NearTheEars
Well-Known Member
Now if they would only decouple it from the AP so I could renew at a more reasonable price w/o having to face blackout dates next year.
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Disney PhotoPass Memory Maker pricing reduced
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
JWG
Well-Known Member
I imagine this was planned as part of the AP price hike. How many passes does the average AP family have? If they did the math on # of AP's per address, what would that be on average? 4? 3? 3.5? And, over the course of a year, how many Memory Maker purchases would that same family buy? If you're a true frequent park goer - do you buy Memory Maker? And if you do, do you buy it more often the average number of passes in your household? My guess is they're more than making up for any loss per purchase on the significant price hike for AP holders.
rucifee
Well-Known Member
So, what you're saying is that Disney bundled Memory Maker photo downloads with the new (and now more expensive) APs because it has no value to annual passholders. Interesting.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Be honest. Are you a troll or do you seriously not understand this? Obviously I'm talking about "value-for-the-money." In other words, it was too expensive for AP holders if they had to pay cash. Getting something that used to be too expensive and now is free is a good thing.
MemoryMaker bundled with your AP is extremely valuable in terms of "what you get." If you're an AP holder and you visit five times for two nights each, you'd need to spend $850 for ten nights worth of Memory Maker since you'd need to purchase it every trip. Compare that to a guest who visits one time for ten nights. That guest gets ten nights worth of Memory Maker for a one-time purchase of $170. It's just a function of the per-trip pricing model. If you pay for something once per trip, it's advantageous to take fewer, longer trips. It's like a plane ticket. You get much better value out of your plane ticket if you fly to WDW once for a week than if you fly there four times for two nights at a time. Memory Maker bundled with the AP is a huge value to AP holders who would have to pay for the product every single visit under the legacy system.
rucifee
Well-Known Member
Oh how cute, there's that troll word again. It's such a convenient word to use when someone says something someone doesn't like.
blah blah blah, remember your words, you said "Pass holders weren't buying Memory Maker in the first place.", funny how you ignore that you've said that.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Lol.
I'm not ignoring I said that, that's my EXACT point. I'm not saying "Memory Maker sucks." I'm saying "Memory Maker was too expensive for pass holders because they don't visit long enough for it to be worth it." Including MM in the price of the AP is Disney accommodating the Pass Holder's travel style when the pricing model wouldn't work for them otherwise.
rucifee
Well-Known Member
Yeah, it's funny. Calling someone a troll for no legitimate reason like some people here do is considered on some forums to be a personal attack.
Including MM in the price of the AP just means I have to purchase multiple instances of MM that I don't want, how's that a benefit to me? Instead of purchasing one MM, I now have to buy many. I didn't buy it in the first place so how is this helping? It's a useless excuse to increase the price of the AP without costing Disney any money at all other than the simple image hosting they were already doing. Instead, it should be a checkbox on each AP that adds a few bucks to the AP for those who want it.
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Maybe if you notice a trend of people calling you a troll...
It's not an itemized expense. You're buying a bundled product.
Since when does Disney need an "excuse?" They can charge more for absolutely no reason. Hell, they can offer less and charge more.
"Should" be? Why? You said yourself you're paying for something you don't even want, but you paid it anyways. Disney should charge as much as they possibly can until people start abandoning the product in greater percentages than the price increase. The fact that you're buying it with features included that you don't even want indicates it's actually priced below market.
rucifee
Well-Known Member
I also noticed that in every instance they had an agenda or some vested interest in TWDC as well.
Thanks for making my point for me.
I paid it anyways? Show me the receipt where I've renewed my APs since they haven't even expired yet. Nice assumption there, but maybe you should pay more attention.
Tom P.
Well-Known Member
Disney was going to raise the price of the AP's regardless. Throwing in Memory Maker, which essentially costs them nothing, was their attempt to soften the blow by making it look like something other than just a straight price increase with no added value. It wasn't done because AP holders were clamoring for Memory Maker or making huge use of it. It was a simple PR move, nothing more. So, yes, @CaptainAmerica is correct that AP holders, by and large, weren't purchasing Memory Maker prior to it being bundled in, and the fact that Disney chose to bundle it doesn't change that fact.
boufa
Well-Known Member
Like one of the earlier posters said.. this is a matter of supply and demand. If they reduce the price by $20, they only need 1 additional person to purchase Memory Maker for every 8 people who already buy it, to actually make more money by reducing the price.
The reality is that since it has gone digital, there is no per person cost. The hardware, and photopass photographers are a fixed cost, ie, they are there and being paid even if they are not taking photos. So Disney makes money on this product solely based on volume.
Of course, being allowed to share a photopass among several groups is the best way to do it. I would never, ever pay $150 for photopass. Its a gimick to me (especially since my kids stopped doing characters). But sharing the cost among several people, my next trip my share is only $22. For a few snaps of my wife and I together, that's perfect.
The reality is that since it has gone digital, there is no per person cost. The hardware, and photopass photographers are a fixed cost, ie, they are there and being paid even if they are not taking photos. So Disney makes money on this product solely based on volume.
Of course, being allowed to share a photopass among several groups is the best way to do it. I would never, ever pay $150 for photopass. Its a gimick to me (especially since my kids stopped doing characters). But sharing the cost among several people, my next trip my share is only $22. For a few snaps of my wife and I together, that's perfect.
flynnibus
Premium Member
That whole argument is predicated on the idea that you see value in paying hundreds of dollars for pictures. Its only a value in the sense of its now 'all you can eat' for a product that you used to pay per use. But if I don't like mongolian food... winning a free 'unlimited year long dining pass' to the local Mongolian restaurant isn't an appreciated value for me.
It's like the Movie theater giving you free refills on the $8 soda... wow it's a steal, you don't have to pay $8 again! Except, I wasn't happy with the $8 price in the first place.. giving me more soda doesn't change that sting.
I think this is more about generating more upsell opportunities and trying to establish the idea that having this kind of service is 'the norm'.. which will create even more pull through sales as those who don't have it, won't want to be left behind or have a lesser vacation experience. Make it the norm, not the 'special exception'. AP holders probably weren't buying memorymaker multiple times.. so it doesn't really cost Disney anything in lost opportunity to give them 'free refills'.
IMFearless
Well-Known Member
From Disney's point of view the cost in providing the service is in the staff costs for the photographers.
This would be the same regardless of uptake, therefore they perhaps realise it is in their best interests to have a high percentage of guests paying fairly for the service, than a small number paying a higher price.
Basically the cost to provide the service stays the same, now it is downloads only and no physical media involved. They would make more cash if the majority of guests added on the Memory Maker, even at a much lower price point.
This would be the same regardless of uptake, therefore they perhaps realise it is in their best interests to have a high percentage of guests paying fairly for the service, than a small number paying a higher price.
Basically the cost to provide the service stays the same, now it is downloads only and no physical media involved. They would make more cash if the majority of guests added on the Memory Maker, even at a much lower price point.
IMFearless
Well-Known Member
I can completely agree that it would be pointless for an AP holder to buy Memory Maker at the price it is currently, in the way that it is sold.
However, I disagree that there is not value in it being included, basically the value is there not in the present but in the future. When people are too old to make it into the parks on a regular basis they may well cherish the photos.
It essentially costs Disney nothing to add it, so why not throw it in? The AP prices had to go up in an effort to control attendance anyway.
As I see it the two issues are unrelated. The price increase was going to happen anyway. The photo pass infrastructure is there for those that will pay, but it costs Disney nothing to allow those with AP's use of it, they were not paying for it previously.
However, I disagree that there is not value in it being included, basically the value is there not in the present but in the future. When people are too old to make it into the parks on a regular basis they may well cherish the photos.
It essentially costs Disney nothing to add it, so why not throw it in? The AP prices had to go up in an effort to control attendance anyway.
As I see it the two issues are unrelated. The price increase was going to happen anyway. The photo pass infrastructure is there for those that will pay, but it costs Disney nothing to allow those with AP's use of it, they were not paying for it previously.
Bear in mind that UK guests are getting Memory Maker free as a booking incentive.
Jon81uk
Well-Known Member
They also removed DisneyQuest from the UK tickets (probably as it was meant to close this summer) but some people think that adding Memory Maker offsets the loss of DQ.
never done DQ so it was a win for us
Biff215
Well-Known Member
Also keep in mind that every AP is not a local who visits all the time. We are DVC who typically get 3 trips out of a pass. We always debated MM due to the cost, but it was easier to justify than purchasing pictures individually for $20 each. We're excited that it's now included in our pass, as the price increase isn't more than the $510 it would cost for MM for three trips.
IMFearless
Well-Known Member
And free memory maker is not always up for grabs in the UK. It has just been the current promotion since 23rd April. We generally have vastly different pricing and packages to USA guests. It is a completely different market.