Tyler's movie reviews

Tyler's movie reviews

Sunday, March 28, 2021

Disneyland Forward: Let's take a deep dive look at the expansion potential for Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California

 Disneyland Forward - Everything Disney Has Said Publicly


A few days ago Disney launched the website DisneylandForward.com with some flashy concept art and teasing that they want to get new zoning approvals for basically all of their current ground level parking lots. They included putting the Eastern Gateway parking structure back on the table, which would be needed if they develop all the existing ground level parking into attractions, retail, dining, and hotels. They also show what appears to be theme park expansion pads replacing the Pinocchio and Simba Parking Lots on the West side of the property. On top of that, they tease that they would like to do something similar to Disney Springs from Walt Disney World in the location of the current Toy Story parking lot as teased below.


Below is a site map that they are using to present to the city of Anaheim for what they are looking to do. Here is a good time to remind you that they are current;y only asking for the updated zoning. So don't be looking at the concept art for specific things they are set on doing because unless they get the zoning approved, none of this can happen. I feel it is also important to note that in their own image they specify that they want both areas to be zoned for "Theme Park, Retail, Dining, Entertainment, and Hotel" use, more on this later.


Everything hinges on the Eastern Gateway getting approval. Disney first shared this concept with the public back in 2016 with the goal being to open in 2018, in time for the big Star Wars Galaxy's Edge expansion that opened in 2019. You can see they want this back on the table now as it is the "possible new parking structure" to the East of the parks and North of the Toy Story lot. Without this getting approved, they really will be stuck for a while. The premise was that it would not just be a big parking structure, but the shuttle and ride share drop-offs would be moved to this site, and all entering the parks from the East Side would use a new pedestrian overpass to access the Esplanade. Note, this will likely also free up some land that could be swallowed up by California Adventure for an expansion to the Hollywood section of the park. And, as I was researching the property, the USCIS lease expired sometime last year, meaning that Disney has full use of that space now too, the original site plan had them building the garage on one side of it and the shuttle drop offs on the other side of it.


Why Disney NEEDS to buy GardenWalk:

GardenWalk would be a bigger competitor as soon as Disney builds up the Toy Story Lot, and is right between this site and the Eastern Gateway. GardenWalk has been struggling ever since it opened more than a decade ago, so much that it has had 3 owners in this time. After this last year, with the extremely limited capacity, and places like House of Blues having to have no live entertainment for over a year, I highly doubt that GardenWalk is doing well like the current owners would have wanted when they purchased the property a couple years ago. 

From what I can tell, even if Disney were to acquire the GardenWalk property, they wouldn't be able to change what it is zoned for (retail, dining, entertainment, and hotels) for 10-20 years and that would be a good thing. Lets imagine that you are a guest who is going to the potential 3rd gate and you parked at the Eastern Gateway. Disney builds a nice pedestrian overpass to get you onto the GW property, or even does like in DownTown Disney and does significant work on Disney Way (and Katella) to have the road go down gradually and back up to meet Harbor so that the pedestrians don't have too much incline for their route. You then are right in the middle of GardenWalk as you are on your way to the park and maybe you decide to grab breakfast, or window shop. And then, on your way back to the car after the park closes, you can grab that item you saw in the morning and have been thinking about all day. 

 



Disney wants to be able to control your experience from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. How will they control the experience if the only way to whatever they do at the current Toy Story lot is through someone else's property? And for that matter, do you really think Disney wants their guests spending at their competitor when they are walking to/from the site? We all know the answer is no. So regardless of what Disney wants to do with the Toy Story lot, they'll need this property to connect the entire resort. The property is also already zoned as part of the "Disney Resort Area" as opposed to the "Anaheim Resort Area" for the city's master plan as seen above (source: Anaheim Master Plan)

Why a 3rd Park is Better than a Shopping District and can fit.


Let's now take a look at the Toy Story lot and why a 3rd theme park is actually the best way to go. Let's start with the myth that the property is "too small for a 3rd park". As you can see in the image above, the actual acreage of this property is approximately 74 acres. Disney will never be able to get another piece of property this large anywhere remotely close to Disneyland. Also, even when Disney purchased the property back in 1998, both they, and the city of Anaheim anticipated it becoming a 3rd park. (source: Anaheim Farm Now Disney's Land to Expand) And, this parcel of land has actually been zoned for Theme Park use ever since Disney purchased it, Disney actually had to get special zoning approval to make it the Toy Story parking lot back in 2008). Also, Disney was definitely planning for a 3rd park in the late 90s/early 2000s to the point where they actually had a special website to tease it, (much like DisneylandForward.com is teasing now). That website? thirdthemepark.com and it teased the possibilities of what they could do with a 3rd park (image source progresscityusa.com)


Why haven't they built a 3rd park yet? Well there are a lot of factors, to start with, these plans were from before the 9/11 terrorist attacks that lead to a decrease in tourism. Also, California Adventure saw very lackluster attendance (attendance is partly based on how many guests start their day at the park, not just how many were there throughout the day via park hopping). They had to slam the breaks on the growth and instead focus on DCA. A Bug's Land was build incredibly fast due to using off the shelf rides. The Tower of Terror ride was originally going to be a geyser theme and put behind Thunder Mt, but when DCA was struggling and needed a shot in the arm, they opted to do a copy of the successful ride from WDW. Also, instead of Monsters Inc getting a brand new ride, Superstar Limo was met with such an awful reaction that they had to replace it cheaply fast in time for the 50th anniversary celebration. Then shortly after that they announced the massive overhaul of DCA that added Cars Land, World of Color, Little Mermaid, and redoing the entire entrance. 

Now we fast forward to a new problem. Disney has done so much growth in both Disneyland and DCA that they are fast running out of room to expand either park. The best solution? Build a 3rd park on the current Toy Story lot site. I imagine that the people living in the residential area bordering that property might be uneasy about that idea, so perhaps Disney could have more of their back stage areas and maybe a hotel along those borders to act as a sound barrier. The Hotels on the other side of the property would probably welcome a park because then they can charge more for rooms with a view of the park. Also, this would alleviate some of the pressure from the existing parks and make projects like a New Tomorrowland, or massively updated Hollywood much easier as they won't be as disruptive in the grand scheme of things. Also, this would allow Disney to alternate between the 3 parks for new offerings instead of just between 2 parks which is what they do now.

 

I would still ask the city for the zoning they want on the West side of the parks now to have available for a later date because at some point they will need it. They can build the 3rd park smaller like they did with DCA originally (it was only 55 acres in 2008) so build it at 50-55 acres now, then leave room for later expansions as needed. I would then try to acquire GardenWalk because that property sold for less than they spend to make 1 Marvel or Star Wars movie in 2018-19 so it really wouldn't be that expensive in the grand scheme of things. They'd have to honor existing leases, but they could start figuring out their long term plans for the area to have a "DownTown Disney East" where I think they need to have another hotel (or 2). 


Lastly, we should discuss some sort of transportation system to get you around the resort. Being the progressive that I am, I believe that any option they choose should be good for the environment so buses are my least favorite option. I would lean towards a PeopleMover system, or a Skyliner (although I can see a potential problem of if it breaks down, you then might have gondolas dangling above moving traffic on Harbor, Disney Way, and Katella). My preference would be a new Monorail line that would start from the existing Downtown Disney station, then hug DCA's Western border and have a stop at the Anaheim Convention Center, then head to the outside of the new park (maybe stop at GardenWalk), continue East on Katella and stop at ARTIC (like was originally planned when that site was in development), then double back, stopping again at GardenWalk, then turning North to stop at Eastern Gateway, then travel all the way around the back side of Disneyland to end up back at the current DownTown Disney station) but, that is probably the most expensive option. So I think the most economic option would be either a Skyliner or People Mover, and that Peopl Mover might just be easier to get the approval for from the city.

Can you imagine getting a 3rd park in time for Disneyland's 75th Anniversary in 2030? If they get the ball rolling now, it might actually be doable!

Tuesday, June 30, 2020

Disney Parks Attractions That May Need to be Updated for a Modern Audience.

Disney Parks Attractions May Need to be Updated for Modern Audiences

Ok, so after some of the recent news I figured it would be important to actually take a deep look at which attractions should probably get some sort of update to be more appealing to modern audiences. So let's start by looking at what has already been announced and hinted at by Disney.


Splash Mountain

Disney Just announced on June 25, 2020 that Splash Mountain at both Disneyland and the Magic Kingdom will be re-themed to Princess and the Frog. In the announcement they said that the project has been underway behind the scenes for over a year, so this wasn't a reaction to the online petitions demanding the Song of the South characters be removed. If I were to guess, I think they probably had these plans and maybe intended to announce the project next year at D23, but that the current events and petitions forced their hand to make the announcement now. I for one am fully supportive of this change, especially at Disneyland where splash Mountain is right next to New Orleans Square. 


I would also go one step further with this, and change Hungry Bear to Tiana's Palace and have both the ride and restaurant officially become part of New Orleans Square, leaving the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh, Pooh's Corner, and the Pooh meet and greet area as a mini Hundred Acre Wood "land" of its own. To add to the fun of a Tiana's Palace restaurant, I would actually make it be similar to Be Our Guest over in the Magic Kingdom, where all who go there get an opportunity to get a photo op with Tiana (all day), and Naveen (in the evening for Dinner). I would also take a little bit of the golden Horseshoe approach and have a live Jazz Band featuring Louis (not actually playing) during peak times of day. Just imagine going in for dinner with live music being played, getting to see Louis on stage, and have Tiana and Naveen greet you on your way out. They also aren't featured in Fantasmic which makes it so that they could be there the whole time and not be in conflict with the show outside).

The Jungle Cruise

 Back in April of 2017, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson announced on instagram that he would be working on the Jungle Cruise film which hits theaters in Summer 2021. But if you didn't read his entire caption, you may have missed this part:

 "Well, clearly I don't know how the hell men were actually talking in the 50's, but what I do know is being able to star in and produce #JungleCruise is a dream come true. BUT what takes this to the next level, is that we'll partner with Disney's brilliant Imagineers to help re-engineer and re-design the #JungleCruise ride in all the Disney theme parks around the world. A very special opportunity for us and our @sevenbucksprod to create an unforgettable and fun EXPERIENCE for families around the world. And as Walt Disney himself would say... it's magical."

It looks to me like we can expect to see some updates to the Jungle Cruise when the movie comes out. If I were to guess, I'd expect the ambush sequence to be changed as that is a potentially racist depiction of natives, as well as maybe a few other areas that could stand to get some updated figures due to how old the existing ones are. Disney hasn't officially announced anything about Jungle Cruise but we should keep our eyes open.

Other Potential Changes for Both Disneyland and Walt Disney World:

 Liberty Square, Hall of Presidents, and American Adventure. There are some fans suggesting a Hamilton overlay for both areas now that Hamilton will be released on Disney+ on July 3rd. I don't know that I would go that far, but I do think there are updates that can be done. this may be considered unpopular in some circles, but I would first nix the Hall of Presidents and do a completely different story in that building that is American History. Not all the presidents, and nobody added immediately, but a decade after they're major movement so that history has a chance to judge them before they are added. So for Hall of Presidents, something specifically those who founded the nation (Washington, Jefferson, Revere, Franklin, Hamilton, etc), as well as key movement leaders who pushed America to be better on civil rights (Frederick Douglas, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King jr, Malcolm X, Susan B Anthony, Teddy Roosevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, John Kennedy, Barack Obama). Then over in American Adventure, I would mostly keep the tone from the video montage but spread it to the whole show. Make the hosts be people that aren't old white men, and have it focus on scientists, musicians, artists, etc. Throughout both attractions, highlight the struggles of BIPOC in the country's history and up to today. Currently both attractions have a lot of white washing, like how American Adventure doesn't point out that the Civil War was started because the Confederacy refused to free the slaves. It also doesn't call out Andrew Jackson's horrific Trail of Tears. Whatever they do, I think it would be cool if they worked with Lin Manuel Miranda on it because he has figured out a way to make history entertaining instead of boring. Sorry, but both attractions are incredibly boring.


Another attraction that may need to be addressed is Peter Pan due to the racist portrayal of Native Americans. While I believe that the overall ride should be okay to stay, I do think that they may need to do some kind of adjustment to tiger Lily and the rest of the Native Americans in the ride. The scene with Peter Pan rescuing her at Skull Rock is fine, but the problem in the film is when they visit the Indian village. Knowing that her father is the one that sings "What Makes Red Man Red" I could see keeping Tiger Lily's rescue (Disneyland version) and changing where you see her father. For Magic Kingdom it might need a more intense retooling since right now Tiger Lily is only seen in the village, and not on her own.

That's all I have for now. But keep an eye out for future posts.

Saturday, April 14, 2018

Disneyland's Pixar Fest: The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly.

Pixar Fest began yesterday at Disneyland and California Adventure and unlike most of the Disney blogs that are either blindly loving all of it or not being honest with their readers so they can keep being invited back to future media events, I'm going to give my honest opinions on everything from the signage to the entertainment. I'll skip talking about the food and merchandise offerings because those honestly are decent enough so for today we are focusing on the things that aren't able to be purchased. I want to start by mentioning that I love almost every Pixar movie and character so my criticism of the even are not about the characters or properties they are from.

Lets start with the first things you'd encounter upon arriving at the parks for the day. The signs above the turnstiles, the banners in the esplanade, bunting on Main Street and Buena Vista Street, and the monorails. The bunting looks good, it doesn't scream "Pixar" and is a nice set of colors for the spring and summer. The banners at least all have the same artistic style, but personally something doesn't feel quite right for being Pixar characters. The signs above the turnstiles are a mixed bag. I really like the Inside Out and Incredibles ones, but the Toy Story one leaves an awkward feeling due to not using any of the core characters from the trilogy. As for the monorails, so far only monorails Orange (Incredibles) and Blue (Finding Nemo) have been revealed. These feel tacky, but the visual style on the Nemo wrap is at least not an eyesore.






Next up is the Pizza Planet overlay of Redd Rocket's Pizza Port in Tomorrow Land. There was no concept art in the announcement but most of us expected a minimalist approach if it was going to be temporary. But nobody expected how hideous and pathetic the sign would actually be. As a refresher her is an image of the famous restaurant from Toy Story to compare to what they gave us in the park. There are no words to properly describe how I feel about this. We put more effort into signs for Prom and Homecoming when I was in High School, it is as if whoever gave the green light thinks the park attendees are stupid and won't care when things are hideous.

A nice surprise is that the Blue Sky Cellar has reopened for the first time in years now featuring a preview of Pixar Pier (not even kidding when I say this is the second time the pier has been featured in the Blue Sky Cellar due to the 2010-2012 retheme to the 20s Victorian pier). I am glad that it is back though it is kind of funny seeing different versions of the concept art that are more tasteful and less obnoxious than wat is actually being built (I'm looking at you Senor Buzz Churros).

Now lets take a look at Pixar Play Parade, which for some reason is now running in Disneyland park after a decade in California Adventure. Wen they announced this at D23 last summer they said it was because Paint the Night as moving to DCA, and these are now the only 2 parades running, there is no daytime parade in DCA right now. Now before I get into the changes to the parade I'm going to give you my ranking of the various parades from the past year at the resort:

1. Paint The Night
2. Frightfully Fun Parade (Halloween Parties)
3. Soundsational
4. A Christmas Fantasy
5. Main Street Electrical Parade
6. Pixar Play Parade

As you can see Pixar Play was already my least favorite parade at the resort and that was mostly because it is a DECADE old and is stale. Don't get me wrong, it is a fun parade with a great artistic design (thanks to Jody Daily) and great music. And usually I get excited when Disney adds something new to a parade so that it can be refreshed. But I do have an expectation that if the original people still work for the company that they be brought in to design the new units and come up with the new music... This clearly didn't happen this time as the new floats don't look anything like the original floats and the new music doesn't even come close to blending in as if original and therefore really takes you about of the moment wen you hear it. Here are the 3 new units that were added for Pixar Play Parade being in Disneyland.



And here are the original floats.




And here is the first version of an Inside Out float from when it was a pre-parade unit. compare the 2 and notice how the original float actually would have fit in with the rest of the parade instead of looking like it didn't belong. Also the new float is based on Bing Bong's death scene which is so tasteless "Hey kids, remember this scene from Inside Out were Bing Bong sacrifices himself to save Joy and Sadness?". I'm guessing the original float had already been scrapped for something else, because otherwise why not use it.

Paint The night has returned after a lengthy hiatus after the 60th anniversary celebration. I absolutely love this parade and am so glad it is back. The only changes I've noticed are: Frozen is out because the float was too tall to fit under the Trolley wires, and the Little Mermaid float as adjusted to fit under the wires. From what I can tell nothing else has changed. Also there will be a fun new Incredibles float joining the parade when Incredibles 2 comes out in June.

And now we get to Together Forever, the brand new Pixar fireworks show. I was skeptical but optimistic based on a few teases Disney gave like that Buzz Lightyear would be on Tinkerbell's wire and then later the Up house would also be on the wire. I also love the Coco portion of  the show. That said, I personally think they should have used "Remember Me", the most popular song from the movie, instead of "The World Es Mi Familia". As individual segments most of them work with one exception being the second Toy Story segment... the scene from Toy Story 3 when they are all about to be burned in the incinerator at the dump, such a tasteless choice and all to utilize the fireballs that were first installed for the Indiana Jones section of Remember Dreams Come True. The overall show feels like a clunky mess and not well planned out at all and is no better than the sum of its parts.




So how would I rank it compared to the fireworks shows from the past 12 months:

1. Remember Dreams Come True (nothing has topped this yet)
2. Halloween Screams
3. Believe.. In Holiday Magic
4. Together Forever
5. Celebrate America (4th of July)
6. New Years Eve

Final thoughts on the event as presented so far (pre Pixar Pier's opening) would be that its an ok event but still fails to hit the mark. It for some reason doesn't give Merida/Brave any attention, not in either parade, not in a fireworks segment, nor even bringing back the old meet and greet featuring her brothers. Disney is saying this is the first Pixar Fest which worries me that this might come back in the future without significant upgrades and retooling things to actually make sense as a cohesive event. I also think Luxo Jr and the Pixar ball are featured way too much considering how many characters/franchises were practically ignored (Brave, Ratatouille, and Good Dinosaur)

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Marvel Cinematic Universe Connectivity

As many of you may have already seen thanks to Marvel's press release about production being underway on Captain Marvel, Lee Pace (Ronan the Accuser), Djimon Hounsou (Korath), and Clark Gregg (Agent Phil Coulson) are all returning for this movie, as well as previously announced Samuel L Jackson (Nick Fury). I couldn't be more excited by the news that we will once again see Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson on the big screen. That said this could also be bad news for fans of Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. because it could undermine Coulson's backstory that we've already learned about in the TV show. Lets take a deep dive into what I'd specifically like to see happen in this movie, as well as discuss previous opportunities to have SHIELD characters cameo in the movies and why I hope they turn the trend around starting with Captain Marvel. There will be many spoilers for Agents of SHIELD as well as just about every Marvel movie that has come out since Iron Man 3 so be prepared.


Starting with what I hope to see happen in Captain Marvel to be a subtle wink at the fans of Agents of SHIELD. The first and most obvious thing is that I want to see happen in Captain Marvel is for Fury and Coulson to claim the body of a Kree soldier killed in the Kree-Skrull war for SHIELD to experiment on leading to what would eventually be the TAHITI project (Terrestrialized Alien Host Integrative Tissue I.) which would later (immediately after the events of the first Avengers) be used to save Phil's life and bring him back from the dead although the tricky part is that according to the show, the TAHITI project wasn't started until 2009, with the idea being to revive a mortally wounded Avenger (Episode 120 Nothing Personal). Thankfully I don't remember the show ever stating how long SHIELD had been in possession of the body prior to the project starting, so it is very possible that they had been keeping the body on ice for over a decade (since we know that Captain Marvel takes place sometime in the 90s).


This however leads to a potentially new problem for connecting with the show, yet also a potential way to give massive fan service depending on how they approach it. As we learned in Episode 414 "The Man Behind The Shield", Agents Coulson and May (Ming-na Wen) went on one of their first missions together to recover a Russian 0-8-4 (item of unknown origin). May even gives us a hint that it is Coulson's first field mission. At the time he was a level 4 agent and she was level 3, however to the episode's benefit it actually only says that this mission was "some time ago" as opposed to giving a specific year.


In the season 2 episode "Melinda" (217) we see Agent May's final mission before choosing to leave field work in favor of a desk job position in SHIELD. We see that this took place roughly in April 2008, just before the events of the original Iron Man when Coulson mentions that Fury intended to start the Avengers initiative and tried to recruit May, as well as that they are hard at work on building the Triskellion. We also then see why she earned the nickname "Cavalry", she had been interested in helping Coulson, but once she experienced Bahrain she left the field until Fury recruited her to watch over Coulson after his resurrection.


Seasons 1 and 2 of the show worked much harder at interweaving with the movies as they came out. Right off the bad the Extremis group from Iron Man 3 were referenced, followed by being the clean-up crew after Thor: The Dark World. Then when Captain America: Winter Soldier came out they teed up the movie by sending Agent Sitwell to the Lemurian Star (where we first see him in the film) then deal with the fallout of the movie. In season 2 the show perfectly sets up Avengers: Age of Ultron by having Coulson's team searching for intel on Loki's staff which he then forwards to Agent Hill to forward to the Avengers. The episode even featured one of the villains from Age of Ultron escaping to Sokovia. In the episode that came out right after the movie we discover that Coulson had secretly been building the helicarrier that Fury brought to help save the Sokovian people.


This is actually also the first real opportunity that the movies had to give TV show characters a cameo. When we saw Fury on the helicarrier with May, IMO there still isn't a good reason that none of Coulson's team were on the bridge, easily Fitz and Simmons could have been present. Similarly someone could have been present at the beginning of the movie at the party where Hill was present, it could have been an excellent time to let the Avengers know that Coulson had been revived (yet to this day, to the audience's knowledge they don't know he is still alive). Over the years the show has had many actors from the movies guest star as their characters: Hayley Atwell (and the rest of the Howling Commandos), Samuel L Jackson, Jamie Alexander, Powers Booth, Cobie Smulders, Maximiliano Hernández, William Sadler, and Henry Goodman (there may be more that I'm forgetting). But they haven't had anyone yet this year, we haven't seen Fury since season 1, Hill since season 2, President Ellis since season 3, in fact I think he and Powers Booth were the most recent to guest star in season 3.


Agents of SHIELD at its basic premise has the opportunity to crossover with every part of the MCU. They easily could have had crossovers with the netflix characters, Runaways is new enough that I can understand not crossing over yet (especially since they are young and the SHIELD team has been very busy this season), but how come they have yet to even mention the names of the Defenders characters to acknowledge that they know who those heroes are? They even went so far as to have Quake and Daredevil come from the same orphanage, but neither has ever referenced the other's existence. The Netflix shows have 6 different shows and they have all had great connectivity with each other. Even Inhumans (as unpopular as it was) referenced events in Agents of SHIELD, it was unclear as to when the show took place, but it was definitely after season 2's SHIELD finale. I'll be curious to see if Cloak and Dagger references any other Marvel properties when it premiers in June.


Looking at the list of movies to have come out since Agents of SHIELD came out the following are the only ones I can understand not acknowledging the show: Guardians of the Galaxy 1&2, Spider-Man Homecoming since the team as in the future at that point, Thor Ragnorok, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, and Thor the Dark World. Everything else was Earth based and if it came out while SHIELD was on (instead of during summer) should have at least acknowledged that SHIELD does currently exist.


While Jeph Loeb (head of Marvel TV) and Channing Dungey (head of ABC) have both said they are optimistic about SHIELD being renewed, many fans have felt that this season feels like it is ramping up for a series finale, I truly hope it continues but if it does end, maybe after it we could finally see Quake show up in one of the movies, or a netflix show for a few episodes. And to circle back to the what sparked this post, Do I want to see TAHITI origins and Agent May in Captain Marvel? Hell yes, but being honest, I think there is about a 2% chance that either of those happens, and 0.5% chance that both happen.

Friday, February 16, 2018

The problem with the Diseyland AP program and how to fix it!

Disneyland has raised ticket prices again, and this time was the largest increase since Cars Land opened in 2012. In today's post I'm going to dive into some of the reasons for why the prices go up by so much, what the problems are with the current program, and some out of the box "blue sky" ideas on how to improve the program going forward in anticipation of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opening in 2019.

Here is a table I compiled with all pricing data I could find going back to 1982 when Disney first changed the ticketing to an all inclusive admission as opposed to the old Ticket Book admission.

 
Year
1-Day
Park Hopper
SoCal Select
SoCal
Deluxe
Premium
Signature
Signature Plus
Premier
2018
$117
$167
$369
$549
$729
-
$999
$1149
$1579
2017
$110
$165
$339
$469
$619
-
$849
$1049
$1439
2015
$99
$155
$299
$409
$549
$779
$849
$1049
$1099
2014
$96
$150
$289
$379
$519
$699
-
-
$1029
2013
$92
$137
$279
$359
$499
$669
-
-
$979
2012
$87
$125
$269
$329
$469
$649
-
-
$849
2011
$80
$105
$199
$269
$379
$499
-
-
$700
2010
$76
$101
$169
$219
$299
$439
-
-
$700
2009
$72
$97
$144
$194
$289
$429
-
-
-
2008
$68
$94
$134
$174
$269
$389
-
-
-
2007
$66
$91
$129
$169
$259
$379
-
-
-
2006
$59
$79
$124
$154
$239
$359
-
-
-
2005
$56

$119
$149
$229
$349
-
-
-
2004
$49.75

$99
$129
$179
$279
-
-
-
2002


-
$105
$165
$225
-
-
-
2000

-
-
-
-
$199
-
-
-
1992
$28.50
-
-
-
-
$140
-
-
-
1987

-
-
-
-
$140
-
-
-
1986

-
-
-
-
$99
-
-
-
1985

-
-
-
-
$85
-
-
-
1984

-
-
-
-
$65
-
-
-
1982
$12
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-

As you can see it wasn't until after the 50th anniversary in 2005 that the price increases started being regular (based on the data I was able to collect). And the first intense price increase for a 1 Day 1 Park ticket wasn't until last year (2017). Prior to that increase it was at a steady $2-$4 per year, but the 2017 increase was $11 and this year was $7. As for Park Hopper passes, those prices were relatively low compared to a basic ticket ($25 more) until 2012 when Cars Land opened making the draw for park hopping grow exponentially, at that point the difference started going up by an extra few dollars each year until now the difference is doubled at $50.

As to the AP price increases those are a little more fascinating to look at. It wasn't until 2002 when DCA had been open for a year that we saw more than 1 tier for the AP program. Now the AP prices have gone up regularly just like regular admission however the big difference is that they go up by more per year. As you can see in the table, the first significant increase in price wasn't until 2005 for the 50th anniversary when the SoCal and SoCal Select prices went up by $20, Deluxe went up by $50, and Premium went up by $70. From 2006-2010 the Deluxe and AP went up by $10 per year, while the Premium went up by an average of $18 per year. In 2011 however SoCal Select went up by $30, SoCal by $50, Deluxe by $80, and premium by $60. The following year, as Cars Land opened the Deluxe jumped up by another $90 and Premium jumped by $150. For the next few years prices would still go up but at more reasonable rates (just still not as low as in the past).


2015 was the next intense price increases and drastic restructuring of the AP program when they got rid of the Premium level and replaced it by 2 sub tiers the main difference between them being that the Signature Select got you the same benefits as the Premium had, while to Signature only got you a little less. When they made this change it made it so that in order to keep all of your perks you used to have with a Premium, you would now be paying $350 more for you AP, though if you were ok with missing out on the last 2 weeks of the year, you could go with the basic Signature level which would only be a $150 increase.

The 2017 increase was very painful when the Deluxe AP went up by $70 while Signature and Signature Plus stay the same. But this year is the most intense increase since 2012 because Deluxe went up by $110, Signature went up by $150, and Signature Plus went up by another $100. Most likely the excuse this year is to prep for Star Wars Galaxy's Edge opening next year, but based on recent historical trends in pricing we can only expect that next year the prices will only go up again.


Lets now take a look at what the benefits offered for each AP level are as of 2018:

SoCal Select $369:
  • Southern California Residents Only
  • No Weekends & Many Block-out Days
  • 10% Dining Discount
  • 10% Merchandise Discount
  • 15% Tours Discount
SoCal $549 (Renewal Only):
  • Southern California Residents Only
  • No Saturdays and Many Block-out Days
  • 10% Dining Discount
  • 10% Merchandise Discount
  • 15% Tours Discount
Deluxe $729:
  • Blocks most Holidays and many weekend days during peak seasons
  • 10% Diing Discount
  • 10% Merchandise Discount
  • 15% Tours Discount
Signature $999:
  • Only Blocks the last 2 weeks of the year for Christmas and New Years
  • 15% Dining Discount
  • 20% Merchandise Discount
  • 15% Tours Discount
  • Free Parking 
Signature Plus $1149:
  • No Block-out Days
  • 15% Dining Discount
  • 20% Merchandise Discount
  • 15% Tours Discount
  • Free Parking
  • Free MaxPass w/Digital PhotoPass Downloads
Premier $1579:
  • Disneyland and Walt Disney World Admission (All Parks)
  • Oak Tree Golf (WDW)
  • No Block-out Days
  • 15% Dining Discount
  • 20% Merchandise Discount
  • 15% Tours Discount
  • Free Parking
  • Free MaxPass w/Digital PhotoPass Downloads
*Note that all SoCal, SoCal Select, and Deluxe APs have the option to add on MaxPass for an additional $75 with current pricing
**All APs have discount options for Mickey's Halloween Party tickets and special offers for Discounts at the Disneyland Resort Hotels

Monthly Payments were first introduced as a payment option for Annual Pass Holders living in California in December 2008 and many would count this as what has caused both the overcrowding at the parks seen today, as well as the intense price hikes. Let me break it down for you to show you exactly why the monthly payments are such a huge problem for Disneyland, but one that the executives aren't quite willing to give up on yet.

At first when the monthly payments were introduced the price increases each year were still within the realm of reasonable, however once more and more California residents started seeing the benefits of the program and as DCA was about to finish its massive undertaking and become popular Disney started raising the prices by higher amounts. Both the price increases in 2011 and 2012 would work out to a total monthly increase of about $14/month for a Deluxe AP and $17.50/month for the Premium AP. And when you look at it that way it really isn't that drastic of an increase considering how much Disneyland had just added to its offerings in recent years: World of Color, Cars Land, extended Buena Vista Street out further tan original entrance turnstiles, Red Car Trolley, completely re-skinned Paradise Pier, Star Tours 2.0, Soundsational Parade, and more.

In 2015, even with the drastic changes to the upper tiers of the AP program, it still isn't as bad when you look at the monthly amounts because the Deluxe went up by $2.5/month, for a Premium converting to Signature you would be looking at an increase of 12.50/month and to convert to Signature Plus would be an increase of $30/month. Which brings us to the latest increases for 2018 where the monthly increase for Deluxe is only $9/month, Signature is $12.50/month, and Signature Plus is $8.33/month.

Looking at it by the monthly increases, while they are a decent amount more to have to pay, the increase itself really isn't that bad for the quality of entertainment you get at Disneyland. But here lies the problem, the monthly payments make the prices affordable for California residents, but they make the prices more and more out of reach for anyone that lives out of state and would like an AP to visit multiple times per year.

For example, I live in the Seattle area, and when I first got an AP in 2014 I had gotten the Premium because I went on an 8 day trip to Disneyland for my birthday, and intended to make my first Disneyland Anniversary trip that summer. I got the 2013 price because of when I bought my AP so it was only $669, but I had to save up for the entire holiday season in order to afford it because I didn't have the option to pay monthly. Due to a combination of the price increase and my job situation going into 2015 I wasn't able to renew my pass and when they announced what the construction of Galaxy's Edge would entail I decided to go 1 last time for the 60th before taking a break to not be there and have to miss out on Fantasmic, the Disneyland Railroad, or the Rivers of America attractions.

It wasn't until September of 2017 that I got an AP again because things had been going well at work all summer and I was able to save up enough to make it happen. This time however I downgraded to the Deluxe level for $619 but to soften the blow I chose to purchase a 3-Day park hopper from a local Disney Store and upgrade it to AP when I got to Disneyland, that way I basically paid half the cost each time.


The huge problem Disney now faces regarding the AP program is that because they have increased the prices so much, if they were to cut the monthly payment option entirely it would actually do more harm than good if they don't think outside the box when it comes to the benefits that each AP tier receives. Even if Disney were to cancel the monthly payment option, they won't drop the base price which means not only will they lose a huge chunk of APs, but it would also look bad to have to pay all that at once for everyone used to the monthly/affordable option. I think that Disney ending the monthly payment is inevitable because they know they have an over crowding problem and they know that Star Wars Galaxy's Edge will be enough of a draw for average visitors and even lots of people who maybe go to Disney once every 5-10 years, as well as those who have never been.

Assuming that most current APs are using the monthly payment option, would you actually keep your AP if they got rid of that option and didn't add any extra benefits? I could see people sticking with the current benefits if the total increases were only $15-20 per year, but when your monthly increase is typically in the $10-15 range I don't think a lot of people will be able to pay the current prices up front. What would Disney have to add to your AP benefits to keep you interested if they cut the monthly payment option?


Here are a few ideas that were going through my head the last few days:

For all levels:
  • Way more AP exclusive merchandise, minimally 1 shirt and pin per seasonal product line (Lunar New Year, Halloween, Christmas, yearly design, and new movie promotional merchandise)
  • AP exclusive character meet & greet opportunities, similar to the Visa opportunities where the signs aren't huge so average tourists don't know they are missing out, offer characters that are rare and have them change each month/season for instance in DCA rotate different Marvel heroes, and in Disneyland rotate between Star Wars characters (when a new movie is released), a rare villain for Halloween, either Mickey or Goofy as Santa for Christmas, and the rest of the year have various rare characters like Hercules, Esmeralda, Roger Rabbit, Uncle Scrooge, etc
  • AP exclusive travel mug, similar to the popcorn bucket you pay once to get the cup, and then refills are free. New cup available every other month
Socal & SoCal Select:
  • Keep all current Block-out days
  • Keep 10% Dining and Merchandise Discount
  • Keep 15% Tours Discount
  • New set $15 Discount on special event tickets (Halloween Party, or other after ours event)
  • New $5 off Parking
  • Option to add MaxPass for $75
Deluxe:
  • Keep all current Block-out days
  • Keep 15% Tours Discount
  • Keep 10% Dining Discount
  • Increase Merchandise Discount to 15%
  • New MaxPass Included
  • New allowed 1 early entry per month, guest choice on which day park to use it, unused early entries don't rollover, Disney can choose to not allow for certain parks at certain times of year
  • New set $50 Discount for 1 special event ticket per year, additional tickets would be $20 off
  • New 50% off parking
  • New 10% Discounts available for Downtown Disney entertainment venues (Splitsville, The Void, AMC theaters)
  • New 20% Disneyland Resort Hotels Discount
Signature:
  • Keep all current Block-out days
  • Keep 15% Dining Discount
  • Keep 20% Merchandise Discount
  • Keep Free Parking
  • Increase Tours Discount to 20%
  • New MaxPass Included
  • New allowed 1 early entry per month and 1 additional, guest choice on which day park to use it, unused early entries don't rollover, Disney can choose to not allow for certain parks at certain times of year
  • New set $50 Discount for 1 special event ticket per year, additional tickets would be $25 off
  • New 15% Discounts available for Downtown Disney entertainment venues (Splitsville, The Void, AMC theaters)
  • New 25% Disneyland Resort Hotels Discount
Signature Plus:
  • No Block-out days
  • Keep Free Parking
  • Keep MaxPass
  • Increase Tours Discount to 25%
  • Increase Dining Discount to 20%
  • Increase Merchandise Discount to $25%
  • New allowed 1 early entry per month and 2 additional, guest choice on which day park to use it, unused early entries can rollover however no more than 3 uses allowed per month, Disney can choose to not allow for certain parks at certain times of year
  • New 1 free special event ticket per year, additional tickets would be $30 off
  • New 20% Discounts available for Downtown Disney entertainment venues (Splitsville, The Void, AMC theaters)
  • New 30% Disneyland Resort Hotels Discount