Disney announces new Ticket system for WDW

[TheMaxRebo]

More and more, I feel out of step with Disney and their theme park products. What my family loves about WDW ... the rides, the ambiance, the music, live entertainment and the (formerly) easy, casual, nearly plan-less way of booking trips and touring the parks ... makes me feel like I'm a "bad customer".

The only consolation is that I think the bubble is about to burst and Disney will inevitably have to give up on the goofy, IT-driven, margin-boosting, hare-brained schemes like tiered admission days, tiered ride passes, tiered hours, tiered entertainment, tiered everything.

Disney is competing with nice, quiet, inclusive destinations such as beaches, national parks, quaint cultural locations and good old fashioned "staycations". Nobody is going to pull their hair out looking at a web site trying to figure out which day they can afford to visit a museum versus go to the beach, and whether there's a "meal plan" in old Charleston SC that allows them to have crab cake appetizers as well as dessert. Are they going to continue pulling their hair out for much longer worrying about how to get it at WDW while also somehow fitting in Slinky Dog and Millenium Falcon rides?

I wonder if I am the exception then in that we have been going since the early 80s but never saw Disney as a "easy or casual" or competing with a "quiet inclusive or staycation" - for us it was always about going for as short of a period of time that we felt we could cover everything and focus on the parks and activities and rides, etc. It was part of a larger Florida vacation where Disney would be a part of it, and we would focus heavily on it for those few days. Now we love some of the slower offerings, but it is still about doing "things" - so maybe I have just always been in sync with what they are moving more towards

 

[Bing Showei]

Disney is competing with nice, quiet, inclusive destinations such as beaches, national parks, quaint cultural locations and good old fashioned "staycations".

Sadly, they aren't. If they were, I agree, Disney would be a pretty poor alternative to quiet, good-old-fashioned family time.

Disney is competing for the big dollars families spend for bubble escapism. They've cornered the market for commercial, family, big ticket entertainment. Universal (as great as an amusement park as that is) doesn't hold a candle to the bubble Disney has created. From capturing the Disney characters that our kids love, to drawing on the nostalgia that we as parents will indulge "in the interest of the kids," Disney is the only show in town, and we are a captive audience.

And as difficult as IT can be to navigate beforehand, with the tap-tap magic bands, tap-tap dining plan, on site transportation, and endless child-centric entertainment, Disney makes, for a lot of families, easy escapist vacations.

 

[piglet1979]

More and more, I feel out of step with Disney and their theme park products. What my family loves about WDW ... the rides, the ambiance, the music, live entertainment and the (formerly) easy, casual, nearly plan-less way of booking trips and touring the parks ... makes me feel like I'm a "bad customer".

The only consolation is that I think the bubble is about to burst and Disney will inevitably have to give up on the goofy, IT-driven, margin-boosting, hare-brained schemes like tiered admission days, tiered ride passes, tiered hours, tiered entertainment, tiered everything.

Disney is competing with nice, quiet, inclusive destinations such as beaches, national parks, quaint cultural locations and good old fashioned "staycations". Nobody is going to pull their hair out looking at a web site trying to figure out which day they can afford to visit a museum versus go to the beach, and whether there's a "meal plan" in old Charleston SC that allows them to have crab cake appetizers as well as dessert. Are they going to continue pulling their hair out for much longer worrying about how to get it at WDW while also somehow fitting in Slinky Dog and Millenium Falcon rides?

This is what I love about Disney. I love planning. My DH and I have spreadsheets and are both uber planners. We just went on a Cruise and I was going nuts not being able to plan anything. I know we are in the minority though.

 

[Dislvr1234]

did you ever find the answer? I have the same question
QUOTE="shafke, post: 59804218, member: 35031"]Here is another question I do not remember being addresses
- Is Park Hopper Plus (ie: Water Parks and More) still going to be available and how will this change affect that?
For example: a 5 day PHP gave you 5 park days and 5 plus options to use over the 14 day usage period. Since a 5 day is now going to be valid for only 8 days you will either need to give up park time or lose a couple of the plus options.[/QUOTE]

 

[TheMaxRebo]

did you ever find the answer? I have the same question
QUOTE="shafke, post: 59804218, member: 35031"]Here is another question I do not remember being addresses
- Is Park Hopper Plus (ie: Water Parks and More) still going to be available and how will this change affect that?
For example: a 5 day PHP gave you 5 park days and 5 plus options to use over the 14 day usage period. Since a 5 day is now going to be valid for only 8 days you will either need to give up park time or lose a couple of the plus options.

[/QUOTE]

looks like you have to use up those Water Park tickets within the same time frame

I just tested out and selected the Park Hopper Plus for a 5 day ticket starting on March 17th and the footnotes says (I added the bold/underline for emphasis):



"Your tickets are valid for admission to multiple theme parks on any 5 days from Apr 17, 2019 through Apr 25, 2019. Your ticket also provides 5 visits to a water park or other Walt Disney World fun during the same date range."

 

[Ponderer]

The only consolation is that I think the bubble is about to burst and Disney will inevitably have to give up on the goofy, IT-driven, margin-boosting, hare-brained schemes like tiered admission days, tiered ride passes, tiered hours, tiered entertainment, tiered everything.

Unfortunately, those can't be harebrained schemes, because the increases in the major items like ticket and hotel prices has a finite expansion curve. More revenue has to come from somewhere. Declining growth is unacceptable for a public company, and if current management can't accomplish a consistent increase in profit, the shareholders will find someone that will. These things are here to stay in the large-scale vacation business.

 

[Dislvr1234]

"Your tickets are valid for admission to multiple theme parks on any 5 days from Apr 17, 2019 through Apr 25, 2019. Your ticket also provides 5 visits to a water park or other Walt Disney World fun during the same date range."[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info

 

[Planogirl]

Unfortunately, those can't be harebrained schemes, because the increases in the major items like ticket and hotel prices has a finite expansion curve. More revenue has to come from somewhere. Declining growth is unacceptable for a public company, and if current management can't accomplish a consistent increase in profit, the shareholders will find someone that will. These things are here to stay in the large-scale vacation business.

There is a limit to everything particularly with a company trying to increase profits as quickly as Disney. Even big moneymakers like tech companies tend to flame out or at least slow down at some point. Disney seems determined to take it all and take it at a breakneck speed. Maybe they do realize that money is finite but want to grab as much as they can before the economic house of cards crashes down.

 

[Ponderer]

There is a limit to everything particularly with a company trying to increase profits as quickly as Disney. Even big moneymakers like tech companies tend to flame out or at least slow down at some point. Disney seems determined to take it all and take it at a breakneck speed. Maybe they do realize that money is finite but want to grab as much as they can before the economic house of cards crashes down.

Well, tech companies have a huge advantage in that their growth can be fueled by more new products and not having to worry about legacy products forever. Disney is playing in this space, but every major thing that happens in a theme park has to be maintained indefinitely. They have no easy path to easy profitability in the theme park world. They can’t just introduce a new Magic Kingdom edition every year. And worse for them, unlike a lot of tech products, there’s nothing about what they make that’s not expendable. It’s not greed so much as having to please the stockholders that expect the same growth potential as a tech company.

 

[ilovetotravel1977]

After our February trip, DH said our next vacation would be an all-inclusive-type trip, meaning slower pace, no planning, etc. In our opinion they are two completely different types of vacations as our WDW vacations are rope drop/park close days. We are going to Mexico in 2019 and then back to Orlando in 2020.

 

[freddyfreak1999]

Good, maybe it'll even out crowds.

 

[Rob Troxel]

This is what I love about Disney. I love planning. My DH and I have spreadsheets and are both uber planners. We just went on a Cruise and I was going nuts not being able to plan anything. I know we are in the minority though.

There is a challenge to get what you want when you are at WDW. Those who make the plans often win out especially if your time is limited. I am fortunate to have a son and daughter in law who are willing to share their planning skills so we may benefit.