Looks like the park reservation system is here to stay.

[Jrb1979]

The thing that I just can't get my head around is why he--or anyone at Disney--would want to irritate (or worse) their loyal customers. If nothing else, we're free advertising for them.

I know they lump all AP holders altogether but I think there is a difference. Ones that go once or twice a year and stay on property they like. My guess is the local ones they don't like.

I don't think they want to irritate anyone to be honest. I will say this again but I honestly believe they just don't know how to run the parks day to day. It plays a big factor in guest satisfaction. Look at how great the Japanese Disney parks are run cause they aren't run by Disney.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Right. Also, a family can go once in their lifetime and spend $$$$$, OR go many times with an AP and spend $ each time. Same amount of money overall. I'm not a businessperson, but I feel like you need all types of customers to be successful--right? Why else invest so much in DVC and urge families to make Disney their vacation destination for a lifetime?

You are forgetting that families "age out" daily, and are replaced with new younger families, and again, i think the problem with AP holders is multifaceted

DVC is a different animal than AP's, i believe just because you are DVC you aren't necessarily less likely to spend as much as the average guest. AP holders go multiple times a year whenever they want typically, and the average DVC owner may go once a year, every other year, ect. and typically they are going for an actual vacation, not just a day to window shop and walk around.

 

[john7994]

You are forgetting that families "age out" daily, and are replaced with new younger families, and again, i think the problem with AP holders is multifaceted

DVC is a different animal than AP's, i believe just because you are DVC you aren't necessarily less likely to spend as much as the average guest. AP holders go multiple times a year whenever they want typically, and the average DVC owner may go once a year, every other year, ect. and typically they are going for an actual vacation, not just a day to window shop and walk around.

I dont know which cohort of DVC member we are in or how many of us there might be - but we do multiple trips per year. I am sure Disney would prefer we stay on ticketed versus APs any day of the week.

 

[BrianL]

I agreed. I think the younger families due grow out of Disney more so now then before. My nieces loved Disney when they were 6 and 7 but now they want parks with big roller coasters and more thrilling rides. I wouldn't be surprised a lot of families are like that.

I think a lot of kids do sort of naturally gravitate toward teh coaster parks when they get older and int ehir teens - not necessarily aging out of Disney, but not preferring it (they'd probably still have plenty of fun there). But, they also tend to come back as young adults/adults as the nostalgia kicks in. Disney's whole business cycle is built ont hat - hook 'em young, then bring them back so that their kids can be hooked too.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I dont know which cohort of DVC member we are in or how many of us there might be - but we do multiple trips per year. I am sure Disney would prefer we stay on ticketed versus APs any day of the week.

I'm not so certain, an AP for a non Florida resident is $1300 currently, that would cover almost 20 days of standard ticket prices with hoppers

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I think a lot of kids do sort of naturally gravitate toward teh coaster parks when they get older and int ehir teens - not necessarily aging out of Disney, but not preferring it (they'd probably still have plenty of fun there). But, they also tend to come back as young adults/adults as the nostalgia kicks in. Disney's whole business cycle is built ont hat - hook 'em young, then bring them back so that their kids can be hooked too.

i agree completely. I think the point i was initially making was that they have a new crop of customers everyday, even if some die hards swear them off, there will be others to fill the gap

 

[StageTek]

I'm not convinced that the current Disney Parks decision makers care much about guest feelings. If they anger or alienate or irritate loyal park visitors it doesn't matter to them. Profit - short term profit - it what matters. Many loyal park visitors will continue to spend their money at the parks and hotels even if they're irritated or angry about what's going on. Some people will spend far more for a once-in-a-lifetime trip. And only a few will stop spending their money at the parks.

The AP program just isn't needed anymore. I remember when it was started in California. I was still working for the company in '83. They needed locals during the off season. Disneyland doesn't need locals as much today. There is an argument that AP's (specifically in California) tend to treat the parks as a place to hang out with friends but not spend money. I don't have any personal experience as a WDW local.

Which brings me to something: it seems a good business decision would be to price AP's on distance. Both coasts. I'm 30 miles from Disneyland. I go less than someone in a 15 mile radius. Someone 100+ miles away will go less than me.

I've been a WDW passholder off and on for several years, making the trip once or twice a year. If I go twice the AP kinda pays for itself. And unlike locals I pay for hotel nights and eat all my meals on site. Seems like, rather than offering locals a cheaper AP, offer folks a cheaper AP for every 500 or 1,000 miles away. Encourage folks like me rather than locals. And that goes for both parks.

Once my current AP expires (Sept 20) I'm going to stop going to The World for a long while. I bought it February 2020 for $1,191 and used it for my 2021 September trip. With a 10 day trip in Sept '21 and an 8 day trip in Dec '21 and an upcoming 10 day this September I have sure gotten my moneys worth. And Disney got (will get) 28 hotel nights and about 78 meals from me. And that's pretty typical for me each year when I have an AP.

It'll be easy for me not to return because they aren't even offering me an AP at any price. I guess the $12,000 (appx) I spend on hotels and meals and park tickets in WDW just isn't what the Disney Parks decision makers want from a solo traveler for California. Wow! I'm gonna save some money...

 

[starlite_]

I think a lot of kids do sort of naturally gravitate toward teh coaster parks when they get older and int ehir teens - not necessarily aging out of Disney, but not preferring it (they'd probably still have plenty of fun there). But, they also tend to come back as young adults/adults as the nostalgia kicks in. Disney's whole business cycle is built ont hat - hook 'em young, then bring them back so that their kids can be hooked too.

Unless they're wimps like me who hate big tall roller coasters The most I can do is knotts and not the bigger rides. Now if someone came up with a park where all the rollercoasters were inside then

 

[john7994]

I'm not so certain, an AP for a non Florida resident is $1300 currently, that would cover almost 20 days of standard ticket prices with hopper

$1,300 / (absolute cheapest) Base tickets + Hopper for 5 Days (with multi-day discount) @$108/day
= @12

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

$1,300 / (absolute cheapest) Base tickets + Hopper for 5 Days (with multi-day discount) @$108/day
= @12

you are doing that around a single day ticket, i based it off of 10 days worth of tickets, in hindsight that is liberal. I redid my calculations, and you could still do 14 days (7 day tickets X2) with hoppers. i don't know many people who purchase a single day ticket especially being out of state AP holders

 

[john7994]

you are doing that around a single day ticket, i based it off of 10 days worth of tickets, in hindsight that is liberal. I redid my calculations, and you could still do 14 days (7 day tickets X2) with hoppers. i don't know many people who purchase a single day ticket especially being out of state AP holders

I am DVC not an AP Holder and It was a five days worth of tickets + Hopper for the absolute cheapest ticket - which is our typical stay. Using the 7 day or 10 approach - I could use credits for the next set of dated ticket purchases - still brings me to around @16 range for the AP breakeven, but six or so short of how we would travel in a given year. And back to my point and response to you, as a DVC owner (non-local), Disney would prefer me to continue buying tickets based on our travel.

Update: Actually played it on real dates and unless I go completely off-peak and keep buying more tickets per stay than I need - the breakeven number of days drops.

 

[Miffy]

I have no idea what Disney would prefer from me, but because I have an AP I take more than one trip a year to WDW and I stay onsite and never leave the bubble. Every dime I spend, with the exception of airfare and transportation to and from MCO, I spend at WDW. Perhaps that's not good enough for them, but I've definitely had years when multiday tickets would've cost me less than my AP. I kept my AP active during the shutdown because I remained hopeful that I'd be able to go, but in fact I went in December 2019 and didn't go again until May 2021, so that was money I just basically gifted them.

I don't know whether Disney "needs" me or any other AP holder or not. I love going to WDW even with all the changes, many of which I don't like at all, but I still love going. Not that I think this makes any difference, but I'm out of state, far away. I can't just pop in to WDW anytime I want, although I would certainly love that even if I wouldn't love living in Florida (translation: I don't do heat + humidity).

Posters keep saying that Disney doesn't want AP holders, yet they've had AP discounts several times in the last year and a half and in fact every time I've stayed there since May 2021 has been with an AP discount. Also, if they're so heck-bent on getting rid of APs, how come they let me renew 3 days ago?

I don't get it. No matter what anyone says about profit, pleasing the shareholders, stock price, short-term profits, etc., businesses--any business--needs goodwill. Part of that goodwill comes from having repeat customers.

Do I think it's possible that WDW will get rid of APs altogether? Of course it is since it's not outside the realm of possibility like, say, WDW offering trips to the actual moon next week. But right now they're riding high on so-called revenge travel. If there's a recession, though, Disney will have to rethink their onetime-visitors-are-our-target-audience metric because we repeat guests will start looking much more attractive to them. In fact, any guest will start looking more attractive to them.

 

[Jrb1979]

I have no idea what Disney would prefer from me, but because I have an AP I take more than one trip a year to WDW and I stay onsite and never leave the bubble. Every dime I spend, with the exception of airfare and transportation to and from MCO, I spend at WDW. Perhaps that's not good enough for them, but I've definitely had years when multiday tickets would've cost me less than my AP. I kept my AP active during the shutdown because I remained hopeful that I'd be able to go, but in fact I went in December 2019 and didn't go again until May 2021, so that was money I just basically gifted them.

I don't know whether Disney "needs" me or any other AP holder or not. I love going to WDW even with all the changes, many of which I don't like at all, but I still love going. Not that I think this makes any difference, but I'm out of state, far away. I can't just pop in to WDW anytime I want, although I would certainly love that even if I wouldn't love living in Florida (translation: I don't do heat + humidity).

Posters keep saying that Disney doesn't want AP holders, yet they've had AP discounts several times in the last year and a half and in fact every time I've stayed there since May 2021 has been with an AP discount. Also, if they're so heck-bent on getting rid of APs, how come they let me renew 3 days ago?

I don't get it. No matter what anyone says about profit, pleasing the shareholders, stock price, short-term profits, etc., businesses--any business--needs goodwill. Part of that goodwill comes from having repeat customers.

Do I think it's possible that WDW will get rid of APs altogether? Of course it is since it's not outside the realm of possibility like, say, WDW offering trips to the actual moon next week. But right now they're riding high on so-called revenge travel. If there's a recession, though, Disney will have to rethink their onetime-visitors-are-our-target-audience metric because we repeat guests will start looking much more attractive to them. In fact, any guest will start looking more attractive to them.

Like I said earlier, you're the type of AP holder they like. You go once or twice a year and stay on property. IMO the AP holders they don't like are locals.

 

[Miffy]

Like I said earlier, you're the type of AP holder they like. You go once or twice a year and stay on property. IMO the AP holders they don't like are locals.

This makes me kind of sad, since there are certainly people who move to the area just so they can have ready access to WDW because they love it so much. If I were Disney, I would love these people.

 

[FCDub]

Friday night and this is how y’all choose to spend it. LOL

 

[bsmcneil]

Friday night and this is how y’all choose to spend it. LOL

LOL. To be fair, you spend your Friday night commenting on how others spend their Friday nights

 

[bsmcneil]

LOL. To be fair, you spend your Friday night commenting on how others spend their Friday nights

For folks who are wondering what happened here, posts were deleted - so this makes significantly less sense. I'm not sure why the posts were deleted or by whom (it's the first time I've gotten the "you quoted a now deleted post so your post was deleted" message and I've been around for a while).

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Friday night and this is how y’all choose to spend it. LOL

Yep, Celtics don’t play until Sunday, so I got time to kill haha

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

This makes me kind of sad, since there are certainly people who move to the area just so they can have ready access to WDW because they love it so much. If I were Disney, I would love these people.

Yup, and if they spent more than other groups, Disney would treat them like gold