Thoughts on how surge price tickets would effect parks and resorts??

[Lorilais_mommie]

I've seen tons of threads about how people feel about disney considering surge ticket options..
But I didn't see how people think it would effect the resorts and/or parks???

Personal I think we will see exactly what has already happen with DVC..
DVC has different seasons with different amount of points to for a room during those seasons.

While the peak holiday weeks are always hard to get..
The value seasons weeks are also hard to get, cuz it is the best bang for your points!

If disney does the surge tickets, and there is a major difference in price between value and peak seasons I would expect people to go for the value seasons.. And then making the parks more crowed then ever during those times..

 

[lustergirl]

I think you will get mixed opinions on this subject. Some people can only go during peak season, such as teachers going during the summer or parents who don't want to take their children out of school.

 

[BuckeyeBama]

I doubt that it will have an impact. There are already huge financial incentives to travel to WDW during their Value seasons. They come in the form of room and dining discounts, including free dining. If that won't get people over, saving a few hundred dollars on tickets isn't going to make a difference.

It is the total price of a WDW vacation that people look at, not just one aspect. This includes tickets, resorts and meals.

 

[Gillyrose779]

I think Disney realized people love discounts and promotions. How do you do that while still making money? Raise prices and then send out more promotions so people think they are getting a "deal".

 

[ravenclawtrekkie]

One major effect is that the ticket booths would look quite messy after the ticketing CMs' heads all explode.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

Bump..

 

[FreeTime]

I think it will have no impact. Using your dvc analogy, lower point seasons did as planned and helped fill rooms however dvc still has a high occupancy the rest of the year. There will always be a huge population that can't go during value seasons. There will also be a huge population who wants to give their children a Disney vacation and will scrimp and save or go into debt to give them that trip.

 

[larryz]

I think it will depend on whether or not they use the tiered pricing as an incentive to get people to stay in the resorts -- say, by lowering the high tier for resort guests, or doing away with it all together...

 

[buyerbrad]

If I went on the Disney website and purchased a 2-Day Ticket this very second, when would they expire?

 

[Planogirl]

I think that it will all depend on the final prices. If they go up a lot during certain periods then some people could finally be priced out. Time will tell.

 

[smiths02]

If I went on the Disney website and purchased a 2-Day Ticket this very second, when would they expire?

14 days from first use. Unused tickets do not have an expiration date, and, so far, Disney has honored them

 

[Canuck16]

If I went on the Disney website and purchased a 2-Day Ticket this very second, when would they expire?

Never......then once you use them they expire 14 days after the first use.

 

[ArwenMarie]

I think most people have an idea in mind of how much they can spend on a certain trip. If ticket prices go up a lot, people will may just cut costs from their other spending categories (food, lodging etc). It could even have the effect of encouraging more people to stay offsite.

 

[DisDadDVC]

I've seen tons of threads about how people feel about disney considering surge ticket options..
But I didn't see how people think it would effect the resorts and/or parks???

Personal I think we will see exactly what has already happen with DVC..
DVC has different seasons with different amount of points to for a room during those seasons.

While the peak holiday weeks are always hard to get..
The value seasons weeks are also hard to get, cuz it is the best bang for your points!

If disney does the surge tickets, and there is a major difference in price between value and peak seasons I would expect people to go for the value seasons.. And then making the parks more crowed then ever during those times..

I think it will have a small effect. First, there is a reason for the surge pricing. Some people can only go on those dates due to school schedules. They don't have a choice to go a different time. And I would guess that the difference in price would be <$100 per ticket. So for a family of 4, that's an additional $400 on a vacation that is probably going to run them $5k. I'm guessing that will price a small % of people out (which is part of what disney wants), and a somewhat larger % that will cut back somewhere else. One night less, no character meals, etc. And for probably >50% of people, it will not affect what they do.

 

[Micca]

I haven't been able to wrap my head around the whole surge pricing scenario. I understand the part about having higher prices for various peak periods. If those times are when you want to go, or those are the only time you physically are able to go, you'll pay more. That will probably result in most people paying the higher prices, choosing a less expensive time, or just foregoing the trip altogether. If the off season prices are more attractive, you'll get more folks the people who have always liked to travel during those times, along with the people who formerly traveled during the busier times. My confusion is this: Couldn't this make some days during non-peak times busier than peak times? Maybe that's the whole idea? I guess it depends on the difference in price in peak vs. non-peak times.

I don't know that it has much impact on my family. We avoid the peak times, if non-peak traffic increases to an uncomfortable level, I guess I'd be disgruntled about that.

 

[DisDadDVC]

I haven't been able to wrap my head around the whole surge pricing scenario. I understand the part about having higher prices for various peak periods. If those times are when you want to go, or those are the only time you physically are able to go, you'll pay more. That will probably result in most people paying the higher prices, choosing a less expensive time, or just foregoing the trip altogether. If the off season prices are more attractive, you'll get more folks the people who have always liked to travel during those times, along with the people who formerly traveled during the busier times. My confusion is this: Couldn't this make some days during non-peak times busier than peak times? Maybe that's the whole idea? I guess it depends on the difference in price in peak vs. non-peak times.

I don't know that it has much impact on my family. We avoid the peak times, if non-peak traffic increases to an uncomfortable level, I guess I'd be disgruntled about that.

It kinda is. I doubt you will see first week in september anywhere near as crowded as xmas. But if they can push SOME people away from xmas and into sept, and charge the remaining xmas people more, that is their goal. Same total revenue during peak times, and greater revenue during off peak.

 

[Micca]

It kinda is. I doubt you will see first week in september anywhere near as crowded as xmas. But if they can push SOME people away from xmas and into sept, and charge the remaining xmas people more, that is their goal. Same total revenue during peak times, and greater revenue during off peak.

Thanks! This is what DW told me---they're trying to even-out attendance. If there's a way to maximize a buck, Disney knows how. As a shareholder, I'm fine with that.

 

[Lorilais_mommie]

I can see disney trying to even out attendance..
But another example is when they did free dinning.. The 1st 2 years why they were trying it out it wasn't to bad, then All the sudden the parks were pacKed! It was almost impossble to get a value resort room or a dinning reservation During the free dinning times..

We learned quickly it was better to go the week after free dinning and use TIW.

Now I hear all the time "we are waiting for free dinning before we choose when to go"

With the surge pricing it will become "we are waiting for the cheaper ticket prices"


Just a side note.. I wonder how this will effect "free dinning" and other promotion they run?

 

[Planogirl]

I think most people have an idea in mind of how much they can spend on a certain trip. If ticket prices go up a lot, people will may just cut costs from their other spending categories (food, lodging etc). It could even have the effect of encouraging more people to stay offsite.

How? Disney hotels are expensive and ticket prices going up just adds even more to overall cost.

 

[FreeTime]

How? Disney hotels are expensive and ticket prices going up just adds even more to overall cost.

They could cut costs on lodging by staying offsite, on site in a lower category or for fewer nights. For past trips when we haven't wanted to spend as much on lodging, for example, we would stay offsite the arrival night and check in early in the morning to get the benefits.

Food is easy to cut the cost of. Fewer table services, share counter services (which often for my family four meals is way too much food anyways), pack lunches.