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

[note2001]

This move has been in the planning stage for probably more than a year. The exact specifics of how the software works with the ticketing change had to be detailed out and the development team given plenty of time to work on upgrades and testing before the rollout.

Just speculating: This explains why so many people have been having major problems with MDE eating up info on them and crashing -- sounds like the good developers from there were pulled over onto the ticketing system to help get it in shape before the deadline and the MDE house was left only the mice playing around, causing problems without the cats to keep them in line.

 

[RustySpork]

This move has been in the planning stage for probably more than a year. The exact specifics of how the software works with the ticketing change had to be detailed out and the development team given plenty of time to work on upgrades and testing before the rollout.

Just speculating: This explains why so many people have been having major problems with MDE eating up info on them and crashing -- sounds like the good developers from there were pulled over onto the ticketing system to help get it in shape before the deadline and the MDE house was left only the mice playing around, causing problems without the cats to keep them in line.

If I were to venture a guess I would say it is more likely that there was a backend schema change during a canary deployment to support the new ticket structure that didn't quite go as expected.

 

[note2001]

If I were to venture a guess I would say it is more likely that there was a backend schema change during a canary deployment to support the new ticket structure that didn't quite go as expected.

That's very possible. Hopefully they only added fields and new software logic/triggers and indicies, leaving older software to continue functioning, but you never know.

 

[jpeden]

First off let me say that I'm not a Disney apologist by any means (and searching this forum will prove that), but I'm not as outraged by this as I thoguht I would be. When this first came out, I was pretty upset, but the more I think about it, the more it simply makes sense from Disney's perspective. They've been doing this for YEARS with room prices and DVC Points, so why not tickets?

If you could only go in the summer, you've always paid more for your hotel room than if you went in September, or used more DVC points. It really is simply a supply and demand based model - things cost more when there is more demand for a limited supply. Things cost less when there is less of a demand for the same limited supply.

Disney does a LOT of things that make me thing they're greedy and cheap (cutting meet and greets, streetmosphere such as the Citizens of Hollywood, charging for parking at their hotels, etc.) but this doesn't strike me as a greedy and cheap move. This strikes me as pure and simple economics. The more people they have in their parks, the higher their operating costs, and the more they need to make to meet whatever bottom line they've set for themselves for that quarter. On top of that, Disney is saying to people "if you can go on these dates instead, it will be cheaper", much like many other travel sites.

People don't revolt or get angry over paying more for hotels, plane tickets, gas, and other travel experiences when there is higher demand, why would they get enraged about admission tickets doing the same thing?

A fine example of this - the Best Western in my town on a random Friday - Sunday stay is around $84 a night. When there is a SEC Football sporting event in town, those $84 rooms become $350-$700 a night rooms. Why? Supply and demand. No one needs a room in Athens, GA over the weekend of December 7th - lots of people need a room when Auburn comes to play Georgia in November.

 

[RustySpork]

That's very possible. Hopefully they only added fields and new software logic/triggers and indicies, leaving older software to continue functioning, but you never know.

I'm making an assumption that they're even versioning their schemas. So many organizations still don't.

 

[Rich Brownn]

I've got no horse in this race as I don't need or use a planning site anymore, maybe touringplans to get crowd #'s

A thought....

Disneyworld for the most part always was a place that need some type of planning . (I've only been going steadily since 2000 so I'm going from that point) Now I've never gone on any major vacation and just totally "winged" it. I go to Paris, yeah I know the museum hours, get my museum pass etc etc and if you want to eat at the top of the Eiffel tower you better have your reservation in place 9 months in advance.

Next August we are planning on Greece, we are already looking at hotels and restaurants.

lol, I just don't think "whimsical" when I think of a theme park vacation.

I think it's the old "caught between a rock and a hard place" scenario. The main problem is its god awful crowded, so a vacationer has to make a choice. No you don't have to make fp reservations but then don't complain about long waits.

I'm a dvc'er so I'm use to planning my vacations at least 9-11 months in advance if I want to stay where I own which is the Beach club, with all the festivals at Epcot, last minute reservations there would be hard.

Agreed. When we went to Disneyland for the first time (in 1971) we were survivors of the 64/65 NY World's Fair. With 100 restaurants, and 140 pavilions, if you didn't get a map and pre-plan you saw hardly anything. So pre-planning was second nature to us... got a Disneyland guide map, and went from there

 

[flynnibus]

In reality the net difference in peak vs non peak tickets is small portion of the total ticket cost.

This kind of structural change is not about how you change prices now... it's what it enables going forward. The more twisted Disney makes it the harder it will be to compare to older prices and different schemes. Customers will eventually stop fighting it and just compare to what they are being offered 'now'.

 

[eliza61nyc]

Comparing the capacity of one Disney park to the capacity of one plane is like comparing an apple with a genetically altered, mutated, freakishly-large orange.

Lol, you're being obtuse. it's not the specific capacity, its the methodology, most "venues/transportation " charge a premium on different days. Baseball standiums charge more when you play better teams, Amtrak charges you more to travel on Saturday, cruise lines do it all the time.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Just saying, not a fan of where this leads us. Date-based pricing? Not a big deal on its own. Planning dining 180 days out? Understandable it’s a busy place. Decdiding on what attractions to do 60 days out? What an intuitive tool, I can skip the lines. Getting flights and a spot in your favourite hotel? A standard part of every vacation...

.... add all of that together though, your average holidaymaker’s whimsical trip from the ordinary world to Disney World starts to get complex and clinical. The exact opposite of what the place should be offering guests.

Completely agree with your entire post.

I spent 10 days at WDW last August and enjoyed it at the time. Honestly, though, I have no plans or real desire to go back anytime soon.

One reason is that Disney has become next-level expensive as a vacation destination. I am happy to splurge and we had a nice vacation staying at the Grand Floridian, etc. If you want to relax, enjoy decent meals and maybe a cocktail or two with dinner and do a bit of shopping, though, a Disney World vacation soon becomes astronomically expensive. Looking at the bill at the end of our stay, I came to understand a lot more why so many people do spend so much time plotting out their budgeting.

The other thing that turns me off is how many moving parts a WDW vacation now involves. The expectation seems to be that you'll be thinking through months ahead what days you'll be spending in what parks and what attractions you're going to want to ride at what time and coordinating that with the restaurants in which you want to dine. You can kind of opt out and take things as they come, but then you have to be ok with missing out on some of the most popular attractions and putting up with lines that seem to be getting ever longer.

As you say, each individual element including date-based pricing seems reasonable enough. Put it all together, though, and I kind of can't be bothered with a Disney World vacation. Either heading to some tropical locale to relax by the pool or planning something that seems worthy of the same level of thought such as trekking across South America becomes more appealing.

 

[DABIGCHEEZ]

I thought I'd clear up some things that I think are misconceptions if you hadn't read the fine print.


The fine print mentions that if your ticket is purchased in conjunction with a WDW resort stay, your days would be valid for the entire duration of your stay. I am thinking this will go for DVC stays as well. Here's the quote from the FAQ. I'm not sure where the quoted FAQ is from. I think this might force you to buy your tickets directly through member services rather than through a discounter, though.


See the quoted example above.

I certainly hope you are correct Lensman, but I took that as being folks purchasing a package. I hope it holds true for DVC as well. Also I do not like being forced to buy anything a certain way. If I buy tickets where ever and link to a resort stay... said tickets should be for my length of stay as I will be spending money in the parks on those park days.

Pricing and Time-frame

The whole purpose of the new pricing schema is to reward people who come at off-peak times and to discourage overcrowding at peak. They already did that with the (now defunct) surge pricing for a one-day ticket, and different levels of passes with differing blackout dates, and seasonal pricing on resorts. And we knew it was coming to all the parks for quite a while now. Hopefully, the off-peak tickets are a really good discount.

It would be rewarding if they did not lessen the offerings(shows, hours, parades, characters, etc) during the slower times... but we know they do. So people are paying less for less.

 

[tabby1222]

Listen teachers are a much needed profession, but no one had a gun to your head and forced you to be a teacher. Keep in mind most people don’t have summers off!! You act like it’s a burden to have 3 months off. Geeze

Ummmm, you are right. No one forced me to become a teacher. I did it for the love of kids and the future of our nation and world. And you are also right, I have two months and two weeks off every summer. Consider that the payoff of 8 hour days, where I still have to come home and grade papers, write lesson plans, contact parents, write reports, analyze data for RTI, and manage my own house and kids. Also consider three weeks after school gets out where I am finalizing all grades, retentions, lesson plans, etc. I am also back in the classroom at least three weeks before school, working on getting a room ready for the new year, adjusting curriculum due to all of the changes for either my district or state, and preparing for a new batch of kids that come with their own new set of needs and backgrounds. So, if you are keeping track, that is an additional 6 weeks out of 10 that I am still "working". Oh, don't forget at least one week of professional development over the remaining 4 weeks. So yeah, I get three weeks off, if you don't factor in all of the unpaid overtime I do throughout the school year.....

 

[tabby1222]

Same boat with a school district that doesn't excuse family vacation. Between that and my work has overtime all but maybe June, it's expensive. Guess I know what the OT is going to.... And thank you for being a teacher it's a job that requires special people to do.

Thank you!!! I love it, or it definitely wouldn't be worth it.

Summer is expensive at Disney, no matter how you look at it.

 

[Ben_since_1971]

This seems to be no different than the fare/rate calendars Southwest and Marriott provide. Yes it adds a level of complexity, what I would like to see is them pair it with room rate/package availability.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Thanks for the explanation no one needed

You're welcome!

 

[MisterPenguin]

It would be rewarding if they did not lessen the offerings(shows, hours, parades, characters, etc) during the slower times... but we know they do. So people are paying less for less.

Well, Disney always used to have a lot less hours in the winter. Which meant that, at one time, you'd be paying the same amount for 11 hours in the winter as those who got 16 hours in the summer.

Hopefully, with this tiered pricing, the pricing will reflect that difference.

 

[seanjclarke]

A fine example of this - the Best Western in my town on a random Friday - Sunday stay is around $84 a night. When there is a SEC Football sporting event in town, those $84 rooms become $350-$700 a night rooms. Why? Supply and demand.

Where this gets really interesting is how high can/will they go when Star Wars land opens? How far out can they accurately predict that date?

And will these ticket prices change in real time based on availability and how often you search the same dates on the same computer? Or will a price range be locked in, once it's posted for the year?

 

[eddie104]

Ummmm, you are right. No one forced me to become a teacher. I did it for the love of kids and the future of our nation and world. And you are also right, I have two months and two weeks off every summer. Consider that the payoff of 8 hour days, where I still have to come home and grade papers, write lesson plans, contact parents, write reports, analyze data for RTI, and manage my own house and kids. Also consider three weeks after school gets out where I am finalizing all grades, retentions, lesson plans, etc. I am also back in the classroom at least three weeks before school, working on getting a room ready for the new year, adjusting curriculum due to all of the changes for either my district or state, and preparing for a new batch of kids that come with their own new set of needs and backgrounds. So, if you are keeping track, that is an additional 6 weeks out of 10 that I am still "working". Oh, don't forget at least one week of professional development over the remaining 4 weeks. So yeah, I get three weeks off, if you don't factor in all of the unpaid overtime I do throughout the school year.....

People are always throwing that in teachers faces just because they get summers off as if they don't deserve it.

 

[eliza61nyc]

F

A fine example of this - the Best Western in my town on a random Friday - Sunday stay is around $84 a night. When there is a SEC Football sporting event in town, those $84 rooms become $350-$700 a night rooms. Why? Supply and demand. No one needs a room in Athens, GA over the weekend of December 7th - lots of people need a room when Auburn comes to play Georgia in November.

You should see the Jersey shore in the summer. My gal pals and I wanted to check into a motel for 1 night just to hang at the beach. First let me say this wasn't even a brand name motel, it was a hole in the wall named..... "motel" LOL first in the summer they throw in the 3 night minimum, can't even get a room for a night. next the price from October to June 1st. 90 bucks a night. June 1st to july1st jumps to $170.00 July and August? 300 bucks a night. Not even near the beach, in fact not even in city limits.

 

[eliza61nyc]

This is the worst decision Disney has made in the past 10 years!! It may very well be the tipping point for me. I like to buy my tickets before hand to reduce some of the out of pocket expenses when I get there. I also like to be flexible in my park dates because I never know when I will have to make a change. Just too complicated for me!!

I think you might be a very small population sky. I think (have no proof) that most of the wdw visitors don't make changes to their vacations once they book their room. If you fly it's even more locked.

 

[xdan0920]

You should see the Jersey shore in the summer. My gal pals and I wanted to check into a motel for 1 night just to hang at the beach. First let me say this wasn't even a brand name motel, it was a hole in the wall named..... "motel" LOL first in the summer they throw in the 3 night minimum, can't even get a room for a night. next the price from October to June 1st. 90 bucks a night. June 1st to july1st jumps to $170.00 July and August? 300 bucks a night. Not even near the beach, in fact not even in city limits.

These things do not correlate at all. Of course the Hotels at the Jersey Shore are cheap in the winter. There is zero reason to visit them. WDW is not that way. You know that though.

Also, you are full of it. There are plenty, and I mean plenty of places on the Jersey Shore that you can book for a single night. Also, if you are looking at a run down motel away from the beach and claiming it's 300 per night with a three night minumim. I mean....