Why do you think Disney didn't extend the AP payment plan to Non-FL residents?

[chrisw127]

I've seen a lot of grumbling about this, even on Disney's own Facebook page where nearly 1000 commenters all asked the same question (which wasn't answered, by the way). Any thoughts on why it was only extended to FL residents?

 

[skiingfast]

Because all of those AP holders can afford to pay for a hotel room as well as thier pass. Then when they have thier fully paid pass in hand they are more likely to pay for more hotel rooms.

Locals are given the payment option as an incentive to come back more often.

 

[chrisw127]

Because all of those AP holders can afford to pay for a hotel room as well as thier pass. Then when they have thier fully paid pass in hand they are more likely to pay for more hotel rooms.

Locals are given the payment option as an incentive to come back more often.

But what that does is potentially fill up the parks with people who don't normally stay at the resorts or even buy that many souvenirs, so potentially you're not getting that much out of them after the initial purchase. And I don't know that I agree that everyone can pay for a pass. If you have a large family, you're talking $2500 - $3000 for everyone. To many people, that's a huge chunk of money all at once. When you consider that vacations are, especially right now, a luxury for many, it would seem reasonable from Disney's perspective to allow an easy option for spreading that cost out.

 

[skiingfast]

But what that does is potentially fill up the parks with people who don't normally stay at the resorts or even buy that many souvenirs, so potentially you're not getting that much out of them after the initial purchase. And I don't know that I agree that everyone can pay for a pass. If you have a large family, you're talking $2500 - $3000 for everyone. To many people, that's a huge chunk of money all at once. When you consider that vacations are, especially right now, a luxury for many, it would seem reasonable from Disney's perspective to allow an easy option for spreading that cost out.

Well think of this way, for every extra minute a guest spends in the park the likelyhood they will buy food goes up. Everybody always needs more food. But there is a limit to how many picture frames and shirts a person needs.

Plus the WDW parks are not filled up by AP holders ever. You could ask everyone in line by you all day if they are from orlando and never get a yes I am in reply. Try going to DL and you will see how APs can turn a normal day into a zoo on many days during the year. Plus in DL they block most of the AP Holders out a signficant portion of the year.

The key to making the APs more common is to get people who just need a nudge to come back again. This doesn't help families that travel by plane for half a day and sleep in a hotel for several hundreds dollars. But for someone in Tampa who eats breakfast in thier kitchen and drive to WDW for the day it works great.

If you want to make payments on a Annual Pass it's really easy and most everyone can do it. You can do it for your travel expanses and dining and hotel. It's called a credit card.

 

[chrisw127]

Well think of this way, for every extra minute a guest spends in the park the likelyhood they will buy food goes up. Everybody always needs more food. But there is a limit to how many picture frames and shirts a person needs.

Plus the WDW parks are not filled up by AP holders ever. You could ask everyone in line by you all day if they are from orlando and never get a yes I am in reply. Try going to DL and you will see how APs can turn a normal day into a zoo on many days during the year. Plus in DL they block most of the AP Holders out a signficant portion of the year.

The key to making the APs more common is to get people who just need a nudge to come back again. This doesn't help families that travel by plane for half a day and sleep in a hotel for several hundreds dollars. But for someone in Tampa who eats breakfast in thier kitchen and drive to WDW for the day it works great.

If you want to make payments on a Annual Pass it's really easy and most everyone can do it. You can do it for your travel expanses and dining and hotel. It's called a credit card.

I just bought an AP and am sure I will get a lot of use out of it, but it's a luxury. Frankly, I didn't buy APs for my husband and 3 kids because it was just too much at once, but if there was a payment plan, I would have. I personally prefer not to put travel expenses on a credit card and I'm sure many people feel the same way. It's kind of like my gym. I love my gym, it's great, but there's no incentive to pay a full year ahead, so I pay by the month. That way it's a little less painless and easier to justify. Sure, I'm paying the same amount in the end, but smaller monthly payments make if feel better, even if the end result is the same.

 

[skiingfast]

I just bought an AP and am sure I will get a lot of use out of it, but it's a luxury. Frankly, I didn't buy APs for my husband and 3 kids because it was just too much at once, but if there was a payment plan, I would have. I personally prefer not to put travel expenses on a credit card and I'm sure many people feel the same way. It's kind of like my gym. I love my gym, it's great, but there's no incentive to pay a full year ahead, so I pay by the month. That way it's a little less painless and easier to justify. Sure, I'm paying the same amount in the end, but smaller monthly payments make if feel better, even if the end result is the same.

You are not the standard customer that Disney makes most of it's money from and caters to. Because you apparently don't travel with your family otherwise it would be worth it to all get passes and save on tickets.

If you don't want to pay on your credit card and find a full single payment to be difficult there is a strategy you should employ. Start saving now for large expenses in the future. It's that simple and easy to.

You should realize if it made sense to Disney they would finance their pass to everyone. Also consider that even when people say they wish Disney would allow for pass payments to a greater area of people, that that doesn't even mean a majority would put there money where their mouth is.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

Avoiding a credit card can also be done just by budgeting monthly the cost for the next years pass. This isn't all that different then what Disney does, except one is paying for the pass in arrears and the other is paying in advance.

 

[Oglet]

Quite a lot of locals also go in to the parks in the evening after work as well so your opening up the possibility of a family maybe coming in to the park to spend the evening relaxing and maybe having a nice dinner out together rather than heading out and having dinner and a movie you now have dinner and a theme park.

Many CM's also probably use the payment option for their family as well, especially if their family visit the parks all the time.

With all the options given by Universal, Seaworld and Busch Gardens as far as payment plans go offering a payment plan to locals is an extremely smart idea as it makes it affordable and helps bring people in to fill the parks especially when the high tourist seasons are over.

My only logic for why its only for Florida residents probably has something to do with defaulting on payments after the vacation is over. Your more likely to pay for something that you can continue to use rather than something you know you wont get to use again for a long time if at all for the remainder of the year. I am being general, not everyone from out of state would default on payments however I imagine there would be a very large part of the population who might use it for a very cheap one time family vacation.

 

[chrisw127]

You are not the standard customer that Disney makes most of it's money from and caters to. Because you apparently don't travel with your family otherwise it would be worth it to all get passes and save on tickets.

If you don't want to pay on your credit card and find a full single payment to be difficult there is a strategy you should employ. Start saving now for large expenses in the future. It's that simple and easy to.

You should realize if it made sense to Disney they would finance their pass to everyone. Also consider that even when people say they wish Disney would allow for pass payments to a greater area of people, that that doesn't even mean a majority would put there money where their mouth is.

My children are very little, so it isn't easy to travel with them. I usually take them once a year (maybe the older for a short weekend as well) and then I go a few times with my girlfriends who are mostly still in FL. If I had an AP, I would probably just say what the heck and take them more often.

 

[chrisw127]

Quite a lot of locals also go in to the parks in the evening after work as well so your opening up the possibility of a family maybe coming in to the park to spend the evening relaxing and maybe having a nice dinner out together rather than heading out and having dinner and a movie you now have dinner and a theme park.

Many CM's also probably use the payment option for their family as well, especially if their family visit the parks all the time.

With all the options given by Universal, Seaworld and Busch Gardens as far as payment plans go offering a payment plan to locals is an extremely smart idea as it makes it affordable and helps bring people in to fill the parks especially when the high tourist seasons are over.

My only logic for why its only for Florida residents probably has something to do with defaulting on payments after the vacation is over. Your more likely to pay for something that you can continue to use rather than something you know you wont get to use again for a long time if at all for the remainder of the year. I am being general, not everyone from out of state would default on payments however I imagine there would be a very large part of the population who might use it for a very cheap one time family vacation.

Interesting point. Of course, they could still go after them but that can be difficult.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

My thought is that most Floridians who will be coming to WDW will be driving, not flying.

Most people from out of state will be coming only two or three times in a year, flying and not driving, and staying on property. For these people the added price of the AP is not really significant.

For the Floridian, having an AP may make the difference between visiting WDW and going somewhere else. So they want to attract the Floridians to spend more money here than somewhere else.

 

[KINGBOBOFTHENORTH]

The monthly payment option for Floridians makes the AP's more attractive and thus they sell more of them. Most of us with AP holders do not go when the crowds are there. Why put up with that when we can go any other time with an AP. Thus, AP's for locals shift business from busy times (when they really don't need us there) to slower times (when they do need the business there.) People from elsewhere are really going to come during peak periods. These are generalities, I realize that.

BobK/Orlando

 

[torontodisneyfan]

for me, I will be buying 2 APs for my vacation in May 2011 mainly because we are staying for 12 nights and it is a cheaper option than buying MYWs for 10 days, then another for 2 days x 2 people. The bonus I will get is that in 2012 I wont have to buy any tickets provided I come before the expiry date.

As for paying over time; allowing out of state, country or continent guests to have this option makes no sense as, chances are, they come to WDW only once (maybe twice) a year. Disney has a right to collect the money for those passes before they are used.

 

[eeyoremommy]

I was looking at this in a completely different light. I was thinking more along the lines that Disney was trying it out to see if they could a) get a system in place that worked and b) regenerate interest in the resort in a state that has 45% of people underwater on their mortgages. If part a was successful, then they might extend it to non-residents. If part b was successful, then it was just icing on the cake. I am actually surprised that so many people are upset by it. As a PP pointed out, several of the other parks do it already. Disney is not charging any interest on the passes. You pay a one day admission rate the first month. The remainder of the pass is then split over the other eleven months. It is just a nice courtesy. Maybe it is Disney's way to say thank you to the Florida residents and encourage them to spend money. Wow. I managed to say that with a straight face.

 

[Oglet]

Also makes price increases easier to implement on Florida Resident Passes. If Disney raises the price on a AP's for Florida Residents to bring them closer in line with non resident passes and by offering a payment plan your still making it out to be a great deal.

Generally what do they have to lose even if someone defaults on their payments? They have still go some people in the park who otherwise may have not even gone and that is some revenue at least, even if you had 20,000 people default after visiting the park for one day they have still collected the one day admission cost and its no worse than giving 1 million free tickets away for give a day.

Obviously it seems to work, they tested it at DL for a while before they opened it up here at WDW so somewhere someone believes that its making them some more money and has some financial benefit.

 

[nytimez]

I've heard that the real purpose of the payment plan is the automatic renewal that it comes with. I've also heard that if the payment plan works at keeping more Floridians renewed, they may extend the option to everyone else.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

I'm upset about Disney not continuing the buy 12 months and get 15. I will miss this by 17 days!

My AP expires October 17 and I would have been able to renew on Sept 17 but the offer ends the last day of August! UGH!

 

[TisBit]

I agree that a lot of it has to do with litigation and forfeiture, etc. It is much easier to deal with someone who is in the same state as you. I am sure that Disney could do small claims, file suits, settle suits, etc if it is all contained in FL legal system. If someone purchases a pass and defaults on it's payments, different states might treat it differently, does the default occur at the first missed payment, etc. If I purchased a pass and started payments, took my first trip then stopped, I could possibly get a 1-15 day vacation on one months payment.....where as being in Florida, Disney could try to go after you in court.

 

[Melisande]

There is so many many reasons to offer it only to Florida residents. I wonder if perhaps not to be mean here but maybe some of the complainers are jealous. Just a point. I would be jealous too if I lived out of state and saw this delicious offer.

Of course it looks good at first but it seems the systems are a mess. My pass malfunctioned today. They could not figure out why and I had to be given a comp ticket to use instead. So perhaps you are being saved some grief for the moment. Take pleasure in the little things.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

I'm not jealous about the payment plan but I will admit to being jealous about missing the extra 3 months by 17 days! Waa