As you may have seen, over the weekend Disneyland raised ticket and AP prices, which caused the typical outcry from fans as we've seen every other time they've raised prices. The typical arguments flew around, Disney is greedy being chief among them. As we always try to do, we're going to try and give these things a bit of reasoning. In addition to the AP prices, there were also a few things announced at the D23 Expo in Japan last night. So we figured we'd include them here and not make you click through 500 different articles. =) Written by Gregg Condon Here we are, a year or more from Star Wars Land opening at Disneyland, there are over a million Annual Passholders, Disneyland is crowded every single day yet for some reason Disney keeps trying to trim the amount of Annual Passholders. They know that Star Wars Land is going to be huge, it's going to bring in people who aren't AP's, but what's going to happen when those people pay $150-$200 a day to get in the park only to find the park is filled with 50,000+ Annual Passholders and they can't do anything? This is pretty much what all tourists these days find. So in an effort to fix this, Disney has once again raised ticket and Annual Pass prices. Yet they've still not eliminated the one thing that would actually cause the number of Annual Passholders to go down, the payment plan. This has been a source of contention with many for the past decade. The payment plan makes it easy to justify the price of an Annual Pass, because you can spread it around. What it has done however is turned Disneyland into a "hangout". You now have a full generation of Disneyland fans who view it was something that's just "there", They can go whenever they want. The "specialness" of it is going away. It's no longer a "treat", it's just what they do on weekends and weeknights. What's the answer? We don't know. All we know is that as infrequent visitors, we'd be way more willing to shell out $600-$800 for a day at Disneyland if we could enjoy a park that wasn't bursting at the seams with APs. As it is now, we go to the park once every 2-3 years. We'd definitely make multiple trips per year if the parks weren't as busy. I don't think we're alone in this. At the end of the day, we don't see the current AP model as sustainable over the long term, and I don't think Disney does either. So expect even more changes coming to the AP program sooner rather than later. With all of that said, let's let's look at the new AP prices: Disneyland Resort Disney Signature Plus = $1149 Disney Signature = $999 Disney Deluxe = $729 Disney Southern California Select = $369 As we've done in the past, we're going to look at the Annual Pass prices for Disneyland and compare them to the other theme parks in Southern California. (click any of the links to be taken to the AP pages for each park)
Knott's Berry Farm Regular Season Pass = $94 Knott's Gold Pass = $113 Cedar Fair Platinum Pass = $216 So let's break this down a bit. You can get a Universal Studios Hollywood Gold Pass, Magic Mountain Gold Pass Membership, Cedar Fair Platinum Pass, Legoland Standard Pass and SeaWorld San Diego Pass for a grand total of $918.99. If you won't be visiting any other Cedar Fair Parks other than Knott's, that drops your price $103. If you don't have small kids and don't need Legoland that drops your price $199. If you don't like roller coasters and don't want Magic Mountain, that drops it $97. Note: If you have a Costco Pass you can get the Universal Studios Hollywood Gold Pass for $199, which saves you another $100. (Thanks to Mike for pointing this out) There are also a ton of other non Theme Park Options, a few of them are below:
The point is, there are other options out there. There are things to do other than Disneyland. If you enjoy going to Disneyland, if the price makes sense to you, by all means, keep your AP. Do what makes you happy. If you find yourself increasingly bitter about the rise in APs, then maybe it's time to look elsewhere to spend your entertainment dollars. The AP prices weren't the only big news this weekend, DisneyParks showed off some new artwork of a few things at the D23 Expo in Japan. Details of all new Attractions at Walt Disney World Alright, those are our thoughts on the price increases. Be sure to let us know your thoughts below. Do you think we've laid out some good alternatives for people who may be fed up with Disney prices? Are we totally off our rocker? Be sure to let us know that too. =) Related Updates: Today we've got a quick update from Disney's Hollywood Studios. We'll take a look at both Star Wars Land and Toy Story Land as well as a few pics of the soon to be Yesterland The Great Movie Ride (Land). Land, Land, Land. =) Enjoy!! Written by Renée Girard Upon entering Disney's Hollywood Studios toll plaza, you can get a pretty good look at the beginnings of Star Wars Land taking shape. Construction still going strong on Toy Story Land. A bit more of Star Wars Land construction over by Star Tours. The new look for Muppet-Vision 3D entrance. Still my favorite 3D movie in all the Disney parks! Only a few weeks left for this classic DHS attraction, The Great Movie Ride. Gotta admit that I'm sad to see The Great Movie Ride nearing the end. It's one of those WDW dark rides I still remember going on as a kid. Related Updates:
Today we have our breakdown of the Parks and Resorts Presentation. By this point you know where everything is going, what's being removed and have seen all of the art. Well, we're going to share that with you again anyway. But we decided we'd let our running commentary conversation break it all down for you. Keep in mind, these are our initial reactions and we reserve judgement all the way around on this. But we thought this was entertaining and we figured you would too. Enjoy!! Written by Chris, RD, Matt and Gregg All pictures © Disney (Click any of the pictures below for a larger version) Christian Just got home...staying spoiler free for the moment. Did anyone find a live stream anywhere? Even a Facebook live or YouTube stream? I think I'm just going to have to go full on, reading live updates.. can't find video Gregg I linked to a periscope on the page, really good stuff. RD I saw the entire presentation - And I'm seething in anger. Gregg Same. Stupid internet ruined everything. No surprises RD Well, Avengers/Spiderman was - as is Pixar Pier Gregg Except, doesn't look like Speedway is going. Lol RD I actually felt a knot in my stomach. And what the hell is up with Disney's Pixar-Marvel Adventure? Gregg The fact they didn't change the name of that park in 2012 is ridiculous. Literally "Grizzly river run" is the only thing that's still remotely CA about that place. RD Exactly. There's not going to be any California left in it. Why bother keeping the name. Why not call it "Disneyland South" Gregg Just call it Disney-Pixar Studios and be done with it. Or Pixar-Marvel Adventure's R Us RD You know, I have to wonder if that's going to be the new name for Florida - and for DCA. Gregg But DHS has Lucas. So Pixar/Lucas Studios on the Right and Pixar/Marvel Studios on the Left? Studios Adventure Park. RD I could see that. Easily in fact. Gregg I do have to say, the Mickey/Minnie Ride is probably what has me most excited RD I think that's a winner - I hope they execute it right. Matthew Meh. My two least favorite Disney characters Gregg Matt, it was all started by a Mouse, didn't you know? =) Christian Presentation is over? RD Yeah. Drinking has begun. Christian Now I'll search for you tube.. to see who has it posted first. I feel like Disney posted it last year. Gregg Pretty much. There was 1 major announcement that didn't leak and one relatively minor one that didn't. Matthew Screw this, I'll just go watch video of the lady with the big thunder dress That's been the highlight of D23 so far Gregg Oh yeah, I had to straight up tell somebody on Twitter "F**k You" and blocked them from the Park Journey acct. Christian So .. First update.. Star wars land.. Everything already leaked.. no news.. The model is like the pandora model.. Will look cool when finished but not mind blowing Next--- The Mickey ride leaked, which to me is a loss. The great movie ride, is dated, but a classic Disney ride... It looks like Disney is simply trying to remove all intellectual property they don't own.. Matthew Where is the "Screens!" Chorus? Gregg I hadn't seen the Mickey Ride, so that was new to me Christian That leaked a few days ago. Ratatouille btw. I had that leak a month ago...but work. so sorry to let everyone down there. I have a a huge Epcot theory.. I'll get into a few ... or I'll just share it now ... since it's obvious. Gregg Ratatouille was a pretty bad secret Matthew I'm kind of pissed at how they're putting guardians in Epcot- just nuke the building instead of this lousy recycling. Gregg New China 360 was also news Christian Every single Epcot ride will become Disney intellectual property and long term... every country will have a Disney IP ride. Surprised. it will take to 2021 to open Ratatouille... a great ride... but a movie that wasn't exactly a hit. If it isn't star wars or toy story Disney builds it slow Matthew Every single Disney park attraction will become IP. Which is why as iconic as they are, I don't see space mountain lasting a whole lot longer RD All that we know is everything will be open by 2021 - though I reckon that most will be before then (notably Ratatouille and the Skyway system) Christian Tron.. I don't get. I get that it's a clone.. and it's cheap to clone. RD Neither do I. In fact, that's what has me so damn angry. Gregg Like Tron looks awesome, but doesn't really fit that park. Or that area of that park. But the fact that it's not an addition by subtractions means that ultimately I can't be mad at it. If they were removing stuff for it, then yeah, I'd be pissed. Plus, more people riding Tron = less people riding SP75. They're basically taking away the MNSSHP Treat Trail ... it's fine. Matthew It's the highest rated ride at Shanghai, its space mountain 2.0 RD To have that fugly building next to one of the most gracious, beautiful structures ever designed by man.... it's a disgrace. Christian It's a cheap clone... and makes MK a more adventure park.. look how well universal did by adding rides for the older kids Matthew I wish they'd remove Disneyland dead weight land RD When you're on the monorail, and you emerge from Contemporary, and you see that beautiful cone, the castle - the true icons for the park... it's stunning. Now: Fugly building behind it. Christian Next one.. confused... so mission space.. stays the same and the big change is a restaurant? That's a thing? Gregg Apparently Orange Mission Space has a new mission Christian Why are they closing mission space? Gregg Not sure just why Orange. Apparently it's been closed Matthew I'm happy to finally maybe have a reason to wander to wdw next time I visit the devils armpit. Christian People died on orange.. and honestly guardians retheme showed have gone there. RD Mission Space is re-opening with new films, and the new restaurant is part of it (Space Station themed table dining.) The two new films are more visualle effective, while the 'lesser' films are more "Soarin over Earth" Christian Meh Matthew The space station restaurant concept has been around since the opening of the park Christian Yeah.. not impressed... but then again the guardians of the galaxy re-theme at DCA I'm actually a fan of . Like I wanted to hate the guardians of the galaxy tower of terror re-theme.. but then it looks so good.. Matthew So is guardians ever gonna get its own actually new from the ground up attraction? Gregg Pretty sure they're just using the building from Ellen, not the actual ride system. That's a big ass building Matthew I wanted the tower conversion, that attraction wasn't good enough for the twilight zone IP. I believe living seas is still the biggest. I know that my uncle spent a lot of time on universe of energy and living seas Christian Update 6: Disneyland Paris gets marvel characters at a hotel... 0 s**ts given. If it was an apple keynote.... the Disneyland Paris thing would be a press release. Update 7... Star Wars Hotel... Will make Disney LOTS of money... Gregg Christian That is the right thing to do... build a star wars hotel.. people love star wars and will pay through the roof... Matthew Maybe they can have a coupon day? Gregg Christian Update 8.. Disney gondolas.. that leaked forever ago.. And nobody except for convention goers stay at the those hotels.. Matthew There's hotels at Disney world? Christian To me.. It's nothing... maybe a way to get people to drink more at Epcot Matthew Wonder if they'll get the monorail system fixed by the 50th? Christian They won't, what nonsense. Matthew New Eco friendly pedal powered trains by Intamin. The monorail was down a bunch when we were there in 2009 Christian The mainstreet theater they are building.. is just an up charge attraction like Lion King at Shanghai. Pure money play that won't be included in park admission. Think.. blue man group.. or lion king at shanghai. Makes me wonder if cirque de soliel closes forever and they do a show like that there, or up-charge for the pirates stunt show that they have at Disney Shanghai. Matthew Damn, I was hoping Disney was gonna announce an RMC makeover of Matterhorn. This comment may have been brought to you by your friend Alcohol. Whelp, there it is. We hope you enjoyed this look at the "work" we all do for Park Journey. And this is simply what we could share. Maybe we'll have to do these types of updates whenever we all chat about the big news. What do you think? We're also perfectly aware we didn't discuss Toy Story Land. It simply didn't come up in our conversation. Not sure why that is. Have we all come to expect so much from these announcements that it's almost TOO MUCH? And things that would be headlines get lost in the shuffle? We've included all of the pictures that Disney released that were included and what wasn't included in this update for your enjoyment. Related Updates:
|
Categories
All
Archives
March 2024
|