Park Hopper Passes going away!!!

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Just to add to the confusion the UK variants do differ slightly, with some options built in to each ticket, Premium is basically a hopper, Ultimate 14 replaces the 10 day but minus the character breakfast gift (picture tile) that was offered last year. Its billed as a good deal and I suppose it is if you only intend to visit Disney during your two week break, but ahem Mr E some of us are aware that the exchange rate has changed too.

Should have said all tickets are time limited.

 

[AndyP]

Magic your way is great, but I thought they would still keep the park hopper option. Seems you have to now pay extra for 'never expire' etc that were included in the price before :S

 

[TURKEY]

I'm really unhappy that they have discontinued the equivalent of the Platinum package. It is really sad that Disney has raised the prices yet cut out a "luxury" package at the same time. It is as though they are asking consumers to pay for more but offering less. Just for fun, I went on Disney.com today to check out the new package features and I was surprised to discover that at this time, you cannot opt for more than 8 nights. Weird
Maybe that is due to the program not being up and running yet?

Luckily, we booked a vacation for this september during last year so that we could still utilize the 2004 package options. I really hate that Disney isn't offering anything close to what they used to. I am also really disappointed that the meal option feature is set up the way it is too (1counter service, 1 table service, and snack). I feel that if Disney needs to offer such a program, then it should be more of a choice for consumers such as the current meal plan and the choice of a broader meal plan including all table service, and possibly a smaller one featuring all counter service. This way, they would truly have a meal plan for all budgets.

How is the MYW Premium different from Platinum?

Magic Your Way Premium Package

This includes everything from the Magic Your Way Package as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner per person, per night during the package stay, and other exciting options. All guests on this package will receive the Magic Your Way Premium Ticket. The number of days on the ticket must be one more than the number of nights a Guest is staying on-property.

This complete package includes:

MYW Premium Ticket for every member in the group (the No Expiration Option can be added for the respective charge)

Breakfast, lunch and dinner per person, per night at more than 100 participating WDWDisney World Table Service and Counter Service Restaurants, Dinner Shows, Character Dining and Signature Table-Service restaurants.

Unlimited enjoyment of selected recreation, including golf, guided fishing excursions, water sports, tennis and more.

Admission to Cirque du Soleil La Nouba (one per person)

Admission to Disney Children's Activity Centers at a selected Disney Resort

Unlimited admission to Theme Park tours (select tours)

Admission to all Grand Gathering experiences (must have a party of 8 or more)

Official Walt Disney Travel Company luggage tag (one per person)


This package must be purchased pre-arrival and is only available for on-property resort guests

 

[raven]

I am not sure what the confusion is.....the tickets offer every combination available.

...Do you want the ability to use any unused portion of the ticket (if any) at a future date?

That feature was ALWAYS free before. Now they are charging for that?

It is pretty self explanitory.

And yes WDW is not cheap, and not everyone can afford it. But not everyone can afford designer clothes either. Some people just can not do the same things that others can do due to money.

A lot of people cannot afford designer clothes. True. But those people shouldn't also be the people who cannot go to WDW because of it's price. Those people have to do without buying new clothes sometimes for months if they plan to go to WDW.

I mean, Walt wanted his parks to be for EVERYONE. Hope you understand my point. I just get a little ticked when I see ticket prices go up again and again.

 

[TURKEY]

A good number of people never take advantage of the no expiration feature. They buy a 4 day pass for 4 days in the park. They were paying for something they never used.

 

[Hakunamatata]

That feature was ALWAYS free before. Now they are charging for that?

Nothing is ever free. It was built into the price.

I mean, Walt wanted his parks to be for EVERYONE.

This is true to an extent. Walt also started a buisiness. Buisinesses are in buisiness to make money.

 

[weluvtink]

One thing that is not fair is the pricing for the non-expiring option. If you buy a 7 day pass and have 2 days left you have to pay the full $55 dollars but if you buy a four day pass and have 2 days left you only pay $10. This is what Rescue Rangers told us at TDS. That's fun to explain to the guests. It was also fun trying to explain yesterday that no one, including the parks, could sell passes becuase the system was down. We couldn't even sell the old passes like they told us to do in the morning.

 

[speck76]

That feature was ALWAYS free before. Now they are charging for that? .

It was not free....it was included in the price.

A lot of people cannot afford designer clothes. True. But those people shouldn't also be the people who cannot go to WDW because of it's price. Those people have to do without buying new clothes sometimes for months if they plan to go to WDW.

I mean, Walt wanted his parks to be for EVERYONE. Hope you understand my point. I just get a little ticked when I see ticket prices go up again and again.

But yet the CM's want raises every year, fans and visitors want new attractions every year, insurance goes up every year.....the cost of doing business will be more this year than it was last year, and it will be more next year than it will be this year. Prices must go up to compensate for these costs.

Not to come off like an elitist.....but not everyone can afford to go to WDW, it is a fact of life, some people are not well off due to choices they made, or choices that were made for them. A trip to WDW has never been "for everyone" and it never will be.

 

[spoodles]

I just get a little ticked when I see ticket prices go up again and again.

It's not accurate to call this a ticket price increase. The ticketing structure has changed, so you're comparing apples with oranges. Whether you'll pay more or less depends on what features you'll need. At least now you have a choice.

We're going with a sizable group this April. We'll be there for 8 days and have no interest in the Plus (water parks, etc), or no expiration. We're buying 7-day MYW with Park Hopping for $223. The old 7-day PH+ tics would have cost us $316 each.

If you read back through this thread, I think you'll see that most people considered this a really positive change.

 

[weluvtink]

I don't find the prices to be a problem. When you break it down, the price per day is pretty reasonable. The 7day hopper with 5 options breaks down to around $40 a day. With the options you can turn that into a eight or nine day trip. I know you still need to add in lodging and food. We've gotten great deals off property(room with fridge and microwave for $35 a night). It doesn't have to be as expensive as some may think.

 

[peter11435]

When I worked at The Disney Store I was amazed at how many of our guests had never been to WDW before. Some were planning trips but most of the others simply said "It's too expensive." One woman even said to me "it seems the only way that a lot of people can even visit WDW is if they win a trip."

Sad to say that tickets aren't getting any cheaper or even easier to understand. Not only is it expensive but it's even more confusing now for new guests. That often makes people just want to stay home.

Thank you, Eisner, for making WDW America's Favorite Vacation Destination...of the past.

Once you fully read they new ticket system, you will see it is actually easier to understand than the old. In many cases it also lowers the ticket prices. Giving the guest the option to purchase only what they need also saves the guest money. AS for Disney being expensive. Yes and NO. Yes it is expensive but when you compare this to other entertainment its a great value. Try going to a football game. Parking is twice as much as Disney. Tickets are more expensive. And if thats not enough the food is more expensive also. I spent 12 dollars at a movie theater for two drinks and a popcorn. At disney this same purchase would have only cost $7.

 

[longfamily]

How is the MYW Premium different from Platinum?

Magic Your Way Premium Package

This includes everything from the Magic Your Way Package as well as breakfast, lunch and dinner per person, per night during the package stay, and other exciting options. All guests on this package will receive the Magic Your Way Premium Ticket. The number of days on the ticket must be one more than the number of nights a Guest is staying on-property.

This complete package includes:

MYW Premium Ticket for every member in the group (the No Expiration Option can be added for the respective charge)

Breakfast, lunch and dinner per person, per night at more than 100 participating WDWDisney World Table Service and Counter Service Restaurants, Dinner Shows, Character Dining and Signature Table-Service restaurants.

Unlimited enjoyment of selected recreation, including golf, guided fishing excursions, water sports, tennis and more.

Admission to Cirque du Soleil La Nouba (one per person)

Admission to Disney Children's Activity Centers at a selected Disney Resort

Unlimited admission to Theme Park tours (select tours)

Admission to all Grand Gathering experiences (must have a party of 8 or more)

Official Walt Disney Travel Company luggage tag (one per person)


This package must be purchased pre-arrival and is only available for on-property resort guests

The differences are that in the Platinum add-on, on top of the stuff mentioned above, there were 125 restaurants participating including Victoria & Albert's (a $100 per person restaurant). Also, In-room child care, and various tours were available specifically to that package like Dolphins in depth, Dive Quest, and the new snorkling tour (sorry, forgot name). A fireworks cruise and an exclusive "gift" were also included as was nightly turn down service and spa treatment.

Our family actually took advantage of these things. It disappoints me that this package isn't available anymore. If a family did all of the things offered in this package as a package, it would save that family around $3000 than if they paid for each meal/activity/ect. individually.
The platinum was really an all-inclusive deal allowing the purchaser to not need to rely on money (aside from odds and ends) while on vacation.
The premium package does not do this.
The current premium package is the equivelent of the Gold add-on.

 

[speck76]

The differences are that in the Platinum add-on, on top of the stuff mentioned above, there were 125 restaurants participating including Victoria & Albert's (a $100 per person restaurant). Also, In-room child care, and various tours were available specifically to that package like Dolphins in depth, Dive Quest, and the new snorkling tour (sorry, forgot name). A fireworks cruise and an exclusive "gift" were also included as was nightly turn down service and spa treatment.

Our family actually took advantage of these things. It disappoints me that this package isn't available anymore. If a family did all of the things offered in this package as a package, it would save that family around $3000 than if they paid for each meal/activity/ect. individually.
The platinum was really an all-inclusive deal allowing the purchaser to not need to rely on money (aside from odds and ends) while on vacation.
The premium package does not do this.
The current premium package is the equivelent of the Gold add-on.

With the increase in business expected this year and next, such a discount is probably no longer needed. It was something that could have been offered in more "need times" to generate some business.

 

[longfamily]

Everyone mentions that now Disney gives us a "choice" on how we would like to spend our vacation. I actually find that our choices have been limited.
While I think that it is great that the powers that be would like to include lower income families in the Disney experience, I have to agree with Speck that Disney is not for everyone.
They have limited our "choices" by forcing us to pay additional prices to park hop or for our tickets not to expire. It would have been easier to keep it the way it was before and just raised the price of tickets a little. It has always been that a person could purchase an individual ticket or have the option of a park hopper. Our choices have been limited in that if we choose to include the water parks, disney quest, and Pleasure Island feature to our ticket, we can no longer visit anytime we want while on vacation but now we can only go a limited of times based on our length of stay (5 time per 7 days). Some people enjoy doing one of these activities daily. With the Ultimate park hopper this was possible. How have we been given more choices? The meal plan that they offer now is great for people on a budget. But what about those not on a budget that want a meal plan with more options? How does that give them a choice? They must forego the meal plan and pay full price for their meals in order to get the choices they may want. For an example, if the family wants all table service meals three times a day, they cannot use the current meal plan. They are not getting a break. Without doing any research on the subject, it seems as though we are only able to book our vacation for 8 days and then we must book again if we would like to stay an additional week. This has never been the case before. Your choices are actually being limited and at a higher cost. Inflation is a fact of life. It happens yearly and we accept that as consumers. I would prefer the choices be geared towards everyone. It seems with this new plan of action that Disney has only focused on trying to get guests to stay longer by offering a break for a longer stay. Most of the people happy about this are those people who can finally take their families to Disney for a longer vacation. What is unforunate is that those who want more from Disney than what they are offering will end up paying way more to be there. in other threads it has been discussed that Disney doesn't actually make $$$ from ticket sales, but from merchandise sales from shops withen the parks. Those families that think they are saving money by staying 7 days instead of 4 days are going to be less likely to purchase a $50 sweatshirt when they are paying a little extra to extend their vacation. And the group with the most spending money will be shelling it out to purchase meals/activities/ect. to want to buy the sweatshirt as well, hypothetically speaking of course. Disney will lose money in the end. I really think that after the year is up, they will have figured out that this reconfiguration wasn't the best idea and we might see a change.
JMO

 

[longfamily]

With the increase in business expected this year and next, such a discount is probably no longer needed. It was something that could have been offered in more "need times" to generate some business.

I absolutly agree and I find it strange that they would move to "cheapen" the parks when the economical climate is getting better. Speck, being in the tourism business don't you think that it is odd that they would take away certain pricier things when there are people out there willing to spend the money? Why would a company alienate the group that spends the most money?

 

[bigorangeandy]

I think that the new ticket pricing will work better for our family than the old hopper tickets. This is because we will get a 7 day ticket, with the plus option. Last year we drove down then went to the beach in the afternoon, this year we can go over to Disney and not worry about losing a day off our hoppers. Same for the water parks, that evening its off to fireworks and rides. We didn't do that last year, of course the sunburn might have something to do with that also!
We can even go to the parks for an hour or two on the day we leave, just for some last bit of magic.

 

[speck76]

I absolutly agree and I find it strange that they would move to "cheapen" the parks when the economical climate is getting better. Speck, being in the tourism business don't you think that it is odd that they would take away certain pricier things when there are people out there willing to spend the money? Why would a company alienate the group that spends the most money?

When the economy gets better:

Discounts go away first
Prices go up second

While the package you had purchased was quite expensive, you said yourself they you saved $3000 by buying in package form versus everything a la carte. The package was nothing more than an expensive discount.

While some prices have gone down, the net effect of providing cheaper tickets for longer lengths of stay will result in more revenue (most likely) due to a change in buyer behavior (they are trying to get people to stay longer),

I you notice, the discounts don't kick in until day 4. The average length of stay in Orlando is about 3.7 days. The 1-3 day tickets are still more expensive, especially if you add park hopping. Buy encouraging guests to buy a 4-day ticket (that they would have to pay additional for) they are incenting them to stay an extra day. If a guest is to buy 4 tickets, and only stay 3 nights, they would need to buy the "no expiration" option (on all 4 tickets) to get all four days out of the ticket. On the other hand, if they could spend that $220 and stay an additional night, which would probably net out to about the same amount of money. Where WDW will make the extra revenue is on the food/beverage/gifts that are purchased due to the extra day of accomodations.

What they are doing is changing buyer behavior through pricing......it is pretty simple.

 

[longfamily]

In the process, people paying for more days (that could afford those days originally) are less likely to pay for extras such as t-shirts and such. They are using their extra money for property stay rather than purchasing merchandise. If Disney makes the majority of profit from merchandise, and in theory they will be selling less, will that not cause the tickets to reach even greater prices next year?

 

[speck76]

In the process, people paying for more days (that could afford those days originally) are less likely to pay for extras such as t-shirts and such. They are using their extra money for property stay rather than purchasing merchandise. If Disney makes the majority of profit from merchandise, and in theory they will be selling less, will that not cause the tickets to reach even greater prices next year?

You would be surprised of the profit margins on a hotel room.

 

[longfamily]

You would be surprised of the profit margins on a hotel room.

LOL