Originally Posted By avatarmickey115 I think if they stopped the monthly plan, it would be more fair...
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt >>I will have to disagree with that Hans, you have not been AP bashing, as a matter of fact you always talk about the overcrowding it creates and not the AP's, however many others here bash AP's. For example - << "As far as I am concerned, the indulged and entitled APers have had free reign for too long now." OK fair enough. But be honest. Do you not sense that many APs do indeed have a sense of entitlement? I've observed over the years that anytime an additional price tag is added to something at DLR it's the AP folks who seem to be the most vocal about it. I'm not bashing - I'm just sayin'. But to your point.... the perception is that AP holders have almost unlimited access to the parks while management keeps the flood gates open, so to speak, with no limit to the number of people they'll let in the place. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that there is some backlash from general paying customers and tourists like me who post here. I don't see the complaints as bashing... to me it sounds like people simply voicing frustration about crowding and the impact that the AP program has on overall congestion and traffic flow. Again, in my opinion there's no discussing one without the other.
Originally Posted By SafariRob I agree with avatarmickey115. I really wish Disney would eliminate the option for people to make payments on AP's. There are other options for people who feel they need to make payments.
Originally Posted By mickeymorris1234 I think they made the monthly payments to retain AP holders. They introduced the monthly payments when the economy tanked and they were loosing AP holders because they couldn't afford to drop 300.00 for a pass. You know what, now that I'm thinking about it more, I think this hard ticket will be a good thing. However I think the party days should be in November and then the parties end in December and it is normal christmas at Disneyland all of December. That way we can get days of non crowdedness but it will also make it so the AP holders will be happy. Me personally I would pay to get out of crowds but I'm not the normal AP holder. When I go to Disneyland I go from park opening to closing every time and actually buy things in the park
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt ^^That sounds like a possible solution, or perhaps they could do a few AP only parties at no additional cost in November and then have the hard ticket events in December.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Agreed. It's tough to sell tickets to a christmas party barely two weeks after halloween.
Originally Posted By danyoung Or they could do the parties on some nights, and have open access on other nights, and do the Christmas entertainment on ALL nights. So that way you'd have the choice of going in and facing wall to wall crowds, or paying a bit extra and going in on a more exclusive night.
Originally Posted By gadzuux Again - probably not a direction they want to go in. This would make it a bald-faced "fee" for smaller crowds, rather than a fee for "special offerings" that are unavailable to regular day guests.
Originally Posted By SafariRob It just hit me. That might be exactly what Disney wanted all along: 1. Make a pile of money by overselling AP's. 2. Charge even more money for special events with limited attendance. Brilliant.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "So that way you'd have the choice of going in and facing wall to wall crowds, or paying a bit extra and going in on a more exclusive night." A big part of the problem is from the locals hitting the park after work and school, creating snarled traffic on surface roads and straining capacity in the parking lots. I think that making these events "private" is partially an attempt to address traffic outside the parks as well as inside.
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "No, not in the context of overcrowding I'm not. The overcrowding is real, and there is a direct correlation between the number of APs sold and the issues connected with easy accessibility to the park for locals." Maybe so. But that doesn't mean that there hasn't been AP bashing going on. Someone compared APs to the fat guy at a buffet. I don't think that was meant as a compliment. "The only AP I would ever dream of bashing is Yookeroo!" That's only because I walk around the park snarling at all the kids when I go for my 3 hours every night.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt Yookeroo, I conceded in post 147 that there is a bit of resentment here towards APs, and some of it is justifiable given the way that Disney has unleashed the program in recent years. No one is bashing the fat guy at the buffet - he's just as entitled to be there as the skinny guy. Still, you can't really be surprised if other diners take notice and point it out.
Originally Posted By SingleParkPassholder Then maybe either instead of an all you can eat buffet the restaurant should limit it to a certain number of trips to the counter. OR, the park could lower the capacity limit.
Originally Posted By TMICHAEL ^^^Or, remove the Prime Rib and King Crab Legs just to turn around and add more fried taters, mystery meat over noodles and canned veggies to keep costs down and revenue up. ......And seriously, Disney has done this in spades, especially in the merchandise and food locations.
Originally Posted By onlyme >>Disney has created a massive problem with over crowding at their parks, period.<< So, we have two possibilities. Either Disney doesn't see this as a problem or they would do something to reduce the number of APs OR Disney doesn't see this as a problem or they would do something to reduce the number of APs. I'm leaning towards the latter.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I don't think Disney sees the APs as a problem... why would they since they represent the fan base and a significant source of revenue. The problem isn't the APs, it's the change in visiting patterns created by them. Therefore I believe we are going to see more premium pricing or special ticketing for events that used to be free or first come first served. Get used to it. WOC and the Halloween nights are an example of this.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 As I said before - if I gotta pay $50 to have an evening without being surrounded by 15,000 Anaheim teenagers and fat guys with ill fitting t-shirts and goatees(notice how ALL fat fanboys, no matter WHAT their interest ALL have goatees?), I will HAPPILY pay the extra!!!
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>It just hit me. That might be exactly what Disney wanted all along: 1. Make a pile of money by overselling AP's. 2. Charge even more money for special events with limited attendance. Brilliant.<< You mean it wasn't obvious? That they wanted to eliminate "slow periods" altogether? Because of this the value of a Disneyland vacation for us has gone way, way down. We hate crowds with a passion, and the new policy is to keep the place crowded year round with all kinds of pricing strategies. We'll pass. Maybe we'll do less frequent trips to the World instead, but with the free dining plans it appears that they are doing the same thing over there (keep it crowdwd all the time). Oh well, there are other places to go.
Originally Posted By fkurucz "I don't think Disney sees the APs as a problem" If its genrating the revenue and profits they are expecting then they definitely won't see it as a problem. But the worst part about selling DL on the cheap (SoCal APs) is that if they ever decide to change course the customers won't come. It's lke offering big rebates on cars, you train your custimers to expect them. Remove the discount and they don't buy, because they know they will be rewarded for waiting. In a way Disney has painted itself into a corner. If the cheapo APs or free meal plans go away, customers will go elsewhere.
Originally Posted By tashajilek I am an out of Country aper and would gladly pay a few hundred more an AP for less crowds. My last trip i asked a CM if it was always as crowded as this? and she told me to hurry up and go on all the main attractions before all the Locals come in the evening. I also think it's unfair to have the Park full and have some first timers be turned down! I would give up my AP spot in DL for some poor kid getting turned away.
