Why does the S/D . . .

[Blondie]

Originally posted by GEM
If the S/D decide to offer a discount to unicycle riding midgets with red hair, that's certainly their right.

LOL!

Hey, I think you should be complaining to Disney's corporate headquarters. They could offer the same discounts, but choose not to. I think you should re-word your question to this "why doesn't Disney offer teacher and nurse's discounts like the Swan and Dolphin resorts?

 

[madge]

Originally posted by Blondie
LOL!

Hey, I think you should be complaining to Disney's corporate headquarters. They could offer the same discounts, but choose not to. I think you should re-word your question to this "why doesn't Disney offer teacher and nurse's discounts like the Swan and Dolphin resorts?

I agree!

For what it's worth, we booked government rates at the S/D before there was ever another discount available. The marketing people at the S/D saw a need and filled it. Quite well, from what it appears.

 

[Geoff_M]

...but I still think the single parent raising children on a factory worker's salary is just as deserving of a discount as anyone else.

No one is saying they aren't "deserving". I doubt that "neediness" enters into the equation in the hotel's marketing department. But let's say it did...

Say the S/D decides to offer a "single parent" discount. Well, the population of single parents is a lot larger than the population of teachers or nurses, and you only want to set aside a limited number of rooms for the discounts, so you're going to have to plan on turning away a lot of single parents that want the discount after the rooms are gone. Also, you'll need to figure out what the definition of a "single parent" is, and what proof you're going to accept. Is it the absence of a wedding ring? Do you want a copy of the divorce papers (if there are any)? If they have a live-in significant other, do they qualify? If they're single but wealthy, do they qualify? Do they need a copy of their last 1040? How does one put togther an easy to implement "single parent" discount program that's going to work?

 

[Poohlovr]

Man, I hate to get into these whizzin' contests, but, here it goes..

The S/D offers discounts to fill rooms that are not reserved, plain and simple.
Imagine going up against the Disney Marketing Machine, which is exactly what the S/D does. It's a tough thing to get people out of those Disney owned rooms into the S/D, so, there are multiple discounts offered as an incentive to make that happen.
Why those particular occupations?

The government discount, as stated, is offered at most chain hotels. Mr SwanDolphin(who used to be a frequent poster here)
just took it a step further and opened it to all government employees to get people out of the Disney owned hotels and into his.

Teacher discount--every year there is an awards ceremony at Disney for teachers. Why not entice them to stay at your hotel rather than another? Hence, the teacher discount. Since there was never anything that said it could only be offered during the time frame of the ceremony, it became available all year.

Nurse discount--this one is a little more personal. There is a Swan-Dolphin Cheerleader (the original ones--you can find them on the RB these days) who is a nurse. She kept badgering Mr SwanDolphin (and, after the birth of the Cheerleaders, they all became good friends with SwanDolphin) telling him nurses wanted to go to WDW too and stay at his hotel(,mostly just teasing him because of the teachers rate) His downfall came when he mentioned that his sister is also a nurse. The Cheerleader nurse then turned up the
pressure a notch. Lo and behold, the nurse discount was born.

We have the discounts that we have because SwanDolphin is a nice man. There are discounts availabe for everyone at the SD and you don't have to jump through hoops to qualify, nor wait untill the last minute wondering if your dates will be included.AAA, Entertainment book, AP. They are all easier to get than the Disney discounts and it's never "AAA who's been a member since 1954' stuff like Disney is pulling with their Visa Card.

Fair? Maybe not to all, but, then this world is not about fair.
But, there is a discounted rate for everyone out there. That's more than you can say about Disney.

OK--off my soapbox.

 

[sarahsmom73]

I have to put in my 2 cents! I am a teacher... Had to get my Masters Degree... I am certified in Music k -12, Reading K - 12 and am a couple of courses short in El. Ed... My Husband is also a teacher. Teaching is not a "cushy" job. We get the phone calls at dinner time...We comfort the kids when there is a messy divorce.. We feed the kids when there is no snack from home.. We buy hats and mittens for the kids who have none. We buy the stuff for our classrooms becasue there is not enough money in the budget for the things the children need.. There are always lessons to plan and new things to try... As for the money, I don't do it for the money. I started teaching at $26, 500. DH waits tables in the summer. When I linked my ressie to my starwood card, the woman on the other line saw that I had the teacher rate and told me that people that serve the community should get braks like this. To say we have a cushy job is just plain ignorant. Maybe people who think that teachers have a cushy job should walk a year in our shoes, and then tell us how cushy it is! As you can see I take my profession very seriously and I can't believe that people are "mad" because we are able to get a break!

BTW Thank you to everyone who supports us! We appreiciate it!

 

[The Pluto People]

Poohlovr: I absolutely agree with you regarding Mr Swan Dolphin - he has been wonderful in offering discounts at these two beautiful resorts. He also started the Disney Club and AP discounts at the S/D. It is so nice not to have to wait and jump through hoops to get an AP discount at the S/D the way all those poor people are waiting for Disney resort AP rates to be released! Did want to mention that my DS and her DH who make over $200,000 (way over) stayed at the Dolphin in Sept. My Sis is a very well paid gov't worker, her DH works for a drug company,and, oh my, they got 2 rooms at the government rate of $139 (I told her about it!). Kinda makes you think....

 

[The Pluto People]

I'm not mad! And if you love teaching and you love kids and you get paid $75000 for working 10 months a year doing what you love, with tenure, paid benefits, and a great pension system...then YES that is a cushy job.

 

[Trekker]

Well - this went downhill very fast - a debate about teacher's wages and what is fair and not fair does not belong on the resort board.

This is closed.

If you feel the need to debate this - please go to the debate board and word your thread in the proper form of a debate - otherwise it just sounds like an argumant.