Rumor of future discounts

[Sbunit]

Like many of you, my wife and I have recently booked a trip to Disney with hopes of receiving some sort of pin/discount. We have made it a tradition for us to book a Dec. holiday trip as our 2nd vacation of the year or a mini-vacation because we felt in past years it was affordable to do so. Not so much now with the way they've been raising their rates.

What bothers me the most, however, is not just their absurd rack rates (I think it's even more absurd they raise their rates and market themselves mainly to the average family of 4) but it's the RANDOMNESS of how they give out their discounts. We hate the fact that we have to play the waiting game and see whether or not the Disney Gods choose to smile on us and reward us with a PIN. Why can't Disney at least have a clear cut rewards system or better guidelines stating how one can qualify for a discount. I feel like we are all part of some big game they're playing with us.

We can afford to go this Decemeber whether we get a discount or not. But we both decided that if we don't get a PIN we are not going because as others have said, Disney is just not being honorable by giving some people random discounts and others nothing forcing them to pay over market rates. More so, there are tons of other people out there who continue to faithfully go year after year and have never received a PIN at all. We feel Disney is not doing anything for their loyal guests which is very frustrating.

 

[stepdisney]

Actually there are jean brands that don't go on sale, if I want that pair, I either pay, keep saving or walk into a different store and by a different pair that weren't the exact same brand that I wanted. Same thing, I may want to stay at the Contemporary so I pay for it, or if I can't afford it at rack rate than I keep saving or go to a moderate or value resort or go offsite and stay much cheaper. It's my choice. Geez people, all I was trying to get at was that we shouldn't expect (is that a better word??) a discount just because they've done it in the past and just because it would help us afford staying onsite vs. offsite or in a delux vs. a value, etc. :)

....buy off season at Nordstroms Rack. I agree that it is our "choice" but we have one more "choice" to shop wisely. All I'm saying is that we should expect a discount not because it would help us afford to stay on site but because the rates are so inflated that without a discount, we can't choose to ignore the inflated prices like we can when we are receiving a discount. It is easier to ignore that I can stay at the Waldorf for less than GF or YC when I'm getting my dining for free.

 

[saskdw]

I see in previous threads that people have mentioned that they book and then change their reservation when a better deal comes along. I am thinking about doing this in order to get my ADR's. Are there penalties for changing and can you only do it once?

You know you can make ADR's without booking a trip right? We already have all our ADR's made in case we go, but haven't made a room reservation until Disney comes to the party. All you need is an account on the Disney website to book ADR's.

 

[macraven]

I like how the 3 Universal Hotels have a "stay more save more" promo. The longer you stay the better the rate. A promo like that could go a long way to attracting the business of those of us who come for 2 weeks. They would more than make up for a cheaper rate with all the money we would spend while we are there that long.

yea, i like that rate.
i'm paying just a hair under $1400, which includes tax for a 7 night stay in a suite this fall at universal. (and i am bumping it up to include an 8th night there.)

the stay more play more is a general public discount that runs thru jan 2 '12.
anyone can use it.

i have been going to disney yearly and sometimes twice a year since 1993.
this fall will be my 18th year in a row going to see the mouse.

i stay onsite.

each year the rooms cost more and more, and only have received a pin one time.

the ticket prices keep increasing.
the only thing i have done to keep disney costs within my means is i bought ahead two years ago for tickets. 4 sets of 7 day hopper ne, and some non hopper, ne, passes.

i always book my time in orlando for about 16 nights. (give or take a night)

i would stay at a disney resort then move to the universal resort.


in the beginning, i would stay 11 nights onsite at disney.
then finish the vacation with 4 nights at universal.

if i don't get a pin or decent rate from disney, i shorten my stay there.

for the past 5 years i have dropped down to only 7 nights at disney and increased my nights at universal.

i have a budget and want to stay for over 2 weeks in florida.
i can only do that by going with the resort that has rates within my budget.

i thoroughly love being at disney but when i can get a deep discount at another deluxe resort, i spend more time there.

i won't stop going to disney due to the room prices, but i will end up spending less time onsite there.

i want more for my money.

 

[saskdw]

I am very fortunate to get an airline employee discount. Even with the deep discount I have never paid less than 275.00 for a deluxe room. I just booked a water view room at the the yachtclub and it was still 340.00 a night. Cl with 40% off is still between 400-500 a night. For the people the say the rooms are overinflated by 40% I would have agreed with you 2 years ago. Now I think its getting closer to 50%. If disney keeps raising the prices of rack rates a 40% discount isin't going to be enough to bring people in. I guess they don't realize people salaries aren't increasing.Even though are dollar is in the toilet so is the economy in europe. It will be interesting to see what happens over the next couple of years.

I would probably pay $340 a night for a water view room at the Yacht Club, problem is they want $500-$600 for that room at Christmas time.

 

[dandave]

What bothers me the most, however, is not just their absurd rack rates (I think it's even more absurd they raise their rates and market themselves mainly to the average family of 4) but it's the RANDOMNESS of how they give out their discounts. We hate the fact that we have to play the waiting game and see whether or not the Disney Gods choose to smile on us and reward us with a PIN. Why can't Disney at least have a clear cut rewards system or better guidelines stating how one can qualify for a discount. I feel like we are all part of some big game they're playing with us.

For the 10 or so years that I've been a member of the Dis, this has been going on. The games may have varied, but there were always games for discounts. I honestly believe that Disney gets a huge chunk of its fans through these games, too.
"Honey, that room at the AKL is $500 a night, but we can get it for only $300 a night because we got a PIN! Yes, I know! We can't afford not to go!!!"
or
"Well, if we buy AP's then we can get 40% off our room. Of course we'll have to make two or three trips this year to justify the extra we spent on the tickets. Think of all the money we saved on our room, though!"

And I'm not being snarky. I've enjoyed the games, too, at times. I just don't think anything that Disney can do will draw people in like giving big, fat, RANDOM, discounts. People enjoy the games. A sure-fire discount that anybody can get is boring. It's not worth the bother. People will pay rack rate rather than join AAA for it's stated discount. It's why people play the lottery, rather than putting money into savings. JMHO.

 

[princesspeach]

I would probably pay $340 a night for a water view room at the Yacht Club, problem is they want $500-$600 for that room at Christmas time.

I'm ok with paying 340.00 a night, but without the discount no way. In a couple of years it will be 400.00 night with a 40% discount. I think there was another poster on this thread thats gets a military rate with the same discount airline employees get, and they still can't stomach the prices. My hats off to people that are willing to go without a discount. The last 3 years the public discounts and ap rates have been better than my discount, but now my discount is the best out there, and its still a super expensive vacation. A 10 day stay in gv room at poly with a 40% discount in regular season plus tickets is close to 5000. Then Add in food,alcohol, and other stuff another its another 2000-2500. Not exactly a cheap vacation and we fly free. I honestly don't know how disney expects people to pay rack rate.

 

[princesspeach]

For the 10 or so years that I've been a member of the Dis, this has been going on. The games may have varied, but there were always games for discounts. I honestly believe that Disney gets a huge chunk of its fans through these games, too.
"Honey, that room at the AKL is $500 a night, but we can get it for only $300 a night because we got a PIN! Yes, I know! We can't afford not to go!!!"
or
"Well, if we buy AP's then we can get 40% off our room. Of course we'll have to make two or three trips this year to justify the extra we spent on the tickets. Think of all the money we saved on our room, though!"

And I'm not being snarky. I've enjoyed the games, too, at times. I just don't think anything that Disney can do will draw people in like giving big, fat, RANDOM, discounts. People enjoy the games. A sure-fire discount that anybody can get is boring. It's not worth the bother. People will pay rack rate rather than join AAA for it's stated discount. It's why people play the lottery, rather than putting money into savings. JMHO.

If you read my pp post I have a surefire discount every year it comes out in summer for the following year. I don't find it boring. I would not enjoy the games. I feel sorry for the people that really want to go and can't without a discount. I can't imagine anybody enjoying disneys stupid discount games. I think most people just wan't to book at a fair market price and not have to worry about all the silly discounts, and changing there reservations and rebooking etc. Maybe I am wrong, but that can't be fun.

 

[dandave]

If you read my pp post I have a surefire discount every year it comes out in summer for the following year. I don't find it boring. I would not enjoy the games. I feel sorry for the people that really want to go and can't without a discount. I can't imagine anybody enjoying disneys stupid discount games. I think most people just wan't to book at a fair market price and not have to worry about all the silly discounts, and changing there reservations and rebooking etc. Maybe I am wrong, but that can't be fun.

I get Military, FL Res, AAA, and AP discounts. I even got a Pin a few weeks ago. Some people do enjoy the games. There didn't used to be a "Discount Codes and Rates Board" on the Dis - just a Resorts Board. As I said, IMHO, it's fun for some.

 

[esmetutu]

If you read my pp post I have a surefire discount every year it comes out in summer for the following year. I don't find it boring. I would not enjoy the games. I feel sorry for the people that really want to go and can't without a discount. I can't imagine anybody enjoying disneys stupid discount games. I think most people just wan't to book at a fair market price and not have to worry about all the silly discounts, and changing there reservations and rebooking etc. Maybe I am wrong, but that can't be fun.

Thank you! Waiting for a discount isn't fun. I am totally willing and able to spend $125 on a moderate. At a fair market price this would be entirely possible. I'm the LAST person to complain about the price of things at Disney parks... we go to Disneyland at least once a month and buy every meal there, plus lots of merchandise. But we can't afford to stay on property there, even with an AP discount. Waiting for a WDW discount so we can stay on property is sucking all the fun out of things. And hearing about people getting huge discounts just a few weeks before we will be there or that they got a PIN for Free Dining DURING our dates, is just *sigh* disheartening! Why not us? Thank you for commiserating!

 

[SnipsNSnails]

We're staying in Sept. because I wanted to take advantage of my youngest still being under 3 at this point. We did get the memories package since it was a better discount than my pin code.

It's been about 2.5 years since we've stayed on site, though we've done a day a MK a couple of times when visiting my grandparents in the Orlando area. I LOVE Disney. We've stayed deluxe once at BC when I was 17 and believe me, I wanted in the worst way to stay deluxe again but I just couldn't justify the extra $$ above the mods even with my 40% pin.

I wish we could go every year but we can't afford that even now with the discounts. If there were no discounts, we couldn't afford this trip, at least the way we are doing it, mod w/ DDP.

I consider us very fortunate because my granparents live about 25-30 min from WDW, so if we wanted to go and stay off site, we could stay there for free and use one of their cars for the cost of gas, and I'm sure grandma would throw in breakfast too!

As a family we've stayed twice ontsite for about 4 days while we were already there for Christmas. At the very least, we usually go for one day. My parents are talking about another mini vacation inside the vacation for next year (2012) but instead of Disney, they are talking about a 4 day cruise (not DCL) because it's really much cheaper!

We'll have to see what Disney does. I don't figure we'll be looking to stay onsite again until at least 2014 or 2015 anyway. And no discounts would just push us toward staying at my granparents or trying out what Universal has to offer since my boys will be older at that point. I'm dying to see WWOHP and that would give me a really good excuse!

 

[dandave]

Thank you! Waiting for a discount isn't fun. I am totally willing and able to spend $125 on a moderate. At a fair market price this would be entirely possible.

But if you could afford to go with a $125 a night room, then why can't you go? Can't you get a Value resort for less than $125 a night?

 

[esmetutu]

But if you could afford to go with a $125 a night room, then why can't you go? Can't you get a Value resort for less than $125 a night?

Absolutely! And that was the original plan when we bought the airfare. Unfortunately, some unexpected health issues had the trip almost canceled and now a moderate would be better suited, or off-site. We are considering the Buena Vista Suites. But I'd love to stay on-site of course.

 

[dandave]

esmetutu, I sincerely hope that you do get a good discount. I, too, like the coziness of POFQ. The AS Sports is my favorite of the Values. It is much more compact and less crowded feeling than POP, if you do have to go with a Value.
Keep in mind that you may be able to rent points from the DVC rent/trade board or from David's Disney Vacations for the same price as a Moderate. He's a board sponsor, and he can rent you points to any DVC resort. I highly recommend OKW, if you want a lovely, serene, environment. I've stayed there twice. Good luck to you!
David's: http://www.facebook.com/#!/dvcRentals

 

[macraven]

But if you could afford to go with a $125 a night room, then why can't you go? Can't you get a Value resort for less than $125 a night?

with the allstars in another county, it has a higher tax.
i'm staying over there in the fall.

what i am paying for a saturday night there is listed as $122.


the new system of value 1 and value II season makes some dates a bit higher than the 'olden days' at the value resorts.

remember when you could hook a great promo rate on a room and it carried over until you checked out?

and when the weekends did not have higher prices....?


i loved those deals.


depending on the time period you go, if you can get a mod for $125 a night, grab it.
that's a great deal for a room!!

 

[jcemom]

esmetutu, I sincerely hope that you do get a good discount. I, too, like the coziness of POFQ. The AS Sports is my favorite of the Values. It is much more compact and less crowded feeling than POP, if you do have to go with a Value.
Keep in mind that you may be able to rent points from the DVC rent/trade board or from David's Disney Vacations for the same price as a Moderate. He's a board sponsor, and he can rent you points to any DVC resort. I highly recommend OKW, if you want a lovely, serene, environment. I've stayed there twice. Good luck to you!
David's: http://www.facebook.com/#!/dvcRentals

POFQ is great! The only mod we haven't stayed at is CSR. If there's a good discount, we'll try it next year, LOL.

The only value we've stayed at is Pop, and I didn't really care for it. The next time we try a value I'll consider Sports. We rent DVC probably every other trip. We loved the 2 bedroom we got at OKW a few years ago. Our favorite resort is AKL/AKV. Renting points is a great way to get a deluxe for the price of a mod.

 

[esmetutu]

esmetutu, I sincerely hope that you do get a good discount. I, too, like the coziness of POFQ. The AS Sports is my favorite of the Values. It is much more compact and less crowded feeling than POP, if you do have to go with a Value.
Keep in mind that you may be able to rent points from the DVC rent/trade board or from David's Disney Vacations for the same price as a Moderate. He's a board sponsor, and he can rent you points to any DVC resort. I highly recommend OKW, if you want a lovely, serene, environment. I've stayed there twice. Good luck to you!
David's: http://www.facebook.com/#!/dvcRentals

Thank you very much! Your kindness and information is very helpful. You hit the nail on the head in terms of exactly why POFQ, or something similar, is (going to HAVE to be) more our speed this time around. What's amazing is we can rent DVC points for almost $400 less than POFQ rack rate. I've been seriously considering renting points at OKW through David's and I'm glad to hear a positive recommendation. It looks absolutely beautiful and peaceful! I sort of put that idea on the back burner thinking by the time I ruled out discounts once and for all (maybe around late August) there'd be nothing available through David's. Maybe I should keep that option open. Thanks again!

 

[tyniknate]

Am I the only one who thinks Walt Disney would be turning over in his grave if he could see what has happened to his parks? Sure, they have always been there to make money, but the stockholders seem to have lost sight of the middle-class family and what they can afford seeing as the economy is what it is. Not only "fair market pricing", but also quality and value for the price. I think Walt would be ashamed of what has happened.

 

[wdwfan]

I just quickly priced a few things out for a real numbers comparison. This for my family to stay this December from the 14th-28th.
The numbers are fees and taxes paid for room only.

Disney Contemporary Resort:

Standard room: $6924
Tower theme park room : $8792

Hard Rock Universal(stay more save more promo):

Standard Room: $3418
Club Level: $4782

Bonnet Creek Hilton (On Disney property beside CBR).

Booking through LastMinuteTravel: $1732
Rack Rate: $2220

These 3 hotels are all comparable for room size, amenities, and overall luxury. The Bonnet Creek Hilton is arguably the nicest resort of the 3. So you can see Disney is really not in the game at their prices. It's not even close. Yes I will pay more for the Disney atmosphere and the extras like the bus service, but the price difference here is crazy. Again, its not about what I can afford, its a matter of fair value.

This comparison clearly outlines exactly how over priced Disney Deluxe hotels are at rack rate. Thank you for your informative post. My family typically stays deluxe at Disney, but with their prices going up, one has to really start questioning, even if you can afford it, is staying at a Disney deluxe the best way to spend my vacation money?

 

[auger]

Am I the only one who thinks Walt Disney would be turning over in his grave if he could see what has happened to his parks? Sure, they have always been there to make money, but the stockholders seem to have lost sight of the middle-class family and what they can afford seeing as the economy is what it is. Not only "fair market pricing", but also quality and value for the price. I think Walt would be ashamed of what has happened.

I totally agree with you. His dream was for it to be a place where anyone could afford to go. Growing up poor, he knew the hardships of life and wanted his park to be a reality/possibility for everyone.

But the stockholders want to see more money in their pockets each quarter. It's always about more money.

I know it's a business. But any business can decide whether to be a business that makes a fair profit, or a money-grubbing machine that no longer has a heart for the consumer or its founder's dreams/wishes.

It seems that they would realize that the business can't always see higher profits, esp when they come from constantly raising prices. At some point, your prices put your product out of reach of the average consumer, and in the end, you lose!