I think Pete was sort of missing the point on AP cancellations

[nkereina]

If I'm remembering correctly, I think it was John who said he'd be curious to see the locations of the people who cancelled their APs. If its a large number of local FL residents, or even people just within relatively short driving distance, then Pete isn't off base in saying that Disney should do more to draw those people in. My perception of Pete's comments was more geared towards the locals who don't need to get on an airplane or stay in a hotel to visit the parks. If those people are canceling APs mostly because they don't feel the value is there right now with the way everything has changed, then there's things they could do to entice those people back.

 

[disneygeek401]

Yep, Pete's comments are exactly geared to Chapek. He is a total bafoon and the fact that WDW won't cater to APs. It makes absolutely zero sense. Sure, there are people like the OP who don't want to go to a theme park rn and that's totally fine and that should have been expected by Disney right from the get-go. Not only is there an ongoing pandemic, but there are also so many international and domestic travel bans, travel restrictions, and mandatory quarantines currently into effect. WDW is a MAJOR tourist destination, and they have a HUGE audience, domestic and internationally. There are a lot of people who can't even go if they want to because of that.

I totally understand needing a reservation system now, but there needs to be significantly more AP availability. They even know it. They are selling tickets at the TTC and the front turnstiles bc people aren't coming rn except for Annual Passholders!!!! It makes no sense to brush APs off to the side during a pandemic when those people are essentially most of their business right now. They are the ones eating up available park reservations, buying merchandise, buying food, and going to the parks and SPENDING MONEY, which is what they need. After all, they were losing what, 30 million a day every day WDW was closed?

Up until the initial reopening period, WDW has NEVER been a locals park like DL. However, until there is a vaccine, or until next summer, or spring, or whenever more people are willing to travel, then they need to show more loyalty to the people who are the Disney fans and the people who shell out a lot of money for an annual pass. Sadly, I don't see that happening as APs have never been a big priority for them.

And if D'Amaro's comment about the park pass system is actually true, then most APs will lose their minds, especially if Disney does not do something to fix this issue that they clearly have right now with the attendance at WDW and all of that.

It will be interesting to see what happens. Only time will tell.

 

[Rockbro]

Let's keep it "KISS" I can't get into a park unless it's a very inconvenient day. I'm very willing to spend money on dining and popcorn and other things. They are very simply doing thins wrong for AP's.

 

[RamblingMad]

If they got rid of APs altogether, would locals still go? If the answer is yes, then Disney’s moves make sense. And is that true for both the FL park and CA park? And is the spend the same for APs?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Yep, Pete's comments are exactly geared to Chapek. He is a total bafoon and the fact that WDW won't cater to APs. It makes absolutely zero sense

My question back is, why? Why should they cater to passholders? It is clear they want smaller crowds not larger and they want each body through the gates to be paying as much per day as possible.

One more passholder through the gates does nothing for them that day

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I still I have my AP. I’ve been to SeaWorld Universal and disney springs. My job requires me to be in and out of the hospitals a LOT. I’m fine.

do whatever you want to do though

 

[DLgal]

My question back is, why? Why should they cater to passholders? It is clear they want smaller crowds not larger and they want each body through the gates to be paying as much per day as possible.

One more passholder through the gates does nothing for them that day

You really don't understand how much money APs spend in the parks over a year's time, do you? I guarantee you it's more than one family spends on a one week vacation.

We are both. We have DL APs and live 15 min away. We also vacation at WDW almost every year, AND we also spend several nights a year on Disney property at DLR. We spend at least $10-15k annually in the parks and hotels(that's in addition to our pass cost, which is $5200 for our family of 4 at DL). They'd do well to make sure I am happy.

I don't think the "average" family drops $20k per WDW trip...

 

[TheMaxRebo]

You really don't understand how much money APs spend in the parks over a year's time, do you? I guarantee you it's more than one family spends on a one week vacation.

We are both. We have DL APs and live 15 min away. We also vacation at WDW almost every year, AND we also spend several nights a year on Disney property at DLR. We spend at least $10-15k annually in the parks and hotels(that's in addition to our pass cost, which is $5200 for our family of 4 at DL). They'd do well to make sure I am happy.

I don't think the "average" family drops $20k per WDW trip...

No $20k but ~$10k is pretty common

And passholders like you are very welcome as you can pay to stay in the hotel and get access to the parks from those reservations

Many other spend $40 a month on their gold pass and not a lot beyond that - those are who Chapek is referring to

 

[disneygeek401]

My question back is, why? Why should they cater to passholders? It is clear they want smaller crowds not larger and they want each body through the gates to be paying as much per day as possible.

One more passholder through the gates does nothing for them that day

APs are their only source of business essentially. (Right now.) For whatever reason, yes they do want less people, but then again they are freaking selling day tickets at the gate. They should be trying their hardest to get APs in the gate.

Sure, there may be some passholders who pay month by month and not buy any extras in the park, but lets be honest that # is prolly pretty low.

They should be doing everything they can to get more people in the park and make more money.

 

[hertamaniac]

You really don't understand how much money APs spend in the parks over a year's time, do you? I guarantee you it's more than one family spends on a one week vacation.

We are both. We have DL APs and live 15 min away. We also vacation at WDW almost every year, AND we also spend several nights a year on Disney property at DLR. We spend at least $10-15k annually in the parks and hotels(that's in addition to our pass cost, which is $5200 for our family of 4 at DL). They'd do well to make sure I am happy.

I don't think the "average" family drops $20k per WDW trip...

That's it exactly. The aggregate spend for some local AP's can exceed a family of four being onsite for a one week vacation per year.

Case and personal point: because our AP gave us unfettered and unrestricted access to all 4 WDW theme parks, we opted for a staycation for almost 2 weeks at OKW (2 bedroom villa) as a cash paying customer. If we didn't have our AP's with no park restrictions or reservations, then we wouldn't have stayed onsite; and that's a pretty healthy amount of cash they wouldn't have received from us. I'm very confident there are many other locals that can share similar stories like mine.

A restricted and data driven AP entry is something that heavily leans us away from WDW. We purchased our AP's for the freedom and flexibility.

Another point is I wonder how many folks recently moved to central Florida given the AP freedom to visit WDW? That's a tough sell to individuals that made that decision and are now staring down a restricted AP. Of course, Disney knows they can easily back-fill many AP's with others to which I say, glad it isn't me. I sleep well at night knowing that I don't need WDW to survive or enjoy other local theme parks/attractions.

 

[rteetz]

You really don't understand how much money APs spend in the parks over a year's time, do you? I guarantee you it's more than one family spends on a one week vacation.

We are both. We have DL APs and live 15 min away. We also vacation at WDW almost every year, AND we also spend several nights a year on Disney property at DLR. We spend at least $10-15k annually in the parks and hotels(that's in addition to our pass cost, which is $5200 for our family of 4 at DL). They'd do well to make sure I am happy.

I don't think the "average" family drops $20k per WDW trip...

I think Disney looks at it more as for every AP that spends that over a year, there are 10 vacationers that spend half that in a week. The infrequent visitors is more important to them than the AP and will continue to be.

 

[RamblingMad]

I think Disney looks at it more as for every AP that spends that over a year, there are 10 vacationers that spend half that in a week. The infrequent visitors is more important to them than the AP and will continue to be.

I’m sure they have the data for AP purchases, where you received a discount. The math side of me says to optimize the spend per guest per day.

What I don’t know is if the AP spending behavior is the same in FL as in CA. So is the new CEO addressing the data point for all APs or just the ones in FL. If I had to guess, I’d say all APs.

 

[rteetz]

I’m sure they have the data for AP purchases, where you received a discount. The math side of me says to optimize the spend per guest per day.

What I don’t know is if the AP spending behavior is the same in FL as in CA. So is the new CEO addressing the data point for all APs or just the ones in FL. If I had to guess, I’d say all APs.

I would say no FL and CA are different especially in that CA has more APs than Florida. Disney has always focused more on the AP in CA than FL.

 

[RamblingMad]

I would say no FL and CA are different especially in that CA has more APs than Florida. Disney has always focused more on the AP in CA than FL.

So is Pete taking the POV of an AP in FL? Maybe he thinks APs in FL spend a lot. And maybe the FL data backs that up. But if most of the APs in CA don’t back that up, then the new CEOs comments make sense. It’s hard to draw a lot of conclusions from these investors calls. I like to think of them as reinsurance calls. Stick with us. Everything is okay.

 

[GAN]

On this week's show, Pete had a bit of a rant about how many people have cancelled their APs and how he thinks Disney should be doing more to draw in the AP holders.

I did cancel my AP as a result of COVID. That had absolutely nothing to do with anything Disney is doing and there is absolutely nothing Disney could do differently that would change my decision. THERE'S A GLOBAL PANDEMIC HAPPENING. We are not going on vacation. We are not getting on a plane. We are not driving 1,000 miles to Florida. We are not going into a theme park. We stay at home. I go to the supermarket. We pick up take out once a week or so. We do some curbside pickup from Target or Walmart. My wife and I have done outside dining a few times but that's the most "public" thing we've done. Going to a theme park is the last thing on our list right now and probably won't be back on our list for a long time.

Pete seemed to be putting a lot of the blame on Disney. I don't think that's accurate at all. If Disney called and said I could get a free hotel, free food, and free air fare, I still wouldn't be going right now so I have zero use for an AP.

Besides, my job has a travel ban that currently includes 35 states, I think. If we travel to any of those places, we have to quarantine for 14 days before we can return to work. Technically, I'm exempt as a doctor, but I'm still supposed to report that travel to Infection Control and they could make me quarantine.

So I think all of the AP cancellations make perfect sense. Honestly, I'm surprised the number of cancellations in the survey wasn't far higher.

I did the same and agree 100% ....we’re doing all the things you stated and honestly, I don’t really mind. Add in golf a couple times a week. Sure, I’d be a little happier if I felt more comfortable picking up and going wherever and whenever I pleased. The other thing, at least locally, it seems the longer we get into this with relatively low numbers the more you see people not following recommended practices. I’m good with another 6-months of this to be perfectly honest and that includes no need for an AP at this time.

 

[GAN]

APs are their only source of business essentially. (Right now.) For whatever reason, yes they do want less people, but then again they are freaking selling day tickets at the gate. They should be trying their hardest to get APs in the gate.

Sure, there may be some passholders who pay month by month and not buy any extras in the park, but lets be honest that # is prolly pretty low.

They should be doing everything they can to get more people in the park and make more money.

The way I see it, they are trying to control crowd size. By allowing AP users to show up randomly would defeat the purpose. I could see where they could allow AP‘s access -since they’re selling at the gate anyway to random guests ...but that opens the possibility of having to turn AP holders away at some point(given capacity). And that is a worse situation in my opinion. I‘ve got to believe money has absolutely nothing to do with the final decision so they could care less how much an AP spend is. They’re losing money no matter what, they bit that bullet back in February -this is a lost year for many businesses. Get out of this with as few PR nightmares as possible, reduce losses as best you can, and be ready to grow in 2021.

 

[dkrauss]

This could be the thing that ends our Disney World affinity for good. If we have to decide weeks or months (or even days) in advance which park we will visit each day, that would pretty much ruin Disney World as a vacation option for us.

And what about park hopping? Does this mean it won't return? How will they handle locals? If somebody decides to pop in after work, would that only be possible if they could get a last minute reservation?

I certainly hope this isn't true.

I agree that potentially keeping the park reservation system after the pandemic is over.....is a troubling thought. While I don't mind the 180 Day ADR or the 3 FP rules............we love to park hop.......and keeping the current park reservation system.....removes park hopping in my opinion.

However, park hopping did/does give a financial bump to Disney......It's curious they'd setup a system that "removes" cash?

Doug

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

we were there 4 weeks ago and I can tell you first hand, not being able to park hop sucks. I really didn't think we would miss it but we did. We like to go to Epcot in the evenings and we couldn't. But in the end it may not matter anyway if they keep the current park hours. We have a Christmas trip booked and it will totally suck if they keep the current hours.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I agree that potentially keeping the park reservation system after the pandemic is over.....is a troubling thought. While I don't mind the 180 Day ADR or the 3 FP rules............we love to park hop.......and keeping the current park reservation system.....removes park hopping in my opinion.

However, park hopping did/does give a financial bump to Disney......It's curious they'd setup a system that "removes" cash?

Doug

we were there 4 weeks ago and I can tell you first hand, not being able to park hop sucks. I really didn't think we would miss it but we did. We like to go to Epcot in the evenings and we couldn't. But in the end it may not matter anyway if they keep the current park hours. We have a Christmas trip booked and it will totally suck if they keep the current hours.

One thing to keep in mind is that a park reservation system doesn't mean passholders t will be the *current* system. So parkhopping could definitely still happen with a park reservation system - you would just have to hop to a park with openings or maybe they let you reserve some hopping will your pass, etc

 

[Jimmy Mouse]

One thing to keep in mind is that a park reservation system doesn't mean passholders t will be the *current* system. So parkhopping could definitely still happen with a park reservation system - you would just have to hop to a park with openings or maybe they let you reserve some hopping will your pass, etc

I hope so because I would rather go to Epcot than DS for dinner and until Epcot is finished, it's a total waste of a park reservation for a full day there.