Might want to buy your AP now before price increases

[erionm]

How much notice did they give before the price increase last year

1 day. Word leaked out on a Saturday, new prices went into effect Sunday morning.

 

[n2mm]

I thought so too, plus MS was closed and the online link wasn't working. I need to book my FP selections in 2 weeks so I can't wait much longer anymore

 

[RachaelA]

When you call MS and buy DVC APs, does it follow the whole "two forms of payment" thing? I'm going to have 4 GCs since the max I can get at our grocery store is a $500 GC.

 

[nalajms]

When you call MS and buy DVC APs, does it follow the whole "two forms of payment" thing? I'm going to have 4 GCs since the max I can get at our grocery store is a $500 GC.

Yes, or they transfer you to the main ticketing to use multiple GCs.

I'd suggest looking into a DVA account (disney vacation account) if you're in the US. You can load the GC on there and buy all your APs in one shot using 1 "GC" number.

 

[keishashadow]

When you call MS and buy DVC APs, does it follow the whole "two forms of payment" thing? I'm going to have 4 GCs since the max I can get at our grocery store is a $500 GC.

it was so last October. I've split up purchases in the past to work within the 2 forms of payment

 

[Anal Annie]

I called MS this afternoon and purchased our AP's. I asked a lot of "what if" questions RE: if there's a special deal announced between now and when we go this summer. The CM told me that LAST YEAR people in this situation were able to call and get what she called a "magic number" to bring to Guest Relations and get the upgrade to the PAP that they offered last year. So basically, if they offer a special deal / price later we can call back and they can sprinkle some pixie dust for us so we can also take advantage of the deal (IF there IS a deal at some point). It could mean an upgrade from the reg. AP to the PAP or it could be a refund or something. Still crossing my fingers there's a deal offered at some point.

 

[n2mm]

Well I finally did it. Couldn't stand it any longer. We can book our FP selections later this month, so had to buy. Just finished buying an AP for myself, granddaughter, daughter and her husband. Did each one separately because I wanted to use a gift card with each one to give my cc a break. After each transaction I checked my account to make sure it linked up. I did will call as I've always done and printed the will call certificate. no need to have anything mailed to me. So now the new promotion should come out any day now because I'm not waiting anymore. Lucky for me I still had an old AP voucher for my granddaughter who is 7 that I bought in 2012. I only paid $299 for it back then. I actually have two because I had bought them, then the PAP promotion came out and I didn't use them. I could only use one since older sister will be turning 10 next month, and the voucher is a childs. So will hold it for another couple of years to use for the now 7 year old. I linked it to the GD's account with no problem (though I was expecting it not to work).

 

[Kidanifan08]

We are going to be at WDW later this month, but I am seriously considering calling MS this week to do the PAP renewal now for $509. That's only $25 more than the PAP offer last year, which is what we are using currently. Our current PAP's expire on 4/3/15. If we do the renewal now, we will likely get at least 15 days of use between planned trips in July and October this year. I thought about waiting to see if there will be a special DVC PAP or AP offer before our July trip, but I doubt it would be less than last year's $484 PAP. I've actually considered "down-grading" to just an AP renewal, but we will do the water parks at least once, and perhaps twice, over the use of the renewal. I suppose I could just do the renewal as an AP, and then purchase a water park annual pass when we are there in July and then use it for our 2016 trip, as well.

My son's PAP expires right after our trip in July. We have still have 3 AP vouchers that were purchased before last year's PAP offer and this plan would work great for finally getting all three of us "synced" during our summer trip in 2016, which would allow us to to use those AP's for 2016 and an early summer trip in 2017. The only thing that would put a little kink in the plan would be if we end up wanting to do a few days at the World for Spring Break 2016. Decisions. . . decisions . . .

 

[tjkraz]

Wouldn't they make more money selling "cheaper" tickets to get people in the door and buying/eating there?

1) Parks have limited capacity. More people in the gate means EVERYONE waits longer and EVERONE has a "less magical" experience.

2) Restaurants have finite capacity. People aren't going to spend that extra money if they can't get ADRs for BOG, CRT or another desired meal because they are at capacity.

3) Let's assume your theory is correct and people will spend the exact same amount regardless of prices. If you're Disney, which would you prefer to give guests to earn...say...$100 in revenue: Park admission PLUS a meal or just the park admission.

Delivering as little as possible for as high a price as possible tends to return the highest profits.

In reality, I would also argue that your logic is flawed. Customers cannot hold the line on their spending indefinitely. Whatever I'm averaging today for WDW expenses isn't going to remain the same 5 or 10 years from now no matter how much I economize. SOME guests may be able to do it for SOME amount of time, but many more will simply be forced to increase their spending in order to maintain the desired experience.

 

[Anal Annie]

1) Parks have limited capacity. More people in the gate means EVERYONE waits longer and EVERONE has a "less magical" experience.

2) Restaurants have finite capacity. People aren't going to spend that extra money if they can't get ADRs for BOG, CRT or another desired meal because they are at capacity.

3) Let's assume your theory is correct and people will spend the exact same amount regardless of prices. If you're Disney, which would you prefer to give guests to earn...say...$100 in revenue: Park admission PLUS a meal or just the park admission.

Delivering as little as possible for as high a price as possible tends to return the highest profits.

In reality, I would also argue that your logic is flawed. Customers cannot hold the line on their spending indefinitely. Whatever I'm averaging today for WDW expenses isn't going to remain the same 5 or 10 years from now no matter how much I economize. SOME guests may be able to do it for SOME amount of time, but many more will simply be forced to increase their spending in order to maintain the desired experience.

True, as everything goes up we have no choice but to spend more for less magic. For now, we will economize by doing fewer and fewer TS meals and buying fewer shirts & souvies. And Disney isn't the only thing that's gone up. Airfare is ridiculous so we will be driving on more trips in the future rather than flying - which means fewer trips overall if we have to allow for 2 travel days - we simply won't be able do the last minute trips or shorter long weekend type trips. Trips will eventually lose some of their magic if we can no longer afford to eat the way we'd like or buy souvies or to go as often. This mouse is the most expensive pet we could ever own.

 

[nalajms]

1) Parks have limited capacity. More people in the gate means EVERYONE waits longer and EVERONE has a "less magical" experience.

Does this statement imply that the higher admission is to help cut down on the number of people? We don't go on the big days, so I've never witnesses an MK at capacity day.

3) Let's assume your theory is correct and people will spend the exact same amount regardless of prices. If you're Disney, which would you prefer to give guests to earn...say...$100 in revenue: Park admission PLUS a meal or just the park admission.

I was going under the assumption that they'd make more profit selling a T-shirt for $30, that probably cost less than $5 to make & ship over from China. I agree, the restaurants probably aren't as profitable.

In reality, I would also argue that your logic is flawed. Customers cannot hold the line on their spending indefinitely. Whatever I'm averaging today for WDW expenses isn't going to remain the same 5 or 10 years from now no matter how much I economize. SOME guests may be able to do it for SOME amount of time, but many more will simply be forced to increase their spending in order to maintain the desired experience.

Yes, a portion of visitors (not sure how much) would increase their budget. But I think there's a good portion that's budget conscious. I can't be the only one! If tickets go up, we cut back on souvenirs and expensive dinners.

 

[dwight16]

i personally dont mind the price increases if it keeps a few people away and can help lower come crowds from time to time then i am all for it.....lord knows i would love to wait less in line.

 

[nalajms]

i personally dont mind the price increases if it keeps a few people away and can help lower come crowds from time to time then i am all for it.....lord knows i would love to wait less in line.

Would you pay $$$ for an Ultimate VIP tour? That gets you to ~10 attractions ... i think with minimal wait time. I just read about it on my Disney Visa news letter, and the Disney visa gets you 15% off

Edited to add: If you get a good CM they'll even have cool towels and cold bottled water for you!

 

[katied]

I'll add my 2 cents here... Disney's demographics have changed over the years too. You can't just think from a U.S. perspective, because a lot of people who go are not from the U.S. 20 years ago, there was no meaningful visitor groups from Asia or South America... now, they have a rising population that can travel, so if less Americans can afford the trip, more folks from oversees can visit. It will be interesting to see how 2015 works for Disney. I expect hte weak dollor of the past few years have really helped increase the international visitors, but with a stronger dollar this year (esp compared to the Euro) perhaps some of the international visitors may find the Mouse more expensive, but again, who knows...

Disney hotels have about hit full capacity, so that means that they should be able to raise prices and still fill the park.

 

[udflyer00]

Unfortunately our family is at the end of our DVC PAP. Since we live in Ohio we usually go to Disney in cycles to save on the costs... Summer-Christmas-Summer. So we are at the tail end of that cycle so we won't be getting any tickets until '16 or even '17. Usually we try to do something else, much to my dismay the summer in between Disney trips. I can't argue too much though last time the Mrs. talked me into booking at HHI and we had a blast! I'd really like to go back there again so maybe that is a possibility. Or maybe even Vero Beach as we've never been there? Who knows, but who knows what the price will be when we finally get around to buying tickets again. With a family of 6, we love the DVC discount so hope they do the PAP deal again in the future!

 

[DebbieB]

Out at Disneyland, Disney quit selling Southern California Resident AP's for a time because the parks were too crowded. They would rather have less people paying more.

 

[tjkraz]

Does this statement imply that the higher admission is to help cut down on the number of people? We don't go on the big days, so I've never witnesses an MK at capacity day.

To some degree, yes of course that's the case. And we aren't just talking about isolated days when the parks are at capacity. Disney is conscious of the fact that it can't charge $100 per day and have people standing in 2-hour lines for every attraction.

Take a look at what they did to Disneyland AP prices around the time Cars Land opened. Prices shot up 25-30% because executives knew they needed to thin the herds a bit.

I was going under the assumption that they'd make more profit selling a T-shirt for $30, that probably cost less than $5 to make & ship over from China. I agree, the restaurants probably aren't as profitable.

But again, which is ultimately more profitable for Disney:

1) Charging $100 for park admission
2) Charging $70 for park admission and $30 for a t-shirt

In both options they're netting the same revenues of $100, but option 2 costs them an extra $5 (or more) worth of overhead.

Disney would rather gamble that enough people will pay $100 for admission AND spend another $30 on t-shirts.

Yes, a portion of visitors (not sure how much) would increase their budget. But I think there's a good portion that's budget conscious. I can't be the only one! If tickets go up, we cut back on souvenirs and expensive dinners.

You aren't the only one but I would question how many people are sensitive to a 5% ticket price increase.

DVC owners...who return with great regularity...are still well in the minority. The majority of Disney's guests are new or infrequent visitors. For the most part, I suspect those people simply swallow whatever the cost may be and plan accordingly.

 

[udflyer00]

You aren't the only one but I would question how many people are sensitive to a 5% ticket price increase.

DVC owners...who return with great regularity...are still well in the minority. The majority of Disney's guests are new or infrequent visitors. For the most part, I suspect those people simply swallow whatever the cost may be and plan accordingly.

I agree with this completely. If your are getting to go for your first time you really don't know what the prices were the year before, or many years prior because that info really can't help you with your trip planning. As DVC members we watch and track these sort of things. I just hope that DVC continues to offer up the reduced AP. As a family of 6, buying AP's and being able to make multiple trips in a year is the only saving grace for us. I don't really know how a family of 6 would buy one time tickets, a room, and food for a 4-6 night trip...

When I discuss ticket prices with co-workers though I can sometimes justify that you're getting what you pay for. During the summer the MK could be open from 8a-3a, 19 hours in total, so if you are paying ~$100 for your day ticket that works out to ~$6 an hour. Which doesn't seem too hateful when you look at it from an hourly cost. Being from Ohio and only getting 1 or 2 days at a particular park each year we get to go, I want to stay at the park from 8a-3a so I feel like I get my money's worth.

It does stink that prices on things keep going up, and yet we all can find something in the park that needs replaced, repainted, or just fixed because you know there has to be funds available to get that accomplished... That kind of stuff does irk me as I notice those fine type details from trip to trip, but your 1st time guest doesn't have any reference to what something used to look like. For example, on Splash Mountain, it used to drive me crazy that the artwork behind the riverboat was falling down... how hard wouldn't it have been to have someone fix that? It must be VERY hard as it was broken for quite a few trips...

Rising prices stink, and seem to be the norm on almost everything. And they will continue to rise until they reach the point where attendance will level off and start to decline. Now if only our paychecks would rise the same way!!

 

[Kidanifan08]

DVC News article

Looks like it is here! Glad I renewed our PAP's last week!

 

[dwight16]

i got mine last month paid the bill yesterday! woot woot.....its a no brainier....