Why limit park hopper/tickets to 10 days?

[ssidiouss@mac.c]

Im surprised Disney limits the park hoppers/ticket packages to 10 days. I remember watching a show on the travel channel where they were saying that keeping guests inside Disney World (to spend money on food/merchandise) was one of the reasons Disney started making all the value and moderate resorts.

But limiting the park hoppers to 10 days seems to work against that. Take our next trip for example. We are gong for 11 nights and while we would have spent that extra day in a Disney Park.. we are now looking at going to SeaWorld or Universal since we will have to pay full price for that 11th day no matter what we do.

So why do you think Disney limits park hopper/tickets to 10 days? Was this always the case?

 

[MissM]

I guess they figure after 10 days, you might as well just get an AP. :shrug:

 

[Phonedave]

I guess they figure after 10 days, you might as well just get an AP. :shrug:

An AP is $489

A ten day park hopper is $295

A ten day park hopper with no expiration is $504

A 10 day park hopper + another single day (to make 11 days) is $426

A 10 day park hopper + another 2 days (to make 12) is $503

So if you are going to be there 11 days in one vacation, it does pay to buy 11 days worth of tickets.

But if you are going to be more than 11 days, or if you are going to be 10 and breaking it up into two trips then the AP is better.

-dave

 

[Monty]

An AP is $489

A ten day park hopper is $295

A ten day park hopper with no expiration is $504

A 10 day park hopper + another single day (to make 11 days) is $426

A 10 day park hopper + another 2 days (to make 12) is $503

So if you are going to be there 11 days in one vacation, it does pay to buy 11 days worth of tickets.

But if you are going to be more than 11 days, or if you are going to be 10 and breaking it up into two trips then the AP is better.

-dave

If you factor in available shopping/dining discounts and possible resort discounts with an AP, it's likely cheaper than the 10+1 option.

 

[wild01ride]

If you factor in available shopping/dining discounts and possible resort discounts with an AP, it's likely cheaper than the 10+1 option.

Definitely!

Not to mention free Theme Park parking, free and discounted experiences (Richard Petty Driving Experience free to Passholders right now!).

We have saved enough in a four day weekend ($94 rooms at POR, which are normally $149, plus Tables in Wonderland) to cover the additional cost of the AP.
Not to mention we managed three short trips total that year, meaning that I consider the cost of admission during the successive trips to be basically free!

If nothing else, having that AP in pocket makes it so easy to justify another trip! :lol:

 

[BigRedDad]

They want to keep people in the parks. There is a team of actuaries that crunch these numbers and data points. They also know that people spend more in the parks if they are there. Therefore, by limiting it to 10-days, the option after that is an AP. If they have an AP, how likely are they to come back for additional week? The answer is most likely.

In my case, we had the 4/3 deal with dining. It was $2600 for 2 adults and 1 child for 8 nights. My wife cannot go again before APs will be up so we got 1 adult and 1 child AP (~$1000). The AP discount got us a room at CSR for $1250. This gets us to $2250 + $250 for my wife's MYW ticket when she gets there. Yes, I only saved $100 now without dining. However, I am going back for 7-8 days in October. That is ~$500 in tickets I do not need and probably another 40% off rooms. It saves me in the long run.

 

[captainkidd]

I always have an AP for myself, but I wish they had more than 10 day hoppers for the rest of the family. We're there for 13 days in August. It's quite a jump going from $320 to $489.

 

[Atomicmickey]

We just did a trip exactly as you say.

We got a 10 day ticket.

Here's the key--the water parks don't count as "a park day".

So, just take one day where you go to a water park, then over to Downtown Disney for dinner, and it's not "a park day"--but it's still Disney.

It worked out perfectly for us. Or, just take a day to enjoy your resort.

But, yeah, 10 days is that grey zone between vacation and AP. I would have gone for AP if I would have thought there was a snowball's chance in Blizzard Beach that we'd be going back within a year.

 

[joel_maxwell]

If we lived within 4 hours driving distance, I would be a proud AP holder. Even if I only went 2 times a year, it just makes sense.

 

[Master Yoda]

If we lived within 4 hours driving distance, I would be a proud AP holder. Even if I only went 2 times a year, it just makes sense.

All you would need is a car that could go 150 mph and a complete disregard for laws and public safety and you could do that from your current location.:lol:

 

[MissM]

An AP is $489

Oh yeah..I always forget how much more a non-Florida resident AP is. Still, as you mentioned, at 10+1 days Park Hopping, it's really still a better deal to just get the AP and any other discounts that come with it.

 

[rsoxguy]

Oh yeah..I always forget how much more a non-Florida resident AP is. Still, as you mentioned, at 10+1 days Park Hopping, it's really still a better deal to just get the AP and any other discounts that come with it.

I couldn't afford an AP at this time, but the 4-day Florida resident pass was too good a deal to pass. $25.00 per day! Anyway, I hope for a financial boost in order to trade up for an AP.

 

[blackthidot]

We bought AP's because we were going to be there 12 days. We also DID go back BECAUSE we had AP's so that theory worked on us.

 

[joel_maxwell]

All you would need is a car that could go 150 mph and a complete disregard for laws and public safety and you could do that from your current location.:lol:

True, or i could drive to Tallahassee and take that bullet train that is coming to Florida :drevil:

BTW, sending email... good news.

 

[Laura]

If you factor in available shopping/dining discounts and possible resort discounts with an AP, it's likely cheaper than the 10+1 option.

Yes, unless you're in this situation:

I always have an AP for myself, but I wish they had more than 10 day hoppers for the rest of the family. We're there for 13 days in August. It's quite a jump going from $320 to $489.

Only one person in the party needs the APs for the discounts. Having to buy APs for an entire FAMILY is much less cost effective. It's too bad there's not an 11+ day option for these situations.

 

[blackthidot]

I mean I guess they could do 11+ 12+ days for people who wouldnt want a pass at that point. BELIEVE me from being in sales that if a 12 day ticket came out to be $5 less or $5 more than an AP people STILL would buy the 12 day ticket. Some people are just too stupid to process what they are getting and not getting for the same price. If that AP is $489 I would have the 12 day ticket come to $480.

 

[Master Yoda]

True, or i could drive to Tallahassee and take that bullet train that is coming to Florida :drevil:

BTW, sending email... good news.

Given the way things go around here you should be able to do that around 2032.:lol:

 

[joel_maxwell]

Given the way things go around here you should be able to do that around 2032.:lol:

I thought only happened in states like Alabama. :lol:x2

 

[dreamfinder]

I would assume it has to do with the lengths of trips most people take. Many Americans take 2 weeks or less. I would say many of those trips are 9 days or less. (Saturday to the following Sunday) So a majority of the people don't need more than the 10 day ticket. And if you factor in water parks, or not going to the park on your arrival/departure day, it means you need even less days. Since you would get 10 major and 10 minor days with the Water Parks and More, they want you to use the water park days. Guests look at it as only and extra 50 or so for the water parks, and may go to each of them, but they are then more likely to go out to eat, or go shop that evening since they had a shortened park day. Disney still makes out, while helping to keep attendance at the major parks down a tad.
The locations where people seem to spend longer than that have the ability to purchase tickets for more than 10 days. Europe has I think 21 day tickets possible as guests from there tend to stay for a longer period of time.
It is just within the US that they limit to the shorter tickets. I would be inclined to say that many people looking to stay that long at least look at an AP. Toss hopping onto the cost of the 10 day ticket, and then factor in hotel savings, and the AP becomes very tempting. And by doing that Disney increases the chance you will come back. It works out in their favor quite nicely.

 

[epcotWSC]

When I go, I know I'm going to spend 5 days in the actual parks (water parks don't count). So I buy a 10 day ticket with park hopper & water parks w/no expiration. Then I use the 5 days, save the other 5 days for next time I go.

Since Disney raises prices each year (or at least has been), it becomes cheaper to save the 5 days from the prior year than to buy 5, then 5 again. So I save money that way.

This past summer I finished my ticket, but I still have like 7 water park days on it. So the next couple of times that I get a ticket, I won't need the water park option.

Here's a breakdown for you:
5 day park hopper & water parks, w/o no expiration: $332 * 2 = $664
10 day park hopper & water parks, w/no expiration: $556
10 day park hopper, w/no expiration, w/o water parks: $504

So off the bat you save $108. When I bought my 10 day park hopper & water parks, w/no expiration two years ago, I believe the price was somewhere around $500, maybe slightly above, but no more than $510. The following year, the price went up over $20, and then this year again about $20. So you see how the 10 day park hopper & water parks, w/no expiration saves you money.

Now if I did the same thing, but went 5 years later, I'd save even more money. Imagine if prices went up from $500 to $600 in that time. Suddenly I'm saving $200 on the price of my ticket. Now think about that if I were to buy a 15 or 20 day ticket. Not only do the prices get cheaper as you buy more days, but I'm now using the ticket over 3 or 4 years rather than two, making me save even more money.

Also, now that I still have all of my water park days (except about 3), I can save an additional $52 off my ticket by taking off the water park option.

Disney being smart businessmen don't want people taking advantage like that, so they smartly limit the amount of days you can buy.