Ticket price increase

[lockedoutlogic]

Raising prices do impact attendance, but the misconception is some theory that Disney wants attendance to go down. That is not the goal of raising prices. Raising prices is to keep the growth rate from getting out of control. The ultimate problem for Disney is a sell out where there are people left outside the park that would gladly have spent an extra $50 to be inside the park. Even trying to temper growth is difficult because the skyrocketing growth in vacation dollar spending. To truly reduce the number of people would require a ticket price increase so high it would tarnish the Disney image (scary to think about). The sad part is you now have more people who want to go to Disney than they could ever handle. To reduce that number to something they can handle requires some families to be priced out of enjoying Disney.

Excellent points.

What I do have to mention is that Disney parks are at capacity maybe 3-4 days a year on average. The "nut" days.

There is this growing idea that somehow they're "full" and that's an issue.
Not even close. A bigger problem is tempering expectations for the price due to crowds...and that is an angle to them "limiting" via price.

The reality is that while Eisner perhaps over expanded...this current group of bronzers have shorted it.

Quite simply: you can't have double the people you had 25 years ago comfortably while investing in what works out to be about 1 decent attraction per park every 4-5 years...and that is what they have done.

It's been a case where they've possibly "lost" money by being cheap/greedy

 

[HopperFan]

I don't still have the email but I could swear crowds were referenced. Could be wrong but APs do have blackout dates now which is tiering for APs

Some AP have always had blockout dates which allowed the lower price/savings. The regular AP did not and still does not have blockout dates.

 

[kenny]

Raising prices do impact attendance, but the misconception is some theory that Disney wants attendance to go down. That is not the goal of raising prices. Raising prices is to keep the growth rate from getting out of control. The ultimate problem for Disney is a sell out where there are people left outside the park that would gladly have spent an extra $50 to be inside the park. Even trying to temper growth is difficult because the skyrocketing growth in vacation dollar spending. To truly reduce the number of people would require a ticket price increase so high it would tarnish the Disney image (scary to think about). The sad part is you now have more people who want to go to Disney than they could ever handle. To reduce that number to something they can handle requires some families to be priced out of enjoying Disney.

While I understand your point and it makes sense don't think it is actually their thinking. In theory you would not want to turn away guests at the gate so raising prices so that you get just as many people in park as it holds makes sense. However if park capacity is an issue why build grand Floridian dvc, ply dvc and now more wilderness lodge dvc. You are increasing crowds by offering more rooms but your park didn't get bigger. Now you are charging more money so that increasing in attendance is bringing in even more $$$

I know tibia a business but lately everything is about money and less and less about the guest. If you look the only real additions are highly overpriced parties. $600 for news years dinner, $100 for star wars dessert, etc. everything is geared towards getting the most out of the 1 time visitor and less about the loyal visitor.

Like for the AP hey give us photo pass and parking. But AP holders are the least likely to buy photo pass and when buying family APs I am now paying for 4 photo passes. Also outside if a few restricted APs te old regular AP already included free parking. So don't advertise you gave me something I already had

 

[kenny]

Some AP have always had blackout dates which allowed the lower price/savings. The regular AP did not and still does not have blackout dates.

Only fl resident APs. Not regular general public APs. And no the new APs do have blackout dates for no fl resident. They now have gold and platinum. Gold had black out. They did not have this before. My current AP does not have black outs. Now you can buy black out AP non blackout AP or the premium water park included AP. The old AP was 4 parks or water park included. Neither had black outs. Plus they just raised AP rates in feb and he. Raised them again 6 mo the later?

 

[HopperFan]

I don't still have the email but I could swear crowds were referenced. Could be wrong but APs do have blackout dates now which is tiering for APs

Some AP have always had blockout dates which allowed the lower price/savings. The regular AP did not and still does not have blackout dates.

Only fl resident APs. Not regular general public APs. And no the new APs do have blackout dates for no fl resident. They now have gold and platinum. Gold had black out. They did not have this before. My current AP does not have black outs. Now you can buy black out AP non blackout AP or the premium water park included AP. The old AP was 4 parks or water park included. Neither had black outs. Plus they just raised AP rates in feb and he. Raised them again 6 mo the later?

- I only responded to your post because you said "now" APs have blockout dates aka tiering.
- I responded that some APs have always had blockout dates, that this was not anything new or "now".
- Florida residents have had blockout dates and that has not changed.
- Non-Resident APs have not had blockout dates and that has not changed.
- Gold does have blockout dates but this is a brand new pass aka no change.
- Gold is not available to the general public but only Florida Resident/DVC - so no change to standard AP.
- The standard AP available to non-resident, resident and DVC has no blockout dates just like before.
- The resident AP has blockout dates just like before.
- Disney added another resident AP that DVC can also purchase and it has blockout like other resident passes
- If you want no blockout then buy one without them, that option is available for everyone.
- Sorry I honestly don't understand what you are trying to say.

While I know the thread is about prices my brief post had nothing to do with prices, only blockout dates, because I was responding to your post.

 

[Mac30188]

While I understand your point and it makes sense don't think it is actually their thinking. In theory you would not want to turn away guests at the gate so raising prices so that you get just as many people in park as it holds makes sense. However if park capacity is an issue why build grand Floridian dvc, ply dvc and now more wilderness lodge dvc. You are increasing crowds by offering more rooms but your park didn't get bigger. Now you are charging more money so that increasing in attendance is bringing in even more $$$

I know tibia a business but lately everything is about money and less and less about the guest. If you look the only real additions are highly overpriced parties. $600 for news years dinner, $100 for star wars dessert, etc. everything is geared towards getting the most out of the 1 time visitor and less about the loyal visitor.

Like for the AP hey give us photo pass and parking. But AP holders are the least likely to buy photo pass and when buying family APs I am now paying for 4 photo passes. Also outside if a few restricted APs te old regular AP already included free parking. So don't advertise you gave me something I already had

I agree that a lot of problems are directly related to conservative past Disney thinking with regard to park expansion. They chose poorly and now they are playing catch-up. The good news is in a couple years, you will see a lot of great new areas at Disney. Unfortunately that just will not occur quickly.

Other key points:

1) There is far more capacity of parks than in hotels. Expanding Disney rooms is an aggressive play to get more of the business from Orlando hotel rooms as opposed to pushing more guests in parks. While they are related, to a certain extent they are separate independent businesses with different pricing and ticket models. The focus right now is what is going to happen to ticket prices. No one blinks an eye on the continuous revisions on hotel room pricing.

2) DVC is a great example in who holds the risk if they are not filled? Disney only has to sell them, it is the owner who is responsible for keeping them filled each year. Disney will get their cut no matter if they are used or not. It is a lot easier decision to keep building them until people stop buying them. You don't want to saturate the market, but it is a great business model for Disney.

 

[kenny]

- I only responded to your post because you said "now" APs have blockout dates aka tiering.
- I responded that some APs have always had blockout dates, that this was not anything new or "now".
- Florida residents have had blockout dates and that has not changed.
- Non-Resident APs have not had blockout dates and that has not changed.
- Gold does have blockout dates but this is a brand new pass aka no change.
- Gold is not available to the general public but only Florida Resident/DVC - so no change to standard AP.
- The standard AP available to non-resident, resident and DVC has no blockout dates just like before.
- The resident AP has blockout dates just like before.
- Disney added another resident AP that DVC can also purchase and it has blockout like other resident passes
- If you want no blockout then buy one without them, that option is available for everyone.
- Sorry I honestly don't understand what you are trying to say.

While I know the thread is about prices my brief post had nothing to do with prices, only blockout dates, because I was responding to your post.

Was trying to respond to post that Sone APs have always had blackout dates. Was just saying that only some fl resident passes did. Not general APs. That part is new and can be compared to tiering. Non fl residents can buy 1 AP to visit any time or another to visit anytime except holiday seasons. That is new

 

[HopperFan]

Was trying to respond to post that Sone APs have always had blackout dates. Was just saying that only some fl resident passes did. Not general APs. That part is new and can be compared to tiering. Non fl residents can buy 1 AP to visit any time or another to visit anytime except holiday seasons. That is new

But some APs have had blockout dates and that would be the Florida APs. Regardless of what the name is, if the pass is purchased for one year of use, it is an Annual Pass.

Non-Florida residents can NOT buy a pass with blockout dates unless they are a DVC owner ... which in very loose timeshare definition is a resident for one week or however many points they have. I am a non-resident, I do not own a DVC (part time resident) so I can not purchase an AP with blockout dates. So no, the general AP, Platinum and Platinum Plus do not offer a blockout date option.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Some AP have always had blockout dates which allowed the lower price/savings. The regular AP did not and still does not have blockout dates.

You mean the one they jacked $200 per year for a 4 year old and included a gimmicky photo desk that I would bet dimes to dollars that they can't sell anymore and need a way to prop it up or it would have died on the vine?

(I know...I go straight to the bone)

 

[HopperFan]

You mean the one they jacked $200 per year for a 4 year old and included a gimmicky photo desk that I would bet dimes to dollars that they can't sell anymore and need a way to prop it up or it would have died on the vine?

(I know...I go straight to the bone)

I appreciate your enthusiasm, as always.

My only point was with the passes, in order to pay less than the regular AP you had to give up some dates. Nothing different from the old to the new.

Prices ...... everyone's value is different and we should all vote with our wallets if we are getting our monies worth. My trips have changed in how I spend as Disney adjusted their prices.

 

[wendyt_ca]

- I only responded to your post because you said "now" APs have blockout dates aka tiering.
- I responded that some APs have always had blockout dates, that this was not anything new or "now".
- Florida residents have had blockout dates and that has not changed.
- Non-Resident APs have not had blockout dates and that has not changed.
- Gold does have blockout dates but this is a brand new pass aka no change.
- Gold is not available to the general public but only Florida Resident/DVC - so no change to standard AP.
- The standard AP available to non-resident, resident and DVC has no blockout dates just like before.
- The resident AP has blockout dates just like before.
- Disney added another resident AP that DVC can also purchase and it has blockout like other resident passes

I am a DVC member, I think we can only purchase one of the resident AP with blackout dates, the gold not the silver. I wish we could though cause I would buy the silver. Not sure if you are talking about the gold but you had mentioned it already so I wasn't sure

 

[CalvaryMike]

I gambled and bought 4 - 10 day PH NE tickets right before they ended the program. I don't even have a trip planned, but I figure I'm good to go for quite some time now. I'll just miss out on any Disney package deals, but I think I'm still okay.

 

[soniam]

I gambled and bought 4 - 10 day PH NE tickets right before they ended the program. I don't even have a trip planned, but I figure I'm good to go for quite some time now. I'll just miss out on any Disney package deals, but I think I'm still okay.

There's usually good room-only discounts that are better in my opinion, unless you are doing free dining.