so chaotic right now, you *can't* predict consumers. Case in point: park attendence is down 9%, which is pretty big, so they are in "react" mode right now. They may have seen this coming if they didn't play the discount games.

I do have to respect the evil genius behind the "free" dining plan. They further capture you as a buyer making their product exclusive, they still make huge profits, and the consumer feels like they got something for free. Brilliant! I love Disney products, so I'm not bashing them so much as admiring a game well played here.....

 

[disneyfan55]

I absolutely agree, however 2 quick points:

• There becomes a point where you alienate more people with the hassle than you gain from the bargain hunt. IMHO, It's a fine line and Disney is going over the line to the hassle side.
  
• Disney is really making a lot of guesses on consumer spending habits. While I don't doubt these are educated guesses, the economy is so chaotic right now, you *can't* predict consumers. Case in point: park attendence is down 9%, which is pretty big, so they are in "react" mode right now. They may have seen this coming if they didn't play the discount games.

I do have to respect the evil genius behind the "free" dining plan. They further capture you as a buyer making their product exclusive, they still make huge profits, and the consumer feels like they got something for free. Brilliant! I love Disney products, so I'm not bashing them so much as admiring a game well played here.....

FD and ME! they both tend to surely keep you 'on post' as my husband says!!

 

[bdtracey]

Aren't we the suckers that keep coming back for more punishment each and every time. My excuse every time I do it is "...well it really wasn't that bad..."

Planning (aka plotting and schemeing) can be fun but at times frustrating because there are always at least a dozen financial scenarios but to top that off we always add an emotional value to each scenario. For example: you could do 10 days at a moderate getting 30% off or do 5 days at a deluxe getting 40% off and 5 days at a moderate getting 30% off. The split stay will definitely cost more but at 40% you could be at a deluxe resort which have AMAZING themes, close to the parks, you could watch Wishes/giraffes/IllumiNations/etc from your balcony, etc, etc, etc. If we could somehow take the emotion out of booking a vacation it would be much easier but if we did that why would we be going on vacation.

Ah, yes, the viscious circle comes around yet again...

 

[disneyfan55]

And it gets worse if you're an AP holder. You have to figure savings, the cost of tickets you don't really want/need and the fact of putting out that money as well (I know the tickets are good for always but still the output) and now with more that 1 day ticket requirements lately, the packages really aren't that cost effective. The last few offers required up to 5 day passes (the free giftcard earlier this year) I know because I priced our Feb trip with AP discount (which are stay never was able to get for our resort) PIN of 40% off which we ended up using, the giftcard for a 5 day stay along with the 40% off for the other days-pain might have to change rooms but still had to check out /in, 7/4 required 4 day passes! We may have done a little better money wise but that would have included tickets we really didn't need. WE were getting APs and we already had 4 one day passes. So we did that and had the least cash out lay even though no extra tickets any more. I just didn't want to keep collecting tickets since it seems that almost all offers are requiring a longer ticket purchase. That's what we did-but a lot of math!! Always had the side number of leftover tickets to figure in!! really a pain! Now I'm really glad I didn't decide on the ticket thing - I would have had the 4 one day plus a 5 day!!

 

[topmonkeygirl]

I'm friggin exhausted after 3 days of this crap. You only get a percent off of theses dates but not on the weekends of these dates, you have to be a pass holder, it's only on these resorts, it's only on standard rooms, except for this resort then it's only club level, oh and while you're at it stand on your head while you talk to a CM who doesn't know what the hell is going on.

I spend an hour, one hour on the phone with a CM Monday checking to see if the code could be added to my reservation. Of course the answer was no. Then I asked her to add the dinning plan to my reservation and that's what took so long. She then told me it was a different reservation and that the money I originally put down would be added to this reservation. No problem. I then go to check on line a few hours later and the system was down.

Tuesday morning new codes came out and I called to check to see if they applied to me, another big fat NO. I was also told that my reservation had been cancelled the previous day because a deposite was not put down. It was the same deposit that was put down on the original reservaton. So I said O.K. fine put another deposit down for this one. I can't wait to see my statement and how bad they messed it up.

I totally agree this whole code thing is ridiculous, and frustrating. I'm staying away from the computer for a while and relaxing. Thanks for the headache Disney.

God knows I can't wait to go though.

 

[BriarRabbit]

The food analogy is pretty good!

 

[SuzanneSLO]

Its been years since I planned a vacation without using an excel spreadsheet, so I guess it seem pretty normal to me! -- Suzanne

 

[pulpinator]

I think that most people just go on the website or call, click on whatever discount they see first, and book a room. Most people don't come to the DIS boards or go to wdwinfo to see how many different discounts they could get, price them all out, etc.

So for the majority of the people visiting, they are probably not confused at all. Heck, the first time I went as an adult, I didn't know what discount, if any, I got. I called, I asked for the resort I wanted, they told me how much it cost, and I booked it.

Of course now I use spreadsheets to figure it all out. And it's not frustrating, it's a lot more fun to me!

 

[pmaurer74]

I took sales promotion in graduate school and they do know what they are doing, the problem is we will always EXPECT a deal now. I spent 3 months trying to get a 40% off code, I was so happy so DH and I could not agree on whether to upgrade to club level or add another day... we did both so we ended up spending $300 more than our already paid for vacation Disney lost no money off us suckers!

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Some excellent responses so far! All good points.

Personally, I mildly like that Disney offers different discounts, to a point - different discounts benefit different groups, and there is a tiny but of fun in figuring out which one is best...

Conversely, trying to explain it all to other family members, and trying to explain why we should or should add the dining plan this time around, why we have to go during a certain time frame, which room category, etc, gets very complicated. (and my extended family has been to WDW many times!)

In general, I like that I can get a good sense of what a Disney trip will cost in advance (Compared to other vacation spots) - but it's getting to be a challenge to do that.

Beyond that....I manage the DDP fairly easily, but I gotta admit, it's become WAAAY to cumbersome and complicated. Trying to explain all the choices and options to a first timer is horrible. There are different types of credits, buffets, non-buffets (some with price fixed options, some not) , 'family' style menus, adding tips and tax, a few restrictions on what you can order, Signature dining, character meals, the Pepper Market (a total mash up), refillable mugs, club level floors (okay not DDP). When you order: you can't just pick what you feel like eating, you have to make sure that your snack, drink, and dessert selections are included - and you have to decide on all of them when you place your order. You have to make sure you have the proper number of TS meals, QS meals and snacks.

The last two trips we've just done club level and no DDP. Simply put, it was much easier. At our TS meals, we just picked whatever we wanted: no restrictions, no thinking, no maximizing credits.

A few years back I disagreed with someone who said the DDP was too complicated....back then it was pretty simple and straightforward. Not anymore.

 

[staceylaurendave]

Spot on, I needed a good laugh. Wasted wayyy to much of my time trying to figure the best possible Disney deal.

 

[GPA1015]

 

[churchpilot]

Okay, I feel s-t-u-pid now! I wanted to come here and brag about the great deals I got. Just used the Annual Pass discount for our October and November trips, saving us big time, and booked free dining for February. We will apply our two day tickets to our annual pass renewal this April and have less to pay then! We don't even try and do the Disney math, just pray for discounts because Disney knows we are coming anyway. We are on schedule to make 6 trips this year, so Disney has nothing to worry about from us, no matter what they offer. Having annual passes for the first time has been an eye opener, because after you get over the shock of paying all that money up front, you practically feel like you are coming for free! We wanted to make Disney cry by tearing up the highway between us and them with our frequent "free" trips....how come I hear them laughing all the way to the bank?

 

[BecBennett]

I'm going to have to get me one of these spreadsheets...

 

[tinacaplan]

This thread is so funny to me, as I'm stuck in discount hell myself right now. Factor in plane fares and you can really go over the edge. Thus, this is how I'm looking at it: I booked a garden wing room at the Contemporary and have since decided to stay for six nights, given that I can get cheaper air fare. I am not saving money overall by doing this, but I'd prefer to spend as little on airfare as I can without switching planes sixteen times. Having said all of that, I am hoping for a discount, but I clearly see the ways they don't save you money. So, bottom line...if "all" I'm able to use is a AAA discount, so be it. I know where I want to stay and I'm locked in to when I can go, as both my husband and I are teachers, thus, we have our pick of some of the most expensive times of the year! I have budgeted X amount for the trip and I'm OK with that.