New survey .. proposal .. Tiered Ticket Prices

[CandleontheWater]

When they ask about paying more for a ticket if you got guaranteed lower crowds, do you think they are considering going back to something like e-ride nights? Back in the 90's (it was then, right?) instead of extra magic hours you could pay some really small amount of money (like $10 or something) and go to e-ride nights, when the park was open late and there were low crowds. Maybe they'll get rid of EMH and instead charge a super-premium for tickets with access to lower crowds. They can justify that by claiming that everyone answered "Yes" on the survey, the guests have spoken, they really want to fork over more cash. This would also follow with Disney's current business plan of charging for things that used to be included.

 

[Donald - my hero]

I don't think i'm as twitched about the possibility of them implementing tiered pricing as I am concerned with how they chose to word the questions and the bizarre chart they created that requires the use of a slide rule ... I can't answer your questions if the information is not displayed in a manner that will allow me to respond without making my head hurt. I was just wondering if anyone else has received the survey and if so, am i the only one too dense to make sense of it.

 

[MillauFr]

I don't understand why don't vary pricing based on demand and time of year? During Christmas they could charge far more than they do. During slow times they should cut the price in half.

 

[TwinPrincessMermaids]

I don't understand why don't vary pricing based on demand and time of year? During Christmas they could charge far more than they do. During slow times they should cut the price in half.

Now they charge more in NON peak season when its already low crowds and call it a 'plus' (making up for the missing revenue from the lower crowds) and then at peak season, they charge less but get many more so they make revenue there. Very backwards lol but in the end Disney wins? Naw, this can't be. All other vacation companies charge more when demand is more.

 

[vital]

I received this also and our last trip was May 2014. One of the questions I found interesting was "Does the action of other guests affect your visit?" I also found the "would you be willing to pay more for guaranteed less guests in the park?". I figured I'd come here and see what others are saying. I'll be honest, this last trip was it for a while for us. We stayed at Animal Kingdom with Savannah View on bought DVC points which was a bucket list of mine. The resort was freaking awesome! We just didn't have the same park experiences we've had in the past. I can't put my finger on it, but it was different. It said a lot when my DS14 enjoyed sitting on the balcony watching the animals and wasn't in a hurry to get to the parks. Did we have a good time? Yes. Maybe the newness has warn off after so many visits, but we are taking a break for a while. Will definitely be back when Avatar land opens.

 

[Luckybee]

We just got back last week from a 2 and 1/2 week trip around Florida with our 1st week spent in Orlando. We spent only 2 days at Disney. Our next trip back wont be likely until next May since we have other trips planned between now and then. Funny but I did think about Tiered tickets but only insofar as Epcot was concerned and what I had in mind was a "tier" that would allow entry for "food" purposes only.
In May of next year we'll only do Disney for 1 day and only to do MK for the things we ended up missing this trip ( we missed BOG for dinner and our Wishes fp night since both of us got the flu...grrrrr)....when I was thinking about it though what struck me was that we would do Epcot for a night for dinner but Im not prepared to add that on if it costs us $100 ea on top of dinner with all the great restaurants in Orlando . Why oh why don't they have a later night pass that wouldn't allow attraction entry and only for dinner purposes. Although after our disappointing MP meal perhaps we shld be grateful.

For those that care Cal Grill was amazing as usual but MPaul was sorely underwhelming.

 

[Planogirl]

I've only gotten 1 survey in 2011 which was on magic bands, lol. I've also only gotten 1 pin & used it 2012. How do you get so many pins???

I don't know. I don't do anything but in the last few years they keep appearing.

 

[JanaDee]

I've only gotten 1 survey in 2011 which was on magic bands, lol. I've also only gotten 1 pin & used it 2012. How do you get so many pins???

We get pins about every quarter. My 14 year old just got one yesterday in her name. I've found that by signing into MDE, pricing a trip and putting it in your cart and letting it sit for a week or two generates a pin.

 

[jbish]

Suppose instead of $115 is was $150 * 20,000=$3.0 Mill. And instead of comparing it to gate price you compared with a $65 per day average price on a 5 day ticket $65 * 30,000 = $1.95 Mill. . That's an extra Million Dollars in admission revenue. If you only "closed" 1 park those other 10,000 people in Disney's eyes would just go to one of the other 3 parks that day.

Except what if I used my Gold ticket that day to go to HS or AK and now a portion of the 10,000 locked out of MK and a portion of the 10,000 locked out EP (assuming that would reach capacity in this new "guaranty era"), now my HS/AK day is more crowded than what I bargained for! How do I go about cashing in on that guaranty? Do I go to GS and say, "Hey, I felt it was too crowded given my Golden ticket - can I have my money back?" What will they say? "Well, HS/AK did not reach capacity today so technically it's not as crowded as it could have been." Oh. Ok. I just have no idea how they could implement this effectively.

Also, remember a bit about survey theory. Asking a question about "guaranteed" smaller crowds does not at all mean that they are planning or proposing doing such a thing. It's designed to get information on how people feel about crowds, in some way or another that we are not privy to. The question doesn't tell us much about what they're really after without a more complete context of the survey. And even then, I suspect we could only guess.
In short, don't try to read too much into survey questions.

Ok - true. They do craft these surveys to serve specific purposes, most of which are not obvious to the survey takers. But, they DID choose the wording and probably should have/would have guessed that the content of this survey would make it out to the general public. I even saw it on my Yahoo news feed this morning! So putting out "there" the concept of a guaranty of lower crowds in exchange for paying a premium IS a GUARANTY to put the Disney-going crowd into a tizzy.

 

[jbish]

Ok - I got it. I found a way I can live with this new tiered ticket prices. I'm all for "you get what you pay for" - good and bad. So, if I want to go to MK on a day that has a party/hard-ticket event that evening, shouldn't that be priced at a Bronze rate? I mean, the park is closing at 7 pm with no nighttime entertainment options. In the chart posted, 10/31 is Silver day (which is the first scheduled day of our 2015 trip) - why is that Silver when MK closes earlier than normal? Sure, the other parks are open, but I don't buy hoppers and I am planning on going back to BLT for the evening activities there (since I don't want to pay extra for the Halloween party). How is the higher price for that day justifiable?

 

[ArwenMarie]

Ok - I got it. I found a way I can live with this new tiered ticket prices. I'm all for "you get what you pay for" - good and bad. So, if I want to go to MK on a day that has a party/hard-ticket event that evening, shouldn't that be priced at a Bronze rate? I mean, the park is closing at 7 pm with no nighttime entertainment options. In the chart posted, 10/31 is Silver day (which is the first scheduled day of our 2015 trip) - why is that Silver when MK closes earlier than normal? Sure, the other parks are open, but I don't buy hoppers and I am planning on going back to BLT for the evening activities there (since I don't want to pay extra for the Halloween party). How is the higher price for that day justifiable?

I do think if they do this, they are going to have to make all of those party days Bronze. Or maybe create some 4th category for it LOL

 

[baler31]

Story on the survey: no new info but the paper did pick up the story.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/os-disney-tiered-ticket-pricing-20150529-story.html

 

[larryz]

How is the higher price for that day justifiable?

You want to go to the park that day, therefore, the higher price.

If you didn't want to go that day, it could then be "bronze."

 

[johde]

Except what if I used my Gold ticket that day to go to HS or AK and now a portion of the 10,000 locked out of MK and a portion of the 10,000 locked out EP (assuming that would reach capacity in this new "guaranty era"), now my HS/AK day is more crowded than what I bargained for! How do I go about cashing in on that guaranty? Do I go to GS and say, "Hey, I felt it was too crowded given my Golden ticket - can I have my money back?" What will they say? "Well, HS/AK did not reach capacity today so technically it's not as crowded as it could have been." Oh. Ok. I just have no idea how they could implement this effectively.

In my scenario I'm thinking of 2 separate tickets. Tou would buy "super tickets" by park and day with Guaranteed low crowds. So for Example, on June 27th, only people with Super MK tickets for that Tuesday would be allowed in that day. They would be hard tickets separate from your normal tickets. Everyone else would need to choose between the other 3 parks. Only 1 park at a time could have the "guarantee".

 

[lugnut33]

Since we are talking weird scenarios, maybe WDW should do this to maximize profits. If you want a full day and night at MK the cost would be $150.00. However, you have the option to buy a half day ticket for $100, thus saving you 50%. You could use the half day from 9-4 or from 4-10.

 

[Marionnette]

When they ask about paying more for a ticket if you got guaranteed lower crowds, do you think they are considering going back to something like e-ride nights? Back in the 90's (it was then, right?) instead of extra magic hours you could pay some really small amount of money (like $10 or something) and go to e-ride nights, when the park was open late and there were low crowds. Maybe they'll get rid of EMH and instead charge a super-premium for tickets with access to lower crowds. They can justify that by claiming that everyone answered "Yes" on the survey, the guests have spoken, they really want to fork over more cash. This would also follow with Disney's current business plan of charging for things that used to be included.

If the "new E-ticket" night would be anything like the Villians Parties, MNSSHP and MVMCP, then my answer would be "no, thank you". Disney's promise of limiting tickets to those events doesn't mean anything when it comes to crowd sizes. Some of the densest crowds that I've seen were at a MVMCP in early December.

Since we are talking weird scenarios, maybe WDW should do this to maximize profits. If you want a full day and night at MK the cost would be $150.00. However, you have the option to buy a half day ticket for $100, thus saving you 50%. You could use the half day from 9-4 or from 4-10.

I don't know how you would manage to remove the "9-4" guests from the parks once their tickets have expired. They have a difficult time removing guests who have not paid for the parties and offsite guests during evening EMH.

As for the "4-10" tickets, Disney already has those for convention guests. They're charging $63 per ticket (including tax) for those of us attending a meeting in the fall. Compare that to $112 for a 1-day MK ticket or $103 for the other parks.

 

[cleverclovers]

This is all too complicated. Surely my vacation dollars will be appreciated elsewhere.

 

[cigar95]

I do think if they do this, they are going to have to make all of those party days Bronze. Or maybe create some 4th category for it LOL

The parties don't affect the other parks, though. Are those parks unusually lower in demand on party days?

 

[Tarheel girl 1975]

Didn't Iger boast about how MDE and MM+ allowed them fit more people into the MK over the Winter holidays? I just can't see Disney putting a meaningful cap on park attendance.

 

[maxiesmom]

How much it tax on tickets? I'm trying to figure out if every ticket will cost more, or if value tickets get even a small break compared to now.