Epcot non-ride entry

[denman007]

Does any one else wish that there was a cheaper entry ticket so that you could eat and drink and skip the rides? I know it's pretty much systematically impossible. I can't justify a 1 or 2 day ticket for 2 ppl for $120 per day per person.

I and going in June without park tickets. I know I can easily fill my time and food/drink consumption elsewhere, but I will miss eating and drinking around the world.

Even the after 2pm ticket is $117. How about an after 5pm ticket for $35, Disney?

 

[scrappinginontario]

While I appreciate your request, I find Disney offers more for non-park guests than many other places. There is so much to do at the resorts, Disney Springs, etc. If I choose to go to Epcot, I'm okay to pay what they're asking even if choosing not to ride attractions.

Also, I have a feeling a ticket priced at $35 would completely overwhelm the park and take away from the guest experience of all.

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

While I appreciate your request, I find Disney offers more for non-park guests than many other places. There is so much to do at the resorts, Disney Springs, etc. If I choose to go to Epcot, I'm okay to pay what they're asking even if choosing not to ride attractions.

Also, I have a feeling a ticket priced at $35 would completely overwhelm the park and take away from the guest experience of all.

I agree. If I really want the park experience, I have to be willing to pay! A "value" price that is a low price point will not be advantagious to the overall guest experience because the parke would be overwhelmed. I do like the idea of a senior ticket because they are plenty of us who won't do rides anymore.

 

[WLWildlife]

Does any one else wish that there was a cheaper entry ticket so that you could eat and drink and skip the rides? I know it's pretty much systematically impossible. I can't justify a 1 or 2 day ticket for 2 ppl for $120 per day per person.

I and going in June without park tickets. I know I can easily fill my time and food/drink consumption elsewhere, but I will miss eating and drinking around the world.

Even the after 2pm ticket is $117. How about an after 5pm ticket for $35, Disney?

I would love a non-riding ticket. I think it could be tracked through a magic band. I enjoy the park atmosphere, but most rides, the big ones, I don't care for. I have done a no park Disney vacation, and there was plenty to do, but I did miss being in the parks.

 

[Miffy]

I would love a non-riding ticket. I think it could be tracked through a magic band. I enjoy the park atmosphere, but most rides, the big ones, I don't care for. I have done a no park Disney vacation, and there was plenty to do, but I did miss being in the parks.

While this seems like a good idea, in practice it would make things difficult at rides, since every rider no matter what queue they were in would have to have their ticket or MB scanned.

 

[HopperFan]

Years ago they had a Florida Epcot After 4 Annual Pass. I think they thought getting folks in to dine in the evenings would make that worth it. Disney determined that was not a good ticket to maintain so I'm sure they'd see a non-ride ticket not worth it either. The cost of implementing and the additional bodies in a park that stays pretty full - wouldn't make sense for DIsney.

While this seems like a good idea, in practice it would make things difficult at rides, since every rider no matter what queue they were in would have to have their ticket or MB scanned.

THIS ^ It would be a nightmare for CMs and Guests alike. The only person not put out would be the person with the "no ride ticket".

Even the after 2pm ticket is $117. How about an after 5pm ticket for $35, Disney?

The costs to implement this would likely be more than the price of that ticket. They can make that much selling just two drinks. Disney's offer to wander and relax and wine/dine is Disney Springs or visit a hotel. They will keep the parks for the folks paying the higher ticket amount.

 

[SteveH]

Sadly @denman007 Disney doesn't care about you, however they do care about your wallet.. a lot. I think that type of ticket would be popular for many consumers, those that are of an age where the rides aren't the appeal but the nostalgia and the theming are. But that's not where the profit is and and to Disney those that would like that are just adding to the crowd without generating the profit. I don't expect to ever see a ticket like that at Disney in it's current form.

 

[Mle8308]

Sadly @denman007 Disney doesn't care about you, however they do care about your wallet.. a lot. I think that type of ticket would be popular for many consumers, those that are of an age where the rides aren't the appeal but the nostalgia and the theming are. But that's not where the profit is and and to Disney those that would like that are just adding to the crowd without generating the profit. I don't expect to ever see a ticket like that at Disney in it's current form.

As @scrappinginontario posted above, this would be an absolute nightmare for guests who are paying for a full priced ticket. It would make the parks extremely crowded, attraction lines ridiculous, the restaurants would be crazy, & any concert series would be insane (they already are with guests paying for full price tickets). And the additional labor cost, not worth it. Disney is a business, with a responsibility to make a profit for their shareholders, they are not a benevolent organization in existance to cater to all consumers who don't want to pay for a ticket. Why would they want to add to the crowd and not generate a profit? As a stockholder, I don't want them to do that. And from a paying park guest perspective, I don't want it either. Really bad idea.

 

[Simba's Mom]

I'm really surprised to hear that the Epcot after 4:00 AP wasn't financially worthwhile to Disney. My first thought was about how great it would be to be able to shop in the different countries with a non-ride ticket. But come to think of it, how much of the money goes directly to Disney versus the country. If I buy tea from the Twinings Shoppe, does Disney get part of the money? Or the big store in Japan? If I get a few snacks at Germany?
Because overall, I'd love a non-ride ticket.

 

[HopperFan]

I'm really surprised to hear that the Epcot after 4:00 AP wasn't financially worthwhile to Disney. My first thought was about how great it would be to be able to shop in the different countries with a non-ride ticket.

After COVID they restructured the Annual Pass program towards the current tiers. The After 4 pass was considered way too generous since it had no blockout dates and allowed holders to attend all festivals, all concerts and likely a big miss on the purpose, get folks in to spend money.

But come to think of it, how much of the money goes directly to Disney versus the country. If I buy tea from the Twinings Shoppe, does Disney get part of the money? Or the big store in Japan? If I get a few snacks at Germany?
Because overall, I'd love a non-ride ticket.

I don't think any money goes to any country since they do not sponsor. The stores and restaurants that are operated by third party company are more or less just like a store in a mall. I assume there is rent and a percentage of sales paid to Disney. But Disney does operate some shops etc themselves.

 

[Tatebeck]

With LL Multipass, Single pass, and Premier pass, what you are asking for has basically just become the base ticket price. And if you want to ride a bunch of rides you pay extra.

A no-ride pass would be much tougher because every single guest would have to scan in at the standby line, increasing labor costs and decreasing line efficiency

 

[Fangorn]

Disneyland and WDW both offered General Admission (park entry only) to the Parks when they initially opened. At that time, you had to purchase individual ride tickets or a book of tickets to ride there rides. When they switched to the Park Passports in 1981/82-ish, the General Admission option went away.

Steve

 

[wdwfan94]

With LL Multipass, Single pass, and Premier pass, what you are asking for has basically just become the base ticket price. And if you want to ride a bunch of rides you pay extra.

A no-ride pass would be much tougher because every single guest would have to scan in at the standby line, increasing labor costs and decreasing line efficiency

They could put scan points at the entry as well as the merge point. This could stop people from cutting to "meet up with their group". If they did this and you scan at the merge point 200 people before you're supposed to because you cut in line, you get to have a chat with Disney Security.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I don't ride all that many rides at any amusement or theme park. I mean I do depending on the park itself but by in large I'm usually limited in what attractions I do either for my motion sickness or too high of drops plus with my husband being so tall there are attractions here and there that I could ride but he would not (though we have some fun times like at Flight of the Hippogriff at Universal when he can technically ride but er not as well as short me ).

We pay the admission fee with knowing that. It is what it is. It's been this way my whole life although I can say I was a tad bit more adventurous when I was 18 at my regional park in attractions. This goes for Six Flags, this goes for my own regional park, this goes for WDW and DL, this goes for USO, this goes for TDL (Tokyo Disneyland), this goes for Silver Dollar City (albeit that's not the best example as the park has a split ride/experience set up), etc. I can appreciate the sentiment but also understand that it's not realistic for most parks to offer a non-rider a pass with substantial savings. That is making the categorization that a park is solely for rides and while that might be for some it isn't the way the park is set up.

What I will say is that Tokyo Disneyland for example does offer a park ticket for after 5pm (with a closing time of 9pm) for during the week and an after 3pm (with a closing time of 9pm) for during the weekend. The savings aren't super substantial and it's not intended in the least for non-riders specifically but I did appreciate that option. We used the weeknight pass at Tokyo Disneyland allowing us time in the park (but not really any of their get ahead of the line passes were available then) to ride a handful of rides and see the fireworks show instead of doing 2 full days at Disneyland we were able to do 1 full day and the weeknight pass. Then we did 2 full days at Disneysea. The caveat there at Tokyo is the churro, popcorn and parade game is more fierce than you've ever seen in the U.S. They do not have APs right now, they do not have park to park tickets, they do not have multi-day tickets either right now and yet people will pay that full day's price to go in and sit for 5-6+ hours for a parade, the popcorn lines were the longest lines in the parks lol. The other caveat is that Tokyo isn't owned nor operated by Disney company, the owners just lease via a license for Disney.

I think you're going to lose support when you frame it like non-riders ticket or food/drink ticket rather than maybe thinking about it like a timeframe ticket (which exists already for convention tickets often or for specific ticket offers Disney already supplies). What I would expand on Tokyo's system is not having the restrictions that Disney places on. Their weeknight and weekend ticket offers for Tokyo are available to anyone and only have the entry time limitation. It's not tied to a specific locked in ticket offer allowing for flexibility like we did where we just got it for 1 night.