Starting January 2005, Disney World will offer a new a la carte pricing plan, dubbed "Magic Your Way." The plan will allow visitors to tailor custom theme park passes and hotel packages from a menu of options.
The base price will start at $59.75 for a one-day, one-park ticket, according to a company statement. (That's a $5 increase from the current $54.75 price.) Visitors can chose to add on park-hopping privileges for $35 (same for a one-day ticket or a seven-day) and a "plus pack" of visits to Pleasure Island or the water parks.
Here is the pricing grid, courtesy Disney (prices are for ages 10 and up):
| Ticket | 7-Day | 6-Day | 5-Day | 4-Day | 3-Day | 2-Day | 1-Day |
| One park | $199 ($28.43/day) | $196 ($32.67/day) | $193 ($38.60/day) | $185 ($46.25/day) | $171 ($57/day) | $119 ($59.50/day) | $59.75 |
| Add park hopping | $35 ($5/day) | $35 ($5.83) | $35 ($7/day) | $35 ($8.75/day) | $35 ($11.67/day) | $35 ($17.50/day) | $35.00 |
| Add “Plus Pack” | $45 (5 visits) | $45 (4 visits) | $45 (3 visits) | $45 (3 visits) | $45 (2 visits) | $45 (2 visits) | $45 (2 visits) |
| Premium Ticket (all of the above) | $279.00 | $276.00 | $273.00 | $265.00 | $251.00 | $199.00 | $139.75 |
The program will launch on Jan. 2 at Disney World's website. No word on whether this program will replace the current park hopper and length-of-stay passes, or be an additional option. From the analysis below, however, it would be hard to see how Disney would keep the current park-hopper pricing structure in place with this plan available.
Analysis:
Clearly, the purpose of this plan is to encourage longer stays at the Walt Disney World Resort. (Take *that*, Universal Orlando!) Indeed, Disney's press relase included this statement attributed to Walt Disney World President Al Weiss: "With so much to see and do at Walt Disney World, guests want to take a week to experience it all, at their own pace. With this new plan they can -- and at more affordable prices that reward more leisurely stays."
"Simply put," he said, "the more you play, the less you pay, per day."
The Magic Your Way pricing structure marks a $1 price increase on a 4-day park hopper ticket (from $219 to $220), but a $21 price cut on a 5-day (from $249 to $228).
What is unclear is if Disney World will continue its policy of unused days never expiring. If that feature is not a part of the Magic Your Way ticket, and the current park hoppers are no longer available, visitors will lose the incentive to "overbuy" with the idea of using unused days on a future visit. Which, in turn, traditionally has helped ensure repeat visits to the resort. Of course, the other effect will be to encourage visitors to "overbuy" on their current week's stay in Orlando, sacrificing visits to other theme parks and attractions in the area in favor of additional days at WDW.
[Added - Dec. 6] Comparing apples to apples, the Magic Your Way tickets represent an average 5.3 percent price increase over equivalent tickets that exist under both the current and Magic Your Way ticket plans.
The Magic Your Way tickets expire 14 days after first use, so to make a true comparison, one must factor in the additional cost of making unused ticket days not expire under MYW. The no-expiration option costs $10 for 2 and 3 day tickets, $15 for a 4 day ticket, $35 for a 5 day ticket, $45 for a 6 day ticket, and $55 for a 7 day ticket. That puts the apples-to-apples comparison below:
| Ticket | Old price | New price | Increase (decrease) |
| 1-day | $54.75 | $59.75 | 9.1% |
| 4-day park hopper | $219 | $235 | 7.3% |
| 5-day park hopper | $249 | $263 | 5.6% |
| 5-plus park hopper plus (2 side visits) | $282 | $308 | 9.2% (plus extra side visit) |
| 6-plus park hopper plus (3) | $312 | $321 | 2.9% (plus extra side visit) |
| 7-plus park hopper plus (4) | $342 | $334 | -2.3% (plus extra side visit) |
Note: the closest equivalent to the park-hopper plus tickets is to select the "Plus Pack" for each ticket, which gives you one extra day's "side" visit to either Pleasure Island or one of the water parks than you would have gotten under the current park-hopper plus.
If they do, expect a revolt! People do not want to be locked into stuff, and Disney does not loose any money on the non-expiration policy. I know a lot of people who have had unused Disney World days, and have just lost their pass in the years between visits to Florida. And then there are those who forget they even have the passes with days left, and just buy new ones when they get to the park anyway. Disney wants guests to come for 7 days, and they could care less whether the days are today or 10 years from now. They still have their money, and all of the money the guests will spend in the park when they come back to use the rest of their days. I sure hope the policy remains the same.
Of course, read past Disney's spin and no one is going to extend their Orlando vacation a few extra days to take advantage of Disney's new pricing structure. Most Americans get a week at a time off work. That's it.
No, what they will have to do if they "talk themselves into it" is buy days for a future trip (if, again, they do not expire) or cut out the other stuff they would have done. Like go to the beach or SeaWorld or Universal Orlando.
UO will have to respond. Now's not the time to have no new major attractions under construction at IoA and USF. Not with Expedition Everest rising over the Animal Kingdom, Soarin' rising over Epcot and Disney introducing a pricing plan designed to lock its visitors inside the WDW resort.
OTOH, I still don't quite understand why Disney's pricing is so high in the first place. Virtually every major park chain in the US sells a multi-park annual pass for around $100, whereas Disney's are several hundred bucks. I guess it's all in the marketing....
There will be a 10% discount for Florida Residents visiting WDW. Also, they will be able to purchase a 3-day pass for the price of a 2-day, but they must be used within 6 months.
For non-residents, the breakdown on multi-day discounts shows that a 4-day pass would cost $46.25 per day, but if you go for a 7-day pass, the cost drops to $28.43 per day. The advantage for the new multi-day passes is this: in the past, there was a 4-day minimum on passes, but now you can buy a 2 or 3-day pass. Where before visitors would often buy more days than they needed in order to get the discount, now they can buy the amount that they need without wasting any.
The charge for non-expiring passes will be $10 (although it doesn't say if it's per day, or for all days on the ticket.) The park-hopping add-on is $35, but the paper reported that the water parks, Disney Quest and Pleasure Island can be added for $10 more. (The table looks like it would cost $35 + $45 to park-hop & get water parks.)
One other thing: They are expanding their Early Entry program by allowing their hotel guests to stay in the park for 3 hours after they close to the general public, but details of the restrictions weren't given.
And for the record, I don't like this new Disney ticket system. I'm so glad I'm a FL Resident...
This pricing plan encourages people to spend their entire week in Orlando at the Walt Disney World Resort. But what if people do not want to spend five, six or seven days at WDW? Then, their alternative is to spend no time at Disney, and instead find a better deal for a shorter stay at another park.
And *there* is the opportunity for SeaWorld and Universal Orlando. If they can offer enough exciting attractions, at an enticing price, they can persuade a significant number of Orlando visitors to choose the "nothing" option in Disney's all-or-nothing-with-us gambit.
This does not mean that Universal must persuade theme park fans to forsake Disney forever. Even if they can get a significant number of visitors to say "no Disney" on every other trip to Central Florida, then this pricing plan might backfire against Disney.
However, Universal and SeaWorld will not be able to convince many people to eschew Disney if Uinversal and SeaWorld fail to offer any new world-class attractions... and soon. Disney's debuting three major attractions within the next year or so. Couple that with a new pricing plan designed to lock visitors in with the Mouse, and the two challengers could be facing several lean years. Which they simply cannot afford.
So dust off the plans for the IoA Robocoaster. Greenlight a USF flume. Find a way to get Sylvester McMonkey McBean open. Whatever it takes. Because Disney is making a strong move to retake the Orlando theme park market. If its competition fails to make an alternate case, they will lose it.
Here's something else to think about. A family of four actually decides to get this 7 day pass. Before you even enter the park....$1200 right off the top. Throw in the hotel, probably a Disney one for another $500 minimum. Add seven days worth of food, drink, gifts, games, souveniers, and any extras that aren't included in the parks (at the hefty Disney price). Don't forget the trip itself, if you drive from the north, a couple hundred each way..if you fly, four times that. Add all that together, and ladies and gentleman, you have broken the bank. Now ask yourselves, is a week at Disney really worth that much money, especially to the northern/midwest folks who live hundreds of miles from the beach.
Don't get me wrong, if you have young kids, Disney is a great place to go, but in a town that has Sea World and Universal Studios (both better than Disney in my opinion), than why in the world would I stay on Disney property the whole time I'm there? And who said that Disney was the only Orlando park that had things for the kids? I remember loving Sea World at eight years old, and Universal Studios a few years after....way before IOA was built. Wait a minute, why would I even bother with Disney in the first place.
If somebody wants to shell out a three grand minimum for a week long trip to Disney, than more power to them. As long as people buy into the "magic" and shell out the cash, Disney will be there collecting money and raising prices again and again. As for me, I don't think that there is any magic to be bought right now, so my next trip to Orlando contains absolutely no plans to go to Disney. If I'm gonna pay $50 a ticket, it's going to be for Universal/IOA, and Sea World. That's three days for less money and far better value. As for the other four days, they belong to the beach. With the money I save, I'll buy Kings Island and Cedar Point family season passes for the next three years.
Personally, I'm atheme park junkie. (Duh.) But I can't ride my family through a bunch of parks in one week, the way I'd do it. In six full days in Orlando during a week's vacation, I can get my family to go for three days at the parks. With maybe a fourth evening thrown in for a meal at Epcot. That's it.
Non-expiring passes are a must for me to get good value from these trips. That way, I don't have to guess exactly how many days we'll visit on this trip -- or obsessively plan every moment of the trip in advance to ensure I don't overbuy. With non-expiring passes, I just buy the multi-day pass with best per-day price, and rest assured that we'll be back sometime in the future to do the days we don't on this trip.
So flexibility and a lack of "right-now" commitment are important selling points I look for in a plan. If Disney's plan can accomodate me, great! If not, then, well, I guess my kids are gonna be spending more time with Shamu and in Seuss Landing than with Mickey and Co.
All 5, 6 and 7 day passes with all of the above options "added-on" are CHEAPER than their current available counterparts. A 4 day pass with the Park Hopper add-on costs only $1.00 more than the current 4-day Park Hopper. The difference is it will only cost you more for 4-day Magic Your Way pass if you want the days to never expire. But for most guests who choose a 4-day pass to begin with, they will probably use all 4 days and won't need that no expiration thing.
The new pricing structure is great, imo. While only spending 1-3 days will cost you more than before, spending 4 will cost basically the same, or for 5 or more will cost you LESS, even with all the add-ons. Take off potential unnecessary items like the no expiration option and perhaps even visits to the water parks, and 5 to 7 day passes will be consdiderably cheaper than any option available now to guests.
Most guests who do indeed buy single day tickets are Florida residents. In that case, with the new Florida discount options, it will also be cheaper to visit the parks (with a 10% discount on a single day price or 3 days for the price of 2).
Again, for a majority of folks who visit WDW, this new pricing program is great. The fact that WDW DOES have enough to do for an entire week gives them the advantage to offer great deals for staying longer. UO and Seaworld currently do not have such a luxury to compete with, so its a smart business move on Disney's part as well.
So flexibility and a lack of "right-now" commitment are important selling points I look for in a plan. If Disney's plan can accomodate me, great! If not, then, well, I guess my kids are gonna be spending more time with Shamu and in Seuss Landing than with Mickey and Co>>
Do you visit the water parks? If not, it sounds like the best option for you would to be a 7-day Magic Your Way pass and then add-on both the Park Hopping and No expiration options. That will cost you $289.00 or about $41.25 a day.
Consider this to the fact that currently, the cheapest, non-expiring pass is a 4-Day Park Hopper pass that costs $219.00 at the gate, this new pass will give you three more days that you can use whenever for only $23.33 a day!
Currently, the only way to park-hop is to buy a 4-Day Park Hopper pass which costs $219.00 at the gate. The new Magic Your Way pass with Park Hopping option is $220.00. You are not paying MORE to park hop then you are now(well, maybe a dollar). However, if you don't WANT to park hop, you can get a much cheaper ticket than currently available.
The new system is not really that confusing. It lays out base prices and then you just add on what you NEED/WANT. That way, folks are no longer paying for passes with things they don't want or use (such as it never expiring or the option to visit a water park, etc.). It is not meant to confuse anyone into paying more. Rather, its allowing you to pay LESS (with the exception of a 4-day pass with Park Hopping AND the no expiration option), by only choosing what YOU want to do.
When you stop trying to compare it to the current system and its pricing, it is not confusing at all. It doesn't punish anyone who buys a multi-day ticket (4 to 7 days), but rather rewards those who decide to stay longer.
I've just noticed that a 5 day Magic Your Way Park pass with all options (park hopping, water park add-on, and the no expiration option) is in fact MORE than the respective 5-day Park Hopper PLUS currently available that offers the same thing. However, take off the no expiration option (which is a good idea if you KNOW you are going to use all five days) and the pass becomes a lot cheaper. Sorry for any misunderstanding/misleading above.
However, I stand by the fact that this new pass system is better than the old and in reality should be more beneficial to a majority of guests as it lets them finally CHOOSE what they want. In some cases it will cost certain folks more, but in many more circumstances it will end up costing a lot of folks less.
The Magic Your Way tickets expire 14 days after first use, so to make a true comparison, one must factor in the additional cost of making unused ticket days not expire under MYW. MousePlanet reports that the no-expiration option costs $10 for 2 and 3 day tickets, $15 for a 4 day ticket, $35 for a 5 day ticket, $45 for a 6 day ticket, and $55 for a 7 day ticket. That puts the apples-to-apples comparison below:
| Ticket | Old price | New price | Increase (decrease) |
| 1-day | $54.75 | $59.75 | 9.1% |
| 4-day park hopper | $219 | $235 | 7.3% |
| 5-day park hopper | $249 | $263 | 5.6% |
| 5-plus park hopper plus (2 side visits) | $282 | $308 | 9.2% (plus extra side visit) |
| 6-plus park hopper plus (3) | $312 | $321 | 2.9% (plus extra side visit) |
| 7-plus park hopper plus (4) | $342 | $334 | -2.3% (plus extra side visit) |
Note: the closest equivalent to the park-hopper plus tickets is to select the "Plus Pack" for each ticket, which gives you one extra day's "side" visit to either Pleasure Island or one of the water parks than you would have gotten under the current park-hopper plus.
*That* is why I thought Disney World's old plan was so brilliant. I could buy a five-day passport and give it as a Christmas or birthday gift. I could buy a new ticket when my old one ran out, with no consideration for how many days I was in Orlando on that trip. I could decide to go do something else on any given day in Orlando without feeling guilty that I was wasting a theme park ticket.
I wish I could do the same for Disneyland, Universal Studios Hollywood, or any other theme park. Please, theme parks, let me buy multiple days that never expire at a discount from the regular single-day price! I'll do it, locking me into visiting you in the future. Because when I can't buy tickets that way, I know from experience that I end up buying fewer tickets and visiting parks much less often.
In all seriousness, we all know that Disney won't lose any sleep about our little posts here...just like I won't be gaining any sleep at a Disney hotel. These threads are here to discuss, and that's what we do. Personally I feel that the new Disney pricing plan saves the average family money up front at the gate, but ends up costing them what they saved in the end. Translation....attendance boost. They act like they are giving things away, but it's just like Vegas, they will give you a little bit, but if you stay long enough, they will get a whole heck of a lot more out of you. If you think the "magic" is worth it, than great. I used to think that, but not anymore.
You're not venting, you're right on the money. Disney, along with all other companies, must constantly remind everyone in their organization about the paramount importance of customer service.
The fact is, when you buy seven days of Walt Disney World vacation, you should get seven days of WDW vacation. If you want to pass some of those days along to a family member, a friend or sell them to a stranger, you ought to be entitled to do that. Disney, or any other company, shouldn't undercut or destroy the value of what you bought by restricting its use or by expiring those days before you get a chance to use them. And if a valid ticket is presented to a Disney cast member, that CM should treat that customer as a treasured guest, rather than a potential criminal.
Another change that I noticed from last year is that it doesn't look like non-Florida residents can order annual/season passes anymore.
Consider this: You buy a 10 day park hopper + water park & more fun (which includes 6 side visits) + non-expiring option. For a family of 4 (2 adult age children) that's $1668.00. That's 16 days of Disney fun to use however you want. We will be splitting it up like this:
March 25th through April 1st = 8 days. Minus the drive down to Fla & back home to NC = 6 days left. We will each use 3 days of park (hopping) out of the 10 we purchased & 2 of the 6 side visits for a total of 5 days of activities. Since we only have one day free we'll rest that day in the lovely vacation home we're renting (for 765 week)in the pool with jacuzzi, full kitchen, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, game room, barbeque grill, lake, playground, etc...
Next year (or whenever we can get away) we'll do it again only this time we only need to rent the house. The year after the same thing.
For each of the 3 vacations (house not included) we will have spent $555.60 (total for family of four, not each!) for tickets , for each of the 3 vacations (with one ticket left over per person!).
If we were to purchase the same thing each year separately, it would look like this:
3 day hopper for 4 people = $884.00. 2 days of water parks for 4 people = $272.00. Total for both = $1156.00 (and they expire). If you're still with me see above again. For the same thing we are paying only $555.60!! (of course that's assuming the prices of Disney tickets stay the same for ever and ever).
To save a bit more money (we're not the Hiltons) we avail ourselves of the local Publix the night we arrive at our rented home and stock up. We bring our own lunch into the park in a large cooler that fits into an $8.00 per day locker until we're ready to eat. While everyone else is waiting on long lines for a $5.00 ala carte hot dog or a smoked turkey leg that looked better than it actually was, we're sitting in the shade or rocking in a chair at Tony's Town Square on Main Street, eating roast beef hogies, fuit salad, cookies and sweet tea. We keep everything nice and cold with 8 frozen bottles of water. We bring 4 with us into the park in the morning, then we carry the other 4 around the park after lunch for the rest of the afternoon. The empty cooler goes back in the locker until we're ready to go home & we've just eaten lunch in Disney for the same price we would at home.
Around 4:30 we leave the parks and go back to the rental home (4 miles away). Cooking is a breeze on the grill by the private pool & it gives us a chance to get away from the noise & crowds. We eat, swim, nap & return to the park to visit more attractions & watch the fireworks.
And we will do this three times for less than the price of one Disney vacation if purchased separately!
Hope your travels are everything for which you've ever wished upon a star!
Only thing I could add to it is to eat a big breakfast at an all-you-can eat buffet in the morning, at around $3.99 each.
The main effect was that, for the first time ever, we decided to limit our entire visit to the Disney Parks.
This was also helped by the way the UK website sells hotel and ticket packages linked to the length of stay. So, for example, a 6 night stay at Pop Century gives you only one ticket option - the 7 day premium.
To be fair we knew we were being held captive on Disney property in this way. Its a bit like surrendering to a benign dictatorship.
Additionally the effect of the free Magical Express from MCO was that I decided not to rent a car for the first time in many years. Consequently in the first week of our stay every single cent I spent went to Disney!
I guess the combination of these sales tools will increase the percentage of vacation expenditure that Disney retain.
Quite a contract to the days when I rented a car, stayed in Kissimee for next to nothing and left the park at lunchtime to eat in McDonalds!
About the AP's usually being 100 bucks, Disney is 100 bucks (per park, per year). But yes, you have to buy all 4 parks :P (b/c I would not buy MGM).
The No Expiration option has gotten ridiculous. If you are staying for less than a week, it may be cheaper to pay for extra days and use extra admission days to park hop.
Days Adults Age 3-9
1-Day $63 $52
2-Day $125 $103
3-Day $181 $149
4-Day $195 $160
5-Day $199 $162
6-Day $202 $164
7-Day $204 $165
8-Day $206 $167
9-Day $208 $169
10-Day $210 $171
Option prices now depend on number of days - samples below
Park Hopper
1-3 Days $40
4-5 Days $38
6-10 Days $36
Water Park
1-3 Days $50
4-5 Days $48
6-10 Days $46
Unlimited Expiration - Allows use after 14 days from purchase
2-3 Days $10
4 Days $20
5 Days $40
6 Days $50
7 Days $65
8 Days $110
9 Days $130
10 Days $135
Does anyone know if these new passes are transferable? I haven't been able to find a definative answer yet. Like, if I know a Florida resident with passes, would we be able to take advantage of that? Or will they nail us at the gate if we try to use them?
