Park Hopper Passes going away!!!

[phlydude]

Check here:
Magic Your Way Tickets
Mousesavers is saying the Disney is introducing a new ticket structure called "Magic Your Way". With this announcement comes the end of Park Hopper, Park Hopper Plus and Ultimate Park Hopper passes effective 1/1/05.

Looks like the more days you buy, the cheaper it is. There are some catches though...

looks like you have to buy the "never expire" option ($10 for a 2-day $55 for a 7-day pass) or the pass will expire 14 days after first use

looks like you have to buy a "park hopper" option ($35 flat no matter how many days)

looks like you have to buy the "plus" add ons ($45 flat no matter how many days but the amount given is variable from 2-5)

Now figuring this on a 7-day pass comes out with a $199 base price and with all the add-ons I would get on a park hopper plus comes out to $334 compared to $316 for a 7-day Park Hopper Plus. After taxes it is $355.71 vs. $336.54.

Anyone see this new ticket scheme as a good thing? I see the benefit of being able to buy tickets for less than 4 days without buying single days or working a travel deal or working with a ticket agency but other than that, I see rip-off!

This will be twice in 9 months Disney has raised ticket prices! I for one am going to try to get my 7-day park hopper plus tickets in advance before they are no longer sold!

 

[Moustronaut]

I was gonna post this on a different thread. But I guess the price increase you mentioned is part of a normal raise the price kinda thing.


But I like the way it looks. Things seem much more flexible... for a price. Disney finally has a 1 day park hopper ticket. Yea it's like $95 bucks. But I know I've purchased tickets with more days than I needed just to get the park hopper feature and then hopped i'd use them again at a later date. Now I don't nessecarily have to do that. I'm not one of those people that likes to buy in bulk I guess.

 

[StevenT]

$35 EXTRA for a park hopper option?! that seems like a complete rip off for me. I don't know if I like this structure at all. I usually go for 2-4 days and I always like to park hop. Whenever I go for 2 days I buy a 4 day pass and then keep it because it doesn't have an expiration, but now it'll be $10 MORE for that too! ARGH!

 

[AEfx]

It will depend on how you work the system. For example, I'm bringing my niece and grandparents down next October, and tickets have been tough for me to figure (I have an AP). We have absoultely no interest in the waterparks or Pleasure Island, but the only option available for 7-days is the PHP. I don't care about the lasting forever either, so we can do with a base 7-day pass with PH added, which according to your figures would be $234, saving me almost $100/ticket. If this is actually how it works out, for this trip I will be very happy - because I've been sitting here trying to figure how to mix and match 2-3day convention passes with PH's to make this cheaper.

Although the overall price jump is awful - I mean, how much higher can it get? - I do like that you have more options and aren't forced into the whole "plus" thing anymore. The pricing structure is going to meet with a bit of resistance in the "one level" fee structure - i.e. it costs just as much to add a PH to a 1-day pass as it does a 7-day. I understand the concept, and don't entirely object to it, but I think a lot of people will take issue with it at the ticket counters.

AEfx

 

[Sherm00]

actually it makes sense. you only pay for what you use. for example if you don't park hop then you don't have to take that package. I think with structures like this people on a smaller budget may decise to go and live within the restrictions. then again it is more for the entire package. overall I am pretty optomistic on this.

 

[wannab@dis]

I just ran some quick number on passes we bought for our next trip and this new method appears to save us a few bucks if we don't purchase the non-expiration add-on. Of course, we rarely have days left since we buy for each trip. Maybe soon, we'll go enough to use an AP!

 

[bryon1]

It almost sounds like that WDW is trying very hard to limit the off-site selling of left over park hoper tickets from people who use them to the timeshares around the area.

Now if you "buy" something that doesnt expire...you'll hold onto the ticket not try to resell it because, of the "upgrading" cost that you'll lose if you "sell" the ticket.

I wonder if you only pay the "park hop" once you'll only have to pay for future park tickets itself thus insuring Disney that you'll at least comeback once more to get your value.

As for the increase, Im shocked that Disney isnt trying to specificly marketing to the One Day-ers from the conventions going on. What a better option to get one timers to return with their families.

How soon will we see a $60.00 park ticket? Makes you want to work for Disney now!

 

[HauntedPirate]

My first impressions (without crunching numbers) - it looks like this is going to confuse the h3ll out of some guests, and Disney will get a few extra bucks out of people who don't know what they want to buy.

It looks like a deal to get people to visit longer (or buy longer tickets), since the price per day drops a lot when you get into the 6-7 day range.

*scratches his head* Just more homework that needs to go into your planning process....

 

[AEfx]

My first impressions (without crunching numbers) - it looks like this is going to confuse the h3ll out of some guests, and Disney will get a few extra bucks out of people who don't know what they want to buy.

It looks like a deal to get people to visit longer (or buy longer tickets), since the price per day drops a lot when you get into the 6-7 day range.

*scratches his head* Just more homework that needs to go into your planning process....

That was my first thought as well, but then I saw the offical Disney chart up on AllEars :

Pricing Chart At All Ears

So it looks like they are actually making it relatively simple. They also don't appear to be pushing the "no-expire" thing, as it's not on the chart. Just from the chart, it appears that the "premium ticket" for a 7-day visit, including everything but "no-expire", is $279. That's a good deal less than the current PHP's cost for the same amount of time.

AEfx

 

[bhg469]

i wonder if this will effect the prices of the legnth of stay pass prices when you stay at the resorts

 

[ogryn]

So, no more length of stay passes for hotel guest then?

But the following benefits:

Extra Magic Hours: Each day the gates of one of Disney's magical theme parks open one hour early or stay open three hours later so Disney Resort hotel guests can enjoy select attractions. (A valid theme park ticket and Resort ID are required.)

Disney Dining Plan: Disney hotel guests who want the convenience of a more-inclusive "cruise-style" vacation can purchase the "Magic Your Way" Package Plus Dining. For each night of their resort stay guests can enjoy two meals and a snack at more than 100 select restaurants throughout the Walt Disney World parks and hotels.

 

[phlydude]

I am one to go for a week and only hit the parks 3-4 times during that week. We still have passes from the late 90's with only plus options left on them that we haven't used up yet. So now I have 4 tickets with just the plus options left in addition to 2 tickets with days remaining from 2 prior trips (since I used my AP on the most recent trip) and 4 plus options each. Confusing isn't it???

If I were going to get a multi-day ticket instead of renewing my AP once it expires, I would get a 7-day with the park hopper option and no-expire feature. This would run me $289 before tax. But I still feel like I'm getting raked over the coals under this new plan...

 

[ogryn]

It looks like this whole scheme is to try and tempt you to spend a longer vaction in WDW.

 

[phlydude]

i wonder if this will effect the prices of the legnth of stay pass prices when you stay at the resorts

From what I am reading, there will be no more Ultimate Park Hopper (a.k.a. Length of Stay passes) when this new program hits.

 

[phlydude]

It looks like this whole scheme is to try and tempt you to spend a longer vaction in WDW.

Or allowing you to buy for days that you will never use that go away after 14 days...

 

[wannabeBelle]

i wonder if this will effect the prices of the legnth of stay pass prices when you stay at the resorts

I wonder if this will replace the length of stay passes altogether?? Belle

 

[nicholas]

Are they still going to honor Park Hoppers? My fam is getting ready to purchase their tickets for February. Should I tell them to wait?

 

[bgraham34]

I am kinda surprise but it may actually be a good thing.

 

[phlydude]

Past purchased park media will still be honored as they never expire. If you use all the days at some point and all the plus options then buy them now since it will be a little cheaper.

 

[wannabeBelle]

Are they still going to honor Park Hoppers? My fam is getting ready to purchase their tickets for February. Should I tell them to wait?

They did say that single day park ticket would not be honored after a certain date, but nothing was mentioned about park hoppers either bought now or previously!!! Belle