PDA

View Full Version : Eliminating Annual Pass



Pages : [1] 2 3 4 5 6

snappy
10-25-2003, 10:55 AM
Serious people, what is the chance at Disney Eliminating the Annual Pass or making it so expensive that people can't afford them. Having just a Premium pass at $200 +change is fine, but raising it to $500+, ouch!!
Been an A.P for the past 7+ years- Started with the $99.00 dollar pass (Anyone remember that one?) before they were eliminated. Would hate to see them leave or bumped up $$$

Klutch
10-25-2003, 12:42 PM
I think it's possible, but not likely. I agree with Kevin Yee. Such a move would be good for Disneyland, but it would sure fire up a lot of locals. I can see angry, torch-bearing mobs storming the gates at Anaheim demanding their Annual Passes. "Sense of entitlement" indeed.

Cadaverous Pallor
10-25-2003, 02:02 PM
It won't happen. If they raised it to $500, almost none of us would continue to buy them. Hence, less money for the park.

We can debate the money question all we like, but I believe the above statement, period.

bluebayou
10-25-2003, 02:35 PM
Some of us still would buy them... :) My husband and I live in Las Vegas - we visit the parks about 6-8x a year and it definitely helps to have our premium passes. Since we stay for about 4 days each time - even at 500.00 - they would still work for us as well as those who live closer and visit often.

sleepyjeff
10-25-2003, 04:36 PM
If it is true that Disney plans on bringing Cruise Ships to So, Cal., than it stands to reason they will be seriously trying to court the tourist dollar again. To do this they will have to do something about the huge crowds of people who are NOT tourist. AP elimination seems to be a logical way to go.

Is it really fair to ask someone who already has spent a good deal of money just to get to So. Cal., to pay full admission into a overcrowded theme park where about half the people there got in for what amounts to a small fraction of what she/he payed

:confused:

I am sure Disney is weighing all there options.............and a compromise that no one will like will be offered;)

experiment626
10-25-2003, 04:37 PM
If they didn't have AP's then I would likely not be making the number of trips that I am this year with my AP (4 VS the 1 I would normally make) and I am sure I am not the only one.

If they wanted to restructure the AP program they should elimate the SoCal and the Deluxe and only have the premium pass. I can also see them increasing the price but not to the insane amounts some are talking about ($500 or $1000). I can see them raising it to $275 or keeping it $225 and eliminating the parking and charge an extra $50 for parking.

zapppop
10-25-2003, 04:53 PM
I agree w/ what experiment626 said above.

A single A.P. w/ a $300 price might be in the future.
It would be less confusing for the guests ( IE: blockout dates, and such ).

cemeinke
10-25-2003, 04:53 PM
While I may be an exception (as Kevin Yee claims) by virtue of having an AP my spending at the park and surrounding resort ends up being in the thousands (all those chachkies, meals, occasional hotel stays, and churos add up over the course of a year especially when you visiting on a weekly basis).

If there were no AP, I'd probably visit once maybe twice a year with a total spend around a couple hundred dollars. If they can charge those tourists an extra 2 grand a pop to keep the aisles clear, maybe they'll consider it. But I think APs like me make the program way to profitable to abandon.

Also, if they make it so expensive that many of my friend opt out of having an AP, then it begins to make less sense for me to carry one too. Park visits are more of a social event to me than anything else these days, so if my friends can't go, I won't either.

Matterhorn Fan
10-25-2003, 06:59 PM
cemeinke, you forgot Dole Floats.

disney_leonard
10-25-2003, 08:08 PM
I doubt that they would ever drop the AP. AP'ers are keeping WDW alive in post 9/11 times and cost $400+ for a Premium AP. But that covers 4 parks, Dsiney Quest and Pleasure Island. A good deal if you live near WDW or frequent it. DLR has two parks and no additional attractions like DQ or PI.
ost AP'ers avoid the parks during peak days and frequent them during slow times. (Just watch the parking attendants on a slow day- no omney changes hands because the majority are AP'ers!)

They may the raise the cost a little but they need the money that AP's bring in.

Darkbeer
10-25-2003, 08:13 PM
One thing that really hasn't been mentioned in this discussion is the fact that Disney does NOT live in a vacuum, and has to worry about what Universal, Knott's, Six Flags, SeaWorld and Legoland do.

Heck, Universal in Orlando was the first this year to raise prices before Disney did (Of course, Disney matched shortly thereafter). Now, this is probably more important for DCA, as Disneyland can still charge a premium price, but it might make sense to wait until 2005. Right now, with all the rehabs, it make sense to wait until they return to pay full price, while Universal opens the Revenge of the Mummy next year, and SeaWorld opens Journey to Atlantis. I think USH will have a banner year with its new attraction, which should get the most attention next year.

I think Disney wold be smart to increase their AP's, but wait until they can offer a full lineup at Disneyland before they do....

Freerider127
10-26-2003, 04:15 AM
We have had alot of these disscusions:rolleyes: but overall I dont think they will bump AP prices to 500$ because not many people would buy them ending up with less revenue for the Disney Company.

SoCalDisneyLover
10-26-2003, 05:29 AM
Disney has become the Follower and not the leader. Getting rid of the AP's would save me over $150 per year, plus all the extra money I spend when going there. Addicted as I may be to visiting with the AP, there would be no reason for me to go even once a year without one. I've ridden all the rides many times already, and since they probably won't open a new one for another 2-3 years, and then maybe one 5-10 years after that, I'll just wait. Looking forward to riding TOT in May, but after that, I'll just wait another 18 months before they get around to "re-launching" the "SAME" Space Mountain, and the new and unimproved copy of Buzz, which may actually be open in about 30 months, if they ever can decide whether they really want to put something in Tommorowland worth going on. Besides the popular and exciting Star Tours, which is the same as the version I rode back in 1986. But I suppose it's unreasonable to expect them to update a ride which is much worse than about 90% of the motion simulator rides which are everywhere from casinos to penny arcades now.

merlinjones
10-26-2003, 07:02 AM
I think we can all look forward to another fabulous fiscal/marketing experiment from the trendoids at Disney - - something on a spectacular level like the plan, design and execution of Disney's California Adventure, not to mention its pricing, marketing and ticketing.

Some people never experience a learning curve...

Nothing that can't be solved by a good escapist E Ticket at Disneyland proper.

sleepyjeff
10-26-2003, 09:23 AM
Originally posted by Freerider127
We have had alot of these disscusions:rolleyes: but overall I dont think they will bump AP prices to 500$ because not many people would buy them ...


I think that's the idea.

:geek:

Freerider127
10-26-2003, 11:37 AM
Originally posted by sleepyjeff
I think that's the idea.

:geek:

First off if your going to quote me why dont you quote everything I said? I said in my opionion I think the Disney Company will loose money by doing that maybe you should read more closely.

Freerider127
10-26-2003, 11:46 AM
Originally posted by cemeinke
While I may be an exception (as Kevin Yee claims) by virtue of having an AP my spending at the park and surrounding resort ends up being in the thousands (all those chachkies, meals, occasional hotel stays, and churos add up over the course of a year especially when you visiting on a weekly basis).

If there were no AP, I'd probably visit once maybe twice a year with a total spend around a couple hundred dollars. If they can charge those tourists an extra 2 grand a pop to keep the aisles clear, maybe they'll consider it. But I think APs like me make the program way to profitable to abandon.

Also, if they make it so expensive that many of my friend opt out of having an AP, then it begins to make less sense for me to carry one too. Park visits are more of a social event to me than anything else these days, so if my friends can't go, I won't either.

I totally agree with you, the money I save with my AP I make up for going to nicer restaurants and paying more money, also I spend more money on souvenirs, and I buy more churros and snacks which all adds up to alot of money and profit for Disney. If I were paying 47$ I gurannte you that I would not spend nearly as much on stuff as I do now. I would not go that often and when I did I wouldent eat at nicer places, I wouldent by alot of churros and Sourvenirs. Overall my point is that by Disney having APs they are getting alot more money from me then if I did not have a AP. I think people are forgetting that the excutives at Disney are not all that stupid they want to make the most profit possible and they look at every single sitiuation and anaylze it.

hbquikcomjamesl
10-27-2003, 09:24 AM
Personally, I wouldn't mind one bit seeing the lower-level passes eliminated, or perhaps replaced with something like the "three-season" passes once offered (that were good for the three slowest months of the year). But if the highest-level passes were eliminated or made prohibitively expensive, I might well find myself going elsewhere.

Back in the days before DL went all-unlimited-use, it was economical for locals to make lots of brief visits in a year, without a pass, because a single ticket book could last for several such visits, and general admission is available. (That was what initially made me mad at Knotts, since they eliminated general admission while they were still selling ticket books.) But now, with unlimited use so deeply ingrained in what people expect of theme parks, that's no longer a viable option.

Captain Josh
10-27-2003, 09:28 AM
Maybe they could offer a limited use AP that operates like CM passes, only it's good for yourself, not for 3 other people in your party

Pay your X amount of dollars, for a pass with no black out dates, but you have like, 16 "stamps" on it, good for anytime between when you buy it, and the expiration date, which would be like, a year later.

I dunno, it seems like it could work, but then again, the charm of an AP is getting in whenever (minus blackout dates), right?

hefferdude
10-27-2003, 10:16 AM
Making APs prohibitively expensive for the middle income family earner ( SIDK - single income dual kids ) or eliminating them altogether will essentially drop the curtain on our family's culture of coming to DLR for get-togethers. We are always on hand to play tour host with family and friends who travel from N. Cal or out of state. Plus we enjoy combined Angels/DLR trips just for the heck of it. Bottom line is I have X amount of disposable income for this type of venue and I will spend it where I can afford it.

No DLR = no Millies, no Hojos, no ESPN Zone, no Brennens/Catal/Uva - need I go on?

I may not spend a bundle on every trip but on every trip I consistently spend. Capice?

Raise the price unneccesarily or even do away with APs and we're outta here. :crying:

hbquikcomjamesl
10-27-2003, 11:38 AM
What G-Hawk is describing sounds like simply a longer-term variant on a park-hopper. The only differences are that the number of days on it would be somewhat more than any conventional hopper, and that his one-year expiration falls somewhere in the middle, between WDW's hoppers that never expire, and DLR's hoppers that expire in, what, a week? two? a month?

Back before DL began actively promoting annual passes, I spent four years in a state of near-total unemployment. My DL pass and my Hollywood Bowl subscriptions, all gifts from my parents, became vital to my emotional survival, since at the time, I could rarely afford to go to a movie unless it was playing in a cheap fifteenth-run theatre with a screen made out of a bedsheet. I think that was how I got out of the habit of going to movies.

sleepyjeff
10-28-2003, 08:07 PM
Maybe Disney could go in the opposite direction.

Reduce the price of all the APs by half. Or even sell them for $47.01.

This won't hurt Disneyland any. The walkways will be less crowded because now Disney will have even more money to build more rides( because of the increased sale of aps and of course all those aps who eat in park plus the bag loads of souviniers they buy).

And really, this park really belongs to those who care enough to go at least twice a week.



;)

Lashbear
10-28-2003, 08:17 PM
Originally posted by sleepyjeff
if tourists don't like it they can just go to Disney World.....good riddence
;)
We CAN'T..... They've put their AP's down to $4.95 plus all the free tonga toast you can eat, and there's no room to move ! we'll just have to keep invading Disneyland :p

sleepyjeff
10-28-2003, 08:24 PM
Originally posted by Lashbear
We CAN'T..... They've put their AP's down to $4.95 plus all the free tonga toast you can eat, and there's no room to move ! we'll just have to keep invading Disneyland :p

lol.............you read it before I edited it:fez: .......and I edited it pretty fast. Thougt it was a little over the top:D

jerjer2005
10-28-2003, 08:26 PM
I am at the Disneyland Resort every week (atleast twice sometimes 3 or more) I have seen it grow and mature and falture just like a learning child. If AP's were discontinued i would feel like i was having my child ripped away from me. I know many of you feel this way also. Although im not vary worried... i do not think that Disney will get rid of AP's at all. Im sure the price will increase and they may discontinue socal pass and parking price may be tweeked a little. but we have to remember So cal passes are limitted to certain area codes anyway. most premium passholders spend lots of money in the parks on every trip. Disney will not get rid of them. Where did this rumor start anyway?