Price increase rumors?

I took advantage of the dvc discount for 13 month passes. I don’t know if they do that every year but def nice.
 
Attendance didn’t drop by a lot though. The parks are still very crowded.

Attendance is down significantly from what I understood. A couple % drop over the last couple years. The parks are crowded at certain points, and maybe even more crowded than ever at those points (and those points have shifted) but according to the investor calls for the last couple years, attendance is down quite significantly (I mean, a couple % I guess is significant when you are talking about 10s of millions of visits)

I mean, look at the extent of the promotions they have been offering this year, especially over the summer, stuff that hasn't been seen since Sept 11th, or the market crash, not just on rooms, on tickets, on food and merch, pretty crazy deals (though on massively increased prices of course).

But, as is also noted, revenues are up as per person spending has increased more than attendance has dropped off, so fewer people paying more still = $$$ for Disney.
 
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Attendance is down significantly from what I understood. A couple % drop over the last couple years. The parks are crowded at certain points, and maybe even more crowded than ever at those points (and those points have shifted) but according to the investor calls for the last couple years, attendance is down quite significantly.

I mean, look at the extent of the promotions they have been offering this year, especially over the summer, stuff that hasn't been seen since Sept 11th, or the market crash, not just on rooms, on tickets, on food and merch, pretty crazy deals (though on massively increased prices of course).

But, as is also noted, revenues are up as per person spending has increased more than attendance has dropped off, so fewer people paying more still = $$$ for Disney.
Disney does not release attendance numbers.

http://www.teaconnect.org/images/files/TEA_235_103719_170601.pdf

According to the TEA numbers (closest estimates we have).

2016 MK - 20,395,000
2015 MK - 20,492,000
-.5% decrease

Epcot and AK both saw -.7% drops DHS -.5%

Those drops are not very significant.
 


Disney does not release attendance numbers.

http://www.teaconnect.org/images/files/TEA_235_103719_170601.pdf

According to the TEA numbers (closest estimates we have).

2016 MK - 20,395,000
2015 MK - 20,492,000
-.5% decrease

Epcot and AK both saw -.7% drops DHS -.5%

Those drops are not very significant.

It's significant when your competition saw an increase of almost 14%. It's also significant when you consider that the last time MK saw a drop was 9/11, and that there hasn't been a decline in attendance across all global parks - which is what happened in 2016, in over a decade. When the major papers (NY Times etc...) are reporting on the attendance drop, yeah, it's significant.

How lasting is the significance? Hard to say. Will have to see what the 2017 numbers were. But as someone else mentioned, given how many promos etc... they were running, I'm guessing they're still trending downward.
 
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This is fairly typical every year. Everyone starts speculating when the next price increase is coming. For most years, the price increase comes in February. Mousesavers always sends out a notice that a price increase is coming.

However, now tickets have an expiration date (I think all tickets purchased now expire at the end of 2018) so making an advance ticket purchase really doesn't save a lot, especially if your purchasing tickets several years prior to your trip.

though, still good to know. We are debating a trip for 2018 and if we know a price increase is coming it would impact when we would make a final call

Though, we may look to get Military Salute tickets so we also have to keep track of that policy renewing or not and when, etc.
 
I would gladly pay $200 a ticket for lower crowds. Even during the "slow" times, the parks are crowded.

I always wondered if that could be a strategy - really jack up the ticket price but then lower the max capacity number by quite a bit ... so this way you pay for less days but can get more done in those fewer days due to lower crowds and Disney still makes the same $ (actually, potentially more as if you get more different people they each probably by some souvenirs each trip so maybe even more $)
 


Rumor? Disney makes this a guarantee. :snooty:

I am waiting to see what increases are coming as our AP renewal date is mid-February. If they go as steep with increases as DCL this year, I can safely say I will not be purchasing again.

I know this is only anecdotal but from reading a lot of reactions to the DCL price increases it seemed like they really jacked up the prices for the popular weeks/sailings (so when schools are out) and not really that much for the "off" season ... which if Disney follows suit for the parks would mean the tiered pricing variance would become even more drastic
 
When TSL and SWars opens up will that possibly draw crowds from the other parks? If you had no interest in going to the studios, could you experience lesser crowds in other parks?

well, nothing seems to impact MK crowds too much and AK still will get some crowds from Pandora (at least for a bit). I could see EPCOT being hit while they have their construction going on (outside of weekends during F&WF at least)
 
It's significant when your competition saw an increase of almost 14%. It's also significant when you consider that the last time MK saw a drop was 9/11, and that there hasn't been a decline in attendance across all global parks - which is what happened in 2016, in over a decade. When the major papers (NY Times etc...) are reporting on the attendance drop, yeah, it's significant.

How lasting is the significance? Hard to say. Will have to see what the 2017 numbers were. But as someone else mentioned, given how many promos etc... they were running, I'm guessing they're still trending downward.
There was a drop in tourism overall last year I believe so it wasn’t just MK losing out. Universal has been on a steady increase due to their newer additions. However they are still a long long way from catching MK in terms of attendance.
 
There was a drop in tourism overall last year I believe so it wasn’t just MK losing out. Universal has been on a steady increase due to their newer additions. However they are still a long long way from catching MK in terms of attendance.

There's been a drop in tourism for years - Disney typically wasn't affected.
 
I always wondered if that could be a strategy - really jack up the ticket price but then lower the max capacity number by quite a bit ... so this way you pay for less days but can get more done in those fewer days due to lower crowds and Disney still makes the same $ (actually, potentially more as if you get more different people they each probably by some souvenirs each trip so maybe even more $)
Exactly. We would go for 6-7 days instead of 10+ and get way more done if lines were shorter.
 
The crowds I experienced on Wednesday at MK, Epcot and DHS were ... different from what I’ve been used to in past years. It was decidedly foreign - and they were not utilizing MBs, but hard tickets for park entry and FP+s (if they even had them). The standby waits were long, but I could find almost immediate FP+s for everything I wanted to ride at those parks. Also, parking lots are way more crowded with traffic headed to I4 and Kissimmee worse than I remember in the past five years at Christmas. So, they’re not staying onsite ...
 
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I always wondered if that could be a strategy - really jack up the ticket price but then lower the max capacity number by quite a bit ... so this way you pay for less days but can get more done in those fewer days due to lower crowds and Disney still makes the same $ (actually, potentially more as if you get more different people they each probably by some souvenirs each trip so maybe even more $)
Less people inside the parks = less $$$$ spent on merchandise, food and water so I wouldn't count on this strategy ever happening. Disney is about making money, not making parks more enjoyable for us consumers (sadly).
 
I always wondered if that could be a strategy - really jack up the ticket price but then lower the max capacity number by quite a bit ... so this way you pay for less days but can get more done in those fewer days due to lower crowds and Disney still makes the same $ (actually, potentially more as if you get more different people they each probably by some souvenirs each trip so maybe even more $)
I think the biggest issue with this idea is that if you completely price the average family out of WDW, it will start to loose a lot of its appeal. Not to the diehard Disney fans, but if it becomes unattainable to 75% of the country, something else will raise up and take its place as the must do family vacation. Once that happens, a decent chunk of the 25% that can afford will start to loose interest.

At the end of the day, a lot of the Disney appeal to the normal family is marketing and brand reputation.
 
The projection of an increase is not rumor, it is inevitable. Yes, there is a lot closed down. However, Toy Story Land is opening in 5 months, Star Wars is well on its way along with a host of other attractions. The parks are still crowded, restaurants are still full, etc. Today the pricing may not match the offerings, but that is changing and as long as guests are willing to pay, Disney is willing to take the additional money. ;)
 
I’m in agreement with most posters. Price increase is an annual event (at least for the time being) even if attendance goes down.

We’ll see some substantial upticks leading up to the opening of the new lands, making a serious bump in ticket price something they can justify easily. Coming on the heels of several years of price increase, they can justify a larger bump than annual increase for new lands and reach the ticket price they really want without seeming like a total Scrooge.
 
Disney and the CM Unions are in contentious contract negotiations with Disney’s latest offer being overwhelmingly rejected. The Union wants a $15/hour minimum wage, Disney offered to raise it to $11 from $10 which was rejected. Disney asked for a federal mediator and negotiations will resume in February. The way it looks is that the CMs will be getting a significant wage increase.

I would expect either a price increase after Disney has an idea of what the new contract will cost them, or another year of two price increases. Once in February and another after the contract is ratified and then they would be able to blame the new contract and the unions for the second price increase.
 
Does Disney typically announce a price increase before it happens, or do they just spring it on you?
 

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