Cannot Believe This!

[CastMember 02]

Im looking at the reservation calendar for June, only Epcot is available almost everyday for Resort/Ticket Guests but open to Passholders for ALL Parks? I think that is crazy. Regular ticket guests pay WAY more than AP's .... Hmmmmmmmm

 

[bashuck]

Im looking at the reservation calendar for June, only Epcot is available almost everyday for Resort/Ticket Guests but open to Passholders for ALL Parks? I think that is crazy. Regular ticket guests pay WAY more than AP's .... Hmmmmmmmm

I imagine the logic is people will buy tickets for days they can reserve parks. The AP already have passes for all of the days so they make it easier for them to make park reservations

 

[DL1WDW2]

I imagine the logic is people will buy tickets for days they can reserve parks. The AP already have passes for all of the days so they make it easier for them to make park reservations

No , big surprise but APs are restricted to only 3 selections at a time w/o resort reservation...
So we are just as frustrated with making park entry, especially if we have friends or family visiting . I wish they had given AP’s the chance to make 4 instead of 3 ... it would have helped to match at least one day at Epcot,MK, AK,HS to act as the guide and help them figure out Virtual Boarding, etc!

 

[Meglen]

Im looking at the reservation calendar for June, only Epcot is available almost everyday for Resort/Ticket Guests but open to Passholders for ALL Parks? I think that is crazy. Regular ticket guests pay WAY more than AP's .... Hmmmmmmmm

AP pay a big chunk of money and they get a bad take on this new reservation system. Just look how Universal is doing it. If you are a AP you don't get blocked from entering. This is the way disney can keep aps happy while still having them pay full price for something that is meant to be anytime they want. If you book your wdw vacation less than 2 months out you will be sol.

 

[Ghost Host 998]

Im looking at the reservation calendar for June, only Epcot is available almost everyday for Resort/Ticket Guests but open to Passholders for ALL Parks? I think that is crazy. Regular ticket guests pay WAY more than AP's .... Hmmmmmmmm

Yep. Comments/complaints/theories/help with/speculation, etc. about the Park Reservation system, seems to be the number 1 topic for new threads on the DIS for the past several months.

 

[bashuck]

No , big surprise but APs are restricted to only 3 selections at a time w/o resort reservation...
So we are just as frustrated with making park entry, especially if we have friends or family visiting . I wish they had given AP’s the chance to make 4 instead of 3 ... it would have helped to match at least one day at Epcot,MK, AK,HS to act as the guide and help them figure out Virtual Boarding, etc!

Yeah I didn’t know that even being an AP as we live several states away but are staying on property for our two upcoming trips so had no problem booking passes.

 

[osufeth24]

sucks to suck

 

[havoc315]

It's likely just an artifact from the formula they were using to divide park passes. As demand for on-site and daily visitors has increased, they haven't reapportioned the allocation formula... yet. As we get closer to summer, I suspect there will be an increase in capacity that gets allocation priority to on-site guests. They don't want miserable on-site guests who can't get into a park.

 

[Eric Smith]

Im looking at the reservation calendar for June, only Epcot is available almost everyday for Resort/Ticket Guests but open to Passholders for ALL Parks? I think that is crazy. Regular ticket guests pay WAY more than AP's .... Hmmmmmmmm

APs can only book three park reservations at a time so it's likely that most of them are not booking that far out. Resort guests are generally going to book out much farther.

 

[Kmcnulty]

No , big surprise but APs are restricted to only 3 selections at a time w/o resort reservation...
So we are just as frustrated with making park entry, especially if we have friends or family visiting . I wish they had given AP’s the chance to make 4 instead of 3 ... it would have helped to match at least one day at Epcot,MK, AK,HS to act as the guide and help them figure out Virtual Boarding, etc!

I totally agree reservation system should allow 4 at one time for everyone. 4 parks so need 4 reservations

 

[mitsukoshi samurai]

Plus all passes below gold are blocked out

 

[Shughart]

Just tell us you're bitter you don't have an AP lol.

 

[mackmack]

Just tell us you're bitter you don't have an AP lol.

Dont worry you will be in the same boat as the rest of us very very soon. They will sunset AP's for you just like they did to everyone in Disneyland. Enjoy it while you can.

 

[Eric Smith]

Dont worry you will be in the same boat as the rest of us very very soon. They will sunset AP's for you just like they did to everyone in Disneyland. Enjoy it while you can.

That’s not happening at Disney World.

 

[frannn]

That’s not happening at Disney World.

Yes. Disney World is a destination park, so many travel from out of state/internationally and spend vacation dollars on resorts, food, merch, etc. Those same people may not take the same amount and length of trips without an AP so WDW would lose more than just ticket $.

 

[DL1WDW2]

Yeah I didn’t know that even being an AP as we live several states away but are staying on property for our two upcoming trips so had no problem booking passes.

Correct because your “ resort stay” means you are not limited to using your AP for only 3 selections. You can have full access to match your resort stay ( according to availability ) .
Playing the AP 3 day only selection is playing a risky game w/ availabilty especially for weekend planning .

 

[jbock]

I'd be interested to know the following data about annual passes:

% of annual passes held by those within easy driving distance for day trips - say 1 hr(?)
$ spent per park-visited day broken down by annual pass tier & and that divided by locals vs non-locals
$ spent per park-visited day by dated tix holders
% of hotel occupancy filled by AP vs non AP
% of park capacity (pre-pandemic and now) filled by AP vs non-AP holders

Not being an insider and simply wondering - is a typical AP holder (particularly w/o blackout dates) actually a drain on the system -- creating sold out days / longer lines? (Hear me out - not judging - if I lived within driving distance I'd be doing exactly what I'm describing) Many go to the parks, don't pay for parking (b/c of pass), ride a few rides, maybe each lunch, and then leave? Disney gets an extra $20 for the lunch, maybe. Sure, there are some that come and buy merch each time, do staycations, etc. That's why I'm curious about some of the stats above.

Meanwhile, a family is thinking about coming for 5 days and staying at a resort (maybe even a 500$/night+ deluxe). They see no park availability and don't bother booking. Disney loses $2500+tix*people+F&B+merch(?). How many of the FL annual passes does that offset? Also, if the parks are less crowded and the ~$5000(+) vacationer raves about it to friends vs. "we couldn't get into any parks we wanted and the lines were horrible don't bother" that's a potential issue?

Assuming Disney only cares about $$, I wonder what is in their best interest? I always thought of the APs as local good-will. (Perhaps not the one that costs 4 figures...) I could have it all wrong - I claim to know nothing. (Now there's a claim that no one should dispute.)

Obviously I would have a totally different perspective if I lived in the area and I personally feel that Disney should care about locals as much as the 1xyear or 1x every few year people, (not to mention 1 and dones!) but what does Disney accounting think?

 

[mackmack]

Yes. Disney World is a destination park, so many travel from out of state/internationally and spend vacation dollars on resorts, food, merch, etc. Those same people may not take the same amount and length of trips without an AP so WDW would lose more than just ticket $.

Under no circumstances is WDW having trouble selling tickets or booking rooms. They do not need AP's to lure people to stay longer or fill vacancy's. That is the entire point, they get nothing out of the AP program other than lost revenue. Every single one of those trips that is canceled by an AP will instantly be filled either by the previous AP owner or someone else and they will make more money in the process.

I think you grossly misunderstand the appeal of WDW around the country and world to assume they need AP's to lure people in.

It will be sunset and shut down like Magical Express and Disneyland AP's. You have my word on it.

 

[Eric Smith]

Under no circumstances is WDW having trouble selling tickets or booking rooms. They do not need AP's to lure people to stay longer or fill vacancy's. That is the entire point, they get nothing out of the AP program other than lost revenue. Every single one of those trips that is canceled by an AP will instantly be filled either by the previous AP owner or someone else and they will make more money in the process.

I think you grossly misunderstand the appeal of WDW around the country and world to assume they need AP's to lure people in.

It will be sunset and shut down like Magical Express and Disneyland AP's. You have my word on it.

It’s not going to be shut down. If they were going to do that, they would have killed it during the closure like they did with Disneyland.
They aren’t selling APs right now because with the limited park availability they don’t want to create a shortage of AP slots which would anger both the people who currently have APs and those who just bought them. I expect they will resume AP sales this summer after they increase park capacity.

 

[mackmack]

I expect they will resume AP sales this summer after they increase park capacity.

The same logic could have been applied to magical express. Why even shut it down? Because they know it won't affect attendance at all to shut it down. Why raise parking fees? ... these are indicators that they do not need to provide any special promotions to fill the parks. AP's is the exact same thing and the natural evolution. I will guarantee you they stop selling them altogether and everyone that has them start the 1 year countdown before they are obsolete.

Do you agree with the premise that they do not need AP's to fill the park every single day? If so, then you answered your own question. They are literally losing money keeping it around. This is a mathematical argument at this point.