Any word on AP ticket price increases?

[mjstaceyuofm]

If I recall correctly, the AP pricing was overhauled recently (like in the last 6 months; can't remember exact dates), and I believe the MYW tickets also underwent a slight pricing modification recently too.

Has there been any behind the scenes rumbling or talk of changing the AP pricing in the 2nd half of this year? We have a January 2017 and an August 2017 trip planned. Buying AP's makes sense for us, but curious to see what the news / rumblings are to understand if buying now makes sense to avoid any upticks in price, or to hold off until we get closer to the date. Fronting the money now is not a big deal to us - we just want to avoid future increases, and also don't want to miss out on any potential amazing DVC park ticket discounts in the future either (like the one they ran 3-4 years ago when we bought AP's for $350 or so...).

Thanks in advance.

 

[rteetz]

No rumblings of a price increase yet. APs saw a large increase this last time around and then regular tickets increased this past February-ish.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I'm Interested...I think things are softening and I'll be curious how they respond

 

[Accident]

It was oct last year, not sure what we'll be seeing but there was some screwed up surveys that went out talking about attraction and dining blockouts in addition to park block out dates. nothing may come of it but they had in their mind they might have AP holders not eligible for new things immediately as they open..

I got my AP in sept last year and in feb I did a prorated upgrade to make it the new version as it made sense for how it changed and how I use it. when you buy it and when it starts are different dates so you could buy it end of sept and lock in the current price but activate it when you arrive in 2017 and that will start your 366 days before you need to renew.

 

[1lilspark]

Usually APs go up the beginning of October if I had to lay down any bets I'd say that each tier should raise between 50-100$ with more blackouts and less perks

 

[mjstaceyuofm]

Being DVC members, we are looking at the "Gold" option. Basically admittance to all 4 parks (no water parks), park-hopping, free parking, etc. - you know, all the usual AP stuff, except blackout dates at Spring Break and Christmas. It's $549 + tax. It makes sense for us. Looking to buy now and activate in January when we go down. I'd be curious to see how they would handle the change in perks / benefits if indeed more restrictions are placed on AP's. If we buy now (without activating until 2017), I would assume they'd carry all the benefits associated with what we bought, and not have any of the restrictions that may take place in October....

I tend to agree with Logic that things might (ever so slightly) soften. We'll see how they (Disney) handles it if it does happen. I know as a DVC member for the past 20 years, we find ourselves going less and less and using the points for other things like HHI, Vero, CC, etc. It may be a wise move to make the AP's more appealing to DVC members to keep them on property.

Thanks for the info, especially the October date refresher.

 

[jpeden]

If they block out certain attractions, it will give legs to the rumors that were floating around awhile back that the home office has seriously been looking at going back to ticket books (although I believe it was a digital version) in my opinion. I think that in itself would be the beginning of the end.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

It was oct last year, not sure what we'll be seeing but there was some screwed up surveys that went out talking about attraction and dining blockouts in addition to park block out dates. nothing may come of it but they had in their mind they might have AP holders not eligible for new things immediately as they open..

Can you elaborate on this? How would they block us from getting on a new ride or entering a restaurant?

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Can you elaborate on this? How would they block us from getting on a new ride or entering a restaurant?

Worst case scenario would be a path to the original "doomsday" scenario for magic bands: making you pay more for stuff that was always included...because they can...

And blame "supply and demand"

 

[Castle2Castle]

Can you elaborate on this? How would they block us from getting on a new ride or entering a restaurant?

I've not heard anything about this, but off the top of my head I think any attraction/dining blockouts might be less about blocking people completely than restricting advanced access through the MDE system. So, just as you could still access a park on a blockout date by purchasing a regular ticket, you could still access an attraction or restaurant by (a) going standby/walkup or (b) purchasing access to MDE on a blockout date.

ETA: I'm assuming above that if they did extended blockout dates, that they could/would possibly have attraction and dining blockouts separate from park blockouts. Not having heard about it before this though, and such decisions likely only coming along with steady or increased attendance numbers, I'm not sure how likely it is to come about.

 

[WhateverLolaWants]

I've not heard anything about this, but off the top of my head I think any attraction/dining blockouts might be less about blocking people completely than restricting advanced access through the MDE system. So, just as you could still access a park on a blockout date by purchasing a regular ticket, you could still access an attraction or restaurant by (a) going standby/walkup or (b) purchasing access to MDE on a blockout date.

ETA: I'm assuming above that if they did extended blockout dates, that they could/would possibly have attraction and dining blockouts separate from park blockouts. Not having heard about it before this though, and such decisions likely only coming along with steady or increased attendance numbers, I'm not sure how likely it is to come about.

I could totally see them blocking us from ADRs and FP+ for new things, ugh. I've been trying to rack my brain on how they would do it and an example I thought of was blocking us from Animal Kingdom for a couple of months when Avatarland opens. Universal has done this with Island of Adventure/Kong this summer, but only the lowest pass is blocked from the park. As much as that stinks, at least those spending more for the 2nd and top tier APs aren't being "punished." Hopefully this doesn't come to be as all the FL resident AP holders I've told this to have been livid.

 

[1lilspark]

Well this year all the new stuff opened a few weeks after Silver blackout began to begin with though the Non AP FL resident tickets and higher AP tiers could still go and there was a push to upgrade to Gold to see things now....

I can see then holding off Avitar, Star Wars, Toy Story land for a summer open and adding an additional blackout to gold and resident select to those parks only

 

[mjstaceyuofm]

Worst case scenario would be a path to the original "doomsday" scenario for magic bands: making you pay more for stuff that was always included...because they can...

And blame "supply and demand"

I can see the spin they'd put on it now: "Now, you can enjoy the atmosphere of the parks for the low admission price of $50, while only paying* for the things YOU want to do! Space Mountain - $5; Splash Mountain $5; Haunted Mansion - $5; the train - $1...

* Dynamic pricing subject to change based on peak periods, usage and attraction demand. Prices may vary up to $10 on peak demand days."

What a nightmare that would be. But they would say that it benefits those that just want to come to the park and experience the ambience, magic and free shows that still remain... Ugh.

 

[Flametamr]

We purchased Florida Resident Premium Plus passes on Nov 1 this past year. This was our first time doing this. The money was difficult to justify living 450 miles away. We will end up going on three longer trips and two or three shorter ones by the time the passes expire. If they raise the prices again it will just wipe out my renewal discount and I will not do it. Disney's greed is hard to understand. Instead of rewarding their most loyal customers they are looking for ways to run us off.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Well this year all the new stuff opened a few weeks after Silver blackout began to begin with though the Non AP FL resident tickets and higher AP tiers could still go and there was a push to upgrade to Gold to see things now....

I can see then holding off Avitar, Star Wars, Toy Story land for a summer open and adding an additional blackout to gold and resident select to those parks only

I don't see the "silver" pass being long for the road...

On one hand, it was designed to boost the slow months...
...the problem is there are no slow months anymore...or to be more specific...the months have changed somewhat.

I was just looking at dining this morning: pick where you want to eat for the next month in wdw...it's yours.

But not a damn thing in October...

So why sell Florida passes good for October and not August? The players have changed.