Disney parks raising ticket prices

CNN travel ^ | 08/04/10

[Political Junkie Too]

The pizza by the slice window was more my speed.

-PJ

[silverleaf]

If your kids are autistic (anyone with special needs), be sure to notify Disney ahead of time-

with a certification of the disability (doctor letter) and prior coordination, they will arrange special accomodations for your family- ie, no waiting in lines! And they may have other suggestions and accomodations.

(I know lines and crowds can be hellish with a special needs kiddo)

[donna]

Ha! I didn’t think of that.

[wideminded]

Given the economic circumstances Disney feels its brand is strong enough to command higher prices. I think they are doing this now on the assumption of future inflation.

I notice a lot of companies raising prices now. I think it has something to do with Wall Street. A public company cannot show a decline in revenue. So they try to compensate for smaller crowds by raising prices and hope that in the short term there will be a class of customers who are still willing to pay whatever they charge.

I was at Disney World recently. An odd thing I noticed was that a very high percentage of the customers seemed to be from the UK. I have never heard so many British accents in the US. Maybe Americans are staying away.

[silverleaf]

BTW, many schools will give you makeup and take along work and let the kids count some of the vacation activties toward school requirements if you skip some days... better airfares, prices and less corwds during “regular school” days and seasons

We always miss a few days of school for vacations

EPCOT is one big park full of science, environmental and international activties, Animal Kingdom has lots of educational and nature displays. MAGIC KINGDOM has history section and the kids reading the fairy tales that are the basis for the characters and stories can count toward literature. If the kids keep a journal of their vacation adventure it is like a writing lesson.

And check out the YES program mentioned above.

[Frantzie]

Does Cedar Point have NAMBLA (North American Man Boy Love) days like Disney aka ABC News?

[kevkrom]

If your kids are autistic (anyone with special needs), be sure to notify Disney ahead of time- with a certification of the disability (doctor letter) and prior coordination, they will arrange special accomodations for your family- ie, no waiting in lines! And they may have other suggestions and accomodations.

That's not entirely correct. A doctor's note does nothing, and the Disney folks will generally ignore them -- Disney follows the ADA guidelines of dealing with a person's ability to function, not a diagnosis.

What they will do, based on functional limitations, is issue a "guest assistance card" (GAC) with certain stamps/endorsements that allow the cast members at each attraction to know what accommodations might need to be made for the guest with a disability. I believe this is done on-site, and cannot be done in advance, because they issue the cards based on observable conditions.

It's not a "go to the front of the line" pass, but it could be used to, say, allow a stroller to be used as a wheelchair, and so be allowed in line, as an example.

In our family's case, despite the twins both being diagnosed as severely autistic, their ability to function as far as going to a theme park is concerned, is very minimal. Our daughter has no issues that could be addressed by a GAC, and our son is likewise mostly functional, but would need seating in shows near an easily accessible exit so we can get him out in a hurry if he has an "episode". Other than that, they're fine with the park environment and the rides. We avoid long lines anyway via fast pass and getting there early in the day.

[Dayman]

Last time I went to Disney EPCOT was still being built. I don’t think I’ve missed anything in the years since.

[Tatze]

I was at Disney World recently. An odd thing I noticed was that a very high percentage of the customers seemed to be from the UK. I have never heard so many British accents in the US. Maybe Americans are staying away.

The Brits still have a favorable exchange rate, so it's cheap to come here.

[edzo4]

i like universal better anyways, plus if you stay at the universal properties you get a pass to skip all the lines on the rides, which is totally worth it we averaged 6-7 rides per day at disney using the fast pass system we averaged 20 + rides per day at universal by skipping the line

[equalitybeforethelaw]

“I was at Disney World recently. An odd thing I noticed was that a very high percentage of the customers seemed to be from the UK. I have never heard so many British accents in the US. Maybe Americans are staying away.”

FL is a big Brit vacation spot. They love the weather, attractions and shopping opportunities. Remember, they live with a VAT in Britain and Europe, so simple things there cost a fortune (i.e., shirts, shoes, trousers, etc.). They also get a ton of vacation time, which is normally consumed in the summer. From their perspective, the money saved on buying consumer goods in America pays the ticket prices at places like Disney.

[chae]

Actually, not. Me, my 12-year-old son, my mom, and our cousin Shannon went to WDW in 2007, July 7-15. It was great. We stayed at the Port Orleans French Quarter. We were at the park at opening. Since we were staying on property, we we got the extra-magic hour in the morning and the extra-magic hours in the evening. We waited in line for about 15 minutes for the tea cups, and about 8 for dumbo in the evening. The only 2 rides we had to wait in line for were Pirate of the caribbean because it had just reopended after being totally re-habbed for over a year and the anmal kingdom safari ride.
All it take is being at the parks when they open and having a plan. For instance, I sent logan and shannon and my mom on ahead to Tower of Terror at the Studios and I trotted over to Rocking Roller Coaster and got us our fast-passes, as soon as we got off tower, we got on the coaster with no wait. I don’t think we waited more than 20 or so minutes except for a couple rides.

[silverleaf]

http://disneyworld.orlandovacation.com/articles/special-needs/guests-with-autism.php

Deb’s Unofficial WDW newsletter, AllEars, is an excellent resource for anyone visiting Disney, contains tips, discounts show information, accomodation reviews advice on closures and remodeling and reader comments on all experiences with all aspects of Disney. A clue is to know the resort poilicies before you go, prefereably call first.

http://allears.net/pl/dis_aut2.htm
http://allears.net/pl/dis_aut3.htm
http://allears.net/pl/dis_aut4.htm

[kidd]

Better info:

Open enrollment (or it is now called Individual Enrollment) is only available periodically.

It is presently available (in August and September) and it looks like it will be available in January

Here is a better link that takes you to the Individual Enrollment Page:

http://www.disneynow.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x24302f743

To see what is offered, click on the “Order Tickets Online Now” button. Then fill in the fields with some fake information and click ‘Continue’. Fill in some dates that you might be interested in, and click ‘Continue’. Pick a ticket package that interests you (prices are valid for both adults and children, prices are about 50% off for adults) then click ‘Continue’. Then it shows what classes are offered on certain days.

For a good discussion of the program, go to:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2332767&page=55

For example: A 5-day adult Premium park hopper ticket (5 days in the parks and 5 days at the water parks) would cost you $367.43, if you bought your tickets through the usual way. Under the YES program, it’ll cost you $173.68.

[kevkrom]

I’ll have to bear that in mind for future years. The eldest is just starting kindergarten (the YES program is 1st - 12th grades) and the twins are in special education preschool.