What's up with all the cutbacks?

I don't see any indication of them turning into regular "amusement parks" more than they were back in the early 2000's when we got DCA as one big amusement park, Disney Studios Paris, Dino-Rama with a bunch of barely themed carnival rides and games in DAK, etc. , plus lots of good attractions replaced by very cheap ones.

Those were the dark ages.
Part of it becoming a regular "amusement park" would require them to raise prices high enough that you feel sort of ripped off. Enter today's cost increases on food and drink to help drive that.

I haven't been back in quite a while and honestly it's price (or better yet, perceived value) holding me back. I have no idea if I'll return.
 




Those snack price increases are pretty hefty % wise particularly since the CPI was only up 2% last year, they raised the price of a can of soda 12%, for example. I assume that menu prices at restaurants will see similar increases. In their earnings calls Disney is always saying per guest spending is up - I guess this is why.
Those not concerned w/ budgeting pay for a cupcake w/ a ‘view’ type upcharge events, those on a budget pay .50 here, a dollar there and before you know it, this year’s visit is 10-20% more expensive than last year’s visit. It will reach the point where those who wouldn’t have bothered to seek things like sodas & snacks elsewhere because of the hassle will decide it’s worth a little effort to save and Disney may find that they’ve driven net per guest spending on food down.

High food prices in theme parks are "industry standard" -- like parking fees.

Will we even be shocked when Disney puts the crack down on bringing in outside food .. like every other theme park, arena or ballpark out there? And it will be probably be sold for "security reasons".

I just don't understand overly high food prices that places charge - especially for things like bottled or fountain drinks. I get they have a somewhat "captured" audience, and I totally get there are a TON of people that don't seem to care what the price is -- it could be $10 and people would still just pay it because, I guess, they can't do without it.

Food prices are going up all around unless you eat fast food, but a $1 increase overnight is a huge % increase.

But I feel if prices were "reasonable" .. they would make more money . .because there is a huge segment of guests that see a $4.50 coke and just go ... "nope" and not buy a single one .. EVER. .. but a $2.25 coke and a bunch of people might go .. "Why not .. that's just a bit more than I pay at my local gas station". So you get more people buying Cokes. How is getting $0

Same goes for movie theatres .. I can't stand spending $10 for a drink and popcorn so I never get them. Ever. If it cost half that amount? I would probably consider it every time.

We'll be bringing in the small cooler like normal, but I wouldn't bother if prices were even somewhat reasonable.
 
First time in seven years we don’t have a trip in our sight or booked. It’s all just gone up too fast.

I keep detailed spreadsheets of all of our trips and the same trip we had in 2012 costs 35% more in 2018. Inflation has gone up 9% over the same time period. This is before the upcoming ticket increase.
 
First time in seven years we don’t have a trip in our sight or booked. It’s all just gone up too fast. I keep detailed spreadsheets of all of our trips and the same trip we had on 2012 would cost 35% more. Inflation has gone up 9% over the same time period
And to top it off, if you wanted to get the same entertainment value you were getting in 2012 you would need to book some add on events like Disney After Hours or Toy Story early admission. Think about it, back in 2012 extra magic hours were 3 hours long!!
 
I have a trip coming up from Oct. 23 to Nov. 9th. The only way I could do that is to stay off site. My rack rate for my off-site stay is $101 per night including tax, no resort or parking fees. I have a suite with a living room, kitchen and there is a pool and a fitness center. There is a free breakfast every morning. It's 5 minutes north of Disney Springs.

So that's what I am getting.

What did I give up? I have an annual pass, so I could only book fast passes 30 days in advance for 7 days. Then after I use my first fast pass I can book day 8, then day 9, etc. This means that I could not get a fast pass for Slinky dog or 7 dwarfs but since I am an "Educated Disney Consumer" I know I can rope drop these attractions during a park day with no Extra Magic hours. I am off site so no Extra Magic Hours.... but they pale in comparison to what they used to be, so they are not much of a loss.

I'm giving up Disney transportation since I have my car but it's such a cluster cuss that it's in the positive column, ESPECIALLY if I leave a park at midday and go anywhere.

Now we come to MY Disney cuts

I know I can bring food and drink in the park so I'm packing snacks or a sandwich and bringing a cooler and renting a locker. While I'm waiting for the parade or fireworks I'm having a picnic. I'll still go to Disney restaurants, but it will be a lot less. I'm also making a side trip to the Disney outlet store and cutting out the full price retail locations onsite.

I'm cutting out Disney resorts where I would have to pay obscenely overpriced room rates and spend my vacation time managing all the customer service problems that I have experienced when staying there. (Now with added room checks!)

I was able to renew my Universal Annual Pass with a free, 3-month, extension, and a reasonable price increase to add the Volcano Bay water park so I'll be cutting the days that I would have been in Disney parks and spending my time and money over at Universal.

So, in summary, Disney drove me off site for this trip. I'm meeting with a group of friends at Disney, so it must be at the parks, but I have gotten to the point where I really wish we were elsewhere. Going to the parks and seeing the overall reduction in quality and increase in unnecessary price gouging is tough for someone who knows better and understands what a Disney parks experience is supposed to be. The Disney tradition for excellence has taken a back seat to pumping up the stock price at all costs. The entire creative focus of the parks seems to be how to extract the maximum amount of money from a guest while giving them the minimum amount of value.

I also have a trip planned for Dec. 2019, but that trip will have to be onsite because of the requirements of the group I am with. So, the cut there is to stay at a Value resort instead of a higher tier like we used to. This trip onsite at Disney will be shorter and we will probably extend our stay off site at Cabana Bay. Less days at Disney, more days at someplace else. It's almost inconceivable to me that it has come to that but there we are.

I'm not tired of Disney, I'm tired of the way that management is ruining the Disney parks experience.

~NM
 
The entire creative focus of the parks seems to be how to extract the maximum amount of money from a guest while giving them the minimum amount of value.

The problem is that this is the metric Disney management is rewarded for ... it's a systemic issue with most publicly traded companies. I don't see a fix for it or anything changing in the future. Eventually it will rot Disney Parks, but that's at least a decade or more off. Rome fell, General Electric fell ... Disney will probably suffer the same, but with Galaxy's Edge and it's media empire it'll take a good long while and there's still plenty of years for them to keep the stock price rising.
 
High food prices in theme parks are "industry standard" -- like parking fees.

Will we even be shocked when Disney puts the crack down on bringing in outside food .. like every other theme park, arena or ballpark out there? And it will be probably be sold for "security reasons".

I just don't understand overly high food prices that places charge - especially for things like bottled or fountain drinks. I get they have a somewhat "captured" audience, and I totally get there are a TON of people that don't seem to care what the price is -- it could be $10 and people would still just pay it because, I guess, they can't do without it.

Food prices are going up all around unless you eat fast food, but a $1 increase overnight is a huge % increase.

But I feel if prices were "reasonable" .. they would make more money . .because there is a huge segment of guests that see a $4.50 coke and just go ... "nope" and not buy a single one .. EVER. .. but a $2.25 coke and a bunch of people might go .. "Why not .. that's just a bit more than I pay at my local gas station". So you get more people buying Cokes. How is getting $0

Same goes for movie theatres .. I can't stand spending $10 for a drink and popcorn so I never get them. Ever. If it cost half that amount? I would probably consider it every time.

We'll be bringing in the small cooler like normal, but I wouldn't bother if prices were even somewhat reasonable.

Silver Dollar City is my home park , I got a "retired" drink mug deal for $8 with free refills for the entire year. 8 Bucks, unlimited soda, think about that. Six Flags has similar deal for under $20.
I can also bring my own snacks. There is a great big world outside of Disney for family fun.
 
I'm not tired of Disney, I'm tired of the way that management is ruining the Disney parks experience.

I couldn't agree more with your observation/assessment. I don't think it is necessarily Disney centric as the gouging threshold differs for each person/family. We let our AP's run out this year and can't justify a renewal for at least another year or two; we have been to the parks many times and want to wait until there are sufficient new experiences before purchasing another AP.
 
Silver Dollar City is my home park , I got a "retired" drink mug deal for $8 with free refills for the entire year. 8 Bucks, unlimited soda, think about that. Six Flags has similar deal for under $20.
I can also bring my own snacks. There is a great big world outside of Disney for family fun.
Six Flags is a very different market though. I mean they sell annual passes for less than a day ticket, I think I paid $45 this year. And they work nationwide. But it's hard to call them theme parks. A coat of paint is not a theme.
 

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