What is going on with Disney parks?

[umichigan10]

• Will this board allow us to call him Cheapek from here on out?

  Better yet, “he who must not be named”

 

[sweetyk83]

Here is my take on this, we visited WDW for the first time in 2013. At the time the Magicbands were in testing and we were one of the first guests to use them. On that first trip we experienced a few frustrations with the new system but they were more than made up for.
In 2013 the parks were far less crowded than they have been on all our subsequent trips and we visit in sept, supposedly one of the lower crowd periods.
In our future trips we did experience frustrations but as time passed those frustrations grew and grew.
It starts when you book, you now start the major planning, which I love to do except for when their website creates issues for me. To fix the problems I need to call, and that means I sit on hold for 20-30 minutes.
Then the frustrations happen on the trip, poor housekeeping, worn out rooms, higher crowds (or perceived higher crowds due to understaffing), add ons that don't live up to their hype, more IT issues, etc etc.
Let's totally forget the prices going up, visiting the parks just gets more and more frustrating as the years go by. So when I am paying higher prices PLUS I am experiencing more frustrations I feel like it's too much hassle to visit.
It really makes me sad because I LOVE WDW!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

worn out rooms

One thing I think we can say though is that Disney has recognized that some of their resorts have the wear and tear of time and decor datedness. They are at least actively doing something about that even if not everyone agrees in the direction of the room refurbs they are doing them across multiple resorts.

 

[Alynw]

I think if this trend continues into next spring, you could see some more Disney execs being let go. Will it get bad enough for Bob Chapek to be let go is the big question. I'm convinced they are worried about their Christmas bookings. If they have a well below normal Christmas after opening Rise of the Resistance, I think Disney will officially start

I definitely agree, Bob chapel is gone no matter what happens, I'm guessing we see him step down sometime after the new year. The other thing I'm really curious about is the swge hotel. Seeing how swge has performed so far will wdw really go all out and invest millions more into a hotel designed specifically for a land that doesn't seem to be living up to expectations. I'm thinking we see Disney pull back a little and make some cuts and save some money on the new swge hotel. I'm sure it will still be amazing but not extra extraordinary as originally designed but hey, u never know.

 

[sweetyk83]

One thing I think we can say though is that Disney has recognized that some of their resorts have the wear and tear of time and decor datedness. They are at least actively doing something about that even if not everyone agrees in the direction of the room refurbs they are doing them across multiple resorts.

I completely agree and I am really happy they’re doing this! I’ve been a fan of the refurbs they’ve done so far.

 

[PrincessNelly]

We went yearly to Disney for 10-14 days for the last 12 years with the exception of this year and perhaps next year. We loved our Disney vacations but they have gotten much more expensive and we feel like we are getting less with each vacation. When I started seeing almost $300/night for a moderate and up to $600/night for a deluxe, I realized the prices were getting out of control. Also, the price of the tickets were getting way too high. To spend over $2000 for park tickets for our family was just ridiculous. We don't go to the parks all day, we go around 4-5 hours a day and do resort and other things the rest of the time and I realized we were not getting our money worth out of the high price of the tickets. We love Disney but the prices have just gotten too much. Higher crowds and much higher prices, just not worth it anymore, even though we missed it this year and will probably miss it next year.

Same. I just looked through our old vacation invoices, in 2014 we stayed 8 days at Port Orleans French quarter w/ 5 day tickets and the disney dining plan for $2,400 (3 adults). That same trip would cost me $4,100 now. We paid $196 (w/ tax) for a king bed at POFQ in the same year... that same room is now $306 a night with a very similar discount. That is insane to me.

I was helping a friend price out her trip and POP century was over $200 a night. No way! They've literally lost it.

 

[Nanceliz319]

I wanted to chime in. With the negatives (all valid points) regarding increase prices, I still love WDW. We haven't been in a few years and I'm very excited about going back this next year. Otherwise, I wouldn't be on the boards and day dreaming about our next trip. Actual dreams will be coming soon as I always have them before a trip.
I'm posting to let those that haven't seen it know, there's a video up (a few probably) on the new EPCOT experience that just opened.
Check it out!

 

[tlmadden73]

Same. I just looked through our old vacation invoices, in 2014 we stayed 8 days at Port Orleans French quarter w/ 5 day tickets and the disney dining plan for $2,400 (3 adults). That same trip would cost me $4,100 now. We paid $196 (w/ tax) for a king bed at POFQ in the same year... that same room is now $306 a night with a very similar discount. That is insane to me.

I was helping a friend price out her trip and POP century was over $200 a night. No way! They've literally lost it.

Wow .. when was this trip that POP would be $200/night?

Has the rumored "price increase" for AoA and Pop happened now because of the "luxury" of being on the Skyliner now? Where those hotels will be more priced like moderates instead of Values (not that AoA was ever priced at a value because of the Suites).

 

[rteetz]

Wow .. when was this trip that POP would be $200/night?

Has the rumored "price increase" for AoA and Pop happened now because of the "luxury" of being on the Skyliner now? Where those hotels will be more priced like moderates instead of Values (not that AoA was ever priced at a value because of the Suites).

Pop is $200+ a night in Spring 2020

 

[Mikey15]

Wow .. when was this trip that POP would be $200/night?

Has the rumored "price increase" for AoA and Pop happened now because of the "luxury" of being on the Skyliner now? Where those hotels will be more priced like moderates instead of Values (not that AoA was ever priced at a value because of the Suites).

It's already happened, though the Moderates have gone up too. The rate calendar is a little all over the place if you click in and look at it:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/resorts/pop-century-resort/rates-rooms/If you click rate details there's a way to click into the calendar and every date through Dec 31 2020 is visible. $250 rack rate for a Standard room next Easter, $270 Christmas. It's $200/night for someone checking in this week, and it's rack rate only for October right now (no sales apply).

Of course, CBR is high-$300s.

 

[Tigerlulu]

I started looking at pricing for the spring and WOW. It’s only been a year since we’ve been there but prices have jumped significantly! Frankly I closed my browser and said nope. I’m simply not paying that when there is so much construction going on. We will be going the following spring for sure with my sons marching band, but I’m seriously thinking of staying off site. We also talked about my daughter and I flying in for her birthday in August, two park days and flying out—two night stay only at the all-stars. After pricing that out, frankly we went to Vegas instead for 5 days, spent less money and had just as much fun with a WAY better hotel. We are exploring other places more instead of going back to WDW repeatedly. This year we’ve been to Florida (beach trip), DC, NYC and Vegas, with no Disney planned. First time in years we’ve had no Disney plans. It’s almost not even tempting anymore, which is something I never thought I’d say.

 

[YesterDark]

It's already happened, though the Moderates have gone up too. The rate calendar is a little all over the place if you click in and look at it:
https://disneyworld.disney.go.com/en_CA/resorts/pop-century-resort/rates-rooms/If you click rate details there's a way to click into the calendar and every date through Dec 31 2020 is visible. $250 rack rate for a Standard room next Easter, $270 Christmas. It's $200/night for someone checking in this week, and it's rack rate only for October right now (no sales apply).

Of course, CBR is high-$300s.

I booked CBR in August for end of March at around $250. Rechecked the price and it's $100 more now. Yikes.

 

[snappy]

I booked CBR in August for end of March at around $250. Rechecked the price and it's $100 more now. Yikes.

This is nuts.

 

[firefly_ris]

Of course, CBR is high-$300s.

Yep... for comparison I booked CBR this February 2019 for $180/night and then I got a discount added a little while later which decreased some nights a lot so that my average per night ended up being $155/night.... I think $180/night is a fair price for those current rooms condition. $300 is nutso. But I guess people must be paying it.

 

[Tigerlulu]

I booked CBR in August for end of March at around $250. Rechecked the price and it's $100 more now. Yikes.

This is nuts.

Yep and those are NOT $300+ a night rooms. For that price I’d like a bathroom that doesn’t feel like I’m in a motel 6. We spent a night there after a beach club stay last year and it felt like the bathroom at the all stars we’d stayed in on our arrival night. I’m sure it was slightly larger but the feel of the quality was the same.

 

[Searc]

I booked CBR in August for end of March at around $250. Rechecked the price and it's $100 more now. Yikes.

$100 a night more or $100 total?

 

[Tigerlulu]

$100 a night more or $100 total?

per night

 

[firefly_ris]

Yeah I punched in 8 nights for March 2020 and here's what I got for CBR. No to the thanks... of course this is rack rate, so with a 30% discount or something it'd be closer to $200 ish per night which is still too much to me for this particular place. But some of the other places on my results list like, Beach Club for $860 per flipping night I guess then CBR doesn't look so bad comparitively.... either way, I think at $300/night you're better off looking for a DVC studio to rent from somewhere. At least then you get a balcony and a kitchenette.

 

[Brianstl]

I am wondering if they are raising the rack price in anticipation of a massive percentage discount offer. That makes people think the 40-50% discount is bigger than it actually is. Plus, it will allow them to claim they are not raising prices as they ease back the discounts as the 50th anniversary rolls around.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I am wondering if they are raising the rack price in anticipation of a massive percentage discount offer. That makes people think the 40-50% discount is bigger than it actually is. Plus, it will allow them to claim they are not raising prices as they ease back the discounts as the 50th anniversary rolls around.

I mentioned that on some thread about rack rates and some people scoffed that "who pays rack rates" well obviously some do (and it shouldn't be a way to look down on someone) but I kinda felt like some of those people scoffing missed the point of the raising of the rack rates. Great that you don't ever pay it but if the rack rate has gone up and up and up you're paying way more with a discount than you did even at rack rate just a few short years later and your rack rate is what is really important as that's obviously what the discount is being taken from.