New Ticketing System

[bytheblood]

So be it. Florida law...Disney law...same result: one pass per guest.

Though I have never "violated" this rule and never would (I am so far from a rebel ), I think it is rediculous. Who gives a pig's flying fart if somebody else uses the pass? The darn thing is paid for.

The eBay thing I can kind of understand, but if somebody pays for a dud park pass on eBay, that is their problem for taking that move. Let the buyer beware. I would never purchase something like a park ticket from anybody who is not affiliated with that park.

 

[bytheblood]

I just bought the plastic tickets from the Disney Store. They dont have a signable white strip on the back to sign or anything, so how are we going to know whose tickets are whose if I hold all the tix?

I would use a thin black sharpie and write initials on one of the corners on the backside. Or use different colored sharpies and place a dot on it somewhere...assign everybody a different color.

 

[SnackyStacky]

Though I have never "violated" this rule and never would (I am so far from a rebel ), I think it is rediculous. Who gives a pig's flying fart if somebody else uses the pass? The darn thing is paid for.

The eBay thing I can kind of understand, but if somebody pays for a dud park pass on eBay, that is their problem for taking that move. Let the buyer beware. I would never purchase something like a park ticket from anybody who is not affiliated with that park.

This really is an instance of one bad apple ruining it for everybody.

I think more than EBay, Disney is trying to stop the folks IN Central Florida who will buy partially used admission. And then SELL that admission to other families - with absolutely no kind of guarantee that what they're telling people is on the ticket IS on the ticket.

I really don't think Disney had it out for families and decided "Hahahaha - we're going to make it so you CAN'T give your passes to your family members!".

Quite the contrary. With this group tagging thing, it really makes it seem like they're trying to acknowledge families that would like to give their unused days to family and friends while still trying to stop the thieves from thieving.

And as a moderator, not just someone with an opinion: please keep it civil! I'm not speaking to any one individual. Just a general announcement!

 

[mochabean]

Though I have never "violated" this rule and never would (I am so far from a rebel ), I think it is rediculous. Who gives a pig's flying fart if somebody else uses the pass? The darn thing is paid for.

The eBay thing I can kind of understand, but if somebody pays for a dud park pass on eBay, that is their problem for taking that move. Let the buyer beware. I would never purchase something like a park ticket from anybody who is not affiliated with that park.

I agree that people who buy passes on ebay or in person from people they don't know or trust are making a dumb move. However, the problem is that these people get to WDW, find out they were duped, and complain to Disney as if it's Disney's fault. Now we know the CMs at guest relations can't say to the family who is excited for a great vacation, they they were dumb for buying passes on ebay and got screwed out of hundreds of dollars. So what Disney frequently does is give these people discounted passes to help ease the pain. Obviously from a business point of view, this is probably in their best interests, but it also costs them money. What Disney has done with the finger scans is found a way to not only eliminate this family from getting scammed in the first place and then very upset while on vacation, but also eliminated the need to give away tickets.

 

[rwodonnell]

Law, contract or otherwise - my point remains that I don't understand the incredible hoopla about this.

Pro Guest:

1.) Guest purchases only what they need.
2.) Families are no longer out thousands of dollars by having bought bogus tickets in the area surrounding Disney property.
3.) Guest loses ticket - guest can go to Guest Relations and have a new pass issued


Con Guest:

1.) No more sharing within families

I can only see 1 mark AGAINST the guest, and 3 marks in favor of the guest.

Despite the fact that I think "Pro #1" sounds like marketing, "Pro #2" is overblown (but no question a huge downer for any of the tiny percentage of people who experience it) and "Pro #3" already exists with the Park Hoppers, I will grant your 4 points and make a list of my own!

Pros:
1. Disney will undoubtedly sell more days that never get used - a big plus for Disney shareholders.
2. The lines to get into the park when the inevitable bio-metric system crash occurs will get so long that all those within the park already will experience quicker throughput on rides.
3. Park entry prices are raised (a lot!) for those visiting for 4 days - again, another big plus for shareholders.

Cons:
1. Simpletons like rwodonnell make a big stink on the forums and carry on endless threads about why the great new system isn't great for everyone.

In all seriousness, despite the fact that I do have multiple lesser issues, my main concern is that the park tickets for the guests that I take with me for a week at a DVC resort will spend about 50% more than they did in the past on park tickets. Why is that so hard to understand?

 

[rwodonnell]

By the way, can anyone who is back after using the MYW tickets confirm that the tickets are all tagged together somehow upon entry? I have seen this in other threads as well, but it doesn't seem like a viable solution to me. How would it know for instance when to stop tagging new ticket groups together (i.e. how would it distinguish between groups entering the park around the same time?)

 

[Luv2Roam]

When I have been at any park and the bio metric readers do not work, the system has been down for everything. No ticket is able to be read. And in all the times I have entered a park this has occurred just a few times.
Not to say it can't happen, and others have not experienced more down times. But stuff happens.

We will have friends visit. Being a central resident, I have not had a need to buy tickets for anyone -- yet. And really they can shop around for the best prices just as wll as I. (I would probably just ask on the Budget Board! )
It will be their choice whether to/or what $ they spend at Disney or whatever tourist attraction or shopping location.
There are prices, are there is lots of competition. Just like anyone else they can decide where their dollars go and what is best for them to buy.

 

[tjkraz]

...my main concern is that the park tickets for the guests that I take with me for a week at a DVC resort will spend about 50% more than they did in the past on park tickets. Why is that so hard to understand?

rwodonnell:

I do appreciate the sincerity of your post, but you are exaggerating a bit on your prices.

If we limit to a 4-5 day pass as you indicate in your post, here are some real numbers:

4-Day PH, Advance Purchase (prior to 1/2/05): $215.13
4-Day MYW, with Hopping, non-expire: $250.28

That's a 16% increase.

Now, if we assume that your guests intend use all 4 of their pass days in this trip and have no immediate plans to return, there is no need to pay for the non-expire option on the MYW pass. That takes the cost down to $234.30, which is only an 8% increase.

I looked at several other direct comparisons between the PH and PHP tickets and the new MYW, and didn't get more than a 16% differential. Sure that's nothing to sneeze at, but it is quite a bit less than 50%.

Under the new system, some people will win and others will lose. If your guests can't justify the additional $20-30 per individual for 4 days at Walt Disney World, then I guess they will have to show their displeasure with their wallet.

 

[rwodonnell]

rwodonnell:

I do appreciate the sincerity of your post, but you are exaggerating a bit on your prices.

If we limit to a 4-5 day pass as you indicate in your post, here are some real numbers:

4-Day PH, Advance Purchase (prior to 1/2/05): $215.13
4-Day MYW, with Hopping, non-expire: $250.28

That's a 16% increase.

Now, if we assume that your guests intend use all 4 of their pass days in this trip and have no immediate plans to return, there is no need to pay for the non-expire option on the MYW pass. That takes the cost down to $234.30, which is only an 8% increase.

I looked at several other direct comparisons between the PH and PHP tickets and the new MYW, and didn't get more than a 16% differential. Sure that's nothing to sneeze at, but it is quite a bit less than 50%.

Under the new system, some people will win and others will lose. If your guests can't justify the additional $20-30 per individual for 4 days at Walt Disney World, then I guess they will have to show their displeasure with their wallet.

That's not the way it worked though. What we did in the past was, I would buy 7 day PHP passes and use them for two trips with guests. Since this doesn't completely cover two separate 4-day trips, let's use the average cost per day. The 7 day PHP (this included options, of course!) was averaging us about $38 per park day, if you allow for a relatively modest value of $8 per plus (we would generally spend one of these either at PI or a water park). The 4 day MYW ticket is $56.25 per day, with no plus to use at a water park. That is just a hair under a 50% increase.

My immediate family's tickets will be less, in fact, since we used to also get the 7 day PHP passes at that $38 per day price (last purchase anyway). We will now probably get the 10 day MYW with no exp., hopping and pluses for just under $40 (again, with a $8 value put on the options). Obviously we are winners in this, but it is more that the people we take to our DVC that generally can't afford to go in the first place (and we can't really afford to shell out for their tickets) that are the losers.

So in summary, it's not just the straight ticket comparison that creates the price increase, but the inability to share within a larger family (our guests are family members).

 

[I Love Tigger]

I was surprised to read that the finger scanning is new, as we had to do it back in 2001 when we last visited

 

[seashoreCM]

Anyone have recollections of the biometric system being down and what Disney did? Were people admitted expeditiously anyway where the cast member at the turnstile just pushed a button to make the turnstile accept the ticket?

As of 1/05 some of the scanners have been upgraded, they are larger and have flashing yellow lights.

 

[Luv2Roam]

It's been a few years ago the last time it happened. We had APs. And like most guests we had them out and ready to insert.
That day we had gone first to Epcot for breakfast at Fountainview. The system was down.
And we hopped to MGM. The system was still down.
I don't recall showing ID. It almost seems like they had us run the tickets through. But it was a case where the machines were spitting them out right away.
And then that created a FP issue. The FP system was not recognizing guests being in the park. We were getting FP slips stating the FP were not valid.
Disney had extra CMs handing out FPs.

 

[mochabean]

So in summary, it's not just the straight ticket comparison that creates the price increase, but the inability to share within a larger family (our guests are family members).

It's not that the ticket prices have increased so dramatically, but rather that in the past you were able to save money by doing something technically not allowed, which you can no longer do.

Disney is not raising the prices by 50%, rather, they have found a technically feasible way to enforce rules to which which you have been subject all along.

So, in the past you got a big discount by exploiting a loophole, and now that loophole is closed.

 

[rwodonnell]

It's not that the ticket prices have increased so dramatically, but rather that in the past you were able to save money by doing something technically not allowed, which you can no longer do.

Disney is not raising the prices by 50%, rather, they have found a technically feasible way to enforce rules to which which you have been subject all along.

So, in the past you got a big discount by exploiting a loophole, and now that loophole is closed.

Agreed, mostly. I'll save the debate on whether or not it was "not allowed" for another time. The "loophole" as you call it was pointed out to us by Disney CMs and we were encouraged to use the tickets that way by Disney CMs. In my initial post, I did say that we would "spend about 50% more", not that there was a 50% increase.

 

[SnackyStacky]

Despite the fact that I think "Pro #1" sounds like marketing, "Pro #2" is overblown (but no question a huge downer for any of the tiny percentage of people who experience it)

Like I said earlier - regardless of what you believe, the illegal ticket market in central florida is a lot bigger than you realize. Which is why there are state LAWS that govern the resale of admission. Prostitution, selling drugs, driving over the posted speed limit - all things that are against the law. Doesn't mean that people that break those laws don't exist in some pretty staggering numbers.

and "Pro #3" already exists with the Park Hoppers, I will grant your 4 points and make a list of my own!

Pros:
1. Disney will undoubtedly sell more days that never get used - a big plus for Disney shareholders.

Unnecessary sarcasm aside, 9 out of 10 ticket users did NOT use all their days. Absolutely correct. Which is why it's no longer REQUIRED to purchase the non-expiration option. Not to mention that people now have a legit avenue to purchase 1, 2, and 3 day hopper passes if needed.

2. The lines to get into the park when the inevitable bio-metric system crash occurs will get so long that all those within the park already will experience quicker throughput on rides.

The biometric information is not stored in a central data base. The turnstiles are capable of writing information to your ticket. And they do - your bimetrics. The first time you use the ticket, the biometrics are written to your ticket mag strip. So if there is a biometric system crash, the problems will be a lot bigger than you think - because all admission - not just biometrics on admission - will be unreadable.

3. Park entry prices are raised (a lot!) for those visiting for 4 days - again, another big plus for shareholders.

Cons:
1. Simpletons like rwodonnell make a big stink on the forums and carry on endless threads about why the great new system isn't great for everyone.

In all seriousness, despite the fact that I do have multiple lesser issues, my main concern is that the park tickets for the guests that I take with me for a week at a DVC resort will spend about 50% more than they did in the past on park tickets. Why is that so hard to understand?

It's not that it's hard to understand. Whenever a company makes a change like this, there will be people that are going to have issues with it. It's just the way it works.

So I do feel bad for you. It's unfortunate that your guests will have to spend more money. But at the same time, I'm glad that LOTS of people who don't know anything about Disney World admission are not going to end up buying bogus admission.

 

[eeyore0062]

But at the same time, I'm glad that LOTS of people who don't know anything about Disney World admission are not going to end up buying bogus admission.

From your mouth to Mickey's Ears! Thanks SnackyStacky!!!!