Interesting article, Disney may have finally exceeded the price people will pay

[Brett Wyman]

I don't think the cost of admission is wholly to blame in the drop in attendance. I have been hesitant to plan another trip (to WDW) because all of the windows for Fast Passes and dining reservations and the price of accommodations have made me dread the planning. I love it there, but fussing with Magic Bands and all the linking of tickets and reservations, etc. is just getting to be too much for a vacation. There are so many layers of planning that it takes the fun and flexibility out of the trip. Now, maybe my husband and family would feel differently because they are not in charge of the arrangements, but at some point I would like to be able to just relax and enjoy the vacation without having to worry about missing some ride or meal or predetermined activity.

You can 100% visit WDW with little planning if you are flexible and aren't expecting to ride the newest rides or get into the most desired restaurants.

 

[Hikergirl]

Same here. I doubt I'll ever go on a "WDW vacation" ever again. But I still might be willing to go for a day at the so-called value price.

I'll definitely go back for a few days of F&W with dh but we will probably never take another week long. whole family vacation there again.

 

[RamblingMad]

You can 100% visit WDW with little planning if you are flexible and aren't expecting to ride the newest rides or get into the most desired restaurants.

If you want to overpay for a mediocre stay, you can do it. That’s not reassuring.

 

[Colleen27]

Its sort of funny that this is about DLR. We've reached that point with WDW, but visited DLR for the first time last week and are already planning a return visit. The parks were fabulous, much like I remember WDW being 20+ years ago when we started going, lots of entertainment and wandering characters and reasonable crowds/wait times. That, plus the proximity of affordable off-site accommodations and far better food choices (both on and off site; we only ate quick service at the parks but everything we tried was quite good and not at all the generic burger-or-pizza type of meal) and the ability to do the parks in a few days without feeling rushed, made me think my husband - who hasn't been to WDW since 2012 because of the cost and crowds - would actually enjoy visiting with us. So we're planning on going back next year. I'm not sure when we'll be back to WDW. Probably 2022, because DD really wants a Food & Wine trip for her 21st birthday.

 

[VandVsmama]

Well, I can tell you why WE didn't go this summer to Disneyland. We live in AZ, so DL is a lot closer and more convenient to get to than WDW. Yes, park tickets are super expensive. But that's not why we didn't go. We chose to avoid DL this year because of the huge crowds that were anticipated at DL...huge crowds expected over the summer and then huge crowds expected starting later this month once the So Cal & Deluxe AP summer block out days end.

The local AP population is significant and makes a huge difference in crowd levels. Over the past couple of summers, at least on the DL board, people have reported on their summer trips to DL that some of their best days in DL & DCA were on the days in which both So Cal & Deluxe AP's were blocked (Saturdays, for example).

Disney clearly expected that AP holders AND local So Cal residents who were NOT AP holders would be willing to pay a big ticket price just to get to experience the new land.

We have plans to go next March for 3 days with some friends. I am totally excited about that trip.

 

[mrodgers]

I got priced out a long time ago.

This. I've been there once when the kids were little in 2010. Cost me $2100 for 6 nights. That trip is now 25-30% of my pay after deductions. I think that same trip is around $6000.

 

[DLgal]

I've seen variations on this article all over for the past month. I sure wish Disney was cheaper, of course, but I'm not sure overall this is bad for disney.

The article says "But not even Disney can keep winning forever. With this dip in attendance, Disney might now finally have discovered that ceiling beyond which it no longer can keep raising prices without consequences. " And I disagree with that. Disney DID win. They had fewer people in the parks, which means lower staffing costs and yet they still made more money than before. Disney doesn't care what the attendance number is as much as they care about their profit. They'll do whatever it takes to make more money.

They didn't win. They seriously over hired hourly CMs for the "masses" they were expecting, and right after labor day, word is a HUGE batch of layoffs will hit the DLR. Labor costs are very high and for much of the summer, Disneyland had CMs standing around doing nothing. Only recently have they cut staffing levels. They are going to see this impact on the NEXT earnings call, most likely. The entire month of July was a ghost town at DL in a way it has not been since right after 9/11.

 

[Micca]

Disney may have finally exceeded the price people will pay
Let's re-examine this in 15 days, and through the end of the year. We'll know if Disney has hit the wall re price point.

 

[L&Lfan]

I think WDW visitors are willing to pay more than DL visitors. I think WDW’s GE will be a roaring success- everything DL’s GE was not.

 

[wgeo]

They didn't win. They seriously over hired hourly CMs for the "masses" they were expecting, and right after labor day, word is a HUGE batch of layoffs will hit the DLR. Labor costs are very high and for much of the summer, Disneyland had CMs standing around doing nothing. Only recently have they cut staffing levels. They are going to see this impact on the NEXT earnings call, most likely. The entire month of July was a ghost town at DL in a way it has not been since right after 9/11.

Ohh, I didn't realize all of that was happening with staffing wow.

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I know there are other boards like this and I wonder to myself does Disney monitor these boards do they even try to get a hold on the pulse of what the public wants or are they too self-centered, too egotistical, and too elitist and think they are untouchable? I believe the latter three because for years we wanted a land with Fantasy Beasts as they had discussed when AK opened the boards referred to it often....what do we get a bunch of lights and luminescent paint accompanied by one of the worst water shows I have ever seen. All they do is try to create celebrations out of nothing in order to sell more merch and special foods, like the day tons of people lined up at Poly to get a blue Dole whip! They close nostalgic rides like Snow White and make it a meet and greet! They make everything a meet and greet! I sometimes feel that they are snake oil salesmen selling us counterfeit magic.

They could have had the Harry Potter Franchise and to be honest, while I like it at Universal I still think Disney would have made it even better. Once again did not care what the popular vote was!

I think just the fact that we do not have a ton of people outraged on this thread and wanting my heart on a Cinderella pillow about mine and others comments, as we would have in the past, speaks volumes louder than any we write. HEY DISNEY, DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SPEAK??

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I’ve heard Galaxy’s Edge referred to as a shopping mall with a video game attraction. No wonder folks are staying away for whatever reasons.

I mean, (Edit) World Showcase is a shopping mall with a log flume and a boat ride...

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

I mean, Epcot is a shopping mall with a log flume and a boat ride...

Where is the log flume?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Toxic Star Wars twitter says that a friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who was at a meeting where Iger got mad that Galaxy's Edge was a failure and Kathleen Kennedy and Pablo Hidalgo where there and everybody was yelling at each other and stuff.




I heard it was pretty serious.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Where is the log flume?

Norway?

 

[Bella the Ball 360]

Where is the log flume?

LOL more credit than they deserve is more like the slide at a kiddy park.

 

[L&Lfan]

The latest I heard was they’re gonna “reconfigure “ DL’s GE into Agrabah aka Aladdinland!

 

[FlightlessDuck]

The latest I heard was they’re gonna “reconfigure “ DL’s GE into Agrabah aka Aladdinland!

OMG, that's what my friend's sister's boyfriend's brother's girlfriend said she heard from this guy who knows this kid who's going with the girl who was at that meeting!

It must be true

 

[ButterbearUK]

I think fear of recession and general uncertainty is fuelling some of this. Speaking as a Uk visitor, there’s also been a huge shift in the dollar/pound exchange rate which must be denting their UK visitor numbers. Brits historically have gone for 2 weeks at a time, and whilst they are there they tended to spend quite a lot on merch, food etc as it always seemed cheaper stateside than back at home.

In 2005 when I went on my first self-funded trip we were at a fairly typical 1.7 $ to the £. It briefly went up almost to $2 to the £ a few years later (that was amazing!) Now we are down at 1.2 $ to the £ it makes everything there very much more expensive.

 

[ButterbearUK]

I mean, (Edit) World Showcase is a shopping mall with a log flume and a boat ride...

And restaurants and alcohol. Galactic food and wine anyone...?