New WDW Ticket Structure Announced

[donsullivan]

Disney bumps single day tickets to near $60

By Sean Mussenden | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted December 2, 2004, 12:10 PM EST
Walt Disney World announced a change in the way tourists buy tickets to its theme parks this morning, while installing the largest increase in the price of a single day ticket in more than a decade and a half.

Disney executives designed the "Magic Your Way" ticket package plan to keep tourists on Disney property longer, through a series of deep discounts for extended stays. For example, guests purchasing a seven day ticket that allows one theme park visit per day would cost half as much per day as a single day ticket.

As part of the plan, the pre-tax price of a one day ticket rose for the second time this year to $59.75, a five dollar increase. In March, the company increased the price of a single-day ticket by $2.75 to $54.75. Since last year, the price of a single day ticket has gone up 15%, the largest yearly increase at least since 1989.

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One of the local news stations had a report that descrbed a new scenario where you can buy a one day ticket for $59.75. You can add a Park Hopper Feature to that for an additional $35.00.

I'm trying to get more detail now on other scenarios like 2 and 3 day tickets and the like.

 

[donsullivan]

More details from the local ABC affiliate

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. -- Walt Disney World is changing its ticket plan to let tourists custom-build how they visit the world's most popular parks. It's called Magic Your Way.


Right now, when people visit, you only have a few options, such as buying a one-day, 4-day or 7-day ticket. Now, with the new plan, you can buy one to 7-day tickets and add options such as park hopper or the Magic Plus Pack option, which means being able to go to the water parks.

Here's how it works. The base price will go up from $54.75 to $59.75. Then you can add a Park Hopper pass for $35. If you want to add the water parks, that would cost $45.


Walt Disney World President Al Weiss says he hopes the new ticket options will bring more residents to the Disney parks.

There are also incentives for Florida residents. Florida residents can either buy a one-day ticket for $54.75, or buy a one-day hopper pass for $59.75, or buy a 3-day pass for the price of a 2-day pass.

Prices go into effect January 2nd. Tickets are also lower for children.

 

[phlydude]

You beat me to it by 3 minutes!!!
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=47914

 

[AEfx]

I'll be very curious to see the specifics of all the options. Disney has been too rigid in their offerings for quite some time (i.e., you can't buy a 7-day PH, you have to get a PHP - well, what if you don't need a PHP?), so this a la carte thing might work out.

As to the price increase of single day tickets, it's kind of disgusting...it's not like most people choose to only spend one day at WDW, and raising the prices is suddenly going to change their plans to allow them to stay longer. Most people will just pay the extra five bucks and be done with it. It's just greed, plain and simple - sixty bucks a day is just too much, IMHO.

I'm glad I got my AP last month - I bet the prices of those will be going up any time as well.

AEfx

 

[diz420]

I found this online...

Florida Residents Find New Values

The "Magic Your Way" ticket plan also includes special values for Florida residents who sometimes make shorter but more frequent visits.

Residents can choose from three savings options:

A third day free with the purchase of a two-day ticket.
Or 10 percent savings on a one-day base ticket.
Or free "Park Hopper" option added to a full-price one-day ticket.
"This is our way of thanking our home-state neighbors for their years of loyalty," Weiss said. "Floridians told us what they wanted, so we're giving them more flexibility and options that fit the way they visit Walt Disney World."

Can anyone tell me what dates in 2005 or is it all of 2005?
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[donsullivan]

According to what I've read, this is the new permanent ticket structure effective Jan. 2, 2005. It replaces the current ticket plan at that time.

I'm trying to figure out the details of Annual Passes right now since mine renews in the next couple of weeks.

 

[DisneyMemories]

Ouch, Well thats going to hurt the wallet next summer,we don't get down to florida much and when we go we visit family in boca raton,so disney (magic kingdom) is usually a one day stop over on the way back home to ohio. With gas prices the way they are and other price factors, l understand costs of everything going up,but 15% since july of 2003 again l say "OUCH" then with rumors of favotite rides like 20k gone and others rumored to be in danger be being or going under a rehab, l belive like so many others disney is losing its vision and being like scrooge mcduck is its greed. Well hopefully it's not going up anymore between now and then,if it does then i'm going to have to look for a plan b vacation.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Observation - a $5 increase in 1-day ticket prices? Second increase in 9 months? What exactly is the rationale behind this, SGE? Soarin'? C'mon, this is getting ridiculous.

 

[phlydude]

We're discussing the price break-outs in the other thread I previously posted

 

[Figment1986]

wow.... how are they redoing the APs... cause i have been aving my money for one.... (and wont get it for 2 more years....)

At least i bought my tickets last week for friends and family for may 05.....

(now to get greedy with the new FLA residents options....)

 

[martinthesparta]

Yup this changes how much time I wanna spend at the parks. Now, I just don't wanna go. I wanna go to Disney World, not Eisner and Greedy High Up Executive World. Not only are they destroying the spirit of the parks but charging us more to experience them with this rediculous pricing plan. 35 bucks to park hop??!! What's wrong with these people, or people in general. Maybe they would be making more money if Eisner stopped giving himself multimillion dollar bonuses.

 

[disneydummy125]

(now to get greedy with the new FLA residents options....)

Same here! That 3 days for the price of two is awesome!

Does anyone know how much it costs? Is it the same as the regular two day tickets?

 

[peter11435]

Same here! That 3 days for the price of two is awesome!

Does anyone know how much it costs? Is it the same as the regular two day tickets?

2-Day Base Ticket-- $119
Park Hopper Feature-- +$35
Add 2 Plus! Features-- +$45

 

[attisb]

While I like to new pricing structure it does paint this funny picture in my head of the way people ording pizza. "I'd like a 5-day ticket with a Park Hopper, no wait cancel the Park Hopper give me a No Experation Option." :lol:

For me this makes it much cheaper to buy tickets. We always get 4 day tickets and we spend the entire day at one park. We never do Park Hop. So the new pricing structure allows me to buy a 7-day ticket for the same price as a 4-day Park Hopper from AAA.

 

[mkt]

I have a feeling I'd better get an AP renewal voucher ASAP

 

[CTXRover]

The longer you stay, the less you pay.

PLEASE, I urge all to read about the new "Magic Your Way" ticket program before making any judgements that prices are just going up. Its so easy to say, ticket prices are going up! While true the price of a single day ticket is rising astronomically, the payoff is a program that is designed to promote people to stay longer at WDW. Makes sense. As the press releases say "The longer you stay...the less you pay".

All you ever wanted to know about the new pass program can be found at the official site for the new Magic Your Way pass programs at http://disneyworld.disney.go.c om/wdw/magicYourWay/index?id=MagicYourWayIndexPage. Pricing structure is under "Flexible".


The new program is ALL about options and making a trip more affordable with choices NEVER offered before. For instance, in reality, if you like to stick to strict schedules and not park hop and are planning a 7 day trip to WDW and are just planning to visit the four main parks, the price per day to visit the parks is ONLY $28.43!!! Of course, if you want the days to NEVER expire, add on $55.00 "No expiration option" and get 7 days worth of tickets that you can use WHENEVER for only $36.29 a day, a nearly $20.00 savings on current one day tickets!

Now, if you are like me and plan to visit the water parks and like the idea of park hopping, you are now GIVEN that option as add-ons. For a 7 day ticket that would be, together, an additional $11.43 a day or a total of $39.86 a Day that expires after 14 days from first use. In comparison, a current 7 day Park Hopper PLUS with the same options would cost you $48.86 a day.

Of course, the main difference in cost is the fact that current Park Hopper PLUS passes never expire and the new Magic Your Way tickets do within 14 days of first use. Not to fret, if you are really worried you won't use all 7 days (but good planning should minimize that concern), for an additional $7.86 a day you can take the "No Expiration" option. That brings your pass to $47.72 a day, which is still CHEAPER than the current price for the EXACT same thing now.

The difference is, you have the option of making your experience A LOT cheaper now as you can CUSTOMIZE your vacation.

Now, I know most people probably don't need 7 full days of park tickets. On average, 5 days is probably what is needed to visit the main parks, the two water parks and Pleasure Island/Downtown Disney. If you want the park hopper option too, the NEW Magic Your Way pass will cost $265.00. The current 5 Day Ultimate Park hopper costs $282.00. And if you must have the "no expiration" option the Magic Your Way pass will cost $280.00, which is still cheaper than the current pass (but not by much)

Tickets for one, 2, 3 days are a lot more than before. Tickets for 4 days are about the same. But tickets for 5 or more are cheaper than before, and only get cheaper the longer you stay. Honestly, how many people really only buy a single day ticket?

Go Check it out. It makes a lot more sense in chart form

(Please note: I'm using what I assume are "front of the gate prices" for my above comparisons for both old and new pass programs. There is no indication that the new released prices today are the discounted prices if you buy them online before hand....if they are, my comparison's are screwed up.)

 

[donsullivan]

I have a feeling I'd better get an AP renewal voucher ASAP

I just went online and renewed mine today. It was due to expire on 12/24. I hope I don't regret it from a pricing standpoint.

 

[donsullivan]

Here's the table from the WDW web site that breaks things down in a little bit more detail.

 

[Hakunamatata]

Ouch, Well thats going to hurt the wallet next summer,we don't get down to florida much and when we go we visit family in boca raton,so disney (magic kingdom) is usually a one day stop over on the way back home to ohio. With gas prices the way they are and other price factors, l understand costs of everything going up,but 15% since july of 2003 again l say "OUCH" then with rumors of favotite rides like 20k gone and others rumored to be in danger be being or going under a rehab, l belive like so many others disney is losing its vision and being like scrooge mcduck is its greed. Well hopefully it's not going up anymore between now and then,if it does then i'm going to have to look for a plan b vacation.

If a one day pass goes up $5, dont buy two sodas that day and drink out of a water fountain and you have offset the ticket price. I dont think $5 is that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. If anything, the way to show Disney you ( customers in general ) are not happy is to quit buying stuff in the park which is where the bigger bucks are made....

 

[niteobsrvr]

Observation - a $5 increase in 1-day ticket prices? Second increase in 9 months? What exactly is the rationale behind this, SGE? Soarin'? C'mon, this is getting ridiculous.

Its called a higher cost of Living in Orlando. The median price of a home is 182,000 today vs 103,000 five years ago. The cast members are demanding more money because it just costs a lot to live here and Disney will not be able to avoid substantial wage increases in 2006/2007 when the contract comes up for renewal again.

I had noticed in other threads where people were saying cast members should be paid more and I pointed out then that it would necessitate an increase in admission prices in order for that to happen. Well, basically, here it is. Or, at least the start. A one day park hopper is right about $100 bucks.

My only hope is the price increase thins out the attendance in the parks so I can actually enjoy myself without getting run over by strollers and scooters.