Disneyland Paris goes full Universal

[Farro]

Do we really need to classify this as a rich vs poor thing? Lame.

We aren't rich by any stretch of the imagination, but we will prioritize what's worth it/not worth it to us and save/spend accordingly.

 

[Doug M]

Also, just to nitpick, the paid events aren't shortening hours. Outside of Halloween/Christmas parties (which aren't new), do we have an example of a paid event that has shortened park time?

Well parties have become more numerous, start earlier in the year so yea those have limited park hours. Also the other paid events like the night paid hours probably have shortened the day. Perhaps that would have been EMH for resort guests or they just shave 1 hour off operating hours where without the event could be available for everyone.

Also when they go to the Paris version in Florida it will cost a ton, probably 250 or more a person per day. I assume they will sell as many as possible and people will pay it, and everyone else will see their wait times go up yet again.

 

[ponyboy]

In WDW I would expect the pricing for such a product to be in the $700-$1000 range (depending upon the time of year) per person, per day,......

There wouldn't be enough people that would pay that price. Setting a higher profit margin doesn't always mean higher profit, there's a pricing sweet spot for everything and $700-1000 is too much. Also, assuming that this would replace VIP tours, you didn't include employee cost in your estimations, only hourly wage, so you'll have to take a little more off the profit side.

Now, letting people go to the front of the line costs Disney absolutely nothing. So the cost for them to implement this system is very near zero, it's basically free money. Estimating how many would be available or how many they would sell is the tricky part. Will there be 1 available for every 50 visitors, 25 visitors? Let's say there is:

1 Ultimate Unlimited available for every 100 guests
1 Ultimate available for every 50 guests
1 Super available for every 25 guests

Since the pricing varies based on time I'll just average the cost of each

Ultimate Unlimited - $153
Ultimate - $85
Super - $42

Attendance at each park is:

Magic Kingdom - 56,000 per day
Epcot - 33,000
Animal Kingdom - 34,000
Hollywood Studios - 29,000

So for each park these fast passes would be available

Magic Kingdom
Unlimited - 560
Ultimate - 1,120
Super - 2,240

Epcot
Unlimited - 330
Ultimate - 660
Super - 1,320

Animal Kingdom
Unlimited - 340
Ultimate - 680
Super - 1,360

Hollywood Studios
Unlimited - 290
Ultimate - 580
Super - 1,160

There may be more of the different types of fast passes available but I seriously doubt there are less as these numbers aren't that large in consideration and I'm sure they would sell out every day at the numbers listed.

Total number of passes and total cost

Unlimited - 1,520 passes @ $232,560
Ultimate - 3,040 passes @ $258,400
Super - 6,080 passes @ $255,360

So the grand total of gross revenue per day by selling passes at the listed rates for Paris would be $746,320.

There is no way the VIP tours are bringing in almost $750k per day. Even at the highest rate of $4,200 they would have to average 177 VIP tours per day to come up to the same figure.

So if this does come to Disney US I wouldn't expect a massive price increase, I would expect it to be in line with the Paris pricing because it's getting to the limit of what the average person would pay and that's what they're targeting with this, the average person willing to splurge for an add on.

 

[GoingSince1990]

There wouldn't be enough people that would pay that price. Setting a higher profit margin doesn't always mean higher profit, there's a pricing sweet spot for everything and $700-1000 is too much. Also, assuming that this would replace VIP tours, you didn't include employee cost in your estimations, only hourly wage, so you'll have to take a little more off the profit side.

Now, letting people go to the front of the line costs Disney absolutely nothing. So the cost for them to implement this system is very near zero, it's basically free money. Estimating how many would be available or how many they would sell is the tricky part. Will there be 1 available for every 50 visitors, 25 visitors? Let's say there is:

1 Ultimate Unlimited available for every 100 guests
1 Ultimate available for every 50 guests
1 Super available for every 25 guests

Since the pricing varies based on time I'll just average the cost of each

Ultimate Unlimited - $153
Ultimate - $85
Super - $42

Attendance at each park is:

Magic Kingdom - 56,000 per day
Epcot - 33,000
Animal Kingdom - 34,000
Hollywood Studios - 29,000

So for each park these fast passes would be available

Magic Kingdom
Unlimited - 560
Ultimate - 1,120
Super - 2,240

Epcot
Unlimited - 330
Ultimate - 660
Super - 1,320

Animal Kingdom
Unlimited - 340
Ultimate - 680
Super - 1,360

Hollywood Studios
Unlimited - 290
Ultimate - 580
Super - 1,160

There may be more of the different types of fast passes available but I seriously doubt there are less as these numbers aren't that large in consideration and I'm sure they would sell out every day at the numbers listed.

Total number of passes and total cost

Unlimited - 1,520 passes @ $232,560
Ultimate - 3,040 passes @ $258,400
Super - 6,080 passes @ $255,360

So the grand total of gross revenue per day by selling passes at the listed rates for Paris would be $746,320.

There is no way the VIP tours are bringing in almost $750k per day. Even at the highest rate of $4,200 they would have to average 177 VIP tours per day to come up to the same figure.

So if this does come to Disney US I wouldn't expect a massive price increase, I would expect it to be in line with the Paris pricing because it's getting to the limit of what the average person would pay and that's what they're targeting with this, the average person willing to splurge for an add on.

The issue with that proposal is that with about 4,000 MK guests with special FP access, there is no way that the FP wait could be kept to 15-20 minutes as it is currently. FP waits of 40 minutes or more would become common, and standby line wait times would also increase significantly. Currently VIP tours do get sold out, so there are people willing to pay $700-$1000 per person per day for unlimited FP, but at this price point not enough to disrupt the existing system and wait times.

 

[CERS]

You can't compare the quantity of guests visiting WDW to the quantity visiting Disneyland Paris, therefore it is also very different to implement there than in WDW.

Disneyland Paris is keeping the standard "time-based" fastpasses included with asmission as far as I know, so what they are doing is adding a paid option.

I don't see that utterly bad, it is a another way of "paying extra to enjoy attractions with little wait", which is also the whole idea behind Extra Morning Magic or Disney After Hours, you pay extra to be there in a more "relaxed ambiance" and ride stuff with minimal wait.

So WDW may not be offering a "paid" flexible fastpass for regular hours, but offer a paid "extra" time to enjoy the same benefits as the paid fastpass but not affecting current "general hours operations", which I think is much more intelligent as MK alone nearly doubles Disneyland Paris in yearly guests, making it more difficult to fit more people in Fastpasses lines without making stand-by lines for top attractions like SDMT or Avatar soar to 6 hours daily.

Because don't get it wrong, more people on FP lines, 99% of the time means longer wait time for stand-by lines.

 

[closetmickey]

Also, just to nitpick, the paid events aren't shortening hours. Outside of Halloween/Christmas parties (which aren't new), do we have an example of a paid event that has shortened park time?

They absolutely are. When we were there on a Saturday last July, MK closed at 10pm for their after hours event. That’s early for a Saturday in the middle of summer. And even worse, ticket holders were allowed to pre book fastpasses at 7pm making getting subsequent fastpasses that day much harder. That almost frustrated me more than the early closing!

 

[OSUZorba]

There wouldn't be enough people that would pay that price. Setting a higher profit margin doesn't always mean higher profit, there's a pricing sweet spot for everything and $700-1000 is too much. Also, assuming that this would replace VIP tours, you didn't include employee cost in your estimations, only hourly wage, so you'll have to take a little more off the profit side.

Now, letting people go to the front of the line costs Disney absolutely nothing. So the cost for them to implement this system is very near zero, it's basically free money. Estimating how many would be available or how many they would sell is the tricky part. Will there be 1 available for every 50 visitors, 25 visitors? Let's say there is:

1 Ultimate Unlimited available for every 100 guests
1 Ultimate available for every 50 guests
1 Super available for every 25 guests

Since the pricing varies based on time I'll just average the cost of each

Ultimate Unlimited - $153
Ultimate - $85
Super - $42

Attendance at each park is:

Magic Kingdom - 56,000 per day
Epcot - 33,000
Animal Kingdom - 34,000
Hollywood Studios - 29,000

So for each park these fast passes would be available

Magic Kingdom
Unlimited - 560
Ultimate - 1,120
Super - 2,240

Epcot
Unlimited - 330
Ultimate - 660
Super - 1,320

Animal Kingdom
Unlimited - 340
Ultimate - 680
Super - 1,360

Hollywood Studios
Unlimited - 290
Ultimate - 580
Super - 1,160

There may be more of the different types of fast passes available but I seriously doubt there are less as these numbers aren't that large in consideration and I'm sure they would sell out every day at the numbers listed.

Total number of passes and total cost

Unlimited - 1,520 passes @ $232,560
Ultimate - 3,040 passes @ $258,400
Super - 6,080 passes @ $255,360

So the grand total of gross revenue per day by selling passes at the listed rates for Paris would be $746,320.

There is no way the VIP tours are bringing in almost $750k per day. Even at the highest rate of $4,200 they would have to average 177 VIP tours per day to come up to the same figure.

So if this does come to Disney US I wouldn't expect a massive price increase, I would expect it to be in line with the Paris pricing because it's getting to the limit of what the average person would pay and that's what they're targeting with this, the average person willing to splurge for an add on.

The part you didn't include is that many people would shorten their trips. If you can do everything at MK in one day and one day for the other three, why come for a week? If I spent the money on an ultimate pass, am I going to take the time to do a TS or buy souvenirs?

 

[snappy]

The part you didn't include is that many people would shorten their trips. If you can do everything at MK in one day and one day for the other three, why come for a week? If I spent the money on an ultimate pass, am I going to take the time to do a TS or buy souvenirs?

Right! Finish up in 2 days and move on to Universal resorts and parks!