February 2016 Disney World ticket price increases and new tiered 1 day tickets

No Name

No Name

Well-Known Member
DisUniversal said:
Theory is one thing, reality is another. For the most part, the average visitor will likely being paying more for a worse experience as I really don't think this will have much impact on crowds.
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And that's the big factor as to whether people like this or not. Most people on here do not think it'll balance out crowds enough. I think it will. A few think it'll completely flip the busy times of the year (as in value days will now be the busiest). The truth is that Disney doesn't even know the answer. And only doing this for one-day tickets will not have a big impact and will not give us an answer, but the long-term plan is to do it for multi-day visits as well. So when that happens we can start to see who's right.

The thing is, Disney could either make the price differential very small and the crowd levels will not be affected much, or they could make it large and the crowd levels will be affected. I actually believe that, for a wide range of prices, cost vs. crowd level would balance out and the value for each type of day would be about the same as if they had increased the price linearly.
 
lentesta

lentesta

Premium Member
Adjusted for inflation, this appears to be the largest one-time price increase since at least 1990. The tickets changed a lot back then, so a direct comparison of multi-day options gets harder. I'm going to stop here. If anyone wants to the spreadsheet up and keep going, keep me updated please.
 
thehowiet

thehowiet

Wilson King of Prussia
egg said:
First of all, I like the Disney website's new step-by-step layout for buying tickets. Looks much nicer and I imagine it's easier for a first-timer to follow and understand.

You know why I like this tiered system? Because previously, in the busiest times of the year, the customer was paying the same amount for a worse experience (worse because of the crowds and long wait times). Now, the customer is paying more for a less-worse or maybe even better experience (because the crowds will be lower). So the value theoretically shouldn't be any higher or lower now, it's just a different ratio of money to experience. You still get the same value for your trip while Disney makes a bit more money in the end. I would say it's a win-win but it's closer to a tie-win, still though, in the end nobody should lose from this.

So theoretically, this should balance out the crowds pretty evenly for all days of the year, but we all know that's not going to happen right away. It's definitely not going to happen until they expand this to multi-day tickets, but even then, it'll take time to get the prices right. Some guests, depending on the day and what they want to do, will be adversely affected by it. But people on here have always been saying (and I agree) that crowd levels play a big role in people's satisfaction. So in the grand scheme of things, it should help more people (including both guests and Co.) than it hurts, which is the goal of any change.
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If you think the crowds will be lower on those peak days just because the cost is higher, I have a bridge to sell you. The reality is that TWDC's main concern isn't to lower the crowds, it's to maximize their profit on the people who will be there anyway on those days, regardless of the crowds or the cost.
 
hopemax

hopemax

Well-Known Member
egg said:
First of all, I like the Disney website's new step-by-step layout for buying tickets. Looks much nicer and I imagine it's easier for a first-timer to follow and understand.

You know why I like this tiered system? Because previously, in the busiest times of the year, the customer was paying the same amount for a worse experience (worse because of the crowds and long wait times). Now, the customer is paying more for a less-worse or maybe even better experience (because the crowds will be lower). So the value theoretically shouldn't be any higher or lower now, it's just a different ratio of money to experience. You still get the same value for your trip while Disney makes a bit more money in the end. I would say it's a win-win but it's closer to a tie-win, still though, in the end nobody should lose from this.

So theoretically, this should balance out the crowds pretty evenly for all days of the year, but we all know that's not going to happen right away. It's definitely not going to happen until they expand this to multi-day tickets, but even then, it'll take time to get the prices right. Some guests, depending on the day and what they want to do, will be adversely affected by it. But people on here have always been saying (and I agree) that crowd levels play a big role in people's satisfaction. So in the grand scheme of things, it should help more people (including both guests and Co.) than it hurts, which is the goal of any change.
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The biggest mistake people make is to expect other people to behave rationally. Very few people will be aware of the tiered pricing until AFTER they have already picked their dates for vacation (and many people are already driven by school/work schedules). The parks will not be any statistically significant less busy during the peak periods only more expensive.

And it's clear from the cuts coming across the board to labor hours, that in value seasons, WDW is going to be staffed in a manner that generates wait times equivalent to regular season.

So there will be plenty of losers.
 
danv3

danv3

Well-Known Member
lentesta said:
Adjusted for inflation, this appears to be the largest one-time price increase since at least 1990. The tickets changed a lot back then, so a direct comparison of multi-day options gets harder. I'm going to stop here. If anyone wants to the spreadsheet up and keep going, keep me updated please.
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This should be repeated all over the place. :greedy:
 
thehowiet

thehowiet

Wilson King of Prussia
hopemax said:
And it's clear from the cuts coming across the board to labor hours, that in value seasons, WDW is going to be staffed in a manner that generates wait times equivalent to regular season.

So there will be plenty of losers.
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Excellent point, and probably something I don't think many people have even considered. I believe @PhotoDave219 made a similar point. It'll be interesting to track the wait times across the three tiers over the next year. I have a feeling there won't be all that much difference in wait times as you move from tier to tier.

Any theories about this potential impact to wait times @lentesta?
 
TeriofTerror

TeriofTerror

Well-Known Member
lentesta said:
Adjusted for inflation, this appears to be the largest one-time price increase since at least 1990. The tickets changed a lot back then, so a direct comparison of multi-day options gets harder. I'm going to stop here. If anyone wants to the spreadsheet up and keep going, keep me updated please.
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I've given it a cursory glance in the past, but I'm not sure I can reliably factor in the ticket books. My personal memories of those days are a little fuzzy - mostly involving never having enough E tickets, and my parents refusing to buy more books until every last ticket was gone.
 
lentesta

lentesta

Premium Member
thehowiet said:
Excellent point, and probably something I don't think many people have even considered. I believe @PhotoDave219 made a similar point. It'll be interesting to track the wait times across the three tiers over the next year. I have a feeling there won't be all that much difference in wait times as you move from tier to tier.

Any theories about this potential impact to wait times @lentesta?
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We're working on a calendar update now. You should start seeing stuff within a day.
 
Baloo62

Baloo62

Well-Known Member
xdan0920 said:
I bought my tickets yesterday. I paid $367 for 5 day hoppers. Today that same ticket is $435. My goodness.
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We are headed to Disney in 13 days. The cost of our six 7-day tickets just went up $223.62. That is outrageous. Thank goodness we purchased them back in December. By next March they will probably jump up in price more than that. I'm done at that point.
 
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Cesar R M

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
unkadug said:
????
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ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
egg said:
You know why I like this tiered system? Because previously, in the busiest times of the year, the customer was paying the same amount for a worse experience (worse because of the crowds and long wait times). Now, the customer is paying more for a less-worse or maybe even better experience (because the crowds will be lower).
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I mean this in the nicest way possible but please pull your head out of the sand. Con job from Disney aside, this will have almost no effect on redistributing WDW attendance. This is a pure money grab.

Those with the flexibility to travel during less busy times of year already do so.

All this increase does in punish young families without that flexibility.
 
No Name

No Name

Well-Known Member
thehowiet said:
If you think the crowds will be lower on those peak days just because the cost is higher, I have a bridge to sell you. The reality is that TWDC's main concern isn't to lower the crowds, it's to maximize their profit on the people who will be there anyway on those days, regardless of the crowds or the cost.
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Oh I am well aware of that. Obviously this isn't being done for no reason, they are looking to make more money. The only thing is I do not think it will give their profits as much of a bump as they anticipate. I believe, unlike others, that crowds will level out more than Disney anticipates. I could totally be wrong and maybe I will be. Maybe I don't know enough to be making such a prediction. And if I'm wrong then I'm wrong, mark or remember this so that we can see in a few years.
 

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