Hidden ticket price increases

[BostonEd]

Of course we all know that Disney increases the face price of tickets pretty much every year. What I’m going to try to do is catalogue all of the “hidden” increases which have happened over the years.

• Tickets were, by default, park hoppers. Gone.
• Tickets used to be non-expiring. Done.
• For a fee, you could make your tickets non-expiring. Now you can’t even pay them to let you do this.
• Tickets used to be good for a year from first date of use. No more.
• Shorter hours
• Although they’re walking this back a bit, I’d argue that the fact you had to book parks on specific days was a hidden price increase.
• No park hopping until 2PM.

I would not include the change to seasonal pricing, because that is actually reflected right in the ticket price.

Have I missed any?

 

[DodgerGirl]

Every year we see the complaints about the rising ticket price increases at all Disney Parks and this seems to be an ongoing habit that Disney never seems to stop. With the debut of the Halloween activities and the holidays soon debuting there is an answer why Disney does price increases every year. Because every October when holidays such as Columbus Day and Halloween come around you know that's when Disney Parks begins it's ticket price increases because Halloween is the busiest time when people go to Disney Parks and it is repeated when November hits and you have Thanksgiving and the day after Thanksgiving and all through December through Christmas all the way to New Year's Eve and Day and then the ticket prices get lower when Spring begins because you have Spring Break and Easter and since Easter and Spring Break are the two biggest busiest times for the parks this is their chance to make money. But what Disney Parks could do is offer special Thanksgiving deals where you could enter any park at a special price through the Sunday after Thanksgiving and for December they would have special December deals called Santa Mickey's Christmas Deals and all throughout December special deals would be presented on discounts on character dining merchandise and a special photo with Santa for kids as well as photo ops with Disney characters in Christmas attire and believe me these deals would work for Disney Parks

 

[zavandor]

While Disney likes to keep the price of the cheaper days the same or increase it less, fewer and fewer days qualify for it. So more days are moved to pricier tiers, which is an hidden increase.

 

[Brian Noble]

I know this is a "why are tickets more" thread, but I remember that the switch from the PH/PHP model to the MYW model made visits of longer than about 5 days much less expensive.

 

[DodgerGirl]

The only way that Disney Parks could improve this solution and lower it's ticket prices is do away with Genie+ and the reservation system because I think this is what's really hurting Disney Parks because before Genie+ Lightning Lane and the reservation system were invented Disney Parks tickets didn't have a price increase every year and you could go to any park in Walt Disney World with no problems. But when this happened Disney Parks were hurt and people had no desires of going there. But the one park that really been affected by this is Disneyland because I think when they debuted their park reservation system after the park reopened in 2021 I think this was just a way for Disneyland to regain visitors after being closed so long due to the pandemic. But when Disneyland recieved it's first ticket price increase in 2003 people continued to go. But even when Disney Parks started having special deals like Senior Days where guests 55 and over could go into a Disney Park for a special price it paid off well. But I think starting next year Walt Disney World will begin it's own Magic Key program like Disneyland has and the park ticket prices will increase dramatically. But for comparison how much were Magic Kingdom tickets when Walt Disney World opened in 1971? Because compared to 1971 to today the parks have changed a lot in ticket pricing

 

[tony67]

Of course we all know that Disney increases the face price of tickets pretty much every year. What I’m going to try to do is catalogue all of the “hidden” increases which have happened over the years.

• Tickets were, by default, park hoppers. Gone.
• Tickets used to be non-expiring. Done.
• For a fee, you could make your tickets non-expiring. Now you can’t even pay them to let you do this.
• Tickets used to be good for a year from first date of use. No more.
• Shorter hours
• Although they’re walking this back a bit, I’d argue that the fact you had to book parks on specific days was a hidden price increase.
• No park hopping until 2PM.

I would not include the change to seasonal pricing, because that is actually reflected right in the ticket price.

Have I missed any?

Tickets don't last as long as they used to.

I could not believe that a two day hopper was only good for 4 days and a 3 day is only good for 5 days - I think it was 7 or 14 days in the past?

 

[Brian Noble]

before Genie+ Lightning Lane and the reservation system were invented Disney Parks tickets didn't have a price increase every year

Are you sure about that?

https://allears.net/walt-disney-world/wdw-planning/wdw-ticket-history/

 

[Upatnoon]

One could argue that some of these changes keep the base price of a ticket lower while the company can still make more money off people willing to pay.

- If I don't care about park hopping, I pay less than someone who wants it.
- The creation of demand-based tickets means I can choose to go on days that cost less.
- I always leave the park after the fireworks. Why should the price of my ticket subsidize to keep it longer open when I am not there?
- I buy tickets and use them, not hold them for a rainy day. Why should I subsidize the cost of the labor and effort to create a tracking system for hundreds of various ticket types to keep them non-expiring for decades?

In the end, Disney must keep its parks as full as possible while making as much money as possible as demanded by its shareholders.

There is only one MK, filled with people of all incomes, some willing to pay more for an advantage over other guests. It's all a big balancing act.

One thing is for sure, the ticketing system will see now will continue to evolve.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

Remember when AP renewals did not start until first entry??

 

[Brian Noble]

No, I don't! As far as I remember, they always started when the prior ones expired, but I also did not have APs many years. When was that?

 

[BostonEd]

I know this is a "why are tickets more" thread

Not really. I was just trying to differentiate between how, when someone says "tickets are $150/day. They used to be $75/day", that that simple analysis does not include these items which are semi-hidden.

the switch from the PH/PHP model

No idea what this means. I'm guessing it's park hopper related?

One could argue that some of these changes keep the base price of a ticket lower while the company can still make more money off people willing to pay.

Sure, I get what you're saying with your examples. But again, my point is that if you compare tickets today to tickets from 1995, it's apples and oranges in terms of what you get.

One thing is for sure, the ticketing system will see now will continue to evolve.

Word.

 

[Brian Noble]

No idea what this means. I'm guessing it's park hopper related?

Before the "Magic Your Way" tickets (the 1-to-10-day tickets) Disney sold either single day tickets, Park Hopper tickets, or Park Hopper Plus tickets. They maxed out at (I think) five days, and the discount for longer tickets was something between negligible and nice but not enough to get excited over.

We were planning a trip right around the time they changed ticketing models. Our original plan was to stay for seven nights, buy a 5-day PHP, and do something else with our sixth full day and skip the parks on arrival day. When they announced the new model, I ended up paying less for a 7-day hopper than the old 5-day PHP would have cost for that trip.

 

[ChipnDale79]

Before the "Magic Your Way" tickets (the 1-to-10-day tickets) Disney sold either single day tickets, Park Hopper tickets, or Park Hopper Plus tickets. They maxed out at (I think) five days, and the discount for longer tickets was something between negligible and nice but not enough to get excited over.

We were planning a trip right around the time they changed ticketing models. Our original plan was to stay for seven nights, buy a 5-day PHP, and do something else with our sixth full day and skip the parks on arrival day. When they announced the new model, I ended up paying less for a 7-day hopper than the old 5-day PHP would have cost for that trip.

many times we'd buy the extra 8th or 9th day, simply because of how cheap they were, and it was worth it for one final goodbye to the parks on departure day.

the theory behind that was to keep you in the bubble, and keep you from going to universal.

With all the extras now, we stopped buying that departure day ticket.

 

[Brian Noble]

the theory behind that was to keep you in the bubble

It's no accident that MYW was introduced together with the Dining Plan (prepay your food so you don't leave to eat) and Magical Express (discourage you from renting a car so leaving is hard.)

 

[ChipnDale79]

It's no accident that MYW was introduced together with the Dining Plan (prepay your food so you don't leave to eat) and Magical Express (discourage you from renting a car so leaving is hard.)

i get it..dining plan is coming back..but as of right now, both of those are gone.

its an interesting time for sure.

We'll do the DDP if free dining is ever brought back, but we wont' be paying "rack rate" for it anymore.

 

[BostonEd]

When they announced the new model, I ended up paying less for a 7-day hopper than the old 5-day PHP would have cost for that trip.

 

[Brian Noble]

As introduced, both DDP and MYW were GREAT deals---as in, that's obviously a bargain. And whenever I find myself saying "Wow, this is a pretty good deal" while I am at WDW, I can pretty much guarantee that it is on its way out.

 

[Brian Noble]

It's not that surprising when you realize that the goal was to capture more of a typical Orlando visitor's vacation. They wanted all of my time and money, so that I was eating more meails on property, etc. The change in ticket pricing accomplished that very directly. I am sure I ended up giving Disney more money in the end.

 

[bbeagle]

many times we'd buy the extra 8th or 9th day, simply because of how cheap they were, and it was worth it for one final goodbye to the parks on departure day.

the theory behind that was to keep you in the bubble, and keep you from going to universal.

it worked for our friends that just went to Universal. They bought cheap 5 day tickets, and wanted one Disney day. $600 for their family of 4 to go for one day to Disney was too expensive, so they stayed at universal - even though they were bored and saw the entire park in 2 days.

 

[HopperFan]

Good thing it's all optional and there are other places to spend vacation money!