News Disneyland Cancels Its Annual Pass Program - Theme Park Insider & OC Register

[CaptinEO]

I have to admit that potentially seeing a lethal blow to the local "treat the park like a mall hang-out" mentality is fine with me. There won't be any tears shed if the likes of Fresh Baked and Justin Scarred can only go to the parks as often as the rest of us non-locals. On the other hand, you would have to be a Pollyanna Whittier to believe that somehow the park will revert to a ca 2000 atmosphere with a true off-season and relaxing days. Unless the analytics show that the "pack 'em in like sardines" approach isn't the most profitable, then expect to find the park as crowded as always when it reopens. Still, I have to admit that I'm somewhat hopeful in that anything at this point has to be an improvement for the non-local.

The covid capacity and distancing restrictions will most likely be here a long time. Disney can't allow the local APs to use up their limited capacity to buy one churro and see the fireworks.

This completely makes sense. People who really want to get in will buy tickets, and the mall
folks will have to instead make each visit special.

 

[Californian Elitist]

I’m not mad.

 

[el_super]

I’m not mad.

Yeah me neither. I think this was completely expected and makes a lot of sense.

 

[choco choco]

I'll go to bat once more for my long-term idea: Sell a membership program where a customer pays an annual fee which grants them 50% off their personal ticket for that year plus food and merchandise discounts. Disney gets the upfront guaranteed money. Guests get heavily discounted admissions if visiting in bulk. Company doesn't have to give away free visits. Crowding can more easily be managed (because Disney knows how many tickets were sold for that day), which helps with staffing and maintenance. Win-win-win for everybody.

 

[Zorro]

I'll go to bat once more for my long-term idea: Sell a membership program where a customer pays an annual fee which grants them 50% off their personal ticket for that year plus food and merchandise discounts. Disney gets the upfront guaranteed money. Guests get heavily discounted admissions if visiting in bulk. Company doesn't have to give away free visits. Crowding can more easily be managed (because Disney knows how many tickets were sold for that day), which helps with staffing and maintenance. Win-win-win for everybody.

So Disney becomes Costco? I'll take a couple $1.50 hot dogs.

 

[BrianLo]

I'll go to bat once more for my long-term idea: Sell a membership program where a customer pays an annual fee which grants them 50% off their personal ticket for that year plus food and merchandise discounts. Disney gets the upfront guaranteed money. Guests get heavily discounted admissions if visiting in bulk. Company doesn't have to give away free visits. Crowding can more easily be managed (because Disney knows how many tickets were sold for that day), which helps with staffing and maintenance. Win-win-win for everybody.

I agree. I think that is the simplest and best product for locals.

Other products pretty popular here are 1-4-7 cards. You purchase the card for 99$, which includes a day. The 4th and 7th visits are also free. Every one in between is discounted by 20%.

I think they are really trying to get to a point where there is still some sort of basement cost to visit. You can't give people free parking and allow them gate entry for 5$ a day because they've visited so freaking often. Only to have them whine that Disney isn't giving them enough special parties for their loyalty.

I think a membership, loaded with "discounts" and some sort of base ticket price discount works best. They can still target slow periods in accordance with flex ticket pricing and make certain days 60% discount days and holidays 40% discount days.

 

[chadwpalm]

I agree mostly but still find it hard to believe we will see them packed in like sardines again in a Post Covid world. I’d imagine they want to change the perception of their parks so when the next inevitable scary Chinese virus comes knocking they won’t have to shut down for 2 years again. Don’t get me wrong, I still think there will be very busy days but perhaps nothing like those New Years Eve and Christmas week crowds ever again.

I would love to know the breakdown of the amount of money on average an AP spends on park entry. This being overall, every tier, every holder, as an average. Having all of the data of how many days a year they go, etc. (Ignoring the fact that some may only go for a couple of hours on a particular day).

I'd be curious to know if the average cost of entry for one day for the passholder is significantly smaller than the average person who goes on a 1-5 day ticket.

If for example, the AP daily cost was 25% of the 1-5 day cost, they could potentially only fill the parks at 25% capacity and still make the same amount of money. This is also ignoring guest spending while in the parks as some would argue APs spend more on food/merch than vacationers (though I don't tend to agree). This would give them the margin they need to keep the parks at lower capacity for a while and ramp up over the years.....given that many people would go. I would.

 

[Disney Analyst]

What an intriguing turn of events.

Any meltdowns found?

I personally think this is the best chance to pull something like this and start building new programs....

 

[drizgirl]

So Disney becomes Costco? I'll take a couple $1.50 hot dogs.

I hope they keep the good churros.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

I think that this is something that would be fun to speculate on.

How would they do this?

They would have to partner with every single medical partner and business that is offering vaccines in order to get data from them and actually verify that the person got the vaccine. That isn't feasible to do at any point in the next year (let along maybe ever).

They could require people to show an actual vaccination card when they register for tickets and / or show up to the park.

This will create a huge black market for fake vaccination cards.

In this country our vaccine data is currently fed into the federal immunization gateway as well as individual state vaccine registries. The goal for private enterprise is to tap into each of these registries that exist as a patchwork to create/enable a consumer facing verification system. The verification would issue a mobile device-enabled QR code that allows for a “vaccine passport”. Same could be done with rapid testing.

As health care and consumer data becomes more interoperable, enabling blockchain is likely the future. We can thank the influence of the anti-Vaxx crowd but soon the travel experience (in terms of security) will likely evolve as it did post-911.

Tech coalition working to create digital COVID-19 vaccination passport

A coalition of health and technology organizations are working to develop a digital COVID-19 vaccination passport to allow businesses, airlines and countries to check if people have received the va…

thehill.com

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

So two things: 1. what about people who have the type of pass that allows them to use it at other parks who since Disneyland is closed have been using that pass instead at Disney World to visit the parks there? Are they going to get refunded even though they are using the pass at another park and are getting usage from it? will they no longer be able to use it as DisneyWorld??

2. This is a good thing. No more vloggers coming in for a hour or two for a popcorn bucket or to ride one ride and leave. They have to pay full price like the rest of us and to get their monies worth they are going to have to stay the whole day. i hope this means less vloggers at the park.

 

[Travel Junkie]

I do think that a new membership program will be theme park only, however I believe the end goal here is Disney creating a large bundle. The in thing right now is the bundle. The easiest example is your cable company that offers TV, phone, and internet. However a lot of the big players such as Apple are bundling their various services. From a business perspective the recurring revenue model is extremely profitable.

For the ultimate Disney fan, imagine bundling Disney +, early access to new Disney movies, and also discounts + priority access to Disneyland, Aulani, Disney Cruise Line, Adventures by Disney, and more. All for one monthly cost. I know it may sound crazy, but my prediction is that some time very soon is this will be an option for the brand addicted Disney fan.

 

[Disney Analyst]

So two things: 1. what about people who have the type of pass that allows them to use it at other parks who since Disneyland is closed have been using that pass instead at Disney World to visit the parks there? Are they going to get refunded even though they are using the pass at another park and are getting usage from it? will they no longer be able to use it as DisneyWorld??

2. This is a good thing. No more vloggers coming in for a hour or two for a popcorn bucket or to ride one ride and leave. They have to pay full price like the rest of us and to get their monies worth they are going to have to stay the whole day. i hope this means less vloggers at the park.

 

[TTA94]

Is there any rumblings of WDW canceling their AP program as well?

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

As an out-of-towner that's never had an AP, I'm all for killing the current program IF it results in a program that leads to lighter crowds. I realize that's a big if.

I feel for all of you that will have to re-think your DL experience. Also, I wonder what will happen to guests like Peter Tu. He's just as much a part of the DL experience as anything else.

No he is not. He is just a guest. No different than you and me. No need to make him a celebrity.

 

[TheDisneyDaysOfOurLives]

So two things: 1. what about people who have the type of pass that allows them to use it at other parks who since Disneyland is closed have been using that pass instead at Disney World to visit the parks there? Are they going to get refunded even though they are using the pass at another park and are getting usage from it? will they no longer be able to use it as DisneyWorld??

2. This is a good thing. No more vloggers coming in for a hour or two for a popcorn bucket or to ride one ride and leave. They have to pay full price like the rest of us and to get their monies worth they are going to have to stay the whole day. i hope this means less vloggers at the park.

The vlogger hate is quite something.

 

[1HAPPYGHOSTHOST]

The vlogger hate is quite something.

I am not the only one.

 

[TheDisneyDaysOfOurLives]

I am not the only one.

I get it, I just think it's something.

 

[Jrb1979]

While I feel bad for those who loved the parks, I don't feel bad for elitists in here. Before Covid I liked Disney but since Covid each cut that happens makes me like them less and less. The elitest attitude by some here really enjoy watching the cuts happen. I honestly hope if AP come back all of y'all are priced out.

 

[Californian Elitist]

While I feel bad for those who loved the parks, I don't feel bad for elitists in here. Before Covid I liked Disney but since Covid each cut that happens makes me like them less and less. The elitest attitude by some here really enjoy watching the cuts happen. I honestly hope if AP come back all of y'all are priced out.

What are you talking about/where is this liter of haterade coming from?