Another Voice
05-04-2001, 09:23 PM
It’s just been announced that effective tomorrow (May 5), Park Hopping will be allowed between Disneyland and California Adventure on ALL 3 or 4 Day tickets. These tickets are available for anyone to purchase, not just resort guests. All previously purchased 3 or 4 day Flex tickets will be “upgraded” to allow park hopping as well. These tickets will also be available for locals to purchase, but I haven’t heard how long the “unused” days are good for on the tickets. One day tickets are not changed.
Now for the rumors behind the facts…
The rumbling you hear in the distance is another large piece of the DCA business model crashing to the ground. The original ticket system was designed to extend the average guest’s length of stay and to force a full day at California Adventure. That has failed and Team Disney Anaheim has now realized that DCA is a long, long way from having that kind of impact. Not only are the locals staying away in droves, but rumors say that internal research shows that most out-of-town visitors are choosing to spend their third day at Disneyland rather than having to spend a full day at DCA. Even the Disney-owned ABC affliate here broadcast an interview with a couple that said exactly that.
The new ticketing scheme is designed to facilitate “sampling”. Team Disney Burbank believes that DCA has been victimized by bad weather, bad press, bad marketing, and bad Internet chatter. “If people could only see for themselves,” their thinking goes, “they would see how wonderful California Adventure truly is”. A more cynical subtext is that they also feel that allowing guests to hop over to Disneyland can be used to offset the “lack of value” argument that’s widely thrown against DCA. It’s hoped that this “anger release valve” will improve the word of mouth some. Several for-locals-only type schemes are also in the works to get Southern Californians to “sample” the park. Early marketing surveys, it’s rumored, show an extremely lackluster reception to the return of the Electrical Parade and Team Disney Anaheim has been getting a lot of flak about it (both the return angle and the power supply problem).
Another interesting rumor is the attendance number reporting. The one thing that park hopping will do is to make DCA attendance numbers soar. The actual number of people that visit the park won’t change, but each time a guest enters the park for whatever reason, it will be counted as an “admission”. Spend all day at Disneyland but stop by DCA just to watch the parade, you’re now a DCA admission for that whole day. And with FastPass and the closeness of the two parks, people could cross several times in a single day. Attendance at DCA could easily double just by this change in accounting. You can also expect a major “off the record” campaign using these numbers to “prove” that DCA is alright. Rumor has it that numbers will start “leaking” at Disney-friendly websites and business analysts by the end of the month. Of course inaccurate information is going to hurt the actual operation of the park and the formulas they use at WDW aren’t going to work. It will be fun to watch.
The rumored corporate short term goal is to prevent (or reverse) the perception that California Adventure is a failure. Invitations are going out to shows and TV stations asking them to film in the park and Disney is trying go get some high profile events for the Hyperion Theater (“Is THAT You’re Final Answer?”). Burbank is willing to consider anything to get people into the park. Everything, that is, except what will really work: building a theme park worthy of the name “Disney”.
Now for the rumors behind the facts…
The rumbling you hear in the distance is another large piece of the DCA business model crashing to the ground. The original ticket system was designed to extend the average guest’s length of stay and to force a full day at California Adventure. That has failed and Team Disney Anaheim has now realized that DCA is a long, long way from having that kind of impact. Not only are the locals staying away in droves, but rumors say that internal research shows that most out-of-town visitors are choosing to spend their third day at Disneyland rather than having to spend a full day at DCA. Even the Disney-owned ABC affliate here broadcast an interview with a couple that said exactly that.
The new ticketing scheme is designed to facilitate “sampling”. Team Disney Burbank believes that DCA has been victimized by bad weather, bad press, bad marketing, and bad Internet chatter. “If people could only see for themselves,” their thinking goes, “they would see how wonderful California Adventure truly is”. A more cynical subtext is that they also feel that allowing guests to hop over to Disneyland can be used to offset the “lack of value” argument that’s widely thrown against DCA. It’s hoped that this “anger release valve” will improve the word of mouth some. Several for-locals-only type schemes are also in the works to get Southern Californians to “sample” the park. Early marketing surveys, it’s rumored, show an extremely lackluster reception to the return of the Electrical Parade and Team Disney Anaheim has been getting a lot of flak about it (both the return angle and the power supply problem).
Another interesting rumor is the attendance number reporting. The one thing that park hopping will do is to make DCA attendance numbers soar. The actual number of people that visit the park won’t change, but each time a guest enters the park for whatever reason, it will be counted as an “admission”. Spend all day at Disneyland but stop by DCA just to watch the parade, you’re now a DCA admission for that whole day. And with FastPass and the closeness of the two parks, people could cross several times in a single day. Attendance at DCA could easily double just by this change in accounting. You can also expect a major “off the record” campaign using these numbers to “prove” that DCA is alright. Rumor has it that numbers will start “leaking” at Disney-friendly websites and business analysts by the end of the month. Of course inaccurate information is going to hurt the actual operation of the park and the formulas they use at WDW aren’t going to work. It will be fun to watch.
The rumored corporate short term goal is to prevent (or reverse) the perception that California Adventure is a failure. Invitations are going out to shows and TV stations asking them to film in the park and Disney is trying go get some high profile events for the Hyperion Theater (“Is THAT You’re Final Answer?”). Burbank is willing to consider anything to get people into the park. Everything, that is, except what will really work: building a theme park worthy of the name “Disney”.