Cruise and Theme Park Operational Updates due to Coronavirus

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1334142749856165889

 

[Khobbs18]

Disney cannot compete with DVC owners trying to unload points right now. We have a studio January 8 day/7 night stay at the poly for 1,250. That is insane. $10 per point- cancelled for a studio stay more than twice the price with an AP discount.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Yeah, this is why when I went in September I stayed off site in a timeshare. There was ZERO value to staying on site. No magic hours, no FP window and incredibly high prices for hotel rooms. Disney is going to have to do something much better to entice more people to stay on-site. The perks are gone for now.

The only reason I would pay the insane rate we booked is because of the holiday decorations. Thanksgiving week is prime time for them. I love walking through our resort lobby every day when the trees are up. I have to decide if that's worth it once we see the discounts drop.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1334142749856165889

This. Is. Awesome.
I love shopping at Sams Club for this reason alone. Even if they only roll it out to their biggest shops, I can see big benefit here in terms of time savings.
Hopefully they (TWDC) would keep and even beef up CM on the floor for assisting guests with finding items and returns, etc.

Oh, and they need a way to finalize purchases and drop them off for package delivery back to the resort. This is a seriously lacking perk right now.

 

[Just654]

Disney cannot compete with DVC owners trying to unload points right now. We have a studio January 8 day/7 night stay at the poly for 1,250. That is insane. $10 per point- cancelled for a studio stay more than twice the price with an AP discount.

Yep, I got $9 a point for trip back in the middle of Nov.

 

[Just654]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1334142749856165889

Now if they just find away to charge to room/magic band within the app. So annoying with mobile ordering not able to charge to my room/magic band.

 

[sullivan.kscott]

Now if they just find away to charge to room/magic band within the app. So annoying with mobile ordering not able to charge to my room/magic band.

Just store the same card as your MB is linked to.
If you mean GC, I agree 100%. Hopefully the Disneygiftcard.com revamp includes a mobile wallet functionality that can be tied to your MDE account since they’ll be on a single sign on platform at that point.
Copying and pasting GC numbers into mobile orders if that’s how you’re paying, or trying to convince TS servers that they can scan your phone for a digital GC gets tiring.

 

[tink2424]

The only reason I would pay the insane rate we booked is because of the holiday decorations. Thanksgiving week is prime time for them. I love walking through our resort lobby every day when the trees are up. I have to decide if that's worth it once we see the discounts drop.

Ok, but you don't have to stay on-site to see the decorations. You can drive to disney springs and take a bus to the resorts or even make an ADR to be able to park at the resort and then take Disney transportation from there. Absolutely no perk for staying on site besides transportation which you can get a rental car or even use Uber/Lyft and still come home with hundreds of extra dollars in your pocket.

I have really enjoyed my prior trips staying on site but Disney will need to have some serious perks for me to come back. It really is no longer worth it to me when I can stay off site and have just about the same experience as an on-site guest. And just adding back the FP window won't do it for me. The EMH's were a big deal and without those I will save the money from an on-site stay and just pay for EMM or other limited event.

 

[gottalovepluto]

The rack rates for November 2021 are STUPID. There are obviously many things that can come back/change to make onsite appealing again, but I’m really disappointed in how high they are now. Throwing a 30% room discount out on those rates is a joke. I booked a moderate because I can’t book AKL yet and the other deluxes were way too much for what they’re offering.

You made me curious...

All Star Movies for June 2021 is $185/219. That is so much for such a small room. ☹

To compare: Doubletree Suites is $130 and kids under 12 eat free.

Disney is counting on their 50th as a silver bullet. Personally I think they’ll be disappointed after the first week when they find out the general public isn’t interested in paying the latest and greatly increased rack rate prices that die hard Disney nerds will pay to be there for the actual day.

 

[MrsBooch]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I never stayed on site for the FP or EMH - we stayed on site to be close to the parks, for transportation, for the resort activities/recreational things, and for the theming! (even before buying into DVC) - we love the onsite stays. Otherwise it's just another vacation.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1334142749856165889

Cool - that is like how we shop at our grocery store, makes it so much easier and quicker

 

[Just654]

Just store the same card as your MB is linked to.
If you mean GC, I agree 100%. Hopefully the Disneygiftcard.com revamp includes a mobile wallet functionality that can be tied to your MDE account since they’ll be on a single sign on platform at that point.
Copying and pasting GC numbers into mobile orders if that’s how you’re paying, or trying to convince TS servers that they can scan your phone for a digital GC gets tiring.

Very true, my case is a little different. My CC I use for Disney is any charge over $249 is interest free for 6 months. So I do not like to put small charges on that card.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I never stayed on site for the FP or EMH - we stayed on site to be close to the parks, for transportation, for the resort activities/recreational things, and for the theming! (even before buying into DVC) - we love the onsite stays. Otherwise it's just another vacation.

Those things are nice but I just can't justify the cost just for those things .... But we more often stay off property anyway in "normal" times, generally due to costs. If we had to pay on site prices we would go much less often

 

[abs1978]

@MrsBooch we just got back and must have been there the same 8 days! I agree with most of your assessments. It was really an amazing trip. We had the most fun we've had in ages. I loved not having FP's to hunt down. It really helped me turn off the real world and just enjoy being in Disney. It's rainy and cold here today and I miss it already!

 

[SaintsManiac]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I never stayed on site for the FP or EMH - we stayed on site to be close to the parks, for transportation, for the resort activities/recreational things, and for the theming! (even before buying into DVC) - we love the onsite stays. Otherwise it's just another vacation.

Giving up the bubble would be very hard for me. Right now we are crunching the numbers, because we want to go to the beach for spring break. If I have to downgrade to do both I will. We desperately need vacations!

 

[hereforthechurros]

While I'm hesitant to draw many comparisons between the 9/11 aftermath and this situation, history does seem to be repeating itself within Resort Operations and Walt Disney Travel. They'll continue to try to maintain "price integrity" and hold the current price point while reducing inventory through resort closures and shuttering parts of "open" resorts until the efficacy of even that starts to wane (which, given where the pandemic is headed, seems to be already happening). Then, you'll start seeing the unusual discounts that will spark some demand (which, had they offered months earlier, would've likely been just as effective). People forget that the DDP (and Free Dining) was created several years after 9/11 as a way to fill rooms that they just weren't able to fill. It's fascinating to me how much they've learned over the last 20 years but also how little they've learned at the same time.

Well said my man.

 

[MrsBooch]

It really helped me turn off the real world and just enjoy being in Disney.

1000% this

 

[tlmadden73]

Maybe I'm in the minority but I never stayed on site for the FP or EMH - we stayed on site to be close to the parks, for transportation, for the resort activities/recreational things, and for the theming! (even before buying into DVC) - we love the onsite stays. Otherwise it's just another vacation.

FP+ and (previously) free parking at the resort (since we drove) was my main PERK reasons for staying on site besides the "ambience" (theming). I also enjoyed not having to drive every morning. It made it a relaxing vacation and "different" than staying at regular chain hotel (or even rental property).

I am still planning on staying on-site next trip (January) purely due to theming and a huge discount that brought the cost of a Little Mermaid room to the cheapest I have seen in a long while .. but the cost is getting up there for what you are getting (small room and no free food).

If the transportation is slow and cumbersome (due to covid restrictions), I'll rethink my future stays for sure.

 

[Befferk]

You made me curious...

All Star Movies for June 2021 is $185/219. That is so much for such a small room. ☹

To compare: Doubletree Suites is $130 and kids under 12 eat free.

This is why we stay offsite and pay $150/night for a 3 bed/2 bath townhouse w/ our own small pool and can be on Disney property in 5 minutes.

 

[tlmadden73]

While I'm hesitant to draw many comparisons between the 9/11 aftermath and this situation, history does seem to be repeating itself within Resort Operations and Walt Disney Travel. They'll continue to try to maintain "price integrity" and hold the current price point while reducing inventory through resort closures and shuttering parts of "open" resorts until the efficacy of even that starts to wane (which, given where the pandemic is headed, seems to be already happening). Then, you'll start seeing the unusual discounts that will spark some demand (which, had they offered months earlier, would've likely been just as effective). People forget that the DDP (and Free Dining) was created several years after 9/11 as a way to fill rooms that they just weren't able to fill. It's fascinating to me how much they've learned over the last 20 years but also how little they've learned at the same time.

Agree .. they definitely seem to be striving for "price integrity" right now.

It just doesn't seem like they can (or able to) to do that with all the restrictions in place. They don't want to encourage TOO many people to come back and they can't really offer more perks (because that takes more staff and with reduced capacity, they may not make up that cost with new guests).

But .. are we getting to the point we've all sorta wanted them to be in? Just charging MORE so demand would be lower and the parks would be less crowded?

Is paying more worth less crowds?