Disney announces new Ticket system for WDW

[TheMaxRebo]

This wouldn’t be the same for someone booking the tickets separately though as not part of a package. And with the package you still have a window. You will have to be strategic with your planning.

Right. Trying to make incentives to book packages. I normally do everything separate but now I will look closer to packages to have flexibility.

Though if booking as part of a package I would assume you would *have* to count your actual arrival day as your first day, vs if you do it separately if the day before your arrival day is noted as a cheaper day you could select that as your first day to lower the price even if you then don't really *start* until the next day (though would further reduce flexibility by a day)

 

[osully]

We have the green Canadian discount ticket vouchers that show in MDE as valid til Jan 1 2031. We plan to use them next Nov.

We will be going for 8 days (excluding travel) and spending 7 days in the parks. The time constraints don't bother me but I'm concerned if we will need to pay more to use our tickets.

 

[MuppetFan418]

Any ideas how this would impact resellers like Undercover Tourist or Parksavers? Seems like it would be really complicated to try to do that with specific dates. I hadn't really thought it would be too crazy if tickets were sold in "seasons" but specific dates is a whole other ballgame.

TREMENDOUSLY. And not in a good way. The headaches alone (from customers buying the wrong tickets, customers changing plans and suddenly needing a differently dated ticket, etc.) are bad enough; this doesn't even take into consideration the amount of coding needed to accommodate such a complex system in order to sell the tickets online.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Yes, I see a big price increase coming for AP’s. Our’s expire in November, and I wasn’t going to renew, but wait and buy new ones next Spring. I don’t think I’m going to wait now.

They likely won't go up that much, not in one year. If they expire Nov 1, and your spring trip is in April, that's 5 months of AP with no benefit. You would be paying, in effect 42% more. If you only intend to do the spring trip, or do several between April and Oct 31,2019, when your AP would expire, you might consider it. But WDW is not likely to raise AP 42% right away this year. Maybe spread out over 3 price increases. Still not likely to go up that much between Nov 1 and your spring trip. I don't know what the renewal savings is, which needs to be figured in, so would lessen the 42% figure.

 

[skier_pete]

Ellen’s and GMR were two huge capacity ride though and they took those away for more popular (assuming) lower capacity attractions. I have a hard time seeing Guardians being over 2000 an hour. RnRc is about 1800 an hour.

I haven’t seen any estimates on Tron.

@rteetz - Ellen may be a huge capacity ride - probably taking more than 3000 an hour, but the fact was - there was no one riding it! A ride can have all the capacity in the world, but if it runs empty it is not absorbing capacity. One of the last times we rode it they were only running 2 of the 3 cars, and the car we were in literally had about 10 people in it. So if the ride takes 3000 people an hour, but only has 500 people an hour riding it - it's not better than a ride with 500 person hourly capacity.

So, yes I agree GotG will have a lower capacity than EEA - and yes 2000 may be generous but I would think it will be in the 1600 - 2000 range - but when it opens, it will run at 100% capacity from rope drop to closing. Meaning it will absorb way more people than Ellen.

Even the GMR did not run at capacity. Yes, if you waited in line you always saw the cars being filled, but they ran the ride at 50 % capacity except at very high crowd levels. (The "cowboy" scenario almost never ran.) So again, full capacity is 2500 or so, but then they run the ride at 1250. Don't know what Runaway Railway will run at yet, but you can bet more than that.

 

[rteetz]

Don't know what Runaway Railway will run at yet, but you can bet more than that.

I wouldn’t bet on anything with Disney right now other than raising prices...

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

I don't understand - do you all buy park tickets before you know when you are going or something? We don't buy until our trip dates are solid - meaning work approved and all.

I have been encouraging people to do just that since the easy Authorized Ticket sellers like Undercover Tourist and Parksavers came into business. The people I have been encouraging to do this knew they wanted to go for a week, but not sure when, where they would stay, had not put in at work yet, etc. Prices always increased before their trip, so buying ahead always saved them money. They always saved money, because the tickets didn't use to expire until first use, so you could buy and hold. They just started this expire in less than 2 years last year, wasn't it?
Now, that will be another thing of the past.

 

[tlmadden73]

What this "time-based" pricing is getting me to consider is to NOT upgrade my 5-day (with no expiration date) tickets into an AP for my trip in November.
I was going to upgrade my existing tickets I bought in Feb. 2017 (before they started having expiration dates), just so I wouldn't have to shell out $1000 more dollars for the AP in November.

Let's be honest, even after going to WDW 2-3 times in 2018-2019 with an AP, I will be returning for SWGE and 50th anniversary. But, if tickets are going to be more expensive (in general) and more expensive (depending on time of year) .. maybe I just hold onto those 5-day tickets for future trips in 2020 and beyond since they don't expire in a year or two like all current tickets do. (Though I would have to buy a fresh "new" ticket for my daughter (as I was planning on using these tickets before she turned 3).

That would leave me with a 5-day trip (from these tickets) and a 4-day trip (remaining from the old 10-day no-expiration tickets).
Going to WDW in 2020 and beyond at less than $75/day/person will probably be an amazing savings compared to new ticket prices.

TREMENDOUSLY. And not in a good way. The headaches alone (from customers buying the wrong tickets, customers changing plans and suddenly needing a differently dated ticket, etc.) are bad enough; this doesn't even take into consideration the amount of coding needed to accommodate such a complex system in order to sell the tickets online.

Probably another reason they are doing this.
This may just keep the ticket selling potentially "in-house" and helps cut down on illegal ticket scammers. I would think it would just be a logistical nightmare for a 3rd party seller to try and buy (and then resell) all these tickets for different timeframes, they may simply get out of the business, especially if they can't give the discounts they currently do.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

From WDWNT:

Tickets related to a particular park will be retired as part of these changes, so there will be no more 1-day Magic Kingdom-only tickets offered. Everything is back to one price.

Under the new system, 1-Day base tickets are valid for admission on the specific start date selected. Multi-day tickets are valid for admission beginning on the start date selected and must be used within a limited time period, as indicated below:

Ticket Duration Valid Use Period
1-Day Ticket Only the start date selected
2-Day Ticket Any 2 days within 4 days beginning on the start date
3-Day Ticket Any 3 days within 5 days beginning on the start date
4-Day Ticket Any 4 days within 7 days beginning on the start date
5-Day Ticket Any 5 days within 8 days beginning on the start date
6-Day Ticket Any 6 days within 9 days beginning on the start date
7-Day Ticket Any 7 days within 10 days beginning on the start date
8-Day Ticket Any 8 days within 12 days beginning on the start date
9-Day Ticket Any 9 days within 13 days beginning on the start date
10-Day Ticket Any 10 days within 14 days beginning on the start date

This may have already been covered, I haven't read it all.
Will you be able to buy a 6 day ticket, and then add an extra day there before using the last day, if you want, like you can now?

 

[rteetz]

This may have already been covered, I haven't read it all.
Will you be able to buy a 6 day ticket, and then add an extra day there before using the last day, if you want, like you can now?

I would assume yes. It will likely still have to be used in the set windows.

 

[tlmadden73]

I have been encouraging people to do just that since the easy Authorized Ticket sellers like Undercover Tourist and Parksavers came into business. The people I have been encouraging to do this knew they wanted to go for a week, but not sure when, where they would stay, had not put in at work yet, etc. Prices always increased before their trip, so buying ahead always saved them money. They always saved money, because the tickets didn't use to expire until first use, so you could buy and hold. They just started this expire in less than 2 years last year, wasn't it?
Now, that will be another thing of the past.

I have only bought my tickets from 3rd party sellers since I started going back in 2014 from Undercover tourists. Frankly, I have never seen the benefit of getting a package deal as opposed to getting a room-only reservation and separate tickets.

Until Disney started putting expiration dates on tickets, there was really no downside to buying tickets ahead of time and using them even a year or two later. You'd save money with the 3rd party discount you got PLUS even more since they were raising ticket prices yearly.

I have 4 days left on the old "10-day park hoppers with the no-expiration option' (that they stopped in 2015) that I used for 3 separate 2-day trips in 2014, 2015, 2017 at a way more affordable price than getting the tickets as I went. Those tickets cost $75/day . .when it costs on average over $100/day to go now (when you go for 4 or less days). That is 25% savings (that will just get bigger the longer I hold onto the tickets). While it was a lot of money to spend at once way back in 2014, it's not like that there is much I could have invested that money in to get that sort of return easily.

These money saving techniques (of buying tickets in advance from 3rd parties) are a thing of the past. Which is probably Disney's intention. They don't want tons of people holding on to tickets for years (and thus having keeping track of them in the system) and going to the park for half the cost of new tickets.

I'd still be happy to give Disney my money now to save money in the future, but they obviously don't want that anymore.

Disney just wants to know exactly when people are coming and for how long.

I'm sure they will increase the prices of Annual Passes (that don't have blackout dates) as well to discourage their use and push people to this new "plan ahead" pricing structure -- as owners of those throw these crowd predictions out the window as they can show up at any given time.

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

Yes, I still have 4 APs I bought some years back when the prices started climbing more than $50 a year. I am frankly concerned WDW is going to institute some way to make those obsolete, tell us we have to trade them in or limit them in some way. I know how much I paid for them, as I still have them in the original envelopes with paperwork telling the price, but I don't know if WDW has kept track of what I paid, to give me credit for that amount. I got them about 2009 and have been able to link them online, until some computer programming change about 3-4 years ago, I think. Phone CMs have said they are still valid, just bring them in when ready to activate them, but IT says they are "too old for the computer to recognize them anymore", they have changed the programming. So I can't link them to look at AP discounts, etc.

 

[ibelieveinmagic]

so. we have a huge group, we just bought the tickets for this December/January, from undercover tourist our first park day is December 25th, what does it all mean? I'm soooo confused!!

 

[MommaBerd]

so. we have a huge group, we just bought the tickets for this December/January, from undercover tourist our first park day is December 25th, what does it all mean? I'm soooo confused!!

For you? Absolutely nothing. Have a very magical trip!

 

[OSUZorba]

They could build more high capacity attractions, and add more parades and shows to spread out crowds. Once upon a time MK had two parades, and each other park had one.

They could also build a new Disneyland in Texas...

 

[OSUZorba]

And again, run their attractions at full capacity, creating slower times of year again with lower waits having people opt to move to those times.

I was there a couple weeks ago, slowest week of the year. I didn't notice any purposeful reduction of ride capacity. I know they were doing it at the beginning of the year, but it looks like maybe they knocked it off.

 

[firefly_ris]

I was there a couple weeks ago, slowest week of the year. I didn't notice any purposeful reduction of ride capacity. I know they were doing it at the beginning of the year, but it looks like maybe they knocked it off.

I'm going next February, and what happened this past February freaked me out... with the huge wait times, and then tons and tons of ride failures. The times in the app were insane. I certainly hope they learned their lesson and this February doesn't end up the same way.

 

[mamapenguin]

They could also build a new Disneyland in Texas...

But Oregon would be better! LOL

 

[asafko]

We plan to go again next summer and I think I know the days we want to go (in August) but there could be a chance the dates might shift a little. Would I be wise to book now so I can lock in the ticket prices?

 

[wishicouldgomoreofte]

If the prices on the November calendar in the video are correct, then my park days will be cheaper.

Currently, a 4-day park hopper is $455 but according to that video my 4 days would be $81/day plus $55 for park hopper so a total of $379. Am I understanding this correctly? I must be missing something.

You are missing that it states on the video that prices shown are not actual prices.