Is it time Disney bring back ticket books?

[JD2000]

Now, you might say "whoa, general admission makes things equal", but hear me out:

As crowds worsen and become more unpredictable, it is now a game of chance of how busy it'll be when you visit and how many rides you'll be able to enjoy that day. But if Disney were to bring back ticket books; it would allow you to only pay for what you actually get to ride. So if you by chance, visit on a day that ended up very crowded, you don't pay as much as someone who ended up there when it was far less busy. This would also bring it back in line with everything else in the park (from food to souvenirs) of which you only pay for what you use. And, to be understood, priced correctly, it would cost, on average, the same as it does now to ride the same amount. Also, there would be a small price to enter the park (for obvious reasons). There would also need to be something done about AP's.

Okay, what do you think?

Boom! I just said that!

EDIT for clarification:

It was not an idea to redistribute crowds, but rather an idea to bring fairness, as you would only pay for what you actually get to ride on an specific day, as crowds these days are busy and unpredictable. But that is not to say it wouldn't help to redistribute crowds. I also liked the idea of paying only for what you use, as you do with souvenirs or food, providing a more consistent experience. And to use automation such as magicbands would be helpful to make the experience convenient and easy to use, as people today expect, and reduce any possible additional costs.

 

[TROR]

While you make a good case, you forget that lowering general admission makes it more affordable to enter the park. In other words, people will be going to Disneyland without buying ticket books and they'll just clog up the walkways making the entire situation worse than it already is.

 

[JD2000]

While you make a good case, you forget that lowering general admission makes it more affordable to enter the park. In other words, people will be going to Disneyland without buying ticket books and they'll just clog up the walkways making the entire situation worse than it already is.

But you already get that with AP's today. And if that did prove be an issue, there could be solutions. For instance; you can't enter unless you buy a ticket book?

 

[westie]

Makes me wonder if there are any solid numbers on AP vs Tickets on a daily, weekly monthly, yearly basis?

 

[TwilightZone]

ticket booths=less money=cheaper rides=more deaths=no disneyland

 

[Darkbeer1]

The Theme Park Industry in general is getting away from POS's, opting for things like all day dining meals.

Could they do it?

Well, I know systems that operate turnstiles with bar codes, so no serious labor issues. Also, electronic kiosks and phone apps can handle the charges, and the need to add "points" or whatever you want to call a "ticket". I presume the system wouldn't just have 5 price points (in reality, there were seven, free and a special Tiki Room tickets, even more if you add the sponsored attractions tickets, such as Adventure thru Outer Space).

What do you do about shows? Free, or you can buy a FastPass for a special seating area. Should Disney charge more points for a better section?

And how about attractions? One price for the Stand By line, and more for a FastPass... Do you go with surge pricing, where rides cost more points when its busier.

Sounds like a perfect way to ruin a day.

If it is truly a way to change behavior, eliminate FastPasses as we know them, and instead charge everyone (including AP holders) a premium price based on Surge pricing to enter a line with a short queue.

This will get more people back into queue space, and out of the walkways.

 

[JD2000]

The Theme Park Industry in general is getting away from POS's, opting for things like all day dining meals.

Could they do it?

Well, I know systems that operate turnstiles with bar codes, so no serious labor issues. Also, electronic kiosks and phone apps can handle the charges, and the need to add "points" or whatever you want to call a "ticket". I presume the system wouldn't just have 5 price points (in reality, there were seven, free and a special Tiki Room tickets, even more if you add the sponsored attractions tickets, such as Adventure thru Outer Space).

What do you do about shows? Free, or you can buy a FastPass for a special seating area. Should Disney charge more points for a better section?

And how about attractions? One price for the Stand By line, and more for a FastPass... Do you go with surge pricing, where rides cost more points when its busier.

Sounds like a perfect way to ruin a day.

If it is truly a way to change behavior, eliminate FastPasses as we know them, and instead charge everyone (including AP holders) a premium price based on Surge pricing to enter a line with a short queue.

This will get more people back into queue space, and out of the walkways.

Yeah, should of mentioned, automation would keep it convenient, easy to use, and reduce costs.

If the idea is to pay for everything you actually use; tickets would also be needed for shows. And having no preferred seating would be more fair, but not sure the current Disney would go for losing that additional revenue.

Finally, it would be simpler and more fair at that point to just eliminate fastpass.

IDK I just wanted to throw out the idea and see what people thought.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I agree with the original poster's argument that ticket books would help distribute guests more evenly across the parks, however nothing is going to solve overcrowding until they finally lower the cap on the park's capacity and sharply rein in on the AP program.

 

[Driver]

I agree with the original poster's argument that ticket books would help distribute guests more evenly across the parks, however nothing is going to solve overcrowding until they finally lower the cap on the park's capacity and sharply rein in on the AP program.

I don't have AP but I know several people that do. And they typically only go a couple times a month. Also except for the upper tiers of AP there are a lot of blacks out during known high volume days. So that being said I'm not so sure AP's build the crowds all that much ( just my .02)

 

[Phroobar]

The best is to simply reduce the numbers thru the gates. Then remove fastpass for paid maxpass only. Charge $80-$100 for maxpass per guest.

 

[Darkbeer1]

With about 1 Million AP holders, only 5% have to show up to make a serious impact on the parks.

But lets say the average AP holder goes twice a month, that is 24 Million visits a year, or 65,000 a day. Now, the average is about half of that, about once a month, but Disney has found out the higher the price is, the higher the amount of visit are made.

So the capacity of both parks is about 100,000, and about a third of them will be AP Holders. But factor in other factors, such as the spread of the different AP's, last I heard, about half are the 2 SoCal versions, and blockout days, and that some days will be more popular than others for many reasons, and there are days where 2/3'rds of the park are AP holders.

So yes, AP holders make a serious impact on the parks.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

I don't have AP but I know several people that do. And they typically only go a couple times a month. Also except for the upper tiers of AP there are a lot of blacks out during known high volume days. So that being said I'm not so sure AP's build the crowds all that much ( just my .02)

Here are some ways that Disney is courting APs and the local online blogger crowd: On the last day of the Cove Bar's operation there was a 4 hour wait to get a seat. Last spring there were reports of waits of up to several hours for Enchanted Rose souvenir cups, which later appeared on EBay for as much as $1,500. These happenings are on top of seasonal campaigns like Halloweentime, the 50th Anniversary, the return of The Electrical Parade, and Holiday Magic that are designed to drive a constant flow of repeat AP visits to the resort throughout the year.

IMO in order for the Disneyland Resort experience to be improved there needs to be a dramatic re-thinking of the theme park operations (wider pathways, more high-capacity attractions, bigger shops, expanded restaurants, etc), or some make big changes to the way ticket media is structured and distributed.

 

[Driver]

With about 1 Million AP holders, only 5% have to show up to make a serious impact on the parks.

But lets say the average AP holder goes twice a month, that is 24 Million visits a year, or 65,000 a day. Now, the average is about half of that, about once a month, but Disney has found out the higher the price is, the higher the amount of visit are made.

So the capacity of both parks is about 100,000, and about a third of them will be AP Holders. But factor in other factors, such as the spread of the different AP's, last I heard, about half are the 2 SoCal versions, and blockout days, and that some days will be more popular than others for many reasons, and there are days where 2/3'rds of the park are AP holders.

So yes, AP holders make a serious impact on the parks.

Your numbers work in theory but IMHO I don't think AP holders go that much. (I know I'm contradicting myself) But also you're talking about so cal parks at 100,000? I thought this was referring to FL parks . So in FL the MK max's at 88,000. One million AP's does sound a little high. And you could be right I'm not saying you're not. But consider how many AP holders that live out of state and only come down two or three times a year. I know folks in that situation as well . So that would throw off your calculations because you based your math on the assumption that every pass holder would come for a few days every month. (as I know I did say as well) I'm texting this as it's coming to mind so I could be in fact way off. I hope I don't sound like I'm talking in circles.

 

[Bullseye1967]

With about 1 Million AP holders, only 5% have to show up to make a serious impact on the parks.

But lets say the average AP holder goes twice a month, that is 24 Million visits a year, or 65,000 a day. Now, the average is about half of that, about once a month, but Disney has found out the higher the price is, the higher the amount of visit are made.

So the capacity of both parks is about 100,000, and about a third of them will be AP Holders. But factor in other factors, such as the spread of the different AP's, last I heard, about half are the 2 SoCal versions, and blockout days, and that some days will be more popular than others for many reasons, and there are days where 2/3'rds of the park are AP holders.

So yes, AP holders make a serious impact on the parks.

I'd be curious where you are getting your data from. 1 million AP holders?

 

[Bullseye1967]

Your numbers work in theory but IMHO I don't think AP holders go that much. (I know I'm contradicting myself) But also you're talking about so cal parks at 100,000? I thought this was referring to FL parks . So in FL the MK max's at 88,000. One million AP's does sound a little high. And you could be right I'm not saying you're not. But consider how many AP holders that live out of state and only come down two or three times a year. I know folks in that situation as well . So that would throw off your calculations because you based your math on the assumption that every pass holder would come for a few days every month. (as I know I did say as well) I'm texting this as it's coming to mind so I could be in fact way off. I hope I don't sound like I'm talking in circles.

Florida Parks at capacity are MK 100,000, Epcot 95,000, HS at 75,000, and AK at 50,000 putting total capacity at 320,000 not including the 2 water parks. Yes, phased closing start at 65,000 for MK and 41,000 at AK and so on, but that is still a much larger capacity. This would figure into the formula also.

 

[Darkbeer1]

Did you know an UNLV Thesis was written about this subject?

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1541&context=thesesdissertations

Going back to the million AP's...

https://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/...inue-southern-california-annual-pass-for-now/

>>

With an estimated 1 million annual pass holders and ​

Star Wars land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge​

, opening in a couple of years and other attractions such as ​

Pixar Pier coming in the near future​

, Disneyland officials appear to be taking another step to managing future crowds and spreading out the demand.<<​

And I am using a capacity of 65,000 for Disneyland, and 35,000 for DCA.​

The number of visits was an average of 12 (You said 24, and I said it was about half that.)

 

[Driver]

Florida Parks at capacity are MK 100,000, Epcot 95,000, HS at 75,000, and AK at 50,000 putting total capacity at 320,000 not including the 2 water parks. Yes, phased closing start at 65,000 for MK and 41,000 at AK and so on, but that is still a much larger capacity. This would figure into the formula also.

MK 100,000 I disagree, I've been told numerous times when we go through phase B's that it's 88,000 and that number comes from managers.

 

[Bullseye1967]

Did you know an UNLV Thesis was written about this subject?

https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1541&context=thesesdissertations

Going back to the million AP's...

https://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/...inue-southern-california-annual-pass-for-now/

>>
With an estimated 1 million annual pass holders and
Star Wars land, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge

, opening in a couple of years and other attractions such as
Pixar Pier coming in the near future

, Disneyland officials appear to be taking another step to managing future crowds and spreading out the demand.<<

And I am using a capacity of 65,000 for Disneyland, and 35,000 for DCA.

The number of visits was an average of 12 (You said 24, and I said it was about half that.)

Thanks that's what I was looking for. Hard to believe there is almost twice the numbers of AP holders in California than Florida resident APs. The Florida number is closer to 650,000. I can understand how that could make a huge difference.

 

[Bullseye1967]

8

MK 100,000 I disagree, I've been told numerous times when we go through phase B's that it's 88,000 and that number comes from managers.

88,000 was the number before the Fantasyland expansion. the old phased closing went from 56,000 to 65,000.

 

[Curious Constance]

F

Your numbers work in theory but IMHO I don't think AP holders go that much. (I know I'm contradicting myself) But also you're talking about so cal parks at 100,000? I thought this was referring to FL parks . So in FL the MK max's at 88,000. One million AP's does sound a little high. And you could be right I'm not saying you're not. But consider how many AP holders that live out of state and only come down two or three times a year. I know folks in that situation as well . So that would throw off your calculations because you based your math on the assumption that every pass holder would come for a few days every month. (as I know I did say as well) I'm texting this as it's coming to mind so I could be in fact way off. I hope I don't sound like I'm talking in circles.

For every one out of state APer there must be at least five locals who go once a week or two. One million APers is unfortunately most likely very accurate and has been mentioned by several insiders.
So even if most only go once a month that's 12 million visits per year.