Future of Annual Passes

[SL6827]

With regarding APs, do you think that at some point Disney will make you buy an AP for each individual park? I'm sure if I thought of that game plan, they have thought of that game plan.

 

[DFII]

They already have the Epcot after 4 pm so I guess it wouldn’t surprise me. Would likely be the day I stop renewing my AP though.

 

[SL6827]

They already have the Epcot after 4 pm so I guess it wouldn’t surprise me. Would likely be the day I stop renewing my AP though.

Ya, I'm sure the Magic Kingdom would come with a "premium" price.

 

[OKW Lover]

With regarding APs, do you think that at some point Disney will make you buy an AP for each individual park?

No, I don't think they will do that. Disney wants guests to visit all the parks.

 

[bryanb]

It’s all speculation. But I don’t think they’d prefer to sell a la carte annual passes unless there was demand for it. What they could do is add more tiers with blockout dates, increasing the price of the most flexible tickets. They could introduce budget APs with lots more blockouts and possibly blocking out MK more often if necessary.

Having access to all four parks encourages AP holders to come vacation more often, stay on site, and spend more. Giving fewer parks discourages longer stays.

The Epcot After 4 is a budget option for locals who aren’t willing to spend on a full AP but want a place to drink, dine, and shop. The only reason to do it for Epcot is because there is a specific type of local guest who would buy it and spend money at Epcot. It was a response to a specific market opportunity.

 

[DOOM1001]

Honestly the passes are fine how they are,and I don't know why MK would come at a higher price,a good amount of AP holders don't view MK as their favorite park.I mean they already changed up the passes not too long ago,trust me they're fine right now and it would be in their best interest not to tinker with them,they're getting expensive and adding passes with more restrictions or block out dates will drive up prices on the higher tier passes and just make people not renew,I already have several family and friends who haven't renewed in the last year.

 

[AngiTN]

No

 

[focusondisney]

I am an AP holder & I live 1200 miles away. I have made 4 trips to WDW with my AP this year. If I did not have the AP, I probably would have only gone 1 time. We stay club level at deluxe resorts & eat at signature restaurants almost every day. We book extras like parties & tours. I buy the pass with no date restrictions because I need to travel when I can get vacation time, not when Disney says. So because of that AP, Disney gets lots of money from me.

Lots of AP holders are not local residents. Why would they want to buy an AP for only 1 or 2 parks? If Disney ever made me buy an AP per park, I would be done.

 

[loves to dive]

Nope, there would be no advantage to having one then.

 

[Allison]

Absolutely not.

 

[bumbershoot]

The Epcot After 4 is a budget option for locals who aren’t willing to spend on a full AP but want a place to drink, dine, and shop. The only reason to do it for Epcot is because there is a specific type of local guest who would buy it and spend money at Epcot. It was a response to a specific market opportunity.

Agreed.

My cousins ONLY bought that for quite awhile. They never went to other parks. That's what they wanted so that's where they went.

 

[tex1989]

The answer to your question really lies with the numbers that only Disney knows. That would be how many AP's are sold to guests that live more than say 400 miles from the parks. They have the Florida Resident passes with blackout dates for locals but I have a feeling that more than 50% of the AP's with no blackout dates belong to out of state residents. As another poster said that is why they go so often, and I can say the same is true for us. Even in their pricing for multiday tickets they get cheaper the more days you buy. The draw of the AP is to get you on site more often staying in the resorts eating at their resturants and buying their merchandise. That is the reasoning behind ME, get you on site with no car so every dollar you spend on food, drinks, souviniers and activities is theirs. I see the gondola system they are building as another transportation option as falling into this strategy. The new monorails they have contracted for are to the same end. I just think with the dollars they are spending are to get you and keep you there for the duration of your vacation. To that end I don't see the modification to AP's you suggest happening anytime soon.

 

[starry_solo]

Disneyland used to have separate passes for each park - DLR/DCA til they realized not a lot of people went into DCA so they combined them. Then they did a deal with a separate AP for DCA through Costco, not sure how that went.

For WDW, they might get away with it, but I doubt it.

 

[AngiTN]

One other thing, as far as I know, all the AP with restrictions are offered to FL residents only
Those of us from out of state only have two options, with or without water parks. No restrictions on them at all
Other than DVC. Not sure what they have they can buy, we are not DVC.

 

[bryanb]

Disneyland used to have separate passes for each park - DLR/DCA til they realized not a lot of people went into DCA so they combined them. Then they did a deal with a separate AP for DCA through Costco, not sure how that went.

For WDW, they might get away with it, but I doubt it.

Wow, I remember that. When DCA opened, it had a significantly smaller guest capacity than it does today, and the resort caters to a large population of locals, so there was some angst over what would happen if you had a combined annual pass in the first few years. Later, to help boost attendance, the $330 Costco DCA annual passport was a discount option, again aimed at local residents. There was probably a lot of research that went into that test, and they probably figured there was very little risk that the $330 pass would cannibalize the more expensive options. In any case, the test didn't lead to long-term changes in AP structure.

Some folks worry that Disney makes pricing decisions that confuse and frustrate guests. Admittedly, that's sometimes true, but they'll only do it because there's more money to be made. But they're not irrational. They can charge more money if they make you buy the whole package for all four parks. It's like your cable company. You can add on HBO (water parks), but you've got to buy the whole package of basic channels first and they won't let you pick and choose those.

 

[wfjny]

One other thing, as far as I know, all the AP with restrictions are offered to FL residents only
Those of us from out of state only have two options, with or without water parks. No restrictions on them at all
Other than DVC. Not sure what they have they can buy, we are not DVC.

For those of us on DVC, we have three options:
Gold Pass ($630) - 4 parks, blackouts around Christmas/New Years and Easter
Platinum Pass ($777)
Platinum Plus ($883)
Those platinum passes are about a $125 discount to what is sold to the general public. Gold pass not available to general public, and no DVC discount on the Premier Pass (includes WDW & DL). Those three passes are really the same as those offered to Florida residents, but Florida residents have many other options not offered to DVC.

Having said that, Disney has offered a bigger discount from time to time as some sort of promotions. It was only a few years ago when a DVC Platinum Pass was only about $100 more than a 7 day park hopper.

 

[klmall]

I bought APs several years when we went only 1 time a year while living in Maryland. I bought one mostly to cut hotel prices and it worked for us; always coming out a couple hundred dollars ahead even with the cost of the AP. Now, the AP cost is outrageous!

But your post made me wonder if Disney would sell more APs if they started tier pricing for any park. My gut feeling says yes for more people than currently buy APs. If people were planning on something more than just a few days at a peak time they might be interested; just a thought.