New Christmas Town Discount Ticket Structure

[Nicole]

I plan to make this prettier in the future, but I wanted to get some information out to everyone now, since I am guessing that the first wave of CT ticket purchases is over.

Anyway, for each day, I have listed the current price and how much it has gone up since tickets went on sale. That information should give everyone an idea of how many tickets have been sold for each day; and thus, a rough idea of crowds so far. Obviously, this will all change continuously. Again, sorry for the format.

Note: Colors reflect the amount a day's prices have increased vs their starting price as of today (November 4th), not expected crowd levels. The lowest priced days should still generally be the least crowded.

25 Nov: $27, +7
26 Nov: $26, +7
27 Nov: $20, +4

02 Dec: $21, +5
03 Dec: $26, +2
04 Dec: $21, +3

09 Dec: $21, +5
10 Dec: $25, +1
11 Dec: $22, +3
12 Dec: $16, +0
13 Dec: $16, +0
14 Dec: $16, +0
15 Dec: $17, +0
16 Dec: $20, +2
17 Dec: $25, +1
18 Dec: $21, +3
19 Dec: $19, +3
20 Dec: $17, +0
21 Dec: $19, +3
22 Dec: $20, +3
23 Dec: $21, +3
24 Dec: $21, +0

26 Dec: $20, +0
27 Dec: $19, +3
28 Dec: $16, +0
29 Dec: $16, +0
30 Dec, $17, +0
31 Dec, $17, +0
01 Jan, $16, +0
02 Jan, $16, +0

 

[Zachary]

I always remember getting my benefits, was there ever any question?

There's a big difference between "I get this because they just aren't bothering to remove it from the system" and "I get this because I'm supposed to."

Previously, if the park removed the benefits and required that season pass holders purchase the Christmas Town Pass to get those perks, I would have defended the move with the reasoning that it was probably meant to be that way from the start (and it actually makes a lot more sense that way). That said, now that we know it is intended behavior, I'd be upset if the park opted to move those benefits to be exclusives to the CT Pass because it would be a direct devaluation of my pass.

It seems like a minuscule difference at first, but I think that having it officially documented that pass members do and should get those perks, gives us a stronger case should those perks ever vanish.

Furthermore, given all the changes to ticketing this year, it would have been a reasonable time for them to make such a change to their system. I see value in having it confirmed that such changes were not made.

---

Anyway, back to ticket prices. I made a thing:

[tweet=https://twitter.com/BGWFans/status/794551033087270912]

 

[Nicole]

I thought it was probably a good time to post a Christmas Town ticket price update.  Because sales do seem to have been affected by the starting prices on some days, the crowd projections have gotten more complicated.  To take into account BGW's initial crowd predictions and the on-line sales, we have provided both in the calendars below.

I want to highlight that right now January looks like the best time to go.

How to interpret the table:
- We used a traditional "stoplight chart."  Blue days are likely to be the lightest, and red the most crowded.
- We linked the overall prediction with the current price.
- We caveated that assessment, however, with the amount the ticket prices have gone up in parentheses.

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1VwViDa03gGiDe1je1rVD2TfQX0dosXeylbbQx6BPh2s/preview" width="100%" height="600"></iframe>

 

[Nicole]

I have updated the ticket sale calendar again. It is worth noting that I had to change a few of the ranges, because prices jumped so much on the first few weekends.

It is also worth noting that we recently discovered discounted and undated Christmas Town tickets that can be found, when you follow certain marketing links. Hopefully those tickets were included in the park's estimated crowd baselines, when they were setting initial prices. Just in case, however, I wanted to warn everyone that those ticket holders and of course weather could throw this calendar off completely.

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bdRpObHrtvrTPO8duaTx9BKwGhiZENhaL8sRVHOl4gU/preview" width="100%" height="600"></iframe>

 

[GoHokies87]

I'm honestly surprised more people haven't bought for the weekend of Christmas. My personal opinion is that that Friday, and even Christmas Eve might go up in price as they get closer.

 

[netdvn]

Prices did jump quite a bit that Friday, but not as much compared to the rest of that week.

From personal experience, Christmas eve is an easy night during Christmas Town. Never really seen heavy crowds in all the years I've visited. I wouldn't expect prices to go up that much. Prices will probably go up the week after through NYE.

 

[Nicole]

Until now, we have been attempting to use the discount ticket calendar to predict likely crowd levels. This past weekend we were able to experience the park and use the data to recalibrate our assessments.

The most important observation I made was that the changes BGW has made to manage the crowds seem to be working. For example, they have rerouted the exit from one of the theaters, and opened Forest of Fun.

My impression is that the park was easier to navigate this weekend. I'm curious if others had the same experience.

Regardless, based on what we saw last weekend, I have adjusted my assessments. I want to emphasize that I am attempting to predict how heavy the crowds will feel, not the actual number of people in the park. I also want to highlight that I may be completely wrong. There are so many variables (CT passes, refusal single day tickets, etc) that there is no way to be certain.

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iYrVqbhAejT-ldnkHPNbV5GqQ3OmTmwZjjeeGTNlx1M/preview" width="100%" height="600"></iframe>

 

[MAZ]

I was expecting heavier crowds yesterday (Friday the 2nd) and I just never felt it. No wait for Scrooge or Gloria and there were many empty seats. No more than 1 cycle waits for any rides we rode(swings, bumper cars, battering ram, tempesto, teacups, Grover, music express,) even the sky buckets were relatively short. The only mentionable wait last night was the Rodolph photo op. Thanks for putting up this calendar! Now I can compare ticket sales to how the park will feel.

 

[Nicole]

MAZ: how would you characterize the crowd level? Yellow? Green?

I have already pulled Red off the calendar, based on current sales. I'm wondering if there are even Orange days?

I really hope they keep using this dynamic pricing structure.

 

[Glissade]

Tonight Saturday was red. Could not walk through Octoberfest. Festhaus was closed during 6 pm show. All rides had long lines.

 

[Nicole]

Looking at the ticket calendar just now, it appears that prices went up to $38 today. They were apparently still available, but only at full price. I guess that is the indicator that it will be a red day.

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[MAZ]

MAZ: how would you characterize the crowd level? Yellow? Green?

I have already pulled Red off the calendar, based on current sales. I'm wondering if there are even Orange days?

I really hope they keep using this dynamic pricing structure.

I would say Friday was yellow. Trams were running. Overflow was not being used. Pathways were brisk with room to walk around slower groups in most places. We left at 9:00 and that seemed to be the busiest for the skybuckets. 15-20 min wait in England and less than 5 minutes at the other two stations. I have had quite a few unpleasant trips to CT in past years, and Friday was just about as good as it gets. We did everything we wanted to do on that particular visit between 3 and 9 o'clock.