Was the switch to 5-day max ticket strictly a money grab?

[doog71]

Frustrated (along with many others I'm sure) that the most days you can purchase now for a park hopper ticket at DL is 5.

Did Disney ever give a "reason" for this? I'm assuming regardless of what they said this was a money grab pure and simple.

We ended up buying APs since we're staying longer and made more sense financially.

 

[figment_jii]

Did Disney ever give a "reason" for this? I'm assuming regardless of what they said this was a money grab pure and simple.

Officially, I don't think they ever gave a reason. A commonly theorized reason was that it was done in part to reduce fraudulent tickets and "renting" of tickets.

 

[bcla]

I generally assume that most decisions made regarding tickets are designed to maximize ticket revenue and lower costs for Disney. That being said, ticket renting was a real issue. It was one thing for people to actually buy a five-day ticket and use it as such. The calculations were that they would average to an average usage per day less than a single-day ticket user. The person renting a ticket is likely trying to maximize use that day. So on average it's increasing demand without paying as such.

Most of the ticket renters are out of business now.

 

[mom2rtk]

Officially, I don't think they ever gave a reason. A commonly theorized reason was that it was done in part to reduce fraudulent tickets and "renting" of tickets.

I thought that too. Until they instituted the photo policy for each multi-day ticket. That should have taken care of the ticket rental issue. I believed it was that so much that I honestly thought they'd offer longer tickets again this year and was really disappointed when the new prices and structure were announced.

To me that just says it really was a money grab after all.

 

[tdhickey]

I don't think it was a money grab, I think it was crowd control.

If you think about it, DLR wants people to stay longer...they spend more in the parks. It's crowd control more than anything, plus I bet majority of sales were 5 day or less passes, probably 5% or less customers actually bought more than 5 days.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't think it was a money grab, I think it was crowd control.

If you think about it, DLR wants people to stay longer...they spend more in the parks. It's crowd control more than anything, plus I bet majority of sales were 5 day or less passes, probably 5% or less customers actually bought more than 5 days.

If less than 5% of people actually bought longer passes, then how does ending the longer passes do anything for crowds?

If they wanted to control crowds, they'd increase the AP prices some more.

I just don't think it was crowd control.

 

[Ingrid0382]

I've wondered if they are pushing people to purchase annual passes knowing that people will justify the purchase by planning another trip sooner than they normally would to get as much use out of them as possible.

Since there are discounts on food and merchandise offered when you show your annual pass, I've also been curious as to whether or not it benefits Disney to be able to track customers and the purchases they make.

Either way, Disney benefitted from the 5-day max and consumers definitely did not. It's frustrating.

 

[gardengirl2790]

I'm not certain of the exact reason, but I have to say I am very disappointed. I thought, apparently naively, just like it was stated above, that once Disney was taking photos of each 3+ day Parkhopper holders, and the ticket renters were stopped, they would return to selling 6 day passes. So, instead of spending this coming arrival day in the parks, we will enjoy a day at the GCH pool, which is still a fabulous way to spend a day. We will just cut our next trip down to 4 nights, and save ourselves $.

 

[DebbieB]

I don't understand why a "for profit" business would be accused of "money grabbing". They are in business to make as much money as possible. The gamble is if the public will accept it or not. If it causes their bottom line to go down, they will make adjustments. If not, then their shareholders are happy. As a consumer, it's your choice. They are betting that the public will accept it.

 

[MillauFr]

I don't understand why a "for profit" business would be accused of "money grabbing". They are in business to make as much money as possible. The gamble is if the public will accept it or not. If it causes their bottom line to go down, they will make adjustments. If not, then their shareholders are happy. As a consumer, it's your choice.

Absolutely correct. They have a duty to the people that own the company to do whatever it takes to maximize shareholder value. It is also economics 101. If demand exceeds supply (and most people would agree that it does at Disneyland) then you need to raise prices to bring demand and supply into balance.

Disneyland really needs to explore a variable pricing model that varies the daily ticket price depending on demand. I wish they would charge $10 admission on rainy days during the slow season and $200 on busy days during the Christmas season.

 

[mom2rtk]

I don't understand why a "for profit" business would be accused of "money grabbing". They are in business to make as much money as possible. The gamble is if the public will accept it or not. If it causes their bottom line to go down, they will make adjustments. If not, then their shareholders are happy. As a consumer, it's your choice. They are betting that the public will accept it.

But it certainly leaves some people who have already purchased non-refundable plane tickets in the lurch.

 

[DarthMole]

But it certainly leaves some people who have already purchased non-refundable plane tickets in the lurch.

This may have been a valid argument 12 months ago, but the max amount of days has been 5 for over a year. Longer than virtually any airline will sell you a ticket. If you're talking about adding a 6th day at the park after activating your 5 dday or less ticket, that's always been a risky proposition and one nobody should have been assuming would be automatic.

 

[luvdumbo]

I am going for 7 days at the end of August and have decided not to upgrade our tickets to AP's and we will just do the park on 5 of those days and just shop at DTD and hang out at the pool on the other two.

I wish they would have changed the ticket options to add more days now that they have a system in place for multi-day tickets.

 

[mom2rtk]

This may have been a valid argument 12 months ago, but the max amount of days has been 5 for over a year. Longer than virtually any airline will sell you a ticket. If you're talking about adding a 6th day at the park after activating your 5 dday or less ticket, that's always been a risky proposition and one nobody should have been assuming would be automatic.

Sorry, I got my threads mixed up. That was a comment for the 7 PM closing thread. You are right that people certainly should know by now the max was 5 days. Although I was certainly among those who were naively optimistic that the photo security measure would allow them to add more this year again.

 

[DarthMole]

Sorry, I got my threads mixed up. That was a comment for the 7 PM closing thread. You are right that people certainly should know by now the max was 5 days. Although I was certainly among those who were naively optimistic that the photo security measure would allow them to add more this year again.

I wish they would go back to 6-day tickets and the ability to extend it to 8-days at the park, especially after implementing the additional security checks at the gate. I believe this is a calculated move to both maximize profits and control crowds. With Disney owned hotels near capacity, they really don't need to try and keep you around longer than 3-4 days. The amount they make on a family decreases each day, especially past the 3 day point. Our last trip we were able to extend our 6-day to 8-days but only went to the park for seven days. A few of those days Disney got very little from us but we still took up space in the park.

 

[TigerlilyAJ]

I've wondered if they are pushing people to purchase annual passes knowing that people will justify the purchase by planning another trip sooner than they normally would to get as much use out of them as possible.

Since there are discounts on food and merchandise offered when you show your annual pass, I've also been curious as to whether or not it benefits Disney to be able to track customers and the purchases they make.

Either way, Disney benefitted from the 5-day max and consumers definitely did not. It's frustrating.

Yes on all of the above. We are doing a second trip in 10 months because I wanted more use of our APs, and yes, any place, including grocery and drug stores with loyalty cards, that gives you a discount or points when you show a card can and will use it to track usage and purchases.
And to answer the OP, yes, it is just to make more money, because all the photos they do now remove any fraud arguments. Whether it is a "money grab" is up to personal opinion. Sure, they are honoring their commitment to make profits for their shareholders, but so are drug companies that charge $100,000+ for a cancer treatment. DLR = Elysium?

 

[doog71]

I don't understand why a "for profit" business would be accused of "money grabbing". They are in business to make as much money as possible. The gamble is if the public will accept it or not. If it causes their bottom line to go down, they will make adjustments. If not, then their shareholders are happy. As a consumer, it's your choice. They are betting that the public will accept it.

Hey, I'm all for capitalism. The owners of DL can do whatever they want.

That doesn't mean that it doesn't come across as being a greedy cash grab to many of their loyal customers that would love to bring their children to DL just like their parents did for them, but can't because of pricing.

The 6,8 or 10-day hoppers were a nice way of saying to customers "We get that you love it here, so we're going to say 'thanks' by giving you a break on extra days." They don't have to do that, of course, but taking that option away did communicate something negative to many Disneyland lovers.

I realize they (like oil companies, pharmaceuticals, etc.) only care about that if it affects their bottom line, and apparently it doesn't. Good for them.

 

[Kittyskyfish]

It makes most sense to me that the 6+ day passes were eliminated because they lowered those guests average daily spending w/in the DLR system to a dollar amount below their goals. I see DLR as a business that has to meet profit goals and guests, I'm assuming, meet these goals when their vacations are 5 days or less. I'd say their financial analysts saw guests with 6 day + passes sagging below their "minimum" spending target. That is why I think they discontinued these passes and the ability to tack on more days for just a few dollars more.

It seems greedy but they just completed a 1.1 billion dollar expansion w/ Carsland and extensive DCA renovations to pull DCA away from life-support, and most likely that was done with large investment loans. And the rumor mill suggests other renovations in the next 5+ years (hints at big Tomorrowland changes, further expansion at DCA). The funds to pay for all this have to come from somewhere and DLR has to bring in the dollars to prove loans can be paid while still meeting financial goals. If they don't meet their goals, then they eventually become a riskier investment and then it's harder to get funding to do expansions and major renovations.

I'm not at all jumping up and down happy for the price hikes and policy changes, but seeing the reinvestment going on in DLR and the effect of this, the impact on my pocketbook and how much I can now afford, is not coming to me as a total surprise.

 

[Disney Lvr of Old]

My son and I are going for 8 days in a month and I am very thankful for being retired military~ I will be getting the 3 day hoppers for my son and I to use with our 5 day hoppers~ but if that option had not been there we would have been sitting poolside for several days of our trip too.

 

[traveldiva13]

Does anyone think they'll eventually go back to 6-days? Ever?