Did you miss me? I’ve been gone for a couple of months and I need to thank those of you that posted or emailed to inquire if I was OK. Your concern was noted and certainly appreciated. I had simply come into a very busy period with a lot of personal “stuff” going on as well as a few ominous deadlines at work. The good folks at MousePlanet were agreeable to a couple months off so… At any rate, things are still a bit hectic but I’m now thinking hectic is normal so… here I am.
For the first column back I thought I’d tackle an interesting item reported a few weeks ago, in the weekly Walt Disney World Park Update (read it here). The Update featured a Ricky Brigante report that Disney has been conducting online surveys with recent park guests. No surprise there as we’ve all probably received an invitation to take a Disney survey at one time or another. These particular surveys, however, were to gather responses to a number of alternative ticketing options. Items like this always get my attention—mainly because I’m very sensitive to anything that can influence my next Walt Disney World vacation, either positively or negatively.
I haven’t personally seen or taken one of these surveys so I can only base my opinions on what’s been reported. While I don’t think I’d be in favor of a new ticketing system, having more options is almost always a good thing.
First, you can count me as one of the proponents of the Magic Your Way ticketing system. While I probably have an Annual Pass more often than not, the changes introduced by Magic Your Way ticketing actually helped to lower the cost of our family’s vacations. Yes, I was as shocked as anyone was when the new pricing structure arrived just prior to our planned trip in January 2005. I quickly did an analysis and learned we would be able to purchase 7-day Magic Your Way Park Hoppers (without the no-expiration feature) for less than we would have paid for the previous 5-day Park Hoppers. It seems unlike Disney to drop prices like this but who was I to argue?
Now there’s nothing that says any of these new items that Disney is surveying will ever make its way to reality but, as always, it can be fun to speculate. At the very least, it gives me an opportunity to express my opinions so, once again… (in my best Peter Pan voice) here we go.
Partial Day Tickets
Reportedly, some of the (potential) options listed for the Walt Disney World Resort include partial-day theme park tickets that would only be valid until 3:00 p.m.—or only after 3:30 p.m. My initial reaction is that this is not a bad idea. It wouldn’t fit my park touring style, which is to get there at park opening, leave somewhere around lunchtime, and then return to a park in the evening and stay through fireworks. However, I would believe there are families that could benefit from a cost savings that would only allow entry during only part of the day: this could interest morning people, night owls, families with small children… you get the idea. But… and it’s a big “but”… how could it be enforced?
It would be easy to program the turnstiles so that a specific ticket would not be allowed entry before 3:30 p.m. but how could you evict those that are only valid until 3:00 p.m.? Wristbands? Nah, they would just be cut off. You could require tickets be authenticated at each attraction so those folks with the 3:00 p.m. expirations couldn’t ride anything. However, that would incur the expense of turnstiles or ticket readers at each attraction and have the added guest inconvenience of pulling tickets out for each ride. Even if Disney did go to those lengths, I doubt you could ever keep these partial-day guests from restaurants, shops, parades, outdoor shows and fireworks.
No Ride Tickets
A No Ride Ticket is explained as a touring ticket that includes park admission but no rides. If offered at a significant discount, it would have some appeal—at least in my opinion. While I don’t think I could go ride-less for an entire trip, I do know that I could spend a lot of time strolling around World Showcase or Animal Kingdom, just taking in the atmosphere: people watching, snacking, dining… Let’s not forget the “free” shows like Streetmosphere, the World Showcase Players, Off Kilter, the British Invasion and others. Then there are the parades and fireworks. I think I’m talking myself into this one. Like the partial day tickets, however, this also presents enforcement problems. It would seem that checking tickets (or wristbands, hand stamps, etc.) at the door of rides and attractions would be the only way to police this.
Theme Park Clubs
The survey references a “Theme Park Club” that would provide a 7-day Park Hopper ticket, with water park access, once a year for 10 years. The cost of this ticket is quoted at $2,000 per person, (or $200 per year). For a person that visits annually (or more), and makes use of the water parks, this is a significant bargain. Heck, even if you don’t go near a water park, it’s still a great deal. An expiring 7-day Park Hopper, with the Water Park option, currently retails above $375 with tax. I’m betting that ten years from now that ticket will be greater than $500 so, if you can come up with the $2,000 up front, this one is quite a bargain. You will have to ask the question, “Will I still be going to Disney World in 10 years?” Heck, at my age, I’ve stopped buying green bananas but I still might have an interest in this program.
Another “Club” option would provide an all-inclusive resort experience where all food, non-alcoholic beverages, resort recreation, amenities, etc. would be available for $40-$80 per person, per night. This sounds like the Dining Plan with a few extras. I would assume that resort recreation would include unlimited watercraft rentals, so that could be nice. I’m not certain what the “amenities” would amount to though. Possibly a nightly turndown service? Concierge-type benefits? I guess I need some more information on this one.
Unlimited Fastpass
Here’s where I start looking for my soapbox…
It was also reported that the survey presented several VIP options, including an unlimited Fastpass for an additional $150 per person. I’m well aware of the “Front of the Line” pass given to guests at Universal Orlando resorts. I’m also aware that you can purchase a similar pass, even if you’re not staying at a Universal Studios resort. I can tell you that I am dead-set against and vehemently opposed to Disney ever doing something similar.
The beauty of Disney’s Fastpass system is that it’s free and available to everyone that has park admission. I, for one, want it to stay that way. As one who stays exclusively on property, I’m not opposed to anything Disney wants to offer to its resort guests. We currently get charging privileges, merchandise delivery, Extra Magic Hours… and if they’d like to throw in free drinks at the resort bar or a bag of cash in the room, I’m 100% with them. Actually, I wouldn’t be opposed to them slipping a few extra Fastpass tickets in my resort welcome package (hint, hint).
What I’m opposed to is charging more for this service. We all pay for park admission and deserve to be treated with all of the benefits a park guest is entitled to—nothing more, nothing less. I don’t ever want to be passed in a Fastpass queue by someone in the Ultra-Fastpass queue because he or she ponied up extra dollars to get in front of the riffraff like me. I don’t want to play the “Walt” card here but this type of thing flies in the face of his basis for constructing these parks.
I was once racing through the Fastpass queue at Kilimanjaro Safaris. Do you know the feeling you get as you walk by scores of people just standing in the Standby queue? As I walked by, I overhead a woman ask another, “Where are those people going?” The reply was, “Oh, that’s the Fast Track system. I don’t know how much it costs but you get to ride without waiting.” I did not stop to explain it to her. Maybe I should have. With just a little research, she could have understood the Fastpass system; known that it was free with her paid admission; and, probably, been walking in front of me in that queue.
Exclusive Experiences
“Exclusive Experiences” are loosely defined as being like “Character nights” or a “Premium Holiday Ticket”, which adds a surcharge to the normal one-day ticket rate, but comes with the promise that fewer people will be allowed into the park on busy holidays.
At the core, I don’t have a problem with these types of events except (you knew there was an “except” didn’t you?) when they come at the expense of the other guests. To demonstrate, let’s assume you visit during a week in December. When planning your trip, you’ll notice that on four of the seven nights you’re there, the Magic Kingdom will be closing early, typically 7:00 p.m., to host Mickey’s Very Merry Christmas Party. If you’d like to see the nighttime parade and fireworks, you’re now restricted to the other three evenings of your trip. That’s not a huge problem but you can certainly see where it will affect your park touring schedule as well as any Dining Reservations you may want to make.
Assuming the Magic Kingdom is typically open for 12 hours per day during this period (9:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m.), my 7-day trip affords me the potential of visiting the Magic Kingdom for 84 hours. These “parties” will remove 8 hours from that availability or, roughly, 10%. Will Disney discount my Annual Pass or Magic Your Way ticket by 10% as compensation for that? Of course not.
Even more important, the Christmas parties will restrict the available evenings to catch parades or fireworks by more than 50%.
If you carry this math through all of the Christmas parties, the Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Parties and the myriad other closures over the year (Grad Nights, Night of Joy, etc.), you can begin to see that an Annual Pass doesn’t really live up to its name.
OK, I’m stepping down off the soapbox now.
I’m always encouraged when Disney is looking for new ways to enhance the guest experience. I know they’re a business and the chief goal of any business is generating profits and return for its shareholders. The reality is that there are any number of ways to accomplish that and simply raising prices and lowering quality, something Disney has been accused of in recent years, is not always the best way.
Walt Disney’s philosophies were centered upon building a successful enterprise by delivering a quality experience with exceptional customer service. The implementation of those ideals is what separates Disney from the rest and why you and I have fallen in love with the place and visit as often as we can. The success of Disney as a corporation is a tribute to those ideals. I, for one, support anything they do that will “plus” the guest experience. To me, that’s the key to bringing more and more people into the resorts, restaurants and parks—and that should make the bean-counters happy as well.
As always, those are some of my opinions. Let me know how you feel about these potential changes.
