Times are hard at Disney?

[MJ6987]

Hi,
In the UK we are getting e mails from Disney. For Aug 2nd to Oct 3rd, in addition to 14 days park tickets for the price of 7 and free dining, they are offering 44% off bookings at Saratoga Springs and Old Key West!!

Matthew

 

[Chuck S]

We here in the States are not getting those kinds of offers. But I'm sure the current state of our economy is taking its toll on domestic vacation travel.

 

[moredisneyplease]

WOW! with the value of the dollar being so low thats like a free vacation to the folks in the UK!

 

[DisFlan]

WDW seems busy enough right now. I think they're looking ahead to what (worse) might be happening with the economy - both here and in the UK. People in discounted rooms with discounted tickets are better than empty rooms and fewer people in parks. We took advantage of the Bounce Back/free dining offer at SSR for next year while we were at BWV last week. It's not as good a discount as you are getting, but it's pretty good.

DisFlan

 

[jana]

It's good advertising and targeting a market that is seeing a huge benefit from the exchange rate. However how much are they actually "offering"

Free dining has been offered in that time frame for the last 3-4 years, it seems they are making their UK guests aware of it. Not many of the UK travel agents were getting it for their customers. It cuts down on Disney's commissions if the guests book direct so I'd guess they'd rather give the kick back to the guest direct instead of travel agents.

Disney's ticketing system of Magic your way means anything past 7 days is only a couple of bucks a day. It sounds like a big incentive, but the reality is it's a small cost to Disney, but it is a good deal for the UK guests.

Over the last couple of years DSSR and OKW have been packed with over flow from the value resorts on the free dining plan, maybe Disney's decided they might as well get an extra $50 a night up front than just upgrading people at the last minute.

It's a great deal for the UK guests, but it is really just making them more aware of the great deals that have been aware to people booking direct with Disney for the last 4 years

 

[Brian Noble]

It's good advertising and targeting a market that is seeing a huge benefit from the exchange rate.

Except that in the past two months, the pound has taken a bit of a beating vs. the dollar, and some analysts were predicting more of the same going forward. It's recovered some in the past two weeks, but there's still some uncertainty out there. That, combined with the recent failure of a major UK tour operator, may well have really cut back on advanced bookings to the States.

 

[DeeCee735]

WDW seems busy enough right now. I think they're looking ahead to what (worse) might be happening with the economy - both here and in the UK. People in discounted rooms with discounted tickets are better than empty rooms and fewer people in parks. We took advantage of the Bounce Back/free dining offer at SSR for next year while we were at BWV last week. It's not as good a discount as you are getting, but it's pretty good.

DisFlan

Is this for cash rooms or is this being offered to DVC members?

 

[DebbieB]

Is this for cash rooms or is this being offered to DVC members?

There are never discounts offered for points stays.

 

[boettj]

They are planning for the crest of the wave. Which it's doing that now. 780 point drop in the market today. Disney is smart. Many people will be forced to cancel reservations in the near future. God forbid, but I am afraid it's going to happen. If Disney can fill it's rooms at a lower rate, then they are better off then having no one there at all. This is a page right out of South Wests origins.

My family and I are planning on coming home next year. However, it's difficult to predict whether or not we will be able to do it.

 

[tidefan]

Actually, I think that DVC will see a bump from all of this. Since Disney offers it's own credit and really has nothing to lose from defaults (they just take back the points), I bet Disney will be one of the most liberal lenders out there.

 

[boettj]

Actually, I think that DVC will see a bump from all of this. Since Disney offers it's own credit and really has nothing to lose from defaults (they just take back the points), I bet Disney will be one of the most liberal lenders out there.

That is great that Disney will be one the most liberal lenders out there. Hower, you need to educate yourself to what might be coming. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Depression. I don't care if Disney is lending money, most people will not have the ability to borrow. Have you not stopped to wonder why this plan heated up so fast? Granted this issue has been at a slow boil for a while, but why out of the blue do you get both the Secretary of the Treasury and the Fed Chairman start talking publicly. As soon as this happens, an enormous bailout is announced. Does that not make you wonder? The government rarely moves so quickly. Their economic models must be predicting something on the order of Armageddon for Congress to get on board so quickly.


Sorry for the glass is empty shot, but I think people need to prepare for what is coming. And even if Congress passes a bailout, that will only push out this issue. I don't believe that 700 billion of credit will fix the issue.

 

[jschrots]

Actually, I think that DVC will see a bump from all of this. Since Disney offers it's own credit and really has nothing to lose from defaults (they just take back the points), I bet Disney will be one of the most liberal lenders out there.

So if people cannot pay their financing to DVC, Disney will just take it away from them? What else will happen? Collections agency? Bad Credit score?
What do you think?

 

[MJ6987]

Disney's ticketing system of Magic your way means anything past 7 days is only a couple of bucks a day. It sounds like a big incentive, but the reality is it's a small cost to Disney, but it is a good deal for the UK guests.

Just to clarify - these are not MYW tickets, they are the UK marketed "Ultimate" tickets where you get 7 or 14 days unlimited access to the Parks, Waterparks, etc with park hopping, but they just expire 14 (or 7) days after first use. But you are right that the difference in price between them is not that much.

 

[BWV Dreamin]

So if people cannot pay their financing to DVC, Disney will just take it away from them? What else will happen? Collections agency? Bad Credit score?
What do you think?

I don't think Disney is being responsible in getting folks into DVC, now for as little as $500.00. In addition to your comments, another fallout from folks not being able to pay for their contracts is a glut on the resale market. This only helps to drive down the resale value....the 'ole supply and demand. Disney does not want to hold onto defaulted points, as this is an added cost, which ultimately gets passed onto us. Disney needs to be prudent and tighten up their lending practices.

 

[SamSam]

I don't think Disney is being responsible in getting folks into DVC, now for as little as $500.00. In addition to your comments, another fallout from folks not being able to pay for their contracts is a glut on the resale market. This only helps to drive down the resale value....the 'ole supply and demand. Disney does not want to hold onto defaulted points, as this is an added cost, which ultimately gets passed onto us. Disney needs to be prudent and tighten up their lending practices.

JMO but I think people need to take responsiblity for themselves. If taking out a loan is squeezing your budget to tightly, then don't take out the loan. People buying what they can't afford is a large part of what has gotten the US into this mess.

 

[gallam5]

Agree ABSOLUTELY!
Don't spend what you don't have!! - and don't let your mind be controlled by media and have's and have nots!!

That being said! and i will go on record and quote:

"I AM A WORK IN PROGRESS!" - learning!!!

 

[5forDiz]

JMO but I think people need to take responsiblity for themselves. If taking out a loan is squeezing your budget to tightly, then don't take out the loan. People buying what they can't afford is a large part of what has gotten the US into this mess.

Agree ! AND in addition to being realistic about your personal financial abilities what's with financial institutions lending to folks amounts of $ that even under the best of circumstances they'd have difficulty meeting payments??

Remember back in the day when in order to qualify & prove you could pay back a loan, mortgage, etc. there was an extremely unbendable set of criteria a borrower had to meet ?

 

[gallam5]

As a former bank employee - I can tell you for a fact - they get something out of it when you borrow money - the more you borrow - the higher their bonuses are - and they in fact do skew the information in order to get an approval - not ALL - but some - for the most part they do not have your future financial circumstances at heart - we are trained to look at the big picture - but at the same time - 'MAKE sure you meet these sales goals we have for you'... so its no wonder that people are where they are... CRASH!

But I don't believe it is ever too late to change your habits and take positive steps to achieve a certain level of comfort.

BOTTOM LINE AGAIN - DO NOT SPEND WHAT YOU DON'T HAVE...
buy now pay later rarely works out - you are just lining someone else's pockets.
Save for it - you will appreciate it that much more!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

JMO but I think people need to take responsiblity for themselves. If taking out a loan is squeezing your budget to tightly, then don't take out the loan. People buying what they can't afford is a large part of what has gotten the US into this mess.

The blame must be shared...greedy buyers, greedy lenders. If they tighten up the lending criteria, lenders will lower their risk, and buyers will be forced to come up with more of a downpayment, which would make it a little harder for folks to walkaway. GREED by lenders, buyers, appraisers, banks, underwriters, real estate agents...I mean the list goes on, because everybody gets paid when a deal goes thru. They aren't considering whats in the best interest, just whats in the best interest FOR THEM! Anything to get the deal done, and now all have been bitten! Disney is no different, bottom line SALES. Anyway you can get them......

 

[boettj]

JMS, most people that accepted the loans are not educated enough to know better. This is not an excuse for them, but more of an understanding of the matter at hand. Neither the school or the parents are educating the kids on finance. Unless they take business classes in college, they have little to know knowledge of banking/credit. Much of this is common sense, but have you gone to a fast food restaurant over the past 20 years? These are part of the masses that have gotten in trouble with the bad loans.

On the other end of the spectrum are the speculators. Those that bought properties based on an ever increasing market. Their loss right? Well no. The US is going to bail them out on the backs of the middle class to keep the lending tree available.

The problem in the US does not lie solely with the credit crunch. It's much bigger than that. If we want to play the blame game, then look at all unions, minimum wage, Congress, the President, and greedy CEO's. All of them are culpable in this mess.

People are going to ask why the unions and minimum wage. Glad you asked. Unions have forced wages to sky rocket. This results in greater wages across the board to keep up with an ever expanding cost of living. Everything from good and services to taxes that pay for teachers salaries. In the case of factory unions like GM, Ford and Chrysler, they have moved factories to Mexico and Canada where it's cheaper to operate. Amazing that the thriving auto makers in the US, Toyota and Honda, don't have unions in their factories.

We buy many of the good that were once produced in the the US from other countries today. It amazes me that they can produce and ship those products from Asia and still make a profit greater than what could be made here in the US.

Everytime congress increases minimum wage in the US, the popluation pays a penality. While congress tries to tell you that they are elevating the poor. They are not. The result of an increase in minimum wage results in increases in costs of goods for places that pay minimum wage. This also translates in a decrease in wages for those making over minimum wage. Their pay will buy less as a result. If minimum wage is 5 per hour and someone is making 10 per hour. With a raise of just .50 cents per hour, the person making 10 per hour is not going to see a raise. Not only is that person not going to see a raise, but the goods and services that he or she buys is going to go up slighly. Thus their buying power is less.