News Disney to launch new Vacation Planning site to help guests with date-based tickets

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Looks like the site is starting the change over as of this morning. MDE looks very different and much better in my opinion. So far so good!

 

[matt9112]

This is designed to prevent exactly that kind of thing. It's much cheaper to have 100 employees all the time than it is to constantly flex up and down between 90 and 110. The goal isn't simply to monitor the seasonality, it's to limit the seasonality as much as possible. Chop the peaks off of the mountains with surge pricing and fill in the valleys with discounts.

It works on me. I'd love to escape New England in March when it's 40 degrees and the snow is turning to slush and mud, but on-property spring break prices keep me away and I end up visiting in late August when it's hot as the Sahara desert but the prices are much more affordable, both in terms of rack rates and available discounts. Disney wants that effect to spread out from its resort guests and be felt by its off-site visitors as well.

i moved to Florida to avoid this. new england is old news to me.

 

[dreamfinder]

First question is, and I assume it is so, any tickets bought prior to this transition remain AS IS?

They should. Those tickets were sold to you with the expectation Disney would provide you X number of park admissions.

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Looks like the site is starting the change over as of this morning. MDE looks very different and much better in my opinion. So far so good!

Hmmm... I don't love it so far... I liked seeing all reservations grouped by type (hotel, ADR, FP), not just the daily plan. Right now that isn't there (unless I missed it). And they need a "printable" version.

 

[GhostHost1000]

I'm waiting for the headline "Disney to launch new websites that work consistently!"

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

I'm waiting for the headline "Disney to launch new websites that work consistently!"

You'll look like your avatar before then...

 

[MrPromey]

Which, is just how it was when I was a child in the 80s...

Prices were higher for admission during certain times of the year for your family when you were a child in the 80's? I don't believe that's how it was for us.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Not necessarily. If they're adding $100 for the ability to have flexible dates and will obviously be charging a premium for high-demand days, lower-demand days will likely see a price reduction.

There has never been a reduction in price in WDW history...as far as I can tell/research. Things either stay the same or they go up.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I actually have no problem with the economics of this. Resort guests have been paying seasonal pricing for decades and nobody has a problem with it. This just makes planning unnecessarily complicated IMO.


Christmas week, yes. The rest of December is some of the lowest-demand time all year.

December is not slow anymore...we can all burn our 2001 copy of Birnbaums

 

[CaptainAmerica]

There has never been a reduction in price in WDW history...as far as I can tell/research. Things either stay the same or they go up.

I'm not talking about a general price reduction, I'm talking about a rebalancing of prices so that certain guests will end up paying less.

December is not slow anymore...we can all burn our 2001 copy of Birnbaums

"WDW is less crowded when school is in session than when it's not" is still a generally true statement and always will be.

 

[eliza61nyc]

ok, when is this website supposed to go live?

I went on line to pick up a 4 day park hopper ticket for a long weekend trip I want to take next April. regular ticket purchasing page as usual

 

[wdwmagic]

ok, when is this website supposed to go live?

I went on line to pick up a 4 day park hopper ticket for a long weekend trip I want to take next April. regular ticket purchasing page as usual

Details at Disney to launch new vacation planning site to help guests with date-based tickets and pricing

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I'm not talking about a general price reduction, I'm talking about a rebalancing of prices so that certain guests will end up paying less.


"WDW is less crowded when school is in session than when it's not" is still a generally true statement and always will be.

But nobody ends up paying “less”. Not increasing prices is not the same. If we’re gonna have have an economic thinktank here...we need to have less hints at givebacks...

There are no givebacks.


And what we talk about every single day is how the crowds have shifted so much and the “traditional” calendar is flipped on its ear...

You know better than to go blankface on that.

Since I’ve been during spring break, the summer, February and recently Labor Day over the last couple of years....I can tell you that there was little difference in feel between the “crowded” times and the others.

 

[wombat]

Disney to launch new vacation planning site to help guests with date-based tickets and pricing

I wonder if this will affect 14/21 day tickets available in the UK

 

[CaptainAmerica]

But nobody ends up paying “less”. Not increasing prices is not the same. If we’re gonna have have an economic thinktank here...we need to have less hints at givebacks...

There are no givebacks.

And what we talk about every single day is how the crowds have shifted so much and the “traditional” calendar is flipped on its ear...

You know better than to go blankface on that.

Since I’ve been during spring break, the summer, February and recently Labor Day over the last couple of years....I can tell you that there was little difference in feel between the “crowded” times and the others.

I shouldn't have said more / less "crowded." I should have said more / less "demand." The number of people might be fairly stable year-round, but the early December guests are paying $300 per night at Animal Kingdom Lodge while the Christmas guests are paying $600.

To use resort prices as a metaphor, the current ticket structure is like everyone paying $400 year-round. When you go seasonal, some people will see their price go to $600, others will see it go to $350. The average will increase, but people who visit in the lowest-demand times will pay a price that is lower than the current daily price.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I shouldn't have said more / less "crowded." I should have said more / less "demand." The number of people might be fairly stable year-round, but the early December guests are paying $300 per night at Animal Kingdom Lodge while the Christmas guests are paying $600.

To use resort prices as a metaphor, the current ticket structure is like everyone paying $400 year-round. When you go seasonal, some people will see their price go to $600, others will see it go to $350. The average will increase, but people who visit in the lowest-demand times will pay a price that is lower than the current daily price.

I’ll believe going from $400 to $350 when I see it...

I’m with you on the rest though

 

[xdan0920]

I’ll believe going from $400 to $350 when I see it...

I’m with you on the rest though

Disney is not lowering anything. The value tickets will be level with current prices, at best, and the premium days will rise. Disney is a business, after all.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Disney is not lowering anything. The value tickets will be level with current prices, at best, and the premium days will rise. Disney is a business, after all.

Wanna bet?

Current prices include unlimited flexibility. In the new structure, flexibility will be a $100 add-on. What you're suggesting is that value season tickets are going to go up $100 for the same product. That's absurd, even for Disney. It won't happen.

 

[Patcheslee]

Just as an experiment I have what our current booked vacation tickets cost. Including what they would cost if we did a single day, hopper, hopper+. Be interesting to see the price difference in a couple weeks.

 

[nickys]

I wonder if this will affect 14/21 day tickets available in the UK

Probably not until 2020. Like the resort parking fees, since they’re already on sale now for next year, there are limits to how much they can change it ....... until we’re outside of the EU laws that is! So they can plan changes and will probably start selling the new versions in 2019 for the calendar year of 2020; we can currently only buy tickets valid until the end of 2019.

My guess is they’ll still offer the 14 and 21 day tickets. They’d be mad not to. But they will not be a flat rate like they are now for most of the year. There will be some seasonal variations.