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AVP
02-15-2011, 01:37 PM
A reader sent MousePlanet details of an online survey they received after a recent trip to the Disneyland Resort. The survey questions reveal some possible changes to hotel reservations policies at the Resort, and give a glimpse at possible future benefits. Some of the changes look intriguing, and some look downright loathsome.

Before we get into the details, I want to preface this by saying that just because something is included in a survey, it does not mean the Resort is going to make any changes anytime soon, if at all, or even in the format presented. Surveys like this are used to gauge consumer reaction to possible alternatives, and the final product / promotion / policy change will likely undergo several revisions before it's ever presented to the public. All that said, these surveys do provide a fascinating glimpse into what Disney is currently evaluating, and it's fun to chew over the possibilities.

This survey was about possible radical new changes to the Disneyland Resort Hotel reservations policies, and seemed to be based on a two-tier system. Guests who book full price packages would have access to new benefits and services (some at an additional cost), where guests who book discounted rates would be subject to a new set of restrictions.

On the positive side, Disney asked respondents to rate how appealing each of these possible perks would be for guests paying full price for their stay:


1 free character breakfast
1 free quick-service breakfast entrée and drink per person per night
Access to dining reservations 2 weeks before other guests
1 guaranteed World of Color FASTPASS for each member of party
Guaranteed early check-in after 8am
Complete reservation flexibility; no modification or cancellation fees
Complimentary round-trip shuttle between California airports and your Disneyland resort hotel
1 free FASTPASS for each member of party per night of stay
Access to free, supervised children's activities
1 Free refillable mug per person
1 guaranteed dining reservation at most Disneyland Resort restaurants.

None of the low- or no-cost -to-Disney items listed here, like the free Fastpasses, the World of Color Fastpass, the guaranteed dining reservation or the refillable mug, would make me change my booking practices. They are all just "value added" items which, like the free pins and lanyards and reserved seating coupons available if you book through select travel providers like AAA, are nice to have but not deal-makers for me. It is interesting to note that these are items not currently offered through any of those other travel providers, and I wonder if they are being considered as a new exclusive to the Disney Travel Company packages or for another travel provider.

The free character breakfast and quick-serve breakfast have some value, especially if they can be used at the hotels, where hot breakfast options are few and expensive. Guaranteed early check-in and access to children's activities (possibly a free pass to Pinocchio's Workshop) may be enticing to some depending on your travel plans. But are you going to be willing to pass up a 20-30% discount for any of them?

The most interesting benefit is the "complimentary round-trip shuttle between California airports and your Disneyland resort hotel." This not only may be a much more compelling offer to some travelers, but it's also the second indication I've had in recent weeks that Disney may be bringing a "Magical Express" type service, like that offered in Walt Disney World to the Southern California resort.

For guests who book at a discounted rate, Disney also asked survey respondents to evaluate how "restrictive" these potential new conditions would be:


Reservation deposits are not refundable, but are bankable for future use within two years
Choice of price range, but specific Resort assigned by the Disney Reservation system
Full payment at time of booking
Reservations are not eligible for upgrades
Magic Mornings are not available
Reservation deposits are not refundable, and cannot be banked for future use
Dining reservation booking window begins later than for other guests (30 days prior to arrival instead of 60 days)

With this Disney is signaling another potential change to their cancelation policy, this time making some of all of your reservation deposit non-refundable, but leaving the possibility that you may be able to "bank" that deposit for a future trip. I could see imposing such a penalty for changes less than a certain time out from the stay, say 60- or 90-days, but not telling me my deposit is forfeit the second I pay it.

Likewise, I'm not happy about the requirement that reservations for discounted rooms be paid at the time of booking, which essentially requires guests to choose between paying upfront or paying more. While such policies are common with deep-discount travel sites, I expect a bit more flexibility when booking directly from Disney. But the whole idea of Disney choosing my hotel for me is a deal-breaker. I do not want to have to pay full price for the Disneyland Hotel just to avoid being stuck at the Paradise Pier.

The Magic Morning restriction is odd because MM access is technically a function of your admission media, not your hotel. Most 3-day or longer park hopper tickets include one MM admission, though Disneyland Resort hotel guests are also allowed access to that benefit on a "space available" basis. Unless Disney changes their ticketing policy, I would expect visitors with qualifying park hopper tickets to still have access to that benefit, though annual passholders staying at the hotels would lose the option.

Finally, the 30-day window for dining reservations would require a larger change in Disney's restaurant operations, because Disney Dining currently operates with a 60-day window for all guests, regardless of whether they are staying at a Disneyland Resort hotel or not.

Now that you've seen the survey proposals, what do you think about these possible changes? Is Disney just taking reasonable steps to keep pace with trends in the hotel industry, (a similar policy change (http://mousepad.mouseplanet.com/showthread.php?t=161332) by local favorite and MousePlanet sponsor Howard Johnsons Anaheim Hotel was met with strong complaints when announced earlier this year), or is The Mouse going too far with these possible (but not confirmed, so don't panic quite yet) changes? Is it fair for Disney to penalize people who take advantage of the discounts Disney so prominently displays on their Web site?

Lilo143stitch
02-15-2011, 03:18 PM
I love the idea of early check in!

Susie63
02-15-2011, 04:19 PM
Well I wouldn't be interested. At most I would spend $100 on a character breakfast and $75 on transportation. Would I trade these for a discounted rate at a resort hotel. Very unlikely.
As for the restrictions...last stay at the DLH was $2400. Pay up front...I don't think so.
I don't make ADR's because I like to chill on holidays and eat when we feel like....same for MM. We closed the park every night so we never used them.
I hope they don't change too many policies or staying on-site will probably not happen for our next trip.

Mermaid
02-15-2011, 06:00 PM
Hmmmm the free breakfast per day in interesting, but I would have to see what the cost savings of the room is to see if that is worth it. I never have had a hard time getting dining reservations at DLR, so doing so early wouldn't matter to me at all. The Fastpass stuff is kind of eh for someone who understands Fastpass and can manage well with the free system. This may entice some less informed visitors though.

I am cheap though and none of that seems worth a 20-30% increase in price except maybe the loss or addition of MM. But, like AVP said, that is included in 3 day and higher parkhoppers anyway.

ogold72
02-15-2011, 08:04 PM
I dont like it one bit. What it feels to me is that those that only want a hotel room have been relegated to some sort of 2nd class status with onerous restrictions. The room only option stresses what you dont get, and you are penalized for not taking the full price deal, rather than just getting more for the full price deal.

As for what the full price deal provides, most of them are non-monetary perks that one can get for themselves, such as the fastpasses. Alot of the other benefits, such as airport shuttle, may not apply to any given guest, since many people drive to the parks or maybe even rent cars if they fly in. Regarding the breakfast, thats tangible, but I highly doubt that the increase in room rate is anywhere close to what one would pay for the "discounted" rate + the out of pocket cost of the breakfast.

It is also difficult to know what kind of "value" you might get for all of this until one is actually making a reservation and can compare the two rates side by side at the same time. If the cost difference is $20 per night (which is not going to be the case) then maybe, but if its getting into the 100's (thinking the advertised "30% discount" of a $300 for a 3 night stay means that the room will now be $390 per night, which means you are paying an addiltional $270 for the room (plus the commensurate taxes)- thats a pretty expensive breakfast.

No thanks. And if they ever impose a non-refundable or banked option I will never stay at a DLR hotel again. They are already charging an arm and a leg at their current "discounted" prices. Now they want to add penalties? They better think again on this one.

Drince88
02-16-2011, 04:59 AM
They don't have refillable mugs at the hotels now, do they? I thought they got rid of them after the first couple of years.

Iceman
02-16-2011, 05:19 AM
None of the perks sound all that compelling, and none of the penalties all that onerous. Then again, I live in SoCal and so only stay at the resort once or twice a year and do it on my own terms anyway. Thinking about this from the perspective of a "once in a lifetime" visit for someone from out of town, I think the combination of perks and penalties would definitely drive more people to get the full-priced packages.

Susie63
02-16-2011, 07:27 AM
None of the perks sound all that compelling, and none of the penalties all that onerous. Then again, I live in SoCal and so only stay at the resort once or twice a year and do it on my own terms anyway. Thinking about this from the perspective of a "once in a lifetime" visit for someone from out of town, I think the combination of perks and penalties would definitely drive more people to get the full-priced packages.

I can't really see any value added benefits that would be more attractive than a discounted room rate which in my case was 35% off the RR. Our first trip to Disneyland was our once in a lifetime trip;)(yeah...right) and I can't imagine that we would have stayed at the DLH if it had been 400+ a night for 8 nights.
Also,we booked our rooms and then waited for a seat sale for our flights for those dates. If the deposit were non refundable and a seat sale did not come up it is more than likely we would cancel our trip.I checked a seat sale last week(always planning an imaginary trip:D)and from my city to LAX was 1800.00 for three people.
I can't guess how it would affect So Cal residents but for someone who is going to spend thousands of dollars to go to Disneyland it would definitely make me think twice about staying onsite.

yellowrosedtxn
02-16-2011, 07:40 AM
Thinking about this from the perspective of a "once in a lifetime" visit for someone from out of town, I think the combination of perks and penalties would definitely drive more people to get the full-priced packages.

I can't guess how it would affect So Cal residents but for someone who is going to spend thousands of dollars to go to Disneyland it would definitely make me think twice about staying onsite.
I would have to agree with Susie on this one. I don't think I would want to pay full price for the package and stay onsite. Yes, some of the perks are good but at the same time not totally worth the cost of a full-priced package. I would be staying off site.

janell
02-16-2011, 10:28 AM
If I understand it right, with these new guide lines, if you take the discounted room you don't get to pick which hotel you are at? If that is the case it really makes me not all that interested in staying on property.

I also don't like that if you book at the discount rate that you wont be able to cancel and get a refund. What if you can't make it back to the DLR in the following two years? You have just tossed away money.

Bolivar
02-16-2011, 03:00 PM
What I think they need to do is to create more incentive to stay in one of the hotels. There are all these motels on Harbor that are a lot cheaper and while it is nice to stay on property so that you remain in the "Disney bubble", it isn't enough for the cost. They need to add amenities and service that make it worth staying on property. One thing I have always thought is that hotel guests should get some kind of privilege in the park. I am not sure what that is, but some way of making the hotel guest feel special (perhaps the old fastpass system people who booked through AAA got).

These incentives are nice, but rather than creating a tiered system of full fare vs. discounted fare guests, they need to offer something like these to get people to see the value of staying on property. I don't think these are enough, but if they figure it out and get that right then the demand for staying on property could go up to a point that they don't have to offer discounted rates, or at least not as much as they do now.

As presented, I don't think this is a good idea or enough to make people pay full price. I mean I am just going to look at how much I save on the room vs. what a shuttle or breakfast costs and do the math. And making discounted guests feel like second class citizens might actually have the unintended consequence of making them feel unappreciated and pushing them over to Harbor pushing occupancy down even lower.

fairestoneofall
02-16-2011, 03:10 PM
I don't think any of the offers are attractive enough to give up some of the freedoms that the plans offer. I did the survey and several of the packages indicated that you would NOT be able to pick your resort. I don't care what the price is (because, let's face it, it will never be $99/night) I don't want WDTC telling me which resort I'm going to stay in.
Also, some of the options didn't include MMs and we use MMs every single time we stay on property.
I could take or leave the character breakfasts. We do them a couple of times a year for special events.
All in all, I don't want my say to be taken away for a negligible discount.

skitch76
02-22-2011, 08:19 AM
I'm not crazy about any of those perks either. The World of Color fastpass maybe, but what do you bet it's just a run-of-the-mill pass? If it was one of the reserved spots you get when you book a dining package, it might be something to consider, but even then, the money you save by booking a discount package would probably pay for a dinner at Ariel's Grotto so you still might as well go that route and get a nice meal out of it.

foolishmortal
02-22-2011, 08:27 AM
Frankly I feel these are down grades not upgrades. They really are not "perks" your just paying for what was already given before.

Proves my point that every year you get less and less for your dollar. AS much as I LOVE Dl, it maybe enough to drive us to do other vactions in the fall instead.

Not getting to choose your hotel is a Big NO NO with us. That's a deal breaker for staying on prop. then.