MYW Tickets are a clever (and hefty) price increase!

[Mortlives]

I just got my 7day PHPs delivered for our next trip. For a minute, I was kind of bummed about this just before the new system comes out, but..
Any days and pluses we have left over can be used on future trips. So, the trip following our next trip, we can buy expiring days up to the amount of time we will be going less the number of days we still have from our PHPs. We use the new days first, and have the freedom to use or not use our spare days, and we can save the money on the unexpired days. Pretty cool! Until our unused days run out of course, but then we can start the process over with an unexpiring pass purchase. I think this will save us money in the long run. Of course, it's not so useful to the non-Disney junky.

Kungaloosh!
Morticia.

 

[mochabean]

I've always purchased tickets based upon the overall price per day for my family to enter the parks, and I'm convinced now that the Magic Your Way tickets are a monster price increase for my family.

In the past, my daily cost analysis has led me to purchase 7+4 park hoppers. I have crunched numbers in Excel and determined that Disney pluses were approximately half price admissions to the water parks. Since I do use plusses, I used the half price figure and subtracted the plus values from the 7+4 expense. This yields $102.89 daily park expense for my family of 3 (2 Adult, 1 Child).

Now the Magic Your Way tickets clearly discount the water parks even more than old 7+4 Hoppers did. But if you drop the plusses completely and just look for a way to get my family in the park gate for better than $110 a day the ONLY way you can do it is by buying:

Plus 7-Day No Expire Advance Purchase = $105.28 daily

OC,
It looks like you will be subject to a $2.39 (2.3%) price increase (using your numbers) to get an equivalent ticket after Jan 1. This is pretty reasonable compared to the percent increases in other tickets. I posted this analysis on another thread (all pre-tax prices):

OLD 7-day Parkhopper Plus (4 plusses): $342 plus tax ($316 adv purchase disc)
NEW 7-day Magic Your Way Premium (including park hopping, 5 plusses, and no expiration): $334 plus tax ($323 adv purchase disc)
A 2% DECREASE in the gate price, and you get an extra plus! (Albeit a 2% increase in the adv purchase price).

5 day PHP (2 plusses): $282 ($259adv)
5 day MYW/hopper/plus/noexp (3 plusses): $308 ($301adv)
A 9.2% increase in the gate price. (But you get an extra plus)

6 day PHP (3 plusses): $312 ($288adv)
6 day MYW/hopper/plus/noexp (4 plusses): $321 ($312adv)
A 2.9% increase in the gate price. (But you get an extra plus)

4 day PH (no plusses): $219 ($202adv)
4 day MYW/hopper/noexp: $235 (no adv discount)
A 7.3% increase in the gate price.

5 day PH (no plusses): $249 ($230adv)
5 day MYW/hopper/noexp: $263 ($236 adv)
A 5.6% increase in the gate price.

 

[CarolA]

I have to admit.... this is the most convulted Math I have ever seen.

I think your assumption of "half price" is probably wrong. I think that Disney has always charged about full price for the parks and discounted the pluses even more.

I am with the Disney employee. I would daresay there are LOTS of unused plus days floating around America!

 

[capnho]

I was having an email discussion about this with some friends of mine. Basically, this is good for some people and not so good for others. Here's what I came up with:

"Old" 5 day park hopper, which includes park hopping and never expires: $265.19, including tax.

New 5 day ticket with the same features:

Base price $193.00
Hopper option $ 35.00
No expiration $ 35.00
Tax 17.10
_______
280.10

I'm assuming the difference is just the normal annual increase in ticket prices Disney puts out there. It's a 5.6% increase, consistent with what Disney usually charges.

Now, if you decide that you don't want to go park hopping and you're going to use up your ticket on your current trip, you can get a 5 day ticket for $205.55. If you don't want or need the hopping or no expiration options, and you don't have to pay for them. That wasn't an option in the past.

That's why I like this. They're not making you pay extra for things you've always gotten. They're actually giving you the option to pay less for stuff you don't need.

Of course, I can easily see people who don't take the time to figure this all out either buying stuff they don't need, or not getting what they want.

 

[OCDisney]

I think your assumption of "half price" is probably wrong.

Could well be. I'll tell you how it's figured so there is no mystery. Compare the advance purchase prices of a 5-day hopper with a 5+2. When I did this in 2003 the price was exactly equal to the cost of a single admission to a water park for both the adult and the child tickets. When they raised prices in 2004 the water park prices didn't change so the math is a little off now, but is still pretty close. If you keep the half price valuation on the plusses when you look at the advance purchase prices of the 6+3 and 7+4 hoppers you will see a very consistant discount curve on a per day basis. These observations, can be in error -- but I'm comfortable enough with them to assert the half price plusses.

Note that none that holds up anymore with the MYW tickets. The plusses are clearly discounted to as low as $9.00+tax.

What is intersting to me is that PI tickets recently dropped in price and I'm now wondering if the water parks and DQ are about to follow suit? If so then I'll be left 'holding the bag' on my 'convulted' plus value math

 

[chrisn]

I am just ready to buy our hoppers. I was going to buy the 4 park 1 plus visit from Disney using the Southwest link for $218. I *think* I have 1 plus visit left from our old hoppers which would be used for Blizzard Beach. If I find this to be the case and I don't care about hopping or expiration then I should go with the base 4 park MYW ticket for $185 right??? I know this is a "duh" question but there might be a deeper issue I'm not looking at that you Disney Brainyacs might see. We hit one park per day including all 4 Disney, plus a water park, 2 Universal, and 2 SeaWorld. We don't hop and it's ok if we don't have left over's or the tickets expiring because there will be nothing left on the ticket at the end of the trip. Am I correct in assuming that I will save $123 by doing it this way? Are my prices right?

 

[currycook]

This is an interesting thread. I've been around Disney a very long time and have been buying tickets a very long time. I remember when they brought out the 4 day pass and I thought, wow a four day pass and its good forever! I think Disney's hidden point is what a CM brought up in this dicussion. The new tickets will expire where as the "traditional" tickets never expired. As the CM said so many many people dont use all the days of their tickets. Either unintentionally or thinking we will come back some day or give them to someone else when they come back. This will be ending which in my thinking is a big change for Disney and another way to increase the bottom line.

For those of us living in Florida my thinking its much easier to figure out what ticket you will use. With the Florida resident special you get an AP for $299 and a seasonal pass for $199. (for adults). That is an excellent price if you use the pass enough. If you use either pass at least 12 times its an excellent price. But everyone is different.

I just dont like the idea of the tickets expiring which in my humble thinking is a major change in the Disney way.

 

[GoldenOldie]

...
What is intersting to me is that PI tickets recently dropped in price and I'm now wondering if the water parks and DQ are about to follow suit?

Not likely since Disney just raised the single day water park admissions in October. It's now $34.08 for a single admission including tax which also just happens to be the same price as a DQ single day ticket.

 

[OCDisney]

GoldenOldie: Thanks! I didn't realize they had raised those prices. That blows that theory...

 

[ILoveWDW2003]

Disney raised prices across the board with this announcement.

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2004-12-03-disney-world_x.htm?csp=34

 

[TDC Nala]

Some have kicked around the idea that the APs would go away.

Wouldn't THAT be interesting, seeing as DVC members have just been given a discount on them.

 

[mochabean]

That is an interesting article. I especially like this part:

"The system currently in use gives visitors only two choices when it comes to the length of their stay: one- or four-day passes. "

Umm, yeah, two choices, not counting the 5, 6, and 7 day passes and the annual passes!

And this part:

"The No. 1 request at our ticket booths today when a guest comes up and is buying a one-day ticket is, they want to hop to another park," Weiss said. "

But they're going to have to pay through the nose for it - that ticket will cost over $100 with tax.

 

[Colorado Belle]

Not sure, but after a quick read through of all info presented, I guess this is going to hurt the 2, 3 or 4 day visitiors the most. I've got a bunch of passes with unexpired days and I am wondering if I shouldn't stock up this trip (Dec 10) with tickets that won't expire to use in the future since my being at Dis for 7 days at a time is a thing of the past. Would that be right thinking to you mathamaniacs?

And btw, I am still desparately trying to get DVMCP tickets (2 adult) for Dec 10. Anybody here know of how...since they are sold out (and I already tried ebay)

Thanks,
Colorado Belle

 

[HughJackman'n'me]

...I did some calculating of my own, and based on prices I got from mousesavers.com and disneygo.com, here is what I came up with:

5-day PHP PLUS - adult / $275.86 [w/tax]
5-day PHP PLUS - child / $221.53 [w/tax]

~~ includes 5 park-hopping days at all 4 parks + 2 options (PI, WWS, BB, etc.) with NO EXPIRATION ~~

5-day MYW Premium - adult / $283.29 [w/tax]
5-day MYW Premium - child / $243.88 [w/tax]

~~ includes 5 park-hopping days at all 4 parks + 4 options (same as above) with NO EXPIRATION ~~

 

[Eeyore's Girl]

Colorado Belle - Recently I read that someone got tickets for a "sold out" MVMCP through TicketMaster. Good luck!

 

[mochabean]

Not sure, but after a quick read through of all info presented, I guess this is going to hurt the 2, 3 or 4 day visitiors the most. I've got a bunch of passes with unexpired days and I am wondering if I shouldn't stock up this trip (Dec 10) with tickets that won't expire to use in the future since my being at Dis for 7 days at a time is a thing of the past. Would that be right thinking to you mathamaniacs?

You are exactly right, the shorter your stay, the higher the cost on a per-day basis. And it is drastically higher for 1, 2, 3, or 4 days.

If you are thinking of stocking up, look at this comparison for 7-day tickets:

OLD 7-day Parkhopper Plus (4 plusses, doesn't expire): $342 plus tax ($316 adv purchase disc) = $48.85 per park day

NEW 7-day Magic Your Way Premium (including park hopping, 5 plusses, and no expiration): $334 plus tax ($323 adv purchase disc) = $47.71 per park day

A 2% DECREASE in the gate price, and you get an extra plus! (It is however a 2% increase in the adv purchase price).

For a 10-day pass, the savings are even better:

NEW 10-day Magic Your Way Premium, hopping, 5 plusses, no expiration: $389 (no adv purch disc published) = $38.90 per park day.

So if you want to stock up on the best ticket value, it is definitely going to be the 10-day MYW Premium with no expiration. However, with the rumored addition of biometrics, this ticket will have to be used by the same person on all days, and will be enforced. (Although the rule exists for current park hopper tickets, it is not currently enforced, though this could change too.)

 

[MagicKingdom05]

Here is why I am excited about the new ticket plan. In my case you never know, but as or right now, I probably will only be going once in 2005 for 10 days in May. I plan on going to the parks all 10 days that way I can see what I want and not have to sqeeze it in to 4 or 5 days or be in a hurry. Under the old system, I would have only gone 5 days because of the price of tickets. Now I can go longer for less money.

The 10 day MYM tickets would cost me:

$209.00 for basic
$35.00 for hopper add on
$15.86 fpr tax

Total = $259.86 ($25.99 a day) $359.86 if adding the non-expiring option.

As it is now, I would basically have a couple choices:

1. Pay $400 for an AP that I might not use again in the 12 mon time frame.
2. Pay $436.65 for a 10 day UHP, and pay for admission to water parks that I wouldn't personally use (43.67 a day).

Obviously I would pay $400 for an AP because it is cheapest.

Now I know comparing an AP and the MYW ticket isn't actually even, but these are the two cheapest options for me.

This new ticket and package thing seems to be talored for those people who are staying 7 days or so and plan on spending all the time at the parks.