AP Price Increase June 18th, 2019

[hertamaniac]

Still significantly less than Disney APs.

Yep, but my guess is they will use the % increases Disney just revealed for the different tiers, and come up just short (1% of Disney's ceiling) to show a real/perceived value.

 

[middlechild]

This price increase was planned long ago in my opinion. Someone suggested Star Wars land, Iger and/or upper management said you have to have a way to pay. Price increase on the schedule, and now construction moves forward. Record attendance at the parks means all the complaints here matters little. If bookings are down for the fall, and I don't believe anyone here has that kind of access to know, IF bookings are down, then perhaps Iger's exit is really going to happen in 2021. Simply because he has lost his mojo on increasing revenues. Leave it to the next CEO to deal with decreasing revenues from Parks & Resorts. Would hate to follow that act, to be sure.

 

[ELLH]

On a personal note...

My family had been AP holders up until this year. This year was different because we had a trip to Europe (and visited DLP) and, while we are planning on visiting in November, we just didn't have the funds or vacation time available to do additional WDW trips to justify an AP. 2020 will also be a no-AP year for us because we plan to do DCL.


BUT… and this is where I imagine we aren’t alone … we had every intention on buying APs for 2021 (or thereabouts) so we could visit multiple times during the 50th anniversary celebration. At the previous ticket prices, our break-even point would have been covered by the AP in two trips. We would likely have gone 3-4 times that year. Now, with the updated prices (and assuming this relationship stays roughly the same), they may have very well priced us in to only 2 trips without using APs. Of course, we will have to see how things shake out closer to that date and AP discounts may help some. Still, speaking for my family, with this updated AP vs single ticket pricing structure, Disney is going to get less money from my family in 2021 as whole than they would have thanks to this AP increase when you consider the overall cost of the vacation (hotels, food, and merch).

And, as I alluded to above, the thing that concerns me is if this pricing parity between AP and non-AP tickets isn’t withheld, that would have to be due to an increase in non-AP tickets because we know they won’t lower the price of their APs. So either we can expect a constant 20-25% delta between AP and non-AP tickets or we can expect non-AP tickets to start having more than minimal jumps. I would expect the former to be true but who knows.

 

[ELLH]

Regular tickets were last upped in March so I think they wouldn't do it again until late this year or early next.

Ok, but like I said...

2) It doesn't necessarily matter when but what they change to. I'm just going to be curious to see how that relationship will compare with the relationship of the two ticket types before this latest AP increase.

 

[Remy is Up]

I take a look at how many days we will spend in the parks on a calendar year. In the past 3 years we average 24 a year, so even at 1200, its still cheaper than buying tickets every time. We have family in the area and always go when we go visit. We take other vacays during the year to other places, but, being that we are in Orlando a good deal, the price on the AP still makes sense. Do I like it? Absolutely not. Will I be certain to Bridge and use the discount on renewal? Absolutely.

 

[OSUZorba]

Wow, 22% increase? That's just crazy. They really are hoping the Star Wars fans come out and show their love.

I really wonder if they are going down the road of replacing a lot of loyal annual visitors and AP holders that spend a week on property, with a bunch of people that will buy a 1-Day pass to DHS blow a bunch on Merch and leave. Especially with what Pete said about package sales dropping after the announcement, Disneyland being a ghost town, and now at least the third massive ticket/AP increase blamed on SW:GE. Throw on paid FPP that will also be blamed on SW:GE.

If this is the road they've set themselves down, it'll take a whole lot of 1-Dayers buying a lot of Merch to offset everyone they are upsetting.

 

[SaharanTea]

I really wonder if they are going down the road of replacing a lot of loyal annual visitors and AP holders that spend a week on property, with a bunch of people that will buy a 1-Day pass to DHS blow a bunch on Merch and leave. Especially with what Pete said about package sales dropping after the announcement, Disneyland being a ghost town, and now at least the third massive ticket/AP increase blamed on SW:GE. Throw on paid FPP that will also be blamed on SW:GE.

If this is the road they've set themselves down, it'll take a whole lot of 1-Dayers buying a lot of Merch to offset everyone they are upsetting.

If that is the strategy, an economic downturn would hit even harder. It's a very short-sighted strategy. Offering discounts is always the counter, but that's a harder sell for turned-off once-upon-a-time loyalists.

 

[jphcoffeeboy]

oh my god. I thought I was crazy for purchasing my AP back in February for a May 2020 trip. Thank God I did!!!

We bought ours for our July-Aug Trip back in May to accommodate 60-day FP+ reservations. We are so glad we did. Chewbacca needs to pay for his enormous shampoo bill, and he has to get the money somehow.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

On a personal note...

My family had been AP holders up until this year. This year was different because we had a trip to Europe (and visited DLP) and, while we are planning on visiting in November, we just didn't have the funds or vacation time available to do additional WDW trips to justify an AP. 2020 will also be a no-AP year for us because we plan to do DCL.


BUT… and this is where I imagine we aren’t alone … we had every intention on buying APs for 2021 (or thereabouts) so we could visit multiple times during the 50th anniversary celebration. At the previous ticket prices, our break-even point would have been covered by the AP in two trips. We would likely have gone 3-4 times that year. Now, with the updated prices (and assuming this relationship stays roughly the same), they may have very well priced us in to only 2 trips without using APs. Of course, we will have to see how things shake out closer to that date and AP discounts may help some. Still, speaking for my family, with this updated AP vs single ticket pricing structure, Disney is going to get less money from my family in 2021 as whole than they would have thanks to this AP increase when you consider the overall cost of the vacation (hotels, food, and merch).

And, as I alluded to above, the thing that concerns me is if this pricing parity between AP and non-AP tickets isn’t withheld, that would have to be due to an increase in non-AP tickets because we know they won’t lower the price of their APs. So either we can expect a constant 20-25% delta between AP and non-AP tickets or we can expect non-AP tickets to start having more than minimal jumps. I would expect the former to be true but who knows.

we are in a similar boat as I was thinking about a few trips within a 12-month window that was part of the 50th anniversary celebration - and doing at least one of us having an AP. Now we might just do one trip, will have to see

 

[SaintsManiac]

we are in a similar boat as I was thinking about a few trips within a 12-month window that was part of the 50th anniversary celebration - and doing at least one of us having an AP. Now we might just do one trip, will have to see

I was thinking the same. I'm still planning on one AP for the family, but we have to see what happens with the next increase. We won't be doing multiple trips, so I would need to crunch numbers.

 

[tlmadden73]

I really wonder if they are going down the road of replacing a lot of loyal annual visitors and AP holders that spend a week on property, with a bunch of people that will buy a 1-Day pass to DHS blow a bunch on Merch and leave. Especially with what Pete said about package sales dropping after the announcement, Disneyland being a ghost town, and now at least the third massive ticket/AP increase blamed on SW:GE. Throw on paid FPP that will also be blamed on SW:GE.

If this is the road they've set themselves down, it'll take a whole lot of 1-Dayers buying a lot of Merch to offset everyone they are upsetting.

They focus on new timers. Disney knows new timers dont know that ticket prices were 25% less a few years ago.

They have (since I started going back regularly in 2010 --have eliminated the flexible, cost-saving tickets which the go every year people would often buy .. whether it is NEVER expire tickets, tickets that didnt expire after a year or two or Annual Price increases. Unless you buy DVC, they want everyone to pay the same rate for tickets. they dont want people buying tickets now to protecting against the future price increases. (which all those old ticket options did)

They want everyone to play by the same rules as the first timers - look at the calendar for the year, buy your tickets at current rate, come and spend your money. If you want to go again, sign up for a new trip (at a higher cost).

 

[dfamgirl]

$1119 for Platinum?! When it is $894 now?! That's a 25% increase! That is painful since I plan to upgrade to APs in December.

Ditto....it was going to be our first year with AP's. So sad that it may never happen now

 

[umichigan10]

I really wonder if they are going down the road of replacing a lot of loyal annual visitors and AP holders that spend a week on property, with a bunch of people that will buy a 1-Day pass to DHS blow a bunch on Merch and leave. Especially with what Pete said about package sales dropping after the announcement, Disneyland being a ghost town, and now at least the third massive ticket/AP increase blamed on SW:GE. Throw on paid FPP that will also be blamed on SW:GE.

If this is the road they've set themselves down, it'll take a whole lot of 1-Dayers buying a lot of Merch to offset everyone they are upsetting.

It’s a huge flaw for long term thinking driven by short term investors looking to make a buck.

Trying to turn off the frequency of long term, loyal fans is not something any business should want to do. In 20,30 years maybe they pay the price. But stockholders now don’t care about that....

 

[dfamgirl]

Ouch had 2 in my cart a couple days ago and didn’t pull the trigger.

Oh, my...sorry.

 

[OSUZorba]

If that is the strategy, an economic downturn would hit even harder. It's a very short-sighted strategy. Offering discounts is always the counter, but that's a harder sell for turned-off once-upon-a-time loyalists.

I don't think that is what they are trying to do directly, I think that is what they might accomplish though.

I think they think all these people will come for SW and realize WDW is amazing and they'll have tons of new people, which may be true or they might end up with a lot of 1-dayers.

 

[Future_WorldPhonencian]

Im finding it interesting that they are rolling out so many discounts because attendance and hotel occupancy is way down, yet they are jacking up the prices for people that help drice up those attendance numbers. AP's get people to come more often and spend their hard earned money on hotels, dining, and merch. Its clear Disney is foundering right now with cost overruns at GE. They worked so hard out at Disneyland to scare people off the rest of the park outside of GE is deserted.
They add passholder perks at world for the summer to boost attendance then jack up the price of AP's by 20-25% (AP prices have nearly doubled over last 5 years.) Its shortsighted, people aren't dumb. If people can't afford an AP, they aren't going to make multiple trips in the same or even adjacent years. They will say, geez lets do something else. We certainly have spent much more at Disney as Passholders, but that was a calculated financial decision on our part, one we likely can longer justify.

 

[ParkHoppers]

Just bought Gold AP yesterday not knowing the increase was coming today. That was close......

 

[NoTime42]

Im finding it interesting that they are rolling out so many discounts because attendance and hotel occupancy is way down, yet they are jacking up the prices for people that help drice up those attendance numbers. AP's get people to come more often and spend their hard earned money on hotels, dining, and merch. Its clear Disney is foundering right now with cost overruns at GE. They worked so hard out at Disneyland to scare people off the rest of the park outside of GE is deserted.
They add passholder perks at world for the summer to boost attendance then jack up the price of AP's by 20-25% (AP prices have nearly doubled over last 5 years.) Its shortsighted, people aren't dumb. If people can't afford an AP, they aren't going to make multiple trips in the same or even adjacent years. They will say, geez lets do something else. We certainly have spent much more at Disney as Passholders, but that was a calculated financial decision on our part, one we likely can longer justify.

It is weird, they rolled out seasonal ticket pricing and more seasonal passes for locals, which has resulted in lower summer crowds, yet they keep doing more of the same thing.

 

[Disney Bobby]

I just bought 3 Platinum Plus Passes on Sunday. Very glad I went ahead on pulled the trigger.

 

[Haley R]

I just bought 3 Platinum Plus Passes on Sunday. Very glad I went ahead on pulled the trigger.

Luckily there are a couple outlets to still get the previous prices