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Demand Based Pricing Will Be A Reality - Let's Be Objective
- Thread starter Chef Mickey
- Start date
rob0519
Well-Known Member
I disagree to a point. To a first or second time visitor each of the 4 could be full day parks. I don't think families or individuals on say their 5th, 10th, 15th visit consider any park as full day other than MK.
MK is where all the history and sentimentality lie, at least for now. Not to mention it is has the most attractions for families with young children. Getting people out of the MK to other parks will be a herculean effort.
Disney created this crowd nightmare by aggressively building more hotel and DVC rooms and aggressively marketing to the UK and South America. It's truly become a "world" destination.
POLY LOVER
Well-Known Member
its funny that they have not been able to recreate the same atmosphere of MK at the other parks, why? It should not be that hard to do. Why is it when you walk into the MK and get the first look at Main Street you just feel good and know you're someplace special but they can't do it at the others..
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copcarguyp71
Well-Known Member
Effective crowd control...
1 - Decist huge resort and DVC expansions
2 - Decist giving extereme discounts overseas
3 - Stop giving away the company store with free dining
...seems like a good start to me.
1 - Decist huge resort and DVC expansions
2 - Decist giving extereme discounts overseas
3 - Stop giving away the company store with free dining
...seems like a good start to me.
space42
Well-Known Member
Really? You're right - they never should have added Pirates, Thunder, Splash, Space, People Mover, COP, If you Had Wings, etc to the Magic Kingdom. Counterproductive indeed.
They should have just left it as it was in 1973 since it was already so crowded. This is working out great for DAK, MGM, and EPCOT Center.
Nick Wilde
Well-Known Member
Let's be mature about it and not instantly start with condescending comments. You know and I know that my point was that adding new areas to the parks doesn't really thin out crowds. It seems to only add to them. You seemed to have missed the entirety of my point and jumped straight to demeaning me because you didn't understand what I meant.Really? You're right - they never should have added Pirates, Thunder, Splash, Space, People Mover, COP, If you Had Wings, etc to the Magic Kingdom. Counterproductive indeed.
They should have just left it as it was in 1973 since it was already so crowded. This is working out great for DAK, MGM, and EPCOT Center.
JourneysEnd
Well-Known Member
Unicorn option is $350
DisneyFans4Life
Well-Known Member
Your theory does make sense. Why would a park expand just to thin out the crowd? If anything, they want to expand so they can accomodate more people and make more money. The parks are crowded now, more than before...but I think that's just the way it is now.
space42
Well-Known Member
No. Not at all. You missed my point and the smile at the end.
My point was all of those things were added to the magic kingdom despite the fact that it already (in 1973) had more attractions than EPCOT, DAK or mgm. Those things that were added absolutely spread out the crowds. Could you imagine what the crowds at magic kingdom would be like without all of the attractions that they added (not replaced)?
Look at the historical attendance patterns. More people are coming regardless. Those people need to go somewhere. It's only in the last 15 years that Disney has really slowed down adding attractions.
DisneyNorthFan
Active Member
I'm intrigued by the plans posted here about raising prices so that attendance can be capped and to balance crowds and maintain Disney financials. I can't help but think, though, that prices would need to rise very high to make the accounting on this type of plan work. Beyond the ticket sales $ (which would be easy to balance with trades for higher ticket prices for lower attendance), there's many other revenue streams that Disney would lose if they decrease attendance - hotels, merchandise, food & beverage, special events, etc... Those would have to be recouped in the ticket prices, as well. The accounting folks could figure this out, but I fear that would be the real reason ticket prices would go through the roof if they got attendance down to low numbers.
DisneyNorthFan
Active Member
I also wonder how much attendance is AP vs. other guests. I'd love to be an AP-holder one day, so I'm nervous about what additional changes they'll make to this program over time. I do wonder, though, what impact AP holder's have on attendance. I'm not sure what is fair or right, but it seems that attendance could also be controlled by limiting the number of visits included with an AP, or tiering it. This would certainly not be popular, but it might be something considered to help manage crowds. Fast forward several years when I could be a passholder, and I'll be regretting that I ever mentioned it if that's the plan they put in place.
Nick Wilde
Well-Known Member
I actually think the crowds at Magic Kingdom would be extremely low if they never added anything, because it would be so outdated that no one would want to go. There also wouldn't be as much to do so less would come. If they stopped adding any attractions for 15 years, I'm almost positive the crowds would go down. 70% of people that visit Disney World are return visitors, so if they stopped adding things, there wouldn't be much incentive for people to go back. Like I said before, unless there's actual numbers that say crowds thin out when attractions are added, I'm not buying it. I think price raises are the only way to lower crowds.
rob0519
Well-Known Member
Totally agree with all three of your points.
draybook
Well-Known Member
I really want to agree completely with you. However, just based on my personal experience, crowds haven't really been on the rise due to FD, at least not domestically. I think that a lot of it is foreign travelers. I don't know if they have mass promos going on in the Spanish/Portuguese speaking countries as well as the Euros, but man were they at the parks last month EN MASS!! Then again, I only have limited experience(6 FD trips/5 in Sept/1 in Dec) since 2008.
ULPO46
Well-Known Member
As radical as this idea is. I like it a lot! If Disney is power hungry enough to not want guest to get off property to purchase everything and anything, why not make the visiting of the parks solely based on the fact that you stay on property. Sure there will be a 24 month wait to get in but it would make everyone happy. Less crowds more control can jack prices and everyone will be forced to deal with it. Although in theory this would never work as a business plan, I would not doubt that in 50 years, this will become the future of how theme parks across the world operate.
Luxe
Well-Known Member
I haven't had a chance to read the entire thread yet but I have a couple thoughts that I would love to hear everyone's thoughts on.
Personally I don't think that demand based pricing will do much except anger the people who can only go during the expensive periods. I'm fairly confident that once the HWS lands as well as Pandora open up, the crowds should thin out a bit more evenly throughout the parks. Currently it's not very inviting to bring your children to HWS or AK because of the ride selection for example. These families default to the MK because they can spend several days there and the little ones have plenty to ride/see/do. The only problem with this is that it's a time based solution. We have to wait until the new lands open to see if it actually does help the situation.
This may not be too appealing but what if MK was to open up a new road/area/street that leads to a new ride that everyone is able to ride(something like POTC maybe) with enough space to eventually add some other rides or shows in the empty space. Put up some sort of facades along the road temporarily to keep with the themeing. This might get some of the crowds at MK walking along these long streets which frees up space but also gives the MK room for expanding(more ride/show buildings). Bonus points if it connects back to another area to eliminate a dead end.
Might be a dumb idea but I'm just brainstorming here.
Personally I don't think that demand based pricing will do much except anger the people who can only go during the expensive periods. I'm fairly confident that once the HWS lands as well as Pandora open up, the crowds should thin out a bit more evenly throughout the parks. Currently it's not very inviting to bring your children to HWS or AK because of the ride selection for example. These families default to the MK because they can spend several days there and the little ones have plenty to ride/see/do. The only problem with this is that it's a time based solution. We have to wait until the new lands open to see if it actually does help the situation.
This may not be too appealing but what if MK was to open up a new road/area/street that leads to a new ride that everyone is able to ride(something like POTC maybe) with enough space to eventually add some other rides or shows in the empty space. Put up some sort of facades along the road temporarily to keep with the themeing. This might get some of the crowds at MK walking along these long streets which frees up space but also gives the MK room for expanding(more ride/show buildings). Bonus points if it connects back to another area to eliminate a dead end.
Might be a dumb idea but I'm just brainstorming here.
Raineman
Well-Known Member
I would bet that a large majority of visitors to WDW each day are either AP holders or multi-day pass holders staying at a resort on property. If you want to start cutting crowds by raising prices, jack the single day pass way up. That should get rid of a small percentage of people who are somewhat local, but don't want to come to the parks enough to warrant buying an AP, and therefore stick to one day passes.
Seminole09
Member
Let's say Disney does change the pricing of tickets to this model. The potential problem/annoyance I see is that, just like our FPs, wouldn't we then need to pre-plan months in advance which theme park we plan to attend and on what day?
For example, you plan to go to MK on Christmas Day. You have already purchased your premium priced ticket as part of your package by staying at a WDW resort hotel. You arrive at park opening to find the park is at capacity and you are not able to use your premium priced ticket at MK. To avoid this issue, then wouldn't reserving your ticket for a specific theme park and day be necessary? Thoughts? Maybe this would only be the case for days consider "peak"
For example, you plan to go to MK on Christmas Day. You have already purchased your premium priced ticket as part of your package by staying at a WDW resort hotel. You arrive at park opening to find the park is at capacity and you are not able to use your premium priced ticket at MK. To avoid this issue, then wouldn't reserving your ticket for a specific theme park and day be necessary? Thoughts? Maybe this would only be the case for days consider "peak"
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POLY LOVER
Well-Known Member
I was in a business a few years ago and it seems so strange to want to chase away business. It would have been the last thing I would have wanted to do. I can,t believe this is really the goal.
Nick Wilde
Well-Known Member
It's worth it. If they double the price, and there are half the crowds, I would pay it. It gets to the point where there's so many people that it completely ruins the experience.