George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
The best I've seen, miss. Hardly any APs.
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Disneyland admits they are planning changes to the Annual Pass Program - 2/11/2018
- Thread starter Darkbeer1
- Start date
CaptainAmerica
Premium Member
Especially with Star Wars coming. You can't have the Disney fanboys and the Hollywood / movie / Star Wars fanboys packing the place like that every single evening and weekend.
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
Miss? Oh I get it. Another Titanic quote. APs = rats. Or was it roaches?
The best approach is eliminate the lower tiered Southern California passes and give Southern Californians the option to purchase multi day tickets that won’t lapse in 14 days. Some here suggest 10 visit ticket books. That’s missing the point. The average AP visit once per month so a 10 visit ticket book won’t reduce attendance. Best to have 4 or 6 visit ticketbooks that expire in 9 months with many options that add to the price (hopping, weekends or weekdays or mix, max pass). This will likely discourage casual visits like Friday nights or the evening visit since a visit will count against the purchased pass.
TROR
Well-Known Member
These people living paycheck to paycheck that are spending their money on Disneyland are, honestly, dumb. I get that Disneyland is fun and an escape from it all, but it's so unwise to be spending that money on a theme park when you're struggling to survive. Use it on food, clothing, and shelter, and put what you don't spend on that into a bank. I know it's not Disney's job to look after these people and all they want is money (which is fine, they are a business), but to tempt these unwise people who can't handle money properly is pretty immoral imo.
The original article has been updated....
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For this latest change, though, they did not eliminate the park’s monthly payment plan, which Brown said a majority of annual passholders use to pay for their passes.
The Disneyland Resort last raised annual pass prices in October 2015, and changed categories around to provide fewer benefits overall, except for the highest levels, which for the first time topped $1,000.
Despite this change, Brown said that the number of annual passholders has quadrupled over the last 20 years, though she declined to provide the numbers. The average passholder visits the park 10 times per year, she said, though there are fans who visit much more often. Generally, the accepted number of passholders has been thought to be around 1 million for Disneyland, though Disney has never confirmed that number.
“They’ve been trying to trim the number of annual passholders for some time,” Lewison said. “The number of annual passholders is more than they have capacity for at the parks.”<<
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For this latest change, though, they did not eliminate the park’s monthly payment plan, which Brown said a majority of annual passholders use to pay for their passes.
The Disneyland Resort last raised annual pass prices in October 2015, and changed categories around to provide fewer benefits overall, except for the highest levels, which for the first time topped $1,000.
Despite this change, Brown said that the number of annual passholders has quadrupled over the last 20 years, though she declined to provide the numbers. The average passholder visits the park 10 times per year, she said, though there are fans who visit much more often. Generally, the accepted number of passholders has been thought to be around 1 million for Disneyland, though Disney has never confirmed that number.
“They’ve been trying to trim the number of annual passholders for some time,” Lewison said. “The number of annual passholders is more than they have capacity for at the parks.”<<
A bit more...
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“Demand for Disney parks is less price sensitive than for other luxury goods and services,” he added. “Disney is the kind of modern day luxury that its fans don’t see as a luxury anymore. They see it as a necessity. People see going to Disney almost as a right, so they get upset when prices go up, but they keep on coming.”
Even after Disney raised ticket prices last year, attendance at Disney parks in Anaheim and Florida still increased by 6 percent, according to company officials.<<
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“Demand for Disney parks is less price sensitive than for other luxury goods and services,” he added. “Disney is the kind of modern day luxury that its fans don’t see as a luxury anymore. They see it as a necessity. People see going to Disney almost as a right, so they get upset when prices go up, but they keep on coming.”
Even after Disney raised ticket prices last year, attendance at Disney parks in Anaheim and Florida still increased by 6 percent, according to company officials.<<
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
Mr. Disney, forgive me. I did the sum in my head and with the number of attractions times the capacity you mentioned, forgive me, but it seems that there are not enough for everyone with an AP.
Professortango1
Well-Known Member
If they can't afford regular trips, they should save to go every few years. Much cheaper than paying $50-$100 per person per month for a year. For a family of 4 to go once every 2 years, you only need save $17 per month. When I used to go a ton, the Premium Pass was the only one that I would accept since I work Mon-Fri. I need Holidays and Weekends available to go, so I could only really get the most expensive. And, after a few years, I realized I couldn't afford the cost. It just wasn't worth it. Instead, I go every year or so and have a much better time for much less.
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
Kids appreciate things a lot more when they are rare and special. My kids look forward to our Disneyland trips more than just about anything. They do countdowns, they save their money, they get their pins/pressed penny collections ready. They like to listen to park CDs before we go to get excited. If I started taking them every week, all of that specialness would go away. It'd be just another thing to get tired of.
Rich T
Well-Known Member
If anything ends up pulling the rug out from under Disney, this is it: The assumption that this kind of loyalty will always automatically be there. If Disney keeps buying up IPs, diluting their brand and voting for profit over charm (instead of a balance), they could reach a point where the name "Disney" essentially becomes meaningless-- with no more emotional connection to consumers than Comcast or Netflix. At that point, the Disney "magic" that people pay top dollar for could evaporate, and the whole Disney empire could suddenly look like a session of Roller Coaster Tycoon that's gone very wrong for the player as Peeps head for the exit and never return.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
When it's uber crowded with APs, which is frequently, DLR resembles Roller Coaster Tycoon when you use a trainer to add huge loads of guests in the park and the rating plummets.
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
From MousePlanet:
"It should be no surprise that Disneyland is looking at ways to manage crowds around the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and that will have to include a way to manage the crush of Disneyland annual passholders eager to get a first look at the land. While Disney did not provide any specifics about how it may futher change the AP program, some language and display options on the Disneyland website may give a hint at what's to come.
The pass comparison grid on the Disneyland website separately lists admission to Disneyland, admission to Disney California Adventure, and the ability to visit both parks on the same day. While all of the passes offered currently include all three benefits, the way this is presented implies that there may be a time when a certain pass type does not include admission to one park or the other, or does not include park hopper benefits.
The blockout days for the Signature passport are described as including the December holidays, "and other peak days." This language is not new—it's been part of the description since the Signature pass debuted—but the blockouts have been limited to December so far. We expect that to change when Disney releases the blockout dates for the month in which Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens. It's a good bet that the opening week(s) and month(s) will be deemed peak days, and blocked out to most passholders.
Long-time readers may remember that there was a brief time during which Disney sold annual passports valid at Disneyland but not at Disney California Adventure. With Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on the event horizon, we may see the reverse policy take hold.
It's also possible that Disney could impose different blockout dates for each of the theme parks, a practice already used by Universal Studios Orlando to manage passholder access to its three parks.
Whatever happens, we expect Disney to release details—and likely another AP price hike—about 400 days before the official opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge."
"It should be no surprise that Disneyland is looking at ways to manage crowds around the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, and that will have to include a way to manage the crush of Disneyland annual passholders eager to get a first look at the land. While Disney did not provide any specifics about how it may futher change the AP program, some language and display options on the Disneyland website may give a hint at what's to come.
The pass comparison grid on the Disneyland website separately lists admission to Disneyland, admission to Disney California Adventure, and the ability to visit both parks on the same day. While all of the passes offered currently include all three benefits, the way this is presented implies that there may be a time when a certain pass type does not include admission to one park or the other, or does not include park hopper benefits.
The blockout days for the Signature passport are described as including the December holidays, "and other peak days." This language is not new—it's been part of the description since the Signature pass debuted—but the blockouts have been limited to December so far. We expect that to change when Disney releases the blockout dates for the month in which Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opens. It's a good bet that the opening week(s) and month(s) will be deemed peak days, and blocked out to most passholders.
Long-time readers may remember that there was a brief time during which Disney sold annual passports valid at Disneyland but not at Disney California Adventure. With Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge on the event horizon, we may see the reverse policy take hold.
It's also possible that Disney could impose different blockout dates for each of the theme parks, a practice already used by Universal Studios Orlando to manage passholder access to its three parks.
Whatever happens, we expect Disney to release details—and likely another AP price hike—about 400 days before the official opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge."
mickEblu
Well-Known Member
I wonder if they would ever consider different blockout dates for APs of the same tier? Like Signature A, Signature B and Signature C. Deluxe A, Deluxe B, Deluxe C and so forth. Same amount of days per year for each tier but different days of having access fo DL. Of course, this would be only for the period of time they are concerned with SWL crowds. Which I’m guessing is a couple months or so after opening. This way only a limited # of APs per tier would have access on any given day.
Of course it would just be a lot easier for them to just blockout anything below Signature Plus. However it could prove to be a good strategy moving forward. It would just require Disney to offer less days for all the different tiers and split it up between the 3 levels per tier. I think it could help a lot with crowds and would be an easier transition for APs than something like capped visits for example. Of course they would have to find a way to split all holidays and desirable times of the year evenly which would be a challenge.
Of course it would just be a lot easier for them to just blockout anything below Signature Plus. However it could prove to be a good strategy moving forward. It would just require Disney to offer less days for all the different tiers and split it up between the 3 levels per tier. I think it could help a lot with crowds and would be an easier transition for APs than something like capped visits for example. Of course they would have to find a way to split all holidays and desirable times of the year evenly which would be a challenge.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
DL without APs:
DL with APs:
True, the AP version is more exciting.
DL with APs:
True, the AP version is more exciting.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
@Kira Nerys , that is perhaps the most brilliant analogy I've ever seen for the AP problem at Disneyland.
It's also why I so enjoy mid-summer Saturdays at Disneyland, because almost all the AP's are blocked out and it's like Disneyland circa 1980 as I remember it.
It's also why I so enjoy mid-summer Saturdays at Disneyland, because almost all the AP's are blocked out and it's like Disneyland circa 1980 as I remember it.
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
Passholder speculation
When Disneyland announced its most recent price increase last month, they also stated that there would be additional changes made to the annual passholder program this year. Disneyland Resort spokeswoman Suzi Brown told MousePlanet:
Disney rolled out another change to its website this week, removing the annual passholder blockout information from the monthly and daily schedule pages. Instead, this information is provided only on the annual passholder blockout calendar page, which displays each pass type separately.
Why this change, and why does it matter? From a functionality perspective, having that information on the main calendar was more convenient for families trying to plan trips. The previous display allowed the user to see a whole month at a glance, and to select which pass types they wanted blockout information for. This was especially handy for families or groups with different pass types, and thus different blockout dates—you could clearly see which dates all of your passes were valid for. Now you have to look up the blockout dates for each pass type individually, and scroll up and down to compare dates.
But as for the why, we can only speculate. If Disney is in fact looking to apply different blockout dates to each of the theme parks—a practice already used by Universal Studios Orlando to manage passholder access to its three parks—such a change would necessitate a change in the way that information is presented on the main calendar.
As we said last month, we expect Disney to release details—and likely another AP price hike—about 400 days before the official opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Disney this week released drone footage from above the construction site in California.
When Disneyland announced its most recent price increase last month, they also stated that there would be additional changes made to the annual passholder program this year. Disneyland Resort spokeswoman Suzi Brown told MousePlanet:
“We will be reshaping our Annual Pass program to better manage the guest experience throughout the year, which will help all Disneyland Resort guests have a great visit, particularly as we look forward to the opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in 2019.”
While Disney did not provide any specifics about how it might further change the AP program, we noted at the time that some language and display options on the Disneyland website may give a hint at what's to come. The pass comparison grid on the Disneyland website now separately lists admission to Disneyland, admission to Disney California Adventure, and the ability to visit both parks on the same day. While all of the passes offered currently include all three benefits, the way this is presented implies that there may be a time when a certain pass type does not include admission to one park or the other, or does not include park hopper benefits.Disney rolled out another change to its website this week, removing the annual passholder blockout information from the monthly and daily schedule pages. Instead, this information is provided only on the annual passholder blockout calendar page, which displays each pass type separately.
Why this change, and why does it matter? From a functionality perspective, having that information on the main calendar was more convenient for families trying to plan trips. The previous display allowed the user to see a whole month at a glance, and to select which pass types they wanted blockout information for. This was especially handy for families or groups with different pass types, and thus different blockout dates—you could clearly see which dates all of your passes were valid for. Now you have to look up the blockout dates for each pass type individually, and scroll up and down to compare dates.
But as for the why, we can only speculate. If Disney is in fact looking to apply different blockout dates to each of the theme parks—a practice already used by Universal Studios Orlando to manage passholder access to its three parks—such a change would necessitate a change in the way that information is presented on the main calendar.
As we said last month, we expect Disney to release details—and likely another AP price hike—about 400 days before the official opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. Disney this week released drone footage from above the construction site in California.
George Lucas on a Bench
Well-Known Member
Black them out. All of them.