Have ticket prices influenced your planning?

[WDWDad]

We are in the minority in that we prefer the 10 day PH plus type tickets rather than the AP method. This is largely because we do not go to the parks more than 2-3 days on a ten day trip. Our vacation habits are pretty laid back. Whenever it becomes necessary to replace a expired 10 day ticket ( we usually stagger them to avoid having to buy 5 at once) I am shocked at the prices. If anyone would like a better investment consider buying non expiring disney passes. I would hazard a guess that they have outperformed most investments over the last 10 years.

My question is; Have you changed your park habits over time? And has this change been due to the fact that the parks become less of a draw with repetition, or has it been due to the economics of a day at the parks ?

Yes I am using this as a way of letting Disney know that we would like a better park option....... So what do you think?

 

[mufasa0505]

I would take more weekend trips if ticket prices were more economical. We spent close to $300 in February for 2-day base tickets. It's ridiculous. We've thought about doing the 10-day NE but it's a lot of money to shell out at once.

We don't usually do APs because my husband always says he wants to go "somewhere else" for our next vacation. We inevitably end up back at WDW, though.

 

[Chuck S]

Of course tickets have gone up, every operational cost has increased...wages, insurance, energy.

We've gotten APs since 1992, as we used our DVC Free Passes for our guests. They's gone up in price, too...the DVC discount helps.

But aren't the current MYW park hoppers with non-exp option still cheaper on a "per day" average than the old pre-MYW park hoppers?

 

[kjkelley]

WDWDad, I completely agree with you on the park tickets. Our family does exactly the same thing on vacation that you do. I would like to have more flexibility to enter & leave the park, especially for dining. We are on the lookout for an improved park ticket option as well.

 

[Maistre Gracey]

I'm an AP'er, so no change here!

MG

 

[Mickmse2002]

We do AP's as well. Do the AP vouchers have a redemption period or can you purchase in advance and not redeem them for several years? If there is no redemption period stipulated you could buy vouchers at today's prices and redeem several years down the road to stave off price increases.

 

[JimMIA]

We're looking at the options as well.

We've had APs and DVC APs (which only save us $5 because we live in Florida), but we're looking at the Florida resident seasonal pass. It's $120 less than the DVC AP and there is no difference to us because of the times of year we visit. DD's seasonal is $110 less than her DVC AP, so that's a total savings of $350 over APs for us.

 

[keishashadow]

Influenced; but not dictated. Last year we squeezed 3 trips out of the APs.

Within the next year (in deference to my family wanting to do "something on vacation besides Disney") we're doing a split stay @ WDW/Universal, then a cruise & finally DL . Bit of a ding to the budget; may elect to use days on MYW in lieu of buying DL tix.
Sure would be swell to get a DVC discount perc on MYW tix ala the current perc for AP

 

[bobbiwoz]

I've been checking prices, to perhaps buy some family members non-expiration tickets, and it seems that 10 day, hoppers, non-expiration are well above $400. I was floored because I thought the multi day tickets brought the daily price down to something reasonable. I know $40+ may seem reasonable to you, but, that doesn't fall within my definition of reasonable!

Bobbi

PS. We go often enough that AP's work. No wonder I talk to young families who are planning their "once in a lifetime" trip to WDW. I hadn't looked at ticket prices recently.

 

[MdmMim]

I'm an AP'er, so no change here!

I'm an APer, too. I was before DVC, and now I'm happy with the discount we receive.

 

[edk35]

I've been checking prices, to perhaps buy some family members non-expiration tickets, and it seems that 10 day, hoppers, non-expiration are well above $400. I was floored because I thought the multi day tickets brought the daily price down to something reasonable. I know $40+ may seem reasonable to you, but, that doesn't fall within my definition of reasonable!

Bobbi

PS. We go often enough that AP's work. No wonder I talk to young families who are planning their "once in a lifetime" trip to WDW. I hadn't looked at ticket prices recently.

The nice thing about the MYWP is if you get expiring ones....and say something comes up...you can add the non exp. to them before you leave Disney. The only bad t hing...you pay the non exp. fee based on the original days on the ticket vs say one or two days But it is better than losing those days especially if there are several days left.

 

[jco_direwolf]

We mostly go down to "entertain", we'll invite friends/family down with us. So my wife and I have APs. Most of our friends get day passes. But we love the parks, and the freedom to walk into a park for one thing is wonderful.

We've done things like fly into MCO, heading to Gainesville, and stopped at Epcot just to get Fish and Chips. Okay okay okay we went shopping at Mouse Gear too...

Also it allows us to say this park is too crowed, let go back to the resort and go swimming, or another park or whatever. We never feel like we have to "get the most out of this day since we have already burned it on the ticket."

johno

 

[DVCLiz]

No, the ticket prices don't really have any affect on my WDW habits. I always renew my AP, and I've gone to the 10 day non-expiring tickets for my daughters, because they are on different school schedules now and not always able to go the same amount in any year. It works really well to have those options.

I don't think the cost of the tickets will ever be a big factor in our vacation decision, but that may be colored by the fact that we own DVC and will be going back again and again and again....

 

[dianeschlicht]

We love the APs because of the flexibility it gives us. WHen we have family or friends down, we not buy them hoppers, but do NOT add the nonexpiring option. It would sometimes seem to make sense to have it (our "kids" could have made good use of nonexpiration last trip and next one), but the cheaper 3, 4, 5 day non expiration options seem more ecconomical now.

As for us...We'll keep getting our APs and hope DVC never does away with the great AP discount perk!!

 

[tmk0730]

I certainly wish Disney would discount the MYW tickets to DVC members. AP's don't make sense for us since we will only being going once a year. I do think we would spend more time in the parks though if the MYW tickets were discounted.

 

[kdzgon]

We'll be purchasing APs for the first time this year. I'd say the MYW ticket prices will affect how often/when we bring (and treat) other family, but we'll see if this pans out this way. Maybe I'll win the lottery and buy APs for everyone! (hmmm, if I gift 25 pt contracts to ea family, they'll then qualify for the AP discount, too...) In the meanwhile, I'll probably try to cluster our trips a bit to take advantage of the APs for us at least, rather than spend the $$ for non-expiring tix. Plus, we have a few old single-day and some partially used tix left to use yet (pre-scan days) to use as "fillers".

The MYW park tickets are twice as much as the airline tickets for our upcoming family trip. IMO the shorter-stay passes are especially expensive, in particular if it is for a toddler that is too short for many rides (remember, they're our grands, not our kids).

The prices (at all the parks, not just WDW) also make me want to choose "either-or" - I'm not willing to shell out the prices for SeaWorld or Universal etc for splitting the same trip to WDW. As the grands get older, I envision trips to one or the other unless we're there for >2 wks (not the normal length of time for us). Seems to make sense to stay onsite at Universal when visiting there, though grands are too little right now to worry about it much.

 

[JTimber]

I'd like to start by saying that ANY perk given by DVC is a huge bonus. I appreciate all of them I really do. I would also like to see a blanket discount on park tickets. Penalizing those that don't do the AP seems a little silly. AP's don't work for the majority of DVC owners. I was told the average DVC owner has around 180 points. At 180 points I can't see where the AP would make sense even with staggering the trips each year by a week. Besides staggering isn't an option for many with the school breaks/holidays. Lets not lose the AP discount just add say a 20% discount to the MYW tickets.

Now ticket prices, I for one don't believe that the ticket prices are bad at all. Lets get real, they could charge much more if they wanted to. I pay $80a day to ski, sometimes more. Ski Resorts don't offer anywhere near the bang for the buck that WDW does. I respect that WDW isn't gouging guests for tickets and food. Both are reasonable when you consider the prices you pay at luxury resorts. I've paid $25 for a hamburger at a resort before. Kudos to WDW for not gouging us.


Jay

 

[DisneyDVCdad]

I hope it was a good hamburger!

 

[Chuck S]

. I was told the average DVC owner has around 180 points.

Jay

I think the average is much higher than 180, especially considering for several years the minimum purchase was 230 points.

 

[corpcomp]

Has only affected my wallet!!!

But we did buy APs for the first time since we knew we would go twice this year.