Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party / Mickeys Very Merry Christmas Party Tier Pricing. SAD

[tlmadden73]

The cost can be "softened" by sacrificing other things during your trip.. and Disney may see a hit in other places because of the increased pricing all around.

I suspect a lot of families will still vacation to WDW and still do a party, but just maybe not at the extent they used to:

Stay ONE less day for your trip and these tickets are probably paid for.
Go to a theme park one less day (say the party day)
Don't get hopper passes for your trip this time around ..
Cut out a character meal.
Downgrade to the Quick Service dining plan
Don't get the dining plan at all
Make your souvenir budget smaller.

 

[ArwenMarie]

Pretty steep increases if you look at percentages as well.

I will admit, I thought they were going to go higher this year after the supersized pricing on those new special events at MK (EMM and DAH)

 

[SnowWitch]

We will continue with our plan to attend the MNSSHP party but we will pass on the MVMCP. Sorry Disney but the experience doesn't justify the price for that one.

 

[GATORinaZ28]

Those that bought your tickets already if you selected print at home did you get your email with the tickets in them yet? Normally when I select this option I get an email with them right away! So far no confirmation email nor the print at home tickets! Should I be worried?

I chose that option and the email arrived a few seconds later. May want to check on that. Also, these printable tickets dont have any party date info on them. I had to mark each one so I knew which was which.

 

[ah10is]

I chose that option and the email arrived a few seconds later. May want to check on that. Also, these printable tickets dont have any party date info on them. I had to mark each one so I knew which was which.

That is what I was thinking! I did leave my Order Confirmation Page open and found that by clicking on the Print Your Tickets At Home - that looks like more like instructions on how to Print - that my tickets were linked to it and opened! So I was able to print those! No dates on them either but my Confirmation # is on them and they have the bar codes for scanning! They also are showing up linked to MDE! But still no Confirmation Email and I ordered around 3am EST!

 

[krennaker]

We have gone the last two years (in September), and will go again this year. tlmadden73 is right, we will probably change something in our existing plans this year to accommodate the cost increase. I know that tiered pricing isn't fun for any of us. In real life, I am an event planner. When an event frequently over sales (past my event staff's ability to handle the size or if it effects the enjoyment of the event for attendees) we raise the ticket price in an effort to control the crowd size. I am not saying this is what Disney is doing. I do not know if this is Disney being advantageous or a form of crowd control. I can say that our party last year, while enjoyable, was very crowded. It didn't seem like Disney had a handle on the crowd. We went to the first party and from reading the party threads here, I understand that they were able to handle this better as the party season continued.

 

[Airb330]

I always viewed the parties as a deal for shorter trips. We'd save a day on our passes and go to the party at 4. Now, it isn't really much cheaper to do that and might as well use a day off of our no expiration tickets.

 

[LadyRayado]

The cost can be "softened" by sacrificing other things during your trip.. and Disney may see a hit in other places because of the increased pricing all around.

I suspect a lot of families will still vacation to WDW and still do a party, but just maybe not at the extent they used to:

Stay ONE less day for your trip and these tickets are probably paid for.
Go to a theme park one less day (say the party day)
Don't get hopper passes for your trip this time around ..
Cut out a character meal.
Downgrade to the Quick Service dining plan
Don't get the dining plan at all
Make your souvenir budget smaller.

Yep, if we go, we'll cut out something else. The tickets are about $30 more than I estimated for in our budget. It's really not that bad, but for $191 we can find many other things to do.

 

[Iowamomof4]

The cost can be "softened" by sacrificing other things during your trip.. and Disney may see a hit in other places because of the increased pricing all around.

I suspect a lot of families will still vacation to WDW and still do a party, but just maybe not at the extent they used to:

Stay ONE less day for your trip and these tickets are probably paid for.
Go to a theme park one less day (say the party day)
Don't get hopper passes for your trip this time around ..
Cut out a character meal.
Downgrade to the Quick Service dining plan
Don't get the dining plan at all
Make your souvenir budget smaller.

Yep, we are staying at AoA w/ free dining after Thanksgiving and one thing I'm considering is trading our upgraded dining plan for the Christmas party. I'm not sure I can bear to eat just quick service that whole time, but it would save us around $700 (not including gratuities!) which would then pay for the Christmas party. I didn't want to have to make this kind of decision!

 

[JimmyV]

I don't know what people were thinking the price would be when the After Hours event got priced at $149. MNSSHP (and MMVCP) have a lot more going on than the After Hours event. So in some small way, people should be happy that the tiered pricing didn't range from $90-$150.

 

[minorthr]

Better then I expected with AP discount I'm looking at $214 for 3 in sept.

 

[redsbe]

Okay don't shoot me and I suppose I am looking at this slightly differently as I converting it to £ instead of $ (so seems cheaper) but I think it's not too bad.

As I was convinced it would be around the $150 mark like the last few events have been, so to get it at $91 is a relief (Obvs know this is more that last year but not as bad as it could have been).

Classic marketing/pricing strategy, let speculation and rumors suggest high cost, than price at lower than that number but still higher then last year - customers feel that they are getting a "bargain" because it is "not as bad as it could have been". Simple supply and demand at work here folks, until customers push back by not buying and crowds drop WDW has every advantage to raise prices and test the demand. Personally our family has been very fortunate to be able to take family trips including WDW over the last 15 years, and will continue to do so into the future. Cost and pricing alone will not drive us away from WDW, interest in other destinations will be more of a pull factor, but we still try to manage WDW costs. Taking DD in June for 5 nights, but not paying for any extra access events, counter service Dining Plan (and yes that is an increased expense but one that we appreciate and willing to pay), eating breakfast in room, and capping park purchases - for us essentially doing WDW at best value we can. With larger family, having to visit at peak vacation times (higher pricing), manage larger crowds, and looking for advantages to paying for extra events and parties - we would seriously be reconsidering our WDW vacations and would understand, and feel sorry for, families increasingly pushed out of the WDW experience due to costs.

 

[redsbe]

I don't know what people were thinking the price would be when the After Hours event got priced at $149. MNSSHP (and MMVCP) have a lot more going on than the After Hours event. So in some small way, people should be happy that the tiered pricing didn't range from $90-$150.

At least for now the after hours events have valued to some people because ticket numbers are capped and depending on the interest of your party there is value in greater access to certain attractions without lines and waits at those events.

The fact that people should be happy that the tiered pricing did not range up to $150 is a basic common "bait and switch" used by vendors - pay more than expected, less then would it could have been, and you are still better off financially.

 

[NancyIL]

I always viewed the parties as a deal for shorter trips. We'd save a day on our passes and go to the party at 4. Now, it isn't really much cheaper to do that and might as well use a day off of our no expiration tickets.

I have 4 days left on my 10-day non-expiring park hopper. I bought it many price increases ago, and those remaining days are like gold to me! I also have a 5-day MYW ticket that I bought from Undercover Tourist at $321.95 - before the last price increase. I was planning to go to the Christmas party my first full day in early December, and use 3 of the park hopper days for the rest of my trip. However, since I won't be able to buy non-expiring tickets again, I will save them for really short (1 or 2-day) visits. Instead - I'll probably use the 5-day MYW ticket beginning on my arrival day - which is a Wednesday. That day and Saturday are the only nights I'll be there that the MK won't have a Christmas party.

 

[JimmyV]

The fact that people should be happy that the tiered pricing did not range up to $150 is a basic common "bait and switch" used by vendors

"Bait and switch" can never be an effective substitute for fair market value. There will be many, many people buying tickets to the Halloween and Christmas parties today who don't even know that the After Hours event even exists. The vast majority, I would say. So they can't be "switched" if they haven't been "baited".

 

[Airb330]

I have 4 days left on my 10-day non-expiring park hopper. I bought it many price increases ago, and those remaining days are like gold to me! I also have a 5-day MYW ticket that I bought from Undercover Tourist at $321.95 - before the last price increase. I was planning to go to the Christmas party my first full day in early December, and use 3 of the park hopper days for the rest of my trip. However, since I won't be able to buy non-expiring tickets again, I will save them for really short (1 or 2-day) visits. Instead - I'll probably use the 5-day MYW ticket beginning on my arrival day - which is a Wednesday. That day and Saturday are the only nights I'll be there that the MK won't have a Christmas party.

Makes sense, they are like gold! I have 11 days remaining and since we usually only do 2-4 night trips, they are going to be sorely missed when gone. I think we're going to have to switch to an AP strategy and pack in several trips instead. I wish they would bring back non-expiring or better DVC discounts. We always did parties but we don't see as much value at $100+ with tax sadly.

 

[DLM1980]

I'm done. I'm not spending $92 a person for just the two of us when that's almost the price of a one day ticket. I just can't justify it

Two more tickets for someone else to pickup!

 

[redsbe]

"Bait and switch" can never be an effective substitute for fair market value. There will be many, many people buying tickets to the Halloween and Christmas parties today who don't even know that the After Hours event even exists. The vast majority, I would say. So they can't be "switched" if they haven't been "baited".

I understand the fair market value and supply and demand model, and yes I agree that how this pricing is determined. At least for posters here, and others aware of the newer extra hours paid events, their line of thinking that the party prices are not as bad as could have been given pricing for the new special events, a type of "bait and switch" is at play, which I am certain WDW is aware of. I am not suggesting WDW used that as means of setting prices, but when some posters are stating it is not as bad as it could have been, WDW benefits when those customers end up paying more than last year, but less then what they thought it could have been.

 

[JimmyV]

I am not suggesting WDW used that as means of setting prices, but when some posters are stating it is not as bad as it could have been, WDW benefits when those customers end up paying more than last year, but less then what they thought it could have been.

Disney doesn't benefit from the fact that people are paying less than they could have been. Disney benefits only by people buying the tickets. Period. The reasoning behind the decision to purchase is meaningless to Disney. It is only fodder for a chat board. As you correctly point out, WDW did not use "bait and switch" as a means of setting prices. So they cannot derive any benefit from something that they neither did nor intended. Disney set the price based on what it thinks its events are worth. And I have no doubt that sales will reflect that. For us, the bar got raised beyond our comfort level at around the $40 mark. So whether the price is $50, $75, $95 or $149 is irrelevant and no amount of "it could have been more" will make me part with what they are now charging.

 

[NancyIL]

Makes sense, they are like gold! I have 11 days remaining and since we usually only do 2-4 night trips, they are going to be sorely missed when gone. I think we're going to have to switch to an AP strategy and pack in several trips instead. I wish they would bring back non-expiring or better DVC discounts. We always did parties but we don't see as much value at $100+ with tax sadly.

I had an annual pass for a number of years. But with the current non-FL-resident price of $797.69 - I'm not buying another one! My AP ended up costing me a lot more money in the long run, because I made multiple trips to WDW to "get my money's worth" out of the AP!