Disney does not disallow purchases by the day guest. All guests are advertised the exact same way.
APs do not leave the park after their purchases. They are there to increase the lines. (cough) Galaxy's Edge (cough).
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What's with the wait times!? (hint.. they're low)
- Thread starter Model3 McQueen
- Start date
APs do not leave the park after their purchases. They are there to increase the lines. (cough) Galaxy's Edge (cough).
Disney Irish
Premium Member
I'm not sure how you figure all this. Especially when Disney specifically makes AP exclusive items, and even goes so far as to specifically try to limit APs from buying up all the non-AP exclusive items because they know they will if they don't limited them. So yeah they may not "disallow" day guests from purchasing but APs make it hard for day guests to purchase.
Also I'm not sure if you've been on a day when these special items get released, but half do leave after getting the item. I've sat there and watch it happen on the days when the new popcorn buckets get released, APs crowd in the morning, and by mid-morning when the buckets are gone so are the APs that lined up for it. Now I can't say if they come back or not, but they do indeed leave. Its even been joked on boards like this "do these APs not have jobs"....
flynnibus
Premium Member
DCA has more e-ticket level attractions than any other park besides DL.
ToT
Soarin
RSR
GRR
Coaster
That's 5 etickets... which is more etickets than MGM even had total rides
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Its interesting to say the least. I'm still wondering what will happen in January when RotR opens, and what will happen next summer.
Is this the new norm? Have prices really risen so high that its finally affected all attendance levels including APs? Only time will tell....
How I figured this out isn't hard. AP exclusive items are not exclusive after the APs get their fill. Okay, they buy it out. Then the inventory replenishes. Everyone can buy it. This isn't hard. The Oogie Boogie popcorn buckets are easily available at any popcorn stand. The thing is the APs buy them in the morning and stand in line. The day guest can do it too. They'll scan their day pass, right? Everyone is limited to 2 per day.
You're doing a ball park that some leave. You omit thousands of APs who don't leave because they didn't buy it right at that moment or they are there because they want to enjoy the park like other guests. These APs are there to buy other stuff.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
And you're making assumptions that thousands (that is a lot btw) stay. Point is we can go round and round on this, but we both don't have solid numbers to go on just anecdotal evidence (which is no real evidence at all).
Either way you have your belief that a packed park even with lower guest satisfaction results in higher revenue, and I believe the opposite. That a less packed park can have greater revenue due to more happy guests spending more money.
Since we're not in a position to really say which is more true, we should just leave it here and agree to disagree.
SSG
Well-Known Member
I keep hearing how crowds are down at Disneyland and the bosses are panicking. This may be a dumb question but is there evidence that attendance is down? I understand there isn't the crazy crowding many people feared. I also understand that GE doesn't seem to be the draw Disney wanted. But is it possible that attendance is similar to previous years, but the additional capacity from GE is spreading the crowds more? Thereby making the park seem less crowded?
Asked another way, is the problem fewer people, or no increase of people?
Asked another way, is the problem fewer people, or no increase of people?
You have a lot of chutzpah to call me out on assumptions when you made it to begin with on your theories. Either way, you're still sticking to your assumptions and that's a lot of ridiculousness.
A less packed park means Disney will never make the sale if the customer was never there. Every day that goes by is a lost opportunity.
shambolicdefending
Well-Known Member
They admitted that attendance was down during quarterly earnings reports. Most of the "crowd tracker" Web sites have reported far lower numbers than usual for most of the summer (although they base their data on wait times, since actual attendance isn't public).
Things got up to average during the peak summer weeks in late July, but have otherwise been low - sometimes dramatically so.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
Do you have any actual data from Disney to back up your claims? If so share it with the rest of the class and we can all learn. If not (and we all pretty much know you don't) then you have no bases to know whether my assumptions are less valid then yours. So in the end we're both here spouting our opinions, that is all.
RobWDW1971
Well-Known Member
You will never find out as they won't disclose it as there is a benefit to keeping the info opaque so analysts can't do the math on their own. I wrote quarterly talking points for years and I can assure you that you will only see positive factoids taken out of context to drive a point home (WDW guest spend in merchandise is up 10% from prior quarter! But it's actually down 5% from prior year or its because an extra holiday week was in the quarter, etc, etc). There are very talented teams of people in every company's IR team that specialize in this skill.
The only thing you will ever get from Disney is the consolidated domestic parks/cruises/hotels OIBDA and OI and with a business that large it will be nearly impossible to discern the minutiae we're discussing. Even determining the depreciation impact for SWGE next year will be difficult with other cruise ships, hotels, and other investments coming online. You can hide a lot of issues in a P&L that large.
So we are left with logic and observations based on history. Back to the discussion....
This ignores reality. Long lines are highly valued in many cases especially theme parks, Star Wars, movie premiers, shopping (i.e. Black Friday, Disney limited items), ComicCon and convention events, Disneyland and Magic Kingdom on Christmas Week, new restaurant openings. Other than that and possibly many more, then fine.
No one goes to Disneyland as it is too crowded. Nor do people go when its uncrowded.
Disney Irish
Premium Member
I've never claimed anything I discussed were anything more than my opinions. The only time I claim anything different is when I provide links to data to backup what I'm stating.
So I turn that back at you. You have no right to question my argument with your imaginary claims on how you believe people spend their money at Disney Parks.
mlayton144
Well-Known Member
i Would think Disney would make much more money on tourists than APs. And tourists like myself will spends LOTS of money , but only if the crowds are reasonable. If someone is standing in line are they spending money ?
Mac Tonight
Well-Known Member
this is better than a tennis match...
BubbaQuest
Well-Known Member
Wait TIffy's still exists? I remember getting food poisoning there 20 years ago. Ah, good times.
shambolicdefending
Well-Known Member
Wasn't this the whole business case behind Fastpass? If you want a guest spending money, the worst possible thing you can do is have them standing in long lines all day.
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Another sunny September Friday with no AP blockouts. And the pedestrian bridge opened today! Let's see what happens with the wait times this evening after work. But right now things aren't too busy in the parks, except for Splash Mt. because it's sunny and hot and Radiator Racers because of John Lassetter.
Here are the various Star Wars and Halloween themed wait times at 2:30, plus the longest waits;
Luigi's Honkin' Haul-O-Ween, Mater's Junkyard JamBOOree - 5 Minutes
Star Tours - 10 Minutes
Guardians of the Galaxy (regular daytime version) - 15 Minutes
Haunted Mansion Holiday - 25 Minutes
Hyperspace Mountain - 30 Minutes
Millennium Falcon - 35 Minutes
Radiator Springs Racers - 60 Minutes
Splash Mountain - 65 Minutes
Here are the various Star Wars and Halloween themed wait times at 2:30, plus the longest waits;
Luigi's Honkin' Haul-O-Ween, Mater's Junkyard JamBOOree - 5 Minutes
Star Tours - 10 Minutes
Guardians of the Galaxy (regular daytime version) - 15 Minutes
Haunted Mansion Holiday - 25 Minutes
Hyperspace Mountain - 30 Minutes
Millennium Falcon - 35 Minutes
Radiator Springs Racers - 60 Minutes
Splash Mountain - 65 Minutes
mandelbrot
Well-Known Member
Okay, wait a minute, there's not only a thing called the Golden Ticket Awards, but there was a new ride this year called Reese's Cupfusion and you are just now telling us about this?!?
I just Googled Reese's Cupfusion. I assumed it was a teacup ride, but it's actually a dark ride where you shoot laser beams at little chocolate creatures. Or something. How did we not know about this???
"Intruders detected, stun them with some sweetness!"
Screenz! And a disembodied voice telling you what to do! What's not to love?