Keep finding more reasons in favor of letting our AP's expire

[sir clinksalot]

Now Club 33, that's more what would classically be thought of as exclusive.

Even Club 33 isn't as exclusive as it once was IMO. While it was always a dream for us to go, we went a couple of years ago and loved it. We also have an open invite from more than one friend to go anytime we want. I know of many other people who have a similar contact, people, like me, that would never be able to get their own membership.

This thread is interesting.
Sir Clinks I was wondering how old your kids are?

Being our young family is in the prime of Disneytime. But I know as they get older spread thin, it will be much more challenging. As with everything available time ebbs and flows.

This is a good point, and one that I probably should have mentioned. My kids are 17 and 15 now. So yes, some of that youthful desire to go to Disneyland has kind of gone away. The fact that we were AP holders for 15 years and they've probably gone well over 150 times in their lifetime probably has something to do with it as well.

But in the past year we've seen their commitments as far as extra-curricular activities increase. From my daughters leadership in FFA and her raising animals to my sons commitment to Track and all of the practice and meets involved in that.

When they were younger we'd ALWAYS give them the choice to get Disney passes or to play sports, do scouts, do other family things like camping, etc. They'd always choose Disney. We always gave them that choice because we knew that if we were spending our weekends doing sports the Disney passes wouldn't be worth it.

But I think even more than those new circumstances, if we all really felt it was worth making the day trip down there on a random Sunday we'd find a way to do it. We always used to. Now we are struggling to find even one Sunday between now and May to head down to the parks.

And again, in addition to those circumstances there were some other medical circumstances that were out of our control which contributed to us not going to the parks much.

[G24T]

Disney is hardly desperate and behaving nonsensically. They don't behave so cavalier as you describe. The picture you provide doesn't comport to the reality that they can do what they do because of who they are.

Here's a graph taken directly from the Walt Disney Company's web site. It shows 10 years of stock data:



Note that while the price of stock rose steadily since 2008 there was a lull in 2010 followed by an explosion of investment in 2011 that carries on today. While entertainment ventures and assets accounted for a lot of this increase, the parks (DLR in particular) has driven value to an all time high for the company.

So let me point out that in 2010 TDA was struggling to get AP holders to spend money in the parks. This during a time when all the WDC had to rely on was sheer earnings numbers as there was nothing too exciting to announce otherwise. Cars Land eventually saved the company from this conundrum as people came in drones to see the new land but left with shiny new APs in their pockets.

Marketing realized that the fervor for Cars Land wouldn't last forever and thus created new formulas for getting AP holders to visit the parks over and over again in what I believe to be a strategy to get the guests to spend a little money on many trips over a longer period of time rather than dropping a lot of cash in just several visits. Enter the Disney Blog, after-hour Thursdays, celebrity signings, and Limited Time Magic, all programs to get people to feel as if they need to be in the parks at least once every two weeks or else they'll miss out on something magical (or offensive as we learned from the Golden Horseshoe Revue debacle). These programs are getting tossed to the general public like poker cards, fast and steadily, to see what sticks. This specifically screams "desperate" to me because Disney knows that at this point a significant drop in their AP renewals will trigger a sell-off of their stock that even Mark Hamill or Iron Man 3 can't save. So they're frantically and sporadically trying to artificially maintain a volatile plateau of these AP guests who are locked into potential "spending agreements" with the company.

So to re-quote you on a key statement:

....The picture you provide doesn't comport to the reality that they can do what they do because of who they are.

Yes, Disney can do what they do because of who they are but what they can't do is brainwash APs to spend and renew. Again, these aren't your traditional "I love Disneyland so much that I'll pay hundreds for the privilege to love it as much as I can, boy am I smart and grateful" pass holders. These are the "Well the lady at the ticket counter said I'd save money in the long term if I just sign up for their monthly annual pass program thingy and.. well, we'll just try it a year and see if we like it" pass holders. As brain-dead as some may claim these newbie AP guests are, they are very good at leaving something when it gets boring in favor for something more fun & momentarily worthwhile. Disney unfortunately, has inherited hundreds of thousands of these people. Being a slave to the stakeholders, the critics, and these crazy APs, I'd say that Disney is walking on eggshells here and is less the confident entity that you say it is.

We need to stop calling the APs a bargain. The prices are many times more expensive than the competition. Disney's winning strategy that you alluded to is... They are selling expensive passes to lots of people, and that is somehow miscontrued as a bargain since many were able to purchase it despite the high prices.

The debate on exclusivity is on the same train of thought. Just because so many purchased it doesn't mean it isn't an exclusive. Yet perhaps the word, exclusive, is the wrong term to use. Maybe limited availability is more accurate.

Disney APs are a huge huge bargain in the theme park industry. Let's forget that the price of admission, as high as it is, actually deminishes the more that you vist and shine a light on some of the other benefits you get. You get discounts on food and merchandise, you save hundreds on all on-site accommodations, you get discounts on guided tours and DTD stores & restaurants, discounts on movie tickets & the Mandara Spa, discounts on face painting!, exclusive access to private movie screenings, access to Limited Time Magic events, access to AP Previews, and the self-gratification of being able to gloat about being an AP holder to all your friends & family.

My point being that the AP is a total bargain if you take advantage of the many
benefits it offers. It's on you if you just want to use it for park access.

Also, close your eyes for a minute and imagine yourself at the Disneyland ticket counter buying or renewing your brand new 2013 APs. Now picture the same thing, but your'e at Universal Studios Hollywood and they want you to pay the same price as DL's. See how hard your'e laughing at the USH ticket clerk? You're even telling the guy behind you to get a load of the ripoff that Shrek here's trying to sell you. Basically, to see value, sometimes you have to see the whole big picture.

I sincerely like your term "Limited Availability" not just for the relevance but for the double meaning of it. I mean, it's availability is limited to only those who have the AP access AND it's also limited availability for those AP holders who've ever stared at the registration web page for an AP event only to have it tell you that the events been sold out. I call that AP rage.