Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "Not doing that, so I'll just use up my park hopper and call it a year. I'll end up saving $100! Drinks are on me!" I game! lol
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "I just bought two tickets for "Wicked" last night, here in Perth and the total for TWO TICKETS was $402.00"!!!!!" Wow. When it was here in San Francisco it wasn't anything close to that price. I know that the most expensive Broadway tickets on a Saturday are around $150. I wonder why your's were so expensive. "But anyway, who the hell buys a ONE DAY PASS but ignorant rubes?" I've done it Bob. Everyone doesn't have a week to spend at DLR.
Originally Posted By Bob Paris 1 The show is only here for six weeks and, since it is practically sold out already, I guess they know they can basically charge what they want. Plus it is a birthday present so I got better than basic seats(but actually NOT the most expensive - they were $AUS219.00, or about $US230.00, if you can believe that!!!) And yeah, I guess there is a tradeoff coming from overseas - on both of my trips I spent a MINIMUM of AT LEAST five days at the DLR(with twenty three nights in Florida! This was so I could "do" all of WDW, see USF, IOA, SW, KSC as well as other small things in the area AND have a day off for rest!). APs were the only way to go with the second trip making use of the AP from the first one, so entry was basically free!
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo >>>APs were the only way to go with the second trip making use of the AP from the first one, so entry was basically free!<<<< This is what we do with DLP, last year we bought an AP in June, got so much value out of it just that trip would have paid it off if be bought hopper passes, this easter trip was free. Probably will not go back until 2012 now. It works well for infrequent guests.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt I think I'm a bit of an odd duck Disneyland fan. I went to DL every summer from the Bay Area growing up and was even enough to score a few trips to WDW (once in 1975 and again for the opening of EPCOT). The year DCA opened I went three times (the most I've ever been in one year), and one of those trips was a just a single day visit to DCA. My last trip to DLP was just for the day on a park hopper. Basically I've had my fill of Disney parks, but I still love DLR and I like to visit from time to time. A trip to Anaheim for a couple of days every few years is enough for me.
Originally Posted By ecdc I think Dave makes a solid point. No one likes anything to ever cost more, and that is a big jump in prices. But... Frankly, this strikes me as the result of people expecting a premium experience every single day. I don't just mean DL, either. People used to go out to eat for a birthday. Now, it's basically a once-a-week occurrence at expensive places for a lot of families. And for the record, I'm as guilty as anyone. It's a major cultural shift over the past 20 years or so and I don't think people appreciate just how much it's changed. And as luxuries morph into necessities, I don't think it'll get any better. I pay nearly $300 a month just for Internet, cell phones, and TV combined. And that's without all the premium services (and I get a hefty phone discount cause I work for the company!) We'll be thinking long and hard about another visit in the next year, and I'm not sure that's a bad thing.
Originally Posted By berol Yeah, I don't like cancelling the December day, but I like keeping my $100 (minus Hans' drink tab), so it's a draw.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb >>>Look at it this way ... if you live in SoCal (or just plan on visiting once in a year) you'd now be crazy not to spend $700 for the Premier Pass.<<< Only if you have the time and money to GET to Florida. I've had the Premier before and may again. But unless I'm going to be making one or two trips to O-Town in that year period I won't be spending $750 (as of tomorrow) for that pass or more likely $1500 as my 15 year old is hardly in an economic position to be buying his own theme park admission. This price increase is really tough on us single parents and I imagine tougher on married couples with kids and one bread winner.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm definitely having a hard time with this increase. It seemed that for the longest time, the increases were only once a year (in August), and were relatively small increases, to more-or-less match the inflation/cost of living increase in that year. For the last 2-3 years, they've done two increases a year (one in August, and another in late May/early June), and the prices have increased significantly. I got my first PAP in late 2006, and I don't remember it being more than about $250. That the price of it has doubled in only 5 years, without much added to the experience in that time (including the essential elimination of the quarterly AP newsletter) just seems absurd to me. My AP expires at the end of September, and I'm planning on moving out of California in the early part of the following year. I'm really not sure if I can justify the expense any more. My friends and I go on an essentially weekly basis, but even that doesn't really seem to make sense for the price. I need to check the blackout days before I renew, because the price for a PAP just isn't worth it for me. Depending on how the blackout days line up, it might just not be worth it for me to get an AP again this year, which would be a very big change for me. I've been a very loyal customer through the years (I'm pretty sure that they've gotten almost 100% of my disposable income in that time, not to mention the time I spend online), but I really just can't tell if it's going to be worth the investment for me any more.
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I hope this is an appropriate place to post this. Maybe I should have started my own thread, but this seemed relevant enough to me. : ) I am planning a long trip to WDW next June. Four adults and two kids will be staying there from the 6th through the 16th, hopefully at one of the 2 bedroom villas, if I can manage to book one for all of those nights. I had planned to get us all 10 day park hoppers, even though we might not spend full days in the park each day as the difference in price between the 8 day and the 10 day is not huge. My husband and I plan to arrive two or three days earlier, on the 3rd or 4th, and stay in a regular room. We plan to spend most days in the parks, visit at least one water park, and go to Universal on one or two days. My husband and I will also be going to Disneyland for 2 days (three nights) in October when he makes his annual pilgrimage to Blizzcon. I am trying to figure out if it makes sense for me to purchase a Premier Passport, good for both parks, for the whopping sum of $700. Yes that is huge, but if you put together the $262 10 day ticket in WDW, plus the $161 2 day hopper for the DLR, plus around $50 for one day at a water park I'm up to $473. I don't think I will be able to get an AP discount on the 2 bedroom villa, as generally that discounts are not applicable to these rooms. I may be able to get a discount for three nights at the GCH (for our October trip) and two/three nights somewhere at WDW for me and my husband when we arrive early. How likely would it be that I could make up the rest of the $227 in savings on hotel rooms (3 nights in October and 2-3 nights in early June) and food? We would be eating onsite the whole time at Disneyland, and most meals at WDW (although with a kitchen in the villa breakfast and some lunches would be prepared in the room - plus I'm pretty sure we would have a dining plan.) We do not buy a lot of merchandise (although we may buy more than usual with the kids at WDW). Are there What do you think? Should I give up on the Premier Passport because I may not be able to actually realize any savings with it and buy a 10 day park hopper today to avoid future price hikes, or should I hold out and get a Premier Passport when I'm in DL in October. I will likely buy everyone else their ten day tickets today to avoid the rate hike, I'm just wondering if I should buy three adults or four. Thank you for the heads up about the price increase, which will save us around $30 a person; more if the raise the rates again before our trip in June 2012.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>But anyway, who the hell buys a ONE DAY PASS but ignorant rubes?<< People who go for just one day? A coworker just returned from a SoCal family vacation. They stayed at Grandma's house and set aside a single day for Disneyland.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb The Premier will be going up to $749, but remember you will also save on parking at DL which I think has gotten up around $15 a day. Plus there will be dining and shopping discounts. It can be more than worth it if you are going to both parks more than once a year, but unless your math is off I'm not sure it's worth it for you if the above trips are the only ones you have planned. It was worth it to us last year, but that's not the case every year for sure.
Originally Posted By EighthDwarf <<But we would save and go. It was a special occurance, not a second home to folks. And you know what? I think it was better.>> Couldn't agree more, Dave. My family growing up would go to Disneyland once a year - for 1 full day - and that was such a treat for my brothers and I that we could hardly sleep the night before. And ss ecdc said, we are so very accustomed to what used to be luxury items (dinners out, electronics, etc.) that we feel entitled to them everyday. That is a very deep, underlying problem in the US - one can argue that our excessive consumption, both on a private and public level, has led to the current financial situation our countyr is in. Perhaps Disney is doing us all a favor with this price increase: they are charging luxury prices for a luxury item. If it makes us reflect on what the true value of things is, then what they did is invaluable to us all.
Originally Posted By WorldDisney <<I think what you REALLY mean is "It will be a place bored, overweight, forty five year olds in mouse ears will no longer be able to pop into, after their shift finishes at the local supermarket so they can relive their childhood for three hours every evening, clogging up walkways and queues for E tickets while REAL tourists, some of whom have saved TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS over two or three years and travelled THOUSANDS of kilometres to have a lesser experience in a place they may only have a chance to visit once or twice in their lifetime".>> This is a bit rude. Can you turn down the hatred for people who simply live near the place and like to visit when they can, thanks! And I been on BOTH ends as you know. I done the local/AP thing in L.A. and Tokyo and I've done the spend thousands trekking across another continent to see it thing many times as well, they are both just as important to any of these places. When the economy falls off a cliff like it has and the tourists drop off as well, its the locals who keep going because they can! Dont dismiss them so easily. Anyway, the price increases are big and its no way I could afford to buy the premium even if I went regularly. BUT its still a GREAT value. It pays for itself in 5 trips, how is that NOT a great value? And free parking and a nice discount with it, you will save more in the end regardless. Its just a matter of how much you go! But if you go at least once a month ANY of these are still worth it IMO. The day passes are a little much though and the bigger question. I grew up going to DL since I was 5 and even growing up poor we were able to go to DL at least once or twice a year. Now I dont think thats possible for many poor families now. You shouldnt have to pay nearly a hundred dollars when you include parking just for one day at the place. But the APs ARE worth it as long as you go. I went a lot last year since I been in the states and had an AP, but I got sick of it really fast too, so I dont think a premium would be worth getting even if I could afford it. I wish DL just sold multi pass hoppers with no limits on it, that would be a nice middle ground between the one day ticket which is absurd now and the Aps. I dont need to go three times a month. Once every other month is good for me unless I'm meeting someone there. When I lived in Tokyo I didnt own an AP, I just bought one day tickets and went every 30-60 days. But they were afffordable to do. Its NO WAY I could afford to pay $80 every month or so, so you are forced to get an AP basically. But I would opt for multipasses if it was possible instead of an AP because I dont really want to go that often, but knowing I can go just a few days a year at anytime would be great! I would choose a 10 day pass even if it was around $200-250 as long as I can go whenver. But yeah the prices are getting steeper. I've only owned an AP twice in my life, but honestly it just makes more sense to buy that now versus the multiday passes or one day even if you just go 3 times a year. The Deluxe is a lot more now, but even that pays for itself in 4 visits basically. So they are more, and I definitely can understand how you can't afford them as they get higher, but you cant question the value for people who can do it! They are still worth it IMO.
Originally Posted By TP2000 ecdc, great point about the huge cultural shifts in the last 25 years with luxury items being considered "neccesities" or something people "deserve" now. Dining out at a sit-down restaurant? That was something the affluent middle-class family of the 1950's and 60's did very rarely, and it was for special occasions only; birthdays, anniversaries, family visits from out of town, etc. My grandparents lived a comfortable middle-class SoCal suburban life, and eating out at a sit-down restaurant was something I saw them do only a handful of times in the 20th century, with plenty of commenting about it from both of them about the whole experience and decadence of it. And Disneyland? That was saved for once every few years when the grandkids wanted to go, and it was a HUGE day. You couldn't even sleep the night beforehand because you were so excited! It was as big as Christmas. Now middle-class families are dining out once per week, and the places are fancier and offer foods and wines from around the world. And yet somehow if you aren't doing that weekly meal out you are no longer middle-class and it's all a misery and an example of how folks just can't enjoy life anymore what with the cost of gas, etc., etc. When did we get so affluent and fancy? The lower-middle classes of 2011 enjoy levels of luxury and technology and personal safety and convenience today that the upper-middle class of 1970 could never enjoy. And it's to the point now where locals in SoCal expect a small E-Z Payment deducted automatically from their checking account each month that gives them open and continual access to Disneyland Resort amenities. The middle class suburban kids of 1960 would have been thrilled to face a summer of fun with nothing more than a beat up old bike from Sears and a lawn sprinkler set up in the back yard. Can you imagine how much money parents would save if they only had to provide that level of entertainment to their kids and not be turned in to the authorities for child mental abuse?
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 Thanks Deb! I was wondering if they were raising the cost of the Premier as well, thanks for letting me know it's now $749. I think it probably doesn't make sense economically to purchase the Premier Pass, but it was fun to think it was even an option. I'm about to skype with my Aussie rellies to confirm that I should pick up our 10 Day passes today, which will be pretty exciting in and of itself!
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 Deb, when you mention the parking, do you mean at the lot of the park, or at the hotels for the vacation fee or whatever they call the upcharge that includes onsite parking? We usually stay onsite, and don't often have a car, so I'm not sure that helps in our case. We probably won't have a car at WDW, because with 6 of us it would be hard to have a car we will all fit in, and we would have to work out car seats for kids coming from Australia, so that would be hard to do. : )
Originally Posted By FerretAfros The DL discount on dining is 15%, and 20% on merchandise. WDW offers a 10% discount at select table-service restuarants. To save the ~$275 extra that you would spend on one AP, you would have to spend about $3,500 on food and merchandise (could be more or less, depending on which discounts you get). With 6 people, that may not be too difficult to do over 10 days in WDW, but they do offer pretty limited discounts, and if you have the dining plan, that's probably a better value anyway. There's always a chance that you could get a good AP discount on the hotel rooms, but my general experience has been that they really aren't that steep of a discount, and they often don't get posted until shortly before the times that they're valid. I think that skipping on the AP is probably the right decision. >>May I ask where you plan to move Ferret?<< I'm not really sure at this point. I've just about reached the end of my rope with being in California, and I'm starting to look for opportunities elsewhere. Ideally, I'd love to move back to North Carolina or give Orlando a try, but given the current economy and the number of jobs out there, I'm trying to be flexible. I really haven't done much looking yet, but I figure that 8 months is plenty of time to get that all under control. I have an expiration date in California, and I think I've long since passed it, so at this point I'm just trying to get out.
