Each year prices at Disneyland continue to rise making it more difficult for families and the average person to attend. Although prices are at an all time high people continue to take that trip to the “Happiest place on earth.” About 40,000 people go to Disneyland each day and about 44 million purchased a ticket in a single year. Although the price for a single day ticket is $87 the park is still attracting thousands of visitors each year. With the help of the marketing team the Disney brand is able to advertise all over the world to attract more and more visitors to the Disneyland Resort.
More and more people are continuing to buy a Disneyland pass because Disney is now offering special perks to those with an annual pass. As a way to make the pass-holders go on less crowded days, Disney started to add special events just for annual pass holders. These special events allowed guests with a pass to attend an after-hours party for the 20th anniversary of the Fantasmic! show at Disneyland, they were also able to buy sneak-peek tickets to see the new Cars Land before it opens to the public (Tully, OC register). Annual Passholders aren’t the only ones who receive special benefits at the park. Disneyland had a special 24-hour opening on leap day forcing the parks to close its gates due to the crowds. The leap Day event ran from 6 a.m. Wednesday until 6a.m. Thursday. “Nearly 1 million of Disneyland’s pass-holders arrived at the park after work and overwhelmed the nearby freeways, streets and parking lots” (MacDonald, LA Times). Now on May 24, they are doing it again to kick off summer.
At Disneyland they always show events that are going to be taking place at the park just for Pass holders, what they don’t show is the extra money you have to pay. While some of the events are free they just happen to be for all guests and not a select few. Many times special events for pass holders anyone can attended they just have to pay an extra fee. A special currently being offered to all who attend Disneyland, is the Iron Man 3 exhibit. At the exhibit you can see authentic movie armor from the movie, learn about the technology behind the Iron Man suits, you can also virtually try on your own suit, and virtually test some of the cool features of the armor (Online, Disneyland) More perks of purchasing an annual pass are the discounts you receive on merchandise and dining. You receive any where between 10% to 20% discounts at the parks and downtown Disney. The premium pass comes with parking, but you can also add parking to any of the other passes for a fee of $99. Since the opening of Disneyland in 1955 prices of concessions and entry fee have risen over eighty-six dollars. On opening day the price for entrance was only one dollar now the price of admission for a one-day ticket is eighty-seven dollars. You are now able to purchase a park-hopper ticket ranging from $125 to $290 or a multiple day ticket ranging anywhere around $87 to $260. Not to mention parking which is now a whopping $15. The annual passport was introduced in 1984 and was only $65 compared to that of $649 today. Since the price of entry in 1984 was only $14 your pass would end up paying for itself after a few visits to the park. Since prices of passes have gone up one hundred dollars since 2012. Disneyland has offered an easier way to pay so more people can afford an annual pass. You can now do a monthly payment of varying prices depending on the type of pass you purchase. The different passes listed on the site are the Southern California Select; $269, the Southern California, offered only to California residents only; $329, the Deluxe; $469, and the most expensive, Premium, which includes parking and no blockout dates $649. The perks of becoming an annual passholder are minimum but also special. You are able to receive a certain percentage off (depending on your pass) food, merchandise, and V.I.P tours. Passholders also get the opportunity to attend special events at the parks, like the trick or treat on Halloween and special movie screenings inside the park. The Disneyland website has everything you need to know and more about the benefits of becoming an annual passholder and how anyone is able to afford an annual pass. |
Passes are very hard to afford especially if you buy a pass for your whole family. You can go on a payment plan only if you are a Southern California resident with the zip codes 90000 through 96199 (Online, Disney). Payment plans differ on the amount of the pass you select to purchase. Once you enter the park there are signs everywhere trying to get you to buy a pass and to use the payment plan. The signs all say the same thing that your payment plan starts at a fee of $15.17 per month. In reality the monthly payment differs on the type of pass you decide to purchase. Each monthly payment plan all comes with and eighty-seven dollar down payment no matter the pass you purchase. Thanks to the Disney marketing team anyone can see the deals and packages offered to those who cannot afford one large payment.
The park is divided into 8 different lands those being, Main Street, U.S.A, Adventureland, New Orleans Square, Critter Country, Frontierland, Fantasy, Toontown, and Tomorrowland. Each separate land consists of attractions, concessions, and merchandise. Each appeals to a different type of audience and draws a certain type of people. Fantasyland and Mickey’s Toontown draw in the younger audiences who aren’t tall enough to ride the bigger rides or those who are just too young and get frightened easier. Walking into Fantasyland is always a very difficult task to complete. There are so many children and their parents that’s its difficult to get through. The popular rides located in Fantasyland are Peter Pan’s flight and Dumbo the Flying Elephant. There are only a few rides located in Toontown they are, Roger Rabbit’s Car Toon Spin and Gadget’s Go coaster, which is a small roller coaster. Everything else there is basically a playground and a place to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse and explore their homes. While Disneyland attracts the younger audience it also is marketed towards the older visitors as well. Attracting the older visitors or the thrill seekers, are Frontierland, Tommorowland, and Adventureland. With more high-strung rides such as, Space Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Indian Jones. Many younger kids aren’t at the appropriate height to be able to ride. Disney now has the “child swap” where the parents and the older children can go on a ride like Splash Mountain and leave their young child with a Disney cast member and then the parents pick up their child after enjoying their ride. This makes visiting the park much easier for parents with children of all ages so all can enjoy the park. Since the opening of California Adventure in 2001 Disney has started to attract more people to the park. They have more of the adult attractions and less of the child attractions. California Adventure also serves alcohol throughout the park whereas across the way at Disneyland they do not serve any. California Adventure has just added a Starbucks and Disneyland is currently adding a Starbucks into the Marketplace store (Online, Micechat). In 2012 Disney opened a new land, Cars Land based on the movie Cars. Since the open of this land California Adventure has grown increasingly more crowded and popular. No matter how much Disneyland continues to raise their prices they will always be attracting millions of visitors from all around the world. Since the installment of a payment plan more and more people are buying annual passes. With the help of the advertising crew and the marketing team millions of people are able to see that it has become more affordable to become an annual pass holder. |