Disney parks costs, crowds, and categorizations

R

rteetz

DIS Veteran
Joined
Feb 20, 2013
I don't know if anyone listens to the Mickey Miles and More Podcast but they had Len Testa on their past three episodes. They have been discussing Disney pricing structures from 1999 to today. They have also brought into account the household incomes, average number of vacation days, and how Disney classes their vacationers. It is a really interesting discussion and something I think goes unnoticed at times.
 
rteetz said:
I don't know if anyone listens to the Mickey Miles and More Podcast but they had Len Testa on their past three episodes. They have been discussing Disney pricing structures from 1999 to today. They have also brought into account the household incomes, average number of vacation days, and how Disney classes their vacationers. It is a really interesting discussion and something I think goes unnoticed at times.
Click to expand...

I hadn't listened to them - but I just downloaded those episodes as I find Len Testa to be very interesting and obviously this is an interesting topic
 
rteetz said:
I don't know if anyone listens to the Mickey Miles and More Podcast but they had Len Testa on their past three episodes. They have been discussing Disney pricing structures from 1999 to today. They have also brought into account the household incomes, average number of vacation days, and how Disney classes their vacationers. It is a really interesting discussion and something I think goes unnoticed at times.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this! Listened to these towards the end of the day and on my commute home. I have a few thoughts:

- As far as food costs go, I can't figure out how Disney justifies the insane increase! I'd never realized how intense the adjusted-for-inflation increases were. I encourage you all to listen, but it's significant.

- The Disney "classification" levels are very eye-opening. As someone who's very involved and meticulous with my budgeting spreadsheets, it was interesting to hear what American families spend on vacations and what Disney considers their main demographics. Also it made me understand the need for organizations like Give Kids the World a whole lot more. This is also hard for me to fully understand because I'm from So Cal. Even most of those who aren't well off have been to Disneyland at least once.

- General thought: I get it, Disney costs have really skyrocketed, even adjusted for increases of cost of living/inflation. The inequality of Americans IS shocking and a solution is needed. But my BIGGEST pet peeve is when people talk about problems as if there's an easy solution. Sure, it sounds great to say: "Lower costs. Don't raise costs so much." But they didn't at all discuss the impact that would have on crowds. Because I guarantee that if prices were significantly more affordable, the parks would be even more crowded and these boards would be filled with folks swearing off of Disney because it's too crowded. I don't know what the answer is but I wish they would have discussed this.

Overall, great listen! Thanks for sharing!
 




PaintsWithAllTheColors said:
Maybe a third park isn't the answer, but I think you did bring up a good point with "more product". Expansions to parks would help create more space for more people!
Click to expand...

But also a higher demand for wanting to go to any of the Disney Theme Parks. I don't know if expansions will be the answer. For example...I know I want to be at Disneyland or DHS when Star Wars Land opens, but my mind keeps asking me, "Do I really want to be there?"

I was talking to someone earlier today sorta about this, and I brought up the thought of a 5th gate at Walt Disney World. That is mostly because if you keep the same amount of hotels on property and then build a 5th gate, you are spreading the resort guests to 5 parks + 2 water parks + a shopping district. That was only a thought I had, but I really think adding a 5th gate would go along with what I mentioned above. You build something "new" and the people will come.

I know Disneyland doesn't have the room to really expand much more without taking something away. So, I think Disneyland is going to be stuck in this situation with crowds for a while until they really price the Annual Passes a lot higher than they already are. Raising the prices at Disneyland is the only way that makes sense in my mind to get rid of crowds.

Walt Disney World is blessed that they have approx. 40 square miles to work with. The Disneyland Resort is only approx. 500 acres.

I think Disney is in a very interesting spot. Their brand is recognized all over the world, so everyone wants to go experience their theme parks. I am just curious to know if expanding is really the answer.
 
I don't think that building another gate/resort in the US is affordable these days in Disney's eyes. Building a 5th gate in Orlando would only cannibalize their other parks' numbers, considering that people's vacations are not getting any longer. Disneyland could potentially buy some more land and build a third gate, but then again, that requires more hotels, more parking, more staff and so on, which they don't really have the space for. I don't think a third resort in the US is in Disney's inmediate future either. There's a reason behind Disney's growing interest in emerging markets: operational costs.
 
Last edited:
AMusicLifeForMe said:
So, I think Disneyland is going to be stuck in this situation with crowds for a while until they really price the Annual Passes a lot higher than they already are. Raising the prices at Disneyland is the only way that makes sense in my mind to get rid of crowds.
Click to expand...

While I agree that raising prices at Disneyland would deter some AP holders. I have heard other people mention that if they got rid of the ability to pay for the AP monthly, that would probably also deter more people. If I lived in California or Florida and had the option to pay for my AP on a monthly basis, I would definitely do that. It makes it easier to manage. More people can manage or "justify" paying for something monthly versus one time out of pocket. The other thing would be to get rid of the various versions of the AP or implement additional blackout dates for the lower passes.
 
PaintsWithAllTheColors said:
Thanks for this! Listened to these towards the end of the day and on my commute home. I have a few thoughts:

- As far as food costs go, I can't figure out how Disney justifies the insane increase! I'd never realized how intense the adjusted-for-inflation increases were. I encourage you all to listen, but it's significant.

- The Disney "classification" levels are very eye-opening. As someone who's very involved and meticulous with my budgeting spreadsheets, it was interesting to hear what American families spend on vacations and what Disney considers their main demographics. Also it made me understand the need for organizations like Give Kids the World a whole lot more. This is also hard for me to fully understand because I'm from So Cal. Even most of those who aren't well off have been to Disneyland at least once.

- General thought: I get it, Disney costs have really skyrocketed, even adjusted for increases of cost of living/inflation. The inequality of Americans IS shocking and a solution is needed. But my BIGGEST pet peeve is when people talk about problems as if there's an easy solution. Sure, it sounds great to say: "Lower costs. Don't raise costs so much." But they didn't at all discuss the impact that would have on crowds. Because I guarantee that if prices were significantly more affordable, the parks would be even more crowded and these boards would be filled with folks swearing off of Disney because it's too crowded. I don't know what the answer is but I wish they would have discussed this.

Overall, great listen! Thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...

Disney doesn't justify!
Disney makes decisions based on their Shareholders ,
NOT based on the past!
& NOT based on what the Guests want!
 
Disney does NOT care about equity amongst Guests OR future Guests!

Disney cares about their Shareholders!

IF you quit visiting, they don!t care!
Period.
 
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