Why does Disney offer resort changes? Just curious...

[ryels]

After seeing the new discount codes, I called Disney yesterday to see if we could apply it to our upcoming November stay at POFQ. The nice gentleman told me that it doesn't currently apply to POFQ, but that if we wanted to move over to POR instead we could save nearly $700 for the exact same package! :cloud9:

Needless to day, I accepted the offer. My question is what is the specific advantage to Disney in making these types of offers? Not that I'm complaining of course, just curious as to how it benefits them.

Do they do it to balance the crowds at each resort? Or is it just a bit of customer service magic to keep us coming back?

I was hoping some of you insiders might know the reasons. :secret:

Thanks in advance!

[big blue and hairy]

That just means that at this point POFQ is much more full. There may well have been thge same discount, but the rooms set asidfe were sold.

This way Disney speads out the crowd a lttle by putting you in POR, and I'd say it's also an example of Disney service, helping you save money when it's possible.

:sulley:

[WDW1208]

Was this for the MYW package or room only? I ask because I got the MYW package at POFQ on Saturday. I booked online for POP and then called first thing Sat morning and changed to POFQ. I am paying a total over 6 nights of just over $300 for the upgrade from Pop which is just over $50 a night for the change. That is discounted right? Is it the dates that are not available with the discount at POFQ or is POFQ not available on MYW special at all?

[Tinkerbella16]

I am also staying at POFQ in november, and tried to apply the code. They told us too, that it wasn't available for our dates at FQ, but we could move to POR...but the price was only $100 cheaper. We didn't switch...as much as I love POR, I havent stayed at FQ and I have been really looking forward to it. Since it isn't so big, I could see why they're trying to fill up the rooms at POR...it is a much bigger resort. Now if they would have told me that I could have upgraded to a deluxe for $100-200 more, like some have said they were offered, than I would have jumped right on that.

[ryels]

Was this for the MYW package or room only?

This was for the MYW package with Dining. We didn't get a chance to call until Sunday afternoon. I'm assuming POFQ was already booked pretty solid for the time that we are going (Nov.8 - Nov. 16), because the discount didn't apply to POFQ, at least not for that week.

I was shocked at the price difference. I guess POR must be underbooked that week.

[Tinkerbella16]

This was for the MYW package with Dining. We didn't get a chance to call until Sunday afternoon. I'm assuming POFQ was already booked pretty solid for the time that we are going (Nov.8 - Nov. 16), because the discount didn't apply to POFQ, at least not for that week.

I was shocked at the price difference. I guess POR must be underbooked that week.

Yup, we will be there the Nov 9 - 15th... POR is a much bigger resort, so I can see it being underbooked...especially for that week. It is one of the slower weeks down in wdw... Right after Jersey Week, and right before Thanksgiving Week.

[allentownguy]

make sure you have everything from the change on your new res.
when i did my change they droped the dining for my new res, i was lucky i checked and found they took it off. thats why i was saving 600 bucks.
just a fyi:mickey:

[ryels]

I thought they did that to us as well, but I got back in touch with them afterwards and they confirmed that the Dining was still on there.

[tkane]

I am also staying at POFQ in november, and tried to apply the code. They told us too, that it wasn't available for our dates at FQ, but we could move to POR...but the price was only $100 cheaper. We didn't switch...as much as I love POR, I havent stayed at FQ and I have been really looking forward to it. Since it isn't so big, I could see why they're trying to fill up the rooms at POR...it is a much bigger resort. Now if they would have told me that I could have upgraded to a deluxe for $100-200 more, like some have said they were offered, than I would have jumped right on that.
We are going the same time as you, we just got upgraded to AKL from POFQ we tried to move over to POR but the rooms where gone to save $600. So we moved to AKL for only $165 more for the entire stay.
My Wife had heard/read someplace that perhaps AKL was under going some construction and perhaps that is the reason we got such a good deal. I'll take it though.

[Tinkerbella16]

We are going the same time as you, we just got upgraded to AKL from POFQ we tried to move over to POR but the rooms where gone to save $600. So we moved to AKL for only $165 more for the entire stay.
My Wife had heard/read someplace that perhaps AKL was under going some construction and perhaps that is the reason we got such a good deal. I'll take it though.


Wow that is awesome! Thanks for the info. I just emailed my travel agent to see if she could check again for this. I know someone else mentioned the same thing you did. We usually never have a problem with the codes..this is the first year we couldnt get a good deal!

[Jasper]

About 10 years ago or so I attended a customer service seminar at WDW and this system was one that we looked at. As I understood it the whole point is to best use Disney resources and to find ways to part the guest from their cash. One of their theories is that if you upgrade a guest from a value to a moderate at no additional cost that the goodwill that upgrade creates will cause the guest to spend more in other areas than they would have, thus ultimately putting more money in Disney's pockets.

One other thing that was just coming on line at that time but was not yet complete is for their computer to actually be able to look at your individual stay patterns and create reward packages for those guests that meet the criteria of someone they can get more cash out of. Of course, they wouldn't divulge the details of what their system looked at to create these alternative packages but they did say it was quite extensive.

[Tinkerbella16]

We are going the same time as you, we just got upgraded to AKL from POFQ we tried to move over to POR but the rooms where gone to save $600. So we moved to AKL for only $165 more for the entire stay.
My Wife had heard/read someplace that perhaps AKL was under going some construction and perhaps that is the reason we got such a good deal. I'll take it though.

Update:
So I emailed my TA to see if she could check the code again for us, just incase we could get upgraded to AKL. She emailed me back... AKL was not available, but she said POFQ was!!! So she saved me $165.00 off of our trip total! Eventhough its not a huge amount, something is better than nothing, especially when I wasnt expecting to get anything after we tried when the code came out last week. I am still so happy because I really wanted to stay at FQ. Last week I was offered to switch to POR, but I've already stayed there before so we kept our ressies at FQ. Good thing I read your post or I would not have gotten the discount for my stay at FQ!! Thank you!

[tkane]

Update:
So I emailed my TA to see if she could check the code again for us, just incase we could get upgraded to AKL. She emailed me back... AKL was not available, but she said POFQ was!!! So she saved me $165.00 off of our trip total! Eventhough its not a huge amount, something is better than nothing, especially when I wasnt expecting to get anything after we tried when the code came out last week. I am still so happy because I really wanted to stay at FQ. Last week I was offered to switch to POR, but I've already stayed there before so we kept our ressies at FQ. Good thing I read your post or I would not have gotten the discount for my stay at FQ!! Thank you!

I am happy to hear you saved some money, Maybe you just got our room :D.

we are there 11/6 to 11/11 hope both of our trips are fantstic.