New survey .. proposal .. Tiered Ticket Prices

[BugsDaddy]

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.

And the cash register keeps ringing. People vote with their pocket book and right now, unless you have some different numbers to share, people are voting * overwhelmingly * for the current path. They don't only love the product, they are willing to go into debt, sacrifice other experiences and absorb price increases in order to go there. The fact of the matter is, those that think it all sucks are in such a minority that Disney does not care if you ever visit WDW again. If they did, they would cater to your wishes.

 

[Anonygoose]

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[BugsDaddy]

It's the absolutes that bother me. Well, I cannot get a FP for Test Track so now there is NOTHING to do. Really? Cmon. That truly sounds like an argument that a child would make out of disappointment.

 

[WillAustin]

And the cash register keeps ringing. People vote with their pocket book and right now, unless you have some different numbers to share, people are voting * overwhelmingly * for the current path. They don't only love the product, they are willing to go into debt, sacrifice other experiences and absorb price increases in order to go there. The fact of the matter is, those that think it all sucks are in such a minority that Disney does not care if you ever visit WDW again. If they did, they would cater to your wishes.

As I've mentioned several times before, the end product is not the in-park experience, but the Disney brand itself. Charging ever-increasing amounts for essentially less isn't a good thing whether there is an endless supply of people showing up or not. As a stockholder, I don't believe it's a sustainable strategy over the long term. And these aren't people who think it all sucks. They are Disney lovers that actually care about how things end up.

You make it sound like you're happy about Disney's potential ability to ignore criticism due to the brand strength. Kinda strange, but expected I guess.

 

[WillAustin]

It's the absolutes that bother me. Well, I cannot get a FP for Test Track so now there is NOTHING to do. Really? Cmon. That truly sounds like an argument that a child would make out of disappointment.

If my family enjoys the rides more than anything else and our only choice is to wait in 30+ minute lines, saying "let's go get a Mickey Bar and enjoy the atmosphere," is a hollow substitute. Again nobody should pay $100+ to wait 3-5 hours in lines.

But I'm someone who, before FP+, would frequently get 7+ FP rides on headliners during peak times, so we have high expectations for our trips.

 

[BugsDaddy]

As I've mentioned several times before, the end product is not the in-park experience, but the Disney brand itself. Charging ever-increasing amounts for essentially less isn't a good thing whether there is an endless supply of people showing up or not. As a stockholder, I don't believe it's a sustainable strategy over the long term. And these aren't people who think it all sucks. They are Disney lovers that actually care about how things end up.

You make it sound like you're happy about Disney's potential ability to ignore criticism due to the brand strength. Kinda strange, but expected I guess.

So, as a stock holder, you would rather the company base their future strategies off of the commentary from some message boards and from a minority of their clientele and ignore the data of increased attendance and profit?

There have been detractors since the parks opened in 1971, and I am sure they all were very concerned about the future of Disney. 44 years later, same case. Disney's best course of action has been and will continue to be to cater to their customer base and not the fringe.

You would think that all of these things which you perceive as negative, FP+, MDE, increased prices, slow developing new attractions would have some impact at the turnstiles right? I mean, unless other people don't perceive them as negative enough to cancel their week long excursion every year. There are people who are willing to scream at the rooftops about how greedy and blind Disney is and at the same time are trying to figure out how much more of their money to give them. If it wasn't so sad, it could be a comedy.

 

[BugsDaddy]

If my family enjoys the rides more than anything else and our only choice is to wait in 30+ minute lines, saying "let's go get a Mickey Bar and enjoy the atmosphere," is a hollow substitute. Again nobody should pay $100+ to wait 3-5 hours in lines.

But I'm someone who, before FP+, would frequently get 7+ FP rides on headliners during peak times, so we have high expectations for our trips.

And you certainly have the right to want to ride the headliners 7+ times per day. However, Disney gambled that most people don't tour the parks that way and so far they have been right.

 

[cakebaker]

If my family enjoys the rides more than anything else and our only choice is to wait in 30+ minute lines, saying "let's go get a Mickey Bar and enjoy the atmosphere," is a hollow substitute. Again nobody should pay $100+ to wait 3-5 hours in lines.

But I'm someone who, before FP+, would frequently get 7+ FP rides on headliners during peak times, so we have high expectations for our trips.

First, those who choose to visit 1 park, for 1 day are the only ones paying that price. Our upcoming trip is, on average, running us about 40 per day for park entry to all the parks.

Secondly, the days of back to back riding of headliners is gone...at least in the kind of numbers you're talking about. I'm glad of it. No longer can a relative few eat up the bulk of availability. I don't believe any amount of increased ride capacity will bring it back. So, if that's what your family likes to do- you're in a tough spot because you just can't have it no matter what.

That's too bad for you, but not too bad for many, many more people than it hurts. We have higher expectations now for our trips than we ever did. They're just different than yours.

 

[mummabear]

Come to think of it it is interesting that there are no platinum days for days like July 4th and New Years etc or the requirement to buy hard tickets specifically for these dates

 

[WillAustin]

First, those who choose to visit 1 park, for 1 day are the only ones paying that price. Our upcoming trip is, on average, running us about 40 per day for park entry to all the parks.

Secondly, the days of back to back riding of headliners is gone...at least in the kind of numbers you're talking about. I'm glad of it. No longer can a relative few eat up the bulk of availability. I don't believe any amount of increased ride capacity will bring it back. So, if that's what your family likes to do- you're in a tough spot because you just can't have it no matter what.

That's too bad for you, but not too bad for many, many more people than it hurts. We have higher expectations now for our trips than we ever did. They're just different than yours.

More power to you if you enjoy the FP+ system. Have a great trip. I'll still be trying to get around it when we go in June and July. We still have strategies that work to ride as much as we want, it just takes more days and more effort than before.

 

[cakebaker]

More power to you if you enjoy the FP+ system. Have a great trip. I'll still be trying to get around it when we go in June and July. We still have strategies that work to ride as much as we want, it just takes more days and more effort than before.

Glad to hear you've found alternatives that work!

 

[Josh Hendy]

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

Who wants to pay WDW theme park admission and ride on the most unpopular rides???

 

[BugsDaddy]

Who wants to pay WDW theme park admission and ride on the most unpopular rides???

Huh? No one said you cannot ride the headliners, just that you might have to put some forethought into planning how you are going to do that vs. the 90% of the other non-headliner attractions. Who goes to Disney World JUST to ride the headliners? I would say that if you want to compare headliner to headliner, you can get better bang for your buck elsewhere but no one I know goes to WDW for that specific reason.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

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.

We went to DHS today. On a non-recommended day.

My favorite thing I heard all day was someone passing by as we waited to enter Toy Story at Rope drop...someone was walking by loudly saying to their travel companion--"of course there are lines . It's Disney." I could not help by laugh.

(Disclaimer: this is a paraphrase of their quote. As it occurred nearly 11 hours ago, I don't recall the precise words.)

Today, we had 3 fast passes for 2 rides and a show. Total standby wait time was less than an hour for both Toy Story and Star tours. We weren't even trying that hard. Toy story was a rope drop plan (27 minutes until we has our 3-D glasses and less than 5 minutes later we were on the ride) and Star Tours was a spontaneous decision after RNR was down during our window and we passed on GMR because wait and ride time combined were longer than we wanted.

YMMV as it did for folks today. But I have personally not been able to replicate these claims that make it seem that is what all guests will experience.

This idea does not make me a Disney defender or one who thinks Disney can do no wrong. I like my time as much as you or any other guests and would like to keep like waiting to a minimum. Maybe my entire paradigm is just different than yours. Who knows? But I have yet to spend 5 hours in a single day of line waiting. If I had to, I would certainly not like that.

But...

***I wish such generalized statements would specify it is the poster's experience rather than be presented as a statement that this is what everyone will face.***

I don't pretend that everyone will have waits on the shorter side for popular attractions. But I don't pretend that everyone will have these lengthy waits either. It is a YMMV thing based on crowds and up to each guest to decide what works for them. And if it sucks, then maybe this ISN'T the vacation for you.

There are other vacations out that that others might find that suck and they simply avoid those destinations/activities as has occurred for generations.

Everyone seems to want to go to Disney--lines are to be expected. And there are ways to mitigate that as many blogs and discussion here try to assist with in your planning.

Back to DHS- After 2, SWW visits, I am changing my former opinion that I wouldn't spend a single day ticket on that park to--I would for SWW. The place is hopping and kind of fun and entertaining.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Who wants to pay WDW theme park admission and ride on the most unpopular rides???

Who would ever go anywhere where they don't want to do the activities.

And what is it with this popular/unpopular thing?

I base my riding on what *I* or my family likes. We don't look at unpopular rides and snub then because the cool kids aren't doing it. That seems silly.

 

[cakebaker]

I base my riding on what *I* or my family likes. We don't look at unpopular rides and snub then because the cool kids aren't doing it. That seems silly.

Exactly- I had to choose between any of the mountains and Haunted Mansion or Peter Pan's Flight or even IASW- the mountains lose and I like the mountains! Might not get me sat at the cool kids table, but it makes me happy.

 

[BugsDaddy]

I think I brought up the word popular to basically mean the headliners or tougher to get FastPasses.

 

[WillAustin]

Who wants to pay WDW theme park admission and ride on the most unpopular rides???

Remember, you could be enjoying the overall experience rather than the minutiae of wait times.

It's interesting, the people I've heard when in the parks or on the bus over the past 2 visits aren't talking about how much they got done, it's about how much they spent for so few things in a day and wondering if it was worth it.

Just because we can spread out costs over a single 10-day ticket to $45/day doesn't fix the lack of value for people who are there for 1 day. Paying the $100+, getting 3 FP+ attractions, then waiting in lines for several hours isn't a good experience, no matter if lines should or should not be expected.

For me, waiting an hour in line for 2 attractions is too long based on what the trip costs, but I bill hourly rates for work, so time is money.

 

[mummabear]

I wonder if US/SW/BG will follow suit?

 

[trainingupmy4princes]

And the cash register keeps ringing. People vote with their pocket book and right now, unless you have some different numbers to share, people are voting * overwhelmingly * for the current path. They don't only love the product, they are willing to go into debt, sacrifice other experiences and absorb price increases in order to go there. The fact of the matter is, those that think it all sucks are in such a minority that Disney does not care if you ever visit WDW again. If they did, they would cater to your wishes.

The reasons behind why travel has picked up are far more than people love Disney. What's more things like public opinion can change. The public may only be willing to absorb so much increase for declining service.