Annual Pass prices raised (again)

[Disneysea05]

Just so you know, Disneyland has basically stopped people from putting out blankets and leaving them to reserve seating for Fantasmic and such. There are still the people that camp out on Main Street for hours for the parade but it has to be attended by someone.

In Tokyo Disneyland, they have announcements in both Japanese and English along the lines of "as a reminder, please do not use blankets or plastic sheets to save viewing spots until one hour prior to performance time"

I LOVE this, but I chuckle at the thought of what would happen in CA or FL if Disney tried that here! Near rioting I would imagine.

Also, charging a premium for park access during the busiest two weeks of the year makes perfect sense. $200 though, wow!

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

They should introduce a new cheaper Haunted Mansion Purist Passport that discounts the price since the original version is down for 5 months.

 

[TP2000]

Obviously no one likes a price hike on a favorite product, and disappointment and some cranky posts are to be expected. But one skim through the message boards at another big Disneyland site today has gone way beyond that and made my brain hurt.

Apparently this country's school system stopped teaching Economics 101 to high school students about 20 years ago. So many people today have absolutely no idea how a free market prices an in-demand product to free consumers spending their own money however they wish. It's maddening, and yet scary.

How can so many under-40 Americans not understand how American Free Enterprise works? Not a good omen for the future.

 

[westie]

Well in my reality it took 5 days in the to pay for my pass. Now its 6. I think I'll survive.

 

[ForeverAnna]

Last year when I divided the price of the pass by the number of days I went I was paying about $20 a day. Now, last year, I went an extraordinary number of times but two trips a year makes the pass worth it.

 

[Curious Constance]

Just so you know, Disneyland has basically stopped people from putting out blankets and leaving them to reserve seating for Fantasmic and such. There are still the people that camp out on Main Street for hours for the parade but it has to be attended by someone.

Also, I'm predicting that the raise on parking and annual passes are just one step to the increase in price for regular tickets and passes.

Thanks, that's good to know. And I'm sure regular tickets will go up at least once a year from now until a long time from now, but the price increases are usually just a few dollars at a time and nothing too crazy. Disneyland is priced very similarly to most other entertainment options such as sporting events, shows, and other theme parks.

 

[TP2000]

Disneyland is priced very similarly to most other entertainment options such as sporting events, shows, and other theme parks.

Disneyland is a steal compared to most other entertainment options in SoCal.

NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, Hollywood Bowl, Honda Center concerts, LA Philharmonic, LA Opera, Segerstrom Hall concerts, Pageant of the Masters, Sierra ski lift tickets, etc., etc. All those things have single-use tickets and season pass pricing that is far, far higher than Disneyland.

And there's a healthy free market for all those other options that are more expensive than Disneyland, which is perfectly fine.

 

[Californian Elitist]

What people consider deals or "steals" is all based on interests. Someone who enjoys going to sports games and dislikes theme parks will consider these annual pass prices a joke and and a rip-off. I myself enjoy going to sports games, the theater, concerts, etc., and therefore will pony up $100+ for these types of events. Those who aren't interested in these types of things won't pay. It's all about interests.

 

[TP2000]

Valid point @raven24 . There's a reason why the San Diego Chargers can charge $400 for a seat at a three hour long football game. There's enough people with enough interest to pay that.

Again, that's the beauty of the free market. Disney obviously feels these are the prices that market can now bear.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Valid point @raven24 . There's a reason why the San Diego Chargers can charge $400 for a seat at a three hour long football game. There's enough people with enough interest to pay that.

Again, that's the beauty of the free market. Disney obviously feels these are the prices that market can now bear.

Exactly, though I'd never pay $400 for a game LOL. For season tickets, sure.

 

[PrincessJenn5795]

Three years ago my family purchased Premier Annual Passes (the one for both DLR and WDW) for $749 each. They are now $1439 each. It kind of crazy that the price nearly doubled in that amount of time! That said, these passes would still be a bargain for people who go to the parks a lot. A one day/one park ticket to Disneyland is $99, so the Signature Plus pass for $1049 may not be worth it for some, but for anyone planning on spending at least 10 days in the parks during a year it would be worth it, especially when you consider the discounts on rooms, dining, and merchandise.

 

[Mukta]

Well, I went to DL last night to renew my Premier pass since today is my FPP day for WDW. Waited in a very long line for 45 minutes that didn't really move. When we asked CMs what was going on, they were having computer issues and couldn't do anything that had to do with APs. This is about 6 pm. People went ballistic. 'You want $1000 for a pas and IT department can't fix this?' 'I want to go in the parks tonight, Do you have a supervisor that will be letting me in?'. It was ugly.

I went to the parks for a few hours and tried again around 9:30 PM. They can't print new cards which you have to do with Premiers. What do I do? You'll have to come back tomorrow, Ma'am, we can't help you.

Is there a phone number i can call to make sure I don't drive out here for nothing? You can call the AP hot line, but other than that, we can't guarantee anything.

I'll go back today, but I am not amused.

 

[Curious Constance]

"People went ballistic. 'You want $1000 for a pas and IT department can't fix this?' 'I want to go in the parks tonight, Do you have a supervisor that will be letting me in?'."

Sounds like people were acting very entitled, if you ask me. I feel bad for the CMs who have absolutely nothing to do with the price for a pass or the IT issues.

 

[Californian Elitist]

"People went ballistic. 'You want $1000 for a pas and IT department can't fix this?' 'I want to go in the parks tonight, Do you have a supervisor that will be letting me in?'."

Sounds like people were acting very entitled, if you ask me. I feel bad for the CMs who have absolutely nothing to do with the price for a pass or the IT issues.

Disneyland fans, as a whole, are bratty and and believe they're entitled to lots of things. Something to get used to seeing.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

As large as some of the increases are, this is STILL less drastic than it could have been. They could have pulled monthly payments.

 

[Phroobar]

I'm waiting for them to charge interest on those monthly payments.

 

[Mukta]

I got my pass tonight. I parked in DtD because it used to be 3 hours for free. It isn't any longer.

It is now 2 hours for free. 2 hours with validation from the movie theater and sit down restaurants.

Any thing after that is $12 an hour. They let me go for free today since the policy is new.

 

[Mukta]

And now that i have linked my pass in MDE, WDW can't see it for me to make my FPP. I had to call them and they can't figure out what is wrong. So much for making my FPPs tonight!

 

[Californian Elitist]

$12/hr? For Downtown Disney, a snoozefest? No, thanks.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I parked in DTD one time and they let me go for free when they tried to charge me and I played the dumb tourist. I'll be honest, I kinda hate that parking lot and I will never go back.