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

[Nubs70]

Nobody drives in New York. There's too much traffic!

Welcome Yogi

 

[Baloo62]

This is all outrageous especially with the current product but I'm taken aback by the amount of people who have said in this thread "I'm glad I got my tickets yesterday" as they are complaining. You are already feeding the machine and have lost.

Thank you! Finally someone gets it.

Guilty as charged. However, the more important question is will I continue to do so after this trip? The arrogant Disney executives are betting I, and hundreds of thousands like me, will. Personally, I've given them well over $150,000 in repeat business (23 visits) since 1976...I think it's time to spend that money elsewhere. And I realize the ungrateful response of Disney (and many members of this forum) would be "whatever - don't let the monorail door hit you on the way out". But I would think twice about the way I respect and value my loyal, bread-and-butter customers.
Karma is one guest they don't want buying their tickets...at any price.

 

[George]

I usually have 1800 dollars a month automatically transferred to Disney from my checking account just to help them get by. If I feel like Disney is better able to scrape by with this new pricing structure I may reduce the monthly transfer to $1778.

 

[No Name]

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.

Ooof. I had been poked by some attackers but now I've been stabbed by the great warrior. Just recently did I start posting but I've been reading your posts for the last 4 years and usually agree with what you say. But I guess not in this case.

First of all, I just need to make clear that under the current pricing, there will be no noticable crowd-level change because not enough people buy single-day tickets. My prediction of much more spread out crowds only applies to once all tickets are tiered.

I also said before that crowd level will be pretty much even across the three types of days. However, I now realize that it's too early to say that because it fully depends on how great of a price difference there is between each level. Obviously if the difference for a whole trip is just a few dollars, it's not going to change much. However, if the multi-day increases will be at a similar rate to these single-day ones, I expect significant change.

You say that this is purely a money grab, but I do not understand. Any more so than if they had just done a flat $8-10 increase? Maybe the $8-10 figure is off, but what I'm saying is that nobody has given a reason why a solid increase couldn't have had the same financial result for Disney. And I don't think tiered pricing is easier to market/sell people on. So why did they do this? What is the point of tiered pricing? How does it make more money? Heck, if you're going to charge some guests $124, why not just raise the price to $124 for every day of the year? I really am curious to hear what you think.

People's happiness is directly correlated to crowd levels. You've said that before and I agree. We've all seen what happens in long lines, especially boring ones in the heat. Children wine and cry, people get fiesty, or worse, they do stuff on their phones and take themselves away from an experience they're suposed to be enjoying. Side note, but that's why I think interactive queues are totally worth the expense. 2015 has seen record attendance at WDW but I would bet my house that it's seen a much greater meltdown record. All of what I mentioned above can taint a whole trip when it starts to add up. Attitude is also contagious so one meltdown could harm the experience of everyone aroud. So since crowd levels at WDW are higher than ever today and this fiesty behavior is also more common than ever, I have to think that somewhere, some logical brain realized that and this tiered increase is being done not only to make money, but also with the intention to spread out crowds to avoid this.

In the end, of course the goal is to make more money, but that's the goal of any price increase. This type of increase is better because it makes the customer happier, and that causes them to spend more money in the shops and be more inclined to return. The real solution to crowds is to actually expand the parks/resort, but since TWDC has been reluctant to spent the money to do that, this is their quick fix.

Of course that does not answer the topic of whether it will work or not. I've argued my point through and have very little left in my tank. Nobody has hit me with a solid reason why it won't work and I haven't given a totally solid reason why it will. I totally understand your reason of people only being able to go on peak days, and that's exactly the reason why the parks won't be empty despite the higher price. But I think seeing the price difference on their computer screen will either cause to force another another time to work, or, if their children are old enough, go to Universal. After all, Universal will be charging $19 less during these same peak times. Overall I feel like Disney can't possibly draw the same peak crowds under those circumstances. I respect everyone's opinions and am always open to new ones but I haven't heard anything convincing enough to change mine. I certainly don't feel like I'm going against such strong reasons that I have my head in the sand.

So I may be getting stabbed, but the sword is rather dull. Either that or I'm just not feeling the pain.

Sorry for the long post. This sums up most of my whole argument though, so my posts after this will be shorter.

 

[ParentsOf4]

What's the source on these #s? In my recent experience 20% seems significantly low.

This is a number that Disney has mentioned over the years at earnings calls. For example, at the 1Q2015 call, former CFO Jay Rasulo stated:

You know I have said for many, many quarters, the overall range of our international business is between 18% and 22% of total attendance at our domestic parks.​

 

[RSoxNo1]

Seasonal pricing comes to Disney World's water parks

IIRC, seasonal pricing already existed for the water parks.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Funny comment from @derekburgan on Twitter, "Dying for day when people buy Peak tickets, go to turnstile and it's a phase closure."

 

[RSoxNo1]

Your post reminded me of a recent experience.

In December 2015, I broke a decades-old self-pledge and took my family to WDW during Christmas for the first time. We wanted to say goodbye to Osborne's and ended up visiting 3 parks (avoiding the Magic Kingdom) on Christmas Eve, our only theme parks day. What struck my family was how the parks generally felt no more crowded than when we visited in late September, supposedly WDW's "slow" season.

The idea that WDW needs seasonal pricing at anywhere other than the Magic Kingdom is horse hockey.

Epcot on New Year's Eve felt ridiculously crowded a few years ago until the first fireworks show (7 PM) after that it felt like a normal crowded day.

 

[Goofyernmost]

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.

I suppose, but, since they just announced a 3 billion dollar expansion... did anyone expect a reduction in prices? Also I'd just like to add that it was always punishing young families, not so much with it's ticket pricing, but, to the same degree that it does now. The tickets were cheap compared to the cost of getting there, staying there and food prices and general time restraints for younger people just starting a career. The cost of tickets were then and to a large degree still are the most affordable part of a Disney Vacation. Increases have out-priced the rise in salaries, but, not by much. However, the rest of the stuff is very much larger an increased then the price of admission. Tickets are the best deal in the place.

When I went the first time with a youngish family even though the price of a ticket was about $35.00 per adult and less for the two kids under 12, it was still a stretch on the budget (in fact a killer, budget be damned). That was with a Econo-lodge $25.00 a night special and gasoline less then $1.00 per gallon. It's all relative. I could just barely afford it and many, many could not afford it at all. I suspect the same applies today.

 

[xdan0920]

The cost of tickets were then and to a large degree still are the most affordable part of a Disney Vacation.

By what metric? Using a 5 day trip as an example. The park tix would be my single biggest expense. $400 per ticket. Even for a family of 3 that's $1200. 5 night hotel is less. So is a flight.

 

[Sonconato]

I highly doubt this has anything to do with the price increase or the cuts for that matter, but I do have to say that what we saw tonight struck us as very abnormal. This is probably not the thread to have this but I don't know which thread this would really fit and it's certainly not worthy of its own.

We have just returned from MK tonight in which we almost always end our night in Tomorrowland and head out from there. We always walk by the long lines at the Dessert Party and glance over at all the guests happily filling their plates with goodies. The park was quite busy for a Sunday night but nowhere near as busy as Saturdays. However, tonight was very different from any other time we have ever seen it. It was about 8:15 pm when we walked by and the Dessert Party started at 8:00 pm. There was absolutely no line to get in to the Dessert Party, there were no guests at the dessert buffet table, there were no more than six guests sitting at tables having their dessert and there were at least five CMs standing around at the entrance saying "Hi" to everybody that passed by. My husband would have taken a picture, but we didn't think much of it until we had gotten to Main Street. This has never been the case, there has ALWAYS been a huge line. We have no idea why it would have been this way but those few folks that were there must have felt like royalty.

 

[Cesar R M]

I mean this to be nice as well; so Disney could raise prices HIGHER before a decrease in attendance? If there is still some price elasticity (of Demand) here, why don't they increase prices higher and capture it? Scared the outcry will be worse than it is now? Or are they looking NOT to edge out those who can barely make it down now?

And yet attendance still grows, and many on this thread are predicting no decrease with higher prices?? So Disney could raise prices more and really go for the $$$ grab, right?

Disney drives at peeps emotions.......if more people thought (instead of "felt") this price increase MIGHT drive down attendance. Sad thing is some of those who think Disney is just in it for $$$ don't seem to understand if price increase doesn't lead to attendance decrease, the price increase wasn't high enough...if this is just a money grab, right?

Attendance might not decrease much, but its a thing about Fatigue.
People who used to go twice or more per year, will only do annuals or less.
people who went every 2 years or less, will probably do once in a decade now or simply go elsewhere.
There isnt a "limitless" pool. Once the money vanishes from this pool. Disney might sink unless visitors find value again.

Just for the record, I too haven't been for years. The place is very, very expensive. The Canadian dollar took a dive so it's in reality about 40-50% more expensive for us than 2012.

I'm also frustrated that the price is outpacing investment and yet the crowds are higher than ever. Disney is being rewarded for being lazy and everyone making annual, biannual or quarterly visits and complaining about it are a large part of the problem. The public is just as much to blame as is Disney's general bad behaviour with capex projects at WDW.

Fortunately, there are other Disney park options worldwide, and non-Disney ones in Orlando.

We're in the same point here in the south of the border.
The dipping Gas prices and the stupidity of our president "reforms" (which pretty much are giving every profitable segment full of corrupted contracts with spanish companies).. our currency lost almost 70% of the value.
Now.. for a "30" USD steak, its the equivalent of 600 pesos, you get a full big surf and turf in almost every local restaurant here with that price.
How about the 104 USD? with 2,200 pesos you probably can get 2 days in a luxury 5 star hotel with everything included or dine in the top luxury restaurant of my town with no issue.
Now add the plane price hikes..
WDW is definitely out for me until Star Wars or Avatar run fully.
and barely "value". I will probably be cruising. If the rumored price hikes of DLC are really coming.. Then Royal Caribbean will have my money too.

 

[Cesar R M]

What is absolutely crazy is that you as a consumer are defending Disney. If you work in thier finance department or are a major shareholder then why do you feel it necessary to defend the increases.

lol, there are a few members who defend Disney explicitly because of that.

 

[Cesar R M]

Pretty sure that what Iger like in the office.

this image being relevant again!
credit to @Mike S

I just can't help but wonder if Disney will release something tomorrow to get everyone talking about and that way we "forget" about the price increases.

probably cupcakes or something as simple as that.
Or worse, some frozen crap around.

So most of the public then.

Thats until they open the page and try to purchase tickets.
"WHAT THE HELL, I TOUGH DISNEY ONLY SAID HIKES ON SINGLE DAY!"

 

[Cesar R M]

Ooof. I had been poked by some attackers but now I've been stabbed by the great warrior. Just recently did I start posting but I've been reading your posts for the last 4 years and usually agree with what you say. But I guess not in this case.

First of all, I just need to make clear that under the current pricing, there will be no noticable crowd-level change because not enough people buy single-day tickets. My prediction of much more spread out crowds only applies to once all tickets are tiered.

I also said before that crowd level will be pretty much even across the three types of days. However, I now realize that it's too early to say that because it fully depends on how great of a price difference there is between each level. Obviously if the difference for a whole trip is just a few dollars, it's not going to change much. However, if the multi-day increases will be at a similar rate to these single-day ones, I expect significant change.

You say that this is purely a money grab, but I do not understand. Any more so than if they had just done a flat $8-10 increase? Maybe the $8-10 figure is off, but what I'm saying is that nobody has given a reason why a solid increase couldn't have had the same financial result for Disney. And I don't think tiered pricing is easier to market/sell people on. So why did they do this? What is the point of tiered pricing? How does it make more money? Heck, if you're going to charge some guests $124, why not just raise the price to $124 for every day of the year? I really am curious to hear what you think.

People's happiness is directly correlated to crowd levels. You've said that before and I agree. We've all seen what happens in long lines, especially boring ones in the heat. Children wine and cry, people get fiesty, or worse, they do stuff on their phones and take themselves away from an experience they're suposed to be enjoying. Side note, but that's why I think interactive queues are totally worth the expense. 2015 has seen record attendance at WDW but I would bet my house that it's seen a much greater meltdown record. All of what I mentioned above can taint a whole trip when it starts to add up. Attitude is also contagious so one meltdown could harm the experience of everyone aroud. So since crowd levels at WDW are higher than ever today and this fiesty behavior is also more common than ever, I have to think that somewhere, some logical brain realized that and this tiered increase is being done not only to make money, but also with the intention to spread out crowds to avoid this.

In the end, of course the goal is to make more money, but that's the goal of any price increase. This type of increase is better because it makes the customer happier, and that causes them to spend more money in the shops and be more inclined to return. The real solution to crowds is to actually expand the parks/resort, but since TWDC has been reluctant to spent the money to do that, this is their quick fix.

Of course that does not answer the topic of whether it will work or not. I've argued my point through and have very little left in my tank. Nobody has hit me with a solid reason why it won't work and I haven't given a totally solid reason why it will. I totally understand your reason of people only being able to go on peak days, and that's exactly the reason why the parks won't be empty despite the higher price. But I think seeing the price difference on their computer screen will either cause to force another another time to work, or, if their children are old enough, go to Universal. After all, Universal will be charging $19 less during these same peak times. Overall I feel like Disney can't possibly draw the same peak crowds under those circumstances. I respect everyone's opinions and am always open to new ones but I haven't heard anything convincing enough to change mine. I certainly don't feel like I'm going against such strong reasons that I have my head in the sand.

So I may be getting stabbed, but the sword is rather dull. Either that or I'm just not feeling the pain.

Sorry for the long post. This sums up most of my whole argument though, so my posts after this will be shorter.

What a boiled egg! D:

 

[Cesar R M]

Epcot on New Year's Eve felt ridiculously crowded a few years ago until the first fireworks show (7 PM) after that it felt like a normal crowded day.

Disagree.
World Showcase was almost impossible to walk on New year's after 7.
People started to camp 4 hours ( guilty as charged with 3 hours here) spots infront of the lagoon.
As people can get rude when you set your space.

I sat between Italy and USA. And was packed to the seams.
I have no idea why you say "felt like a normal crowded day".

Also, who the hell would leave right after the 7:00 pm fireworks when the new year's fireworks is right by the corner?
park hoppers to Magic Kingdom?

 

[Ignohippo]

They'll learn their lesson when people stop going.

Oh wait...they'll still come. That's the saddest thing about this announcement. They know people will still pack the turnstiles.


One thing though, they'd better be damned sure the economy isn't going to have another downturn. If it does, they will never get people in the parks and they will have to discount tickets so much it will devalue their product forever.

 

[Nmoody1]

This is the way most other luxury industries work. Skiing, hotels, airlines, broadway plays, cruises, resort vacations. You'll have a better experience, less crowds and a cheaper overall price when crowds are lower. That's just the way these industries work. Theme parks were for some reason more the exception than the rule.

They are turning WDW into a luxury industry quite purposefully. Of course, the problem is that nothing actually changed in the interim from a quality standpoint (and in some ways got worse). I think most people agree with that.

Is WDW worth it? I guess that's for everyone here to decide. But they are quite unapologetically pricing people out of it. That's kind of the whole point though.

I don't get the general entitlement and outrage though. Send a message with your dollar by not going.

As someone stated, an aircraft can carry a set amount of people. A hotel has a set number of rooms.... They do fill up but not to the uncontrollable levels like the Magic Kindom at some times of the year. Not to mention, will they reduce the number of guests admitted to the park when an attraction is closed for refurb? Unlikely. If an airplane has a broken seat, that seat can't be sold. If a hotel has a damaged room, the room won't be used. Yesterday the Mine train was closed for a good chunk of the day... pooh also closed (I don't know how long for), I understand attractions go down for whatever reason, but an airline will compensate you if you are delayed... surely the same thing has to happen here.

 

[Nmoody1]

When I went during Christmas week this year, I realized I was actually getting more during that time though. There are fireworks, shows, and other entertainment that you can only see if you're there those specific days. There was always something going on right in front of me, surround the park fireworks, Santa Claus in the lobby of the resort, singing acts, special displays in the resorts, there's a lot more going on during those peak days that isn't offered on the non-peak days.

Christmas week. Fair point. What about June, July (bar July 4th), August, September 39th-oct 31st they are already getting extra money for halloween parties. What about Easter.... I don't see any announcement of the return of the easter parade the magic kingdom used to put on.

 

[DisneyCane]

Why does everything have to be so complicated?! It's supposed to be a vacation for heavens sake!

I agree. They would have taken a little PR hit but would have been better off just pricing the whole year somewhere between "regular" and "peak" prices. What is the point of the "value" price for 11.5% of the calendar (assuming that they won't work in January and February next year. Just so they can say, "we have a value season for people on a budget" when asked about the high prices?

When they roll this out for multi-day, it's going to be really fun to watch how confused people are. When somebody's 10 day ticket is 8/20-8/29 and they have to pay regular price because of 1 day, I feel bad for the CMs in guest services.

If you want to try and reduce crowds, just raise the prices across the board. If you want to try to spread them out, do it with hotel rates.