Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
I'd move to either of those cities before moving to somewhere like Kansas. I don't like Palmdale or Lancaster, but if I ever became desperate, I'd go there.
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MSEP blackout day tickets for So Cal APs
- Thread starter mickEblu
- Start date
I'd move to either of those cities before moving to somewhere like Kansas. I don't like Palmdale or Lancaster, but if I ever became desperate, I'd go there.
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Deleted member 107043
No, because anyone can go into Times Square and watch the Ball Drop. Ball Drop spectators are not required to purchase an AP, an admission pass, or other paid ticket media. The whole point of this discussion started because you took issue with APs being asked to pay more to see the final showings of the MSEP. In the context of this discussion the NYE ball drop in Times Square is completely different because it's an event in a public space that's free and open to anyone who wants to get in until capacity is reached.
Let's be clear: you aren't paying for the privilege to visit the park whenever you want with your AP if you are subject to blackouts. It sounds like what you're asking is for Disney to allow all APs the opportunity to see the closing of the MSEP at no additional charge, which would be nice, but it isn't necessarily a privilege they are entitled to.have.
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Deleted member 107043
It's another chance to upcharge, obviously.
Ok we re splitting hairs and talking about different things at this point. The ball drop had nothing to do with my original post. It's about APs not feeling bad about making the parks less ideal for tourists. The thread took a few turns.. as many do.
To clarify it's not the up charge event in and of itself that really bothers me. Because that's nothing new. It's the obvious, in your face and slimy way they are going about it. It just feels cheap and tacky.
Haha Well ya it's still less than an hour drive to civilization.
I'm just wondering do you feel the same way about MaxPass which is a new up charge that you don't like? Because I don't recall reading this type of disclaimer on that thread. I feel like here we get the disclaimer because this is specifically about APs as opposed to a change or event that effects all guests.
Or maybe I missed it?
Anyway I'm having a hard time reading opinions on this thread without seeing the underlying bias and resentment towards APs.
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
That's because there is bias and resentment. Not towards you personally, but towards Disney for allowing it to take over the park. Let's pretend for a moment that Disney only catered to tourists. They made it much cheaper for them to experience the park and jacked prices of APs through the roof. This caused a massive flooding of tourists jamming every corner of the park so you, who were paying much more to be there, had to basically get a Disneyland degree to try and figure out how to plan ahead so you didn't have a terrible time, and even with months of planning, you couldn't see or do everything you wanted because of the tourists blocking you at every turn, you'd feel the resentment too.
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Deleted member 107043
As a tourist I hate that MaxPass is inferior to MyMagic+ yet has a fee attached to it. It's yet another thing that makes WDW look like a better bargain for a Disney vacation to me. Like I said, I'll eventually embrace it, but the fee for the service just feels like another unnecessary upcharge.
I'll add that I purposely don't visit DLR as often as I'd like because I simply cannot justify paying what they charge for tickets, food, and lodging to go more than every few years. It's currently been over two years since my last visit to DLR, yet I visit Southern California at least twice a year.
It really doesn't help the case you're trying to make when you're asking for Disney to offer a deal to APs who are subject to blackouts that they aren't entitled to have. Yes it would be nice if Disney lifted the blackouts for them, but given all the perks and conveniences afforded APs I don't think it's that big of a deal that Disney isn't waiving the blackouts. Maybe that opinion comes from some unconscious bias I have, I don't know.
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I get it. It's no surprise the resentment is there. But I don't usually see that resentment towards Disney but more towards the APs. I feel like the anger is always being directed in the wrong place. I mean at the end of the day I get why some tourists may feel a certain way but I don't really feel bad about it. They should feel bad for me. Booo hooo. The park was crowded. At the end of the night I'll go back to my 1200 square foot house that costs more than their 30 acres in Wisconsin. We pay in more ways than one for the privilege to be at the park often. A tourist may spend more than me in a given year but over a 5-10 year span I think my 3k per year wins out. Besides Disney doesn't care what one spends in air fare, gas or at offsite hotels, they care about what is spent at the parks and onsite hotels.
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Everyone is clinging on to the comment I made about lifting the blackouts because it fuels their bias they have against APs. But the point of the post was to say that I found it very tacky that they purposely ended the MSEP the day before So Cal APs are blocked just so they can up charge them. I even said it would of been better to not offer anything at all. But nobody seems to quote that statement of mine. Anyway IMO from a PR standpoint, it would have looked better if they ran MSEP through Labor Day and unblocked the So Cal APs then, with our without the blackout ticket offering. At least then it wouldn't be so obvious as cutting it off 8/20.
Disney does their share of money grabbing things. I just don't see offering blackout tickets as one of them. They didn't have to offer anything at all.
And of course they are ending MSEP right before the blackout lifts. They know their crowds. They know the last night will be very busy even without those other levels of APs in the parks. Surely you all had a chance to see it earlier in the year? Surely you know the blackout schedule when you bought your APs? Let someone else see it (maybe for the first time?) without big crowds of people there who have seen it umpteen times before.
And of course they are ending MSEP right before the blackout lifts. They know their crowds. They know the last night will be very busy even without those other levels of APs in the parks. Surely you all had a chance to see it earlier in the year? Surely you know the blackout schedule when you bought your APs? Let someone else see it (maybe for the first time?) without big crowds of people there who have seen it umpteen times before.
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Californian Elitist
Well-Known Member
If $20 is all the discount they're going to offer, they shouldn't have offered anything, in my opinion. Just let the blackouts stay blackouts and let it be that.
I agree APs have had plenty of time to see the parade, and if people have waited until their blackout dates popped up to see it, oh well. In also saying that, APs shouldn't have to consider and think of other guests when visiting the parks. Same goes for people coming out of town to visit the parks for multiple days in a row. If a party of people are on their fourth day in the parks, should they consider the feelings of those who are just starting their vacation? After all, they've had four days in a row to see as much as they can. My answer is no. Just go and enjoy what you can.
Travel Junkie
Well-Known Member
It's called WDW. They largely don't care about locals there and it is overrun with out of towners. Personally I don't feel resentment towards other Disney parks that don't cater to me. I don't demand English dialogue in foreign parks. Tokyo is even more focused on locals than Disneyland and they should be. I have zero issue with it.
Disney is going to make business decisions based on what will make them the most. At WDW it is focused on tourists. For Disneyland it is locals. Hot take here. A large scale Star Wars land would not be going into Disneyland if AP's weren't as successful as they are. Investment wouldn't be near the levels they are without a large AP base. AP's are making Disney loads of money. Disneyland would cater more to out of town tourists if it was in their financial interest to do so.
AP's get all the blame, but the infrastructure simply can't handle the crowds. I'm not sure how true this is, but I had read that Disneyland was built for roughly 1 million guests per year. While they have done many things to expand that capacity, the pathways and shops were simply not prepared to handle 15 million per year plus. That will never change unless they level the place and start over. Disney is not going to do that and they are not going to cap capacity at lower numbers than they are now. Any business would be idiotic for doing so.
I was at Disneyland last night. Every AP was blacked out except Signature and Signature Plus. It was absolutely packed and the pathways were shoulder to shoulder. You can't blame AP's for that. Disneyland is just a popular place and it wasn't designed for these crowds. The constant attacks on AP's is ridiculous.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Tacky or just smart?
Part of the AP problem was the sea of people that was uncontrollable and caused an insane burden on the parks whenever a key event happened. Crowds aren't just 'not nice' they cause huge increases in costs and cause all kinds of exaggerated problems (parking, traffic, etc). Instead of charging everyone as a way to diffuse the problem, they finally bit the bullet and expanded blackouts and made the 365 day passes much more "difficult" to have (aka really expensive).
I don't find this tacky or even a money grab... it's finding a middle ground.
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
I understand that they are basing their AP favoring to maximize profit, I just think it's a short sided strategy.
What are they going to do if the APs for one reason or another stop showing up in the same huge numbers? Political, economical, boredom, whatever the reason, if they stop coming, I think the DLR will be hurting and shuffling to find ways to bring back the people that have been burned.
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Deleted member 107043
Who here is attacking APs?
Curious Constance
Well-Known Member
I know housing is an obvious difference in cost prices when comparing Oregon to California, a quick google search provided the following info:
The national median home price is $188,900.
The median home value in Oregon is $311,600.
Today, an average California home costs $440,000. (And yes, I realize this number is much higher in Southern Ca.)
But, I wonder how other things compare?
I'd be interested to know if other things like gas, food, utilities are also inflated in CA.
Just out of curiosity, I know it has nothing to do with the topic.
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Deleted member 107043
All I can tell you is that it's hella expensive to live here, particularly if you live in the Bay Area, LA, Orange County, or San Diego. And the more expensive it becomes the lower Disneyland gets on my list of things to do.
EDIT: Here's a link to a Business Insider article from January listing the world's most expensive middle-income cities to live in using the "mean multiple" approach — the median house price divided by the median household income. San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Jose rank #9, #8, and #5 respectively.
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-...california-city-had-a-median-multiple-of-92-2
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