My honest opinion is they are trying to push people to go with the annual pass...think about it. If you are one of those people that need to go during the busy times (school breaks), you are probably going to cough up the money no matter what. Switching weeks or skipping days isn't an option. You would probably consider shortening the trip a day or two, but a lot of people would justify it the other way....if I'm going to pay somewhere in the 4-500 range for tickets, why not just spend a few hundred more to get the AP? Right there, Disney has convinced you to probably take a second trip either you weren't planning on or hadn't planned on so soon, to "take advantage" of the AP. It is a win/win for them, either you pay more up front or you come back and spend more on the rest of the stuff! Our local zoo recently did the same thing...ticket prices were a steady $16 for 8 months of the year and about half that in the winter, but now it varies based on projected attendance and can easily double that on projected busy days. Membership prices, however, stayed the same. Many people are opting to buy the membership for just a couple of dollars more, which will bring them back to the zoo once or twice more than they normally would've, which generally will mean higher sales for the zoo in terms of food, rides, gifts, etc.