Disneyland Paris goes full Universal

[Lee Matthews]

I find that pricing actually quite reasonable. I would happily pay the equivalent for it in WDW.

Where Disney will completely spoil it is buy probably insisting you have to have it every day of your stay and you can just do the odd day here and there

 

[ChrisM]

I find that pricing actually quite reasonable. I would happily pay the equivalent for it in WDW.

Paris pricing is way too low for WDW - it would shatter the system.

That said, I fully expect something like this will come to WDW at roughly 2.5 to 3 times the Paris price.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

If this comes to WDW we are done... everything adds up. Im sure this is a test for a similar system in Galaxy’s Edge. Disney is becoming a playground for the rich... upcharge events every other morning, $ 80 a head dessert parties every night, dining packages, $25 parking, date based surge tickets, $55 buffets, and now in addition to paying so much to get in, you will have a significant capacity in major attractions going towards jet setting high rollers or once in a lifetime guests who are willing to blow huge $$$$.

I hope Disneys attendance tanks and the people leading this aggressive monetization get fired when they roll this out in euro disney...

 

[Farro]

Paris pricing is way too low for WDW - it would shatter the system.

That said, I fully expect something like this will come to WDW at roughly 2.5 to 3 times the Paris price.

And that would be one form of long line controls - price it high, majority of people will be priced out. Like it or not.
As I said earlier, we don't go as often as most seem to go on this board, so we would most likely splurge for it in one shape or another, but I can't see people who go yearly paying for it.

 

[indoshakespeare]

i'd rather have WDW expand the EMM offerings. offer it on more days and have more attractions open. a Pandora EMM would be nice. Tier 1 only EMM in Epcot, etc..

 

[ChipnDale79]

If this comes to WDW we are done... everything adds up. Im sure this is a test for a similar system in Galaxy’s Edge. Disney is becoming a playground for the rich... upcharge events every other morning, $ 80 a head dessert parties every night, dining packages, $25 parking, date based surge tickets, $55 buffets, and now in addition to paying so much to get in, you will have a significant capacity in major attractions going towards jet setting high rollers or once in a lifetime guests who are willing to blow huge $$$$.

I hope Disneys attendance tanks and the people leading this aggressive monetization get fired when they roll this out in euro disney...

The economy is going to crash again, it always does, Disney has set themselves up to get nailed hard when it does. They're going to be in a world of hurt when it happens.

 

[TLM2015]

I'm surprised that they have not started charging for FP+ already since it seems to be pretty industry standard to charge for front of the line like Universal, Legoland at least in California does this, and some (or all) Six Flags. It seems that the MaxPass in DL may be part of them testing it out and now Paris. I think eventually they would do away with the free FP+ if they were to go to the paid system because otherwise I'm not sure how the system would work with both and still move the FP line efficiently. It seems that Disney in general is looking to move more towards what is industry standard instead of being the exception to the rule. It's their prerogative but for me, I can't justify the premium price for their product if their product is going to be in line with everyone else. I'd still go but probably for less often and not exclusively, i.e. go on the off season and my next WDW trip probably would not be only Disney but an Orlando trip with other attractions and possibly off site.

 

[GoingSince1990]

In WDW I would expect the pricing for such a product to be in the $700-$1000 range (depending upon the time of year) per person, per day, assuming that Disney did not want to disrupt their existing FP+ system. I get to this pricing by looking at the cost of a private VIP tour which I imagine the vast majority of people do to get unlimited FP line access as opposed to having a friendly tour guide to chat to. Such a tour costs from $425 to $625 per hour with a 7 hour minimum. Let’s say the guide is getting paid $25 per hour, so that’s profit for Disney of between $400 and $600 per hour, or $2800 to $4200 per tour. Theoretically up to 10 guests can be on a tour but from seeing these tours around the parks I would say a typical group size is more like 4, so the $2800 to $4200 profit per tour would equate to $700 to $1050 per person, per day.

Of course charging such eye-wateringly high prices for fastpass line access would be a PR nightmare for Disney, which is why they dress up their existing product as a “private tour” as opposed to “front of the line access”. And their existing system also allows for plenty of upcharge events like EMM and Ultimate Nights of Adventure. They could of course scrap the existing system and go the Universal route, abolishing the 3 free FP+ and charging a more modest amount for everyone who wants FP, but I highly doubt that they will, again because of the PR hit and the massive investment in their current setup.

Also, something to bear in mind is that the Universal Express experience is not identical to FP+. Go to Universal on a very busy day and even with Express you can easily wait 40 minutes for Despicable Me and Gringotts. When I questioned our wait once at Despicable Me I was told that Express only guarantees a 50% saving compared to the standby line. This would of course be a massive downgrade to the current FP experience at rides like FoP and SDD.

 

[snappy]

I saw SLinky dog at 180 minute wait when we were there a couple weeks ago. Are the lines for the uni rides you mentioned that long. I only have gone there once almost 10 years ago. I have no idea how things are there now.

 

[whiporee]

In WDW I would expect the pricing for such a product to be in the $700-$1000 range (depending upon the time of year) per person, per day, assuming that Disney did not want to disrupt their existing FP+ system. I get to this pricing by looking at the cost of a private VIP tour which I imagine the vast majority of people do to get unlimited FP line access as opposed to having a friendly tour guide to chat to. Such a tour costs from $425 to $625 per hour with a 7 hour minimum. Let’s say the guide is getting paid $25 per hour, so that’s profit for Disney of between $400 and $600 per hour, or $2800 to $4200 per tour. Theoretically up to 10 guests can be on a tour but from seeing these tours around the parks I would say a typical group size is more like 4, so the $2800 to $4200 profit per tour would equate to $700 to $1050 per person, per day.

Of course charging such eye-wateringly high prices for fastpass line access would be a PR nightmare for Disney, which is why they dress up their existing product as a “private tour” as opposed to “front of the line access”. And their existing system also allows for plenty of upcharge events like EMM and Ultimate Nights of Adventure. They could of course scrap the existing system and go the Universal route, abolishing the 3 free FP+ and charging a more modest amount for everyone who wants FP, but I highly doubt that they will, again because of the PR hit and the massive investment in their current setup.

Also, something to bear in mind is that the Universal Express experience is not identical to FP+. Go to Universal on a very busy day and even with Express you can easily wait 40 minutes for Despicable Me and Gringotts. When I questioned our wait once at Despicable Me I was told that Express only guarantees a 50% saving compared to the standby line. This would of course be a massive downgrade to the current FP experience at rides like FoP and SDD.

I don't think it would get to $700, but in order for it to be feasible I think it would have to be at least $450. At <$200 they'd sell out in 30 seconds. if you figure that the club Level Fp system is three for $50 with no duplicates, then WDW is putting an assigned value of about $20 a FP (assuming they are unlimited and unrestricted). If you assume the average FP wait is about 15 minutes and you've got transit time, then you're looking at abut 3FP an hour on an eight hour day. At that point -- if you're living in Disney MathLand where money is just a concept -- the unlimited pass makes sense up to about $500.

But man, that would be an unpleasant press release to write.

 

[snappy]

Makes the park ticket prices look paltry.

 

[Farro]

I don't think it would get to $700, but in order for it to be feasible I think it would have to be at least $450. At <$200 they'd sell out in 30 seconds. if you figure that the club Level Fp system is three for $50 with no duplicates, then WDW is putting an assigned value of about $20 a FP (assuming they are unlimited and unrestricted). If you assume the average FP wait is about 15 minutes and you've got transit time, then you're looking at abut 3FP an hour on an eight hour day. At that point -- if you're living in Disney MathLand where money is just a concept -- the unlimited pass makes sense up to about $500.

But man, that would be an unpleasant press release to write.

If they actually price these at $450 or higher for one day, one person, one park, then we would pass. As I believe many would. For two of us that would be close to $1000 for one day/one park.

If it was something like $450 per person for entire stay/all parks, that would be more palatable.

 

[Doug M]

If they actually price these at $450 or higher for one day, one person, one park, then we would pass. As I believe many would. For two of us that would be close to $1000 for one day/one park.

If it was something like $450 per person for entire stay/all parks, that would be more palatable.

No chance. If someone stays 10 days that is 45 a day. I would be shocked if is anything less than 250 pp per day but expect more like 400.

 

[Farro]

No chance. If someone stays 10 days that is 45 a day. I would be shocked if is anything less than 250 pp per day but expect more like 400.

Hmmm...$250 to ride all the rides I want as many times as I want in one day....

Who knows what will happen! No sense in getting worked up about it!

Although I do dislike to see people practically salivating over a possible economic recession just to see Disney have to lower prices...

 

[ChipnDale79]

Hmmm...$250 to ride all the rides I want as many times as I want in one day....

Who knows what will happen! No sense in getting worked up about it!

Although I do dislike to see people practically salivating over a possible economic recession just to see Disney have to lower prices...

No one is salivating over a possible recession so disney will lower their prices.......I just made a comment that they've set themselves up to get hit really hard when a recession comes.

What I don't like is when people salivate over price increases so it'll push out the "rift raft".

 

[Tiki Birdland]

...so it'll push out the "rift raft".

Hi, I'm Riff, this is my wife, Raft. These price increases are definitely got us thinking about visiting other places than WDW. We have 3 kids and love to visit the parks, every other year since 1997. Next summer, I think we'll skip WDW and go to the Northeast. Maybe DC and see if there's any good theme parks nearby. Make it an Educational + Fun vacation. In '97, that looked like Epcot and MK/Typhoon Lagoon.

 

[tlmadden73]

I think WDW is a different beast.

They could roll this out very, VERY limited with little impact to the system as a whole (just like how Club Level guests can get 3 extra Fast Passes at a $$$ per day cost) - 3 additional fast passes is significant, so maybe they don't NEED to do "all day" fast pass. If they did, it would have to be priced near the cost of a VIP tour. It would have to be priced near that or the FP system would just be overwhelmed with demand.

That being said ... even a SINGLE "anytime, anywhere" fast pass would be a hot commodity and people WOULD pay a lot for that. So Disney is definitely looking at ways to monetize them even more.

Hopefully, WDW will just continue to expand EMM to all the parks and just have people pay for their fast passes that way. I mean . .as it stands .. people are paying $40/person (after you subtract the "cost" of breakfast) for 3+ fast passes on some of the most popular rides.
That being said, that probably means that EMH will continue to shrink (why give away for free, what people are willing to pay for).

 

[Farro]

No one is salivating over a possible recession so disney will lower their prices.......I just made a comment that they've set themselves up to get hit really hard when a recession comes.

What I don't like is when people salivate over price increases so it'll push out the "rift raft".

Is someone doing that?

I've seen mention of the economy in several threads. Some just pointing it out, some seem gleeful.

 

[ChipnDale79]

Is someone doing that?

I've seen mention of the economy in several threads. Some just pointing it out, some seem gleeful.

I've seen quite a few posts where people said they'd be happy to pay extra prices to push down the crowds so they could have more of the park to themselves.

 

[DisFanDad]

I hope they start to offer this! I would gladly pay $102 to ride any fast pass eligible ride I want at any time. Perhaps I wouldn't waste money on this at Epcot, but definitely MK, AK and DHS when Star Wars opens... (...starts saving money now...)

Sure you say that now, until you try to go on your trip and all the "skip the line" passes are sold out, for the day / days. Or worse, they don't limit them, so that in order to even ride more than a ride or two a day you HAVE to purchase the thing, which means its just another 100 a day, per person, to go to WDW.