ArwenMarie
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 10, 2013
I am not putting too much weight in that “$50” Flexible fee. We don’t know the numbers yet.
Also an excellent point. AND releasing these discounts prior to the end of the quarter... The theory's definitely hold water:I think they released the ticket pricing news to generate more of a frenzy for their January Stay/Play/Dine packages. To announce ticket pricing one day before releasing resort packages is amazing timing.
Date Flexibility will mainly be used by offsite guests who may buy a 3 day ticket but will be in a time share for a week or longer. Will it be worth x-amount of money to pick and choose their park days or cram 3 days in within a 5-day period.I can't rationalize an incentive to consciously pay high upfront, at least for date flexibility?
I wonder if Walt Disney World released this news as early as they did to generate some ticket sales late in the quarter. I'm not exactly sure how they'd book this accounting-wise - whether it would be revenue now or if they defer it until people use the tickets. Either way it either strengthens their balance sheet or their income statement at the end of the quarter if they were looking for a little push in ticket sales... Just a thought...
Obviously they also released it early to avoid negative backlash if they didn't provide a heads up as major changes like this could freak people out.
No; you can change the tickets via your MDX account and pay the difference if it’s for higher priced dates.If I need to change my date-specific ticket, will I be subject to a $200 change fee?
Eh, I don't know -- though I'm sure Disney would claim the difference is significant:Don't forget, everyone that saves a ticket for the future is costing Disney money.
Good insight - and kinda what I figured . I'm not a trained accountant, just a corporate banker."Retired" CPA/ revenue accountant here...revenue can not be recognized until it is earned (service has been provided), meaning the guest has visited the park. So it sits on the balance sheet as deferred revenue. Not a bad thing if they have already collected the cash and that gives them a bettercash balance. But otherwise if it's still A/R then their balance sheet is just grossed up and that doesn't do much for them. So it is still intersting
..oh how i wish I could work in their accounting office and see how it all works!
Good insight - and kinda what I figured . I'm not a trained accountant, just a corporate banker.
So obviously this can't help this quarter's income statement but still strengthens the balance sheet and shows future bookings and attendance appears strong. All good things when you're coming up on the end of the quarter. Thanks for sharing!
I'm interested to see how different the prices really are. I cant imagine it would be too enormous. Disney knows a lot of people have to vacation during certain times due to school or work. Unless the price difference is substantial, I doubt it will encourage that many people to visit during an "off peak" time.
Does anyone know if an e-ticket purchased through UT can be upgraded to an AP (at park)? I’ve always had an actual ticket to upgrade. I realize all the rules may change, but calculating my risk for buying a park hopper now for my March trip with plan of upgrading to a Platinum pass for a second trip in December.
"Retired" CPA/ revenue accountant here...revenue can not be recognized until it is earned (service has been provided), meaning the guest has visited the park. So it sits on the balance sheet as deferred revenue. Not a bad thing if they have already collected the cash and that gives them a bettercash balance. But otherwise if it's still A/R then their balance sheet is just grossed up and that doesn't do much for them. So it is still intersting
..oh how i wish I could work in their accounting office and see how it all works!
That's what we are planning now. We were going to buy UT tickets and upgrade when we are down there next Sept, but now we're going to buy just the DVC gold pass. When we purchase online, we would need to activate it at the parks and that's when the AP time starts.I would consider just buying the AP now. I was going to do the same thing, buy UT tickets and then upgrade. Looking at past AP price increases I decided we were probably better off just getting the APs now.
When we purchase online, we would need to activate it at the parks and that's when the AP time starts.
With the tickets being purchased for specific dates, it should also help them to better forecast revenue, especially offsite guests. As before, you could purchase tickets & use them anytime before they expired & now you will be using them at a specific time as I’m guessing most won’t make changes.
Date Flexibility will mainly be used by offsite guests who may buy a 3 day ticket but will be in a time share for a week or longer. Will it be worth x-amount of money to pick and choose their park days or cram 3 days in within a 5-day period.
And to obtain “free” ticket flexibility, all they have to do is stay onsite.