"Magic Your Way" Park Passes for 2005

[CrazyaboutMickey]

Just saw on Mousesavers about new pass options for 2005. Looked like you can save money (over current park Hopper prices) if you opt for basic only. Only problem is they are good for one park per day and expire 14 days after first use. If you want the park hopper benes we are used to (multiple parks any day and good forever) you will pay extra for each added feature and it appeared to be a significant increase. Prices were quoted w/o tax and still seemed pretty high to me. Has anyone out there seen this yet and actually run the numbers? I was looking at it from the four day park hopper perspective as that is what we always get. Maybe for longer durations you will save some money? My first impression (trying not to be negative here) was they were trying to cleverly package a significant price increase. Hope I am wrong.

 

[DaveO]

I ran some quick numbers and it is a big price increase. Plus is is way to complicated. This is a bad move in my opinion.

 

[CrazyaboutMickey]

Yes, I thought so too. At first glance, it seems like a good thing. Only pay for options you want or need. Only problem is, to get what we have always gotten, we are paying much more. We use the multiple park option and would hate to lose that. Also, the good forever option has always been a sort of insurance policy just in case something ever happened and you had to cut your trip short or missed a day or two due to unexpected illness. This is so the marketing tool (scam) of today. Cut benes, price each additional option higher so when added in, you are paying WAY more. Only option is to cut back and get less for your money! I just wish they would be more up-front about it. The whole marketing presentation angle is insulting to me. Like we will be so dazzled by their new "customer focused options", we won't notice we're paying more/getting less!

 

[boucheresq]

I agree. I initially got scared b/c I already bought my tix from Hotwire but then I did the calculations and Hotwire tix alone were about $50 cheaper for two. the only aspect of it that interested me was the additional meal package for $35 a day for adult for one sitdown, one counter and two snacks - that seems like a good deal except I can't find anywhere which restaurants are involved.

 

[deelam]

What does the new passes mean to AP holders. Are they doing away with AP's?

 

[wtpclc]

I know they're not doing away with APs, because DVC owners get a discount on APs starting January 1. You may need to recalculate your break even point now, depending on what options you usually get.

 

[Fizban257]

I ran some quick numbers and it is a big price increase. Plus is is way to complicated. This is a bad move in my opinion.

I just checked the numbers for a 7-day against the current Park Hopper Plus, and Ultimate Park Hopper and both came up as more expensive than the new base ticket with the Premium and and No Expiration options added. Here's what I got:

A 7-day Magic Your Way is $199, plus Premiun option at $80 and No Expirations option at $55 totals $334 for an adult and the pluses can be used at Disney Quest.

An advance-purchased Park Hopper Plus for 7 days would be $336.56 with four pluses, but the pluses are not good at Disney Quest.

An advance-purchased Ultimate Park Hopper for 6 nights and 7 days would be 347.19 for an adult and does include Disney Quest in it's four pluses, but can only be purchased if you stay on-property.

It seems like the new plan saves money (not much, but some) and offers a meal plan that;s lots cheaper than the old ones. Am I doing something wrong?

 

[Disneycrazymom]

I think the hope is people will only look at the $199.00 and think "well that's a great price." Will the average guest booking through an agent pay attention to the actual ticket price with the add on features. Hidden costs can really upset a customer though, so it could work either way for Disney.

They really could be a good deal if you do not want the water parks.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

It can be a WIN-WIN !

For Disney
... fewer park hopping equals fewer buses
... fewer left-over tickets means less computer use
... gets the annual ticket price increase
... better CM planning/use, as not so many people hopping

For Guests
... if you don't hop, you save BIG
... if you use all your days, you save BIG
... prices can be as low as about $35/day (tax incl) !


1) If you can plan your vacation, you can save.
2) Even with a lost left-over day, you save money.
3) Will encourage longer hotel stays at WDW, filling space.
4) This has "Real Winner" written all over it.
5) Think of it - about $35 a day for WDW !


NOTE: At first I thought the pain in my wallet was a pain somewhere else in the same region, but after looking at the numbers and re-thinking my planning logic, this is a good deal for everyone. The only people who will feel abused are the ones that want to hop and/or those that don't want to (or can't) plan their days at the parks. What it amounts to is that people will now pay for the buses if they want to hop, and pay for the computer storage space if they want to keep tickets with days left on them.

 

[CrazyaboutMickey]

I think they will ultimately end up with more, not less, unused days to track because when I looked closely at the numbers yesterday, I started seriously thinking about purchasing 7 days with good forever option knowing I would only use 4 days on our trip. There is a savings in doing that, making it an option I never would have considered before. Even though we only get to go to WDW every other year or so, it would be worth it to purchase that many days now and just hold on to them. Without the good forever option, and knowing we would only use 4 days, I would have to look at break point for savings for purchasing extra days vs park hopping option.
If you only go for 4 days and always purchased the 4 day park hopper, there isn't much money to be saved. It's when you get in the 6-7 day range you really start to see potential for some savings. It does make planning more complicated though. You really have to look closely at every combination to determine how you personally can maximize any savings.

 

[lovesdisney44]

Did anyone figure that even with the new 2005 plan, we still maybe able to get the exact same thing at Paramount, Hotwire, etc at an even better discount? As we all know, right now prices direct from Disney are more than if we go to another trusted discount ticked broker. Guess we'll have to wait and see . . .

 

[StormTigger]

I just checked the numbers for a 7-day against the current Park Hopper Plus, and Ultimate Park Hopper and both came up as more expensive than the new base ticket with the Premium and and No Expiration options added. Here's what I got:

A 7-day Magic Your Way is $199, plus Premiun option at $80 and No Expirations option at $55 totals $334 for an adult and the pluses can be used at Disney Quest.

An advance-purchased Park Hopper Plus for 7 days would be $336.56 with four pluses, but the pluses are not good at Disney Quest.

An advance-purchased Ultimate Park Hopper for 6 nights and 7 days would be 347.19 for an adult and does include Disney Quest in it's four pluses, but can only be purchased if you stay on-property.

It seems like the new plan saves money (not much, but some) and offers a meal plan that;s lots cheaper than the old ones. Am I doing something wrong?

Just one minor thing.. the price you are looking at for the "Magic your way" doesn't include the 6.5% sales tax (The $336.56 includes tax). So your $334 is actually $355.71 a $19.15 price increase from the present 7 day PHP. At the same time though... $19.15 is less then the price of admission to Disney Quest for one day...

I will say it sounds good for those going for longer stays, but for those just gonig for a day or so ... see you at Sea World!!

- edit -
Just realized that the $334 is if you buy your ticket at the gate, the pre-purchase price is $323, so w/ the 6.5% tax that's $344 compared to 336.56 that it is now, difference of $7.44.

 

[DancingBear]

I think they will ultimately end up with more, not less, unused days to track because when I looked closely at the numbers yesterday, I started seriously thinking about purchasing 7 days with good forever option knowing I would only use 4 days on our trip. There is a savings in doing that, making it an option I never would have considered before. Even though we only get to go to WDW every other year or so, it would be worth it to purchase that many days now and just hold on to them. Without the good forever option, and knowing we would only use 4 days, I would have to look at break point for savings for purchasing extra days vs park hopping option.

There is no change in this regard. You always saved on a per-day basis buying a longer parkhopper (which never expired). The 7-Day Parkhopper Plus passes are about $52 per day vs. $60/day for a 5-Day Parkhopper Plus (gate prices w/tax). So it has always "paid" to buy the longest Parkhopper Pass and save the unused days for a future visit (setting aside cost of money issues).

But, you're right that the marginal additional days' cost is less, since the non-expiration fee is fixed.

 

[MagicKingdom05]

When I look at this, the longer you stay the cheaper it is.

In my case, when I go to WDW in May for 10 days, I plan to go to the parks for all 10 days. So tickets with the hopper portion added and tax will be $259.86. Since I will use all 10 days during the stay, there is no need to add the non-expiration add on to it.

I know that when I went 3 years ago for 5 days, I didn't get to see half of what I wanted to, because you can only fit so much into one day, plus I was off site.

 

[CrazyaboutMickey]

While it is true, you always saved something the more days you purchased, I don't think it was even in the same ballpark as what you can save now. The savings per day now beyond 4 days (especially when you hit 7) is really awesome. Where they get you is if you want to add on the "no expiration" option. That does take a pretty big chunk out of your savings. For people who can go and stay for that many days at Disney only, it is a great deal and I am happy to see them do it. Also, it is clear they are doing this to get people to stay and play longer with them. I am sure many people will go for it and Disney will also win of course because they will be increasing revenues for everything else besides that basic park admission(on site hotel reservations for longer stays, meals, etc.) Unfortunately, we are never able to be there that long. Our trips are usually only one week with drive time added in so we do 4 days at Disney and 2 at Universal. We're not willing to miss Universal if we drive all that way, so I guess for us (and those in similar circumstances) not much has changed. Our only decision now is whether we want to spend extra to park hop and have no expiration option. If we do that, we pay more than before. If not, we can save a little.