Two years ago I bought a two-day base ticket for a trip to WDW and used one of those days for Epcot and one for DHS. I complained here at the time at the high per-day rate of the pass and how I felt ripped off for spending that much on a day at DHS. Of course, we know here not to buy a one-day pass for that park, and that the two-day, per-day split is not much better. I knew I wasn't getting the best value, but a longer ticket would not have fit my vacation needs, so I just sucked it up. And hey, I was at my second favourite WDW park so I still had fun, despite the high cost.
Early this year I bought a 4-day base and came to the park with new experience seeing both USF and DCA. In year's past the 4, 5, 6+ day tickets had a good per-day rate that was ideal for parks like AK and DHS. Not anymore for me. Today a 4-day base comes to about $75 per day (after tax) and what's worse, my opinion of DHS has decresed dramatically. DCA is a much better second gate, USF is the better studios park, and call me crazy, but I had more fun this year at Disney Studios Paris that DHS.
DHS suffers from a limited attraction mix of mostly copied rides from other parks, with few unique offerings and shows that have lost all replay value for me (save Muppets). Shopping sucks (as is to be expected these days) and even places I like to eat (Sci-Fi, 50s etc) can't justify that day cost. I love GMR and all the old-style WDI it represents, and ToT here is without question better than DCA/WDSP, but how can I justify $75 to spend a couple of hours just to ride it and maybe Star Tours? I know there are plans to fix up the place, but copying what's planned/been done elsewhere is not enough to get me excited, personally. And 5 years down the road doesn't help with the rate tickets go up on an annual basis.
As reported elsewhere, Disney is suffering from poor occupancy rates at their Deluxe resorts due to the prices they command, even with discounts. If they're not careful, they'll loose park days too from people who find the competition offers much better value (Orlando flex pass, UNI's multi-day rates) and from repeat visitors who don't want to pay $70+ for their "half-day" parks [IMO]. Yes a longer ticket would offer better value (the 7-day, per-day rate is $47), but if I or someone else is not going for a week, it's pointless.
(To sum up this rant), what would be your "breaking point" for a park like AK or DHS. At what point would you no longer feel the per-day rate is a fair price? For the record, I still think $75 was fair for MK and Epcot.
Early this year I bought a 4-day base and came to the park with new experience seeing both USF and DCA. In year's past the 4, 5, 6+ day tickets had a good per-day rate that was ideal for parks like AK and DHS. Not anymore for me. Today a 4-day base comes to about $75 per day (after tax) and what's worse, my opinion of DHS has decresed dramatically. DCA is a much better second gate, USF is the better studios park, and call me crazy, but I had more fun this year at Disney Studios Paris that DHS.
DHS suffers from a limited attraction mix of mostly copied rides from other parks, with few unique offerings and shows that have lost all replay value for me (save Muppets). Shopping sucks (as is to be expected these days) and even places I like to eat (Sci-Fi, 50s etc) can't justify that day cost. I love GMR and all the old-style WDI it represents, and ToT here is without question better than DCA/WDSP, but how can I justify $75 to spend a couple of hours just to ride it and maybe Star Tours? I know there are plans to fix up the place, but copying what's planned/been done elsewhere is not enough to get me excited, personally. And 5 years down the road doesn't help with the rate tickets go up on an annual basis.
As reported elsewhere, Disney is suffering from poor occupancy rates at their Deluxe resorts due to the prices they command, even with discounts. If they're not careful, they'll loose park days too from people who find the competition offers much better value (Orlando flex pass, UNI's multi-day rates) and from repeat visitors who don't want to pay $70+ for their "half-day" parks [IMO]. Yes a longer ticket would offer better value (the 7-day, per-day rate is $47), but if I or someone else is not going for a week, it's pointless.
(To sum up this rant), what would be your "breaking point" for a park like AK or DHS. At what point would you no longer feel the per-day rate is a fair price? For the record, I still think $75 was fair for MK and Epcot.
. We can spend several days of our vacation at each of these parks.Admitedly we only go once every two years
