UK Jealousy

[vault19dweller]

Okay, I'm so jealous of the UK right now!

If you book a 2015 trip you get

• 14-Day Ultimate Ticket for the price of a 7-day ticket
• $100 Disney dollars spending money
• AND free dining!!!! (you read that right - free dining for your entire stay)

Its kinda crazy, wish we had something like that!
The most Aussies get is a very outdated DVD -_-

Just know its such a long hall to go there I tend to try to make the most of it with a longer stay, as I'm sure others would also.

Wouldn't it be nice to have something like this?!
I, honestly, want that deal so much

 

[DVCAustralia]

They regularly have great deals.
It is funny that this ridiculous regional marketing has survived so long in this age when everyone can find out about it if they simply look.
There are simply not enough Australians going there yet to secure us the best deals, the English and in particular the Brazilians are a MUCH bigger market.

 

[vault19dweller]

Totally get what your saying with them having bigger markets.

I personally know a lot of Aussies who have done DLR & always wanted to do WDW but just couldn't justify the insane prices after factoring in the effort to get there (aka: a lot more would go there if there was an option like the UK have)

Those who do go, because of the work and costs to get there, do tend to stay for a fair while longer just to try to justify it.

I dunno, just think it'd be nice was all

 

[coco392]

need to have uk relatives or friends to dodge it up.

with nothing being posted by snail mail anymore could you just give a uk address -no10 Downing Street and get away with it!

 

[LivingforDisney]

Totally agree, they could offer us the same as the UK, after all we are part of the Commonwealth!!

 

[zanzibar138]

need to have uk relatives or friends to dodge it up.

with nothing being posted by snail mail anymore could you just give a uk address -no10 Downing Street and get away with it!

I believe they will ask for a proof of address. I wouldn't want to risk getting caught out!

 

[Sugarglider]

I believe they will ask for a proof of address. I wouldn't want to risk getting caught out!

One stay I used a UK travel agent and online check in, my personal address was never checked or requested. when I checked in and they wanted a credit card against the room, I gave them an Aussie card and, I don't know if they can tell the country, but they swiped it and accepted it. All went smoothly.

Also - I just came back from a June stay, which I booked directly with them, and Disney did post me a receipt in snail mail here to Australia. They also sent me an email confirmation.

 

[Epcotfan64]

I'm an annual passholder and live an hour east of Disney World.

I hate to tell you this, but the Brits have always been given special treatment at WDW. In fact, not only do they have vacation packages that aren't available to others, they can actually pay for them in pounds sterling. Canadians, who have surpassed the Brits as the number of WDW park visitors, still have to book their Disney vacations in American dollars. I imagine Australians have to book their Disney vacations in American dollars, too.

There's a smaller airport in Central Florida called Sanford. Most flights to this airport originate from the UK, not sure why. In fact, there are signs outside of the terminal reminding passengers to look to their left. Americans, of course, don't need to be reminded to do so.

If you go to local supermarkets around Disney World, you will see shelves and shelves of British products. Local pub type restaurants offer free UK Telegraph newspapers. You can't count 10 minutes in any WDW park without hearing one of several different British accents. It's gotten to the point that I can even point them out without hearing them say a word--they usually have soccer hooligan shaved heads (dad), Posh Spice bob haircuts (long on the side, short in the back, for mum) and the kids are usually wearing Manchester United shirts. There are dozens of pubs in the area, too, that fly the Union Jack flag outside.

I've thought about writing to the Central FL tourist board to see if they would consider renaming Central FL to UK South. I think the only thing left to accommodate the Brits would be to ask car rental agencies to offer right-hand-drive vehicles.

Why does the Central FL region cater to one specific group? (Well, they're doing so now with Brazilians, but that's another story.) I don't know. The Brits aren't the only Europeans to spend money in Central FL. Lufthansa a few years ago started nonstop flights to Orlando, and Norwegian Air now offers nonstop flights to Orlando from Oslo.

 

[WanderlustNZ]

It is annoying and, as mentioned above, these deals have been offered to the British for a very long time.

When I emailed a few years back to see if kiwis could make use of these deals I was told "No". I needed to be a resident of Britain or the EU. So at the time at least, these deals were open to most of Europe.

I lived in the UK for a few years and I can say that competition amongst the travel market is fierce. The Sunday paper would have a whole section full of amazing travel deals, and I found I could do great trips across to the continent on just a week of wages. With competition like this, any destination not offering deals is going to get overlooked for the one that is. It's a bit like the cruising industry in the USA. I balk at the deals US residents can get for their cruises, particularly Florida locals or people with the ability to travel at the last minute, and it makes me envious.
Unfortunately it is just a case of supply and demand and it's what these businesses need to do to attract customers and stay in business.

We are such a small market here Downunder, we tend to get overlooked. Particularly when you consider the percentage of our travellers who go to the US is pretty small. I have noticed more and more deals being offered for the likes of Thailand and Indonesia, because that seems to be where a lot of our travellers go. Perhaps if we can start convincing fellow ANZACs of the joys of WDW we might start seeing some deals.

 

[ssour]

The UK have their own version of the Walt Disney Travel Company which services the UK and EU. They book directly through them, the discounts aren't offered and booked through the US Walt Disney Travel Company we are forced to use. I can't see us ever getting our own version of this, we're just too small, so we're stuck booking with the US and their not as exciting deals.

 

[zanzibar138]

I know it's much consolation, but at least we are able to get the 10 day hoppers for DLR. On a couple of boards I've seen Europeans who were planning a trip to DLR complain about how the Aussies get special treatment. It's annoying that we can't access any discounts on accommodation or dining though, like they can with WDW.

 

[DVCAustralia]

Just picking up on a couple of recent posts: -
The 'special' 10 day pass is actually a more expensive downgraded version of the 14 day pass. It is NOTHING like the special deals the UK and EU get for both WDW and Disneyland Paris.
Ironically there is actually a Disney office in Australia, and they are starting to appear at travel shows and even do a presentation there. Unfortunately it is yet to result in anything particularly great for Australians travelling to WDW in particular.
The special deals for Thailand, Indonesia and also Fiji are a result of accommodation overcapacity in these markets and the low cost airlines expanding to do short-haul international flights. The US is up there in terms of the number of Australians visitors travelling to these countries, but except for airfares on the over-supplied SYD-LA route the deals are not as good, particular airfares to Hawaii.
The UKness of central Florida is certainly a product of the huge number of tourists from there, indeed I think I-Drive and Saratoga Springs DVC would have failed without them, but it also has to do with the number who decide to live there either part time or full time. Don't get me started on the Brazilian tour groups.

Actually I have given up expecting much to change and personally I do not even really mind now. As a DVC owner it has made renting spare points much easier for me and I can help other Australians at the same time. Further, I still find the generally available 10 day WDW ticket the best ticket option and the quick service dining plan along with cash buffet breakfasts good value.

 

[Tamara NZ]

I wonder if a UK citizen could get that deal or if they would have to be a resident. I have duel citizenship, was born and bred in NZ but my father is English so I have a UK passport as well. Might have to look into that.

 

[ssour]

Ironically there is actually a Disney office in Australia, and they are starting to appear at travel shows and even do a presentation there. Unfortunately it is yet to result in anything particularly great for Australians travelling to WDW in particular.

The local office is just for marketing and dealing with Aussie wholesalers, they don't sell direct to the public like the Walt Disney Travel Company does. So I too can't see anything changing unfortunately.

 

[zanzibar138]

The 'special' 10 day pass is actually a more expensive downgraded version of the 14 day pass. It is NOTHING like the special deals the UK and EU get for both WDW and Disneyland Paris.

I agree the 10 day pass for DLR is nowhere near what the Europeans get for WDW, but at least it's something. Imagine if we didn't even have that!

 

[Globalfootprint]

I agree.

Its frustrating that even though any of us could really book through any website but cant get the same deals.

Noone I believe in the world needs to fly as far as us to go to WDW resort.

Im going in September and I better enjoy it so should the kids because we will never be able to afford to go again.

 

[zanzibar138]

Im going in September and I better enjoy it so should the kids because we will never be able to afford to go again.

No pressure

 

[losfp]

The local office is just for marketing and dealing with Aussie wholesalers, they don't sell direct to the public like the Walt Disney Travel Company does. So I too can't see anything changing unfortunately.

Yep. I was at the Discover USA expo in Sydney a couple weeks back and watched the Disney Parks preso. Was a lot of fun, but would have been better if the rep didn't get her time mixed up and had to cut it short because she was late

During the presentation, she kept telling everyone to talk to their agent for any booking enquiries, so clearly their role here in Australia is almost purely a marketing one (she had on a Disney Parks cast member badge, so I assume has nothing to do with home media or merchandising).

WDW for us will be a much less frequent trip than DLR just due to sheer distance. We're going next year, but I can see the next few Disney trips being DLR only.

 

[Globalfootprint]

Yep. I was at the Discover USA expo in Sydney a couple weeks back and watched the Disney Parks preso. Was a lot of fun, but would have been better if the rep didn't get her time mixed up and had to cut it short because she was late

During the presentation, she kept telling everyone to talk to their agent for any booking enquiries, so clearly their role here in Australia is almost purely a marketing one (she had on a Disney Parks cast member badge, so I assume has nothing to do with home media or merchandising).

WDW for us will be a much less frequent trip than DLR just due to sheer distance. We're going next year, but I can see the next few Disney trips being DLR only.

We are the same. We will probably go back to DL after this trip or even to America. But I doubt we will be back to Flora, its just too far