Did Scrooge take over as CEO of Disney, replacing CEO Bob Iger? In recent months, the prices charged by the American giant appear to have been raised for the Space Mountain attraction.
First of all, it is the streaming service that continues to cost its subscribers the most. After an increase of 5 euros in 2023, the premium subscription to the platform increases again this month by 2 euros and amounts to 13.99 euros compared to 6.99 euros at its launch in France in 2020.
But it is especially in the parks where certain prices attract attention. The hype began in 2023, when Disneyland simplified its annual pass offering, increasing its number from three to four with, in the process, very significant increases. These unlimited tickets throughout the year were previously sold between 229 and 499 euros depending on the package, the three new prices of bronze, silver and gold now range between 289 and 699 euros.
Fan discontent continued this year as the winter season approached when Mickey announced that from now on he would have to pay to be well positioned during the famous parade of floats and costumed characters. Disneyland created a “reserved zone” and paid for about two scenes in front of the castle. For 21 euros a day and 24 euros per person at night, visitors will be able to be well positioned when before they had to position themselves more than an hour in advance to ensure a good view, but it was free.
Too expensive queue jumpers
Always sell more services. This has been the theme park strategy for years and Disneyland is a pioneer. Gone are the days when we only relied on the store to increase the average basket of visitors. Skip-the-line passes are obviously one of them. For the most impatient visitors, the park has been selling coupons for years to sometimes avoid having to queue for several hours to access an attraction.
Passes that are increasingly varied but also increasingly expensive. In the United States, the group announced that its new Lightning Lane Premier Pass, which allows you to go first to an attraction without a specific arrival time, will be sold depending on the parks and times of year between $129 and… $449. Per person obviously. The French park also has its queue bosses, less expensive but also less advantageous.
Thus, Premier Access One only costs between 5 and 18 euros but only allows you to skip the line once a day and at a specific time. For the luckiest, Premier Access Ultimate offers priority access to 15 attractions per day from a selection, but costs between €90 and €160 in high season depending on park attendance. All of these prices, of course, are added to the ticket price.
Precisely about this post. Disneyland Paris has just announced a small revolution: the implementation of dynamic pricing. If until now prices varied according to seasonality and time of week, they remained fixed once and for all throughout the year. This will no longer be the case. From now on, it will be the actual attendance at the park that will determine the price you will have to pay.
As with the plane, the sooner you book, the less you will pay. Additionally, Disney now opens its reservations 18 months in advance compared to 12 months until now. Once in your virtual basket, the price will not change for one hour.
Dynamic prices to democratize?
Will it cost more in the end? It’s hard to say, it will depend on demand. What we can say is that the price range will be greater: the cheapest tickets will start at 50 euros for an adult (compared to 56 before) but will rise to 175 euros for the two parks while before the most expensive tickets will not. . exceed 130 euros.
Initially appearing in air transport, “surge pricing” has spread in recent years to new sectors of activity such as railways, hotels, ski resorts, but also to concerts in certain countries, as recent studies have confirmed. fans of the group Oasis.
Dynamic pricing allows in practice to optimize the filling of a means of transport, smooth attendance at a location throughout the year and, ultimately, reduce costs per user and, therefore, potentially reduce the average price.
This is what is guaranteed by most companies that practice this dynamic pricing, such as the SNCF or certain ski resorts.
“Pricing flexibility allows for a much wider price range, with a lower minimum price than traditional prices would allow, thus making skiing accessible to as many people as possible,” explains Christian Vigezzi, director of the ski resort of Saint-Foy-Tarentaise. has just launched it with prices of 28 to 40 euros per package.
This is also Disney’s argument, which points out that the price of admission has dropped and that for customers who book in advance the cost is lower.
“People get used to it”
It remains to be seen whether customers will be convinced. Because this price flexibility according to demand usually falls very badly among consumers. And not only in France. Following the “Oasis controversy”, the British government has promised to investigate these controversial methods of selling concert tickets.
If consumers admit that prices can be different depending on the period, they tend to consider it unfair to pay more for the same service. Because now in the Disneyland Paris park, on the same day, visitors who booked very early and paid 50 euros will rub shoulders with others who booked later and paid double.
“It often generates negative reactions among consumers, acknowledges Philippe Berland. But in certain sectors, such as aviation, people have become accustomed and know that you have to book in advance. When the pricing method is changed, friction and moments of conflict arise. adaptation.”
In the case of Disneyland Paris, however, the interest is evident. If park attendance increased after the Covid years, it still remains behind these historical records. According to the annual report of the TEA (Themed Entertainment Association), the Marne-la-Vallée park remains by far the busiest in Europe, with 10.4 million visitors in 2023 (compared to 9.9 million in 2022). But in 2009, a record year for Disneyland Paris, there were more than 12.7 million.
It will probably not be in 2024 that the Ile-de-France park will reach this level again. Disney confirmed that it had suffered a negative “DO” effect on its summer attendance. In the publication of these latest quarterly results, the group recognized a 5% decrease in the business volume of these international “experience” activities, which also include cruises.
Better target demand with dynamic pricing and increase the average basket by charging for new services. Despite fans’ discontent, Disney is counting on this to correct the situation.
Source: BFM TV
