Shifting Crowds with More Ticket Options

[Animaniac93-98]

Right now SeaWorld / Busch Gardens is offering a promo on their website where you can get two days to either park (or their water parks) for $100, or $50/day. Like Disney, these parks charge $80-$90 for a single day in order to maintain the premier park image, but they know that offering a good deal will keep customers coming back to spend more on food, parking, merch etc.

It got me thinking, if Disney really wanted to shift crowd patterns and get people out of MK, why not offer something similar to this? What if they offered 1 day each at Epcot, DHS and AK for $200? What if you could get two days at Epcot or DHS for $125? Would you buy that option? Disney recently offered 1 day at each park for a lower rate than a regular 4-Day Base Ticket and I think they could expand on that idea.

Right now the only way to get the equivalent to the SeaWorld offer is to buy an 8 or 9 Day MYW Base Ticket. I understand Disney wants to encourage week long visits, but I think they're leaving money on the table when it comes to those making single-day or shorter trips who might stay longer if they felt they got a good deal; and having all days be equal on MYW tickets means people are more likely to pick MK over say, another visit to DHS. Locals get their own discounts, but they come with restrictions on when they can be used.

Crowd patterns will shift dramatically with the opening of Star Wars (and Pandora to a certain extent already), but I think this is something they could have easily done for the last several years in addition to whatever other promotions they already had.

 

[DarthVader]

if Disney really wanted to shift crowd patterns and get people out of MK,

Who says they want to get people out of MK?

I don't know if selling a ticket to other parks but excluding MK is a good or bad idea. Personally I wouldn't do it as I go to WDW to visit MK. I suspect the majority of people have that mindset.

 

[wendysue]

In March, there was a special at Busch Gardens. After I got my refund of 1400.00 for WDW AP's, I purchased 2 Fun Cards for 104.99 each that allow us to go to BG/Islands of Adventure as often as we want until the end of 2018, so this is the year of BUSCH GARDENS!! Not to say we won't ever go back to WDW, but it would have to be a pretty good deal to get us there.

 

["El Gran Magnifico"]

I think Disney is banking on the EPCOT overhaul and the DHS build out with TSL and SWL to accomplish that.

IMO if they want to shift crowds a bit, they should also be looking at additional entertainment options. An entertainment area in FW (an Old West type ghost town with restaurants and shopping - somewhat like the old Buffalo Junction project). They really need some type of mid-range complex over near the Stars. Considering the imminent demise of Crossroads, Disney could build a complex with mid-range chain restaurants, some shopping, and entertainment that I think would get a lot of play.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Who says they want to get people out of MK?

The park has almost double the attendance of any of the other 3. Disney would much prefer to have its crowds spread out amongst all of their parks. It's why they're building new rides for them, and not putting them all in MK.

I'm just saying that in the short term, they have other options.

 

[Willmark]

Guests want people out of MK, Disney sure doesn’t.

 

[MickeyMomV]

People go to MK because that is the park that people want to go to. They want to see the Castle, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and they want to ride the Mtn's. The other parks are all nice and we enjoy spending time at them but even with the new additions to the other 3 parks it won't make a dent in MK attendance. On a 7-8 day trip we spend at least 1/2 our time at MK and that has nothing to do with the claim that other parks are 1/2 day parks. The majority of people with a 1 day ticket are going to spend it at MK, people with a 2 day ticket are going to spend 1 of the days at MK, 3 day ticket people are going to spend 1 to 2 days at MK, and so on.... You could drop the price in half for the other parks and I firmly believe you will still not see a traffic shift from MK.

 

[thomas998]

Who says they want to get people out of MK?

I don't know if selling a ticket to other parks but excluding MK is a good or bad idea. Personally I wouldn't do it as I go to WDW to visit MK. I suspect the majority of people have that mindset.

Yes... until the day comes that MK is at capacity day after day there is no incentive for them to try and lower attendance at MK in favor of the other parks. Maybe in another 20 years or so they will reach that point where they are at capacity day in day out... but when it happens I expect their first act will be to make reservations at a Disney resort a requirement for guaranteed access to MK and others having to simply hope they get there quick enough.