Overheard- made me cringe

[Mopedmom1]

I was walking up to Big Thunder and saw the wait time was 45 minutes. The FP return time was only 30 minutes out. I, of course, went over with my family's tickets to get a FP so we could then go ride something else and then come back. I heard multiple groups of people say things along the lines of "Oh... the wait time is only a few minutes longer than Fastpass. Let's just get in line". I was stunned! And this was not just one random occurrence. I heard things like this repeatedly.

Laid-back, West Coast chill mentality.

 

[alex9179]

My niece and family went at the end of July. She had a month to get it together, asked me for tips, and ignored my advice to get her tickets linked for FP ASAP. She made an MDE account but didn't link until after she got home so that she could see her photos in front of the train station, which Disney was great about finding for her. I don't know if she used the kiosks. I didn't have the heart to ask.

 

[Ashes8380]

So many people assume it costs extra! I went to Disneyland in February with a friend of mine who had been once or maybe twice before, probably just for the day as he lives nearby, and had never been to WDW. When I mentioned grabbing fast passes, he told me he wasn't going to pay extra and he absolutely did NOT believe me that it's included with your park ticket! It's not nearly as well advertised there. We bought our tickets in advance and had them linked online and no emails or anything. I can't imagine how you wouldn't know about FP+ if you buy in advance, because I've gotten so many emails and snail mails about it! Plus reminders from my travel agent.

 

[Coral Reef Diver]

Overheard- made me cringe

These type of vague thread titles drive me crazy. Title searches don't work, and alerts don't convey much.

 

[igrsod]

Sitting at a McD's on our way home from an awesome two week trip. There is a family with young kids sitting across from us and the mom just said "if we ever decide to go back to Disney we will try to get fast passes next time!"

They apparently didn't have a great trip from the snippets I am hearing.

So right now the planner in me is cringing at the thought of not even using fastpass on a trip....

This kind of makes me sad and a little frustrated. I don't mind the planning and kind of enjoy it, BUT with all the changes Disney has done over the past years, it makes it very difficult for a newbie family to have a great trip without a tonne of research. Some people just want to show up and enjoy.
I wish it were a little simplified for those people . Disney is a magical place and I just want everyone to enjoy.

 

[mi*vida*loca]

I have a coworker who is taking her DD's for the first time. I was explaining ADR's and FP+. She's been reading a lot of stuff but it's still a LOT of information to take in. She asks me what rides should she FP+. I tell her to do the rides with the longest waits but she doesn't know what rides so we go over strategies but it is overwhelming. There are only so many hours in a day to read WDW information. I've been helping her and I think she's going to have a great trip but I highly doubt she will go again. It's a one and done thing for her girls.

 

[Praying Colonel]

This kind of makes me sad and a little frustrated. I don't mind the planning and kind of enjoy it, BUT with all the changes Disney has done over the past years, it makes it very difficult for a newbie family to have a great trip without a tonne of research. Some people just want to show up and enjoy.
I wish it were a little simplified for those people . Disney is a magical place and I just want everyone to enjoy.

IMHO Disney doesn't do a lot to cultivate return guests. I think they're OK with getting as much as they can from the once-in-a-lifetime-trip demographic.

 

[igrsod]

IMHO Disney doesn't do a lot to cultivate return guests. I think they're OK with getting as much as they can from the once-in-a-lifetime-trip demographic.

I wasn't commenting on Disney as a company... I agree they are doing ok and have done plenty to cultivate return guess... I'm happily one of them. I just wish it were a little easier for people who don't do Disney all the time. Thats all. Just like I wish for world peace. LOL

 

[scard192]

Disney vacations are NOT cheap. As a consumer I can't imagine spending that much money on anything without doing a lot of research before I purchase.

like others I enjoy the planning that goes into a WDW vacation. My family is not interested and leaves it all to me and they always seem to appreciate my efforts.

 

[Praying Colonel]

I wasn't commenting on Disney as a company... I agree they are doing ok and have done plenty to cultivate return guess... I'm happily one of them. I just wish it were a little easier for people who don't do Disney all the time. Thats all. Just like I wish for world peace. LOL

I get it...but your comment about WDW not being newbie-friendly made me think about it, and frankly, WDW doesn't care. They've got the newbies' money. And they don't especially care about making it so that the newbie family wants to return, because WDW doesn't especially care about their return business, which was what I was commenting on.

Sorry to be so cynical (I'd really like world peace, too, as well as harsher penalties for parole violators, Stan), but WDW's approach means it's not a place where it's easy to "do Disney," and hasn't been for awhile. You've got to be willing to do some research and some level of planning. It was that way on our 1st WDW family trip in 04, and it's even moreso now.

Maybe that's not unreasonable (as @lentesta says, we're willing to do a ton of research when spending a few hundred dollars on an appliance--is it unreasonable to do the same on a trip that costs a few grand?), but it's a reality.

 

[Coral Reef Diver]

WDW doesn't especially care about return business.

Disney is a for-profit business, as many members regularly point out. WDW most certainly cares about declining revenues. Every business does.

 

[Praying Colonel]

Disney is a for-profit business, as many members regularly point out. WDW most certainly cares about declining revenues. Every business does.

My apples (WDW not especially caring about returning business) are different from your oranges (WDW caring about declining revenues).

IMHO WDW has made a decision they can keep revenues up by focusing on 1st-time guests more, if not exclusively. Otherwise they would've instituted a loyalty program and done other things to incentivize return guests long ago. They do very little of that; a few programs here and there for AP/DVC guests, some FD bounceback, maybe a PIN code here and there. Small taters when compared to what they do to bring in the 1st time guest.

 

[disneydarling07]

I had a former co-worker come up to me one day and start asking me what the hell is wrong with me that i choose to go to Disney so often. They just got back and had a miserable time. The lines were incredibly long for everything. Getting into a restaurant was next to impossible. She went the week of Spring Break.
Everything I have read so that is one of the most crowded times to go! Again, another person who didnt do any research or ask any questions. I just smiled and told her we were in the midst of planning our next trip, and we always manage to have a great time.

My BIL and SIL go to Disney every year. One year the FIL and MIL pay for everything, the next year they pay. This has been going on for almost 20 years.
We were having a conversation one time and mentioned the Magical Express. They. were. clueless. Never heard of it, never saw it. Nothing.
They pay Mears every time. And FP's...that's just for people who overplan everything. If the lines are too long, they just move on. My kids talk to their cousins about Disney and most of the things that we have done, they have not. I guess it doesn't bother them.

Me personally, if I'm spending 1000's of dollars on a vacation, you can bet your behind that i will research everything to make sure I am getting what I pay for!

 

[DVC-Don]

One I overheard while using FP at Big Thunder Mountain: Kid: "Dad, why don't we get a pass for that line? Dad: "That's for the rich people that pay for it".

 

[Micca]

A friend of mine is going to WDW next month, it's his first trip in decades. We were chatting on-line about various attractions and I said something along the lines of "You'll want to try to use a fastpass for that" to which he replied "Oh yeah, we bought the fastpass."

 

[BadPinkTink]

IMHO WDW has made a decision they can keep revenues up by focusing on 1st-time guests more, if not exclusively. Otherwise they would've instituted a loyalty program and done other things to incentivize return guests long ago. They do very little of that; a few programs here and there for AP/DVC guests, some FD bounceback, maybe a PIN code here and there. Small taters when compared to what they do to bring in the 1st time guest.

^^^^^ THIS
I work in marketing and I recognise this marketing strategy they use. They focus on new visitors rather than returning visitors. They have done the math and realise that one and done visitors have a higher spend per person than returning visitors. So then they prioritise and promote to the one and done market. They will have what is called in marketing a customer profile. Some companies I have done just a very basic customer profile for. Disney will have a very indepth, very specific customer profile which could be something like this

Europe
UK
Dad - Phillip
Age - 45
Degree level education
Earns approx £35,000 PA


Mother - Jane
Age -45
Degree level education
Earns approx £35,000

2 children aged 11 and 15

Annual summer holiday 2 weeks in Canary Islands, Spain or Portaventura Spain or Malloraca

Family interests
Pools and waterparks
Sun and hot weather
Thrill rides
Princesses
Eating out, restaurants
Nostalgia for parents of growing up seeing Disney on tv

 

[Disney_and_Wine]

^^^^^ THIS
I work in marketing and I recognise this marketing strategy they use. They focus on new visitors rather than returning visitors. They have done the math and realise that one and done visitors have a higher spend per person than returning visitors. So then they prioritise and promote to the one and done market. They will have what is called in marketing a customer profile. Some companies I have done just a very basic customer profile for. Disney will have a very indepth, very specific customer profile which could be something like this

Europe
UK
Dad - Phillip
Age - 45
Degree level education
Earns approx £35,000 PA


Mother - Jane
Age -45
Degree level education
Earns approx £35,000

2 children aged 11 and 15

Annual summer holiday 2 weeks in Canary Islands, Spain or Portaventura Spain or Malloraca

Family interests
Pools and waterparks
Sun and hot weather
Thrill rides
Princesses
Eating out, restaurants
Nostalgia for parents of growing up seeing Disney on tv

You are selling Disney short. Sure, they have a profile for the foreign one and done guest and they market to them. They also have a profile for midwestern repeat guests and market to them. In a world of big data, Disney had a marketing strategy for dozens of permutations. If Disney didn't care about repeat guests, why are they constantly expanding their DVC offerings? Do they expect all owners to sublet to one and done guests? Heck. Most one and done guests probably don't even know what DVC is.

This issue has been studied and dissected. Research shows that for theme parks, repeat guests spend more than first timers. The difference isn't huge. But it is statistically significant.

 

[Upatnoon]

I don't blame people for wanting to go on vacation without spending hours doing research and mapping out what they're going to do months in advance. This planners vs. non-planners issue that has been escalating over the years.

While I know how to plan a Disney vacation, I find it is getting more and more annoying as you lose so much spontaneity. Luckily I've been many times, so I don't have any FOMO issues, but I have a lot of sympathy for all the non-planners out there.

Someone earlier says that for the amount of money you pay for a Disney trip, you should do your research. But why shouldn't the opposite be true? For the amount of money you pay for a Disney trip, it should be EASY to do what you like.

As Disney adds more features to benefit planners, if further squeezes out people who don't plan and makes the non-planners experience ever-more miserable. As a non-planner walks around the park, they are constantly pushed around by the planners. Standby lines are now 4 times as long because of fast pass. You can't eat at sit-down restaurants because you don't have a reservation.

Added to this is the explosion of information which now exposes every trick, technique and strategy to thousands of eager planners. Even the planners are now pitted against each other as they battle for must-have reservations and attractions.

Disney has already started to cash in on some of this with "early morning magic" and the host of various desert parties. The next step would be Disney selling "magical guide maps" complete with an itinerary for the day or week, a full load of fast passes and restaurant reservations. People could pay for the experience they want without all the work. This sounds really good to me. Of course, knowing Disney, they will start selling them 60 days in advance of your trip and they'll be sold out in seconds....

 

[Karebear]

We were just at WDW 2 weeks ago. We went on Small World about 11:30 on an early entry day for resort guests. We had been there at 8am for early entry and had done most of the "big rides". Small World was last followed by lunch and then we were going back to the hotel. By using early entry and FP, the longest we had waited for anything that morning was maybe 10 minutes. This family in front of us on the boat (mom, dad and 2 kids about 8 & 10) turn around and ask us if we had "been here before". I said yes and they asked me where "all the fast rides were". I told them about BTMR, Space and Splash and where to go for them. DD pipes up and says "you will have to wait in long lines because you don't have FPs". They had no idea what that was or anything. I felt sad for them as they obviously had done no planning.

 

[Roxyfire]

You are selling Disney short. Sure, they have a profile for the foreign one and done guest and they market to them. They also have a profile for midwestern repeat guests and market to them. In a world of big data, Disney had a marketing strategy for dozens of permutations. If Disney didn't care about repeat guests, why are they constantly expanding their DVC offerings? Do they expect all owners to sublet to one and done guests? Heck. Most one and done guests probably don't even know what DVC is.

This issue has been studied and dissected. Research shows that for theme parks, repeat guests spend more than first timers. The difference isn't huge. But it is statistically significant.

Yep, I know the typical repeat guest on the Dis feels like they aren't loved. But once you make a couple trips they start marketing other "magical experiences" and DVC to you. My last booking was on a pin code for people who were previous visitors. I don't know if it was targeted at all, most, or just certain regions/zip codes but I got one and used it. I also got another one while I was at WDW for CBR later that summer, but that was like a construction special I think.

People seem to think they add all these extras for the new guest. In fact, I think they are more targeted toward the returning guest, someone who might be looking for something different. Disney wants them to find new ways to spend money. Of course, they do want the first timers to do dessert parties and the Bibbity boutique too. But I'd be willing to bet your average first timer doesn't know any of that exists. They bought their tickets from the website and plan to show up during a school holiday.