I sense a disturbance in the force.....

[OKW Lover]

It's a very calculated and a smart business choice. It's about making HUGE profit. That and crowd control.
This isn't a surprise.

They are literally and successfully going to price people out.
There are many people that can't afford this increase, so they will not purchase an AP. That is the whole point.
For those that it doesn't affect, they will pay the price and move on with their Disney experiences.

I'm sorry, but I just don't understand the logic here. They raise the price of the AP (and other admission tickets, parking, etc) to discourage people from coming?

 

[MadMadamMim1]

I'm sorry, but I just don't understand the logic here. They raise the price of the AP (and other admission tickets, parking, etc) to discourage people from coming?

Sure. People who have APs (in general) come often enough that they spend less on the AP than they would if they'd bought park hopper tickets for the same amount of days, don't eat 3 meals a day in the parks, don't buy a lot of souvenirs, often don't stay in resorts. So of course they'd discourage them for crowd control so people who want to come for "once in a lifetime" big blowout trips will come, stay in resorts, eat at the restaurants, buy a bunch of souvenirs and catch the bug to come back again in a year or two.

Disney makes more money on non-AP holders (generally speaking).

These people on "once in a lifetime" trips may grumble about the cost of tickets and parking, etc., but, especially if they have little kids, they just swallow it and do it.

 

[hertamaniac]

Sure. People who have APs (in general) come often enough that they spend less on the AP than they would if they'd bought park hopper tickets for the same amount of days, don't eat 3 meals a day in the parks, don't buy a lot of souvenirs, often don't stay in resorts. So of course they'd discourage them for crowd control so people who want to come for "once in a lifetime" big blowout trips will come, stay in resorts, eat at the restaurants, buy a bunch of souvenirs and catch the bug to come back again in a year or two.

Disney makes more money on non-AP holders (generally speaking).

These people on "once in a lifetime" trips may grumble about the cost of tickets and parking, etc., but, especially if they have little kids, they just swallow it and do it.

I seem to agree with this and would point out that as a local AP (not current), we didn't/don't spend much money inside the Disney bubble. There were exceptions, of course, where the AP discount drove us to signature dining. But, we're not merchandise fiends (sans Uni Qlo and the t-shirts).

So in my mind, raising the Florida resident AP's by the percentages they just did is to help capture the lower revenue generated vs. non-Florida AP or "traditional" ticketing guests.

 

[GeneralTso]

Yes, this has become (and has been becoming) a case of the haves and the have nots.
For the love of churros, they raised the prices on the reusable shopping bags! Disney is, no joke, in a huge profit making mode. It will price people out.
Thing is, there are plenty of people who can afford all this and will happily pay.

 

[dwheaton]

I'm starting to feel like we are reaching a tipping point here. I know that APs are blacked out for the most part this week, but the lack of crowds at Disneyland should not be discounted with Galaxy's Edge opening. It will surely pick up when locals aren't blocked, but the high prices have to be a factor. It's going to be really interesting to see if there's the rush that we were expecting in Florida in September.

 

[Braddy007]

This. As someone who lives in Georgia, it is a little annoying that we don’t get *some* sort of discount on APs, and I feel we should. Like, I feel for that person who lives in Valdosta, which is like no more than 15 minutes from the state line who now has to pay for a Platinum (or better) pass just because they narrowly live just outside of Florida. Heck, WDW is pretty easy to get to from the Atlanta area where I live. It’s not that bad a drive and the flights from ATL to MCO are very quick and usually cheap, which prompted me to get my first AP last month. Unfortunately, with these kinds of prices (and I wouldn’t put it past them to do away with the renewal discount at some point), this might be my first and last year as an AP.

I understand what you are saying but then the person in a state bordering Georgia says "what about me?", and then if it moves to their state, a person in a state bordering that one says "what about me?"

I am fine with Florida residents getting a discount, I just wished us AP holders that live out of state got the option to spread the payment over the year instead of "Pay Now or No AP For You. Then again, if Disney offered that, more people would buy the AP. and the price would just keep raising. It's the Circle of Life.

 

[disneysteve]

I agree that they are trying to thin the herd while still maintaining profits. While I was upset by the AP price hike, I honestly wouldn't mind if they doubled the price if it would significantly reduce the crowds. The single biggest thing that has really cut down my enjoyment of the parks recently has been the sheer number of people there.

 

[mick1229]

Universal...