WDW Ticket Price Increase

[TheRustyScupper]

We hear ticket prices are going up on March 8th.

 

[parrothead64]

They went up on 2/28.

 

[magicaldisney]

You're not saying they are going to go up again? Or are you referring to the increase on Sunday?

 

[jbrostek]

Bought the kids tickets just in time to avoid the increase.

 

[bama_ed]

Maybe tiered pricing will come to multi-day tickets. I was a little underwhelmed about the tiered pricing announced for the 1-day ticket because when there are 70,000 people in the MK, the 1-day people are a small piece of that I would suspect. Multi-day would dominate I bet and AP folks, who got an increase only a few months ago, are probably next most.

So I would suspect the 2/28 announcement set a base for multi-day tickets that a future announcement would leverage off of.

That is, if there is an announcement on 3/8. Of course, I am only speculating.

When I think about the calendar, if the summer period is a high price time for 1-day tickets, I would think Disney would want to get extra $$$ out of the multi-day tickets used during that period as well. Since FP+ can only be set up 60 days in advance, the Memorial Day weekend which kicks off the the summer period will require a pricier multi-day ticket which must be purchased at least 60 days in advance. So an early- or mid-March announcement will hit just in time for the summer folks getting ready to make their FP+. Oh, prior purchased tickets will be honored but this is laying the groundwork.

Same goes for Christmas or other high rate periods. Want to use a multi-day ticket during a busy period? Have to pay the premium tier rate even if all days aren't in the premium period. This kinda junk is what I see Disney doing.

Bama Ed

PS - bottom line is I firmly expect Disney to implement tiered pricing on multi-day tickets somehow. And sooner rather than later.

 

[amcc]

Prices for multi-day went up as well, they just didn't get the season pricing treatment - yet.

 

[G719]

Maybe he means the ticket prices with a resort package. I priced out a package for a cabin before the ticket price increase and the total is still the same today. I figured they'd catch up soon.

 

[parrothead64]

or he's just late to the party....You know the Fort is always last to know.

 

[peg110]

I fail to see how a "Tiered" pricing will work without a complete overhaul of the ticketing policies.

Currently, I can buy a ticket and hold onto it for years (even decades) and WDW will honor it. It remains valid for 14 days after first use. So how are they going to give me "Tiered" pricing and maintain this policy? I think if they CHANGE the policy and force you to pick a "Time Frame" for your event, that ticket sales will go down DRAMATICALLY. Why? Because I am willing to spend the money for my trip (let's say in September) NOW in planning, but if something happens and I have to cancel my trip or change the dates, I am really not out much. My tickets that I have already purchased are still valid for let's say my re-scheduled "Christmas" trip. Is WDW going to go back and now charge me a "Premium" because I bought my tickets for a historically "Low" time and now am going in a historically "High" time?

Now I don't profess to know the ins and outs of the price increase (Implemented or planned) but I just see a tiered plan being difficult to implement unless of course the objective is to get people to buy tickets in advance (and not at the gate) and the tier pricing is only at the gate. Then it's fairly easy to implement. (Buying a ticket today.... busy day.... pay more. Slow Day... Pay less.)

Just my

 

[parrothead64]

Multi day tickets are the same price all year across the board, but they did go up. Variable price rates change on single day tickets and they do expire after one year now. So Value price is $105, regular days are $110 and peak days are $124 but only on single day tickets.

 

[bama_ed]

Paul, you are thinking rationally and there is no place for that in this discussion.

As I said above, I believe Disney will try to implement tiered pricing on multi-day tickets. Tickets bought prior to these new rules will be honored. But you already have to buy your tickets well in advance in order to make FP+ reservations.

Tickets bought after the new rules will be subject to those rules. For example, I was in Paris last summer and bought a 1-day ticket in advance for EuroDisneyland. They sell three different 1-day tickets like the new 1-day policy implemented at WDW. Value, Regular, and Premium (not their real names but how they were priced). I bought a Value and used it on a slow weekday. Regular covers slow weekends and slow weekdays. Premium covers high times plus all slow times. If I had bought a Value ticket and tried to use it at a Regular period, I would have had to pay the upcharge to get it to the Regular price.

Segue to WDW with multi-day tickets and tiered pricing. In your example the September tickets would not work until you paid the upcharge to effectively pay the December prices. And given that multi-day are good 14 days after first use, you will have to pay for a Premium ticket if you plan to use ANY (but maybe not all) of those ticket days in Premium period. That's copying the EuroDisneyland tiered pricing methodology described above.

Let's say you will be there beginning December 12 which is a Value time and Premium starts on Christmas Day. If you plan to visit a park on a Premium day (say Christmas Day) even just one day, I believe Disney will force you to buy a Premium multi-day ticket because of the activation window (12th+14 days=26th of December). They're not going to bother with trying to prorate how many days are Value or Premium because plans can change.

So the new "go-to" is that tickets will follow the rules in place when they were purchased. And you can always use a more expensive period ticket during a less expensive time, but not visa-versa.

Folks may not remember but up through 2007 or so, the room/campsite rate for your entire stay was the rate in effect THE DAY YOU CHECKED IN. So what I did once (and others did frequently) was for a Christmas visit (or other peak time), check in on the last day of Regular pricing (say December 19 at $67 a night for example) because Holiday pricing went into effect for arrivals beginning December 20 (at $99 a night for example). But Disney "fixed" their systems to allow them to charge different rates for different dates. And although this example works when rates drop, Disney still implemented day by day pricing because the net effect was likely more money for them.

More money for them. That's what this is all about.

Bama Ed

PS - in my signature the December 2007 visit to see Christmas decorations was the last year you could play the game of "check-in day rate is the rate for all days".

 

[peg110]

Thanks Ed. I get the whole adjusting the check-in time. The difference there compared to tickets is that the longer you stay you don't get a bigger discount where with a multi-day ticket there would be a "Discount" for buying more days. A 4 day ticket equates to 81.25 per day while a 7 day is 52.86 per day.

It looks though, as of right not, the Tiered Pricing isn't impacting the multi-day tickets yet, just the single day. I just think it's screwy! Especially when they say that "Tickets are priced by Peak, Regular and Value Seasons. Peak, Regular and Value validity dates continue to be added to the calendar from time to time, so please check back often. The dates assigned to each of these seasons and the number days in each of these seasons may change from year to year"

So, the "Seasons" are a moving target. What is Peak today could be value tomorrow and vice versa. So If I buy my 1 day ticket for a peak season (in advance of course) and it turns out to be changed to a "Value" day, will I get a refund? (I doubt it, unless I make a big fuss about it, assuming I am even aware of the change). Or worse yet, I buy it for a value day and it turns out to get updated to a Peak day! Now I go and have to pay an up charge?

I just think that this is going to end up badly for WDW and it's going to hurt the bottom line in the long run, particularly if they migrate this model to the Multi-Day passes. (I know.... I am sorry for that rational thinking again.)

Fortunately for us, we have never bought a 1 day pass, nor do I see us ever doing that.

 

[peg110]

Variable price rates change on single day tickets and they do expire after one year now.

Well not exactly. They expire on December 31 of 2017 so unless you buy them on December 31, 2016, you have more than a Year. I suspect the policy is that all 1 day tickets bought in a particular year will expire on December 31 of the following year.

 

[parrothead64]

Well not exactly. They expire on December 31 of 2017 so unless you buy them on December 31, 2016, you have more than a Year. I suspect the policy is that all 1 day tickets bought in a particular year will expire on December 31 of the following year.

You are correct, they expire 12/31 the following year. When I read it, I read it too fast and missed the year, but all in all they expire unlike the multi day unless used.

 

[peg110]

You are correct, they expire 12/31 the following year. When I read it, I read it too fast and missed the year, but all in all they expire unlike the multi day unless used.

It almost seems like they want to get out of the "Single Day" tickets. Not quite sure why though as they are the most expensive tickets.

 

[tltay2005]

All this makes me glad I have an annual pass.

 

[ruthma]

I renewed my annual pass on the phone. Can I pick it up at boardwalk. TIA

 

[tltay2005]

I renewed my annual pass on the phone. Can I pick it up at boardwalk. TIA

Not sure. We always renew online and pick up the new cards at one of the parks. And I can't remember if they mail the magic bands or not, I think they do.

 

[ruthma]

Not sure. We always renew online and pick up the new cards at one of the parks. And I can't remember if they mail the magic bands or not, I think they do.

I already have 9 bands. Lol. I have always picked up at the park. Maybe I can pick up at the international gateway.

 

[peg110]

What is the difference in a Renewal price versus a full price? I ask because they expire a year from issue. We are going down in August, and I have bought tickets but I am going to convert them to an AP (because we will be down again in November and possibly the following April). Buying the tickets and converting will allow us to schedule our FP+ but still be able to "Maximize" the AP for a Year from when we actually pick them up.

If the difference is in renewal to full price is only about $100 I can see us NOT renewing because we may not be able to make it worthwhile the following year. (Coming from NE PA, I have to count on about $1000+ for travel costs whether I drive or fly)