News Story about rising Disney costs in WaPo

[Schneewittchen37]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2022/03/07/disney-world-disneyland-ticket-prices-fees/

 

[popy]

Good review, a lot less , for a lot more, with no end in sight.
one thing for certain if ya go, you are going to get cheated, and nothing about it is worth it. Disney world once was , but no more.

 

[BrianL]

"Extra! Extra! Disney Parks Are Expensive! Read all about this breaking news!"

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Genie+ is not "FastPass, only now you have to pay for it."

Swimming in a free public pool with 100 people is not the same experience as swimming in a paid private pool with 50 people.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

"Extra! Extra! Disney Parks Are Expensive! Read all about this breaking news!"

Not sure non-Disnerds realize how expensive it is.....

 

[reddog21]

Not sure non-Disnerds realize how expensive it is.....

All the prices are out there to see Disney isn't hiding anything. If you don't research your vacation to see if its within your budget then that's your own fault.

 

[BrianL]

Not sure non-Disnerds realize how expensive it is.....

I mean, I feel like Disney has always been known to be on the expensive side. I realize that it is moreso now more than ever before, but it's just funny to me how it becomes "news." It's not really all that surprising or anything.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I mean, I feel like Disney has always been known to be on the expensive side. I realize that it is moreso now more than ever before, but it's just funny to me how it becomes "news." It's not really all that surprising or anything.

Management was caught off-guard by the amount of goodwill they lost with the fan community when they discontinued Magical Express. All of the other "stuff" that people are upset about is downstream from that decision, which was nearsighted and has backfired big time.

They can get away with an awful lot of "making vacation more expensive," but "making vacation more difficult" is something a lot of people are going to take a long time to forgive.

 

[reddog21]

Management was caught off-guard by the amount of goodwill they lost with the fan community when they discontinued Magical Express. All of the other "stuff" that people are upset about is downstream from that decision, which was nearsighted and has backfired big time.

They can get away with an awful lot of "making vacation more expensive," but "making vacation more difficult" is something a lot of people are going to take a long time to forgive.

No one in Disney management was caught off guard they knew exactly what would happen when they started taking away freebies. Attendance is up, spending is up and Disney parks had there best quarter almost matching pre pandemic levels so I would say they knew exactly what they were doing.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

No one in Disney management was caught off guard they knew exactly what would happen when they started taking away freebies. Attendance is up, spending is up and Disney parks had there best quarter almost matching pre pandemic levels so I would say they knew exactly what they were doing.

They knew cancelling DME wasn't going to send people dancing in the streets, but people very high up were absolutely shocked by the depth of anger it generated. They knew some people used DME, of course, but they didn't realize how much people loved/depended/relied on it. They assumed that people would grumble a bit and then move on to Uber or other private options.

 

[BrianL]

No one in Disney management was caught off guard they knew exactly what would happen when they started taking away freebies. Attendance is up, spending is up and Disney parks had there best quarter almost matching pre pandemic levels so I would say they knew exactly what they were doing.

Exactly. Yeah, I don't love it either, but you have to look at it logically. People are paying what they are charging, so they aren't going to change course. Now, that may not last forever, and should that change, Disney will change course. For now though, this is the new normal.

 

[BrianL]

They knew cancelling DME wasn't going to send people dancing in the streets, but people very high up were absolutely shocked by the depth of anger it generated. They knew some people used DME, of course, but they didn't realize how much people loved/depended/relied on it. They assumed that people would grumble a bit and then move on to Uber or other private options.

But, may I ask, what have people done other than grumble about it? Is it actually hurting attendance and the bottom-line? It doesn't seem to be. I hate it too - I loved DME - but, like others, I will deal with it.

 

[Schneewittchen37]

All I can say is it's easier to plan a Universal trip right now. So instead of 3 Disney trips a year, I'm doing 2 Disney and 1 Universal.....

Edit: And I bought a Peacock subscription. Disney+ is free with my cell phone plan, but I'm not going to pay for it if that ends.

And I switched to the Today show from GMA....

 

[CaptainAmerica]

But, may I ask, what have peopel done other than grumble about it? Is it actually hurting attendance and the bottom-line? It doesn't seem to be. I hate it too - I loved DME - but, like others, I will deal with it.

Not everything is monocausal, of course. I'm not certain there's anything Disney could have done to piss people off badly enough where they'd be struggling to fill the parks in a world where everyone has put off vacations for two years and have checking accounts fat with government stimmies.

I know there's a refrain around here that all Disney cares about is quarterly profits, guest satisfaction be damned. But they're smart enough to know that guest satisfaction in 2022 forms the foundation for quarterly profits in 2024, 2025, 2026, etc. Guest satisfaction sucks right now, and I think a lot of the ill-will can be traced back to the DME decision.

 

[BrianL]

Not everything is monocausal, of course. I'm not certain there's anything Disney could have done to piss people off badly enough where they'd be struggling to fill the parks in a world where everyone has put off vacations for two years and have checking accounts fat with government stimmies.

I know there's a refrain around here that all Disney cares about is quarterly profits, guest satisfaction be damned. But they're smart enough to know that guest satisfaction in 2022 forms the foundation for quarterly profits in 2024, 2025, 2026, etc. Guest satisfaction sucks right now, and I think a lot of the ill-will can be traced back to the DME decision.

You are definitely right about the future and they may indeed see a downturn if people are actually upset enough. I am not convinced that they are though aside from the hardcore frequent visitor contingent that you get around here. We will see though.

 

[ChipnDale79]

All the prices are out there to see Disney isn't hiding anything. If you don't research your vacation to see if its within your budget then that's your own fault.

i mean yeah i agree, but these disney vacations are getting harder and harder to plan. Its easy for people like us that post here, but if you're a fist timer, you almost need a college course to do it right.

 

[DduzDis]

Not everything is monocausal, of course. I'm not certain there's anything Disney could have done to piss people off badly enough where they'd be struggling to fill the parks in a world where everyone has put off vacations for two years and have checking accounts fat with government stimmies.

I know there's a refrain around here that all Disney cares about is quarterly profits, guest satisfaction be damned. But they're smart enough to know that guest satisfaction in 2022 forms the foundation for quarterly profits in 2024, 2025, 2026, etc. Guest satisfaction sucks right now, and I think a lot of the ill-will can be traced back to the DME decision.

I think a lot of the current profits are from people who don't spend their free-time perusing these boards and are completely taken by surprise when they get there. Genie+ is absolutely exacerbating the difficulty of a trip. I think the parks division has a little leeway this year with pent up demand from the previous two years, but they are absolutely shooting themselves in the foot for future years. I could be wrong and maybe the genius of what Disney Mgt is doing will be a long-term win for them. I for one will punt my DVC contracts in a couple of years if things don't swing back to a more satisfactory experience. I've already rented out my DVC points for this year.

 

[reddog21]

i mean yeah i agree, but these disney vacations are getting harder and harder to plan. Its easy for people like us that post here, but if you're a fist timer, you almost need a college course to do it right.

I definitely won't argue that planning a Disneyworld vacation it more difficult than your normal vacation. I think it also depends on the individual because no matter what vacation I plan I'm always doing my research. I do have a friend who is the complete opposite who took a 2 week vacation to Europe with zero itinerary not even a hotel reservation. I get an anxiety attack just thinking about it.

 

[mattburmeister]

I love how we have one group of people complaining about price and another group complaining about crowds.

 

[zillayen]

But, may I ask, what have people done other than grumble about it? Is it actually hurting attendance and the bottom-line? It doesn't seem to be. I hate it too - I loved DME - but, like others, I will deal with it.

We are doing a split stay with Universal this time instead of spending the whole week at WDW. If the kids like Universal I’m considering upgrading our tickets to an AP there instead of going back to Disney again this year. It’s definitely changed at least my family’s plans. We’re easily spending >$1000 a day for 3 days at WDW before ILL and food are even considered.