PDA

View Full Version : Done With Disneyland



Pages : [1] 2 3

ElJay
06-16-2015, 10:50 AM
Well...I guess that's it. I'm officially priced out of Disneyland. My family and I have let our SoCal Passports expire and I don't see us springing for any of the currently available ones anytime soon. I think it really sucks that admission to one of our most favorite places in the world has gotten so obscenely expensive. I understand that Disney is a business just like any other and it exists to make a profit, but I'm sorry, a day out at an amusement park for me and my family shouldn't cost the same as a new flat screen television. I expect they'll continue with their bi-annual price increases for as long as people will pay them, but I can only roll with it for so long before I start to feel like a sucker. Where does it end? Will a one day pass hit $200 dollars? Will annual passports START at $1000 bucks? I'm not sure I buy into the usual justifications (crowd control, park maintenance, quality of experience, etc.) it just looks like plain old greed to me. I think they've strayed a million miles away from Walt's original vision for the park, regardless of what the press releases say. I thought it was supposed to be a place that everyone from all walks of life can come to and enjoy, not just those of us with piles of disposable income. It's becoming clear to me that it's tourist dollars that they want. They'd rather have whole families or busloads of school kids in there that they can milk for thousands over a summer weekend instead of us locals who might wander in for a few hours on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon, maybe get an ice cream cone, and then go home. That's fine, it was fun while it lasted. Thanks for all the good times and the great memories Disneyland, but I'm out. You win.

Angie2009
06-16-2015, 11:21 AM
Sorry to hear it. I get six flags annual passes for norcal some years to enjoy what you are talking about, an afternoon here or a morning there, for us disneyland is a vacation.

cstephens
06-16-2015, 11:30 AM
I think they've strayed a million miles away from Walt's original vision for the park, regardless of what the press releases say. I thought it was supposed to be a place that everyone from all walks of life can come to and enjoy, not just those of us with piles of disposable income. ... They'd rather have whole families or busloads of school kids in there that they can milk for thousands over a summer weekend instead of us locals who might wander in for a few hours on a Friday night or a Sunday afternoon, maybe get an ice cream cone, and then go home.

I don't remember ever reading anywhere that Walt's intent that Disneyland be a place that people can enjoy meant that everyone should have unlimited access to Disneyland. Remember that lots of people can only visit Disneyland once every couple of years, or even once in a lifetime. Those of us who live close enough to go more often are very fortunate indeed. You can definitely still afford to go by buying a single-day ticket, especially with all the discounts that can be found via employers, credit unions, retail outlets and even when Disneyland runs discount specials themselves. If you don't want to do that, that is of course your choice. But it's an untruth for you to say that you've been priced out of Disneyland when you mean that it's too expensive to buy annual passes for your entire family. It's not the same thing. And if you're going into the parks for a few hours and just buying an ice cream cone, yeah, Disney is definitely not making a profit from you. And while people don't seem to like to acknowledge it, Disney is a business. They need revenue to continue.

I'm sure you and your family will find other things to occupy your time.

ElJay
06-16-2015, 01:03 PM
I don't remember ever reading anywhere that Walt's intent that Disneyland be a place that people can enjoy meant that everyone should have unlimited access to Disneyland. Remember that lots of people can only visit Disneyland once every couple of years, or even once in a lifetime. Those of us who live close enough to go more often are very fortunate indeed. And while people don't seem to like to acknowledge it, Disney is a business. They need revenue to continue.



One day, one park, 2 adults, 1 child + parking, no food, no souvenirs, no extra anything = $300.00.

In my world that's still a lot of money for a day's worth of enjoyment.

Fair enough. I get that Disneyland is a business. If anyone else chooses to spend their money on what I believe to be artificially inflated admission prices, then that's fine. I won't begrudge them. If Disney's goal truly is to cut overcrowding by making it prohibitively expensive for many who would otherwise attend the park regularly, that's fine too. I'm just saying it worked....They've lost us.

I'm glad I was fortunate enough to be able to go there as many times as I have, and did so while the park enjoyed a bit of a Renaissance (1990-1995)

And yeah, as a matter of fact me and my family WILL find other things to occupy our time, thanks.

animal24
06-16-2015, 03:21 PM
Well...I guess that's it. .... Thanks for all the good times and the great memories Disneyland, but I'm out. You win.

Its been difficult for me to shake that same feeling when I heard the Disneyland band was going away. That was the one group I felt genuinely didn't have to fake loving their jobs. It made the place special. A band of old men doing what they love doing. If I'm honest with myself its the band departing and the thought that there would be two classes of tickets. I don't contest prices going up, I contest people getting preferential treatment (magic bands, gold vs silver). I loved that the person you could be in front of in line could have drove a Bugatti there, and you are both having the same fun. A great equalizer. And I know that celebrities and such could do these things for a while, but that was a very small subset of people.

potzbie
06-16-2015, 09:20 PM
My opinion.

First, let me tell you that I am a geographically-close homeowner.
I live in the San Gabriel Valley, somewhere between Dodger Stadium and Angel Stadium, between Universal Studios Hollywood and Knott's Berry Farm.

I do not go to Knott's Berry Farm every year, nor do I go to Universal Studios Hollywood every year.
And I have not been to Magic Mountain for 15 years.
When and if those amusement parks have enough new stuff to justify a trip, I will go.
But every year?
Not worth it.

Now, when it comes to Disneyland, I have held an Annual Passport for more than 10 years, I think.
If the price of admission becomes too steep, then I will cut back my trips, from 4x per year, to once every two years.
I could live fine and dandy knowing that I will visit Disneyland in even-numbered years.

If I do visit Disneyland in even-numbered years, then I will save $300, $400, $500 or so by not-visiting in the odd-numbered years.
That scheduling has the side effect of motivating me to stay in one of the on-property hotels -- just because I saved money in odd-numbered years, and I will consciously boost my trip's psychological impact.
Instead of going 4x per year on day-tripper status, for 3-hour, 5-hour spurts, I will stay at The Grand Californian or The Disneyland Hotel for two days.

Bottom line:
Just because I will not be going multiple-times per year, that does not imply that I will not go at all, forever.
Nothing wrong with saving money.

Alternatives:
I recommend Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum on Hollywood Blvd.
I recommend the Hollywood Bowl.
Stay in a hotel on Sunset Blvd, and take the Metro to USH.
Save your money.
Do something else.
Then, when there is a new ride, only then go to DCA and DL.

If I had shareholders to answer to, I would like to be able to say, "Disneyland is at capacity every season, and we don't know what the price point ceiling is which will trigger a leveling off. So, take your return-on-investment dividends to the bank."

cstephens
06-16-2015, 10:01 PM
One day, one park, 2 adults, 1 child + parking, no food, no souvenirs, no extra anything = $300.00.

In my world that's still a lot of money for a day's worth of enjoyment.

Yep, it is a lot of money. No one said it was cheap. But it's not the local fair. It's not the county fair. It's one of the premier amusement parks in the world. And it's a full day of entertainment, if you choose for it to be. Back when I was going with just a day ticket, I got there when the park opened and stayed until the park closed. There are all kinds of things in this world that are expensive. I don't ski, but I've heard about the cost of lift tickets. And that's only for a couple of hours. And tickets to a Broadway show are expensive. As well as tickets to concerts. And that's only for a few hours too. People choose where they spend their disposable income, and if it's not worth it to you, definitely find something else to do. But don't treat it like you're somehow owed the right to be able to easily afford annual passes to Disneyland.



If anyone else chooses to spend their money on what I believe to be artificially inflated admission prices.

That really makes me laugh. "artificially inflated admission prices". As if there's some kind of rule about what can be charged for admission. Aren't all prices everywhere then artificially inflated?



I contest people getting preferential treatment (magic bands, gold vs silver).

I don't know what gold vs. silver means, but magic bands don't give you any preferential treatment. And as I recall, they are not required. You can use a card. And there are always people everywhere who get preferential treatment over others.

Seashellmama
06-16-2015, 11:19 PM
For the sake of perspective, maybe, four tickets at half-price discount in side-Mezzanine seats to see Matilda: The Musical at the Ahamanson cost $200. Everything is too expensive, no doubt about it.

I'm still very grateful to be able to have SoCal Select passes (I like to call them our homeschool passes), and hope to be able to keep that up a while longer.

tea4two
06-17-2015, 11:07 AM
...I'm still very grateful to be able to have SoCal Select passes (I like to call them our homeschool passes), and hope to be able to keep that up a while longer.

We're grateful, too, for our passes and appreciate them as a privilege and a luxury, not a right. For the time that we can have them (and that takes deliberate budgeting throughout the year), we will enjoy them. When the time comes that we cannot afford them anymore, then I hope we will take a deep breath and move on to enjoying something else. As a pp said, not going to DLR every year does not mean never going again. Life will go on and so will we.

NickP
06-17-2015, 11:42 AM
I don't mean this to sound rude but OP you should feel fortunate to have SoCal passports. Everyone places different priorities and necessities in life. Like previous posters have said, its a premium park, from a premium brand. As long as the park and brand stays popular, prices will either maintain and go up rather than drop. Based upon how often you use your SoCal passport you actually get a better deal than those of us who go every couple of years and buy park hopper tickets.

familymemories
06-17-2015, 12:27 PM
We could never afford to do any disney trip if it were not for our Diane Visa. We di e not go last yea5. We are going to WDW in August. Paid for half our trip with points.

missm
06-17-2015, 12:45 PM
I was just saying to a friend that I just don't think Disney is that expensive. It is all in perspective though.

We spent over $10,000 on our last Disney trip. It was 8 days long, we stayed in two rooms at the DH, ate every meal in the park, and bought some major souvenirs. I have some friends who would be flabbergasted at that, but not think twice to spend that on a resort in the Caribbean. That's just not my thing.

We will spend about $4,000 on this trip. It's shorter and there are less of us going, plus we paid our airline tickets with miles. We can only afford to go every two years because we spend a lot on food and souvenirs. If we stayed at cheaper hotels, packed food, and didn't buy souvenirs we could go a whole heck of a lot more but that wouldn't be fun to me. We are friends with another family that does just that and they go every year instead.

I'm sure Disney employs the best analysts there are to figure out the price points. If it gets too much for us, we'll start going every three years. I don't think they are purposely pricing people out of going, just answering to stock holders and following a good business plan.

jswtsang
06-17-2015, 12:59 PM
One day, one park, 2 adults, 1 child + parking, no food, no souvenirs, no extra anything = $300.00.

In my world that's still a lot of money for a day's worth of enjoyment.

Fair enough. I get that Disneyland is a business. If anyone else chooses to spend their money on what I believe to be artificially inflated admission prices, then that's fine. I won't begrudge them. If Disney's goal truly is to cut overcrowding by making it prohibitively expensive for many who would otherwise attend the park regularly, that's fine too. I'm just saying it worked....They've lost us.

I'm glad I was fortunate enough to be able to go there as many times as I have, and did so while the park enjoyed a bit of a Renaissance (1990-1995)

And yeah, as a matter of fact me and my family WILL find other things to occupy our time, thanks.

Well assuming you didn't do one of their special deals or coupons, one day, one park at Legoland, 2 adults, 1 child + parking and no food etc = $286...so Disneyland is not that bad of a deal. While I enjoy Legoland it isn't nearly at the level Disneyland is. They have a lot of deferred maintenance but I can see their conundrum, those bricks fade and it's not like they can just paint them, they'd have to rebuild whatever it is that is faded which would be very expensive. Disneyland also has a lot more attractions then Legoland does. So I think relatively Disneyland is still a decent value compared to other large theme parks. The same calculation for Seaworld San Diego is $276. So I think Disneyland is in line with other theme parks. Do the prices shock me if I compare them to 10 years ago? Maybe, but then again they say the costs of items "doubles" every 10 years, so for example if it is $300 to go to a theme park bare bones today, 10 years ago that might have been $150 for the same thing. So if that's true (I'm not sure I didn't look it up) Disneyland would just be keeping up with inflation.

june1st1997
06-17-2015, 04:08 PM
Jswtsang that 10 year thing is almost smack dab on the money. 18 years ago, (June 1st, 1997 to be exact) it was $36 per person to get into Disneyland. Double that and you get $72.
Double that and you get $144. That was one park, no parking.

My husband kept the ticket for our 1st date, so I have documented proof on that number.

oregontraveler
06-17-2015, 06:35 PM
I've been trying to find some earlier info on prices back in the day. I thought they were listed in the Disney War book, but no luck.

Anyways, I do recall reading about how Walt wanted to make the park affordable and that parking was only a quarter for the longest time. In 1956, the Day at Disneyland ticket book cost $2 for kids under 12, $2.50 for students & $3 for adults, it included 10 ride tickets.

In the early 80's they transitioned from the A-E tickets to the all day passports, similar to what Magic Mountain was doing at the time.

FWIW: looking back at my 11 trips in 10 years, I feel lucky to spend that much time in the parks. But now its time to move on, partly because of the high prices. I am coming down in July to celebrate the 60th, but there are no mare annual trips for me in the near future.

currence
06-18-2015, 05:48 PM
Well assuming you didn't do one of their special deals or coupons, one day, one park at Legoland, 2 adults, 1 child + parking and no food etc = $286...so Disneyland is not that bad of a deal. While I enjoy Legoland it isn't nearly at the level Disneyland is. They have a lot of deferred maintenance but I can see their conundrum, those bricks fade and it's not like they can just paint them, they'd have to rebuild whatever it is that is faded which would be very expensive. Disneyland also has a lot more attractions then Legoland does. So I think relatively Disneyland is still a decent value compared to other large theme parks. The same calculation for Seaworld San Diego is $276. So I think Disneyland is in line with other theme parks. Do the prices shock me if I compare them to 10 years ago? Maybe, but then again they say the costs of items "doubles" every 10 years, so for example if it is $300 to go to a theme park bare bones today, 10 years ago that might have been $150 for the same thing. So if that's true (I'm not sure I didn't look it up) Disneyland would just be keeping up with inflation.

Taking Legoland as the example, the one-day prices are as quoted but they seem to be constantly having sales. So if you do a modicum of research before you go that won't be the price you pay. And in comparison to Disneyland, Legoland's annual passes range from $149 to $269. Alternatively, you can buy a lifetime pass for $3,000.00, which is roughly 30 times a one-day ticket and 11 times the most expensive annual pass. I would gladly pay $4,650 ($155x30) or even $8,569 ($779x11) for lifetime passes to Disneyland. A major difference, of course, is that Legoland is really geared to the under 12 set so there are only 10 years that most kids will want to go there, at least until they are adults and have kids of their own that they can bring. Disneyland would probably price a lifetime pass by the general public's life expectancy rather than by the significantly more limited time frame for Legoland.

Having said all that, I too am letting my family's annual passes expire this year. It's not that they raised the price above what I could afford but that my family isn't enjoying it as much as I want them to for the price that I would need to pay. So we are probably going to go to other theme parks for a while and only to to Disneyland on single day tickets during So Cal promotional prices or the Halloween events.

cstephens
06-18-2015, 05:56 PM
Having said all that, I too am letting my family's annual passes expire this year. It's not that they raised the price above what I could afford but that my family isn't enjoying it as much as I want them to for the price that I would need to pay. So we are probably going to go to other theme parks for a while and only to to Disneyland on single day tickets during So Cal promotional prices or the Halloween events.

Makes perfect sense. There is one SoCal theme park I've been trying to get back to for a while now but just haven't had the time. Maybe 2016.

carolinakid
06-19-2015, 05:43 AM
I would definitely buy a lifetime pass to either DL and/or WDW but I'm sure in the fine print there would be some way Disney could change the deal and somehow more money would have to spent at a later date.

currence
06-19-2015, 06:33 AM
I would definitely buy a lifetime pass to either DL and/or WDW but I'm sure in the fine print there would be some way Disney could change the deal and somehow more money would have to spent at a later date.

Well, if it's anything like Legoland, there would be an upgrade price if/when they opened another gate if you wanted that park included. In Legoland's case, they opened either sealife or their waterpark and there was an extra cost to upgrade to essentially a 'lifetime plus' membership. Just in the last year Legoland increased their lifetime (plus) pass from $2,500 to $3,000. Strangely, I didn't hear the same outcry over price increases that normally accompanies Disneyland's annual increase even though that was a much bigger jump than any of Disney's tickets. :)

sjhanksaz
06-19-2015, 07:27 AM
Just go less often

What if they dropped the price to $35 a day?

Everyday would be a park closure with so many people it would not be much fun.

I hope they kind find a sweet spot or build another park in the states to help

jswtsang
06-20-2015, 12:00 AM
Jswtsang that 10 year thing is almost smack dab on the money. 18 years ago, (June 1st, 1997 to be exact) it was $36 per person to get into Disneyland. Double that and you get $72.
Double that and you get $144. That was one park, no parking.

My husband kept the ticket for our 1st date, so I have documented proof on that number.

This is why your grandparents might have reminisced about things costing a nickel. If the poster below is correct about 1956 being $3, today that same ticket would be approximately $192, so about $100 to get it sounds like a bargain compared to the 50s. The problem is we all remember going for "only" 36 dollars so many years ago so it hurts to have to pay so much today, but inflation is to blame.

jswtsang
06-20-2015, 12:11 AM
Currence and Carolina kid,
I'd pay that much to get a lifetime ticket at Disneyland but it would never happen, too popular. I did buy a 10 day pass to Disney world several years ago and upgraded it to last a "lifetime" but even then I noticed that was capped at 25 years and they discontinued the pass. Hopefully they will still honor it since I have 6 days left and no current plans to go to Orlando.
I do think the Legoland ambassador and regular passes are starting to creep up in price and lose some of the privileges, from what I understand they used to give you bring a friend free coupons once or twice a year and I didn't get any last year and haven't seen any this year. It could be my mail man is delivering the coupons to the wrong house but I'm still getting the magazine and other ads and calendars. Also I'd never pay retail price if there were coupons, but there are also deals for Disney tickets such as buying through work or using gift cards bought at Ralph's (only beneficial if you use their gas station) so if the op wanted to bring down the price they could, it would just require some work, versus Lego Land's easy coupons.

fishgal
06-20-2015, 05:56 AM
Just for kicks a giggles, here's some reference info regarding pricing thru the years at Disneyland for a one day inclusive ticket (i.e. no ticket books needed for individual rides)
1983- $12
1984- $14
1985- $16.50 (child 3-12 $10.50)
1986- $17.95 (child 3-12 $12.95)
1987- $21.50 (child 3-12 $16.50)
1988- $21.50 (child 3-12 $16.50)
1989- $23.50 (child 3-12 $18.50)
1990- $25.50 (child 3-12 $22.50)
1991- $27.50
1992- $28.75
1993- $29.50
1994- $31.00 (child 3-12 $25.50)
1995- $33.00
1996- $34.50
1997- $36.00 (child 3-12 $26.00)
1998- $38.00 (child 3-12 $28.00)
1999- $39.50
2000- $41.00
2001- $43.00
2002- $45.00
2003- $47.00
2004- $49.95
Up to here have all been one day passes, from here on are one day one park disneyland only prices...
2005- $53.00
2006- $63.00
2007- $66.00
2008- $69.00
2009- $72.00
2010- $76.00
2011- $80.00
2012- $87.00
2013- $92.00

3Princesses1Prince
06-20-2015, 08:29 AM
Currence and Carolina kid,
I'd pay that much to get a lifetime ticket at Disneyland but it would never happen, too popular. I did buy a 10 day pass to Disney world several years ago and upgraded it to last a "lifetime" but even then I noticed that was capped at 25 years and they discontinued the pass. Hopefully they will still honor it since I have 6 days left and no current plans to go to Orlando.

The WDW non-expiring tickets are still valid, they just don't sell them anymore.

carolinakid
06-20-2015, 11:24 AM
Wow, a ten dollar jump from 05-06. Were folks upset back then?