Interesting Disney Parks Survey Question I got Today - Tiered Ticket Pricing by Season

[GrumpyFan]

This just seems like a natural evolution of the pricing structure. We already have similar pricing structures for rooms, so why not tickets as well. It's not pleasant, no, but in the end most will still pay it, no matter. Just look at the trend from the last 5 years and you can see that price increases have had very little effect on the amount of guests in the parks.

 

[wdisney9000]

The time and money spent creating and analyzing charts and then programming new pricing vs. building new attractions? You're comparing millions of dollars with hundreds of millions.

Not necessarily attractions. Id appreciate better merchandise for starters. Id love to proudly wear a Yacht Club shirt or hat or be able to buy something Marvel or Disney that you can only find at the parks (for less than those $5,000 paintings)

 

[MichWolv]

I often think that all the financial strategies such as "price elasticity of demand" or "revenue maximizing equilibrium" are just fancy ways of saying "charge more for the same thing".

They are fancy ways of saying "charge more for the same thing". They aren't "just" that, because they take into account actually analyzing the effects of charging more for same thing, but they are certainly fancy ways to describe it.

Of course, but what is the offset of time and money poured into "analyzing effects" and implementing all these financial systems to make more money versus just doing what they were once best at which is building great theme parks? The very same theme parks that actually made them all this money they now have which they choose to spend on financial charts and graphs instead of quality products.

I was agreeing with you, not arguing with you.

But if you insist...the time and money poured into analyzing numbers and implementing tiered pricing would be a small fraction of the money it costs to build attractions, and would take significantly less time, both in terms of person-hours and chronology. Not that this is a "one or the other" situation, but there is no comparison on cost and time.

 

[betty rose]

I'm going to have to have a PHD to figure out how to go to Disney and get the most bang for the buck.

 

[MichWolv]

Not necessarily attractions. Id appreciate better merchandise for starters. Id love to proudly wear a Yacht Club shirt or hat or be able to buy something Marvel or Disney that you can only find at the parks (for less than those $5,000 paintings)

I'd appreciate it as well. But we don't seem to be in the majority there.

 

[wdisney9000]

I was agreeing with you, not arguing with you.

But if you insist...the time and money poured into analyzing numbers and implementing tiered pricing would be a small fraction of the money it costs to build attractions, and would take significantly less time, both in terms of person-hours and chronology. Not that this is a "one or the other" situation, but there is no comparison on cost and time.

I knew you were agreeing. Apologies. I didnt mean to seem argumentative. Your point was taken well and I understand what you meant. You always make excellent points, Mich.

 

[CP_alum08]

This just might be the knock out punch to the "off-season" we have been dreading for years.

 

[Lucky]

This just might be the knock out punch to the "off-season" we have been dreading for years.

...and even more people will take their kids out of school to go during the "value"/bronze periods.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Looking at that chart just further illustrates the genius of me going every 1st or 2nd week of September. I'd rather pay double to keep traveling in September if those crowds won't rise


Look- if this actually had an effect on crowds, and would lessen them, I'm all for a price increase. But it won't, and it's just a price increase. Heck- if they told me, we're going to do this- and it will help fund the new pixar land and new expansion plot in adventureland coming in 2018, Star Wars Land and Australia coming in 2019, and tomorrowland coming in 2020- Here, look at this artwork- I'd tell them to add another $50 a day!

Andy... they could fund all that TODAY if they wanted. Of course Australia was a pipe dream since at least 04 and Tomorrowland? Look at the weekend Box Office results, they're not going to touch that. Star Wars is 2020/21. Pixar land is still a rumor.

Good to have dreams, but price increase doesn't mean anything is going to happen CAPEX wise.

 

[PhotoDave219]

This just might be the knock out punch to the "off-season" we have been dreading for years.

What off-season? Hasn't existed for three-to-five years now.

 

[anchorman314]

Why would it be impossible? You have X number of Gold days on your ticket and Y number of Silver. Sort of like dining plan entitlements. You show up on a Gold day and all your Gold days have already been used, you don't get in without upgrading your ticket. The system should utilize whichever is the lowest tiered applicable day still available on your ticket.

That's why I said nearly impossible. From a technical standpoint, there wouldn't be any problems. From a logistical standpoint, though, it would be a nightmare. You have to figure that there wouldn't be a problem for those guests that bought a package. But for anyone who bought tickets separately, I can see a large percentage arriving with the wrong level of admission.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Taking a step back from the crowd discussions, this is a needless complication to an already complicated issue of purchasing your tickets.

Its another hoop for guests to jump through and its just going to cause more headaches & confusion for a vacation that already requires way too much planning as it is.

 

[Nemo14]

...and even more people will take their kids out of school to go during the "value"/bronze periods.

as long as they don't overlap "seasons"...

 

[wdisney9000]

@MichWolv , sorry I usually read my posts before I send them to make sure Im not sounding like an a-hole, but my wife has been calling all morning because she is at the set for the new Tom Cruise movie they are filming here, (Mena). She just got to meet him and was telling me all about it as I was posting my response. For anybody wondering, she said he was extremely polite and was meeting with all the people in between takes and talking with all the children and parents who were there to see him. Sorry for off topic post,

 

[BJones82]

They don't care if those 3,000 people go another day. In fact, Disney would probably prefer that they didn't. They have increased revenue by $225,000 but have to serve 3,000 less people.

And the less people they have to serve, the less CM's they need to pay for that day, further adding to the bank.

One thing to remember is those 3000 people most likely would have spent around $50 a person in food/souvenirs, so yes they increased ticket revenue by 225k but they are losing 150k in other revenue so they really only gain about 75k, now 75k is a lot of money to us but not to a company as large as Disney so it becomes is that 75k worth the hassle of making these changes and the decrease in customer satisfaction because those a lot of those 3000 people(a lot is an exact measurement lol) will be extremely vocal about their issues and some may get their way anyway...

It's a very complex decision on Disney's part and this is probably meant to gauge how much it would cause guests to get mad at TDC.

 

[wdisney9000]

If they did this bronze, silver, gold tier system, whats to stop a family from just purchasing weekday tickets for bronze and silver price, and use the weekends to visit Uni and avoid Gold price? I know its only a small price difference, but for some, it may be enough to sway their decision to actually visit Uni instead.

 

[Lucky]

If they did this bronze, silver, gold tier system, whats to stop a family from just purchasing weekday tickets for bronze and silver price, and use the weekends to visit Uni and avoid Gold price? I know its only a small price difference, but for some, it may be enough to sway their decision to actually visit Uni instead.

That'll happen, until Uni has its own Gold weekend pricing.

 

[GrumpyFan]

Taking a step back from the crowd discussions, this is a needless complication to an already complicated issue of purchasing your tickets.

Its another hoop for guests to jump through and its just going to cause more headaches & confusion for a vacation that already requires way too much planning as it is.

I'm not sure why people seem to think this will be complicated. It would work just like the current room pricing does, you enter the dates you want on the web site, then it gives you the prices.

I agree, it is another (potential) hoop to jump thru, but it doesn't have to be complicated, and no more planning really than current. Mind you, I'm not for it either, but I'm not seeing where it would be all that complicated if it's implemented in combination with room package pricing.

However, I can see where this will make things more difficult for third party ticket sellers and guests who prefer to buy tickets thru them. I could see some of these sellers simply choosing not to go along and just stop selling tickets for Disney, which may be part of their plan.

 

[wdisney9000]

Its another hoop for guests to jump through and its just going to cause more headaches & confusion for a vacation that already requires way too much planning as it is.

Id love to know if this type of thought comes up in the board room discussions regarding plans like these. Has anybody had the balls to speak up at some point and just say, "guys, are we making vacations at WDW more and more difficult to plan?"

 

[wdisney9000]

I'm not sure why people seem to think this will be complicated. It would work just like the current room pricing does, you enter the dates you want on the web site, then it gives you the prices.

I agree, it is another (potential) hoop to jump thru, but it doesn't have to be complicated, and no more planning really than current. Mind you, I'm not for it either, but I'm not seeing where it would be all that complicated if it's implemented in combination with room package pricing.

However, I can see where this will make things more difficult for third party ticket sellers and guests who prefer to buy tickets thru them. I could see some of these sellers simply choosing not to go along and just stop selling tickets for Disney, which may be part of their plan.

I dont think the complication lies in a customer not being able to figure it out. Its more the process of learning how MM+ operates, then deciding on how to plan it out 90-180 days in advance, the next step is deciding on a resort price that fits their budget, then deciding on if the time they plan to visit falls into gold, silver, or bronze, then taking a step back to see if all the pieces fit together to allow for the vacation they want. In the end, it may just stress out a person who simply wanted to bring their kid to Disney but didnt realize the process one must go through