Disney needs to admit what it is doing

First off, I don't think Disney need to admit to anything. Their offerings are pretty clear and you either choose to purchase what they are offering or you don't.

For many people, the added bonus of parade viewing with a meal is a nice to have if they are planning to dine at that restaurant anyway. For others, it may be a bit of an incentive to purchase a meal at a specific restaurant that will come with the parade viewing as opposed to spending their dining dollars at a different restaurant.

I'm not sure I agree with just offering a viewing spot for a fee because to me that's a slippery slope to charging for fastpasses. However, I do think it would be nice to bring back parade viewing fastpasses and have those available on top of the dining/parade viewing packages.
 
So they did offer FP for MK fireworks (making no additional money), but they saw the opportunity to have people spend money for the reserved seating - pairing it with a basic assortment of desserts. Very smart business move.

So something I wonder about this is where does it stop? The obvious, obvious business move is to straight-out monetize FP+ in some way. Pay for more. Take away the free FPs other than for deluxe resort guests like US. Make it a paid option like every other theme park. Thus far they have not. And I can’t help wondering why. What is it that they find so valuable to having it for free that they buck the trend in the industry. I can’t belive that it makes anyone on the fence about a Disney vacation decide to go. Is it that the data they get from everyone having them prebooked lowers their operating costs more than they would earn from charging a much smaller population bigs bucks for them? Is it some last vestige of the Walt Disney desire to have WDW be for everyone (yeah, I don’t buy that either). Maybe it’s to hold with their brand image. Or maybe the horse has left the barn and they don’t want the uproar a significant change would cause. I’d love to be a fly on a wall when some young business grad goes in and suggests making people pay for FP and hear the reason why not.

But I’m ok with them taking away the parade and fireworks FPs to make dessert parties and dinner packages as long as they don’t come for my ride FPs next.
 
I miss the fireworks & parade fast passes, too...
Only because we NEVER would (just my own opinion) waste a fast pass on one, BUT it kept a fast pass I MIGHT use in circulation...lol.
 
I know Disney is a business that only exists to make money. My point was I wish they would stop pretending that isn't the case. Just say hey people if you want pay $25 for parade viewing area here too go. But that would be seen as too money grubby and turn people off. I don't want to eat at Tonys but I want parade viewing. Maybe I'll cancel that and see how I do getting a spot. If not I'm sure I can book Tonys another day last minute.
On the one hand, the very thing you want them to admit is the exact thing they’re trying to avoid. They don’t want to put a price on the same experience that you can get for free. Disney does not want to put two different prices in the same experience and create some sort of class hierarchy. Which is why they include a separate experience; so it’s not the same thing.

On the other hand, your argument seems to be that the price is to high and the offering includes items you don’t value. You want 50% of the offering for 50% of the price. Maybe you’d even be willing to pay 60% or 75% of the price. Well, that’s the nature of marketing and pricing psychology. They’re giving you a choice, but not giving you free reign over the process. It’s not a a-la-carte option. They know that some people won’t be comfortable with the price, while others will stretch to pay for it because it includes everything they want.

I frequently seem the same frustration about the dining plans. “I wish Disney would sell me a plan that includes x.” They do, but it includes y, too. “But I don’t want to pay for y.” What you want is available. It just costs more than you want to pay and includes features you don’t value. You can either pay the price or not. Only you can make that value decision. Disney has made the choice that best fits their culture, capacity, and revenue goals.
 




I agree with much of what has been said here...including much of what OP said. The trend of upsells at WDW isn't a good one. Our only real means of stopping them is to vote with our wallet.

Disney (often) stops selling things that don't sell.

Though in this case, Disney did have the option of making Tony's a better place to eat. The problem isn't that folks don't like Italian food, the problem with Tony's is that the menu has been really bad for years. (I actually love the theming of Tony's.)

Meanwhile, Disney HAS revamped the menus of PLENTY of other dining locations and made them better. Changing the menu isn't very hard.

Disney doesn't just sell dining packages to make money; they are also often geared towards making an unattractive option more appealing. Just like when they re-theme hotel rooms that are in a lousy location with pretty princess/pirate décor.

So well, sometimes there's an general-benefit upside to WDW's upsells. All of WDW's customers can't all be in the same place at the same time. Instead of being upset that they can't get a 7pm ADR, dining-package-buyers are happy they get a bonus for eating at Tony's at 4pm.
 
We are doing our first one of these (the HEA fireworks dessert party) on our upcoming trip and I am excited for it, tbh. If you want to label me a dummy for that, then fine by me. We'll get to sit down and eat/drink before the fireworks when we'll likely be tired from our MK day and I'm thrilled about that.
 
I know Disney is a business that only exists to make money. My point was I wish they would stop pretending that isn't the case. Just say hey people if you want pay $25 for parade viewing area here too go. But that would be seen as too money grubby and turn people off. I don't want to eat at Tonys but I want parade viewing. Maybe I'll cancel that and see how I do getting a spot. If not I'm sure I can book Tonys another day last minute.

But that's the thing . . . anybody can get a good spot without spending the money. You just need to invest more time into finding and keeping that spot. With fireworks and shows viewing, you simply need to decide what you are willing to invest more of - time in waiting for a spot or money to do an event and save a little time. We have done a few of the special events, but have never felt the need for the FoF one as we always find a good spot and it's never taken a ton of time out of our day.
 
They pair these offerings with food so if the event doesn't happen (rain etc) they don't have to refund anyone. You can see it in the wording

Ohhhh....of course. Makes all the sense in the world, ArwenMarie.

Just another thought on this...different families have different needs and dynamics. When I go to parks with DH, he doesn't care about parades or shows, so won't wait even one second to get a good spot. Having a FP or some kind of reservation "keeps the peace" in our family. (DD and I will sit all day to wait for a show. We're patient!) So it's nice if there are a variety of offerings available to suit different needs.
 
So something I wonder about this is where does it stop? The obvious, obvious business move is to straight-out monetize FP+ in some way. Pay for more. Take away the free FPs other than for deluxe resort guests like US. Make it a paid option like every other theme park. Thus far they have not. And I can’t help wondering why. What is it that they find so valuable to having it for free that they buck the trend in the industry. I can’t belive that it makes anyone on the fence about a Disney vacation decide to go. Is it that the data they get from everyone having them prebooked lowers their operating costs more than they would earn from charging a much smaller population bigs bucks for them? Is it some last vestige of the Walt Disney desire to have WDW be for everyone (yeah, I don’t buy that either). Maybe it’s to hold with their brand image. Or maybe the horse has left the barn and they don’t want the uproar a significant change would cause. I’d love to be a fly on a wall when some young business grad goes in and suggests making people pay for FP and hear the reason why not.

But I’m ok with them taking away the parade and fireworks FPs to make dessert parties and dinner packages as long as they don’t come for my ride FPs next.
I believe it's because they see themselves as trend setters. They buck the trend because they march to their own beat.

That and some of it has to do with crowd levels
They could never operate like Universal does. They simply have too many guests. They would sell out of available "Express Passes" every day
Their ride system is just too different.
Hey, I am NOT eating at Tony's no matter what parade view i have! NO WAY! :crazy2:
Me either! It could come with seats and I am not doing it. Blech@
 
Even a year and a half ago you could get a FP for the Fof parade. I wouldn't pay extra for better seating at all, would be much more willing to show up an hour early
 
monetize FP+ in some way.
I guess disney's answer to this are the VIP tours. My in laws offered to do one for our party of 7, once i knew that it would be well over $2K for one day (really 7 hours) I said no way!! it was going to take away from my planning and take away from the magic of WDW.

We are doing our first one of these (the HEA fireworks dessert party) on our upcoming trip and I am excited for it, tbh. If you want to label me a dummy for that, then fine by me. We'll get to sit down and eat/drink before the fireworks when we'll likely be tired from our MK day and I'm thrilled about that.
We are doing one too on our April trip -- it is a lot for our party of 7, but we bargained with the in-laws - we take care of the room with our DVC points and you pay for the HEA dessert party. DEAL!!! I hate, really despise waiting around for things sitting doing nothing especially in a large crowd, so to stake out a spot to get a good view of HEA an hour or two ahead is something i will never do. The dessert party - doesn't really save much time (you still should get there by 8:00), but we can use it as snack time, sit in a less crowded, hectic area and then have a great view without the packed crowds - for us it is a win-win - desserts and a view.

We are also doing the brown derby fantasmic package - we were already planning on eating at the Brown Derby so why not couple it with the fantastic package. It is an expensive restaurant any ways so at $62 per person we are paying a little more for great fantastic seats and very little wait == totally worth it when you have kids who are easily bored
 
Disney is a business.

You can easily get a parade spot or fireworks spot without paying an upcharge. It's there so those that want to splurge can and Disney reaps the benefits.

It doesn't affect me at all and I've never paid for a dessert party, special ticketed event, etc
 
They created price points for a wide spectum (free->$$$$). The dining packages fall somewhere in between. The many different private tours basically is paid access to less waiting time and better spots for shows and parades. People can/will pay for what they deem "worth it". I think these varies packages allows people to do so.
 
A few years ago, you could get a FP for parade viewing. You no longer can do that for Festival of Fantasy but low and behold you can book a Disney dining experience, and one for Happily Ever After too. I think this is just a way for Disney to squeeze more money out of people. Why cant Disney just come out and say "hey give us X more dollars for this view" instead of paring it with some food event and pretending its some magical experience. I am willing to pay for a better view/seat etc but I dont want to pair it with an event that costs additional money. I dont want to eat lunch at Tony's and pay for it and then pay more to get a good view of FOF. why cant I just pay for the view. I think it is because Disney doesn't want to admit they are charging people even more money to just stand in a certain spot and they pair it with some so-so food. I am doing HEA dessert and FOF Tony lunch, but i would really rather just pay for the view and skip the food part (and not pay for it).

They readily admit that they are business. Why would they need to admit that they act like on?
 
I know Disney is a business that only exists to make money. My point was I wish they would stop pretending that isn't the case. Just say hey people if you want pay $25 for parade viewing area here too go. But that would be seen as too money grubby and turn people off. I don't want to eat at Tonys but I want parade viewing. Maybe I'll cancel that and see how I do getting a spot. If not I'm sure I can book Tonys another day last minute.

I'm not following what you're suggesting actually change. Should Disney change their marketing material to read -- Come to Disney World, we don't care about you or your kids but you will be duped into spending a lot of cash that will pay our lavish salaries so come spend spend spend. (?) That's not how business works. Should daycares and grocery stores do the same? They all basically "only exist to make money". Yet they all utilize creative, positivie advertising to sell their product in a good way. Disney is one of the best at this and owns some of the strongest brands in the world. They are selling a good time and will cater to people willing to buy dinner and a parade over people who just want the parade. Remember if you are the person trying to minimize expense and just get the attractions you want for cheap then Disney has no incentive to cater to you.
 
Tuesday of Thanksgiving week we walked out of Emporium and stepped out to the curb to wait for FoF. We had the perfect spot and only waited about 20 minutes. Multiple characters stepped out of the parade to greet my daughter. We didn't even plan to do it, it just happened. After that experience I would never pay for a parade viewing package.

Now we do like the HEA dessert party and booked it again for this Sunday night. To me, that's worth it.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!





Top