News 2018 ticket price increases

smile

Well-Known Member
Yep...no prebuying tickets anymore. They like revenue certainty...which is why no expiration was eliminated on both coasts and nobody put down the dust pipe long enough to realize that they shoulda probably fought that...big time

in fairness, shouldn't have lasted as long as it did
 

smile

Well-Known Member
Coincidentally...2000 is also the point in time where I say that the "value"...which is price+experience+variety of attractions/options was the highest in the history of wdw...and by the housing recession had fallen to the comparative lowest.

...been looking at this for a long time. The chart kinda goes right to it. Coulda saved myself some time :(

fyi, Po4 knows his numba's
 

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Coincidentally...2000 is also the point in time where I say that the "value"...which is price+experience+variety of attractions/options was the highest in the history of wdw...and by the housing recession had fallen to the comparative lowest.
Actually, I'd argue that WDW's "value" peaked in 1982-1984:

WDW Historical Grade.jpg




Please have a look at the below link if you'd like to understand how I came to this conclusion. :)

https://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads...ld-throughout-the-decades.926288/post-7671875
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
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George

Liker of Things
Premium Member
I do. They want less people to reduce crowd pressure and overhead, but higher ticket prices so they still increase revenue/profit while doing it.

To illustrate: do you think Disney would rather have 1,000,000 guests paying $200 per guest average spend, or 750,000 guests with $500 per guest average spend?* Reducing crowds does have a benefit to them, and doing that while increasing revenue and profit is the goal.

* Numbers are for illustration and not representative of real spend..

I think I may have ruined things a couple of years ago when I did my one day at DAK all by myself for 1.2 billion. However, I think I kind of turned the tables on Disney when all my meals were the chicken fried rice at the counter serve part of Yak and Yeti. Really, a good value. Priced like a Disney snack, sized like a Disney entree. Suckers!
 

GymLeaderPhil

Well-Known Member
Here’s my predictions to what I think will happen this time around, from most likely to least likely:

1. Prices will increase for all 1 day, multiday, and Annual Passes. Duh.

2. The change will occur on Sunday, February 11th. The day before is when their Canadian Resident 20% discount ticket offer ends. (Why is it traditionally on a Sunday? Not a lot of people going online or calling to make vacation plans late on a Saturday, early Sunday.)

3. More hard ticketed events. They’ve proven that people will pay for Disney After Hours and the Star Wars Galactic Nights. Both, aside from a few unique entertainment and freebies thrown in, are evolutions of cheaper/free perks (Extra Magic Hours/E-Ride Nights and Star Wars Weekends respectedly.) I would not be surprised to see another Star Wars event prior to the Han Solo movie or on May 4th.

4. Park Hopper Plus option, just a year after being renamed from the Water Park Fun and More option, is being changed again or removed. It’s odd that it’s not offered with the new Florida Resident promotion that runs until June. Historically they have always offered it with the January special ticket offer.

5a. Seasonal pricing from 1 day tickets extends to multiday tickets. It’s simply a matter of time until this begins and unsure if it will be this year. If implemented, it would likely work the same way Free Dining is structured, but in reverse (Example: if any of the days you visit are Peak season days, you must purchase the Peak multiday version of that ticket.)

5b. Each different duration of multiday tickets will have an unique validity period. If the seasonal pricing is implemented for multiday tickets, they’ll need a way to discourage people from skipping the days they use their ticket to get the cheaper version and spending time/money at a competitor. Axing the standard 14 days from first use and adding a varying validity date will curb both.

6. First use by dates for brand new Annual Passes. They have slowly implemented this policy starting with 1 day tickets in 2016, multiday in 2017, and I’m sure this will happen again for Annual Passes soon so that people cannot buy the exchange certificates in bulk to save money. The DVC discount for Platinum Plus Passes already had it.

7. Removal of child versus adult prices. Annual Passes haven’t had a difference in prices since 2012.

8. Separate 1 day tickets for each park. I don’t see this happening this year, but Avatar and Animal Kingdom’s nighttime friendly additions have increased attendance. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Disney splitting all the parks into separate tickets - especially with Star Wars at Studios.
 
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Greg H

Active Member
I believe, as of the last 'price increase', an unused voucher that hasn't been activated in a certain period of time has to be 'upgraded' by paying the difference between what you paid and what that pass costs when you go to use it.

Yeah, I believe the DVC Gold Pass voucher has to be used within 18 months, with a little wiggle room, but not much...
 

BoarderPhreak

Well-Known Member
Whew... Thankfully, my trip (in about three months) is paid for.

Ticket prices going up again? Not surprising. Infuriating, regardless.
 

The_Jobu

Well-Known Member
I believe, as of the last 'price increase', an unused voucher that hasn't been activated in a certain period of time has to be 'upgraded' by paying the difference between what you paid and what that pass costs when you go to use it.

If anyone's interested, here's the feedback I got when I asked WDW about my tickets.

Last year I bought a 5 day pass at the discounted Canadian rate as I noticed the tickets explicitly said they do not expire until 2031 or something. The Canada sale is on again and I thought about buying another 5 day pass for the future but noticed the fine print now says the tickets have to be used before Dec 31 2018.

I emailed WDW to clarify things and they said that any new tickets do indeed expire in December, but the ones I bought last year have "no expiry date".

They neglected to mention a need to "upgrade" but that was my fault for not asking specifically.
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
I could be wrong, but I don't believe anything has been announced yet. This thread is so everyone can get pre-mad before the actual announcement.

Not only that...in the next two weeks there will be thousands (if not tens of thousands) of posts across al gore's internet frantically asking when its gonna go up? to "hurry up and buy"

I've always thought that an odd move. Accelerate planning and pay now (I'm guessing more than often with interest) to save $40 or so a ticket (sometimes more, sometimes less)?

Tickets have gone up, and gotten worse, a huge amount over 15 years in aggregate
...it just seems like an odd reaction to save what amounts to a tiny fraction for a trip or year.
 
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HauntedPirate

Park nostalgist
Premium Member
Here’s my predictions to what I think will happen this time around, from most likely to least likely:

1. Prices will increase for all 1 day, multiday, and Annual Passes. Duh.

2. The change will occur on Sunday, February 11th. The day before is when their Canadian Resident 20% discount ticket offer ends. (Why is it traditionally on a Sunday? Not a lot of people going online or calling to make vacation plans late on a Saturday, early Sunday.)

3. More hard ticketed events. They’ve proven that people will pay for Disney After Hours and the Star Wars Galactic Nights. Both, aside from a few unique entertainment and freebies thrown in, are evolutions of cheaper/free perks (Extra Magic Hours/E-Ride Nights and Star Wars Weekends respectedly.) I would not be surprised to see another Star Wars event prior to the Han Solo movie or on May 4th.

4. Park Hopper Plus option, just a year after being renamed from the Water Park Fun and More option, is being changed again or removed. It’s odd that it’s not offered with the new Florida Resident promotion that runs until June. Historically they have always offered it with the January special ticket offer.

5a. Seasonal pricing from 1 day tickets extends to multiday tickets. It’s simply a matter of time until this begins and unsure if it will be this year. If implemented, it would likely work the same way Free Dining is structured, but in reverse (Example: if any of the days you visit are Peak season days, you must purchase the Peak multiday version of that ticket.)

5b. Each different duration of multiday tickets will have an unique validity period. If the seasonal pricing is implemented for multiday tickets, they’ll need a way to discourage people from skipping the days they use their ticket to get the cheaper version and spending time/money at a competitor. Axing the standard 14 days from first use and adding a varying validity date will curb both.

6. First use by dates for brand new Annual Passes. They have slowly implemented this policy starting with 1 day tickets in 2016, multiday in 2017, and I’m sure this will happen again for Annual Passes soon so that people cannot buy the exchange certificates in bulk to save money. The DVC discount for Platinum Plus Passes already had it.

7. Removal of child versus adult prices. Annual Passes haven’t had a difference in prices since 2012.

8. Separate 1 day tickets for each park. I don’t see this happening this year, but Avatar and Animal Kingdom’s nighttime friendly additions have increased attendance. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Disney splitting all the parks into separate tickets - especially with Star Wars at Studios.

February 11 is my guess as well as to when ticket prices will go up.

I'm basically in agreement with nearly all of your predictions. #4 is a curiosity to me, as I'd think they'd want to drive people to the water parks if for no other reason than to get some people out of the theme parks. The only one I think is iffy is #7. It also wouldn't shock me, though, as they've been moving in that direction (smaller price different for child vs. adult tickets, plus no difference in APs, as you mentioned) for years.

And I still can't shake the belief that $150 could be the floor for a 1 day ticket by the time SW:GE opens. :(
 

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
February 11 is my guess as well as to when ticket prices will go up.

I'm basically in agreement with nearly all of your predictions. #4 is a curiosity to me, as I'd think they'd want to drive people to the water parks if for no other reason than to get some people out of the theme parks. The only one I think is iffy is #7. It also wouldn't shock me, though, as they've been moving in that direction (smaller price different for child vs. adult tickets, plus no difference in APs, as you mentioned) for years.

And I still can't shake the belief that $150 could be the floor for a 1 day ticket by the time SW:GE opens. :(

I think 7 is a given...it's not much money anyway and it's easy money to make. It's only a matter of time.

Peak pricing for multi day is hard...do you have to lock in days? That's tough with the 14 day expiration window to enforce. I would think it's just easier to jack them all and make everyone pay.
 

mikejs78

Well-Known Member
I think 7 is a given...it's not much money anyway and it's easy money to make. It's only a matter of time.

Peak pricing for multi day is hard...do you have to lock in days? That's tough with the 14 day expiration window to enforce. I would think it's just easier to jack them all and make everyone pay.
Yeah I agree... Too logistically complex.
 

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