Feb. 29, 2008
Q: Why does the Information, Tours and Ticketing (ITT) office advertise the Disneyland and Disney Sea tickets they sell as if the local community is getting a good deal? These tickets are the same exact price as if you were to buy them at Disney and without the restrictions. The way these tickets are advertised by ITT is wrong when they are the same exact tickets you get from Disney which can be used without the restrictions that the tickets from ITT has.

A: Thank you for your inquiry. With regards to Disney tickets sold at the ITT office, you are exactly right in saying that the ITT price is the same exact price sold at the Disney parks. This is not an ITT price setting policy rather a Disney policy. Disney allows us to have their tickets on a consignment basis provided that we agree to sell them exactly for the same amount they sell their tickets at the gates. Also, you mention restrictions and I can only assume you mean the clause we pass along that our consignment tickets may not be accepted at the gate when the respective parks have met their maximum occupancy load. Again, this is a Disney policy not an ITT policy, and we only pass along this information to ensure our customers aren’t blindsided by the Disney policy. It’s also important to understand in the case of Disney tickets that the Japan Disney Resorts are owned by a separate Japanese company and not by the same company that owns parks in the US. This means that some policies may be different. For example, stateside Disney parks offer discount tickets to military Morale, Welfare and Recreation’s (MWR) for resale, a discount that is passed on to military customers. Though we’ve asked many times, Oriental Land Company, the owners of Tokyo Disney Resorts, will not offer a similar discount to the U.S. military in Japan. We sell the Disney tickets as a convenience to our community without any markup or profit on a single ticket. The advantages of purchasing tickets at the ITT office are that patrons can (1) comfortably communicate with English speaking staff, (2) pickup tickets at their convenience and (3) skip past the very long ticket lines at the Disney parks. Also, the ITT office offers a free “Magic Kingdom Club” card that permits cardholders to receive a ¥300 to ¥400 discount at the Disney gates, depending on the type of admittance ticket purchased. Of course, in this case the customer will have to stand in the very long ticket lines at the Disney Parks. In summary, the ITT office sells amusement park tickets like Disney as a convenient service to our community and unfortunately in many cases we have to follow the various parks policy. Customers always have the option to purchase tickets directly at the amusement park if they feel that presents a better value to them. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please contact the ITT Manager, Ruriko Peters, at 241-5056/5057.