Disney just announced lots of changes to their annual pass pricing. It’s all very confusing! What does this mean for me and my family who always bought regular passes to Disney? Sometimes, it feels like theme park pricing is just getting more complicated! Thanks.
- Gary W, Atlanta, Georgia
Gary, the new Disney pricing programs actually are brilliant. Yes, they seem a little confusing at first, but after they “sink in”, the pricing programs are going to have an enormous impact on the visitation patterns for their parks. Where Disney will see huge positive impact is on their revenue streams, both in-park and at the front gate admissions. What Disney is moving towards is what we call “Dynamic Pricing.” You may not know the name of this type of pricing, Gary, but I can assure you that you are familiar with the concept. This dynamic pricing program is used by hotels, car rental companies, and most prominently all airlines.
Dynamic pricing is also being used now quite successfully by major league baseball teams, specifically due to the number of games they play and the long season. It really is working well for the baseball industry.
Here at ITPS, we have literally been “preaching the virtues” of going to dynamic pricing in our industry for the last five years.
As our industry matures, we continue to hit “the pricing wall” every several years. Our industry relies heavily on discounting – we always have. Unfortunately, as our industry matures and prices increase at the front gates, discounting occurs in many erratic ways. Discounting in some form will always be important to attractions, but true dynamic pricing like you are beginning to see at the Disney parks will create a whole new “transparency” to theme park pricing. Some days will be cheaper; some days will be more expensive. What dynamic pricing does is communicate the best times and prices to visit to guests, who typically fall into one of two categories: (1) price sensitive or (2) time sensitive. For the park, it fills downtime periods with price sensitive visitors, and during busier times, it can help manage attendance flow while also generating higher in-park income.
So, Gary, as you buy season passes in the future and visit other seasonally operated parks, keep your eyes open for dynamic pricing deals, to see which can save you significant dollars. And, as always, thank you for your question and thank you and your family for being very important visitors to our parks.
Related story: Variable pricing may be a new theme at Disneyland
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