Disney Pricing - What is the goal?

Donalyn

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jun 2, 2008
Okay, I understand how it works. And I understand that higher prices mean more profit.

What I don't understand is the behavior that they are trying to drive. Is it just that they want people to book early?

I keep looking at the prices for next summer for our trip. And they are very interesting to watch how they change (go up and go down as people must cancel or change their dates). If you have flexible travel dates, most people would pick the cheapest one, I'd expect. So aren't they driving people signing up for a lot of different trips (spreading the guests around and making it more likely that trips will be cancelled), instead of working to fill some of them and then adding more.

Or are they just genius - because they sell out all of the time?
 
Good question. Who knows? I do suspect they want people to book early - the earlier they know a trip is filled, the better. Does that work? I don't know. Do people switch dates a lot before Paid in Full day? I don't. I've actually never done that.

Sayhello
 
Okay, I understand how it works. And I understand that higher prices mean more profit.

What I don't understand is the behavior that they are trying to drive. Is it just that they want people to book early?

I keep looking at the prices for next summer for our trip. And they are very interesting to watch how they change (go up and go down as people must cancel or change their dates). If you have flexible travel dates, most people would pick the cheapest one, I'd expect. So aren't they driving people signing up for a lot of different trips (spreading the guests around and making it more likely that trips will be cancelled), instead of working to fill some of them and then adding more.

Or are they just genius - because they sell out all of the time?

I had the same criticism because I think the pricing structure also discourages families with like age children from booking the same date. Not sure what the solution is. Maybe pricing across all available dates for a trip rather than date by date?
 
The answer would be to start with a few trips and no dynamic pricing. Then you add trips as the ones you have fill up.

Tauck does this. I was not in a super rush to book Ireland because I knew the price wouldn't go up, and they had room. The trip was only offered every other week. As that trip filled up, they opened up the trips on the off weeks, so I booked the week before. Then you don't have overcapacity, it's not so stressful for guests, and you can build capacity to meet the demand, which means less risk of cancellation.

I make no secret of my disdain for the ABD and DCL pricing model.
 


Yes they want people to book as early as possible, and yes they want to spread people around. Disney books these activities and hotels years in advance, so they have to have every date scheduled early, and will lose money if a trip is not filled. As a result of this, it is also much more expensive to add a trip, since they would now have to pay a higher rate for all the hotels and activities, if they are available at all. Neither option is good, but I think they make more profit by having more dates available and cancelling trips that don't fill than trying to add dates later.

So in order to get the highest profit, they will try to schedule all the trips they need ahead of time and fill each one. The price difference pushes flexible travelers to the less full dates. If they were always the same price, trips around holidays and breaks would fill up and the others would be less full.
 
Disney books these activities and hotels years in advance

I'm curious how they do that, most hotels have a limit on how far out they allow advanced bookings. It doesn't seem like Disney's volume for these activities is high enough to make an exception for this?
 
I'm curious how they do that, most hotels have a limit on how far out they allow advanced bookings. It doesn't seem like Disney's volume for these activities is high enough to make an exception for this?
I assume they handle group bookings differently. And they do get exceptions because of the Disney name. If they don't get exceptions, if the hotel won't work with them, they don't use those hotels. I know there have been questions about that (such as why doesn't the Southwest Splendors trip stay at the El Tovar hotel at the Grand Canyon?) and I was told it was because the hotel chose not to work with Disney.

Sayhello
 


I'm curious how they do that, most hotels have a limit on how far out they allow advanced bookings. It doesn't seem like Disney's volume for these activities is high enough to make an exception for this?

Disney and other tour companies get exceptions, because they book 20+ rooms on a weekly basis. They aren't just going online and booking a bunch of rooms, they have contracts with the hotel management to have the rooms reserved for each ABD date. Same with the tours, since they are all private tours and happen on a regular schedule, they will book them far ahead of time, and usually book the entire season at one time.
 
I wouldn't say they have the rooms "booked" years in advance. Their contracts, I assume like most of their competitors, are more like options, where they pay a fee to reserve the blocks, but they can cancel them pursuant to the notice provisions.

In any case, their structure really only motivates people to be the first to book, or not do it at all. I wouldn't want to book a trip knowing I was paying $1K more person because I booked a week after the itinerary was released. Especially when their releases are so much later than their competitors.
 
I wouldn't say they have the rooms "booked" years in advance. Their contracts, I assume like most of their competitors, are more like options, where they pay a fee to reserve the blocks, but they can cancel them pursuant to the notice provisions.

In any case, their structure really only motivates people to be the first to book, or not do it at all. I wouldn't want to book a trip knowing I was paying $1K more person because I booked a week after the itinerary was released. Especially when their releases are so much later than their competitors.

You know that every time you book an airline ticket, there's a good chance someone else on the plane is paying significantly less. If someone else booked earlier then that's great, but I wouldn't let their price affect my choice. If you think the experience was worth the price, then don't worry about what others paid.
 
I know there have been questions about that (such as why doesn't the Southwest Splendors trip stay at the El Tovar hotel at the Grand Canyon?) and I was told it was because the hotel chose not to work with Disney.

That simply means that El Tovar would not accept the price Disney wanted to pay. Disney would not accept lower profit by paying higher rate. It's all about $$$. With group travel, you have to accept the travel company had made the right trade-off.

If you disagree with Disney decision, you can always plan your own trip to the El Tovar.


-Paul
 
That simply means that El Tovar would not accept the price Disney wanted to pay. Disney would not accept lower profit by paying higher rate. It's all about $$$. With group travel, you have to accept the travel company had made the right trade-off.

If you disagree with Disney decision, you can always plan your own trip to the El Tovar.


-Paul
I think that's pretty much what I said.

Sayhello
 
When we traveled the hotel ABD did use at the edge of the GC had GREAT AC as opposed to the El Tovar so in this case I vote for ABD (it also was 115 degrees at 5:00 p.m. on our trip).
 
When we traveled the hotel ABD did use at the edge of the GC had GREAT AC as opposed to the El Tovar so in this case I vote for ABD (it also was 115 degrees at 5:00 p.m. on our trip).
Yes, I have heard that while the El Tovar *looks* like a really cool place, the rooms are, shall we say, a bit lacking.

And 115 degrees????? :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Sayhello
 
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All lodging rooms in the El Torvar have AC. It is a historic hotel, not a modern resort. I think the lobby remains without AC.

I did stay in a room in Maswik Lodge that did not have AC. Luckily, it was September.

-Paul
 
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