No more "No Expiration" park passes!

[gchiker]

WDW recently discontinued the no expiration option. I don't understand why they would do that. It seems like such a money maker for them. It's like unused travelers checks. They get paid a premium up front and then earn interest on the money until the check is cashed. For some people, it could take years before they use the passes. What a bummer! This definitely puts a cramp in my plans for the future. It was worth a little extra for the convenience. Now I have to carefully plan out exactly where and when we will go to the parks. So much for "Magic your way."

 

[Reddog1134]

2 things I heard:

1. It caused a lot of confusion with many guests that didn't quite understand how the tickets worked.
2. The accountants didn't like them.

 

[rteetz]

WDW recently discontinued the no expiration option. I don't understand why they would do that. It seems like such a money maker for them. It's like unused travelers checks. They get paid a premium up front and then earn interest on the money until the check is cashed. For some people, it could take years before they use the passes. What a bummer! This definitely puts a cramp in my plans for the future. It was worth a little extra for the convenience. Now I have to carefully plan out exactly where and when we will go to the parks. So much for "Magic your way."

Actually I would think making a consumer to purchase tickets every time that would actually make more money for disney than the no expiration option. I'm also sure disney looked into how many people actually bought them and that number was likely factored in. No expiration or not you would still have to plan out everything with the new system so the option being gone doesn't matter in that aspect.

 

[OKW Lover]

Its pretty much an accounting thing. I'm a recovering bean counter but please bear with me for an illustration:

• When Disney sells a 10-day ticket to somebody they have to record a liability for the value of those 10 days.
• As the 10 days get used, then Disney can record 1/10th of the price as income.
• So, until all the days are used up Disney has to carry a liability on its books rather than taking that as revenue.
• However, if the ticket has an expiration, then Disney gets to record the revenue when it expires.

 

[JasonDeyoung30]

Its pretty much an accounting thing. I'm a recovering bean counter but please bear with me for an illustration:

• When Disney sells a 10-day ticket to somebody they have to record a liability for the value of those 10 days.
• As the 10 days get used, then Disney can record 1/10th of the price as income.
• So, until all the days are used up Disney has to carry a liability on its books rather than taking that as revenue.
• However, if the ticket has an expiration, then Disney gets to record the revenue when it expires.

Interesting

 

[rock_doctor]

Easy answer. We have a 10 day pass that we use one day a year from. The passes are so old each day costs us $34 to go into the park... Do away with no expire then i have to buy a single day pass each year at a cost of....what ever it is... definitely more then $34. So for us the death of no expire means when our passes are gone we will no longer go into the parks. Just does not make financial sense for us. We are DVC so we will still go but will not go into the parks anymore.

 

[cjparker0110]

I agree that it is mostly for accounting. I majored in accounting for 3 semesters. While I am not an expert, I know that things like this, or prepaid gift cards to a store, are not exactly what dreams are made of. If even 10% of all guests take advantage of this, they end up with a ledger sheet as long as war and peace until they are used up. Nobody wants that.

As for how we all feel about it: I've never taken advantage of it. I can see where it will frustrate some, like the poster using his $34 tickets. However, inflation demands that ticket prices will go up anyway. So after ten years of using a 10day pass purchased for $34, I expect tickets to cost more. Perhaps the best solution would be to stop going for just one day a year and, instead, go for a few days every few years. You can still get a discount with multi day passes.

I honestly think that for MOST people, this will not affect them.

 

[rock_doctor]

What would be better from a business perspective? People who go into the park at a reduced rate and buy food and souvenirs or those who don't go into the park. I would think their main profit is the stuff you buy. As far as the number of people, it is probably true the number of people who carry their passes down range are likely few but enough that they did away with the no expire option in stages. Last year you could not get them from disney directly but could from external venders, this year they are just not available anymore.

 

[Reddog1134]

What would be better from a business perspective? People who go into the park at a reduced rate and buy food and souvenirs or those who don't go into the park. I would think their main profit is the stuff you buy. As far as the number of people, it is probably true the number of people who carry their passes down range are likely few but enough that they did away with the no expire option in stages. Last year you could not get them from disney directly but could from external venders, this year they are just not available anymore.

Last year you COULD still get them directly from Disney. They just weren't advertised. Up until earlier this year, there was a note on the website ticket page saying call Disney directly if you want to purchase non-expiring tickets.

 

[rock_doctor]

Last year you COULD still get them directly from Disney. They just weren't advertised. Up until earlier this year, there was a note on the website ticket page saying call Disney directly if you want to purchase non-expiring tickets.

Cool, thanks for the correction.

 

[StitchesGr8Fan]

Q: why would someone buy one 10-day no expiration pass versus 2 5-day expiring ticket?

A: to save money and protect themselves against Disney's annual price increase.

Q: what is Disney's ultimate goal?

A: to make as much money as possible to keep Shareholders happy.

Those 2 q&a's along with the accounting reasons previously posted are why they discontinued the no-expiration option.

 

[Reddog1134]

Q: why would someone buy one 10-day no expiration pass versus 2 5-day expiring ticket?

A: to save money and protect themselves against Disney's annual price increase.

You would have to wait through several years of price increases for a 10 day NE to be a better value than 2x 5-day passes.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Actually I would think making a consumer to purchase tickets every time that would actually make more money for disney than the no expiration option. I'm also sure disney looked into how many people actually bought them and that number was likely factored in. No expiration or not you would still have to plan out everything with the new system so the option being gone doesn't matter in that aspect.

Yes...because if you have an expiration, and you're on the fence to go an extra day or stay extra hours...

Then you go/stay...and then buy crap.

It's the capture philosophy they have perfected to a T

 

[lockedoutlogic]

You would have to wait through several years of price increases for a 10 day NE to be a better value than 2x 5-day passes.

The value has always been perceived in the flexibility...whether that's true or not is debatable/personal preference

 

[seashoreCM]

I suppose that Disney has to keep the usage history on the books until the tickets are exhausted and for non-expiring tickets that could be burdensome if the usage time stretches over many years.

I do not think that there are any other accounting complications that nonexpiring tickets have that non-nonexpiring tickets do not have.

 

[Whatsthegoodword]

We recently bought a non-expiring parkhopper 10 day ticket - back in February, before the deadline. We looked at it from every angle. In our opinion, the ONLY thing that made it pay vs. an expiring ticket was the 10 entries you get to DisneyQuest, Minigolf or the Water Parks.

Due to the time value of money, there's really no other benefit. ...and I agree wholeheartedly with the OP, it seems like a win/win for Disney. I'm honestly surprised they're doing away with it.

 

[P-elmo]

Does anybody know if any reputable re-salers still have the no-expiration tickets?

 

[Reddog1134]

Does anybody know if any reputable re-salers still have the no-expiration tickets?

Undercover Tourist does not appear to have them.

 

[wareagle57]

We recently bought a non-expiring parkhopper 10 day ticket - back in February, before the deadline. We looked at it from every angle. In our opinion, the ONLY thing that made it pay vs. an expiring ticket was the 10 entries you get to DisneyQuest, Minigolf or the Water Parks.

Due to the time value of money, there's really no other benefit. ...and I agree wholeheartedly with the OP, it seems like a win/win for Disney. I'm honestly surprised they're doing away with it.

It was a really good deal if you make a lot of short visits, but that's it. I toyed with buying it but could never pull the trigger on a 700 dollar purchase that I won't see the benefit of for years. You could go and use 1 or 2 days admission, go to a MNSSHP or MVMCP another day, and a water park/disney quest another day and have a resort rest day.

 

[chainkid]

I would either buy the DVC annual pass if I planned multiple trips in one year or a 10day pass non expiring. If we take 1 trip a year then I usually go for 10days min. I liked being able to decide to either use the passes each day or skip a few days if not feeling well or just wanting to do a resort day. I didn't care because they would be good for next visit. Now I have to rethink my tickets as I probably will not buy a 10 day ever again. I would get a 6 days pass for my entire trip and if I ran thru it then we would plan to go to universal during those days. I have never done that but now its going to be my new routine as I will not buy tickets I might never use. Our family will be doing min Disney now and then just going elsewhere after our passes run out. I can see why Disney did this but its another reason for me to spend dollars elsewhere which after 15 years of ownership would probably happen anyway as the parks hold little interest until they update their rides. I will miss the non expiring tickets as someone who travels frequently to use my DVC resort but its a fact of life that Disney gives and then takes away.