No expiration gone, what is going to be next for Disney tickets?

[IrishNYC]

They offered them because back in the 70's thru part of the 90's any ticket you bought was non-expirational. They were good forever. Why wouldn't they be? You paid for them didn't you? If you bought a 5 day ticket and only used 3 of them, for whatever reason, why is alright for Disney to take my money and never give me anything in return for it unless I pay them extra. I know I may think in simple terms, but, to me that is stealing from me. They get my money and get to keep it and I get nothing.

In simple terms, if I bought 5 days for $300.00 (est.) that would be $60.00 per day (I don't care how they stair-step it, that is what I am paying. Now if the whether is bad or something happens that forces you to leave early and can only use 3 days of that, then the value of those two missing days is $120.00 of my money that they get to keep. There used to be a lot of old Snake Oil Salesmen that worked under the same system.

If you're that worried about your trip getting cut short, that's what travel insurance is for.

 

[chartle]

It's not the same thing. Do you really think that Disney would be happy if a million people showed up this year with unused day passes from 1978 and got into the Magic Kingdom without paying any additional money? Do you think the accountants would be dancing a jig because Disney had the use of a million people's $12 for all these years? That won't pay this year's bills. That money was already put to use. Disney wants $100,000,000 in new money from these guests.

But when they put the money to use back then it bought more stuff then the same amount could buy this year, stuff they didn't have to buy later at a higher cost. But money in the hand now is "almost" always better than the same amount of money you can get in the future, its a common accounting axiom. I said almost because I'm tempering my prior reply with the issue that Tickets prices went up faster than inflation so the math is a little off.

But by selling you a NE ticket they presold you another vacation.

One advantage Disney gets by discontinuing nonexpiring tickets is not having to keep ticket data on the books for long periods of time to prove how many days you have remaining on your tickets.

I suppose we will no longer be able to add more days or add water park fun to non-expiring tickets we already own; that could prolong the time that Disney needs to keep those tickets on the books. Also, the general rule is that you cannot upgrade into a ticket that is no longer being sold.

Not sure what you mean by "on the books". On the books to me is an accounting term. Like stores want you to use your Gift Cards quickly because when sold they are not on the books as revenue but a liability which messes up the balance sheet.

If you meant they no longer have to keep track of them, I'm 100% certain all ticket data including when I bought it, for how much and the exact time I used it at a turn style is retained forever, its just too valuable.

 

[JimmyV]

ut money in the hand now is "almost" always better than the same amount of money you can get in the future, its a common accounting axiom.

That's entirely dependent on what they spent it on. You are looking at this from an investing standpoint and not a theme park overhead management standpoint. Disney needs today's dollars to pay for today's parks. It's like you buying groceries. You do it with today's money. You could theoretically do it from investment income from past resources. But you don't.

 

[MakiraMarlena]

As for why it would matter that those paying a "no attractions" price would be using the rest of their party's magic bands to go on a ride or two, it's like a buffet. They used to have a "non-eater" option for the character buffets with a reduced fee for the character interaction only. But how do they know the people paying the reduced cost aren't actually eating from the others' plates? They don't. So it's no longer done.

And it's not just rides - reduced fee guests would have to stay out of shows too. Themed restaurants? Do they count?

 

[IrishNYC]

As for why it would matter that those paying a "no attractions" price would be using the rest of their party's magic bands to go on a ride or two, it's like a buffet. They used to have a "non-eater" option for the character buffets with a reduced fee for the character interaction only. But how do they know the people paying the reduced cost aren't actually eating from the others' plates? They don't. So it's no longer done.

And it's not just rides - reduced fee guests would have to stay out of shows too. Themed restaurants? Do they count?

Exactly! I thought of exactly that reasoning after I went to bed last night.

I have a feeling in the future we'll see some kind of limitation on sharing Memory Maker, too. I've seen so many people say they went in on group shares of multiple, unrelated people on the same MM.

 

[Bluegrrl]

It's starting to sound like the old ABCDE ticket system that they used to have. You would by a ticket, and then buy a ticket booklet for all the rides you wanted to ride. UGH.

 

[Halloweenqueen]

I honestly doubt it hurt their bottom line. In the big picture the percentage of people buying non expiring option was so minimal that it was phased out due to lack of purchases of the non-expiring option.

This. I know on good authority that they were rarely purchased.

 

[disnut8]

Not sure what you mean by "on the books". On the books to me is an accounting term. Like stores want you to use your Gift Cards quickly because when sold they are not on the books as revenue but a liability which messes up the balance sheet.

Exactly. If you buy a gift card to somewhere, anywhere, that purchase is not revenue to that company. Be it Amazon or Target. That purchase sits on the balance sheet of a company and does not enter into the profit or loss to that company until the holder of that card actually uses it. So, if you buy a $20 gift card to Target today for your grandchild to use and that grandchild doesn't use it until 2016, Target sees a sale in 2016, not today. Ever wonder why companies have an expiration date on gift cards? Because it's an accounting nightmare. And just about all companies are audited and have to produce a list of what they still have outstanding that could be redeemed.

 

[chartle]

Exactly. If you buy a gift card to somewhere, anywhere, that purchase is not revenue to that company. Be it Amazon or Target. That purchase sits on the balance sheet of a company and does not enter into the profit or loss to that company until the holder of that card actually uses it. So, if you buy a $20 gift card to Target today for your grandchild to use and that grandchild doesn't use it until 2016, Target sees a sale in 2016, not today. Ever wonder why companies have an expiration date on gift cards? Because it's an accounting nightmare. And just about all companies are audited and have to produce a list of what they still have outstanding that could be redeemed.

But a ticket is not like a gift card accounting wise. Its a license which I forget what that really is, its been decades since we covered this in bussiness law class.

 

[chicagoshannon]

Agree. I've never understood why Disney allowed (allows?) people to buy tickets as "futures".

Because all tickets used to be non expiring so it didn't matter.

 

[Giraffeitis]

I believe that you still can buy the no expiration tickets. Not from the Disney website, but you can from other sites [such as Undercover Tourist] and pretty much all travel agencies that I have talked to. I'm guessing that in theory because the other resources can get no expiration tickets that if you called and pestered Disney, a cast member might be able to "hook you up" with some no expiration tickets.

I originally though about purchasing no expiration tickets because of all the "what-ifs" but I've decided that I'm most likely only going to go to WDW once in my life [unless I get super awesome-ly lucky ] And plus my biggest worry hasn't really been about no expiration tickets but the fact that I want to stay longer than 10 days XD

You should have a reasonable amount if time to use those passes at face value. But not 15 years.

I agree with this, I think 2 or 3 years would be very reasonable, 5 years at the most. Any longer and you're just hoarding the tickets imo ha-ha.

It would not surprise me that at some point they squeeze out the ticket discounters like Undercover Tourist. Your only option would be to buy directly from Disney without any possibility of a discount.

I don't see why they would because it honestly doesn't seem like that great of a discount unless you were buying for a family reunion or something where it was 10+ people and you were saving HUNDREDS of dollars.

Because either way tickets are still super expensive, ha-ha

 

[mackeymouse4eva]

Although I have NO doubt that it is an accounting nightmare for businesses to deal with gift cards , businesses used to LOVE them...why...because they got cash paid for them AND many were lost or never redeemed..it was free money! However, these days if you get a gift card from Aunt Sally that you re not fond of, you can go online to trade it or sell it. I think there are less and less "unused" gift cards in today's day and age. I have no doubt that a percentage are lost, or buried away in some cabinet at home never to see the light of day again, but those numbers have dwindled.

In regards to Disney, well, honestly TONS of people misplaced, lost, inadvertently destroyed, many of the old park hooper tickets and some of the non expiring ones. And the Keys to the World cards...forget it!! I've taken a hundred trips and probably have 3x as many Keys to the World cards....now which one had that day left....which one had the two days from the free dinning...??? Now I know MANY people DO keep a careful track of these tickets but they are the minority, and although Disney never knew when these people might reappear with these tickets, they did know that the percentage out there vs percentage actually redeemed were vastly different. The number that gets redeemed is far less then what's actually floating around...which will probably never be redeemed. HOWEVER with the new Ticket system and My Disney Experience, there is going to be a LOT less lost tickets!! Now you don't have to worry about where you put that ticket or magic band, just log on and there it is! Heck I'm sure some people will still forget some of their unused tickets but log on and SURPRISE you still have those 2days from Free Dinning or 3 left on a non expiring ticket, guess we don't need to buy tickets this trip. There will be no more "lost". I do recognize that the system is having difficulty maintaining (for lack of a better word) these multiple ticket accounts, and it would be easier to just have an account with tickets that are used up and done at the end of a single trip.

Right now Disney seems content with grabbing the once in a lifetime guest because that's were the money is at in their eyes. They are not interested in the repeat guest, probably because they figure we ll come no matter what. I'd be fine with this IF ONLY they were taking care of the parks they way they should be, the decline has been VERY noticeable in recent years. It is now treated purely as a Cash Cow, not as a cherished way of life. There is no one on that corporate hierarchy that thinks "is this in the spirit/mindset/QUALITY that Walt would want" , and I get it...it's a business, but what THEY are missing, at this time, is that what made Disney stand apart from any other nickel and dime entertainments/parks, WAS these philosophies....and with the success of THOSE philosophies, came boatloads of $$$$$$$$. They can have it all, and make it a win win for everyone. Unfortunately, the most recent naming of their next CEO of Parks & Resorts is not instilling much hope of this.


All this being said.....I still LOVE WDW & DL and will be using my non expiring exp's to visit for months to come....if I can only find them

 

[Giraffeitis]

I'd be fine with this IF ONLY they were taking care of the parks they way they should be, the decline has been VERY noticeable in recent years. It is now treated purely as a Cash Cow, not as a cherished way of life.

It's comments/posts similar to this that [hopefully] unintentionally make me wary about going to WDW because I'm afraid that I'll see something that will ruin the 'magic'. I don't want to see any run-down rides or Cinderella smoking a cigarette in one of the designated areas, that would just ruin it for me. Or at least make the quality of the trip just a bit less. Or finding out that Mr. Mouse has a bad case of BO through his mascot-costume-thing.

 

[mackeymouse4eva]

It's comments/posts similar to this that [hopefully] unintentionally make me wary about going to WDW because I'm afraid that I'll see something that will ruin the 'magic'. I don't want to see any run-down rides or Cinderella smoking a cigarette in one of the designated areas, that would just ruin it for me. Or at least make the quality of the trip just a bit less. Or finding out that Mr. Mouse has a bad case of BO through his mascot-costume-thing.

Don't be wary, you WILL have a great time. This will be ESPECIALLY true if this is your first time! It's just for those of us that have observed changes in quality over the years, things that you would NEVER notice because you don't have past experience to compare it to. There have also been some great addition/changes through the years...New Fantasyland is really lovely. I'm certain that you will probably enjoy EPCOT for the attractions that you partake in, but those of us with a history are wondering what happened to the original vision, and a lot of empty holes that need to be filled. However, I still LOVE EPCOT, especially in the spring with all the gorgeous flowers! Many of us are just disappointed that the powers that be are using the parks like a Cash Cow, and grabbing every penny possible (and then some) , but don't seem to have a strong connection, vision, or care for the parks themselves.

You will have a blast , and there's a good chance that i could be there with you, using my non expiring tickets, and loving being "home".

And I can guarantee that MOST everyone on these forms that may have a gripe about one thing or another, STILL LOVES those parks, and will continue to.....they just want someone at the top of the food chain to care as much

 

[Giraffeitis]

Ok, whew! Just making sure, lol

I just wanna make sure that it isn't gonna be a bad, total waste of money experience. It's good to know that since it would be my first time, that it would still be epic, lol

 

[mackeymouse4eva]

Ok, whew! Just making sure, lol

I just wanna make sure that it isn't gonna be a bad, total waste of money experience. It's good to know that since it would be my first time, that it would still be epic, lol

Even if it's your 10th time it will be epic!!! The joy far out weighs any frustrations!!! These boards are a great place to get all of your planning information and that WILL make your trip more magical.

 

[goofyernmost]

A corporation interested in themselves? That's crazy talk!

If you want "your share" of interest or investment in Disney, buy stock, not tickets.

I did that for a while until it started to cost me three times more to maintain my account then what I was earning. Things have changed now and the value is much higher, but, at the time the only way I could even start to feel that I was profiting from my investments in Disney was to buy the 10 day no-expiration tickets and spread them out over about 3 plus years thus missing a number of rate increases.