PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Dunno but the only thing we as a collective fanbase can do is to flood Parks and Resorts corporate voicing our opinion with actual mail.
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Interesting Disney Parks Survey Question I got Today - Tiered Ticket Pricing by Season
- Thread starter MaxsDad
- Start date
Dunno but the only thing we as a collective fanbase can do is to flood Parks and Resorts corporate voicing our opinion with actual mail.
Mike S
Well-Known Member
SpaceMountain75
Well-Known Member
I'm now intensely curious to hear what '74 has to say about things.
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
I'm just wondering, why?
SpaceMountain75
Well-Known Member
Just to hear his take on the whole thing, and find out if it's a strong possibility or not.
Is the idea to try and emulate airline pricing structures? Perhaps no one at Disney has noticed that most people now hold the airlines in complete contempt. I assume they will have the typical "Disney reserves the right to change the dates" for the tier pricing so you can purchase your "bronze" tickets and then when everyone goes for the bronze they change those dates to Silver and everyone gets to rebook their vacations or pay the "slight upcharge"? They can further emulate the airlines by charging "a small additional fee" for blankets and a pillow in the hotel room - what a brilliant money maker that would be. As it is during the off-periods they operate for fewer hours a day, isn't that enough extra money in their pockets?
An additional thought - I like to be lazy about my vacations, at work I have to plan projects months and occasionally years in advance, making sure the right equipment, right contractors, right building permits, right street barricades, and right employees on at specific sights at specific times on specific dates and make sure that all the peaces are arranged in an orderly efficient flow. I don't want to have to do that kind of work for my vacation planning. They've already sliced and diced the rooms up by season, by view, by floor, by service level, and by DVC or not. I've visited Disney World just under 100 times since '76, and stayed on property about 40 times. Keep finding ways to make it more work and I'll stop coming by.
pajammies
Well-Known Member
I think there is such a few amount of times that a family can go during the bronze tier, that is more than five days, that I don't even get why that tier exists. Just make it two tiers.
Won't almost all vacations creep into silver pricing anyway?
I am more asking that stating, because I don't know the statistics on 2-4 day vacations in Disney, but it seems like a good majority go for a week, or more.
It wouldn't stop me from going, but geez, every penny counts, I don't like it.
Won't almost all vacations creep into silver pricing anyway?
I am more asking that stating, because I don't know the statistics on 2-4 day vacations in Disney, but it seems like a good majority go for a week, or more.
It wouldn't stop me from going, but geez, every penny counts, I don't like it.
alphac2005
Well-Known Member
Considering this company has been tone deaf in many ways for years, that might be giving them too much credit. I learned long ago in business school and my experience with large corporations that the vast majority of them always are too late to respond to drop-offs.... and this is a company that has a historical record of never reducing pricing. I'm not too sure as to where they can go with things.
No need to apologize. Nuance and tone is difficult to get across over the internet.
And meeting Tom Cruise...cool!
A buddy of mine is working on that set. And another is working on the Captain America one. And yet neither could get me down there. Might be time for some new friends....
asianway
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the club-you get a complimentary haterade I'll bring it right over
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
Lucky
Well-Known Member
It's not just airlines that have been doing this. But you make a good point - it's no accident that there's nothing "magical" about being an airline customer these days, if there ever was (i.e., no brand loyalty).
hpyhnt 1000
Well-Known Member
The thing is that WDW has not seen its attendance decline. Indeed, it has increased over the past years, despite the seemingly never ending increase in prices. So from a business standpoint, there is evidence the demand for WDW is overwhelmingly there, so a ticket price increase (which is basically what this is) seems appropriate.
A bigger question to go with this is: what is underlying this increase in attendance? Spillover from Universal? Pent up consumer demand after a long recession? New offerings from Disney? Better marketing? A mini Florida tourism boom? That is difficult to definitively pin down, but it matters because you don't want to go raising prices for a short term trend and be caught flatfooted and overpriced on the backside.
But is Disney overpriced? As much as I dislike what is outlined in the survey, I do have to admit that, in the abstract, the amount that Disney charges is not altogether unreasonable when compared to other amusements. Considering that it costs at least $25-$50 these days to go to a sporting event for 2-3 hours of passive entertainment, or upwards of $100 (or more) to see a Broadway show, $100-$120 for 12 hours at a theme park doesn't look as bad in comparison. We can quibble and argue about the quality of what is being offered for that $100 theme park price and overall bang for your buck (and I am firmly in the camp that says it has decreased noticeably in the last decade) but in terms of upfront cost, Disney is undoubtedly expensive but, in the abstract, I don't know if you can claim it is overpriced. And Disney doesn't think that (hence why they have continued to raise prices). And the public has yet to say so either.
One last point - the survey question that asked, "Would you be willing to pay more if crowds were less," is very telling. It's very nearly an admission by Disney that crowd levels are having a detrimental effect on people's experiences. And to push that further, I would argue that people are/would be willing to pay more for a less crowded experience. Things like MVMCP, the Wishes dessert parties and Fantasmic dinner packages support this because, let's be honest, you are basically paying extra in exchange for a less stressful experience. If this tiered system gets implemented, it will be interesting to see how aggressive Disney gets in trying to manage crowd levels and if they will go so far as to market it as a "pay more for smaller crowds" sort of thing.
alphac2005
Well-Known Member
We know that there are many reasons for their increased business, but most notably, it looks like it stems from their approach to marketing. Disney has decided to make a WDW vacation a necessity for a family at intervals of every five, ten years, etc. As we were discussing before in the thread, they have thrown out the long held business model of focusing on die-hards, APs, locals, etc.
I've read the this versus that argument ad nauseam on here for years. In many major cities with Broadway style and quality theaters, it doesn't cost close to $100. Sporting events on paper have increased prices, but have so many different deals and discounts that I can actually get tickets to an NBA game or MLB game cheaper than I have been able to in years.
It should be noted that for many people, these events are a once a year event, if that. MK at $105 a day, is just one day and most families are visiting for many days. Yes, you will begin to have multiday discounts, but we know the pricing is still high.
Not going the rabbit hole, but look around the country, most theme parks are $50-60 a day at sticker price and many have greater discounts. I can pay $43 to buy a ticket online for Knott's Berry Farm and have a great time there. Personally, what made Disney "worth" the money no longer exists. If WDW had the quality of yesteryear, it might be awfully expensive, but it would have the quality to at least justify a premium.
That's where the issue lies now and has to be distinguished: You now pay a premium for corporate profiteering not because of a superior product. Disney epitomizes where things have flipped in this country. You know pay an inflated price for a privilege to do something, see something, etc., but get a lesser quality. My friends in Europe pay $20 a month for their mobile service while I pay $90 for the same line with lesser service because of grotesque margins to keep a small cabal of investors happy in this country. That's the sign of a major problem.