Parkhopper vs Extra Days

[mapsd]

We plan on visiting parks for 6 days, visiting more than 1 park/day just twice. It seems like a much better value to just purchase an 8 day ticket and use 2 admissions on the same day.

Any reason why the Parkhopper option is better?

 

[AEfx]

Disney could include the park hopper option to all there tickets at no charge. But they wont, its a way of adding options on to a product and charging more money for it. Car dealers do it, airlines do it, its just the American way

They could also give away free coke to everyone who walks in, but that wouldn't make sense either. Disney *is* a business, but in this case they've actually increased their bottom line (by bringing in more visitors) while making a Disney trip cheaper for the average family who takes a week-long trip. They also encouraged more on-site, week-long trips (as most families used to spend 4-5 days at Disney instead of a whole week), which again was good for Disney. It's all about give and take here, and while Disney certainly has increased business over it, they also haven't been screwing people left and right, either.

The fact is, Disney did the opposite of what you said. They took their product (which, before you had no choice - you paid one price that included park hopping and you got it if you wanted it or not) and reduced the base price and made things like park hopping options.

Just before MYW was introduced, the only 7-day ticket option available was the $350 pass that was no-expire, park hopping, and included water parks.

Cut to present day, where you can get a 7-day pass for as little as $210. Add park hopping and you are only up to $248. Even add the waterparks on, and you are only at $288. *STILL* far below what it cost before for what *most* people used. The average vacationer didn't use the no-expire option, which is the most pricey option now. If you add that, the total becomes $378, which is an increase over the last 2004/pre-MYW passes for the small percentage of visitors who need this.

Now this didn't work out for everyone, mind you. People that relied on the no-expire now have to pay a little more, but a lot of people are paying less. I know many families enjoy the waterparks, for instance, but I know many families that have never set foot in either of them. Under the old pricing scheme, you had no choice but to pay for those options. Unless you use no expire, most vacationers (the target audience) are paying much less for tickets than ever before. Not everyone is paying less, but the majority of people are.

I'm all for calling the mouse on bad business, or making non-customer friendly choices, but I really think people quickly forget how much Disney admission used to cost and how few options you had. Of course it encourages longer stays, which is the bottom line, but there is easily enough on just a regular old ticket to the 4-parks to fill up well over a week for most families. It's been good for many people, and brought a Disney vacation to people who couldn't afford it before. $210 vs. $350 is a huge chunk when you multiply that, by say, a family of four. Not everyone saves that much, but I think it's pretty great you don't have to pay for options you don't want anymore.

AEfx

 

[Tinkerbella16]

drawing a total blank here but...

For our september we've opted NOT to upgrade to park hoppers. This will be a first for us...

Anyways... even with the base ticket... am I allowed to go to the MK in the morning...leave for a quick swim or nap... and come back to the MK in the afternoon/evening? Or am I "forced" to stay in the park the entire time?

thanks... had a total brain fart and didn't know :wave:

Yes, you can leave that park and rest, nap, or swim, maybe even DTD if you want and then return to that same park. They used to stamp your hand before you exited the park with that invisible stamp that doesnt wash off...when you return to the park they put the blacklight over your hand and it shows up. I do not know if they still do that. Anyone know? We have been using the park hopper option for many years now so its been a while. Hope that helped you Disneydudette!

 

[Master Yoda]

Yes, you can leave that park and rest, nap, or swim, maybe even DTD if you want and then return to that same park. They used to stamp your hand before you exited the park with that invisible stamp that doesnt wash off...when you return to the park they put the blacklight over your hand and it shows up. I do not know if they still do that. Anyone know? We have been using the park hopper option for many years now so its been a while. Hope that helped you Disneydudette!

No more hand stamps. The got rid of them a couple of years ago when they began using biometrics on all tickets.

 

[JimboJones123]

Funny, I thought the post began, like yours, with the words "no offense." Doesn't that mean, you know, "no offense?" :lookaroun

So did you get the point then. It wasn't accidental.

 

[rimousefan84]

I honestly believe the park hopper option was put in place to actually save people money. For instance Animal kingdom is clearly a half day park and MK is a day and a half park(at best during summer months) so by putting in the park hopper option disney essentially saves your a day on your trip making it more "affordable" to go. Again that is just my view take it leave it lol.

 

[Lucky]

Offense/No offense- whatever.

How about this question, guys.

What does it cost Disney extra if someone park hops?

Example-

Guest A spends 8 hours in the MK.

Guest B spends 4 hours in the MK and 4 hours in EPCOT.

How did Guest B cost Disney anything extra?

In other words, why couldn't park hopping be just an integral part of going to WDW for everyone?
Is it due to the imbalance in the popularity of the individual parks maybe?

Tks.

Very few things anywhere are priced purely on the basis of the cost of supplying it. Demand - ability and willingness to pay for something - matters too. If people are willing to pay more for to be allowed to visit multiple parks in one day it's not unusual that Disney would want to charge them something for the privilege.

Pricing on the basis of supply and demand instead of only supply can sometimes benefit guests. Suppose you buy a basic 10-day pass. The 10th day (the difference in price from a 9-day pass) only costs you $2 or so. But it obviously costs Disney a lot more than $2 to let you in the park the 10th day.

 

[beachclubbasics]

I thinkthat the cafeteria style of MYW tickets is great! I usually take the family for 7 days and we park hop every single one of those days so I pay for that option. I do not pay for the Water parks and more option because I live at the NJ shore and we have a couple of awesome water parks right near us so we don't go to the Disney parks and I wouldn't want to pay for them to be included if I didn't want to go there.

The thing I dont understand is the no-expiration option. Would't it just be cheaper to buy APs?

 

[ypcat]

The thing I dont understand is the no-expiration option. Would't it just be cheaper to buy APs?

Not if you don't return within a year.

 

[Lucky]

I thinkthat the cafeteria style of MYW tickets is great! I usually take the family for 7 days and we park hop every single one of those days so I pay for that option. I do not pay for the Water parks and more option because I live at the NJ shore and we have a couple of awesome water parks right near us so we don't go to the Disney parks and I wouldn't want to pay for them to be included if I didn't want to go there.

The thing I dont understand is the no-expiration option. Would't it just be cheaper to buy APs?

I think you'd save a little with no-expiration if you were doing, say, two 5-day WDW trips, esp. if they are more than a year apart so an AP wouldn't make sense. (A 10-day with no expiration costs less than two 5-day tickets that expire.) But you might not make it back the second time; you might lose the tickets, etc., so paying for non expiration is risky.

 

[beachclubbasics]

I think you'd save a little with no-expiration if you were doing, say, two 5-day WDW trips, esp. if they are more than a year apart so an AP wouldn't make sense. (A 10-day with no expiration costs less than two 5-day tickets that expire.) But you might not make it back the second time; you might lose the tickets, etc., so paying for non expiration is risky.

True. I guess I'm looking at it from the viewpoint of somone who might make more than one trip per eyar to WDW. I only buy enough admissions for my 7 days and we use them all up. If I had any left over then I'd convert to non-expiration tickets I guess since I only go once per year. APs for me dont make sense (though if you own DVC or live in Fl they do).

 

[Master Yoda]

I thinkthat the cafeteria style of MYW tickets is great! I usually take the family for 7 days and we park hop every single one of those days so I pay for that option. I do not pay for the Water parks and more option because I live at the NJ shore and we have a couple of awesome water parks right near us so we don't go to the Disney parks and I wouldn't want to pay for them to be included if I didn't want to go there.

The thing I dont understand is the no-expiration option. Would't it just be cheaper to buy APs?

You kind of have to do some number crunching as it can go either way. If you can take 2 trips per year, even nearly a year apart (ie 2/1/7 to 2/8/7 and 1/24/8-1/31/8), and if you do them during a time when you can get an AP discount on a room an AP can save you a heap over MYW tickets.

 

[RiversideBunny]

Very few things anywhere are priced purely on the basis of the cost of supplying it. Demand - ability and willingness to pay for something - matters too. If people are willing to pay more for to be allowed to visit multiple parks in one day it's not unusual that Disney would want to charge them something for the privilege.

Pricing on the basis of supply and demand instead of only supply can sometimes benefit guests. Suppose you buy a basic 10-day pass. The 10th day (the difference in price from a 9-day pass) only costs you $2 or so. But it obviously costs Disney a lot more than $2 to let you in the park the 10th day.

Good point. The same type of analysis probably goes into Disney's decision to offer the Dining Plan free, as an incentive, versus offering room discounts.

The addition of the Dining Plan to a Magic Your Way Vacation Package costs $38.99 per adult (age 10 and up) per night of stay
$10.99 per child 3-9 per night of stay

Offering $38.99 off on the price of a room would cost Disney that amount straight off the bottom line profits.
Offering the Dining Plan free, however, does not really cost them the full $38.99. It only costs them whatever portion of the real cost that the restaurants pass on, by agreement.
Also, past experience may have shown that offering free dining works better as an incentive than offering lower prices on the rooms.

Tks.

 

[Master Yoda]

Good point. The same type of analysis probably goes into Disney's decision to offer the Dining Plan free, as an incentive, versus offering room discounts.

The addition of the Dining Plan to a Magic Your Way Vacation Package costs $38.99 per adult (age 10 and up) per night of stay
$10.99 per child 3-9 per night of stay

Offering $38.99 off on the price of a room would cost Disney that amount straight off the bottom line profits.
Offering the Dining Plan free, however, does not really cost them the full $38.99. It only costs them whatever portion of the real cost that the restaurants pass on, by agreement.
Also, past experience may have shown that offering free dining works better as an incentive than offering lower prices on the rooms.

Tks.

With the AP there is also the availability of having DDE card. Depending on where you eat the DDE can save you more than the Dining plan but again it requires a little number crunching to see if it works out with your particular situation.

 

[Timmay]

No offense meant, but i always find it fascinating that atleast once a month someone thinks they've outsmarted Disney with the whole parkhopper ticket system.

It's more fascinating that some people are able to look into their crystal ball and know the true intentions of people's questions, instead of taking the question for what it is...an honest question because they do not know the answer!!

 

[Lucky]

Good point. The same type of analysis probably goes into Disney's decision to offer the Dining Plan free, as an incentive, versus offering room discounts.

The addition of the Dining Plan to a Magic Your Way Vacation Package costs $38.99 per adult (age 10 and up) per night of stay
$10.99 per child 3-9 per night of stay

Offering $38.99 off on the price of a room would cost Disney that amount straight off the bottom line profits.
Offering the Dining Plan free, however, does not really cost them the full $38.99. It only costs them whatever portion of the real cost that the restaurants pass on, by agreement.
Also, past experience may have shown that offering free dining works better as an incentive than offering lower prices on the rooms.

Tks.

I've wondered about this myself, why they don't adjust room rates more instead of giving away dining plans. This year they actually moved a little in the direction of resort discounts over free dining. Specifically, value season rates for resorts begins more than 3 weeks earlier than last year (8/5 v. 8/29 if I remember right), and the free dining period has been shortened a little (starting late August v. mid August last year). But I had thought they might change things even more this fall, like half-price dining instead of free.

 

[sbkline]

I think you'd save a little with no-expiration if you were doing, say, two 5-day WDW trips, esp. if they are more than a year apart so an AP wouldn't make sense. (A 10-day with no expiration costs less than two 5-day tickets that expire.) But you might not make it back the second time; you might lose the tickets, etc., so paying for non expiration is risky.

Yes, you do, as that is the boat that I am in. However, I'm not saving as much as I thought I would, and in the future, I don't think I will buy extra days and add the NE option, as it is too much of a pain in the hiney.

We used 5 days of our 10 day pass back in April and plan to use the other 5 this coming April. That's within a year, so I could have got an annual pass, but it's not worth the risk. Many things can happen in this year to cancel the trip next year, and it's nice to know that my tickets are always good, even if we don't make it down for another 5 years. However, there are other things which I failed to take into account when I bought the 10 day pass, planning to use the remaining days on a future trip.

I'm referring mainly to the dining plan. In order to purchase the dining plan, you have to buy at least a one day pass. So now, in order to get the dining plan next year, I will have to pay full price for a one day pass in order to do so. So now, I've gone from saving alot of money by having next year's tickets prepaid at a cheaper rate, to saving a LITTLE money. I'm still coming out slightly ahead by having a pre-paid 5 day parkhopper and a one day pass at full price, but my savings have just shrunk considerably. Of course, how much tickets go up next year also has an impact of how much I end up saving.

The other problem is that I would kind of like to stay at Wilderness Lodge for 4 days and POR for 4 days. However, in order to get the dining plan on each part of the stay, I would have to buy a two seperate one day tickets, in addition to my 5 days from last year's. And I have no need for a 7th day of park admission under our current itinerary, nor would I be willing to pay full price for a second one day ticket which I don't need, just to get the dining plan.

So, I end up saving a small amount of money by doing it the way I did, but having a 5 day prepaid ticket is putting me in a bind in what I would like to do next year, and had I known all that ahead of time, I may not have done it the way I did. For all the hassle I just described, I would not recomment buying a 10 day with NE option.

 

[Master Yoda]

I've wondered about this myself, why they don't adjust room rates more instead of giving away dining plans. This year they actually moved a little in the direction of resort discounts over free dining. Specifically, value season rates for resorts begins more than 3 weeks earlier than last year (8/5 v. 8/29 if I remember right), and the free dining period has been shortened a little (starting late August v. mid August last year). But I had thought they might change things even more this fall, like half-price dining instead of free.

Because the word "free" gets everyone's attention regardless if it is really true or not.

 

[Lucky]

The other problem is that I would kind of like to stay at Wilderness Lodge for 4 days and POR for 4 days. However, in order to get the dining plan on each part of the stay, I would have to buy a two seperate one day tickets, in addition to my 5 days from last year's.

Suppose you booked one resort for the full 8 days with DDP, but then once you're there you ask about switching to the other resort for the last 4 days. Surely they'd let you do that without making you pay for more than 1 day of separate 1 day tickets? Especially if you're asking to move from the moderate to the deluxe halfway through your stay?

 

[Master Yoda]

Suppose you booked one resort for the full 8 days with DDP, but then once you're there you ask about switching to the other resort for the last 4 days. Surely they'd let you do that without making you pay for more than 1 day of separate 1 day tickets? Especially if you're asking to move from the moderate to the deluxe halfway through your stay?

I don't believe they will. Even with just a simple resort switch I believe it has to be handled as 2 separate reservations let alone when a package is involved.

 

[ThinkTink721]

drawing a total blank here but...

For our september we've opted NOT to upgrade to park hoppers. This will be a first for us...

Anyways... even with the base ticket... am I allowed to go to the MK in the morning...leave for a quick swim or nap... and come back to the MK in the afternoon/evening? Or am I "forced" to stay in the park the entire time?

thanks... had a total brain fart and didn't know :wave:

You can enter the same park as many times as you wish during that day!