Pete....Let's hear it

[BeachyMouse]

Disney looks at the possibility of surge pricing.
http://time.com/3901243/disney-surge-pricing/

 

[Jennygt]

Is this the same as the tiered tickets I read about on the theme parks board? That gold, silver, bronze system?
I wondered what Pete and the team would think about it?

 

[Jennygt]

Well yes that is the same. Hope this is talked about Tuesday

 

[doconeill]

What I found interesting is that I saw two very distinct pricing structures from two different people that did the survey.

One was what I'd expect from such a system. The "bronze" tickets were the current MYW pricing structure. Silver and Gold were at a premium, but not outside the realm of a typical price increase. You had to buy a ticket at the level for which the highest level day you wish to attend was.

The other was completely off the wall. For it, it said you essentially purchased X 1-day tickets, but when you purchased multiple tickets you got a "bulk" discount - more days was more discount. The 10-day discount was 45%. That might sound like a good discount...until you actually look at the cost. 10 1-day bronze tickets (non-MK) would be before discount $970. At a 45% discount, that's $533.50 per 10-day bronze ticket...a $168.50 increase in cost, and that doesn't even get you in on popular days. The only "advantage" of that system is they imply you could purchase a mix of bronze, silver and gold tickets, whereas the other one it's one class for the length of the ticket.

The descriptions were contradictory too...Bronze was described as only being good on non-peak weekdays, but the calendar clearly showed a number of Sundays and a Saturday...

Anyways, it's just one of their surveys. And it could be misdirection in a way...looking to see how many people are willing to adjust their their schedules based on some form of premium criteria.

They did at least include "I would not visit at all" as one of the options. I didn't see an "I'd spend more time at Universal" option though...

 

[BeachyMouse]

I know they are starting to knock the average park goer out of coming. Prices, like their cruises, are starting to keep the lower and middle class out of their vacation plans all together.

 

[HubbDave]

Until their attendance numbers decrease they will keep raising prices. Not sure if this is how they would do it, but it would somewhat smooth their numbers a bit if implemented.

 

[SorcererHeidi]

They are getting beyond ridiculous, as I've said before. Soak you a little bit here, soak you a little bit there - all the while decreasing quality - because they feel they can. And yes - I AM somebody who "practices what I preach" and have not gone in 3 years now, and that trip was only because I stayed for free due to the generosity of some DVC-owning friends. Before that, my last "fully own paid for" trip was 5-6 years ago. I just cannot justify to myself the rising and ludicrous costs of on-site hotels (don't drive, so onsite is pretty much a "must" for me), food, tickets, etc., etc. etc. along with (just IMHO) the always-increasing and getting-ruder crowds. Sad for me to feel this way, since it was my :"happy place", and I used to go on average once a year, sometimes blessed to go twice. I have no IDEA when my next trip is, either. I will admit the economy in general has had a large piece in it - but - now that it's come back a bit, I feel Disney is just taking advantage of it, and getting totally carried away with themselves. And I'm so disgusted and disappointed not being able to go that it does't even "feel good" that I'm making money as a stockholder anymore. Darn shame, really really is.

 

[disneysteve]

I don't (yet) have a problem with the admission price itself. I do already have a problem with the park experience. Sorry Pete, but we very much dislike the FP+ system and all that goes with it. Now they've taken away the non-expiring tickets, which we have always used, ever since the 1980s on my earliest visits. In recent years, we've always purchased a 10-day MYW non-expiring ticket. We would use 5 days on one trip and the other 5 days on the next trip. Can't do that anymore.

If they actually go to some type of tiered pricing where different days are different prices, that's going to turn us off even more. We don't plan out every moment of our trips. We don't decide which park to go to each day until the night before. Sometimes we don't even know if we're going to a park each day until the night before. If we have to make those decisions in advance because it affects what tickets we buy (Tuesday costs less than Sunday, etc.), we may just throw in the towel and forget about it all together.

 

[Princess Jes]

I know they are starting to knock the average park goer out of coming. Prices, like their cruises, are starting to keep the lower and middle class out of their vacation plans all together.

As pete has said numerous times: people get on the boards and harp on about the cost pricing them out and that people can't afford to go, and they're never coming back, but guess what? They do! Attendance numbers show that! The prices increase and so do the attendance numbers.
They may price SOME people out, but it's clearly not the majority. Or even a relevant minority.
Disney wants people to come and spend money, so they won't care about the people who spend the least, who can just afford to go, bring their own food and snacks, don't buy spiciness, share memory maker packages, and all the cost saving tips (I'm not saying they aren't brilliant and that people should absolutely travel this way! God knows I'll try to save money where possible. But I don't sweat over saving $5 on undercover tourist tickets, or upgrading a week long stay to PH and water park fun and more tickets)
But unfortunately for those people, disney doesn't give a you know what.
Sad, but true.

 

[GoofyforDisney3]

I would hate to be an accountant in charge of ticket revenue. This just sounds like a nightmare. Only way I can see this really working is for a resort guest.​

 

[kbelle8995]

It just sounds like a confusing ticketing system. Bronze, Silver, gold. Huh.

 

[MikeTaylor]

It would be easier just to raise prices across the board, but it seems like they would rather focus on the problem days and surge accordingly. I don't have a problem with this since we don't visit around problematic holidays. The problem I have is that they need more attractions in DHS, AK (and more air-conditioned areas), and EPCOT where there's more space than in the MK, then the crowd control issues would go away.

 

[kbelle8995]

As pete has said numerous times: people get on the boards and harp on about the cost pricing them out and that people can't afford to go, and they're never coming back, but guess what? They do! Attendance numbers show that! The prices increase and so do the attendance numbers.
They may price SOME people out, but it's clearly not the majority. Or even a relevant minority.
Disney wants people to come and spend money, so they won't care about the people who spend the least, who can just afford to go, bring their own food and snacks, don't buy spiciness, share memory maker packages, and all the cost saving tips (I'm not saying they aren't brilliant and that people should absolutely travel this way! God knows I'll try to save money where possible. But I don't sweat over saving $5 on undercover tourist tickets, or upgrading a week long stay to PH and water park fun and more tickets)
But unfortunately for those people, disney doesn't give a you know what.
Sad, but true.

You make decisions about what you can manage and what you can't. If Disney doesn't like that I don't go spending money you know what I don't care. Some people do choose to do so and You know what I don't judge them. As a consumer, I can choose what I want and don't want to do.

I don't do the parties, I don't go on the extras on the parties. I don't spend on money on Dining plans or Memory maker. I can take pictures myself. And right now I do Disney like I did when I was a broke College students. Have a nice lunch at DTD or the resorts and don't go to parks.