Disneyland ending AP program as we know it

[wdwoutsider]

California if goes well financially will pave the way for Florida. This is a huge change they will want to see numbers.

 

[ford91exploder]

California if goes well financially will pave the way for Florida. This is a huge change they will want to see numbers.

But it will not go well in CA, DL has been a huge money spinner for 60 years. Based on its unique model. Disney is now plowing headfirst into the classic financial engineering problem. They have a staffing number in mind which falls far short of the minimum required staffing number so they come up with a complex system to ‘manage customer behavior’ and customers eventually go somewhere else because of apparent poor service.

Sears did this with their central registers. Whereas in the past they had a register or two in each department and the salesperson could cash you out. So when you went to buy a tool it was a 5-10 minute stop.

With the new system instead of 10 minutes total it became a half hour to an hour ordeal, It was at that point i quit shopping at sears.

 

[ford91exploder]

I would think thought that APs get them that "new car money" in a single quarter ..

I spent $1200 on an AP last February and haven't gone a single day. They got essentially 10-11 days worth of ticket money from me and I haven't even used it yet.

If they sold APs now .. some families would drop 5 grand or more getting APs for the family in one big bulk purchase. I would think Disney would love that influx of income right now.

when i say new car money im talking 12-25,000 per year

 

[DLgal]

I think they will offer day tickets and multi day tickets at first and see how it goes. I suspect we will see MUCH lower pricing than we are used to for these. I'm guessing something like a 3 day hopper for around $200. Would not include any extras like Maxpass or parking. They will see how the locals respond to that first. If sales and attendance are lagging, we will see the new membership program launched more quickly.

Speaking as one of these local families, we would bite on something like a 3 or 4 day ticket for under $250. We are a military family and that is similar to the military special ticket prices. We have bought those for family members every year they have offered them, so it's not an out of the question price point for Disney. I can see this being the initial offering to get the parks up and running again.

We absolutely will NOT pay the former 1 day ticket prices. If they don't offer a discounted multi day option, we will just wait for the memberships.

 

[YesterDark]

Might be a point system like DVC. Buy points per year and use them up whenever you want. Certain days have certain points attached to them.

 

[woody337]

Might be a point system like DVC. Buy points per year and use them up whenever you want. Certain days have certain points attached to them.

That would be a disaster

 

[rteetz]

That would be a disaster

I’m not sure it would be. It’s actually a really interesting idea. I think whatever they go to at least at first will be some sort of reservation based system.

 

[Eric Smith]

I’m not sure it would be. It’s actually a really interesting idea. I think whatever they go to at least at first will be some sort of reservation based system.

It's a very interesting idea. You could have different tiers of APs that get different numbers of days per month to reserve and then have some kind of system where you could carry those days over for one or two months.

 

[YesterDark]

Depends on what DL's goal is. They are going to be operating at bare minimum staffing levels for a while once this start opening up again. A reservation system and a ticket count system i.e. X reservations per month will help them operate with a skeleton crew.

The system they showed in the survey is confusing and probably not worth the money spent answering phones all day answering questions when you have variables like X reservations per month, different blackout days/seasons/times. Answering questions on how they get more reservations, can they buy more? blah blah blah

A point system is pretty easy. You get X points per year/month/quarter that are use them or lose them. You should be easily able to add/reduce more points at any time. Instead of doing blackout dates, you just make those dates very expensive points wise to keep the crowds lower or limited.

If you have spare points you can use them to purchase day tickets for friends and family. It feels more elegant that way than having a million tiers of passes you can buy in to.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Might be a point system like DVC. Buy points per year and use them up whenever you want. Certain days have certain points attached to them.

Maybe couldsell those points in a booklet .... and then the various levels of days could be labeled as A days up to E days with an E ticket costing the most points

 

[ford91exploder]

Depends on what DL's goal is. They are going to be operating at bare minimum staffing levels for a while once this start opening up again. A reservation system and a ticket count system i.e. X reservations per month will help them operate with a skeleton crew.

The system they showed in the survey is confusing and probably not worth the money spent answering phones all day answering questions when you have variables like X reservations per month, different blackout days/seasons/times. Answering questions on how they get more reservations, can they buy more? blah blah blah

A point system is pretty easy. You get X points per year/month/quarter that are use them or lose them. You should be easily able to add/reduce more points at any time. Instead of doing blackout dates, you just make those dates very expensive points wise to keep the crowds lower or limited.

If you have spare points you can use them to purchase day tickets for friends and family. It feels more elegant that way than having a million tiers of passes you can buy in to.

Elegant idea which could work a lot better than the current pass levels, But it's Elegantly simple and easy to administer which of course will make sure it never happens at Disney because of Disney's love of complexity

 

[ford91exploder]

I think they will offer day tickets and multi day tickets at first and see how it goes. I suspect we will see MUCH lower pricing than we are used to for these. I'm guessing something like a 3 day hopper for around $200. Would not include any extras like Maxpass or parking. They will see how the locals respond to that first. If sales and attendance are lagging, we will see the new membership program launched more quickly.

Speaking as one of these local families, we would bite on something like a 3 or 4 day ticket for under $250. We are a military family and that is similar to the military special ticket prices. We have bought those for family members every year they have offered them, so it's not an out of the question price point for Disney. I can see this being the initial offering to get the parks up and running again.

We absolutely will NOT pay the former 1 day ticket prices. If they dony't offer a discounted multi day option, we will just wait for the memberships.

Based on Disney's past behavior they very much want us to pay 1 day prices, So I expect a membership model which gives the customer a discount for a few tickets per month. They are already counting the bucks on all those 'cheap' AP'ers who visit once per week now they are thinking they will be willing to pay 5000-7000 for the experience they used to pay a couple of grand for.

 

[DLgal]

Based on Disney's past behavior they very much want us to pay 1 day prices, So I expect a membership model which gives the customer a discount for a few tickets per month. They are already counting the bucks on all those 'cheap' AP'ers who visit once per week now they are thinking they will be willing to pay 5000-7000 for the experience they used to pay a couple of grand for.

This doesn't jive at all with the survey they sent out. It seems pretty clear they will be offering both tickets AND passes, and nothing like a points based or discount only membership.

 

[ford91exploder]

This doesn't jive at all with the survey they sent out. It seems pretty clear they will be offering both tickets AND passes, and nothing like a points based or discount only membership.

You mean the 12 visits for a grand pass. Disney has been choosing the most customer unfriendly options since at least 2015.

 

[DLgal]

You mean the 12 visits for a grand pass. Disney has been choosing the most customer unfriendly options since at least 2015.

No, I mean the various options ranging from $399-1299 and called "passes", with the description of what "pass" means as compared to "ticket."

Did you even see the survey?

 

[ford91exploder]

No, I mean the various options ranging from $399-1299 and called "passes", with the description of what "pass" means as compared to "ticket."

Did you even see the survey?

You do know Disney sends multiple versions of any survey they do, I usually just look at the first page to see what predetermined option Disney is trying to steer you towards and ditch it. Because out of all the survey's i've taken in person from Disney Research, once at OKW they gave us a diary to record our experiences Generally the first page is the clue as to what Disney wants as most Disney surveys are designed expertly to provide backup data to whatever decision has already been made.

 

[DLgal]

You do know Disney sends multiple versions of any survey they do, I usually just look at the first page to see what predetermined option Disney is trying to steer you towards and ditch it. Because out of all the survey's i've taken in person from Disney Research, once at OKW they gave us a diary to record our experiences Generally the first page is the clue as to what Disney wants as most Disney surveys are designed expertly to provide backup data to whatever decision has already been made.

Ken Potrock is also on record alluding to a new pass structure, not just a "12 visit annual ticket." Nothing even remotely like that has been mentioned by anyone with authority.

That option, along with several others are obviously "no way this will be offered." Heck, one of the most attractive passes was priced at $399 in the survey. It offered more than the $1199 pass. It makes no sense on the surface, but it is just part of the survey design. The "12 visits per year" pass has a close to zero chance of happening. There is no way to price a pass like that and still be able to justify selling either single day park tickets or a more inclusive pass at prices that would be profitable.

I can think of no benefit to buying a pass like that, nor will most former AP holders.

 

[middlechild]

Lesson from Disney+ is to get subscription with automatic deductions direct from bank regardless of visits. Once you set and forget the money printing continues forever. Own the subscriber by the parks division. Only question is how much per month?

 

[ford91exploder]

Lesson from Disney+ is to get subscription with automatic deductions direct from bank regardless of visits. Once you set and forget the money printing continues forever. Own the subscriber by the parks division. Only question is how much per month?

Probably 2-4 times the price of the current premier pass (which was absolutely a great pass experience as I was working on both coasts at the time). Think car payment money (no not a lease) say 3-600 per month.

For many people the lesson from Disney+ is NOT TO BUY IT.

Really the only way to change Disney's recent behavior is to withhold your dollars, I absolutely love the parks and hotels but I cant find family friendly words for how they are run, So I boycott them like I said before my extended family also loved the parks but we just could not stomach the decline in quality and we were spending up to 25k per year at the parks. So we stopped visiting until things get better

 

[gatour]

Lesson from Disney+ is to get subscription with automatic deductions direct from bank regardless of visits. Once you set and forget the money printing continues forever. Own the subscriber by the parks division. Only question is how much per month?

Isn't what they were doing with the monthly payment plans for the annual passes. I don't know about Disney but Universal would automatically renew every year, but you had the option to cancel at any point of time and not just before the anniversary date of your initial purchase