Why no love for passholders on rates?

[Dixie Luvr 98]

I really don't seee whining in tha majority of posts in this thread. I see people responding to Disney's business decisions.

We didn't renew our passes this year for the first time since 1998. Higher resort prices for AP holders factored into the decision, but weren't the only factor. Disney made a financial decision. We made a financial decision. No anger, no accusations.

In the future WDW may feel the need to court the business of passholders by offering deeper discounts again or they may not. I may miss making multiple trips in a year and relent and purchase AP's again. I may decide, as others have said, that there is a whole vacation world out there that I have been missing.

 

[C.Ann]

In the future WDW may feel the need to court the business of passholders by offering deeper discounts again or they may not. I may miss making multiple trips in a year and relent and purchase AP's again. I may decide, as others have said, that there is a whole vacation world out there that I have been missing.

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Or you could always do both.. Not every trip has to be to Disney - nor is there a need to purchase an AP if you don't plan on making enough trips that you feel you have gotten your purchase price back in return..

I've been over to the east coast this summer - Salem, MA and Boothbay Harbor, Maine - and if I can ever get my adult DD healthy enough we still want to make that solo trip to Nashville.. While I'm staying in Florida this winter I hope to get over to Texas to visit a friend - as well as visit many areas in Florida well beyond the Orlando area (St. Augustine for one - as well as Panama City on the Gulf coast..) It's a nice change and prevents the feeling of being "Disneyed out"..

Remember, "Variety is the spice of life.."

 

[dawgsgirl]

Dare I suggest to just take your money and stay off-site? I had an AP a couple of years ago and took 4 trips to Orlando. Three of those trips were off-site and we had a blast! I know this is the Resorts board, and most of you are on-site die-hards, but money talks in a big way with Disney.

 

[Dixie Luvr 98]

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Or you could always do both.. Not every trip has to be to Disney - nor is there a need to purchase an AP if you don't plan on making enough trips that you feel you have gotten your purchase price back in return..

I've been over to the east coast this summer - Salem, MA and Boothbay Harbor, Maine - and if I can ever get my adult DD healthy enough we still want to make that solo trip to Nashville.. While I'm staying in Florida this winter I hope to get over to Texas to visit a friend - as well as visit many areas in Florida well beyond the Orlando area (St. Augustine for one - as well as Panama City on the Gulf coast..) It's a nice change and prevents the feeling of being "Disneyed out"..

Remember, "Variety is the spice of life.."

Oh, I haven't given up on Disney. Too many memories to do that Just won't be purchasing annual passes in the foreseeable future. With school-aged children and their activities, vacation time is at a premium and with multi-day MYW pricing, I can't justify AP's. A trip to WDW every year or two and time to see some other places sounds good to me right now

 

[tinklvr64]

I don't think people are whining about special treatment because they own an AP. I think people are whining for special treatment because of the cost of the vacation.

If Disney wants to keep raising there prices, then fine, I'm ok with that. But, in the same token they better be raising there standards as well. This means rides and attractions better be functioning more often, Cast Members should go the extra mile, etc.

Rising costs to the consumer are fine, but now I think visitors to WDW are going to expect more and be less tolerable to error.

I totally agree with "cdpa4d"! Thanks you couldn't have said it better

 

[lovethattink]

I've been an AP holder since dh and I discovered Disney together in 1992. Back then, we had our AP and our Magic Kingdom Club Gold Cards (later to be called our Disney Dreams Card, then later to be completely discontinued). Each year from 1993 until 2001, the perks offered decreased. The perks went from filling a small booklet to filling a few tiny pages. In 2000 we were able to get a Fl resident PAP pass, when we moved to Central Florida, for nearly the same price as our out of state AP pass. I asked then why there was such a huge difference in price. The cm who sold me the ticket said back then, that Disney is trying to discourage out of state passholders. That they only have the pass to get discounts. I was kind of taken aback that he would say that. Then 9/11 hit and the parks became ghost towns for a few weeks. The discounts started appearing. The ads and discounts for Florida residents were numerous. Skip to 2006, as a passholder who goes to the parks at least once a week, and stays on property every other month, I noticed that in order to get one of those limited discounted rooms, I had to book the second I got the notification of the discount. Otherwise, if I waited over night, those rooms were gone. So for August, we spent the weekend at St. Augustine because we couldn't get a room discount. So for Sept, I got a preferred room rate at moderate for $124 with tax. For Thanksgiving weekend I was only able to get a standard at the same rate as my preferred in Sept. For December we got a standard moderate for $119. This is up alot from the past few years. A couple years ago we got Thanksgiving weekend at POR for $79/night standard.

As I walked around the Animal Kingdom on Sunday, I was shocked to see the wait times and the crowds. The people are here. The parks are still pretty crowded considering all our kids are back to school. Yesterday I went to Epcot and the crowds were thin first thing in the am, as usual. I noticed that the prices of soda are going up. Several of the carts had a sign for $2.25 for a bottle of soda, the other cart's signs still say $2. However, that is still down from the $2.50 they were a few years ago.

The lack of perks will not keep me from going to Disney. However, the lack of discounts do keep me from staying more stays on property. I have the luxury of a not-so-long drive, so this past year, I've made more day trips than usual. The last few years we stayed once a month or so. Now we've gone more to the beach for weekend stays since it's cheaper. So I guess what I'm trying to say, is that supply and demand definately drive Disney's money thought process. It's no suprise that perks are smaller, they have been decreasing every year.

 

[C.Ann]

I've been an AP holder since dh and I discovered Disney together in 1992. Back then, we had our AP and our Magic Kingdom Club Gold Cards (later to be called our Disney Dreams Card, then later to be completely discontinued). Each year from 1993 until 2001, the perks offered decreased. The perks went from filling a small booklet to filling a few tiny pages. In 2000 we were able to get a Fl resident PAP pass, when we moved to Central Florida, for nearly the same price as our out of state AP pass. I asked then why there was such a huge difference in price. The cm who sold me the ticket said back then, that Disney is trying to discourage out of state passholders. That they only have the pass to get discounts. I was kind of taken aback that he would say that. Then 9/11 hit and the parks became ghost towns for a few weeks. The discounts started appearing. The ads and discounts for Florida residents were numerous. Skip to 2006, as a passholder who goes to the parks at least once a week, and stays on property every other month, I noticed that in order to get one of those limited discounted rooms, I had to book the second I got the notification of the discount. Otherwise, if I waited over night, those rooms were gone. So for August, we spent the weekend at St. Augustine because we couldn't get a room discount. So for Sept, I got a preferred room rate at moderate for $124 with tax. For Thanksgiving weekend I was only able to get a standard at the same rate as my preferred in Sept. For December we got a standard moderate for $119. This is up alot from the past few years. A couple years ago we got Thanksgiving weekend at POR for $79/night standard.

As I walked around the Animal Kingdom on Sunday, I was shocked to see the wait times and the crowds. The people are here. The parks are still pretty crowded considering all our kids are back to school. Yesterday I went to Epcot and the crowds were thin first thing in the am, as usual. I noticed that the prices of soda are going up. Several of the carts had a sign for $2.25 for a bottle of soda, the other cart's signs still say $2. However, that is still down from the $2.50 they were a few years ago.

The lack of perks will not keep me from going to Disney. However, the lack of discounts do keep me from staying more stays on property. I have the luxury of a not-so-long drive, so this past year, I've made more day trips than usual. The last few years we stayed once a month or so. Now we've gone more to the beach for weekend stays since it's cheaper. So I guess what I'm trying to say, is that supply and demand definately drive Disney's money thought process. It's no suprise that perks are smaller, they have been decreasing every year.

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Very informative post.. Thanks! Do you think the free dining and/or the dining plan has anything to do with Disney raising their ticket prices twice in the same year? We're going down the first week in Dec. (which from what I've read was once considered a "slow" time of year in terms of crowds) and quite frankly, I'm expecting it to be at least moderately busy..

 

[lovethattink]

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Very informative post.. Thanks! Do you think the free dining and/or the dining plan has anything to do with Disney raising their ticket prices twice in the same year? We're going down the first week in Dec. (which from what I've read was once considered a "slow" time of year in terms of crowds) and quite frankly, I'm expecting it to be at least moderately busy..

C.Ann, I asked about that and was given a generic answer of "it was just time to increase prices".

As for the 1st week in December I wouldn't expect low crowds. In fact, I booked a room the weekend of Dec 8-10 and the only room available was at CSR. When I asked why, DisA said she'll be there for Mousefest. I'm not sure when mousefest is, but looks like I'll be there that weekend, lol. If anyone has the link, that would be appreciated.

edited to add: found out about mousefest. It starts Dec 3. http://www.mousefest.org/

 

[C.Ann]

edited to add: found out about mousefest. It starts Dec 3. http://www.mousefest.org/

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In the grand scheme of things, those numbers don't sound too awful bad and it looks like their presence in each park will be somewhat limited to specific days..

Crowds or no crowds, I can't wait to see WDW all decked out for Christmas!!!

 

[rt2dz]

I know this thread is pretty much dead, but I can't help but to post (it took me so long to read through it, with the kids and all). I find this post pretty much not on the nasty side, although a definite difference of opinion here, which has made it very interesting. And I completely understand where both sides are coming from.

We go to WDW once a year, 10 day trips each. With the Park Hoppers, it became a better choice economically to buy APs at 8 days. With Magic Your Way (+ park hopper), at 11 days. Until this year, for us. With DHs new job, he gets a sizable corporate discount on MYW tickets, which puts two 10 day tickets per person less than an AP. We are still buying one AP though.

Why? First, we did get an AP discount for Decembers trip. Is it much better than the AAA discount? No, but it still is better. It's mainly for reason #2: the DDE card. Last year after our discounts, we "made up" the cost of the card and covered the cost of one child AP. We'll use the DDE card this year & next, so we should cover the cost of the card & probably both MYW tickets this year and the Adult AP by next year (or close to it). Then there is the extra shopping savings, not that we use that much.

Yes, I'm buying the AP for the perk. Of course, this isn't gambling on discounts/perks to come, but what already exists. For the most park though, the perks are treated as perks. If an extra exists, take advantage; don't use the main item for the extras exclusively. We have a dividend credit card, but I don't purchase more than normal to get extra money (nor do we carry a balance). I'm signed up from Upromise, but I don't go out of my way to purchase Upromise products--it's just a nice little bonus.

The only change in our vacation to WDW this year (and maybe future years) would be buying through DHs company all tickets v. the one AP if the perk didn't exist. I'm not hurt or disappointed by dwindling perks; I have always purchased based on the cost of admission media without perks in the past, but current discounts/perks still make the AP more desirable than going without one altogether.

I do agree with cdpa4d on "I don't think people are whining about special treatment because they own an AP. I think people are whining for special treatment because of the cost of the vacation." WDW is not cheap, and every little thing helps. Especially when you aren't trying to give your kids a once in a lifetime trip, but a foundation in WDW trips and all that goes with them at different ages and stages.