Originally Posted By Moedad I'd go once every 5 years or so. Maybe less. Our kids are grown and can take themselves if they want. Maybe if I had grand kids I'd go more often, but I doubt it. I guess I'm not as big a fan as a lot of you, or maybe I'm jaded from too many visits. I'd much rather be able to do like I do now and go when I want to and stay however long I feel like staying. My favorite times to go are when most people are leaving. I don't care if I go on the rides. If there's no line, I'll do it. If thre's a line, I'll wait until another day. I waited an hour to do Space Mountain week before last. That's much longer than I've waited in a line since I can remember. A lot of APs have passes so they can choose to go at a time when the park will be less crowded. What if beach parking was priced so only people who reeeeeally wanted to go would cough up the bucks? What if all sporting event tickets were priced as high as all the playoff tickets are priced? What if paperback books cost the same as hard cover books? What if the prices on everything were raised to premium level to discourage a certain percentage of people from participating? Is that how we want this country to be? I hate the crowds, so I mostly go when they aren't there. Don't take away my pass because I live close enough to do that.
Originally Posted By cheesybaby If there were no APs... Instead of having 4 PAPs, my family would probably go twice a year, staying in the DLH for 2 nights each time, for 2 full days in the park each time. So we would probably spend the same amount of money at the resort per year as we do now, but we would only be there for 4 days (instead of once or twice a month like we do with the PAPs).
Originally Posted By Mr X ***++And if I were local, probably about 6 times a year (maybe more - depends on whether there were multi day tickets still)++ So if there were no AP's and you lived locally, you would be willing to spend at a minimum of $400 six times a year to go to DL? I base that on the fact that you are a family of 4.*** Are tickets really $100 each nowadays? We live right down the street from Tokyo Disneyland, have NEVER owned annual passes, and go to the parks probably 5-6 times a year. Of course, generally we wait for slower times and look for residents discounts and stuff like that, I'm sure Dave would do the same.
Originally Posted By Mr X Wow...it's official. <a href="http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=28k7w4p&s=4" target="_blank">http://tinypic.com/view.php?pi...7w4p&s=4</a>
Originally Posted By TheParsec This is the First year we bought AP's, before, we only went 1 time a year for 4 days at a time. Now, We bought our AP's in June, and so far we went 4 times, 2 days each time. We already have 2 more trips planned, 4 days for thanksgiving, and 2 days for the Big LP Meet. (Of coarse the whole family for thanksgiving, and just me and hopeluvsdolphins for the Lp Meet.)
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf I have a Premium AP, live in NorCal and probably go 6 times a year - many of those wrapped around business trips. If there were no AP's I would probably go less often (once or twice a year) and make my trips longer (two or three days a pop). So in the end I would end up spending fewer days at Disneyland, which would be okay for me.
Originally Posted By WilliamK99 The problem with Annual Passes is the same as any business that needs to offer substantial discounts in order to entice customers, the entire experience erodes.... You cannot expect a premium experience while paying pennies on the dollar. IMO, Annual Passes hurt Disney as a whole. If Disney were to scrap the Annual Pass program or charge at least 1000 per adult, I think you would notice remarkable improvements in the quality and service at the park... In the army, we have a saying 10% of the Soldiers create 90% of the problems for the leaders, causing us to divert our time and energy from the majority to take care of a problematic minority. The same problem exists with APs, they cause the most problems with complaints, causing excessive crowds, and general chaos that if they were eliminated, the Disney experience as a whole would be improved. Sure, the bottom line would suffer, but when people living 4 or 5 hours away realize that the park is less crowded, then they would vacation more and pay full price, thus allowing Disney to make the same amount of money or more without Annual passes than they do with, without the crowd being filled to capacity every day. My solution is simple, eliminate the AP period.... But then offer a 15 or 20 dollar after 6pm ticket, this allows those who had AP's before to buy the discounted ticket to enjoy the park, but relieving the crowds for the majority of the day.
Originally Posted By SleepingBeauty82 We are locals and before we had our APs we would go twice a year. Once around Christmas and once for my birthday in May. We'd probably still go twice a year because otherwise I start to withdraw. Seeing as how a 1-day 1 park pass was like $69 when we got our passes we figured with meals and shopping we were spending about $450-$500 a year in the parks. That's why we got our passes. Now we can go to both parks and go more often. We always buy at least one meal and one snack while we're there and I usually buy merchandise every third trip. We go about twice a month. It just made sense.
Originally Posted By ChurroMonster Here's what Disney should do: They should consolidate D23 with the AP program. Discontinue all annual passes. Raise the D23 membership rate to $100 per year and allow members to get 1-day park hopper passes (at all Disney resorts) for $25. Give all D23 members the same discounts at shops and restaurants as PAP users had. This will serve to reduce overcrowding at the parks, increase their profits, and provide a relatively low-cost way of visiting the Happiest Place on Earth.
Originally Posted By 2001DLFan I'd probably go more often as the park wouldn't be as crowded anymore.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 The APers are a double-edged sword for Disney in Anaheim, and there isn't an easy answer. Too many? Sure. Too many with entitlement mentality that feel they own the place and should always be able to stand in that perfect place in the Hub versus a family from Texas or Italy or Australia making a once in a decade or lifetime trip? Absolutely. Too many who use the parks as if it were South Coast Plaza, Westminster Mall or the Block at Orange? All the time. But they also have provided an incredible revenue stream. And for all the folks who buy the cheapest pass, act obnoxiously and never spend a dime on food or merchandise, there are more who but more pricey APs and/or always buy food and/or merchandise. Overcrowding will ultimately be reduced by a combination of things, including raising prices and playing around with block out dates ... I wouldn't be shocked to see more in less 'traditional' periods in the future, like the now wildly popular Halloweentime while maybe adding a few summer days back. But Disney also needs to be smart. Having pyro shows that focus on the castle may be great entertainment, but unless they're going to enforce a crowd limit, there will be issues. What they need to do, and likely will, is force guests into decisions. One or the other. Pyro at DL or WoC at DCA. Fantasmic at DL or ELP at DCA etc ... And ultimately added capacity will help as well. If guests are lining up for Mermaid or Radiator Springs Racers, then they aren't clogging walkways to ride Indy or making 2-3 hour waits for Space or Splash Mountains. Adding more attractions to DL also couldn't hurt. Star Tours 2.0 will help, but there's that huge Festival Arena area that's ripe for something. There's all the dead space in T-land. It's not as simple as just stuffing the AP genie back into the lamp. Not gonna happen and I don't think it should. I also don't think DL APs should be priced ridiculously either. There are no more $99 APs. The days of $199 two-park PAPs seems ancient. Hopefully, people will keep coming, keep spending and Disney will add substance to DL, greenlight the Phase II of DCA's makeover and maybe 5-6 years down the road be ready to think seriously about breaking ground on a third park of some sort.
Originally Posted By oc_dean Oh Mr. X .. that was totally classic! About a world without the DLR AP? I would go once a year. And at the rate DL gets new attractions these days .. maybe even less than that, because what draws me in ... are new attractions. Not new parades, not new pin trading kiosks, not new meet & greets .. but where it really counts. I could see a plan where it could work. Drop the AP program? Re-introduce the Admission-Only ticket. Some AP holders go just to walk around the park .. get lunch or dinner and never hit a ride. If they want to hit a ride - pay extra by purchasing a ticket for individual rides .. like they use to. I've grown to drop into the park like it's my local country club. Sometimes I don't even hit a ride at all. But just want to walk around .. and enjoy the atmosphere. I have a feeling most AP holders do the same. It would change the dynamic by offering Two different "Disneyland" experiences. The locals could enjoy the park atmosphere for the few hours they are (USUALLY) there (ANYWAY) with the purchase of a Admission Only ticket. At a very affordable price. And go several times a year. And then save that day (once a year) and pay the full price ... and get up early .. and hit the rides commando style .. and enjoy a full day. So ... if they did drop the AP..... Fine. Reintroduce the Admission-Only ticket .. and charge a different price to go on rides .. separately.
Originally Posted By oc_dean And they don't have to go back to the A,B,C,D,E ticket system .. necessarily. At the entrance to every ride .. you could show your one-day pass .. and scan the barcode to unlock the turnstyle. Those with Admission-Into-The-Park ONLY tickets would be different altogether.
Originally Posted By mawnck <------- Really likes ChurroMonster's plan in #31. And would sign up for it.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo Lol X! But yep, I would much rather save and pay more for a better experience.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris "If there was no such thing as an annual pass,*faints* I'd stand outside DL with my face pressed against the gates cryin my heart out." And THIS is part of the problem we have all been discussing for a few weeks now.
Originally Posted By iamsally >>>>It's people like me that they need to price out of the APs.<<<< Yeah, that is us too. We do not eat Park food nor do we buy many souveniers. We started buying AP's when it saved us money over our usual 2 trips a year. So, without our passes we would probably return to 1-2X per year. But, I do not necessarily believe a higher price and fewer people would improve the experience. Disney has lots of money now. I believe a higher price would mean more money for the *suits.* My opinion of course but this is what I have seen with corporations all my life.
Originally Posted By ecdc >>Disneyland should not be an entitlement. The fact that people save to go, and then have a better experience is likely to result in a better pay off for everyone.<< That describes us. It's taught our children the value of saving for something they really want to do. While their friends are all buying Nintendo DS' or blowing money on candy and toys, ours patiently save year-round to be able to go to Disneyland. To answer 2oony's question, we'd go about the same amount now - once a year. I have no way of knowing how that'd change if we were locals. Perhaps 2-3 times per year? But then, I suspect, the experience would wear off after a year or two and we'd be back to once a year....
