New survey .. proposal .. Tiered Ticket Prices

[Marionnette]

I was just reminded the other day of how Disney can listen to its customers and change things. They were going to take out the Aladdin stage show at DLR and put in a Toy Story musical. It was announced and everything that it was happening, IIRC. The local DLR base got very vocal very quickly. Aladdin is still playing in DCA years later. That was entirely due to the DLR base voicing their opinions before it came to pass.

And yet, they still closed the Adventurer's Club and did away with the World Showcase Players. Not to mention the loss of countless other much-loved WDW features. They don't listen hard enough!

 

[Planogirl]

I was wondering why Disney couldn't come up with a plan for less of an increase for their onsite guests than their offsite guests? They don't get as much money from most offsite visitors so why not try to limit the number of days they visit? This could help with capacity problems while not being as difficult for the onsite guests already there.

 

[mummabear]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the only 2 blocks of time I'm seeing where a guest could hold a 7 day bronze ticket is: April 27-May 8 & September 2-19. Right?

It depends how you have to set your dates. Currently a 10 day ticket must be used in 14 days (and my complaint that you have to use 10 days in 14 days when you get 14 days to use a 3 day ticket as well is another complaint altogether). So if I was there for the same dates as currently I could do an all bronze trip in November by visiting Mon to Thurs then Mon-Fri then Mon the following week. But if when a book my package at Disney they look at my dates and say there are silver dates in there so you must pay silver prices without giving me the chance to say I wont visit the parks on the silver days then you are right.

 

[Planogirl]

It depends how you have to set your dates. Currently a 10 day ticket must be used in 14 days (and my complaint that you have to use 10 days in 14 days when you get 14 days to use a 3 day ticket as well is another complaint altogether). So if I was there for the same dates as currently I could do an all bronze trip in November by visiting Mon to Thurs then Mon-Fri then Mon the following week. But if when a book my package at Disney they look at my dates and say there are silver dates in there so you must pay silver prices without giving me the chance to say I wont visit the parks on the silver days then you are right.

What you're proposing seems awfully complicated for Disney. I think that they only want to make things complicated for their visitors not themselves.

 

[WillAustin]

And yet, they still closed the Adventurer's Club and did away with the World Showcase Players. Not to mention the loss of countless other much-loved WDW features. They don't listen hard enough!

Cost cutting is far different than changes. It's easier to close attractions rather than replace them. Looks better on paper.

 

[Angel Ariel]

And yet, they still closed the Adventurer's Club and did away with the World Showcase Players. Not to mention the loss of countless other much-loved WDW features. They don't listen hard enough!

Pete actually had a commentary on this on the difference in the vocal base in WDW and DLR on one of the DLR 7 in 7 podcasts for the 60th anniversary. The basic idea being that because DLR is so much more dependent on locals, that the local opinions seem to carry more weight with Disney. It was an interesting conversation on the podcast.

 

[Planogirl]

Plus why couldn't they offer some type of special something to lure people into the three parks that aren't MK? People jump at deals even if it's only something like a free drink or Mickey bar.

Just brainstorming. The intention could be to increase the price of MK even more beyond the other parks.

 

[mummabear]

Nobody will ever know how many people fit into the bronze level of pricing except Disney. As mentioned before, it is similar to airline pricing. They can post the lowest price so it looks great, but if you want to travel on a busy day, have legroom, checked bags, or food, the price goes up. The survey mentions that if the levels overlap, you'd pay the higher price, so it does artificially limit how many days someone could use while still remaining on the lowest price level.

This is the part that seems the most "unDisney" to me.
Currently kids don't age on their trips and you get FD for your whole trip even if the promo period is only for your check in date so charging a higher tier because of one day during your stay seems out of character to me.
It would be like an airline saying ticket is $30 but your other ticket costs $70 and therefore your return price is $140

 

[mummabear]

I was wondering why Disney couldn't come up with a plan for less of an increase for their onsite guests than their offsite guests? They don't get as much money from most offsite visitors so why not try to limit the number of days they visit? This could help with capacity problems while not being as difficult for the onsite guests already there.

It has always surprised me that you don't save money buying your package with Disney, the cost is no different then buying all portions separately.

 

[amylevan]

It depends how you have to set your dates. Currently a 10 day ticket must be used in 14 days (and my complaint that you have to use 10 days in 14 days when you get 14 days to use a 3 day ticket as well is another complaint altogether). So if I was there for the same dates as currently I could do an all bronze trip in November by visiting Mon to Thurs then Mon-Fri then Mon the following week. But if when a book my package at Disney they look at my dates and say there are silver dates in there so you must pay silver prices without giving me the chance to say I wont visit the parks on the silver days then you are right.

This is the part that seems the most "unDisney" to me.
Currently kids don't age on their trips and you get FD for your whole trip even if the promo period is only for your check in date so charging a higher tier because of one day during your stay seems out of character to me.
It would be like an airline saying ticket is $30 but your other ticket costs $70 and therefore your return price is $140

I can see it working similar to the black out dates on the FL Resident AP. You can buy a bronze ticket, but it is blocked out these days, or a silver ticket, but it is blocked out these days, or a GOLD ticket and get in any day!

 

[Planogirl]

It has always surprised me that you don't save money buying your package with Disney, the cost is no different then buying all portions separately.

They probably still wouldn't cut the price for onsite visitors but maybe the price would go up less as it would be part of a package. Buying tickets alone might see the biggest increases.

I'm probably completely off the mark but it's fun to think about.

 

[mummabear]

What you're proposing seems awfully complicated for Disney. I think that they only want to make things complicated for their visitors not themselves.

Seems simple to me. I buy a 10 day bronze (after being able to view calendar on the website) and when I try to book FP+ for a silver date it tells me I can't and would need to upgrade my ticket *insert link to do so*
If I try to enter the park on a silver date I get a red mickey head and CM directs to Guest services or ticket both to upgrade my ticket.

 

[Planogirl]

Seems simple to me. I buy a 10 day bronze (after being able to view calendar on the website) and when I try to book FP+ for a silver date it tells me I can't and would need to upgrade my ticket *insert link to do so*
If I try to enter the park on a silver date I get a red mickey head and CM directs to Guest services or ticket both to upgrade my ticket.

It does sound simple but keeping in mind Disney pathetic website, it might be way beyond what they can do. At least for a while.

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

If I understood those 2 examples correctly, in the one with the much higher increases, each day would be priced separately, so you could have a trip with tickets in more than one category during your stay. In the other one, every day would be priced at the rate for the day in your stay that is in the highest tier. That doesn't appear in the charts themselves, but in some additional information I saw, I think in the WDWMagic and Touring Plans articles. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

But, to me, the important thing in the first chart listed above is that the difference between the Bronze and Gold tiers is not that great. So, an all Gold trip would not be that much more than an all Bronze trip. Again, using the example of the 7 day hopper, the all Gold would only be 10% higher than all Bronze. Nothing in that chart would produce anything remotely close to a 50% increase, much less an 80% increase.

I don't believe for a second that Disney is going to be able to fool anyone by obscuring much higher prices with a tiered pricing concept. First time or infrequent visitors don't care how much prices have increased, they just want to know what they are NOW. And then they can decide what they are willing to pay. And I'm sure Disney knows that increasing any prices 80% from their current levels is going to affect buying decisions for a lot of potential visitors.

I could see people purchasing a package from Disney's website without knowing how the prices break down. You put in your dates and and hotel and the website just calculates a total package for you. Plenty of people buy the dining plan without realizing how much they are paying per person/ per night.

They probably still wouldn't cut the price for onsite visitors but maybe the price would go up less as it would be part of a package. Buying tickets alone might see the biggest increases.

I'm probably completely off the mark but it's fun to think about.

They could potentially only allow 3rd party ticket brokers to sell gold tier tickets.

 

[momof2n2]

How are they incorrect?

Edit: I see Wisblue's post below. I guess that's what you mean.

It says it's a 2014 calendar. These are obviously more for illustrative purposes than anything else.

Ok. Thank you. I just wondered why they picked the calendar they did.

 

[ArwenMarie]

IMO Disney will continue raising prices until they start seeing attendance dipping. Everyone speculated that when admission topped $100, attendance would drop. If I were Disney, I would be thinking that we underestimated the value of our product and now it's time to see how much we can charge. I don't think a 10% increase would be enough to effect attendance, so I think they'll go higher.

I agree, I think they are going to go big with this next price increase. I don't think the number is 10%, but I don't think it's 80%. I'd say somewhere around 25-30% but it will all be hard to figure out if they go with the tiering.

 

[Josh Hendy]

It occurred to me from trying to guess the philosophy behind introducing FP+ and Magic Bands, that Disney is reaching toward a "cruise ship" model for people vacationing at WDW. Meaning, they're treating their resort as if (a) you're stuck on a boat and have no real options to get off the boat, and (b) because of the small size of the boat and the impossibility of expanding it, resources such as attractions, entertainment and dining are quite limited and they must be shared among passengers through a strict system of reservations and rationing, with the assistance of electronic tracking.

Tiered pricing is another move in that direction ... "We can't (or won't) expand the ship, err, resort, to handle larger crowds, so we'll ration the experience and distribute the crowds more evenly by introducing price incentives."

If they can convince enough people that this is the right way to vacation in Florida, go for it. But it kind of turns me off.

 

[BugsDaddy]

I am wondering if people who are commenting on the "cruise" mentality have ever actually been on a cruise? I have been on a lot of cruises and I can tell you that the entertainment on cruises are NOT part of a strict system of reservations and rationing. You want to do something on a cruise you pretty much just show up. Even dining for the most part is flexible. Same goes with Disney. As much as some people want to spin it differently, you can dine and ride rides and be as spontaneous as you want. However, if you want to dine at the most popular places and play on the most popular rides, advanced planning might be required.

 

[Planogirl]

I'm not thrilled with it either. I personally don't see rationing and tiering and all of that as a vacation. It might not be out of hand yet but it's steadily getting worse at least in my view.

 

[WillAustin]

However, if you want to dine at the most popular places and play on the most popular rides, advanced planning might be required.

I think one problem with this is the shrinking list of secondary options with reasonable wait times. It's hard to justify paying $100+ for entry into a park where you then spend 3-5 hours waiting in lines, even if you pick your 3 FP+ reservations. That's not spontaneous at all. It sucks.

If they were adding to Epcot and DHS at a reasonable pace (keeping up with crowds, which they have been expecting) things might feel different.