Surprise AP & Ticket Increase

[yetiowine]

Thanks for the informative thread. First thing I did was check the promotional ticket page and those prices remained unchanged as far as I could tell. This makes my Feb trip even more of a deal. But I am truly sorry for those who are facing increases. And I am thinking this means some kind of announcement regarding SWGE is coming up.

I checked the promotional page after the announcement to re-visit math for my upcoming trip. From what I can tell, you're right. The same base 3-day single park ticket (without extras) is still $210 a pop for us. AND Maxpass shows as being only a $10 add on. I had intended for half our party to upgrade tickets once at the park, but instead I may just do it now since the promotion appears untouched!

 

[Kender]

Then I’ll refer you to the part where they say “without going over”. Balance. Crowd control.

They rarely hit capacity despite how much people fret over it. And it's rarely for long.

This is the last time I will repeat myself and then I'm done responding to you since we clearly differ and it's also clear neither of us will convince the other: they are not pricing to lower crowds. They are pricing to maximize profit. They know people will pay it so they will charge it. If crowds start going down? They will start doing deals like they are doing currently starting tomorrow through May.

They didn't raise the price of Sigs and Sig+ passes for over two years (they remained at their original price from introduction). Why? Because they knew they would lose passholders if they did. They even offered a 13 month promotion during that period. We haven't really had many AP offerings lately (I miss AP Days) because the prices became normalized and people paid regardless of offerings.

They raise prices when they know they can get away with it. If they were wrong? They offer an incentive to get passholders back/encourage renewal. They do not want to lose anyone. They do not want to reduce crowds. They want those parks full. The calendars? Those are crowd control. The price? Many say "oh, it's only $X extra a month". That is not crowd control. That is increasing profits.

 

[dina444444]

They rarely hit capacity despite how much people fret over it. And it's rarely for long.

This is the last time I will repeat myself and then I'm done responding to you since we clearly differ and it's also clear neither of us will convince the other: they are not pricing to lower crowds. They are pricing to maximize profit. They know people will pay it so they will charge it. If crowds start going down? They will start doing deals like they are doing currently starting tomorrow through May.

They didn't raise the price of Sigs and Sig+ passes for over two years (they remained at their original price from introduction). Why? Because they knew they would lose passholders if they did. They even offered a 13 month promotion during that period. We haven't really had many AP offerings lately (I miss AP Days) because the prices became normalized and people paid regardless of offerings.

They raise prices when they know they can get away with it. If they were wrong? They offer an incentive to get passholders back/encourage renewal. They do not want to lose anyone. They do not want to reduce crowds. They want those parks full. The calendars? Those are crowd control. The price? Many say "oh, it's only $X extra a month". That is not crowd control. That is increasing profits.

As much as I loved the 13 month promotion I don’t like that it moved my expiration date into mid July.

 

[Kender]

As much as I loved the 13 month promotion I don’t like that it moved my expiration date into mid July.

Ugh, yeah. It really upset one of my friends because her renewal was her birthday. They wouldn't let her not get the promotion.

Seems silly, but I know it was special to her having the date be her birthday.

13 month promotion put mine at the end of January which isn't terrible except I feel like I'm wasting a month.

 

[dina444444]

Ugh, yeah. It really upset one of my friends because her renewal was her birthday. They wouldn't let her not get the promotion.

Seems silly, but I know it was special to her having the date be her birthday.

13 month promotion put mine at the end of January which isn't terrible except I feel like I'm wasting a month.

Yeah. It’s throwing off my upgrade date for premier for 19/20. I’m going to wdw in august and I can’t do the upgrade until July 24 after my current pass period ends.

 

[SoCalDisneyFan2708]

Late to the discussion but this is going to be a very interesting year at the DLR. I was already super curious to see how the DL only blackout was going to effect crowds across the entire resort. Would people come just to get into DCA? Would people stop buying Deluxe and lower tier passes not seeing the value without Disneyland? I actually think with this latest price increase we could see a dip in ap’s. I was always on the side of the only way to reduce ap’s was to eliminate the monthly payment option. But this is a BIG increase and coupled with the massive blackouts for lower passes I’m not so sure.

For me personally I’m still not priced out but it does make me think about it though. How high am I willing to go. Fortunately for me I only have to buy a pass for myself. As others have said I deeply sympathize with those who have 3-4+ ppl in their family they have to buy passes for.

 

[HydroGuy]

I saw the unofficial announcement and can possibly tack on a Disney trip that suspected weekend (June 21st) to an already scheduled vacation. Would just hate to go to all the work/money to just find out we’re blocked. But it doesn’t sound like that will be the case.

ETA: June 21st is still the suspected date, correct?

Assuming you mean SWGE on June 21, lots of folks here have been saying that for awhile but lately lots of other folks (like me) have been disagreeing and saying it will almost certainly be earlier than June 21. I have been saying Memorial Day Weekend if SWGE is ready by then. Disney will open SWGE as soon as it is ready.

 

[MonocularVision]

The idea that price increases do not decrease attendance is economic illiteracy.

No, we aren’t going back to the empty days of the 90’s but price increases have and will continue to reduce the demand for attendance.

 

[Malcon10t]

Assuming you mean SWGE on June 21, lots of folks here have been saying that for awhile but lately lots of other folks (like me) have been disagreeing and saying it will almost certainly be earlier than June 21. I have been saying Memorial Day Weekend if SWGE is ready by then. Disney will open SWGE as soon as it is ready.

I believe June 21st will be the public opening. Prior to that, there will be several (paid) previews. Those will likely begin Memorial Day weekend, with someone I know speculating there will be one May 4th....

I do not see SWGE opening prior to June 21, based on the Deluxe AP block outs.

 

[stagemomto3]

The idea that price increases do not decrease attendance is economic illiteracy.

No, we aren’t going back to the empty days of the 90’s but price increases have and will continue to reduce the demand for attendance.

I hope you're right! Personally, I would pay double the current rate if it meant half the crowds...and significantly more per day for MaxPass if less people were using it. We are a family of 5 and go once a year, so don't mind splurging when we do.

 

[MonocularVision]

I hope you're right! Personally, I would pay double the current rate if it meant half the crowds...and significantly more per day for MaxPass if less people were using it. We are a family of 5 and go once a year, so don't mind splurging when we do.

The price/demand curve probably doesn’t look that way at all. The crowds, even with the price increase will probably still be higher than the year before (especially after SWGE). But it would have been worse without the increase.

 

[IdahoDisneyFan]

Yes. They want good attendance rates. They do not want the PR nightmare of capacity every day, earlier and earlier, which is what would happen without price increases. Crowd control is still a part of balance.

I agree with this perspective. No I'm not under any illusions that a huge corporate behemoth like Disney wants to reduce crowds simply to make people feel warm and fuzzy. However, from a long-term business approach you can't be running at capacity every day and expect to avoid alienating many fans. Maybe that wouldn't be obvious in the short term, but eventually the idea of Disneyland as a packed-to-the-gills destination 365 days a year will cause people to spend their money elsewhere.

Our approach has always been to attempt to time our visits for the off-season. Generally that has worked out reasonably well. Yes, we understand and expect there will be crowds even in, for example, late January, but not the wall-to-wall crowds you see at capacity times (Christmas week for example). If every day was 9/10 or 10/10 we would quit going. At some point the magic is lost when you have to fight people everywhere you go. Again, fans expect that when they're visiting around a major holiday or otherwise "busy season". It's like going to the mall for example. We're used to it being crowded between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Some even enjoy that. But if the mall was like that 365 days a year? People would take their business elsewhere.

I absolutely think price increases are, in part, an effort to control crowds. Unfortunately, they don't have much choice. Disney is, in some ways, a victim of its own success.

 

[HydroGuy]

I believe June 21st will be the public opening. Prior to that, there will be several (paid) previews. Those will likely begin Memorial Day weekend, with someone I know speculating there will be one May 4th....

I do not see SWGE opening prior to June 21, based on the Deluxe AP block outs.

As some of us have asked elsewhere, why block both types of SCAPs for all of June if SWGE is not opening until June 21? Those are usually unblocked into late June.

 

[Kender]

The idea that price increases do not decrease attendance is economic illiteracy.

No, we aren’t going back to the empty days of the 90’s but price increases have and will continue to reduce the demand for attendance.

And yet attendance hasn't gone down . It has increased. Disney defies economic logic.

Late to the discussion but this is going to be a very interesting year at the DLR. I was already super curious to see how the DL only blackout was going to effect crowds across the entire resort. Would people come just to get into DCA? Would people stop buying Deluxe and lower tier passes not seeing the value without Disneyland? I actually think with this latest price increase we could see a dip in ap’s. I was always on the side of the only way to reduce ap’s was to eliminate the monthly payment option. But this is a BIG increase and coupled with the massive blackouts for lower passes I’m not so sure.

The Premium's cost ($779) to the equivalent of the Sig+ cost ($1049) was a 34.66% increase. It didn't stop people from buying it. But Disney did want more higher level APs so they introduced the 13 month promotion. Now they are going to milk every cent they feel they can get away with. Many people will still pay it.

The crowds won't be less with this. Those taking a break are small potatoes. There will always be someone to replace them.

 

[WonkaKid]

Parking shoots up to $25 per day (that's an increase by nearly 100% in about four years). APs and daily tix will also spike. Looks like my AP next summer will run me about $1250. When and where does it end? I begin to wonder if SWGE will be a liability more than as asset.

https://ktla.com/2019/01/06/disneyl...jprkWuQgherzRryElZo8iqcW2IroH_fKcwCeq9U2wM8do

 

[dina444444]

There is already a thread on thid board about this https://www.disboards.com/threads/surprise-ap-ticket-increase.3727715/

 

[WonkaKid]

"Disneyland’s annual ritual of charging more is partly aimed at crowd control..." but really more at revenue control. If price increases were an effective means of crowd control, attendance would have been sparse for the past few years. If anything, they're even more crowded.

 

[serendipityaey]

The price/demand curve probably doesn’t look that way at all. The crowds, even with the price increase will probably still be higher than the year before (especially after SWGE). But it would have been worse without the increase.

Yes exactly. It decreases *potential* future crowds, which could easily grow out of control at the wrong price point.

 

[MonocularVision]

And yet attendance hasn't gone down . It has increased. Disney defies economic logic.

No, it doesn’t. The elasticity in demand for their product may be stronger than other products, but everyone has a breaking point. I personally know people that haven’t been to Disneyland in years, not because they don’t want to but because it is too espensive for what they wish to pay.

See my other comment also: no one is claiming the price increases will lower crowds from their levels. The point is that without increases attendance would be even higher.

 

[Malcon10t]

As some of us have asked elsewhere, why block both types of SCAPs for all of June if SWGE is not opening until June 21? Those are usually unblocked into late June.

My opinion (and that is all it is) is that the previews are going to bring a lot of people, and blocking out DL will help provide space. Add to that, they can always release a few days here or there like they did last year.