Rumor - Disneyland Prices Going up and Tiered Pricing Introduced

[mickEblu]

Here's my idea to control crowding. I don't know any of Disney real attendance numbers or average AP visits per tier so I made this plan under the assumption that it's the AP's that are visiting multiple times a week / month that are crowding the parks. If we re at a point that there are just too many AP's in general that even if every Ap visits only once per month and the parks are still crowded then this probably wont help.

I've mentioned this before but I think a great solution would be to Cap the visits allowed for each tier of APs while keeping the same blackout calendars and keep the prices around what they are now. Yes that sounds like paying the same for less in return but I'm all about QUALITY over QUANTITY. I'm not sure what this would do to DLR's merch/ food sales but it woudlnt effect they re AP sales IMO. Disney would still make their money and we could enjoy the parks without feeling like we re in an ant farm. This would only really be effecting the APs that are in the parks weekly or more. Or the folks that just go to the parks on a whim for a couple hours because they can. I dont see this type of passholder just quitting DLR cold turkey. They would most likely find a way to justify buying a higher Tier pass or buying the higher tier pass in conjunction with the WEEKDAY pass I mention below.

I could see something like this... ( I think i may be slightly generous with the # of visits allowed and it could probably be tailored down a little)

Signature Plus- 25 visits
Signature - 20 visits
Deluxe - 15 visits
So Cal - 10 visits
WEEKDAY PASS (formerly known as So Cal Select)- these APs don't effect the crowding as much as the other passes as they are blocked out weekends / major holidays so I would say don't cap their visits but remove Monday's/ Friday's as an option (because of the folks that take those days off for 3 day weekends) but otherwise keep the same blackout calendar.

What do you guys think? Would you give up more visits for fewer visits of higher quality? How many AP's even go to the parks more than twice a month average? I really have no clue.

 

[ForeverAnna]

Anyone know if I buy tickets today for a trip in 2017 if they will remain just as valid even with new price increases?

I bought tickets today and they expire January 13th 2017.

 

[Curious Constance]

Here's my idea to control crowding. I I don't know any of Disney real attendance numbers and average AP visits per tier but I made this plan under the assumption that it's the AP's that are visiting multiple times a week / month that are crowding the parks. If we re at a point that there are just too many AP's in general that even if every Ap visits only once per month and the parks are still crowded then this probably wont help.

I've mentioned this before but I think a great solution would be to Cap the visits allowed for each tier of APs while keeping the same blackout calendars and keep the prices around what they are now. Yes that sounds like paying the same for less in return but I'm all about QUALITY over QUANTITY. I'm not sure what this would do to DLR's merch/ food sales but it woudlnt effect they re AP sales IMO. Disney would still make their money and we could enjoy the parks without feeling like we re in an ant farm. This would only really be effecting the APs that are in the parks weekly or more. Or the folks that just go to the parks on a whim for a couple hours because they can. I dont see this type of passholder just quitting DLR cold turkey. They would most likely find a way to justify buying a higher Tier pass or buying the higher tier pass in conjunction with the WEEKDAY pass I mention below.

I could see something like this... ( I think i may be slightly generous with the # of visits allowed and it could probably be tailored down a little)

Signature Plus- 25 visits
Signature - 20 visits
Deluxe - 15 visits
So Cal - 10 visits
WEEKDAY PASS (formerly known as So Cal Select)- these APs don't effect the crowding as much as the other passes as they are blocked out weekends / major holidays so I would say don't cap their visits but remove Monday's/ Friday's as an option (because of the folks that take those days off for 3 day weekends) but otherwise keep the same blackout calendar.

What do you guys think? Would you give up more visits for fewer visits of higher quality? How many AP's even go to the parks more than twice a month average? I really have no clue.

I have no idea of the actual numbers, but there is probably a fairly large group of people who go once a week or more. I don't know how they find the time. Weekly visits sound like it would be fun at first, but I think after awhile it'd be good to have a break. If I lived in SoCal, I can see myself visiting often at first maybe once a week or two, then scaling back to maybe once every month or two. To be honest though, I don't think I'd ever want to live close enough to go weekly. I think it would lose a lot of it's specialness if I could run over any time I want. I like the idea of it being a destination. A trip we get to go to for fun once a year or two.

 

[dweezil78]

I have no idea of the actual numbers, but there is probably a fairly large group of people who go once a week or more. I don't know how they find the time.

When you have an AP and live nearby, you don't have to make a day out of it and can more or less pop in and out as you please. It's a totally different mentality than a lot of people who might take off work, pull the kids out of school, and plan a whole DL day.

Heck, I'm in at least an hour away (up to 2 with really really bad traffic) and there were times before I had a kid that my wife and I would literally just go down to the park for dinner, a ride on Pirates, and some fireworks. Ah... I miss those days.

 

[Curious Constance]

When you have an AP and live nearby, you don't have to make a day out of it and can more or less pop in and out as you please. It's a totally different mentality than a lot of people who might take off work, pull the kids out of school, and plan a whole DL day.

Heck, I'm in at least an hour away (up to 2 with really really bad traffic) and there were times before I had a kid that my wife and I would literally just go down to the park for dinner, a ride on Pirates, and some fireworks. Ah... I miss those days.

I have to admit that does sound good! If only they would build a Disneyland Oregon! Of course, they would need to build a roof over the place since it tends to rain here 9 months out if the year. Wouldn't bother me since I love rain, but I've noticed most people seem to hate it.

 

[TP2000]

Did you read the whole article? Not everyone was ok with it.

They edited more quotes in after the article first went up. I find it odd how so many newspapers do that with their online versions now; they "publish" a story at 10AM and then edit it a bit at Noon, add a quote from someone else at 1pm, add in some context stats at 2pm, and then get another quote at 4pm.

But yeah, they found a young lady who apparently doesn't understand how the law of supply and demand works. Do they even teach Economics 101 in high school anymore? Seriously, judging by statements some folks make about things like this, it's like they've never experienced capitalism or have ever taken a basic Econ 101 class in their life.

 

[ForeverAnna]

Just looked at the tickets on the Disneyland app. For one day tickets it asks you to select a date but it looks like the Peak tickets can be used any date, the Regular tickets any non Peak date and the Value tickets only on Value dates. It doesn't explain how the multi day tickets will work. The ticket section of the website is under maintenance at the moment. Perhaps it will shed more light.

 

[Travel Junkie]

At dlr right now and the digital boards at the ticket booths aren't active. It still has the regular signs. For 1 day tickets it doesn't list a price. Instead it says to ask a cast member about the price of 1 day tickets.

 

[Travel Junkie]

Check that. Some digital boards are working now with the 1 day price listed for that day

 

[Curious Constance]

Just looked at the tickets on the Disneyland app. For one day tickets it asks you to select a date but it looks like the Peak tickets can be used any date, the Regular tickets any non Peak date and the Value tickets only on Value dates. It doesn't explain how the multi day tickets will work. The ticket section of the website is under maintenance at the moment. Perhaps it will shed more light.

I would have to imagine multi-day tickets will be available to use any day.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

I'm no businessperson, but I find this tiered pricing baffling. There really isn't a big difference depending on when you go. It would seem to be a relatively minor thing that won't have much of an effect.

 

[Curious Constance]

From LaughingPlace.com

 

[Curious Constance]

They edited more quotes in after the article first went up. I find it odd how so many newspapers do that with their online versions now; they "publish" a story at 10AM and then edit it a bit at Noon, add a quote from someone else at 1pm, add in some context stats at 2pm, and then get another quote at 4pm.

But yeah, they found a young lady who apparently doesn't understand how the law of supply and demand works. Do they even teach Economics 101 in high school anymore? Seriously, judging by statements some folks make about things like this, it's like they've never experienced capitalism or have ever taken a basic Econ 101 class in their life.

I don't know how much of this they still teach in high school, I don't remember learning about it much. But, I think in general, people have a really hard time thinking objectively about things that affect them personally. Paying more for something you love doesn't feel good, so they start trying to humanize Disney and using adjectives, such as greedy, evil, etc, etc, that really should only be associated with people. I think Disney has grown to mean so much to so many people, and it doesn't feel good to admit that Disney's only purpose for existing is to make the most money they possibly can for it's share holders.
People also have an insane sense of entitlement,"I deserve to go to Disneyland as much as I want!" and when they fear something they deserve is being taken from them, they start seeing red.

 

[Disneysea05]

I'm no businessperson, but I find this tiered pricing baffling. There really isn't a big difference depending on when you go. It would seem to be a relatively minor thing that won't have much of an effect.

If a family of 4 or 5 were to go, paying $95 vs $119 each would make a difference.

 

[George Lucas on a Bench]

Perhaps you're right. (- Spock)

 

[Curious Constance]

"With prices now much higher on average than this time last year, should Disney begin setting park capacity at more comfortable levels and block admission once those levels are reached?"

That's a quote from Dusty Sage on Micechat.

Can you imagine traveling to Disneyland Resort by plane, staying in a hotel, renting a car, paying for food your entire stay, buying park tickets for your trip, and then during your trip finding that you can't get into the park most times because they've set capacity at lower levels and blocked people from entering? Or you can't leave the park midday to go for a swim at the hotel because you're afraid you won't be able to get back in when you come back? That would be alienating Disneyland's biggest money spenders and is not the answer.

 

[Deleted member 107043]

Can you imagine traveling to Disneyland Resort by plane, staying in a hotel, renting a car, paying for food your entire stay, buying park tickets for your trip, and then during your trip finding that you can't get into the park most times because they've set capacity at lower levels and blocked people from entering?

I don't know if they still do it, but when it first opened TDL had ticketing system that only permitted guests with advance reservations to enter on busy days. I assume this would exclude TDL resort guests and APs, but yeah, it would suck if you couldn't get in if the park was sold out.

 

[dweezil78]

Honestly, here's what I think. People are going to use the pricing as a crowd calendar -- much like the same way I subscribe to Touring Plans for their crowd calendar. And Disney is betting on this. If you're planning a trip and see tickets are expensive and that its a peak day, there's a good chance you'll decide to pick a day that is lower priced - not just because it is lower priced, but in theory because it should be a slower day too... and guess what? People love going on slower days! Now you've got people filling in those gaps where otherwise they may not have to help balance the loads out.

 

[TP2000]

Just for fun, here's the breakdown of how many dates belong to which category from March 1st through December 31st, 2016

Disneyland Resort
Value Days = 83
Regular Days = 141
Peak Days = 82

Walt Disney World
Value Days = 42
Regular Days = 165
Peak Days = 99

Disneyland has almost twice as many Value days. And yet the price spread is wider at Disneyland at a $24 difference between Value and Peak, compared to a $17 spread at WDW between Value and Peak. That tells me that when Disneyland has Peak attendance, they are confident the demand on those days is very strong and can sustain the bigger hit to the pocketbook than the WDW parks can.

Disneyland also focuses a lot more Peak days in December, compared to WDW. And at WDW from mid August through the entire month of September (horrible weather and hurricane season) they are completely Value days seven days per week for six weeks straight. At Disneyland during those same six weeks it's a wild mix of Value, Regular and Peak days. We don't have hurricanes in SoCal.

 

[Curious Constance]

Honestly, here's what I think. People are going to use the pricing as a crowd calendar -- much like the same way I subscribe to Touring Plans for their crowd calendar. And Disney is betting on this. If you're planning a trip and see tickets are expensive and that its a peak day, there's a good chance you'll decide to pick a day that is lower priced - not just because it is lower priced, but in theory because it should be a slower day too... and guess what? People love going on slower days! Now you've got people filling in those gaps where otherwise they may not have to help balance the loads out.

I was thinking the same thing, literally. It's just like another vacation planning tool.