DCA Admission

So as my friends and I were at DCA yesterday, we started talking about why is it that admission price to DCA is the same price as DL's? My main thought would be if Disney made admission cheeper to DCA then it would be admitting that the park was not up to par of its sister across the way. I guess I could see that from a exectuive point of view, but in all actuality DCA doesn't nearly have the same entertainment value then that of DL. DCA has less things to do, and it closes earlier then DL.

So my question is to you guys, do you think if Disney lowered admission to DCA, would attendance go up for that park, or would it stay the same?

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Originally Posted by GhostHostJeff

So as my friends and I were at DCA yesterday, we started talking about why is it that admission price to DCA is the same price as DL's? My main thought would be if Disney made admission cheeper to DCA then it would be admitting that the park was not up to par of its sister across the way. I guess I could see that from a exectuive point of view, but in all actuality DCA doesn't nearly have the same entertainment value then that of DL. DCA has less things to do, and it closes earlier then DL.

So my question is to you guys, do you think if Disney lowered admission to DCA, would attendance go up for that park, or would it stay the same?

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Attendance would go up. Just look at the difference of when the 2Fer pass is offered compared to when it wasn't.

DCA is a fine theme park, but it isn't even close to Disneyland. Price 1/2-2/3rds Disneyland's admission price and I'm sure there would be a surge in attendance.

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Originally Posted by Wally

Attendance would go up. Just look at the difference of when the 2Fer pass is offered compared to when it wasn't.

DCA is a fine theme park, but it isn't even close to Disneyland. Price 1/2-2/3rds Disneyland's admission price and I'm sure there would be a surge in attendance.

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I agree. I may be in the minority, however--both for thinking the attendance will rise, and thinking DCA is a decent Park.

I boycotted DCA for a long while after it opened because I was appalled that Disney felt they could charge the same price and not offer a park hopper and expect me to pay it. It was ridiculous.

I think it'd help the park to drop the 1 day single park price for DCA. APers will still be paying the same amount, vacationers buying multiple day parkhopper passes will pay the same, the only thing it will do is possibly attract people to come and pay a cheap-by-comparison price and go to DCA for half a day or so.

I wonder if this controversey existed in 1982 when Epcot opened.....

It seems to me that DCA will always struggle as a locals park due not only to price, but also to theme. Californians want to escape, and a California theme isn't the escape theya re looking for.

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Originally Posted by fantasmic

I wonder if this controversey existed in 1982 when Epcot opened.....

It seems to me that DCA will always struggle as a locals park due not only to price, but also to theme. Californians want to escape, and a California theme isn't the escape theya re looking for.

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Welcome to MiceChat. Yep, the locals' reaction to DCA is frequently debated here: is it a matter of theming, or the quality of the attractions themselves, regardless of theme, that keeps a lot of SoCal residents away...? I've seen this discussion frquently ***for the record, this is not an invitation to start this debate once again--just an observation:)***

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Originally Posted by fantasmic

Californians want to escape, and a California theme isn't the escape theya re looking for.

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THAT IS SO TRUEE

I think that the majority of people feel that DCA's attendance would go up if it had a discounted price all year, instead of the 2'fer run in winter.

But I think that the problem is that the central committee in Florida is who sets the ticket prices. At WDW, all the parks have the same admission price even though the entertainment value is not equal. But the difference there is that there is so much more to do. If one goes to a park that does not have a full day of entertainment, like Animal Kingdom, it is almost seen as a relief for guests to do something else at the resort.

But Disneyland resort does not have the range of activities or entertainment options, and has a very large loyal local following. It would benefit GREATLY if the parks were price according to their entertainment value. But I don't see it happening because WDW set the president first and now all other resorts, like Disneyland Paris, Disneyland, and Tokyo Disneyland all follow the same approach.

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Originally Posted by GhostHostJeff

So as my friends and I were at DCA yesterday, we started talking about why is it that admission price to DCA is the same price as DL's? My main thought would be if Disney made admission cheeper to DCA then it would be admitting that the park was not up to par of its sister across the way. I guess I could see that from a exectuive point of view, but in all actuality DCA doesn't nearly have the same entertainment value then that of DL. DCA has less things to do, and it closes earlier then DL.

So my question is to you guys, do you think if Disney lowered admission to DCA, would attendance go up for that park, or would it stay the same?

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I also welcome you to MiceChat.

This is something that I've been advocating on these boards for almost two years now. If a single day Disneyland ticket is, what - 63 dollars (maybe more) now...then the DCA single day separate ticket should be no more than 35 dollars.

Charge those prices, and DCA might sell more than 200 tickets a day on its own (that's the figure Al Lutz says it is taking in now).

--Barry

You won't get disagreement here. I think that the admission for DCA should be priced at one half to two thirds of Disneyland's price --- and I'll bet they see an attendance increase there if they did.

Someone already commented that it wouldn't make much of a difference because the primary groups of visitors (AP holders and Multi-Day Park Hoppers) would be paying the same price. I agree with that. Just as with the parks in Florida - the one day ticket price is paid by very few guests.

I've been saying for awhile here that the majority of locals here are paying for the APs - knowing that they are a much better value (what isn't when you're buying in bulk?). So I would have to say that the only way decreasing the DCA ticket price would really work to increase attendance at that park would be a substantial rise in the price of the AP. Once AP holders are priced out of the AP program - they would have to pay for one day passes - and in that regard DCA could win out with a discounted admission over DL. Unfortunately that would probably cannibalize DL's attendance.

I think the best solution is to just continue the practice of using DCA as an overflow park and simply eliminate the one-park passes altogether. Just sell a one day park hopper pass for both parks.

Becasue of DCA being the same price as DL, most people are going to buy a hopper, than just a ticket to DCA. Hey for an extra $15-20 (or whatever the price is) you can go to both parks. More money for Disney that way...:).

But you know that Disney will never do that because then they would be admitting to DCA being inferior to DL. I agree it should, but I don't see it happening.