Rumor - Disneyland Prices Going up and Tiered Pricing Introduced

D

Deleted member 107043

I've always wondered why Universal doesn't price its parks more competitively. I'm sure they've done the calculations, but it seems counterintuitive to match Disney's pricing, especially in California. The value just isn't there, and judging by the huge delta in attendance between the two properties, consumers apparently agree.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Curious Constance said:
Well, when you have three times the amount of yearly visitors as your closest competitor, what exactly do you expect?
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Disneyland doesn't have a real competitor in SoCal. It's competition is people's time, and ensuring people are attracted to your product. USH is a different beast. KBF and SFMM are regional amusement parks.

Disney's prices are not relative to those places... those places chase Disney's set market value and hide in its shadow so it can argue "we're cheaper than visiting DIsneyland"

They shouldn't even be in the discussion when talking about Disneylands' prices.. that's the tail wagging the dog.

As for Disney's attendance.. their business value isn't how many gate clicks they get, but how much money they get from people and their efficency at doing so. Stuffing your park with APs at incredibly discounted admission is kind of counter to that since they cost the same to staff the park for (and in many models, more expensive due to their visiting patterns) yet pay less to get in.

If you goto the park 10x, you didn't get 10x more spending money than you had to begin with. More and more admissions for an AP is a game of diminishing return for Disney.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

I'm learning a lot about how SoCal folks view the local theme park market. Flynnibus, what you say makes sense, but many people who live outside of the area, who drive a significant chunk of business by the way, see it very differently. Many people I know up here in the Bay Area don't make a huge distinction between Uni and Disney. Sure, everyone knows that Disney is king, but the perception is that the two properties are competing for visitors, especially when it come to tourist traffic.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
Dr. Hans Reinhardt said:
Sure, everyone knows that Disney is king, but the perception is that the two properties are competing for visitors, especially when it come to tourist traffic.
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They are competing for visitors... because they are both marquee things you want to do when you visit SoCal. That's what I mean by Disney's real competition is people's time. When someone visits SoCal as a tourist, there are various things people want to do.. they want to goto the beach, they want to goto Hollywood, they want to see the movie studios, etc etc... these things and how much time they allocate to different things on their trip are Disney's real competition. It's not "hrmm.. I want to goto a theme park, should I goto KBF or DLR?"... its "I only have 3 days in town, which things do I want to do" - THAT is Disney's biggest issue to tackle and why they built DCA in the first place.. to try to make Disneyland into a destination upon itself, rather than simply "one of the five things I did when I visited SoCal"

Time.. time is disney's biggest constraint when it comes to Tourists because the Tourists have a limited amount of time and there are a huge variety of "must do" type of things in SoCal as a tourist.

I mean... tourists will skip a day at Disneyland to goto the beaches... yet most here would not call Huntington Beach a "disneyland competitor" because they are wildly differing products/offerings. But it is competition for Disneyland in the sense of they are both viaing for the same people who have a finite amount of vacation time.

What makes things so different for DL (vs say WDW) is Disney facing there is now an entire generation of people in SoCal that have known nothing but the AP model... and Disney is never going back to the days of 'cheap admission'... so the generation before that as well is also tied up in this huge population of people who expect to not just visit Disneyland.. but to do so frequently and 'affordably'. This is a huge chunk of their regular customer base. DLR has sold itself out.. and can't afford to go cold turkey either.

But instead of trying to keep things practical and affordable for all their customer base while shaping the programs to make them sustainable... instead Disney keeps raising prices through the roof under the guise of 'demand'.

Less than 10 years ago the DLR Premium pass was $359... now it's over $1000
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
They are competing for visitors... because they are both marquee things you want to do when you visit SoCal. That's what I mean by Disney's real competition is people's time. When someone visits SoCal as a tourist, there are various things people want to do.. they want to goto the beach, they want to goto Hollywood, they want to see the movie studios, etc etc... these things and how much time they allocate to different things on their trip are Disney's real competition. It's not "hrmm.. I want to goto a theme park, should I goto KBF or DLR?"... its "I only have 3 days in town, which things do I want to do" - THAT is Disney's biggest issue to tackle and why they built DCA in the first place.. to try to make Disneyland into a destination upon itself, rather than simply "one of the five things I did when I visited SoCal"

Time.. time is disney's biggest constraint when it comes to Tourists because the Tourists have a limited amount of time and there are a huge variety of "must do" type of things in SoCal as a tourist.

I mean... tourists will skip a day at Disneyland to goto the beaches... yet most here would not call Huntington Beach a "disneyland competitor" because they are wildly differing products/offerings. But it is competition for Disneyland in the sense of they are both viaing for the same people who have a finite amount of vacation time.

What makes things so different for DL (vs say WDW) is Disney facing there is now an entire generation of people in SoCal that have known nothing but the AP model... and Disney is never going back to the days of 'cheap admission'... so the generation before that as well is also tied up in this huge population of people who expect to not just visit Disneyland.. but to do so frequently and 'affordably'. This is a huge chunk of their regular customer base. DLR has sold itself out.. and can't afford to go cold turkey either.

But instead of trying to keep things practical and affordable for all their customer base while shaping the programs to make them sustainable... instead Disney keeps raising prices through the roof under the guise of 'demand'.

Less than 10 years ago the DLR Premium pass was $359... now it's over $1000
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Now it's over $1000 and people are still readily handing over the money and crowding the parks. I wish they had never offered APs to begin with.
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
Universal Studios just raised their ticket prices by $20. A one day ticket to Universal Studios Hollywood is now $115 during "peak days", four bucks less than Disneyland's peak day price of $119. http://www.ocregister.com/articles/universal-709195-ticket-days.html

They must be really confident in this Harry Potter thing.
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I've always thought they were crazy for pricing themselves so close to Disneyland. Let the excuses begin as to why it's fine for them to price themselves at this point, but Disneyland is greedy for doing the same.
 
TP2000

TP2000

Well-Known Member
Curious Constance said:
Let the excuses begin as to why it's fine for them to price themselves at this point, but Disneyland is greedy for doing the same.
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I was thinking the exact same thing!

I'm sure someone can explain how Disneyland is greedy for pricing their 16 hour operating day with 45 rides, multiple parades, night spectaculars and fireworks at $119 during peak season. But when Universal prices their 7 rides, no parades and no fireworks at $115, it's not greed at all.
 
Curious Constance

Curious Constance

Well-Known Member
TP2000 said:
I was thinking the exact same thing!

I'm sure someone can explain how Disneyland is greedy for pricing their 16 hour operating day with 45 rides, multiple parades, night spectaculars and fireworks at $119 during peak season. But when Universal prices their 7 rides, no parades and no fireworks at $115, it's not greed at all.
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You're so reasonable, TP. Must be why I like you. :D
 
Travel Junkie

Travel Junkie

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
The Uni Hollywood tickets are absolutely ridiculous. The one day ticket and the no blackout AP that's $589. For what you get, Disneyland is such a better value.

Having already experienced Harry Potter in Florida, it's hard for me to justify paying $115 plus parking and food for the 9 rides and couple shows they have.
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
TP2000 said:
I was thinking the exact same thing!

I'm sure someone can explain how Disneyland is greedy for pricing their 16 hour operating day with 45 rides, multiple parades, night spectaculars and fireworks at $119 during peak season. But when Universal prices their 7 rides, no parades and no fireworks at $115, it's not greed at all.
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I think USH is getting gutsy with all the recent expansion and riding a high from USO. I don't think those prices are justified at all but by staying in the shadow of the mouse they can avoid some of the scrutiny. Time will tell if it hurts them.. but until the floor drops out both will continue to push the limit.
 
D

Deleted member 107043

What, already? How long has Mummy been there? 4, 5 years? I haven't been to Universal Studios in maybe 10 years.
 

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