WDW ticket price increases coming June 3rd

[hazeleyes]

You bring up a good point. The most recent ticket price increases seemed directly aimed at those who visit WDW the most, specifically those with FPs and those who purchase longer stay tickets. But Disney still managed to increase the prices of its shorter stay tickets by 5% while increasing the price of its longer stay tickets by 10%. (For example, a 4-day park hopper increased by 5.4% while an adult AP increased by 10.6%.) With inflation at 2.5%, I don't consider 5% or 10% increases to be exactly family friendly. (When's the last time you've seen a 10% increase in your income?) No matter how you slice it, Disney is making trips to WDW or DL more expensive for everyone. They are just socking to their most loyal fans even more than their casual fans. FL residents seem to be getting hit really hard by these increases and new restrictions.

Couldn't agree more. AP holders buy AP's to save money. Just like going to Costco. That doesn't make us rich. The discount on rooms use to make it worth buying the AP's. Not anymore. General public discounts are running about the same as ours. So where is the incentive to buy. As you said their most loyal fans are the ones getting the shaft. Those of you who think a 10.6% increase is no big deal need to multiply that by a family of 4 or 5. Then tell me it's no big deal . :shrug:

 

[disneypearl]

This is dissapointing. What a huge increase to AP tickets. I have always bought an AP and planned on being able to use it twice or for one longer stay and resort stay discounts. Now, I will have to give it some thought and maybe just buy a 10 day with park hopper. Discounts are now so low that it really isn't any different than general public discounts anyway but I always liked the option of maybe using it for a second trip. I will not let it stop me from going at all but I will have to budget and plan even more that I already do.

Long shot idea, but maybe the increase is so much larger than usual because they are adding something to it. How about maybe they are planning on adding the new X Pass as a bonus to the annual pass. Maybe it will be automatic to the passholder. That would be nice.

 

[Buried20KLeague]

Hmmm... Highest one-time jump in ticket pricing ever, timed along with the roll out of FP+....

Seems to me FP+ isn't going to be free to everyone, as many stated here... Instead, everyone's being forced to pay for it with an across the board hike literally never seen before.

It's not coincidence. They had to start getting back part of the $2 billion investment at some point. Well... Here it is.

 

[Tiggerrules]

I don't care for the price hike, however will not make me stop going yet. Interesting that Universal's adult and kids annual passes are the same price also. Has it always been that way? I know their is a lot more for my grand-kids to do at WDW than at Universal, just been my experience.

 

[Annielkd]

It's pretty well established that they're trying to thin out the number of AP's, since that's a demographic that comes into the park for a few hours here and there, and doesn't spend a whole lot of money. Why aggressively market to that demographic when you could convince the family of 5 from Illinois visiting for the one time this decade to spend thousands of dollars over the course of their one week vacation?

Do you think that's why the AP was increased so much but for DVC members the DVC took the hit... figuring that people who use DVC stay on property more???(AP for DVC went up 6.00)

 

[GoofGoof]

I basically agree with you but think Disney's senior executives realize that WDW has a ceiling; they are just fishing for it in order to maximize profits. For example, if they doubled the price of tickets they know profits would plummet. I'm sure they have a ton of market research supporting the new prices as the way to maximize profits. Basically, they know that if they increase ticket prices by 5% to 10%, they will lose some guests but have calculated that the increase ticket prices will more than offset this.

The 5% increase seems in line with other entertainment options. Phillies tickets for 2012 increased 4.9%. Very similar to the magic kingdom since they sell out most games. Marlins tickets went up between 35 and 50% but they rolled out a new stadium and had very low prices before the hike so it seems justified. The Pirates raised tickets 15% and in case you are not a baseball fan the team is in worse shape than The animatronics on Splash Mountain. Mets and Dodgers tickets dropped due to poor attendance last season. It is possible to drop prices again if the increase really causes issues.

I know that theme parks and baseball are not the same thing, but they are both entertainment options and neither seems to be indexed to inflation. Don't get me started on costs of colleges. You want to talk about pricing out the average family. My oldest is only 5 and I already started losing sleep over how I'm going to pay for college. Definitely not indexed to inflation.

The other factor is major costs like health insurance and raw materials have gone up at much faster rates than inflation so some of the components of cost for WDW is escalating at a higher rate than people's salaries.

 

[Annielkd]

I'm thinking it's not a typo because I called yesterday and they told me it wasn't going up much... and because they also say on the same page it's a 149.00 savings. (It's always been 100)

 

[GoofGoof]

I think it's a fair comparison. But note:

- Philies signed Ryan Howard for $125M, Roy Halladay for $100M, Cliff Lee for $120M, and Jonathan Papelbon for $63M, among others.
- As you note, the Marlins invested in a new stadium.
- The Pirates are strapped for cash and in worse shape than Universal Orlando was before the opening of WWOHP.

The Mets and Dodgers show you what happens when a team produces a poor product in an expensive market.

Universal Orlando opened Islands of Adventure in 1999 and the single biggest theme park event since then in WWOHP (2010), completely turning around UO's fortunes.

Disney built Epcot in 1983, Disney-MGM in 1989, and Animal Kingdom in 1998. There are no plans for a 5th gate in the foreseeable future. So what exactly has Disney done to justify the largest ticket price increase in decades at WDW and DL?

Good point. I doubt the guy in the Mickey costume is making $20M a year. They did lose a boat load of cash of John Carter.

 

[Captain Chaos]

That's a really interesting observation, AP for DVC only went up from $419 to $425 (so far :drevil. DVC members stay onsite at Deluxe Resorts, I assume spending more at WDW than typical AP members.

The cynic is me is concerned that either:
- DVC AP prices only went by $6 because this was a typo
or:
- Disney corporate executives and their friends are DVC members and didn't want to do anything to increase their prices

It is not a typo.. Annielkd is right... I too called yesterday and was told DVC AP is $425 plus tax...

 

[justinmb98]

What!? Just now seeing this news.

I'm visiting Florida now and Tuesday we will be going to Disney World. Our budget was less than $1,000 (for tickets) and now we will have to pay more! We are so unlucky to have this happen two days before we go...

Doesn't Disney World make enough money?



Edit: Okay, now that I look more at this thread it's not as big of a deal as I may think. I don't go to Disney at all really (once every four years) so it's a big deal for me to go this year. Oh well...I guess I won't be going to Disney for another five years now.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

It is not a typo.. Annielkd is right... I too called yesterday and was told DVC AP is $425 plus tax...

Too bad annual dues will go up a 45% :drevil:

 

[Slowjack]

I've never purchased a single-day ticket. I don't know that there are really very many who do. So saying that charging the same for a one-day admission to DHS or AK as to MK is egregious is a non-argument. When I'm not using an AP, I generally buy an 8-day hopper and my cost/day under the new pricing is $47.26. That's the cost I use to determine if I'm getting value for money.

With my AP, I usually get in at least two trips, one 8 days in the parks and the other anywhere from five to 14. Cost/day $47.02 - $27.79 with the new pricing.

People who visit and stay for short periods pay through the nose for WDW MYW tickets, but the vast majority stay longer and/or visit more frequently and for them the value is still there in my view.

I don't think the "vast majority" of guests are staying an average of 17 days per year. I've got no source for numbers on this, but just from people I know who have gone, I'm thinking for most people the average is closer to 5 days. increase for a 5-day ticket, after inflation, from 2005 to now is about 23%. Not as big an increase as a single-day, but still a lot.

As someone else said, it's really a question of cost vs. perceived value. My perception of the level of "fun" or "magic" has, at best, plateaued over this period, while my real-dollar cost has increased. Therefore the value continues to decrease. Others may have seen their enjoyment increase along with the prices.

 

[Maerj]

Everyone could protest the price increase by not going to WDW. We can start a "If you want to keep raising the prices, at least fix the Yeti" campaign. Don't go back until he is fixed. With a little bit of press we could maybe at least shame them into puttin that extra money to good use, rather than just filling their pockets.

 

[Monty]

I don't think the "vast majority" of guests are staying an average of 17 days per year. I've got no source for numbers on this, but just from people I know who have gone, I'm thinking for most people the average is closer to 5 days. increase for a 5-day ticket, after inflation, from 2005 to now is about 23%. Not as big an increase as a single-day, but still a lot.

As someone else said, it's really a question of cost vs. perceived value. My perception of the level of "fun" or "magic" has, at best, plateaued over this period, while my real-dollar cost has increased. Therefore the value continues to decrease. Others may have seen their enjoyment increase along with the prices.

Sorry, when I was talking about me, I average 13-19 days per year when using an AP. When I was talking about the "vast majority" I was thinking that most use 5-8 day stays and very few stay 1-3 only.

I didn't word my post as clearly as I could...

Everyone could protest the price increase by not going to WDW. We can start a "If you want to keep raising the prices, at least fix the Yeti" campaign. Don't go back until he is fixed. With a little bit of press we could maybe at least shame them into puttin that extra money to good use, rather than just filling their pockets.

Not gonna happen. :shrug: For starters, there are probably too many people like me who don't have a problem with the increases and have no interest in "protesting" at all. Sorry.

 

[dreamscometrue]

I'm thinking it's not a typo because I called yesterday and they told me it wasn't going up much... and because they also say on the same page it's a 149.00 savings. (It's always been 100)

For my DVC AP renewal, it's $385, plus taxes. That's nearly $200 savings from a 'tourist's' AP. It's also only $10 more than a 10 day MYW with PH option.

 

[Captain Chaos]

For my DVC AP renewal, it's $385, plus taxes. That's nearly $200 savings from a 'tourist's' AP. It's also only $10 more than a 10 day MYW with PH option.

That was the price I was curious about... To renew is $385 plus tax and new purchase is $425 plus tax... Thanks for posting that... Not that it matters to me cause I will not buy another AP for WDW... I will no longer spend most of my time there... They get less and less of my time each trip...

 

[Annielkd]

It's one perk of having a DVC membership. I usually go down twice a year and it's more than trying to get no expiration.

 

[GoofGoof]

I hear what you're saying. IMHO, WDW is as good as it's ever been (and I'm one of those who are disappointed with some of the maintenance issues). However, I'm also hoping that WDW hasn't peaked. With all of the excitement from the 1980s and 1990s, it feels like Disney is simply not trying anymore with WDW. Let's hope FLE and Avatarland turn out to be big winners. I hope they will be but it will be hard to match the buzz of WWOHP.

Several years ago, I recall reading that the most common ticket purchased was a 4-day park hopper. (The idea being that the casual WDW visitor thought 4 days would be enough time to see the 4 theme parks.) An adult 4-day park hopper in 2005 was $220 (see http://allears.net/tix/tixpix00.htm). That same ticket today is $313, an increase of 42.3% or slightly over 5% per year. The overall inflation rate during that same period has averaged under 2.5%. This looks to be about the same 23% after inflation you mentioned.

Income growth has been even slower. (In other words, family income has not kept up with inflation.) Basically what this means is each year a vacation to WDW becomes more difficult for the average family to afford. I don't like being critical but I think most people would be shocked if they saw the compensation of Disney's executive officers during the same period.

Sorry to beat a dead horse on this, but Universal's ticket was $59.75 in 2005 (found that on some website so correct me if it's wrong) and its $88 now which is a little over 47% increase. WDW is in line with universal, sporting tickets and probably movie and other entertainment costs none of which are indexed to inflation. Yes, universal added a lot over that time but their product was way behind so a lot of that is catching up.

If you feel the product has decreased or just don't think it's worth it I understand. It is very expensive, but the increases are really not out of line with the industry. The exception is the Florida kids pass. That increase makes no sense.

 

[Clever Name]

I think Disney should change their pricing structure. I think most people feel that the one day entrance fee of $89.00 for any park is out of whack. While that amount is fine for a one day entrance to MK, who wants to pay $89.00 to enter AK for one day? I think most people feel that each park has its own value and should have a separate price for admission.

I propose that the admission fee for each park should be raised or lowered based upon attendance figures. Since MK is the most popular park, it should have the highest admission fee. Since Epcot is second, it should have the second highest admission fee. HS and AK are pretty much in third place together so the same third lowest fee could be set for both.

The idea here is not only to make Disney gobs more money, but also to use the pricing tool to control visitation. For example, MK gets about 55% more visitation than does EPCOT. Therefore, charge $138.00 for a one day admission to MK and leave EPCOT at $89.00. Reduce the one day admission price to HS and AK to $45.00. A similar pricing structure can be worked out to apply to other admission media such as AP's as well.

Then just sit back and see how it works. I think it will help increase profits and visitation. It will also help to even out visitation among the four parks and reduce the heavy lode on the MK. In short, price the parks based upon popularity. :wave:

 

[Monty]

I think Disney should change their pricing structure. I think most people feel that the one day entrance fee of $89.00 for any park is out of whack. While that amount is fine for a one day entrance to MK, who wants to pay $89.00 to enter AK for one day? I think most people feel that each park has its own value and should have a separate price for admission.

I propose that the admission fee for each park should be raised or lowered based upon attendance figures. Since MK is the most popular park, it should have the highest admission fee. Since Epcot is second, it should have the second highest admission fee. HS and AK are pretty much in third place together so the same third lowest fee could be set for both.

The idea here is not only to make Disney gobs more money, but also to use the pricing tool to control visitation. For example, MK gets about 55% more visitation than does EPCOT. Therefore, charge $138.00 for a one day admission to MK and leave EPCOT at $89.00. Reduce the one day admission price to HS and AK to $45.00. A similar pricing structure can be worked out to apply to other admission media such as AP's as well.

Then just sit back and see how it works. I think it will help increase profits and visitation. It will also help to even out visitation among the four parks and reduce the heavy lode on the MK. In short, price the parks based upon popularity. :wave:

How the heck would that work? Do I have to identify before I buy my AP which parks I will spend what amount of time at? :shrug: