2020 The Year of the Upcharge >:(

[NickMaio]

Some number crunching here - - -

Magic Kingdom to be Ruled by Upcharge Events in 2020 | Theme Park Tourist

Between January and July 2020, upcharge events will be offered on 75 dates, an unprecedented amount for the Magic Kingdom for the first half of the year...

www.themeparktourist.com

The first half of 2020 being almost half the calendar days involving upsell tickets and / or early closures.

Should give everyone a good idea of where WDW is heading?
Not great for those of us that do not partake in the upsell stuff. This potentially drastically lowers the operating hours for us "regular" guests.

Bummer

 

[NCO91590]

These two events seem to be held before the parks open and after they close. Have the parks been open earlier than 8am-9am and close after 8pm-9pm? It's been a while since I've been to the parks at night. My were too little to stay up late on our previous visits. I guess I never really paid much attention!

 

[monothingie]

Nothing like selling the parks 2 twice.

So far it hasn't impacted normal hours, like the party nights, 9 and 10 PM closings have been fairly standard. But your EMH hours have been curtailed.

But this shouldn't surprise anyone.

Just hope that economy keeps up so that people are willing to spend....

 

[celluloid]

Just remember, not only are you out of the operating hours, but you are getting less of a product/service with reduced time for upkeep and maintencence.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

The trouble is that people keep asking for more and paying for it.

I like MNSSHP and MVMCP but I can leave EMM, DAH, and parties within parties and I do and just plan around the things I don't care for.

Other guests want to feel "special" though so as long as their are people willing to pay Disney will continue to come up with different instagramable events.

Some of us saw that these pay to play events were going to replace EMH yet people took the bait anyways

 

[NickMaio]

The trouble is that people keep asking for more and paying for it.

I like MNSSHP and MVMCP but I can leave EMM, DAH, and parties within parties and I do and just plan around the things I don't care for.

Other guests want to feel "special" though so as long as their are people willing to pay Disney will continue to come up with different instagramable events.

Some of us saw that these pay to play events were going to replace EMH yet people took the bait anyways

Sadly - - - you are most correct.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

They’ve clearly hit a ceiling of sorts when it comes to attendance, ticket and merchandise sales. So how do you grow that revenue ASAP? Sell the same experience twice and say it’s new or special. Sadly, it seems to be working.

 

[Vacationeer]

Tony’s Most Merriest Town Square Party with reserved parade viewing will take place from 9:30 PM to 12:30 AM during MVMCP.
About $125 for MVMCP ticket. Add $100 to experience Tony's.

Who is buying? The Parade shows twice; not much advantage. You'd need to drink a keg worth of beer to offset the cost. Inconvenient to continue returning to the park entrance. You'll miss rope drop tomorrow if you have that much beer and salami at midnight. Oh yeah, and it's Tony's.

FWIW, I've heard of at least 3 5 ppl enjoying themselves here

 

[eliza61nyc]

They’ve clearly hit a ceiling of sorts when it comes to attendance, ticket and merchandise sales. So how do you grow that revenue ASAP? Sell the same experience twice and say it’s new or special. Sadly, it seems to be working.

Why do you say that they clearly hit a ceiling? according to the earnings transcripts for 4th quarter guest spending was up 5% higher on admissions and merchandise. They did say they are anticipating a decline in their international operations mainly due to the unrest in Hong kong.
Just wondered why you see a decline in sales.
I too know quite a few people that enjoy the after hours events.

 

[wdisney9000]

Tony’s Most Merriest Town Square Party with reserved parade viewing will take place from 9:30 PM to 12:30 AM during MVMCP.
About $125 for MVMCP ticket. Add $100 to experience Tony's.

Who is buying? The Parade shows twice; not much advantage. You'd need to drink a keg worth of beer to offset the cost. Inconvenient to continue returning to the park entrance. You'll miss rope drop tomorrow if you have that much beer and salami at midnight. Oh yeah, and it's Tony's.

FWIW, I've heard of at least 3 ppl enjoying themselves here

Wife and I attended MVMCP and also Tonys Town Square Party. Tonys, IMO was actually well worth the extra money. The food and desserts were decent and there was a good selection of wine/beer. But what made it truly unique was that Equity Ben was playing Tony that night and I gotta say, that man puts on a show! He was absolutely hilarious, quick witted and extremely interactive with the entire restaurant.

We visited twice during the night. It wasnt a hassle to return to the front of the park (at least not for us).

 

[Jon81uk]

These two events seem to be held before the parks open and after they close. Have the parks been open earlier than 8am-9am and close after 8pm-9pm? It's been a while since I've been to the parks at night. My were too little to stay up late on our previous visits. I guess I never really paid much attention!

Indeed, I don't think the park was open much past 9pm in Jan/Feb time anyway. For May onwards the Magic Kingdom should offer 10pm or midnight closing as the default though.

 

[bUU]

Disney has been upcharging since the first Club 33 opened and perhaps even before. The real bump in upcharging happened a few years ago as a reflection of the more general change in preference by consumers in our society for lower base prices with upcharges. We see it with airlines (lower base airfare and now we pay for even the first piece of checked luggage), hotels (with new "resort fees"), new cars (now charging a "documentation fee" for paperwork they used to handle for free), salons (many now breaking off parts of provided services imposing an upcharge for each), oil changes (now charging a fee to discard your old oil, where before that was included in the quoted price), credit cards (more and more companies and agencies charging a "convenience fee") and even Starbucks has at times in certain places charged extra for vegan milk.

When consumers change their attitude toward higher base prices instead of upcharges, we'll see a change in the way things are priced - not before.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

phew, good thing I haven't had a raise in like 3 years as the parks continue to get more expensive and offer more expensive things.

 

[MickeyLuv'r]

Disney has been upcharging since the first Club 33 opened and perhaps even before. The real bump in upcharging happened a few years ago as a reflection of the more general change in preference by consumers in our society for lower base prices with upcharges. We see it with airlines (lower base airfare and now we pay for even the first piece of checked luggage), hotels (with new "resort fees"), new cars (now charging a "documentation fee" for paperwork they used to handle for free), salons (many now breaking off parts of provided services imposing an upcharge for each), oil changes (now charging a fee to discard your old oil, where before that was included in the quoted price), credit cards (more and more companies and agencies charging a "convenience fee") and even Starbucks has at times in certain places charged extra for vegan milk.

When consumers change their attitude toward higher base prices instead of upcharges, we'll see a change in the way things are priced - not before.

Mostly, I think consumers are just being tricked. If they see airfare for $50, that looks like a bargain.

Most folks don't really stop to analyze all upcharges.

Some folks maybe don't really think about them, but I think most folks just don't have the bandwidth to deal with all the fine print all the time, and corporations know this.

 

[networkpro]

I noticed that all the responses here have equated "Magic Kingdom" to the entirety of WDWs parks and other attractions.

 

[celluloid]

I noticed that all the responses here have equated "Magic Kingdom" to the entirety of WDWs parks and other attractions.

My response was meant for all of the parks, but MK is the biggest offender.

 

[networkpro]

Historically Magic Kingdoms normal hours of operations have been all over the place. I'm sure some will take the maximums as their baseline for comparison, but during the winter months 6 or 7 pm closings were not uncommon. Folks who currently live in highly urbanized environment now expect schedules more like their own for entertainment venues.

(spelling correction expect instead of expert)

 

[bUU]

Mostly, I think consumers are just being tricked. If they see airfare for $50, that looks like a bargain.

Most folks don't really stop to analyze all upcharges.

Some folks maybe don't really think about them, but I think most folks just don't have the bandwidth to deal with all the fine print all the time, and corporations know this.

That's not, "being tricked." It's acknowledging and maturely accepting the inescapable reality of the mass market. I know there is a lot of support in these forums for ignoring or railing against realities of the marketplace like that but most consumers are more mature than that.

 

[bUU]

Historically Magic Kingdoms normal hours of operations have been all over the place. I'm sure some will take the maximums as their baseline for comparison, but during the winter months 6 or 7 pm closings were not uncommon. Folks who currently live in highly urbanized environment now expert schedules more like their own for entertainment venues.

Precisely and an unfounded sense of excessive entitlement is at the root of most wrongheaded comparisons like that.

 

[eliza61nyc]

That's not, "being tricked." It's acknowledging and maturely accepting the inescapable reality of the mass market. I know there is a lot of support in these forums for ignoring or railing against realities of the marketplace like that but most consumers are more mature than that.

I've always shaken my head at this concept that wdw consumers are stupid. "If they like after hours events, they are obviously too "stupid" to know they are being sold the park twice", a family stays deluxe but according to some they're too "stupid" to realize that the deluxes are not worth the price and it's cheaper off site. go figure? lol, I think airline travelers are some of the most savvy consumers around,they know how to research a flight to get the most bang for their buck.