Bad News: Change in room rates for 2008

[mulderxcoltrane]

Hello all - I was reading a WDW info site (not sure if I can post the link here) that is reporting a change to the reservation policy for all reservations for 2008.
Currently, you can book a long stay (say 8 nights) and all nights are the price of the night you checked in. Apparently - this changes in 2008. Your rate is calcuated for each individual night and this site says they WDW may designate some weekends here & there as premium as well.
This info is not yet official, yet this very reliable site says it is coming.

[PirateLover]

Wow. I doubt many people would like that change. I hope that is not true.

[DizneyRox]

DVC works this way, I can't imagine why they don't do it for regular reservations.

I have many times paid cash for weekends on DVC as it was "cheaper" to pay cash than it was to use points.

[Seasonscraps]

I was always surprised DW didn't do this already as it seems quite a few hotels do have weekday & weekend rates.

[Carol]

This news was leaked last week.

As soon as the information is no longer 'unofficial' the details will be posted here! Magical Journeys always waits until they can release all information provided, to them by Disney, instead of teasers.

DVC works this way, I can't imagine why they don't do it for regular reservations.

Exactly. Disneyland resorts also work this way. You always pay more for weekend stays and Annual Passholder rates don't apply there on those days either.

[Tink1]

We have gotten no official word on this, nor on the actual rates for 2008. I had heard they were contemplating this move the last time I was down at WDW. Since this is the norm in the hotel industry, I am not surprised. Universal, Marriott, etc have done it for years.

I would guess that Disney would like to even out the occupancy levels across the week. Sometimes, clients are turned away from a week long stay at a resort solely because the Fri and/or Sat night is not available. Will this fix that problem? Disney hopes so.

For the family going for their yearly vacation, it should have no more overall effect than the typical yearly room increase. It may actually make availability a little easier on the weekends. For those that do weekend trips, you are basically paying for convenience

The days of looking at vacation cost solely by room cost only ended with the introduction of Magic Your Way. You now need to look at the entire cost (room/tickets/food) to calculate your best value options.

Nanci

[Ian]

One more reason I'm glad I bought into DVC!!

This raises an interesting question, though. Does this new policy also apply to special deals?

Like supposed they offer free dining from August 15th through September 30th and I arrive on September 30th. Will I only be able to get the free dining for the first day of my stay? That seems odd ...

[Carol]

through September 30th

Those would be the key words. I don't think it's odd at all.

Folk would need to plan their vacations accordingly. It always seemed to good to be true when 'deals' extended beyond the through date. If the current policy changes the dates would be firm.

[Ian]

I'd have to agree with you there, Carol. It always seemed too good to be true to me, as well.

I'm actually more surprised their computer system can handle ressies this. I've always heard it was very inflexible. They must have gotten some type of upgrade.

[Tink1]

I'm actually more surprised their computer system can handle ressies this. I've always heard it was very inflexible. They must have gotten some type of upgrade.

They installed a whole new system last October. Little by little they are getting the capability programs working:

email confirmations,
no change in res number for resort switch,
deposit amounts must match deposit due post resort change,
now date based pricing.

Nanc

[magicofdisney]

I seem to recall a couple of years ago, many weekends were blocked out from AP or FL resident discounts. When a promo was advertised, it would state something along the lines of "...most night, Sunday through Thursday..." This year, when we got passes again, I didn't see that going on. Now it seems it may become a permanent thing.

[January-2007]

They installed a whole new system last October.

I was there when they were installing this new system, it was such a pain! Our room keys wouldn't work and they couldn't get us new ones, so many troubles. And now to find out it's all so they can charge us more? Yuck. I'll bet this will make the beginning of December so much more crowded because of all the people who usually check in on the last day of value season.

[Catzle]

I read that it probably wouldn't effect a week long vacation, but this does concern me. No promotions or charging more for weekends. We live in NY and fly in once a year from a Sat to a Sat. and I will be dissappointed if they start charging us more for the weekend days, Disney is expensive already without paying a ton more just because you choose to come for a week. If this is the case people might start cutting there vacations down to Monday-Friday to avoid paying the weekend rates? I sure hope this will not be the case.

[frakers]

I am bothered by this announcement. I'm not bothered for my family as we are fortunate to pay a 50% off interline rate since my DH works in the travel industry but I am annoyed by this in general. I can see regular, everyday hotels charging weekend premium rates since they are ONLY in the room renting business and they can even out their revenue this way. However, with Disney, if they have you ON property they are getting money out of you in innumerable others ways. I think charging higher rates for weekends is just rather ridiculous and unnecessary.

[BronxTigger]

As if the resort room pricing matrix isn't complicated enough! I can't wait to see the new matrix, with new weekend prices in addition to preferred, views, and level pricing! Yikes!

[Tink1]

No promotions .

We do not know this yet.

At this point, everything is conjecture.

Nanc

[SallyP]

We live 2 hours southwest of WDW. We frequently, at least every 2 months, drive up on Friday afternoon and return Sunday evening. We try to stay at a Disney Deluxe resort if they are offering a discount for FL residents or passholders. If Disney's prices aren't the best we stay at the Swan or Dolphin. If this new weekend pricing plan goes through it looks like will be spending all of our stays with Starwood. Win some, you lose some. Disney will lose us. I hope it benefits some guests and not just corporate pockets.

[ILive4Disney]

SallyP...I am in a similar situation as you and completely agree....I can only afford to go as often as I do because of the AP/FL resident rates offered. I have kids in school and am a teacher myself so this will definitely put a damper on my trips...and to be quite honest...I don't know that I will renew my AP either...it seems like it might not be worth it.

[mulderxcoltrane]

Just to remind everyone - as of now this is "unofficial" news I found on a WDW info site. Maybe it is all rumor.

[DizneyRox]

Just to remind everyone - as of now this is "unofficial" news I found on a WDW info site. Maybe it is all rumor.

There's always a little truth behind every rumor, except maybe that they are building a new park in [insert your favorite town here]. That they already do this in some instances is a pretty good sign that it's workable.

And it's a nice way to disguise a price increase as well. Just like they did with Magic Their Way tickets.

Honestly, the current setup allows all sorts of ways to tweak the system, by extending value season, extending "free" offers, etc. If nothing else, they should shore up those loopholes.