Disney doesn't do more for the annual pass holders for a reason.

[doconeill]

The last thing Disney needs is more cost in the system that would come with a collections department.

I think that is the basic problem - Disney doesn't want to be a creditor. The demand for a payment plan in FL may be higher, but the issues that come with it will be higher as well.

If they want to stay out of the credit business, but want people to be able to pay at 0% interest, make it a 0% purchase option on the Disney Visa. Don't use the card for anything else. Make Chase "chase" the bad loans.

 

[rlovew]

As Michael said, the DL AP situation is very different. We have 4 levels of AP here. Each has it's own blackout dates. WDW has none. This allows all income levels to have a shot of the magic. In fact, since they initated the AP payment program (with no interest), the number of APs rose so drastically that the park has seen an increase in total attendance numbers of 15%. That proves John's point about the value of doing the payment plan.

There is a FL resident Seasonal Pass with blackout dates and they just added a weekday seasonal pass with blackout dates for FL residents as well as all weekends being blocked. Really if you wanted to put yourself on a payment plan as a FL resident you could buy the Weekday pass for about $160- the next time upgrade to the Seasonal pass for about $100 and then finally upgrade to the full pass for another $100.

 

[jeanigor]

I'm not sure that the current number of AP holders is as significant as the POTENTIAL number of APs that could be sold if there a payment plan.

We all have said it at one time or another - Disney is a business - what better way to sell more of your product then to make it more accessible to more people. If you can't (or are unwilling to) lower the price then spread out the payments.

The more APs you sell - the more money you make - and the more potential guests you have who will visit your parks who feel they need to 'use' their passes.

Extrapolate this out to how much money may be spent on food, souveniers, other passes for family members, etc.

Seems simple to me.......

I agree, Business 201.
But with the purported success of this plan in DL, would it create such an influx in crowds to create Easter/Christmas crowds throughout the year? Increased attendance is a good thing; however, overwhelming attendance when not prepared is a recipe for unhappy/non-return guests.

That being said, think of it from the other end of the financial spectrum. Would your bank lend you the cash to go on vacation? Perhaps they would. But I am willing to bet they are more likely to give you a loan for a car, house, or other piece of tangible property. As others have said, if you only had to make the first months payment before you used it, you could spend your vacation at Disney, park hop all week for $75 per person, and then default on your payments. True, Disney could disable the pass, but if you weren't planning on returning, then what would you care? You spent 7 days in the parks for less than $11 a day.

I would like to hope there are not too many people in the world that would do this. And I think it would be very beneficial to current, as well as potential AP holders. I'm just not sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

I don't make a boat load of money. I don't have mucho bucks to spend at the drop of a hat. When I decided to buy my AP, I budgeted for it. I stuck a little money aside every paycheck or two until I had enough for it. Just like PCC 2.0, I can't comfortably fork over the lump sum of my balance tomorrow. I stick a little aside and make a payment to Dreams. And its better than 0% interest if I keep my money in a savings account until I need it. Might as well earn a few cents.

 

[slapwhitey]

I agree, Business 201.
But with the purported success of this plan in DL, would it create such an influx in crowds to create Easter/Christmas crowds throughout the year? Increased attendance is a good thing; however, overwhelming attendance when not prepared is a recipe for unhappy/non-return guests.

That being said, think of it from the other end of the financial spectrum. Would your bank lend you the cash to go on vacation? Perhaps they would. But I am willing to bet they are more likely to give you a loan for a car, house, or other piece of tangible property. As others have said, if you only had to make the first months payment before you used it, you could spend your vacation at Disney, park hop all week for $75 per person, and then default on your payments. True, Disney could disable the pass, but if you weren't planning on returning, then what would you care? You spent 7 days in the parks for less than $11 a day.

I would like to hope there are not too many people in the world that would do this. And I think it would be very beneficial to current, as well as potential AP holders. I'm just not sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

I don't make a boat load of money. I don't have mucho bucks to spend at the drop of a hat. When I decided to buy my AP, I budgeted for it. I stuck a little money aside every paycheck or two until I had enough for it. Just like PCC 2.0, I can't comfortably fork over the lump sum of my balance tomorrow. I stick a little aside and make a payment to Dreams. And its better than 0% interest if I keep my money in a savings account until I need it. Might as well earn a few cents.

This was kind of my thoughts as well Todd. It all seems like a bit of a logistical nightmare. I'm sure there are options that I'm not thinking of (as people have said the other theme parks have figured a way). My only problem with comparing to another park is that those parks don't have an AP with a price point in the neighborhood of $500.

I'm not doubting there is a way to do it but the people and the power they would have to install to implement such a program would be something else. I'm not sure Disney would be willing to do that at this point.

This may also be an unpopular opinion but I also think Disney is not necessarily in the business to fill the parks (they are quite busy as it stands) but more in the business of filling hotels. Making a more affordable AP does not necessarily fill this desire. I could be way off....I'm just a crazy Canadian.

 

[FireDancer]

Very interesting topic. I see merit on both sides of the issue and it really would depend on the financial impact that the crediting would cause.

On the pro side it would get more people into the parks. While the payment for the pass would be delayed (meaning payment after consumption) the payment for rooms, food, and merchandise would not. Even if I do use the pass for a long stay and then stop paying has Disney made enough on my trip to write off the reaming amount due and still make an acceptable profit?

On the con side Disney may not want to be a creditor. The current system is a layaway system and the revenue for the trip is generated before the expense is realized. Adding a payment option would change that and some of the revenue would then trail the expense. I know just enough accounting to end up in a Federal prison if I try to actually do it in practice but the delayed revenue may cause some accounting issues because they will have to match it to the expense. If there are enough people who use this payment plan it could change the accounting enough to make a difference and in a publicly traded company that could effect numbers enough to impact stock. Many of the same counter arguments for the pros apply here. Is the added revenue from the people who wouldn't come enough to counter the accounting headaches and lost revenue from those that default?

Maybe there is a compromise. Since DVC members have an asset that I assume can have a lien placed against it the payment plan can be offered to DVC members first. If they don't pay their DVC points are held until they do so or a lien is placed against their membership so they can't sell it or use it until the defaulted payments are made up. I'm not sure how this would be done legally or logistically but that is what corporate lawyers are for.

My gut tells me that the people who default will be offset by the added revenue from not only the additional guests who buy the passes but also the existing guests that use the pass to justify a longer stay or an additional trip and from the revenue generated by the defaulting guests while they were on property. Without sitting down with the books and the accountants this is only a gut feeling and could be quite wrong.

 

[WaltD4Me]

As others have said, if you only had to make the first months payment before you used it, you could spend your vacation at Disney, park hop all week for $75 per person, and then default on your payments. True, Disney could disable the pass, but if you weren't planning on returning, then what would you care? You spent 7 days in the parks for less than $11 a day.

I would like to hope there are not too many people in the world that would do this. And I think it would be very beneficial to current, as well as potential AP holders. I'm just not sure the benefits outweigh the risks.

The more I think about this scenario the more I think it would happen alot more than we would think or hope it would. I can see the word spreading on the internet...."Okay, here is what you do to get Disney tickets cheap....." and 2 or 3 years ago it might not have been such an issue, but now? I don't know, I think alot more people would pay attention, think about the money they'd save, justify it in their head and do it. A HUGE amount of people, no, probably not, but way more than before the economy crashed.

Maybe a way to avoid this is to offer a payment plan only to current AP holders. For "established" guests. I think they'd appreciate it and be way less likely to do the "One trip cheap and done" thing.

 

[SamSam]

I don't make a boat load of money. I don't have mucho bucks to spend at the drop of a hat. When I decided to buy my AP, I budgeted for it. I stuck a little money aside every paycheck or two until I had enough for it. Just like PCC 2.0, I can't comfortably fork over the lump sum of my balance tomorrow. I stick a little aside and make a payment to Dreams. And its better than 0% interest if I keep my money in a savings account until I need it. Might as well earn a few cents.

Love your thinking! I remember as a teenager, using my babysitting money to buy my clothes on layaway. Then as a young married couple, with no extra money, sticking $5 a week into savings to save up for things.

 

[PEANUT1]

sorry to hijack thread..but are they still doing the 15month annual pass renewal? We are coming in December and want to renew while we are there and are keeping our fingers crossed that they are still doing it

 

[georgemoe]

sorry to hijack thread..but are they still doing the 15month annual pass renewal? We are coming in December and want to renew while we are there and are keeping our fingers crossed that they are still doing it

As long as you renew 30 days on either side of the expiration date I'm pretty sure the answer is yes unless they decide to change back to 12 months.

 

[kbelle8995]

I owned a annual pass for Disney while living in both Tallahassee and Palm Beach Gardens. So it depends on what you think on as local. I live far enough away that I have to stay in a hotel in order to go just to far away for a day trip.

I think Disney does not have to have a payment plan because they don't think that they need to.

I disagree.

 

[Mindy5767]

Disney Chase Visa has made offers in the past for certain payment plans for various Disney vacation options.

The whole comparison to DL is not so clear because of the geography. Even if you lived within the Orlando area, WDW is SO big that it makes more sense from a time-management point to eat somewhere on property.

In one of the business reports for Disney, I was reading about how the recession has hit hard. Park attendance is actually up, but revenue is down. What Disney World needs is not more park attendees. They need those attendees to spend money. Revenue from the parks is down significantly. Think about the offer of 3 free nights when you buy 4. It is a very smart business decision. What their goal is is to get people who are already coming, to stay longer so they'll spend more money on food and souvenirs or other revenue bringers such as dinner shows, tours, etc. The 3 free extra nights is filling empty hotel beds, so not a big cost for them here. Housekeeping maybe. Then they're giving you three days of park admission after the first 4 days are the bulk of the cost. Those 3 additional days cost less than $20. They want you in the parks and spending.

That said. and back to the original question here. I'm an AP holder and DVC. I decided to extend my stay by one day (no points left). Instead of paying big bucks for another night in the 2 bedroom villa which we don't need because the other family we're traveling with is leaving on Friday night. So we are moving over to Pop Century. So I asked the woman, being that it is Easter weekend... is there any discounts. I told her I qualify for AP, DVC, AAA and Chase Disney VISA. She found me a very nice discount using a code for AP discount. saved me more than $50.00, which I will return to them in park spending.

Oh... by the way... what is this bounce back a few of you mention?

 

[doconeill]

I told her I qualify for AP, DVC, AAA and Chase Disney VISA. She found me a very nice discount using a code for AP discount. saved me more than $50.00, which I will return to them in park spending.

I did something similar, when I was taking DD#1 down for SWW last year. Rather than burn two nights of points I called up to see what I could get for a couple nights at POP, which we never stayed at before. He asked if I had any pin codes or discounts, and I said, "I pretty much qualify for all of them!" Got 40% off room only, not sure what codes were used though.

Oh... by the way... what is this bounce back a few of you mention?

I've never gotten one, but I understand its an offer you receive while at the resort to book your next stay in advance at a discount.