Originally Posted By monorailblue I went to sleep, and the station nearest my home was at $3.01. I woke up to $3.08. Nice.
Originally Posted By calguy77 "Gas is over $4.00 in most parts of Beverly Hills! " Umm, buddy I live in Beverly Hills and I've never seen $4.00 at self serve. Made at Full Service on Little Santa Monica by City Hall, but most stations I've been to are $3.00 - $3.20. Same as the rest of LA. You should go to BH before making such a comment
Originally Posted By nemopoppins I think you gotta consider higher gas prices overall in California because of various taxes added to the gas price. Also, doesn't California require some special cleaner refining process that makes gas cost more too? Anyway, I still don't think that the difference in gas prices is contributing much to smaller crowds. It's kind of like Disney putting all their eggs in one basket--last year's season. It borrowed from people that would have visited this year to get such large crowds. It makes sense to me that crowds should be a little less than any other busy summer because of the backlash. This summer is really the FIFTY FIRST anniversary.
Originally Posted By Autopia Deb When I was out getting my hair cut I noticed gas prices, $3.40 for the cheap stuff. That hurts.
Originally Posted By CMM1 <<"As for gas prices, I doubt it. I live near San Francisco and drive a Suburban. It costs me about $30 more to get there this year than last. That's a drop in the bucket compared to the cost of the rest of the vacation" That may be true just for one trip. I too drive a Suburban and my monthly gasoline bill has shot up an additional $100-125 a month over the last year - and that's just for one car (tank). Tack on another car and we're talking real money. Add that up and it's a nice vacation. >> Second comment is right on - higher gas prices won't affect a single trip - what they do is soak up the discretionary income that one has for vacations and entertainment.
Originally Posted By nemopoppins How come no one will acknowledge that it COULD be that the anniversary is just too long?
Originally Posted By fkurucz ^^I think that it is possible that they cannibalized some 2006 out of towners last year. As for locals, who knows? Local AP's will keep coming.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Let me rate the reasons why IMHO the park is slower... 1. The shift in Locals visiting, supposely about 2/3'rds of attendance is locals... >>Has the 50th help shift the local attendance? Once again, strong promotion had many locals attend in 2005. Some families are just not that much into theme parks, and find an expense of $200 and up for a day (based on tickets, parking, food, drink and merchandise for a family) not worth doing more than once every few years. Plus many SoCal folks were persuaded to convert to a Disneyland AP (using the ticket sellers, plus special handouts that came with the tickets, and other AP advertising). Many of these folks decided to get the SoCal or SoCal Select AP, which are blocked out for all of July and much of August. So locals need to have a Deluxe or Premium AP to visit yesterday, or buy a Blockout Pass for $30, or pay for a new ticket (non AP holders). << So between the shift due to AP holders, and others just waiting for another promotion like "Pay for Disneyland, get DCA for FREE!" to come (aka not willing to pay full price or almost full price -current SoCal deal is $5 off a one day ParkHopper, that makes it $74 for an adult). 2. The overplaying of the 50th, this is cutting back on the amount of out-of-town visitors and locals... >>Has the 50th Celebration been overplayed? Attendance was up last summer when Disney was strongly promoting the event. Also, some Disney fans decided to not visit in 2004 and early 2005 due to the combination of the large amount of refurbs and wanting to wait until the 50th started.<< 3. The heat is keeping some Deluxe and Premium AP holders away, along with some locals willing to pay for a ticket or blockout pass. 4. I think gas is a very minor factor, when looking at the total cost of a Disney trip, gas is not that large of a item in most cases. If anything, it might go back to the locals, especially AP holders.
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt Since Ouimet's arrival there have been no summer DLR promotions for discounted admissions (as far as I know). Disney is basically selling both parks at full price this season. Without the discounting, the Anniversary winding down, and astronomical fuel prices, I suppose it's not too surprising that attendance has leveled off. It would be interesting to know what the demand for hotel rooms has been this summer.
Originally Posted By Darkbeer Current major discount programs. Advance Purchase tickets for 3 days or more are still $20 to $40 off the Main Entry Ticket Window price. This offer is available to all guests. SoCal (and Baja Cal) folks get $5 off a one day ParkHopper, making it $74 for an adult instead of $79. These are about the same offers as were made during the summer of 2005.
Originally Posted By Disney Joy I remember when they were $30 something dollars. I always get the 5 day park hopper - now up to $170 ish dollars. I didn't know it was that much for ONE day. GEEZZZ
Originally Posted By Hans Reinhardt "A one day ticket is $79. Who pays that?" The $79 ticket is, as Darkbeer pointed out, for a one day parkhopper. The single park admission for one day is only $59.
Originally Posted By tuknshak Well all I can say is I hope when we go for my bday on Sun July 30th the crowds are light. It took alot of arm twisting of the hubby to get him to agree to go in the summer since he is not a fan of crowds and prefers DL in the fall/early spring. Hopefully they will be light so he won't be a cry baby all day about how many people are at the park
Originally Posted By dzy76 Happy b-day tuknshak. I'm spending my b-day at DL this year too, it's the 31st! Only my hubby would rather die than go to DL anytime of the year - so he won't be going. But my 14 year old son loves it and he can't wait to get me a birthday sticker at city hall!
Originally Posted By gadzuux >> How come no one will acknowledge that it COULD be that the anniversary is just too long? << I agree, it could be. Trying to milk two summer seasons out of the fiftieth might have been a bit of an overreach. Yes, the fiftieth anniversary is a big deal, but everybody knows that any anniversary doesn't go on for two years. So the 'theme' for summer `06 is a bit stale, and so are some of the trimmings that come with it. On my last visit to the park some of the murals were looking faded and tattered, and didn't have the 'ooh-ahh' appeal that they did when they first were added - more than a year ago. And once the initial work is done, additional prints are probably pretty inexpensive. The 50th logos scattered around the park were pretty thin gruel to begin with, and will only seem more out of place with every passing day after the 17th - the beginning of DL's 52nd year in business. The park's recent additions don't resonate with the non-fans. A pirates upgrade has the fanbase going crazy, but joe sixpack isn't as moved. Likewise with 'space mountain' - in one sense it's marginally better than before, but in another it's the same ride that's been sitting there for almost thirty years. Monsters and buzz are rather humble little darkrides, and were never expected to get the turnstiles spinning on their own. Next year, the 'big news' is ... the subs. Followed shortly after by the monorail. None of this is going to stimulate the casual visitor, who understandably may not understand what the big noise is all about with DL crowing over the subs and the monorail. And something about a 'dreams come true' marketing campaign that nobody will ever really understand. "BIG NEW E-TICKET IN DISNEYLAND" - now that's something everybody can understand. Until then it's all sizzle and no steak.
