WDW ticket price increases coming June 3rd

[captainkidd]

Of course they realize this.
And they're perfectly willing to sacrifice many of the lesser spending passholders to improve the overall experience for the less-often visitors who spend more money on their trips.

And this will be a non-issue for many regulars.
The vast majority of the passholders who stay at the Disney Resorts aren't gonna pull out over a small $55 increase.
It's the cheap ones who don't spend money at the shops, restaurants, or stay on property that may pull away.
And Disney's fine with that.

Can't speak for anyone else, but as a passholder for many years, I spend about $10K on our summer vacation at WDW. Is the price increase a lot when compared to that? Nope, But it starts putting the outrageous cost of going to Disney in perspective.

 

[captainkidd]

Exactly. They become openly hostile with prices Imo to the customer they don't want anymore. They want to create a new Disney standard that doesn't compare to the previous one.

Sorry, but you're being ridiculous. I'm a passholder, and I spend 3 weeks on Disney property every year, and drop about $15K per year. Are you saying, I'm not the type of customer they want?

 

[mrerk]

Man, I was planning to buy my first AP on Sunday when I got to the World! I still will, because with my two planned 6 day trips this year I will still save $100 on the ticket cost, let alone what I might save on the food and merch. As much as I don't want to spend the extra 60 bucks, I can, and so will many others. And Disney knows it.

You can still buy them now and have them held at will call. Save yourself $60:shrug:

 

[devoy1701]

Is the Pixie Dust Brigade MIA tonight or is there really just no good way to spin this one? $615 for out of state APs and $454.75 for FL APs is just crazy.

I don't know if they're really plotting as deep as Chris is suggesting as to price out the diehard fans, but I definitely think the theory of seeing how far they can press the rate increases until they find the breaking point holds some weight. I know the other area theme parks and resorts in Orlando and Tampa are doing the same thing with raising prices...but the big difference is ALL of them have added significant attractions recently and are heavily investing in the attraction offerings and infrastructures of their parks.

Captain - I'm in the same mindset as you...I don't know if there really is a grand conspiracy going on in terms of ticket prices (though I would be interested to see what Spirit has to say), but I do think that there is a correlation between people who pay extra attention to the state of the parks and those who would complain (or just not pay) the price hike because of the state of the parks.

 

[Clever Name]

Man, I was planning to buy my first AP on Sunday when I got to the World! I still will, because with my two planned 6 day trips this year I will still save $100 on the ticket cost, let alone what I might save on the food and merch. As much as I don't want to spend the extra 60 bucks, I can, and so will many others. And Disney knows it.

You can buy them online tonight at DisneyWorld.com and you'll get a voucher that you turn in at the ticket booths or Guest Relations to get the real tickets. :wave:

 

[menamechris]

Is the Pixie Dust Brigade MIA tonight or is there really just no good way to spin this one? $615 for out of state APs and $454.75 for FL APs is just crazy.

I don't know if they're really plotting as deep as Chris is suggesting as to price out the diehard fans, but I definitely think the theory of seeing how far they can press the rate increases until they find the breaking point holds some weight. I know the other area theme parks and resorts in Orlando and Tampa are doing the same thing with raising prices...but the big difference is ALL of them have added significant attractions recently and are heavily investing in the attraction offerings and infrastructures of their parks.

I find the Disney tactic to be very interesting with raising prices, however. Universal just raised prices, as we all know, but they left FL resident pricing pretty much alone. Disney seems to have pretty much targeted Passholders and locals with the price hike. FL residents don't even get the standard 10% discount on 1-day tickets anymore under this new pricing.

I suppose I am rather confused as to their goal here. They seemed to be reaching out to locals and FL residents with the monthly payment plan for annual passes. Now they seem to be reversing that with making a child's ticket the same price as an adult ticket - and the incredible jump in price.

 

[John]

The reason prices are continually going up is because of the weak dollar. They can charge more and more as the composition of visitors from other countries continues to increase.

Looking at the price increases from 2002 (the last year we bought annual passes for our 6 person family) to 2012, adult annual passes have increased at a rate more than double inflation. Disney added an additional 30% to its margin on those passes (when you look at the child's pass it's 40% because of closing the pricing gap) over the past decade.

Our family doesn't park hop but we do use the water parks. So comparing the equivalents in 2002 to 2012 the payback period for a premium annual pass has moved from 11 days to 16 days. In 2002 we'd go once per year but schedule two 8 day trips within 365 days to minimize costs getting 5 of the days 'free'. Once it no longer benefited us (around 2005/2006) we changed our plan to go every other year for 7 days. And then my kids started commenting in 2009 that nothing had changed and wanted to try Universal, so now we only spend 6 days in Disney parks, 8 nights on property.

As a result Disney has managed to lose 8 hotel nights (we always have to get two rooms as a family of 6), 12 meals, and 3 days of admission along with all the incidentals PER YEAR by raising ticket prices. The rough math is a drop in revenue from us of at least $3500 a year. As a shareholder I'm disgusted!

Worse, Disney is killing off it's steady domestic income stream to take advantage of a historical aberration in the value of the dollar. When dollar gains strength and foreigners stop going to WDW, Disney's only hope will be to drastically cut prices. However in the mean time many of us are finding alternatives and raising children who see Disney as an option rather than a tradition as I was raised.

As a strategy consultant I made this argument to Disney leadership twice, in 2007 and 2009. However their bean counters insisted I was wrong. We'll see.

This is exactly 100% truth and right to the heart of the current state of WDW. I also believe EPCOT,DHS and DTD has suffered from cause and effect from the fallout. I believe that if you looked at the demo's for both attractions you will find an inproportionate number of foriegn guest not visiting these attractions. The last two DIsney parks were built where? Two of the fastest growing economic ceters in the world. Thats where the big investments went. (Tokyo and Shanghi)

They already know that they have the domestic market wrapped up. I am sure no one would be surprised that if EPCOT did add another country it would add Brazil. I think the majority of EPCOT's guest are Americans/Locals. Take DHS, Yes todays world is a lot smaller and movies are now distributed around the world. But how many foriegners know of our Golden era of Hollywood? or appreciate it? MK ...well No one can deny Mickey is an iconic figure if there ever was. AK? Animals are universal, Dont have to know any foriegn culture to love animals. IMO this is the reason this park will have the next big exspansion (avland).

For those of you who hate and complain about free dining. Get used to it. Its here to stay. Sure they will aternate between room discounts and dining but you can bet that you havnt seen the end of it.


Sure this is nothing more then theory, but given the current and future path of our beloved park how can I not come to this conclusion. In another post someone mentioned that "new" guest dont know the difference from what WDW was and is now. Couldnt be a more prophetic statement.


The ad sez' Let the memories begin.... cause the old ones dont mean @$%*

BTW....Where are you Jimmy Thick? I want to see how you dress this one with ears and white gloves. Explain to us how we should be happy it isnt a larger increase....

 

[llrain]

cmon, we all have to pay for the new resorts, updates to parks, new lands, etc.
THe cast members pay certainly isnt going up 20%

$519 to $574?

Seriously?

 

[menamechris]

cmon, we all have to pay for the new resorts, updates to parks, new lands, etc.
THe cast members pay certainly isnt going up 20%

Well, in that case, we should be able to have all of that...and an announcement of a 5th gate being built...

 

[jrlbc06]

DVC members are now built-in clientele, who are pretty much slaves to whatever price hikes or changes may occur around the parks. It has basically encouraged thousands to forfeit their right to vote with their wallet...

Not enslaved into anything. We will be using our points to visit Aulani and the Grand Californian at Disneyland, where they actually seem to care about frequent repeat visitors.

It used to be not that cost effective to use points to go on a Disney Cruise either but if tickets keep going up like this that will be another option for us. Maybe even Shanghai when it opens. We will not keep using points in Florida though if things don't change.

 

[Slowjack]

cmon, we all have to pay for the new resorts, updates to parks, new lands, etc.
THe cast members pay certainly isnt going up 20%

New resorts are supposed to pay for themselves--if not they wouldn't be built. They aren't for housing previously homeless people.

Updates and such should also draw new customers. The cost of maintenance should be included in the current ticket price.

Here's a fun fact. In 2005, a single-day base MYW ticket was $59.75. Inflation since then has been quite small, so that should be $70.39 here in 2012 if they just needed to keep up with general inflation. Instead it is $89.

More: in 2005, a 5-day base MYW was $193. In 2012, adjusted for inflation, that would be $227.38. Actual new price: $278.

Premium annual pass (non-renewal). In 2005, was $515. In 2012, would be $606.73 with inflation. New cost is $699.

 

[DDPGambit]

You can still buy them now and have them held at will call. Save yourself $60:shrug:

The family has a MYW package, I was going to upgrade my ticket to the AP.

 

[Clever Name]

Not enslaved into anything. We will be using our points to visit Aulani and the Grand Californian at Disneyland, where they actually seem to care about frequent repeat visitors.

It used to be not that cost effective to use points to go on a Disney Cruise either but if tickets keep going up like this that will be another option for us. Maybe even Shanghai when it opens. We will not keep using points in Florida though if things don't change.

But using your points elsewhere ends up costing you more. Disney wins either way. It's also interesting to note that the DVC resale market is choked with contracts that are not selling. :wave:

 

[captainkidd]

Not enslaved into anything. We will be using our points to visit Aulani and the Grand Californian at Disneyland, where they actually seem to care about frequent repeat visitors.

It used to be not that cost effective to use points to go on a Disney Cruise either but if tickets keep going up like this that will be another option for us. Maybe even Shanghai when it opens. We will not keep using points in Florida though if things don't change.

I'm not a DVC owner, but I was thinking the same thing.

Look at the resale market for DVC. I assure you, not everybody selling DVC is doing so because they're strapped for cash.

Disney has been pushing the pricing envelope for years, banking on the upper class and international travelers to ante up. Basic psychology will tell you, there are certain price points for EVERYTHING that people will not tolerate. $600 for an AP I believe is getting mighty close to it.

Here's a number to chew on - Since the year 2000, the cost of an annual pass for children has gone up more than 100%. Think about that. More than 100%. At this rate, an annual pass will cost $1,000 in just 8 years.

 

[menamechris]

But using your points elsewhere ends up costing you more. Disney wins either way. It's also interesting to note that the DVC resale market is choked with contracts that are not selling. :wave:

Not to mention, even DVC members can't necessarily go carte blanche on a vacation. Additional expense of plane tickets to Hawaii, across the country, or to another country may not be an option for a family of 4 or 5....

 

[zooey]

Sorry, but you're being ridiculous. I'm a passholder, and I spend 3 weeks on Disney property every year, and drop about $15K per year. Are you saying, I'm not the type of customer they want?

No they want you because you'll likely always pay whatever they charge. They Marginalize those who cant by these kind of increases.

 

[GoofGoof]

I find the Disney tactic to be very interesting with raising prices, however. Universal just raised prices, as we all know, but they left FL resident pricing pretty much alone. Disney seems to have pretty much targeted Passholders and locals with the price hike. FL residents don't even get the standard 10% discount on 1-day tickets anymore under this new pricing.

I suppose I am rather confused as to their goal here. They seemed to be reaching out to locals and FL residents with the monthly payment plan for annual passes. Now they seem to be reversing that with making a child's ticket the same price as an adult ticket - and the incredible jump in price.

No clue what the logic would be to make a kid pass the same as an adult. That really makes no sense.

I have never had the pleasure of being at WDW long enough to make an AP worth it and it looks like I may never. This increase looks like it will cost me $86 for 2 adult and 2 kid 7 day passes. That is an increase of a little over 8%. Definitely steep but not as bad as the AP situation. I know people are outraged now, but we are all still going to go back.

 

[captainkidd]

Not to mention, even DVC members can't necessarily go carte blanche on a vacation. Additional expense of plane tickets to Hawaii, across the country, or to another country may not be an option for a family of 4 or 5....

Right now, just going to Orlando on a plane for a family of 4 to 5 can be unrealistic.

I know people will think I'm crazy, but unless the economy makes a HUGE improvement, if Disney keeps going at this pace, in 10 years time, WDW will not be what it has been for 40 years. I don't know exactly what that means, but this company is currently being run like a business that is at the top of it's game, but knows the next best thing is right around the corner. From this, they are taking full advantage to milk the cow for all it's worth now, as they know, shortly, that cow will be dead.

 

[captainkidd]

No they want you because you'll likely always pay whatever they charge. They Marginalize those who cant by these kind of increases.

The H.E. double hockey sticks I will.

 

[devoy1701]

I find the Disney tactic to be very interesting with raising prices, however. Universal just raised prices, as we all know, but they left FL resident pricing pretty much alone. Disney seems to have pretty much targeted Passholders and locals with the price hike. FL residents don't even get the standard 10% discount on 1-day tickets anymore under this new pricing.

I suppose I am rather confused as to their goal here. They seemed to be reaching out to locals and FL residents with the monthly payment plan for annual passes. Now they seem to be reversing that with making a child's ticket the same price as an adult ticket - and the incredible jump in price.

Well that part's easy. Yes, it will now cost you $454 overall for your AP, but they can still make it look "not as bad" by saying it's only a "Downpayment of $95 and then $32.64 monthly. The fact that they started with the payment plan a year before paved the way for this pay hike, seems like it was part of a well thought out strategy.