In this case I hope Al is wrong about Christmas!

My problem is that Disney is making it increasingly difficult for people like me to find a decent time to have six or seven unobstructed days at the park. I really don't care about the extra parades and shows. I go to the park because I enjoy the rides and general atmosphere. This is the reason why I decided against having a trip this month. I didn't want to find myself being kicked out of the park simply because I refuse to pay double admission for the Halloween parties. Now, I see Disney wants to start these shenanigans during the Christmas season.

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Originally Posted by DannyLand

the cool thing is that the special ticketed events cost a lot less than a normal ticket.
like if you are go to Disneyland for the first time.
it's better to pay $54-$69 (Halloween Party) cus it's cheaper than to pay $87 (1 normal tix)

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right--cause if you can't afford the full 87 for Disneyland, you can purchase the even ticket at fraction of the cost, and still enjoy the park for X amount of hours.. ha! i am sure that is what people do!

---------- Post added 10-16-2012 at 05:21 PM ----------

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Originally Posted by Buster Keaton

My problem is that Disney is making it increasingly difficult for people like me to find a decent time to have six or seven unobstructed days at the park. I really don't care about the extra parades and shows. I go to the park because I enjoy the rides and general atmosphere. This is the reason why I decided against having a trip this month. I didn't want to find myself being kicked out of the park simply because I refuse to pay double admission for the Halloween parties. Now, I see Disney wants to start these shenanigans during the Christmas season.

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well i am sorry for you. TDA can't make everyone happy.And nobody was twisting your arm to pay for Halloween party ticket, i don't understand your statment there, maybe you got kids.. who knows.BUT IF YOU DON'T want to pay dobule admission, just do the ticket event not the whole day plus event

I think it would be extremely disappointing if the snowfall, holiday parade, et al were restricted to these paid parties.

The only positive I see is that if they restrict Candlelight to these parties, it might not screw up Main Street for regular guests. However, the two issues there are a) Candlelight should not be 20 days; b) Candlelight has NEVER cost extra and it shouldn't start now.

Charging extra for a story about the "spirit of Christmas" seems exceptionally obscene. And in light of the fact that the cast members' holiday party has been taken away, it seems especially crass and mean to expect them to work the GUESTS' holiday parties.

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Originally Posted by Poisonedapples

right--cause if you can't afford the full 87 for Disneyland, you can purchase the even ticket at fraction of the cost, and still enjoy the park for X amount of hours.. ha! i am sure that is what people do!

---------- Post added 10-16-2012 at 05:21 PM ----------




well i am sorry for you. TDA can't make everyone happy.And nobody was twisting your arm to pay for Halloween party ticket, i don't understand your statment there, maybe you got kids.. who knows.BUT IF YOU DON'T want to pay dobule admission, just do the ticket event not the whole day plus event

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As far as I am concerned, I have already paid for a year's worth of admission into the park when I purchased my premium annual pass. I am not going to pay one penny more to get into the park. I simply like to be able to spend the entire day at the park, and I do not appreciate Disney asking me for more money to do so when I have already paid quite a bit. Simple solution though - I only go on days without the double admission events. I simply stated earlier that I don't like this trend that Disney has started of finding ways to charge double admission into the park. I don't get why my having kids would make a difference here.

I hate to say it but the same drama happen when the info was leaked about Halloween and guests seem to have adapted to the change.

Christmas will be the same.

also all we have to do is a search and we would find people suggesting ideas about Christmas being to much burden on the park and how frustrating and overcrowding it could be, we'll TDA has found a solution that will make them more money. Sadly if the premium apps continue to rise it will not be worth renewing since one of the reasons for that pass was to enjoy these holidays when others were blocked

What's interesting is there is a place right down the street called Candy Cane Lane where I can go to see the amazing displays for FREE. It used to be a family tradition to pile into my parents car and take our time oohing and ahing at the lights. Another tradition I will be starting again. Plus why would I want to spend $64 dollars for a few hours inside the park when I could spend that money for a FULL 8 hour day on the ski slopes. I mean I used to do that right before Christmas and I think I may have to start that again as well. There's just too many other ways to enjoy the holidays without Disney. I used to ski as often as I could in the season (before my Disney days). I'm thinking I may take up the sport again.

I could only hope that the public reacts like many of you are, and refuse to attend. However I think I have a better chance at winning the lottery.

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Originally Posted by Baloo

I hate to say it but the same drama happen when the info was leaked about Halloween and guests seem to have adapted to the change.

Christmas will be the same.

also all we have to do is a search and we would find people suggesting ideas about Christmas being to much burden on the park and how frustrating and overcrowding it could be, we'll TDA has found a solution that will make them more money. Sadly if the premium apps continue to rise it will not be worth renewing since one of the reasons for that pass was to enjoy these holidays when others were blocked

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Yeah...I mean what I can;t get over is how an AP is a year round pass...yet they have public events you can't get into? To me it's crazy to pay over 500 bucks and not get at least one Free night to these events

We're planning on going to DLR this Christmas, as we have for many years, but if they make these changes, we may be making other plans for next year. I love Disneyland at the holidays. Yes, it's crowded, but the vibe is different. If they make these changes and you show up and can see the machines for the snow but have to explain to your kid that those are for special events, they used to make it for everyone, but now it's only for folks that pay extra...I don't know...that doesn't feel like a conversation I want to have with my kid.

I was discussing this with my wife yesterday and if anything, this actually makes our decision to not get our AP's next year an easier one. One of the main reasons we would get our AP's is because we really do enjoy the holidays. Now we can just go to the Holiday Party and that will be that.

So while Disney will be getting an admission from us for the Holiday Party they are going to be missing out on probably $6000 a year between AP's for our family of 4, food, merchandise, hotels and even my entry fee for the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon. Without an AP and the thrill of going to the parks after the race what's the point?

The Disneyland Resort is now a very popular destination with limited capacity. Even with rising prices, the APs are still a huge bargain, compared to visiting with regular ticket media. Disney no longer needs the AP program with this much increased attendance.

If increasing the hard ticket events for holiday offerings ultimately results in fewer APs, I view that as a good thing. DLR has become a total zoo for the casual visitor or the once-in-a-decade vacationing family. There is no off season. None. The place is jammed year round. And it's not like DL and DCA have the luxury of s-p-a-c-e as WDW does. There has to be a way to start limiting capacity. The aging infrastructure cannot handle crowds of this magnitude 365 days of the year, year after year.

I haven't been to the resort in a while because it's simply not comfortable to deal with massive crowds everywhere. And I'm not talking about summer crowds, which have always been a nightmare. Even during winter before spring break, the place is packed. No one who's visiting for the first time or who has saved up for years to visit should have to endure this.

The AP program, which I was a part of for over a decade, needs to become an expensive limited option again, like that fine dining restaurant for special occasions, instead of this all-you-can-eat buffet joint in the corner of a worn-down strip mall. That's what the AP program has been slowly doing to the DL Resort. It needs to stop.

What gets me is that this is a negative experience, having something taken away which has been at Disneyland for decades. The talk about "business...profits..." masks the greed the people at Disney have. I don't know...my lollypop has been taken away by the bullies.

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Originally Posted by sir clinksalot

No question. We've done MNSSHP in FL twice because we were on Vacation. I can't imagine paying extra for fireworks as a Disneyland semi-local when there are so many other (better) choices for Halloween events here.

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I actually have the opposite view regarding the Xmas party. When we went to WDW for the first time, it was around the holidays and I went back and forth over getting tickets to the Xmas party at MK. I decided against it, because we were on vacation, and had already paid for plane tickets, hotel, Magic Your Way Tickets with Parkhoppers and the Dining Plan and I just wanted to see the MK and ride the rides without an extra expenditure.

However here, as a local AP, I think it's nice to have an extra holiday event for a different/special Disney experience, if nothing else than to break up the monotony a little. Don't these events make a bit more sense here than for the WDW crowd?

That said, it rankles to have Disney charge for events that used to be free.

This change was inevitable and I'm truly surprised it didn't happen earlier. Disney has a model in place at WDW that works very well. We had multi-day tickets and still paid extra for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party. Now DL has a model that has worked very well for Halloween.

What I think has truly made this possible that somewhat parallels WDW is that DL now has a second park that can/will keep the day guest at the resort. For the old DCA, that was likely not going to happen.

But one thing there is a huge difference in space at DL than at WDW. We went to MNSSHP in 2001 while on our honeymoon. The place was busy but very uncrowded. But that was a month after 911. They have MORe space for the parade (the riding of the headless horseman amazing). The fireworks work because the places so huge in comparison to DL. I've never bought a ticket to the one here and will I? NOPE not even for Christmas. Like I said I will take my money elsewhere and make new uncoatly Christmas traditions...heck there's even an outdoor skating rink down the street from me so if I want to go skating all I do is drive 15 minutes and I'm there.