How to help WDW make more money and make guests happier

[ford91exploder]

Great Thread

One thing about the great executive purge at Disney is that Iger is probably using the economic situation to replace much of the Eisner/Pressler 'old guard' - Pressler "The only moving part I want to see in the park is a cash register drawer" this is legendary but no one can be sure it was really ever said but the philosophy of cost cutting was surely in place.

Now onto things that make guest's happy

1 - FastPasses for resort guests - Disney could endow the KTTK with 3-5instant FP's per day like the DVC FP's you get for doing the presentation
this is not excessive and unfair to the regular guests but it does add value to a Disney Resort Stay

2 - Free shipping for purchases over $75 and/or a voucher for the business center for shipping if your purchases exceed $250 in total over the entire stay.

3 - Adding SWA to the participating Airlines for ME return trips

4 - Boys character meals
POTC would be great as well, Monster's Inc ( a great buddy movie )
Star Wars

5 - Bring back Walt's obsessive maintenance no bulbs burned out no chipped paint

6 - AP/DVC ticket discounts
Give AP and/or DVC holders the chance to purchase a limited number of discounted tickets each year for guests staying on Disney property.

7 - A Afternoon pass/ticket like the convention tickets so that those people who can only visit in the late afternoon and evening have a incentive to do so DLR does this already.

8 - Free hopper option for Property guests

The goal here is to get more people staying on property and visiting the resort. Part of the problem here has been the finance types unable to allow even a single dollar to be left on the table. When I was in the parts brokerage business we always had the lowest prices so the other guy could make money as well sure we could have made more if we sat on it until someone was desperate for the part and would buy at any price but we wanted people to buy from us so we made it easy to spend money!

The Pressler model of charge for everything needs to change as ordinary folks see this as nickle and diming so what Disney needs to do is to get people's minds off money and they will spend more in AGGREGATE and that is what really counts not each individual business unit maximizing their profit at the expense of the other business units the 'Beggar thy Neighbor' strategy what matters is that Disney makes money not that 'Food and Beverage' revenues increased 15% but Disney revenues dropped %4 Disney managers need to see things as a SYSTEM not just their piece of the pie .

This is exactly what happens when government lowers taxes - more money comes in because people are no longer so concerned about preventing the govt from getting their money as it is no longer worth the effort.

 

[pdmedic]

Yet another vote for a boy oriented character meal. I would love to see PotC or Monsters Inc. or Power Rangers or something.

I'm also another vote for changing the dining plan back to include appetizer and tip and would be willing to pay more for this. Another thing would be to add the drink mug to the regular dining plan not just the QSDP and DDxDP.

The extra (instant) fast passes would be great but I'm not sure if it would work since you have the numbers of people that stay on site I think that number would be a lot greater then just those with birthdays or those willing to sit through the DVC sales presentation.

More variety in kids meals at table service restaurants.

A Star Wars themed restaurant with characters would be great and would get other members of my family down.

Keep up with newer releases such as Wall-E, Ratatouille, Etc....

 

[Dee77]

Here's a couple I don't think have been mentioned yet-

I believe they should come up with a third price category for park tickets and the dining plan to represent children 10-14. (seriously a 10 year old same price as an adult???)

For special events like MVMCP which require a paid ticket, they should make obvious efforts to get all others out of the parks. (based on what I have read the # of tickets sold has gone up and many people are seen without wristbands) With the current set up I will go once and possibly only once if I think other people are getting the same perks without paying the $$.

Select guests at resorts or hotels as well as the parks (give them a gift card or fastpasses) and have them randomly selct a great mousekeeper or busdriver, CM or food service employee that fulfills the expectations of a great employee, after x number received by said CM, give the employee a reward. Hopefully this will keep CM's on their toes and reward the ones that go above and beyond to make a guest feel the magic.

Other points already made that I agree with:

special perks for resort based visitors or frequent visitors

appetizers and gratuity included with the DDP, even though I realize they will have to charge more

more events and special attractions for boys

 

[redrosesix]

Great Thread

One thing about the great executive purge at Disney is that Iger is probably using the economic situation to replace much of the Eisner/Pressler 'old guard' - Pressler "The only moving part I want to see in the park is a cash register drawer" this is legendary but no one can be sure it was really ever said but the philosophy of cost cutting was surely in place.

Now onto things that make guest's happy

1 - FastPasses for resort guests - Disney could endow the KTTK with 3-5instant FP's per day like the DVC FP's you get for doing the presentation
this is not excessive and unfair to the regular guests but it does add value to a Disney Resort Stay

2 - Free shipping for purchases over $75 and/or a voucher for the business center for shipping if your purchases exceed $250 in total over the entire stay.

3 - Adding SWA to the participating Airlines for ME return trips

4 - Boys character meals
POTC would be great as well, Monster's Inc ( a great buddy movie )
Star Wars

5 - Bring back Walt's obsessive maintenance no bulbs burned out no chipped paint

6 - AP/DVC ticket discounts
Give AP and/or DVC holders the chance to purchase a limited number of discounted tickets each year for guests staying on Disney property.

7 - A Afternoon pass/ticket like the convention tickets so that those people who can only visit in the late afternoon and evening have a incentive to do so DLR does this already.

8 - Free hopper option for Property guests

The goal here is to get more people staying on property and visiting the resort. Part of the problem here has been the finance types unable to allow even a single dollar to be left on the table. When I was in the parts brokerage business we always had the lowest prices so the other guy could make money as well sure we could have made more if we sat on it until someone was desperate for the part and would buy at any price but we wanted people to buy from us so we made it easy to spend money!

The Pressler model of charge for everything needs to change as ordinary folks see this as nickle and diming so what Disney needs to do is to get people's minds off money and they will spend more in AGGREGATE and that is what really counts not each individual business unit maximizing their profit at the expense of the other business units the 'Beggar thy Neighbor' strategy what matters is that Disney makes money not that 'Food and Beverage' revenues increased 15% but Disney revenues dropped %4 Disney managers need to see things as a SYSTEM not just their piece of the pie .

This is exactly what happens when government lowers taxes - more money comes in because people are no longer so concerned about preventing the govt from getting their money as it is no longer worth the effort.

These are excellent points! Really shows the overlap between how things should be improved for resort guests and park guests ie. even if they make it more fun to stay at the resorts, there is little incentive for those guests to visit WDW parks as opposed to Seaworld or other non-WDW theme parks and attractions.

And about the Food and Beverage revenues? Seems to me that would not be the most important area to increase revenues as WDW has little control over the costs of the inputs eg. increasing prices of grain products. So even if they work hard to increase food and beverage revenues, they may be making less profit.

They can't count on 1st time visitors to fill the void, especially in today's economy -- most people who haven't been there think it's too expensive, or are going to compare the cost to vacationing somewhere else. And it's the resort guests, the multi-trip families that are going to notice the chipped paint and closed rides the most.

 

[BostonRob]

I believe they should come up with a third price category for park tickets and the dining plan to represent children 10-14. (seriously a 10 year old same price as an adult???)

I've seen a few people mention this. As far as dining plan goes, it does seem unfair to charge an adult price for a 10 year old, but if you look at your typical 14 year old boy, he probable eats MORE than your typical adult.

 

[trekker93]

I think the FP for people staying on site is right on. They might even consider a Star Wars themed shooting are for boys using laser rifles, located in the HS area. Also, how about an Indiana Jones type haunted house?
They should also institute counters at the bus waiting areas that will automatically tell the trans. dept. how people are waiting to be picked up (if you feed this into a system it could automatically reroute the nearest bus.)

 

[Metro West]

Yes, I think it's called "front of the line" pass? They sell the same privilege too - Express Pass or something like that. When we return to US/IOA in a couple of years (to see Harry Potter world!!!), we will be purchasing the special passes. I think the off-site pass available for purchase was about US$20/person for one day.

The onsite guest perk is the unlimited access to the Express pass lane. The only difference is the pay EP is only for one time through for each attraction and onsite guests have unlimited access. There is not a pass officially called "FOTL"...that's just something we call it on the DIS. Also...the Express passes available for purchase vary in price depending on the antipicated crowd level. Once HP opens, I wouldn't be surprised to see all of the specials go bye bye.

 

[redrosesix]

I've seen a few people mention this. As far as dining plan goes, it does seem unfair to charge an adult price for a 10 year old, but if you look at your typical 14 year old boy, he probable eats MORE than your typical adult.

But...I think that if there is a tween category, they would be limited to tween meals, therefore smaller than adult meals.

I still believe that the parent should be the one to choose the size of their child's meals. If I had a 14 y o boy who ate more than an adult, I would want to be able to choose the adult DDP credits for him.

Assuming WDW decides that a whole new dining category, and therefore a whole new menu section, is too expensive for them to implement, a compromise would be to give the tweens kids' credits plus 2 additional snack credits per day. This would work for sure on the QSDP -- not sure how it would fly on the buffets (although my teeny tiny DD9 probably throws out more food at buffets than I eat)

 

[Colleen27]

Fastapasses should be free, but resort guests should also be considered. In my opinion, I think Disney should continue to let the FP be free for day guests as it is now, but maybe come up with a fastpass for resort guests that allows 1 ride without a wait at each of the fp rides for each person staying in the room without having to go and fetch the fp at each of the rides or risking them being gone for the day.

Thinking on the FP issue... A fairly simple change that would give resort guests a definite perk without taking away from day guests would be to allow resort guests to "pre-order" one or two fast passes each day. Think about it - no running to Everest & the safari to get those fastpasses. Just order them for your selected time slot, pick them up from the resort concierge desk, and have 'em ready to go when you get to the park. If Disney limited the number of FPs to one or two per registered guest, it wouldn't make a major difference in the availability of the current FP system, and resort guest would have the perk of 1) less running around to get fastpasses and 2) a greater measure of control over fastpass return times. And from Disney's perspective, it would likely make managing rope drop easier because fewer people would feel the need to be there first thing in the morning to fit in the headliner attractions without long waits.

 

[Colleen27]

I totally agree! We never use ours up, and I couldn't believe it last year when they told me they couldn't be used there. I know the mini-golf costs way less, but I'd be willing to take the loss.

I'd be thrilled with that too! I mean, it can't possibly be more costly for Disney to offer than including the 9 hole golf course on the WP&M pass, and they added that to the available uses.

 

[Colleen27]

I've seen a few people mention this. As far as dining plan goes, it does seem unfair to charge an adult price for a 10 year old, but if you look at your typical 14 year old boy, he probable eats MORE than your typical adult.

I actually think that Disney did a good job with the adult pricing age. If you read the restaurant boards, there are regularly threads complaining about paying adult prices for a 10yo, but there are also pretty frequent threads complaining about the options & portions on the kids' menus not being adequate for 8 & 9yos. The fact that the complaints are fairly balanced tells me Disney set a good age - if there were more complaints on one side than the other, then there would need to be adjustments made IMO.

I know for my own family, DS was ready for adult food around 9 (and at 11, he easily eats more than I do ). DD is starting to want adult options even though she's far from eating adult portions, and she's only 7. By 10, she'll be plenty ready for the adult menu.

And as far as the ticket prices go, I don't mind paying adult prices for my kids at 10. I've been paying adult prices for DS since he was 5 at other theme parks, because places like Cedar Point take height into account in addition to age. DD7 *might* be able to get the child's price for one more summer, depending on if she hits a growth spurt before we go. But at Disney, they get the kids' price until 10.

 

[risingsunmom]

I would also like to see Park Hoppers as a free perk for resort guests.

GREAT IDEA. You are right, it would end up making Disney more money. People who stay off property would be tempted to stay at a disney resort and spend more money on site.

 

[dandemom]

Incorporating 2 ideas previously posted into 1:

What if they offered a rewards program and one of the rewards was a FP of your choice of attraction at your choice of time. Another reward could be a room upgrade if available. They could maybe make these rewards available through disney visa and they would already be tracked through them. Plus it would make me MUCH more likely to use my disney visa versus my other card that gives me money for college. I'm not saying take away the disney rewards you already get, only that you would get separate rewards for any money spent at Disney.

 

[redrosesix]

Incorporating 2 ideas previously posted into 1:

What if they offered a rewards program and one of the rewards was a FP of your choice of attraction at your choice of time. Another reward could be a room upgrade if available. They could maybe make these rewards available through disney visa and they would already be tracked through them. Plus it would make me MUCH more likely to use my disney visa versus my other card that gives me money for college. I'm not saying take away the disney rewards you already get, only that you would get separate rewards for any money spent at Disney.

I like these idea, but the Disney Visa is only available to people living in the US. Would be great if Disney could negotiate a deal with Visa banks outside the US, so that when the US economy is in a slump there is more incentive for international travelers to go to WDW (as opposed to everywhere else in the world)

 

[LoveToDisney]

I would love to see PotC character meal

Wowser! I agree! If they did a PotC character meal with Captain Jack Sparrow, I would sign up for my first character meal ever....anything to see and get pics with the captain!

 

[Colleen27]

Incorporating 2 ideas previously posted into 1:

What if they offered a rewards program and one of the rewards was a FP of your choice of attraction at your choice of time. Another reward could be a room upgrade if available. They could maybe make these rewards available through disney visa and they would already be tracked through them. Plus it would make me MUCH more likely to use my disney visa versus my other card that gives me money for college. I'm not saying take away the disney rewards you already get, only that you would get separate rewards for any money spent at Disney.

I'd like to see some sort of rewards not tied to having the Visa, personally. We don't use credit, so for frequent-stay points to be tied into the Visa would leave us out. I'd rather see something along the lines of Starwood's preferred guest program - by all means, increase the rewards for folks using the branded Visa, but don't make them unavailable to those of us who don't use credit cards.

 

[mmcguire]

ITA about a tween category for the DDP.

I also think improving that darn bus system would make a lot of people happy. Funny how a number of significant problems are tied to their computer systems (resort reservations, dining reservations, computerized bus system).

 

[baby1disney]

It would thrill me if every "guest" who lit up a cigarette outside of the designated areas was quickly and summarily removed from the property and banned forever from the parks. I'm sick to death of inhaling poison wafting off a sneaky smoker who thinks no one can see them. I can smell them from 200 paces! It's time security at WDW did it's job and got rid of the bad apples.

Ok...I'm a smoker and I agree to a certain point. Alot of us "smokers" didn't/may not have known about smoking areas. I know I didn't my first trip. A really nice CM pointed it out to me and then even escorted me to the area. Now, if they're returnees and have been repeat offenders, then I think their, and only theirs, ticket should be suspended for a day. Then maybe that'll make em think twice before lighting up outside areas for us!!

Bring back more shows of Fantasmic!!!!

Totally agree!!

I would like to see a special FP for resort guests. Something like 2 FP per person per night that would be good for any ride that takes FP.

I would also like to see Park Hoppers as a free perk for resort guests.

Both of these ideas would not cost much to implement and would offer a real perk for staying on site which would make them more $$$ then the $50 cost of a hopper.

I would go for that!!

I would like to see some sort of rewards or frequent visitor program for the resorts. Like HiltonHonors or Marriot rewards. The more you stay at a Disney resort the more you earn. You could earn free nights, gift cards, etc. You could even make status levels and the higher the status, I think you get it.

Almost every aspect of the travel industry has them, hotels, airlines, cruise lines, rental cars. Like Pete says, Disney does need to do more for its high affinity group.

I was reading the WDW trivia book by Lou and the gang and I read a question that Disney once had its own "offical" airline. DH and I were shocked because we didn't know that.

Now, I think Disney should have its own airline/airplanes. Lets say they charge for a family of 4 $2000-$2500 for roundtrip tickets. Then if you spend anywhere from another $250-$1000, you could get up to 7 nights at any resort you wanted. This also would include the DDP(original), park and/or water hoppers, and even maybe a $200 gift card to any gift shop.

I'm not saying this would ever happen or would be an all the time thing, but maybe for during the months of Jan-March, May-Mid-June, late October-Mid Dec.

I know I would probably go for something like that!!!

 

[pearlieq]

I wish they would add a round of mini golf as one of the options on the Water Park and More ticket option.

That's a fantastic idea! It wouldn't cost Disney anything (at least, more than they already outlay) and would be another nice option for guests. I'm sure DH and I would do it.

 

[redrosesix]

Now, I think Disney should have its own airline/airplanes. Lets say they charge for a family of 4 $2000-$2500 for roundtrip tickets. Then if you spend anywhere from another $250-$1000, you could get up to 7 nights at any resort you wanted. This also would include the DDP(original), park and/or water hoppers, and even maybe a $200 gift card to any gift shop.

They could show Disney movies on the plane! And sell the snacks that are sold at the Resort markets (great for anybody who forgot to bring home souvenirs) I would book that plane in a heartbeat.