Make the Mouse Fanatics an offer they can’t refuse!
Reading through the Mouse Planet Walt Disney World Resort Update yesterday morning, as I do every Monday morning, I noticed an offer that somehow slipped by me for the Disney Cruise Line and Disney Vacation Club members.
While the general public can book a 4- or 7-night Disney Cruise this spring and get a 3-night cruise in the fall for just $99 per person, Disney Vacation Club members can achieve a similar deal using their DVC points. Members booking a 4- or 7-night cruise departing between January 31 and March 8 or between March 21 and 28 will be able to book a 3-night cruise on most sail dates between August 13 and December 17 for just 23 reservation points per person. As with the offer for the general public, the cruises must be booked by next Monday, December 15.
We have spent a lot of time over the last few weeks talking about how Disney can limit their losses during this recession by pulling out all the stops to entice people to vacation at the Mouse. This deal is a good opportunity for DVC members, but not a great one by any stretch of the imagination. For those who don’t know, 23 points is about the equivalent of a weekend night at a deluxe resort. If you do the math, you’ll see that $99 per person is a far greater value than 23 points per person.
This brings me to a much broader issue. On Friday’s episode of the WDW Today Podcast, the hosts were naming the three wishes they would like to see come true at Walt Disney World. Matt Hochberg of StudiosCentral.com said he wished that Annual Passholders and DVC members would receive discounts above and beyond what the general public is offered. To him, the “buy 4 nights and get 3 free” deal is terrific, but it ends up essentially negating the real value of AP discounts. Why have AP discounts if the normal discount is as good if not better?
What Matt was saying is that passholders and DVC members are the suckers. We are the people that will most often take advantage of a really good offer. We are the ones who, even if the economy is not doing well, will do all we can to make it happen. You want people who will go on an extra vacation this year despite the troubled times? Make an offer your fanatics can’t refuse.
I can not agree with Matt’s assessment more, and it is not because I am both a DVC member and a passholder. And it is not out of any sense of entitlement either, even though that argument is not entirely without merit. The fact is we are the target audience. We are the people who already spend a fortune at the Mouse. For the right discount, the fortune will get larger.
John from TheDisneyBlog.com said,
December 9, 2008 @ 7:13 pm
I think Matt’s point, and mine, is that the Disney Fans fiscal relationship with the mouse is elastic. Stretch it too much and it will snap. Disneyland under Paul Pressler tested the elasticity of APs right to the limit and lost many of them. But the SoCal deal for locals was available and so AP numbers continued to soar. WDW finds itself in a much different position. But even then there is is only so much punishment Disney can send the way of its strongest supporters before we too bend or break.