70th Anniversary Ticket Discounts?

 


It's the start of summer, and the celebration of Disneyland's 70th anniversary celebration. Disney often uses anniversary celebrations as marketing campaigns to encourage more guests to come to the parks. this practice started in the early days of Disneyland's history (here's a link to a video of the 10th anniversary celebration). Disney is stepping up the attractions, with a new fireworks show for Disneyland, a new World of Color for California Adventure, and updates to a few attractions. The popular night time parade Paint the Night is returning, too. With more offerings, exclusive dining, and new merchandise, this is a great time to visit the parks.


However, Disney is also offering ticket discounts for the 70th anniversary. This seems like a strange strategy, because discounts are typically used to encourage Park visitors during slower seasons. In the peak season (summer), there shouldn't be a need for discounts. Especially with the huge marketing campaign and new offerings, there should be enough incentive for people to visit the parks without the extra savings. So what is driving Disneyland to offer discounts now? 

Over the last couple years, at Disney has been reporting that attendances either stagnant or decreased, while Park profits increase. This is due to the increased prices in the park, including services like lightning Lane. Effectively, they're making more money off of fewer people. 

An important part of that story though, is that attendance is down. With fewer people in the park, Disney is missing out on potential customers. It's likely that these discounts are meant to regain some of that user base. 

The discounted tickets are 3 and 4 day single Park tickets. Sometimes Disney offers discounted tickets for California residents, but the length of these tickets indicates that the Californians aren't the target audience here. Disney is looking for people who would be traveling from outside of the area and staying for several days to use these. 

This is a sign that Disney recognizes. They have lost some of their customer base. Families that used to travel to the parks have been outpriced by the recent increases. This discount is an attempt to get them back in the door for the 70th anniversary. Disney is probably thinking that the lowered price will allow those guests to come and enjoy the 70th anniversary. Effectively, those guests are being treated as filler. While they won't be the High spenders that Disney is targeting in their current business, they will be an additional revenue stream that doesn't require a significantly higher service level in the parks. 

It'll be interesting to watch how crowds play out as we get closer to the 70th anniversary in July.



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