Rumor of future discounts

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Out of curiosity, do they usually limit the types of room available for the room-only discounts?
For example, let's say that they release 40% off deluxe; do you think that getting the Arusha view room (with the discount) would be possible?

How about # of days?

They may limit the types of rooms available. When they came out with the 4/3 offer we were booked for a deluxe room at WL. It wasn't included in the promo so we switched to the Poly CL with a theme park view. I don't think they would exclude Arusha view rooms, but recently Disny has offered a lower discount at certain hotels that may not be as hard to fill like AKL and POFQ.

 

[moepanz]

Exactly. I have no issues with paying appropriate prices for a good product. I'll buy Schwan's bacon every time (at $10/pound or whatever), order my kids the Lands End backpacks, etc. No problem doing that if I think it's a good product.

The problem is that for my family of 5, Disney does not have a good product. I don't want to stay in a value. I teach pre-K special ed and don't want to vacation in a place that reminds me of my classroom. I can't stomach the deluxe prices because no hotel room, no matter how close to a Disney park, is worth those prices. We love Riverside, but there's rumors Disney is doing away with the trundles... and it's probably not fair for me to ask my 18 year old, 6 foot tall son to sleep on a trundle just because we love the resort. (My other two are girls, so really the only choice is for him to use the trundle.)

Free dining is the only thing that will convince me to stay onsite. Free hopping/water parks just isn't going to do it (although that's what we used the last two trips and were grateful for it). Otherwise, I think we're going offsite. That means we'll eat offsite more often, spend our souvenir money offsite, and visit other parks. Disney's loss.

And no, the economy is not better. Disney is blind if they think that.

YES THIS!!!
We are a family of 5 and it is just way too expensive! When we were a family of 3 Disney was really a great deal (we went from family of 3 to 5 in on shot we had twins) It is just too much money without free dining or a huge discount period!

 

[tink20]

When and where do I look on Aug 13th or 15th for any future discounts? Will they be up here or do I need to go to the Disney website? I am looking for something for Feb 12'. I haven't booked yet, should I or should I wait? How fast are the discounts booked up, do you have to call that day or is one or two days later okay (in case I miss it) I am so exicited, the suspense is killing me

Oh, one more question, if the free hopper/water park is offered, could I get the non exp. or would that not be allowed, I was already thinking of getting 10day no exp, ph/wpm options.

 

[dunbarfamily]

YES THIS!!!
We are a family of 5 and it is just way too expensive! When we were a family of 3 Disney was really a great deal (we went from family of 3 to 5 in on shot we had twins) It is just too much money without free dining or a huge discount period!

I agree. Values are the only way we can go (unless we use our DVC) because we have a family of 6, soon to be 7, and we can't legally fit into just one room, not even the "family suites" at Music. So we really like to get these discounts on the rooms, or free dining, or something. It adds up VERY fast! Double hotel costs, TONS of food, etc. Plus cost of plane tickets, one income....etc, etc...

Waiting for discounts for mid October, though even if they don't come out with any, we only need one room so its not a deal breaker! Kids are staying with papa and grandma!

 

[havoc315]

When and where do I look on Aug 13th or 15th for any future discounts? Will they be up here or do I need to go to the Disney website? I am looking for something for Feb 12'. I haven't booked yet, should I or should I wait? How fast are the discounts booked up, do you have to call that day or is one or two days later okay (in case I miss it) I am so exicited, the suspense is killing me

Oh, one more question, if the free hopper/water park is offered, could I get the non exp. or would that not be allowed, I was already thinking of getting 10day no exp, ph/wpm options.

Like you, I'm hoping they announce 2012 discounts in mid-August. They did so in 2010.. but that's the only year. For prior years, they didn't announce any 2012 discounts till September or October, at earliest.

Discounts do not book up THAT fast. The most popular resorts may book up in a matter of days or weeks... but not hours.

You will find the discounts on Disney's special offers page. But you will likely here about them first, right here.

 

[tink20]

Like you, I'm hoping they announce 2012 discounts in mid-August. They did so in 2010.. but that's the only year. For prior years, they didn't announce any 2012 discounts till September or October, at earliest.

Discounts do not book up THAT fast. The most popular resorts may book up in a matter of days or weeks... but not hours.

You will find the discounts on Disney's special offers page. But you will likely here about them first, right here.

thanks!

 

[Goofypop]

Discounts do not book up THAT fast. The most popular resorts may book up in a matter of days or weeks... but not hours.

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with that. I'm not trying to be mean here so please don't take my disagreement that way. AND the situation may be different these days. But in 2008 I went a little nuts and decided to try out AAA travel instead of doing things myself like usual. The lines opened at Disney at 7am and even though we already had rooms booked at Pop Century we had to switch to ASSports because of a lazy TA at AAA and the fact that she didn't even start calling until 9am EST. The CM at Disney told her (I was on speaker phone in the TA's office) that all of the rooms were gone for Pop Century and all the was available was Sports.

 

[havoc315]

I'm sorry but I have to disagree with that. I'm not trying to be mean here so please don't take my disagreement that way. AND the situation may be different these days. But in 2008 I went a little nuts and decided to try out AAA travel instead of doing things myself like usual. The lines opened at Disney at 7am and even though we already had rooms booked at Pop Century we had to switch to ASSports because of a lazy TA at AAA and the fact that she didn't even start calling until 9am EST. The CM at Disney told her (I was on speaker phone in the TA's office) that all of the rooms were gone for Pop Century and all the was available was Sports.

But alas.. the question..... Did Pop even have availability at 7 am? If we are talking about a late-announced discount during a popular period, it's quite possible that availability was never even offered in that specific resort. I've seen other examples where POP was essentially excluded from discounts.

 

[chrisw127]

But alas.. the question..... Did Pop even have availability at 7 am? If we are talking about a late-announced discount during a popular period, it's quite possible that availability was never even offered in that specific resort. I've seen other examples where POP was essentially excluded from discounts.

I can assure you that some discounts are gone within the first day. Now, maybe you're also a TA and you call Disney a lot on the day that discounts come out and you haven't experienced this, but it does happen. And frankly, would you rather gamble and lose?

 

[Goofypop]

But alas.. the question..... Did Pop even have availability at 7 am? If we are talking about a late-announced discount during a popular period, it's quite possible that availability was never even offered in that specific resort. I've seen other examples where POP was essentially excluded from discounts.

Yes. They had availability but the CM said that the number of rooms alotted to Pop had already been hit.





•o• Sent from my ANDROID •o•

 

[havoc315]

I can assure you that some discounts are gone within the first day. Now, maybe you're also a TA and you call Disney a lot on the day that discounts come out and you haven't experienced this, but it does happen. And frankly, would you rather gamble and lose?

I will completely take your word for it. At least in regards to certain resorts and room-types.

And no, I wouldn't want to gamble and lose.

 

[Don Disney]

Boy am I glad that POP did'nt fill up that quickly in 08',09',and 10' when we got FD!!! And we certainly did NOT try to book on the first few days it was out there-found out late,but still got in!!! We will definately jump on it the"second" it comes out for this November!

 

[Goofypop]

Boy am I glad that POP did'nt fill up that quickly in 08',09',and 10' when we got FD

Maybe they opened more rooms for the discount but it was in October of 2008 when this happened to us.

 

[skater]

As we all anticipate discounts shortly..... to control our optimism, I'll remind us all what the Disney CEO said 3 months ago:

"On the parks trend side, Ben, you know, we work really hard to wean the consumer of the discount. And it worked in the second quarter, where we had slightly improved, if you factor out Easter attendance and occupancy rates, and better pricing, which was really important.
The goal remains the same for the third quarter, where as Jay mentioned we're running very slightly behind last year this time, bookings-wise, about 2.5%, but our pricing is up in the mid-single digits. And we feel that's basically in line with where we would like to be -- sorry, pricing is up in the double digits right now for the hotels that are reserved on the books.
And so with that in mind, we think that the consumer is willing to pay higher prices for good product, that's a good thing. They're still booking late, though. And I think that's interesting, because I think there's still an expectation in the marketplace that there's going to be some discounting. And that's probably why we're seeing the trends that we're seeing.
...
And we're going to continue to watch our pricing carefully with an eye toward not driving for volume at the expense of pricing -- continue to keep our pricing higher, so that we can send the signal that we need to send to the consumer that the economy is stronger than it was a few years ago, and that discounting that we obviously had to implement during the downturn is something of the past."

Just a reminder to have realistic expectations of the types of discounts to expect.

I just wonder what world they're living in . And while I'm a true Disney lover, maybe they had better work on keeping their product "good" at the same time.

 

[chrisw127]

I will completely take your word for it. At least in regards to certain resorts and room-types.

And no, I wouldn't want to gamble and lose.

Well, and you just never know. That's why the waits on the first day can be a couple hours long just to talk to a CM.

 

[chrisw127]

Boy am I glad that POP did'nt fill up that quickly in 08',09',and 10' when we got FD!!! And we certainly did NOT try to book on the first few days it was out there-found out late,but still got in!!! We will definately jump on it the"second" it comes out for this November!

The biggest issue I've seen has to do with room types. You might still be able to get a resort, but you're stuck with a more expensive room.

 

[chrisw127]

Maybe they opened more rooms for the discount but it was in October of 2008 when this happened to us.

They just did that with AP discounts at Pop. When the most recent AP rates came out, there was no availability at Pop. A couple of weeks later, you could get an AP discount on Pop rooms, but they were all preferred.

 

[KrazyKollector]

That's what I was thinking BrerMama. If that ends up being true then I'd have to wait until the end of October to find out if there's a discount for December. That's way too close for my liking and I'm already getting anxious about making sure EVERYTHING is taken care of next month at the latest.

I agree, that takes it way too close to the 45 day cut-off. I love how they get to "keep" your travel insurance also. I have 12 days left to cancel the trip insurance and wondering if it wouldn't be better going to a third party for it?

 

[MikeP22]

I agree, that takes it way too close to the 45 day cut-off. I love how they get to "keep" your travel insurance also. I have 12 days left to cancel the trip insurance and wondering if it wouldn't be better going to a third party for it?

I'm not sure how much you are paying but I have no doubt you'd pay a better rate for better coverage by going through a website like insuremytrip.com.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I've never really understood why people would go with insurance through whatever company they are traveling with (e.g., WDW, a cruise line, timeshare exchange company, etc). Especially folks who research their trips as obsessively as many of us do.

They are undoubtedly charging a premium to offer it to you and offer very little compared to what you could get (and for less $).

 

[flickwizard]

I just wonder what world they're living in . And while I'm a true Disney lover, maybe they had better work on keeping their product "good" at the same time.

Exactly. I am amazed Disney's CEO said this:

"...so that we can send the signal that we need to send to the consumer that the economy is stronger than it was a few years ago, and that discounting that we obviously had to implement during the downturn is something of the past."

I know GDP in the 4th quarter was 2.1%, which isn't great but better than it had been, but did you see the Commerce Department's announcement today? Not only was 2nd Quarter (April - June) GDP growth a dismal 1.3% (below forecasts), but they also revised 1st Quarter (January - March) GDP growth downward from 1.9% to an anemic 0.4%!

Oh, and consumer spending in the 2nd Quarter? Practically non-existent at 0.1%. Yes...it flat-lined.

But don't worry! Disney's CEO wants to "send the signal" that the recession is over and the economy is improving!