Disneyland officially reopening April 30th

[el_super]

Disney's main goal is maximizing revenue and profit. Full Stop.

Yeah but that's the point here: in 2019, attendance was down but revenue was UP. They made more money with fewer people in the park. This may all end up being a short term (as in a couple years) experiment, but they seem pretty confident in pushing this forward. Iger stated at the time he didn't believe they have a price problem, and even today Chapek indicated that post-COVID attendance was yielding higher guest satisfaction reports despite the lowered service offerings.

We've seen that price increases are not tempering demand, and now we're seen that a dramatic decrease in offerings hasn't done much to temper demand. Falling back to the old operation would be leaving money on the table. Even if, after a year or two, they are able to just bring back the same program but at a 20-50% increase in price, it could still be seen as a win.

 

[SplashGhost]

Maybe not, but Disney's insistence in referring to it by a new term, rather than the same term, implies otherwise. If they were just "re-imagining" the AP program, they wouldn't be trying to convince everyone it would be so radically different by calling it a membership/loyalty program.

My guess here is the language used, specifically avoiding calling it a "pass," is a subtle hint that it will not include park admission.



Disney isn't trying to make the park more affordable. They aren't even trying to keep the park packed with people. They're trying to maximize their yield. They do that by offering the lowest possible discounts they can.

If Disney thinks that people will pay for a membership that didn't include park admission, they are extremely naïve. Plus, the initial failure of Galaxy's Edge proved how much Disneyland needs APs. If Disneyland could get by without APs, then Disneyland would have had much higher crowds the summer that Galaxy's Edge opened. With the unusual circumstances caused by COVID, they might be doing okay now, but Chapek isn't going to be able to continue operating Disneyland without offering APs or a comparable alternative. Plus, it is very poor PR to make something that was once accessible to the middle class only accessible to the exceedingly wealthy. It is also in poor taste to use a pandemic to take advantage of guests.

Universal Studios Hollywood thought that they could radically raise AP prices when they opened Potter, but that ended up resulting in them having to introduce a ton of different passes over the next two years to get back to a system that worked and they eventually ended up adding a monthly payment option. What Universal did was far less drastic than what Disney is doing, and they still had to find ways to back track and make it right for the guests.

 

[el_super]

If Disney thinks that people will pay for a membership that didn't include park admission, they are extremely naïve.

Sure... add that to the "people won't pay for a park without" list right above parades and below fireworks.

Plus, the initial failure of Galaxy's Edge proved how much Disneyland needs APs.

They made more money with fewer people in the park. Galaxy's Edge was a huge success for them.

If Disneyland could get by without APs, then Disneyland would have had much higher crowds the summer that Galaxy's Edge opened. With the unusual circumstances caused by COVID, they might be doing okay now, but Chapek isn't going to be able to continue operating Disneyland without offering APs or a comparable alternative.

Disneyland didn't need higher crowds during the summer that Galaxy's Edge opened, to make more money. The goal isn't to have the park packed with people, it's to make the most amount of money.

You can make an argument that any capacity that goes unused, is a waste, but that's basically been their philosophy for the last 25 years (since Pressler). Chapek is now in the position of saying that Presser was wrong, that continually discounting admissions to keep the park packed has negatively impacted the guest experience and potentially depressed the market value of a park visit by keeping prices too low.

It might work out. If people start to miss Disneyland enough, they will pay more to go. Give it a couple years and the market may adjust to the new pricing strategy.

Plus, it is very poor PR to make something that was once accessible to the middle class only accessible to the exceedingly wealthy.

The single day ticket price is always going to be cheaper than an AP. This isn't a matter of access or no access, just a matter of increasing costs for most visits. For the price of the old APs, people can still go 3 or 4 times a year right? Are we really supposed to mourn the middle class loss of being able to visit Disneyland ONLY 4 times a year versus 10?

 

[SoCalDisneyLover]

We've seen that price increases are not tempering demand, and now we're seen that a dramatic decrease in offerings hasn't done much to temper demand. Falling back to the old operation would be leaving money on the table. Even if, after a year or two, they are able to just bring back the same program but at a 20-50% increase in price, it could still be seen as a win.

I think Disney is making a serious miscalculation, if that's their view. Seems to me the current demand is primarily based upon the parks being closed for 13 1/2 Months, and a overwhelming desire by people to get out, and do normal things again. They are more than willing to pay the short term cost of visiting the park a couple of times, and spending an entire day in order to get value. But I honestly can't see that lasting in the longer term. A lot of the AP's were the cheapest pass, which had only the least of the least popular dates available. Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, during the slowest times of year, January, February, September.

Bottom line is the park has been open exactly 2 months. And other than the impending 4th of July, which is on a Sunday of a 3-Day Weekend, you can get a reservation Any day you want. Side Note: You can't do that at Knott's. They're booked solid through Monday.

I am still surprised that Revenue was up in 2019, given the fact attendance was obviously down, with AP's blocked out during that summer. Don't know, but the AP's did rush to see Galaxy's Edge at their first opportunity.

I'll wait to see what they come out with, before deciding whether it makes sense. IMO, a loyalty program does not.

 

[SoCalDisneyLover]

You know....I was just thinking.....if Merch is included in their 2019 Revenue, only an Idiot wouldn't realize the reason their Revenue was up.

Do you have any idea how much Galaxy's Edge Merch was sold that particular year? They had 7 months of selling expensive Light Sabers & Droids, and having people pay $200 for the Lightsaber Building Experience.

I'd like to see what their Revenue looks like if you backed all that out. I'm not saying it is irrelevant, I'm just saying that believing Revenue was up while attendance was down, resulted from non-AP's spending more, leaves out the specific reason they're spending more in the first place.

 

[SplashGhost]

You know....I was just thinking.....if Merch is included in their 2019 Revenue, only an Idiot wouldn't realize the reason their Revenue was up.

Do you have any idea how much Galaxy's Edge Merch was sold that particular year? They had 7 months of selling expensive Light Sabers & Droids, and having people pay $200 for the Lightsaber Building Experience.

I'd like to see what their Revenue looks like if you backed all that out. I'm not saying it is irrelevant, I'm just saying that believing Revenue was up while attendance was down, resulted from non-AP's spending more, leaves out the specific reason they're spending more in the first place.

Not to mention, IIRC, Disney also cute some cast hours that summer, so that was another way they were able to get the numbers up to make it look profitable. If enough people bought 200 dollar lightsabers, it can make up for any revenue lost from lower tier APs, however, people aren't going to buy a lightsaber on every visit, so they can't count on that as a revenue stream that will continue for years to come.

This brings up another point and probably Chapek's biggest flaw, his biggest concern is selling merchandise. Web Slingers even has the equivalent of video game DLC with the power up you can purchase. Much like Galaxy's Edge, Avengers Campus is something that requires people to buy additional merchandise to get the full experience of the land. This may work great for Chapek in the short term, but this isn't how you build up brand loyalty long term.

 

[Curious Constance]

Crowds got to be such a problem on past trips that my kids would beg to shop for souvenirs and we had to literally pass on it cause it was too crowded to bother. I’m not going to climb over people and wait 30 minutes to check out to buy something we could get cheaper at home or online. Lines to get a drink or food were too long so we’d go elsewhere. Ride lines were so long it took all of our time, etc. I’m not surprised that the lower the attendance the higher the spending. When you have time and room to roam you’ll spend more.

 

[el_super]

I think Disney is making a serious miscalculation, if that's their view. Seems to me the current demand is primarily based upon the parks being closed for 13 1/2 Months

The current demand is based on a lack of access to the park. Disney can contiue to restrict access thru pricing for years to come. This is the fundamental test of Disneyland right now: is the park still worth visiting once a year versus multiple times per year.

This is about weening the audience off of unrestricted access. If Disneyland only has value as a hangout place where people can buy-in at bulk prices, they will never justify major expenses again.

 

[el_super]

Not to mention, IIRC, Disney also cute some cast hours that summer, so that was another way they were able to get the numbers up to make it look profitable. If enough people bought 200 dollar lightsabers, it can make up for any revenue lost from lower tier APs, however, people aren't going to buy a lightsaber on every visit, so they can't count on that as a revenue stream that will continue for years to come.

I mean... They've sold merchandise in the park for some 60 plus years. Pretty sure they can count on that as a revenue stream for years to come.

 

[SplashGhost]

I mean... They've sold merchandise in the park for some 60 plus years. Pretty sure they can count on that as a revenue stream for years to come.

But the merchandise in the past was never things like 200 dollar lightsabers that people felt compelled to buy to get the full experience of a land. Merchandise will always sell, but it isn't like they can just create another expensive item that will sell as well as the lightsabers did.

 

[SoCalDisneyLover]

Park Hopper is actually showing availability on the 4th, starting at Disneyland

 

[Curious Constance]

Park Hopper is actually showing availability on the 4th, starting at Disneyland

Must have sold out already cause it’s not anymore.

 

[Tamandua]

Must have sold out already cause it’s not anymore.

I see it as available. It's been off and on available the last few days.

 

[GhostHostLady]

Any speculation on the holiday offerings at Disneyland this year? We traditionally go every holiday season but am debating just going in August since we miss it so much. But not having things like the HM Nightmare Before Xmas overlay or the it's a small world holiday would be a dealbreaker for us...

Crowd wise... which do you think would be better? I'm seeing mixed reports on it there now which mainly seems to say the lines are manageable at the moment. We were just at WDW and definitely seems like DL is still running at a smaller capacity based on what I've read? Does it still seem the way from those that have been recently?

 

[SplashGhost]

There are still reservations open for today, and judging from the wait times on the app, I would say that crowds are about average for a Saturday.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

Any speculation on the holiday offerings at Disneyland this year? We traditionally go every holiday season but am debating just going in August since we miss it so much. But not having things like the HM Nightmare Before Xmas overlay or the it's a small world holiday would be a dealbreaker for us...

Haunted Mansion has been added to the refurbishment calendar for 8/16-9/3. Guessing HMH is coming back…

 

[Curious Constance]

Haunted Mansion has been added to the refurbishment calendar for 8/16-9/3. Guessing HMH is coming back…

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[VJ]

Haunted Mansion has been added to the refurbishment calendar for 8/16-9/3. Guessing HMH is coming back…

where are you getting this? the disneyland site is only updated to 8/14

 

[Curious Constance]

where are you getting this? the disneyland site is only updated to 8/14

The app has hours/refurbishments listed through early September.

 

[VJ]

The app has hours/refurbishments listed theough early September.

ah! didn't think to check there, thank you