The AP Price Hike Blues

[€uroMeinke]

So the prices went up again - not nearly as bad as last year, but last year I was grandfathered so facing the two years worth of increases I realize I'm finally priced out of Disneyland. I'm kinda bummed about that.

I always figured that while I might let my AP lapse - since we don't visit nearly as often as we used to - that when something was happening, I could always pick-up a day pass and convert it to the lowest level AP. But looking at the new prices, and knowing that I would need to buy a pair of whatever tickets I'd chosen, that end of the day price would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $600. Even if I stuck to just a single day single park ticket I would be looking at spending $200. Maybe if I devoted a full day to the park that would be worth it, but I just don't do the park like that anymore.

Today I also bought 2 tickets to the FYF festival in downtown LA. Two full days of entertainment, unique activities, and I already now some people are going. More entertainment for half the cost.

Now, I do miss those days of weekly visits - but mostly I miss hanging with the people. To enjoy the parks like that, I'd have to regain my geekdom and find some more geeks. I spent the morning paging through Mouse Pad and Mice Chat and realized, not only wasn't I that much of Disney geek anymore, I really didn't care to be one. Carsland was a fine and welcome addition to DCA, but this summer I'm more excited to see the James Turrell exhibit at LACMA, or the Helmut Newton show at the Annenburg space for photography. I like Disney, but there's so much more, and so much that is new, unique, or interesting.

This last year I enjoyed getting cocktails after work at the Carthy Circle, but as my friends AP's began to expire and go unrenewed there seems little point to keep going.

I guess I'm still a bit nostalgic for my past relationship with Disney and the people I met through it. W've slowly been parting ways for sometime now, but it seems now the break is much more real to me. But who knows, maybe I'll be in for an evening of Disney Xmas later this year.

Sigh - these are the blues I'm signing

[alphabassettgrrl]

Originally Posted by €uroMeinke

I guess I'm still a bit nostalgic for my past relationship with Disney and the people I met through it. W've slowly been parting ways for sometime now, but it seems now the break is much more real to me. But who knows, maybe I'll be in for an evening of Disney Xmas later this year.

This. I'm feeling it, too. My pass is expired, and I didn't renew it. I'm not even sure I want to buy a day pass ($137? Is that right???). I suspect I will, maybe even go back to being an AP (have friends who still love Disney, so that adds something to the mix) but not now.

[innerSpaceman]

My pass did not make economic sense this year at all. Not only has it been quite some time since there were group visits (or at least any I was privy to), the two remaining Disney geeks I'm still friendly with (who visit on practically a daily basis) have not been on speaking terms with each other for over a year.

The upshot has been Disneyland as strictly a date thing with my boyfriend ... and while we enjoy that - it's not something we do once a month, which I think is the price point that a premium pass makes sense at.


This latest price increase thus brings it all crashing to an end, and sadly so for many others as well. The last nail in a coffin that I'm afraid has already been buried.


That said, my pass is still good through November. So if there's any folks who want to organize a Last-Hurrah visit while their AP in still in force, I'm up for that.

[katiesue]

We'll see what happens in December when ours are up. It's kind of our Mommy/Maddie thing to go to the parks but with the price increases and the huge gas cost increases as well we are close to being priced out. We may have to just go once a year for a couple of days and stay over. That's still cheaper then two passes for the both of us.

[keith - SuPeR K!]

I'm at an odd juncture with most of my friends deciding not to renew their APs. After last year's price hikes I think we all saw this coming, but it's sad to see now that it's actually playing out. I don't make it to the parks nearly as much as I used to, mostly due to being out of town and way too busy when I'm in town, but I still feel like I need to have my AP. I don't know... I have a few months to consider my options. I'd like to do WDW again this autumn so I may hold off on renewing until then.

On a side note, I've always loved and admired the LoT for what we did as a group outside of the parks. Most other Disney-based groups focus solely on Disney and/or theme parks in general, but this bunch has always been about swanking, art, music, (faux)cocktails, camping, adventure, hedonism, and other things that extend our collective enjoyment of our time here on Earth. Even if we don't always have Disney, at least we've diversified enough to still have a connection <3

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I think it was Chernabog who posted on FB saying that this is the moment when the old Disneyland gang finally calls it quits and I think he's right. It's a shame, though I guess nothing lasts forever.

We'll all be ok without Disneyland. I'm more worried about the local low-income families who used to be able to afford to go once in a while. My family wasn't able to go more than once every 3 years or so, and when we did, my mom reminded us not to ask for any toys or treats while we were there, because she knew my dad would buy them for us, and that we really couldn't afford to be going in the first place.

I pulled up an inflation calculator. The prices they had in the 80's and 90's for day passes end up being about $50 in today's money. Apparently they think they're worth double what they used to be. With effing Legoland charging $80 I guess they have some sort of point, though at least discounts and BOGOs for Legoland are plentiful.

I guess families will still go, and will empty their bank accounts to do so, because it's Disneyland. But the APer demographic is on track to change drastically.

[Morrigoon]

I think population growth plays into it a lot. Sure, they added a new park, but capacity is what it is, and short of adding additional parks at an alarming rate, the available number of "guest days" (for lack of a better phrase) at Disneyland per person in the total population of people who would like to go is continually changing, and not in a direction favorable to keeping prices low.

Umm, in English: overall demand is still increasing, the supply is not keeping up. Voila... price hikes. Because they can.

[RStar]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

But the APer demographic is on track to change drastically.

It seems to me that this is a large part of the point. Al and Kevin Yee has been harping on that for years. Because of the low price pass (when I first got mine it was $99 for the year- almost what a day ticket for a single park is today!) low income families could go, bring food, and never spend a dime while there. The sheer number of APs and lack of spending was taxing the park. This includes parents who dropped off kids for a low cost summer baby sitting.

Now they are weeding out the low income families (and problematic summer baby sitting kids), replacing them with people who can afford to pay for the high price pass, and still spend while there. I wonder what all of this will do to the MP and MC games, though....

I have had a premium AP for many years. My kids are grown and moved out, and my wife still can't go to the park so I only need to buy one. After the price increase last year, I was forced to go to monthly payments. And with the $20 increase this year came another surprise, if you renew before the expiration, the $20 discount is now $40, cancelling the price increase! This is for premium only. I go to the parks with my mom and aunt, and any visiting friends and family, though that has been more and more infrequent the past few years due to the economy.

So, I still enjoy going enough that the $53/ month is still worth it for me. And I do buy food once in a while, and I'm a collector, so I make the occasional purchase. Just the way Disney likes it, I suppose.

[innerSpaceman]

I've already experienced a previous Disneyland "Lull" where I didn't go or have an AP for several years, when yet another group of friends really trailed off in the early '90's.

My time with the LoT group was sort of a renaissance for me at the turn of the century. Perhaps there will be another, and perhaps with other people.
Who knows?

[katiesue]

The other issue for us is the sharp gas price increase. We used to drive up for a couple of hours all the time. But now that gas is $4 plus/gallon that adds about $20 to a trip. We'll see in December.