TSM standby-less test Oct. 6-9

[cakebaker]

Wait, so you think they will keep room discounts, but you're ok with them axing free dining?

I guess we can decipher which discount you prefer!

It's early- brain hasn't kicked in quite yet, so maybe that was a bit confusing.

I'm for them getting rid of all the discounts. Just put the price out there and stop with the bargain hunting! The first one I want gone is free dining. I hate it.

That said, it's incredibly difficult to get people off discounts once you put them out there- it's a drug, pure and simple. So I'm not sure how they'd successfully go about doing that. The uproar would be huge.

 

[ArwenMarie]

It's early- brain hasn't kicked in quite yet, so maybe that was a bit confusing.

I'm for them getting rid of all the discounts. Just put the price out there and stop with the bargain hunting! The first one I want gone is free dining. I hate it.

That said, it's incredibly difficult to get people off discounts once you put them out there- it's a drug, pure and simple. So I'm not sure how they'd successfully go about doing that. The uproar would be huge.

There is the bargain hunting but a lot of people do pay the rack rates as well. So they try to see what they can charge and they do get it in many cases.

As far as getting rid of the discounts, I think they will just do it the same way they got people off of paper FP. One day it's there, the next day it's not. Poof.

But yes, the uproar will be huge, although not as huge as the uproar from getting rid of paper FP.

 

[robinb]

I'm for them getting rid of all the discounts. Just put the price out there and stop with the bargain hunting! The first one I want gone is free dining. I hate it.

I'm curious why you hate "free dining". It can be a MUCH better discount than most room-only discounts depending on the ages of the people in the room.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

I think Disney is just looking to make staying onsite a bit more attractive so they can do away with a small amount but not all of the discounting. As you implied the effect of the standby-less approach on the value of staying onsite is small so the effect of it on discounting will be small. Every little bit counts. Some guests will like it. Some guests won't. There is no reason to think Disney isn't going to do just enough to make things a bit better for themselves but not so much that it wouldn't be better for themselves.

I think that is very finr line for Disny to walk. If they go to tiering system. I think that it will teir by availability (ie= Deluxe book at 70. Mods book at 60, value book at 50) insted of number of FP. I think offering more FP to Deluxe resorts would leave turn off too many people. I also think that outside of MK, they don't have the availability for it. And unless they make it another tier one FP, what good would it be in Epcot of DHS anyway.

I would much prefer to see no advantage for onsite versus offsite because of all the larger families and extended families I know who can only afford Disney by staying in a cheap motel or sharing a house.

However, having taken full advantage of Universal's onsite express passes myself, I recognize Disney's right to give onsite guests an advantage, even when the hotel is $$$$.

OTOH, it is okay only as long as offsite guests can arrive at rope drop and ride standby on anything they did not get a FP+ for. When we were at Islands of Adventure, everything but FJ was basically a walk-on until 10 a.m. and FJ did not accept the express pass. Completely preventing offsite guests from riding something would not be fair, and neither would it be fair to make it a complicated game of trying to catch FP+ as they are released during the day.

Disney should also recognize that, if families feel pushed to stay onsite, many, especially those with families over four people, will shorten the Disney portion of their trips or give up on WDW entirely because of the expense. Budgets are not as flexible as they seem to think. This would be less true if Disney offered a budget option for families of five or six. Even with off-season room discounts, the cheapest room for five was $180 and the cheapest for six is much more. Gives us a no-frills budget with a pull-out couch like Comfort Suites or at least rollaways like a Days Inn.

Not to mention that families staying in a suite at ASmu or MoA are paying more than families staying in a mod.

 

[cakebaker]

I'm curious why you hate "free dining". It can be a MUCH better discount than most room-only discounts depending on the ages of the people in the room.

Oh my, I was kind of hoping no one would ask. You'll probably be sorry you did...but here goes:

First, it's usually only a better deal if you're staying at a value, and then it is a reduced plan. But still, pay $100 you get a room and some food for up to 4 people. No matter, we wouldn't touch a free dining discount no matter how good the deal. It's a pia and it turns your vacation into nothing but planning meals and trying to figure out just how much you can manage to get. I see people all the time talking about what the most expensive thing on the menu is- not what they want to eat but what costs the most? Is crazy...

But, my hatred of it has nothing to do with whether it's a good deal or not. It is nigh on to impossible to get adr's during free dining unless you book 6 months out. We searched for weeks looking for 1 single sit down meal, Mama Melrose for our last trip. We finally got it a few days before we left.

This time we stayed AOA, last time it was POP (giving the values a shot). The food court- OMG. The lines at the stations while people figure out do they want the grapes or do they want the carrots that comes with kid meal- where's little susie- I need to know which she wants..blah, blah, blah....Because god knows, it's free and you couldn't possibly waste all that free-ness and pick the wrong one. Yeah, well little Suzie is laying out in the middle of the floor of the food court apparently making snow angels in the dust while you take 3 hours to order your meals! Just get the damn bag of grapes. She can eat them or not!!!

Then the register while people who don't have a clue how the free dining works figure out.... wait!!! this that or the other is included- oh my god- I have to go back and get it cause even though I don't really want it, it's free sooo.....

And I suppose it doesn't matter that you can't get an ADR during free dining because they've dumbed down the menus so badly to make up for giving it away that there are few places even worth eating at anymore.

It's a freakin' mess, it's wildly popular so the parks and resorts are packed. I hate, hate, hate it. When I get the question I always get- are you on the dining plan?- I proudly say no, and I swear I see a wave of relief pass over the cm's face.

I hate it to the point of being unhealthy.

And please, no one tell me how many restaurants they got to do walk up or how easy they secured their ADR with only 24 hours to plan. Great- glad you could do it. Maybe you could share your table with us because we never can, so either it's hard or the disney gods have cursed us. Either way adr's aren't happening on trips we make during free dining.

Sorry you asked, aren't you. I feel better now though.

 

[Laketravis]

Come on, tell us how you REALLY feel about free dining.

Oh my, I was kind of hoping no one would ask. You'll probably be sorry you did...but here goes:

First, it's usually only a better deal if you're staying at a value, and then it is a reduced plan. But still, pay $100 you get a room and some food for up to 4 people. No matter, we wouldn't touch a free dining discount no matter how good the deal. It's a pia and it turns your vacation into nothing but planning meals and trying to figure out just how much you can manage to get. I see people all the time talking about what the most expensive thing on the menu is- not what they want to eat but what costs the most? Is crazy...

But, my hatred of it has nothing to do with whether it's a good deal or not. It is nigh on to impossible to get adr's during free dining unless you book 6 months out. We searched for weeks looking for 1 single sit down meal, Mama Melrose for our last trip. We finally got it a few days before we left.

This time we stayed AOA, last time it was POP (giving the values a shot). The food court- OMG. The lines at the stations while people figure out do they want the grapes or do they want the carrots that comes with kid meal- where's little susie- I need to know which she wants..blah, blah, blah....Because god knows, it's free and you couldn't possibly waste all that free-ness and pick the wrong one. Yeah, well little Suzie is laying out in the middle of the floor of the food court apparently making snow angels in the dust while you take 3 hours to order your meals! Just get the damn bag of grapes. She can eat them or not!!!

Then the register while people who don't have a clue how the free dining works figure out.... wait!!! this that or the other is included- oh my god- I have to go back and get it cause even though I don't really want it, it's free sooo.....

And I suppose it doesn't matter that you can't get an ADR during free dining because they've dumbed down the menus so badly to make up for giving it away that there are few places even worth eating at anymore.

It's a freakin' mess, it's wildly popular so the parks and resorts are packed. I hate, hate, hate it. When I get the question I always get- are you on the dining plan?- I proudly say no, and I swear I see a wave of relief pass over the cm's face.

I hate it to the point of being unhealthy.

And please, no one tell me how many restaurants they got to do walk up or how easy they secured their ADR with only 24 hours to plan. Great- glad you could do it. Maybe you could share your table with us because we never can, so either it's hard or the disney gods have cursed us. Either way adr's aren't happening on trips we make during free dining.

Sorry you asked, aren't you. I feel better now though.

 

[jcemom]

Oh my, I was kind of hoping no one would ask. You'll probably be sorry you did...but here goes:

First, it's usually only a better deal if you're staying at a value, and then it is a reduced plan. But still, pay $100 you get a room and some food for up to 4 people. No matter, we wouldn't touch a free dining discount no matter how good the deal. It's a pia and it turns your vacation into nothing but planning meals and trying to figure out just how much you can manage to get. I see people all the time talking about what the most expensive thing on the menu is- not what they want to eat but what costs the most? Is crazy...

But, my hatred of it has nothing to do with whether it's a good deal or not. It is nigh on to impossible to get adr's during free dining unless you book 6 months out. We searched for weeks looking for 1 single sit down meal, Mama Melrose for our last trip. We finally got it a few days before we left.

This time we stayed AOA, last time it was POP (giving the values a shot). The food court- OMG. The lines at the stations while people figure out do they want the grapes or do they want the carrots that comes with kid meal- where's little susie- I need to know which she wants..blah, blah, blah....Because god knows, it's free and you couldn't possibly waste all that free-ness and pick the wrong one. Yeah, well little Suzie is laying out in the middle of the floor of the food court apparently making snow angels in the dust while you take 3 hours to order your meals! Just get the damn bag of grapes. She can eat them or not!!!

Then the register while people who don't have a clue how the free dining works figure out.... wait!!! this that or the other is included- oh my god- I have to go back and get it cause even though I don't really want it, it's free sooo.....

And I suppose it doesn't matter that you can't get an ADR during free dining because they've dumbed down the menus so badly to make up for giving it away that there are few places even worth eating at anymore.

It's a freakin' mess, it's wildly popular so the parks and resorts are packed. I hate, hate, hate it. When I get the question I always get- are you on the dining plan?- I proudly say no, and I swear I see a wave of relief pass over the cm's face.

I hate it to the point of being unhealthy.

And please, no one tell me how many restaurants they got to do walk up or how easy they secured their ADR with only 24 hours to plan. Great- glad you could do it. Maybe you could share your table with us because we never can, so either it's hard or the disney gods have cursed us. Either way adr's aren't happening on trips we make during free dining.

Sorry you asked, aren't you. I feel better now though.

I agree with you. I'll admit to booking free dining now and then, when it works out for us financially (which is not often, because there are usually only two of us and we don't like the value resorts). I don't like the way the food at Disney has changed, and I think much of it is due to free dining and the DDP in general. The lack of available ADRs during free dining (which happens to be when we usually travel) is annoying to no end. ** I am happy to be DDP-free in December! LOL **

 

[cakebaker]

Come on, tell us how you REALLY feel about free dining.

I promise I won't do it again...at least not today. If nothing else, that should put an end to the question of whether I'm a Disney apologist or not.

 

[Laketravis]

Also consider my edits for a moment and how some could feel as passionately as you about something completely different:

...And please, no one tell me how many ATTRACTIONS they got to do walk up or how easy they secured their FP's with 60 DAYS to plan. Great- glad you could do it. Maybe you could share your FP's with us because we never can, so either it's hard or the disney gods have cursed us. Either way FP's aren't happening on trips we make....

.

 

[flicx]

Oh my, I was kind of hoping no one would ask. You'll probably be sorry you did...but here goes:

First, it's usually only a better deal if you're staying at a value, and then it is a reduced plan. But still, pay $100 you get a room and some food for up to 4 people. No matter, we wouldn't touch a free dining discount no matter how good the deal. It's a pia and it turns your vacation into nothing but planning meals and trying to figure out just how much you can manage to get. I see people all the time talking about what the most expensive thing on the menu is- not what they want to eat but what costs the most? Is crazy...

But, my hatred of it has nothing to do with whether it's a good deal or not. It is nigh on to impossible to get adr's during free dining unless you book 6 months out. We searched for weeks looking for 1 single sit down meal, Mama Melrose for our last trip. We finally got it a few days before we left.

This time we stayed AOA, last time it was POP (giving the values a shot). The food court- OMG. The lines at the stations while people figure out do they want the grapes or do they want the carrots that comes with kid meal- where's little susie- I need to know which she wants..blah, blah, blah....Because god knows, it's free and you couldn't possibly waste all that free-ness and pick the wrong one. Yeah, well little Suzie is laying out in the middle of the floor of the food court apparently making snow angels in the dust while you take 3 hours to order your meals! Just get the damn bag of grapes. She can eat them or not!!!

Then the register while people who don't have a clue how the free dining works figure out.... wait!!! this that or the other is included- oh my god- I have to go back and get it cause even though I don't really want it, it's free sooo.....

And I suppose it doesn't matter that you can't get an ADR during free dining because they've dumbed down the menus so badly to make up for giving it away that there are few places even worth eating at anymore.

It's a freakin' mess, it's wildly popular so the parks and resorts are packed. I hate, hate, hate it. When I get the question I always get- are you on the dining plan?- I proudly say no, and I swear I see a wave of relief pass over the cm's face.

I hate it to the point of being unhealthy.

And please, no one tell me how many restaurants they got to do walk up or how easy they secured their ADR with only 24 hours to plan. Great- glad you could do it. Maybe you could share your table with us because we never can, so either it's hard or the disney gods have cursed us. Either way adr's aren't happening on trips we make during free dining.

Sorry you asked, aren't you. I feel better now though.

Your whole free dining experience sounds eerily similar to what a lot of people are experiencing on the new fast pass system.

 

[FlipHipster]

Your whole free dining experience sounds eerily similar to what a lot of people are experiencing on the new fast pass system.

If Disney can get enough people adv. booking it won't matter whether you want to or not, you won't have a choice.

 

[jcemom]

Also consider my edits for a moment and how some could feel as passionately as you about something completely different:






.

Your whole free dining experience sounds eerily similar to what a lot of people are experiencing on the new fast pass system.

So true!

 

[cakebaker]

Also consider my edits for a moment and how some could feel as passionately as you about something completely different:






.

Ohhhh.....zing! That's good, very good.

 

[cakebaker]

Your whole free dining experience sounds eerily similar to what a lot of people are experiencing on the new fast pass system.

I certainly can't ague with that.

Imagine if I hated free dining AND fp+- I don't think I could take it.

 

[grimley1968]

I certainly can't ague with that.

Imagine if I hated free dining AND fp+- I don't think I could take it.

That's how many people on here, including me, feel. Disney has been making it tough lately for me to keep justifying vacations there.

 

[Suvadoo]

I've read on other posts that free dining is being offered in November. Maybe this is the reason there are limited FP+ reservations available at 30 days out.
Nothing increases disney hotel occupancy, like the offer of free food!

 

[Laketravis]

I certainly can't ague with that.

Imagine if I hated free dining AND fp+- I don't think I could take it.

LOL!

I actually like free dining from a cost perspective, we've gotten it for every visit the past 4 years, but I do agree with you that the long term effects of FD have and are completely negative.

In regards to FP, I also like certain aspects of it but like FD I think it will be harmful in the long run.

 

[vacationer1954]

I think that is very finr line for Disny to walk.

That's true regardless of what they do. They have to please hotel guests and park guests and investors and suppliers and cast members so they are always walking a fine line with someone.

 

[surferdave]

I certainly can't ague with that.

Imagine if I hated free dining AND fp+- I don't think I could take it.

I had the same thought as the caveman and almost replied to you in similar manner, but decided to leave you alone; after seeing how busy you were here this weekend I'm wondering when you find time to bake.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

They could change from Free Dining to "Double FP+" for low seasons with purchase of an onsite package. That way the bottom line increases over a free dining offer.