AP Sales Paused

[RyMickey]

Very true. Internet boards for enthuisasts, and especially social media, do not reflect real life very well. The "outrage" we see here is a tiny blip in the universe of people who go to WDW. Most people in the parks right now have no idea who Bob Chapek is, don't feel ripped off by Genie+, don't care if APs are currently for sale, aren't dissecting the story line of Enchantment and comparing it to the show they had 10 years ago or whatever and being sad. If you read here and on twitter, you'd think people were lined up outside the parks with torches and pitchforks. But nah, they're just lined up to enjoy the parks and spend their money like always. Parks will be absolutely mobbed this week, just like every other Thanksgiving week.

Sad to say, but Disney is probably fine losing a percentage of the long time fans, and replacing them with new people too young to remember the "good old days" of Disney.

While you’re certainly correct that they’ll replace me with someone new, I can tell you right now that I talked someone OUT of going to Disney today. I’m an enthusiast and they wanted my opinion. They actually haven’t gone to Disney in over ten years and had already done research themselves and weren’t happy with Genie+ and wanted to know my opinion on things and I told them they should put their trip on hold for the moment.

What got me was that this was not a Disney enthusiast who knew about Disney’s issues. And he actually said something awful about Chapek, too So it IS getting out there to the non-Disney plebes.

 

[alldiz]

Ok I’m confused and grateful.

grateful because I bought my AP few weeks ago for our NYE trip( I know NYE can’t go to parks)

Confused because. …. You need a park reservation to get into the parks.
Dosent that deal with overcrowding?
Thanks
Kerri

 

[dclpluto]

The FL resident pass that was left is pretty much useless the rest of 2021. The two other FL resident passes were also paused.

Frustrating but it’s not about DVC. We are a small set of guests and this goes beyond that. We knew it could happen.

not true I just looked. There is still 14 days remaining for this year.

 

[RyMickey]

Ok I’m confused and grateful.

grateful because I bought my AP few weeks ago for our NYE trip( I know NYE can’t go to parks)

Confused because. …. You need a park reservation to get into the parks.
Dosent that deal with overcrowding?
Thanks
Kerri

I agree...I don't understand the issue. The stoppage of sales just doesn't make sense. I guess they were worried about angry AP holders, but AP holders also know what they're buying into at this point. So stopping the sales for all (ie. for folks like me who are going down in two weeks and now can't make the purchase) can't help but feel like a money grab.

 

[alldiz]

I agree...I don't understand the issue. The stoppage of sales just doesn't make sense. I guess they were worried about angry AP holders, but AP holders also know what they're buying into at this point. So stopping the sales for all (ie. for folks like me who are going down in two weeks and now can't make the purchase) can't help but feel like a money grab.

So you mean a money grab because you can buy say a 6 day ticket? Hmmm

My only thinking is they truly are just trying to stop some people from coming.
Which tells me they don’t have enough employees!!
Which is awful!!

 

[dismedvc]

I understand pausing AP sales if Disney is trying to keep park availability for guests staying on property and not have those spots taken by AP holders not staying on property. I just wish there was an AP that was only valid for park admission when you were staying on property. Obviously biased/selfish on my part since as DVC members we always stay on property.

 

[RyMickey]

So you mean a money grab because you can buy say a 6 day ticket? Hmmm

My only thinking is they truly are just trying to stop some people from coming.
Which tells me they don’t have enough employees!!
Which is awful!!

I am sure that the larger issue is certainly the lack of employees. That said, for a MAJOR company to start selling annual passes only to stop them six weeks later just leaves a major distaste in my mouth. Yes, Thanksgiving week and Christmas week will be busy (although all but one of those annual passes wouldn't allow you to visit then anyway), but the weeks leading up to Christmas are tentatively slated to be less than level 5's in terms of attendance and there is availability in every park.

I just don't understand the stoppage considering you can still buy "normal" tickets during Christmas week. So that signals that they want the money -- which they're a company so I fundamentally get that, but philosophically with the mess that WDW has been since Chapek took over, it doesn't sit well with me.

And, because of that, we're shortening our trip by three days. Yes, they're going to get some money from me, but not six days worth of purchases...Sea World is getting their chance to show their stuff to us for the first time in twenty years because of this.

 

[BamaGuy44]

While you’re certainly correct that they’ll replace me with someone new, I can tell you right now that I talked someone OUT of going to Disney today. I’m an enthusiast and they wanted my opinion. They actually haven’t gone to Disney in over ten years and had already done research themselves and weren’t happy with Genie+ and wanted to know my opinion on things and I told them they should put their trip on hold for the moment.

What got me was that this was not a Disney enthusiast who knew about Disney’s issues. And he actually said something awful about Chapek, too So it IS getting out there to the non-Disney plebes.

I'm sure there are some people like your friend who aren't enthusiasts but did some good research into how Genie+ works, etc before their trip. Good for them but it's not the norm by a long shot. To me if someone enjoys the parks I don't see any reason why they shouldn't go unless they feel the enjoyment isn't worth the current price. The experience of being at WDW didn't suddenly become awful because we're mad at Bob Chapek.

If they're putting a trip on hold because they don't like Genie+, what are they waiting for exactly? The old FP system isn't coming back and nobody is forced to pay for Genie+. And WDW is certainly not going to get any cheaper

 

[alldiz]

I

I am sure that the larger issue is certainly the lack of employees. That said, for a MAJOR company to start selling annual passes only to stop them six weeks later just leaves a major distaste in my mouth. Yes, Thanksgiving week and Christmas week will be busy (although all but one of those annual passes wouldn't allow you to visit then anyway), but the weeks leading up to Christmas are tentatively slated to be less than level 5's in terms of attendance and there is availability in every park.

I just don't understand the stoppage considering you can still buy "normal" tickets during Christmas week. So that signals that they want the money -- which they're a company so I fundamentally get that, but philosophically with the mess that WDW has been since Chapek took over, it doesn't sit well with me.

And, because of that, we're shortening our trip by three days. Yes, they're going to get some money from me, but not six days worth of purchases...Sea World is getting their chance to show their stuff to us for the first time in twenty years because of this.

Im talkin crazy pants now and pulling this right out of ahem “you know where” but….

I wonder if there are a lot of “newbies” booked during this holiday season.
And because they don’t have enough employees…. Yes they want the more expensive ticket and a good experience for newbie….

post Covid (sorry there is no “post”)
But maybe many peeps booked that “once in a lifetime” trip.

and the powers that be see restaurant availability low etc….not enough employees….
Im reaching…not defending!!!

 

[tjkraz]

Folks don't need to know how to run a 70 billion dollar company or even a 10M one to know that what is going on is making many of them feel disrespected. Despite what we "get" from Disney for our money they are also "getting" plenty from us in return the form of 30 plus year prepaid commitment to vacations as well as our ambassadorships of the brand.

My short answer is: Disney could have done much better in this situation, but we're all replaceable and they have no reason to improve until the day comes when there's some blowback. That's just the sad reality of the situation. For every one of us oldsters who has had their fill of Disney after 20 years, there's a young family with a newborn who will be taking our place by 2023.

Here's the longer answer...

Imagine you operate a B&B. Like, really imagine that it is your livelihood and every dollar matters.

You typically charge $3000 per week for a room. But you need a little capital so you go to one of your frequent guests and tell him that if he pre-pays $30,000, you'll give him a week every year for the next 50 years for just $1k.

Now, if you run the numbers, you're making about half of what you could on the room over the course of the deal ($80k vs 150k). But it's guaranteed business and it meets your need for some instant cash.

A few years into the deal, he comes to you and says "hey, I know check-in is usually at 4pm but we need our room at noon. That's OK right? Because I'm your best customer."

A couple years later: "the breakfast you serve is OK, but I'd really like to have steak and lobster. I can't keep referring new business to you if you don't know how to treat your best customer."

By year 10 it's "hey, I want to park my car in your garage when I visit. You can park in the street. After all, I am your best customer."

While you accepted the money and agreed to the terms in good faith, at some point--as a businessperson--you have to look at the big picture. You've given this person a 50% discount on their lodging. The cash infusion at the start was nice, but now you're getting $1k per year for a room that normally fetches $3k.

*IS* this person actually your best customer? And how much is it reasonable to spend outside the norm to satisfy their ever-increasing demands?

Now DVC isn't some mom-and-pop B&B, but they have more guests to satisfy than one demanding prepaid customer. DVC (Disney) is making decisions to try and pacify 250,000+ member families, offering perks which literally cost millions of dollars to implement or sacrifice millions in revenue. There will always be limits.

 

[RyMickey]

I'm sure there are some people like your friend who aren't enthusiasts but did some good research into how Genie+ works, etc before their trip. Good for them but it's not the norm by a long shot. To me if someone enjoys the parks I don't see any reason why they shouldn't go unless they feel the enjoyment isn't worth the current price. The experience of being at WDW didn't suddenly become awful because we're mad at Bob Chapek.

If they're putting a trip on hold because they don't like Genie+, what are they waiting for exactly? The old FP system isn't coming back and nobody is forced to pay for Genie+. And WDW is certainly not going to get any cheaper

I'm not sure they're going to go...Genie+ needs time to settle in...time to adjust and possibly change from its current format. I have a multitude of issues with the system and traveling with two young people (2 and 4) are proving it to make this trip super-inflexible in terms of "getting our money's worth" with rest periods, late starts, and early-to-bed finishes. We are going to try it in MK this go around so maybe I'll change my tune after use. That said, this isn't a thread about that so I'll reserve my thoughts for elsewhere.

There's just a multitude of issues now that I don't like including Genie+, ILL$, Virtual Queues, lack of full parades, lack of full shows (although this seems to be coming back in play) -- not all are related necessarily to greed, but to me things have fundamentally changed.

To each their own and I don't fault anyone who likes all this stuff or whose Disney magic hasn't faded...it just isn't that way for me.

 

[alldiz]

I

I'm not sure they're going to go...Genie+ needs time to settle in...time to adjust and possibly change from its current format. I have a multitude of issues with the system and traveling with two young people (2 and 4) are proving it to make this trip super-inflexible in terms of "getting our money's worth" with rest periods, late starts, and early-to-bed finishes. We are going to try it in MK this go around so maybe I'll change my tune after use. That said, this isn't a thread about that so I'll reserve my thoughts for elsewhere.

There's just a multitude of issues now that I don't like including Genie+, ILL$, Virtual Queues, lack of full parades, lack of full shows (although this seems to be coming back in play) -- not all are related necessarily to greed, but to me things have fundamentally changed.

To each their own and I don't fault anyone who likes all this stuff or whose Disney magic hasn't faded...it just isn't that way for me.

I hear you on the whole genie thing.
I am absolutely not a fan of going from a “Wdw expert “ to a total newbie tbat has to pay more!

 

[BamaGuy44]

I'm not sure they're going to go...Genie+ needs time to settle in...time to adjust and possibly change from its current format. I have a multitude of issues with the system and traveling with two young people (2 and 4) are proving it to make this trip super-inflexible in terms of "getting our money's worth" with rest periods, late starts, and early-to-bed finishes. We are going to try it in MK this go around so maybe I'll change my tune after use. That said, this isn't a thread about that so I'll reserve my thoughts for elsewhere.

There's just a multitude of issues now that I don't like including Genie+, ILL$, Virtual Queues, lack of full parades, lack of full shows (although this seems to be coming back in play) -- not all are related necessarily to greed, but to me things have fundamentally changed.

To each their own and I don't fault anyone who likes all this stuff or whose Disney magic hasn't faded...it just isn't that way for me.

That makes sense about the lack of shows and parades, some restaurants and venues being closed, etc. Those things will (presumably) be back so I can see waiting for that. I don't love the genie+ concept but hopefully it will evolve.

 

[Sandisw]

not true I just looked. There is still 14 days remaining for this year.

Well, 14 days out of 40 and all weekdays. That to me is pretty useless for its impact on the park capacity and why it is still for sale. Anyone buying it is pretty limited in when it can be used, especially before January.

They have now stopped selling some dates for MYW tickets so this has gone beyond the the AP.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

If anyone thinks Disney is not manipulating things for maximum money… I have something to sell.

 

[Stargazer65]

If anyone thinks Disney is not manipulating things for maximum money… I have something to sell.

Ooo...ooo!!!
Can I get financing on those?!

 

[MillauFr]

If anyone thinks Disney is not manipulating things for maximum money… I have something to sell.

If anything I think they have showed remarkable restraint with pricing. I think they are realizing they completely blew it with the new annual passes at Disneyland. The top tier $1,400 annual passes sold out within 2 months. They way underpriced those.

 

[PetePanMan]

My short answer is: Disney could have done much better in this situation, but we're all replaceable and they have no reason to improve until the day comes when there's some blowback. That's just the sad reality of the situation. For every one of us oldsters who has had their fill of Disney after 20 years, there's a young family with a newborn who will be taking our place by 2023.

Here's the longer answer...

Imagine you operate a B&B. Like, really imagine that it is your livelihood and every dollar matters.

You typically charge $3000 per week for a room. But you need a little capital so you go to one of your frequent guests and tell him that if he pre-pays $30,000, you'll give him a week every year for the next 50 years for just $1k.

Now, if you run the numbers, you're making about half of what you could on the room over the course of the deal ($80k vs 150k). But it's guaranteed business and it meets your need for some instant cash.

A few years into the deal, he comes to you and says "hey, I know check-in is usually at 4pm but we need our room at noon. That's OK right? Because I'm your best customer."

A couple years later: "the breakfast you serve is OK, but I'd really like to have steak and lobster. I can't keep referring new business to you if you don't know how to treat your best customer."

By year 10 it's "hey, I want to park my car in your garage when I visit. You can park in the street. After all, I am your best customer."

While you accepted the money and agreed to the terms in good faith, at some point--as a businessperson--you have to look at the big picture. You've given this person a 50% discount on their lodging. The cash infusion at the start was nice, but now you're getting $1k per year for a room that normally fetches $3k.

*IS* this person actually your best customer? And how much is it reasonable to spend outside the norm to satisfy their ever-increasing demands?

Now DVC isn't some mom-and-pop B&B, but they have more guests to satisfy than one demanding prepaid customer. DVC (Disney) is making decisions to try and pacify 250,000+ member families, offering perks which literally cost millions of dollars to implement or sacrifice millions in revenue. There will always be limits.

I do understand your point but if DVC didn’t make business sense why would Disney still be expanding DVC resorts?

 

[CaliAdventurer]

I found the next direct DVC benefit: Guaranteed park and pass availability!

that's Club 33 territory... i.e. $$$

 

[CBMom01]

I understand pausing AP sales if Disney is trying to keep park availability for guests staying on property and not have those spots taken by AP holders not staying on property. I just wish there was an AP that was only valid for park admission when you were staying on property. Obviously biased/selfish on my part since as DVC members we always stay on property.

If anything, I can see them doing that for resort guests but not DVC. In the case if a resort, that’s new revenue. For DVC, they made their money when you bought