2018 Price Increases

[Krandor]

However, in response to a later post you wrote, I agree that if the guest service declines (or continues to decline) THAT will be the real death knell. And that is the line in the sand for me. It plays heavily into my personal “worth it” equation.

And that goes for everything they do. I do a lot of rundisney and pay a lot more then I would for a local race for rundisney but in return I want an expereince worth that money. So far they deliver that but if that changes then I'll stop going. I was going to go to DLR this year but am not because they cancelled the races and won't be back until there is a race to go to. That isn't a "i'm boycotting comment" but more of a "without a race to go to it isn't worth the cost of a trip to me"

 

[Krandor]

There's something to be said for that increase every year, that over time it does make it to where people can't go. The cost of our honeymoon at disney just 10 years ago has now doubled.

So sure, an extra $100-$300 if you can't afford that, then i can see why some people would say you shouldn't be going, but multiply that every year, and at some point that number just gets so inflated i can understand other people's tipping points.

I really hope that made sense what i was trying to say.

$10 here $20 there $30 here and eventually you get to real money.

 

[ChipnDale79]

The big problem is that the parks are getting too crowded especially during peak times. Unfortunatly the best way to thin the crowds is to raise prices unless they wanted to do something like a lottery or somethere. There is also a need to try to try to average the crowds more through the year hense sesional pricing. It isn't to try to gouge people during peak times. It is more to get some people to decide that instead of july maybe we can go in march and save some money. I totally understand some people can only come in peak times and it will make it more expensive BUT if they can get 20% of the people who would come in July to go another time then the people who do come in July while they would be paying more would have shorter lines and a less crowded part and a better experience overall. I do a lot of rundisney and those were put there not so much to make money on the race but to bring people to the parks/hotels/restaurants during slower times. Trying to get people to come at non-peak times is not new.

Im going to go back to Disney not putting money into the parks for a long period of time. I think this is an effect of it also, meaning, they don't have the places to put people. EPCOT, AK, and DHS don't have the attractions that they should have, and I understand they are finally working on that, but each of those parks need about twice as many attractions as they currently have. If they did, then maybe the parks wouldn't seem as crowded as they are.

Couple that with MDE in my opinion has lead to a lot of wondering around the parks between FP windows.

 

[rteetz]

And that goes for everything they do. I do a lot of rundisney and pay a lot more then I would for a local race for rundisney but in return I want an expereince worth that money. So far they deliver that but if that changes then I'll stop going. I was going to go to DLR this year but am not because they cancelled the races and won't be back until there is a race to go to. That isn't a "i'm boycotting comment" but more of a "without a race to go to it isn't worth the cost of a trip to me"

As a runDisney fan myself I would say DLR is worth it without runDisney.

 

[Krandor]

As a runDisney fan myself I would say DLR is worth it without runDisney.

Honestly until I did inaugural Avengers (oh my that wind) I had never been to DLR. Been at least once a year since mainly for SWLS. Really sad they cancelled the races. I like the park but harder to justify a trip from GA to CA without the races. As we've discussed in this thread we all have our points where it isn't worth it.

 

[disneydreamer1980]

I understand Disney is a business and I don’t think They are being greedy, but I do think that if they’re going to have these high prices, they shouldn’t have hippos missing ears on JC, they shouldn’t be cutting staff, they shouldn’t be charging full price for a ticket to DHS which is essentially half a park right now, etc. I love Disney and have been there almost every year since 1986, and will continue to go, but I do see the prices there as higher then they should be. Not complaining necessarily, just an opinion.

 

[rteetz]

they shouldn’t have hippos missing ears on JC

That isn't a common thing by any means.

 

[Scifidiner]

Let's face it, we all have an emotional attachment to WDW. Those in corporate positions at Disney that determine prices are looking at this issue with a dispassionate point of view. Strictly from a profit/loss mentality, trying to maximize profit for the company/investors. That may be unpleasant, but it's true. It doesn't make Disney evil, it's just business. Having said that, does it irritate me paying $3.50 for a bottle of water, when I know I can buy 24 bottles at Walmart for approximately the same price? Yes it sure does. WDW knows they have a fairly unique experience. I like Colorado, the Smoky mountains and the beach. But I don't have an emotional connection with those destinations like I do WDW. People are willing to pay for that, obviously, and Disney knows that.

 

[ArwenMarie]

If they are trying to lower crowds, why are they selling Florida tickets at the grocery stores?

 

[Dean Marino]

All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

How would YOU solve the problem of one overloaded park (MK), vs three dead end looser parks in a state of construction, neglect, or poor theaming?

Just askin .

We'll be renewing our APs in May. WDW, please continue to jack up park ticket prices until the crowds go down .

Again - All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

 

[Krandor]

All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

How would YOU solve the problem of one overloaded park (MK), vs three dead end looser parks in a state of construction, neglect, or poor theaming?

The state of AK and EPCOT is very different then HS.

Either way you have more people who want to come then they can accomodate.

 

[mom2rtk]

If they are trying to lower crowds, why are they selling Florida tickets at the grocery stores?

If Disney was trying to lower the crowds, they'd stop advertising. They'd stop offering discounts. They'd stop offering special ticket deals. I bet heads would roll in the marketing department if attendance actually went down.

I can believe that the tiered pricing is because they want more people from peak season to choose a different season, thereby making room for more bodies during peak season. But I can guarantee that if they want crowds to thin during certain times of the year, they absolutely just want it shifted to other times of year, thereby making the parks worse for other visitors.

 

[ChipnDale79]

If Disney was trying to lower the crowds, they'd stop advertising. They'd stop offering discounts. They'd stop offering special ticket deals. I bet heads would roll in the marketing department if attendance actually went down.

I can believe that the tiered pricing is because they want more people from peak season to choose a different season, thereby making room for more bodies during peak season. But I can guarantee that if they want crowds to thin during certain times of the year, they absolutely just want it shifted to other times of year, thereby making the parks worse for other visitors.

This..this right here.

 

[mom2rtk]

All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

How would YOU solve the problem of one overloaded park (MK), vs three dead end looser parks in a state of construction, neglect, or poor theaming?

Just askin .

We'll be renewing our APs in May. WDW, please continue to jack up park ticket prices until the crowds go down .

Again - All personal opinion - I'm not necessarily right, no one else is necessarily wrong.

Maybe don't ignore those parks for so long that their appeal goes down? Maybe keep new things in the pipeline to keep the parks fresh instead of waiting until it all reaches critical mass? Maybe don't close everything else while you're finally working on so much delayed and long needed new stuff? Maybe when you finally add new stuff, add more in capacity that just enough to equal what you closed to make way for it?

 

[hertamaniac]

I can believe that the tiered pricing is because they want more people from peak season to choose a different season, thereby making room for more bodies during peak season. But I can guarantee that if they want crowds to thin during certain times of the year, they absolutely just want it shifted to other times of year, thereby making the parks worse for other visitors.

So maybe part of the strategy is trying to level crowds so that the variance from day to day is much less than previously? I could see how that might lead them to allocate resources in a more efficient manner.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

If Disney was trying to lower the crowds, they'd stop advertising. They'd stop offering discounts. They'd stop offering special ticket deals. I bet heads would roll in the marketing department if attendance actually went down.

I can believe that the tiered pricing is because they want more people from peak season to choose a different season, thereby making room for more bodies during peak season. But I can guarantee that if they want crowds to thin during certain times of the year, they absolutely just want it shifted to other times of year, thereby making the parks worse for other visitors.

They definitely don't want lower crowds - though I do think their number 1 goal is to maximize revenue so they would be ok with a slight down tick if those attending were more than offsetting that by spending more

But I do think they want to "address" the crowds. The tiered pricing to spread them out throughout the year is definitely part of it. Theoretically FP+ is part of it too so that people know what rides they have reserved and spend less time in super long lines (and thus more time spending money in shops, etc.) too. Building Pandora was part of it to get more people from the other parks to Animal Kingdom and to enable AK to be more of a night time park. And they hope the same with Toy Story Land. I think Star Wars: GE is the one they truly want to increase overall crowd numbers vs just spread out existing crowds

 

[mom2rtk]

So maybe part of the strategy is trying to level crowds so that the variance from day to day is much less than previously? I could see how that might lead them to allocate resources in a more efficient manner.

The "every day is a 7" approach.

They definitely don't want lower crowds - though I do think their number 1 goal is to maximize revenue so they would be ok with a slight down tick if those attending were more than offsetting that by spending more

But I do think they want to "address" the crowds. The tiered pricing to spread them out throughout the year is definitely part of it. Theoretically FP+ is part of it too so that people know what rides they have reserved and spend less time in super long lines (and thus more time spending money in shops, etc.) too. Building Pandora was part of it to get more people from the other parks to Animal Kingdom and to enable AK to be more of a night time park. And they hope the same with Toy Story Land. I think Star Wars: GE is the one they truly want to increase overall crowd numbers vs just spread out existing crowds

I definitely think FP+ was part of it. A way to encourage usage of existing rides before they were willing to actually spend the cash on new attractions. It all makes sense from a business perspective. Not so much from customer satisfaction standpoint when rides that used to be a reliably reasonable short wait now are FP only if you want to avoid waiting 30-45 minutes.

And I still don't think they would be happy with a slight down tick even if the remaining guests spent more. I think they want continued growth AND increased spending.

 

[Krandor]

And I still don't think they would be happy with a slight down tick even if the remaining guests spent more. I think they want continued growth AND increased spending.

If crowds just keep going on then people will have a less enjoyable experience and that is not good for disney long term.

The other thing I want to mention especially with the "disney is too expensive" comments is that disney wants and encourages you to get a bunch of upcharges. You don't have to do them even if encouraged very highly. I thought about this when looking at a thread in another part of the board about "best value/moderate/deluxe resort" and there were a ton of people who said "never stayed in a value" or "did a value once..never again" and it seems like so many people just have to have character dining and meal plan and this and that. While a lot of those are nice they are not required to still have a fun time. You don't have to do every add-on disney has that they want you to take (even though they will definitely try to sell them to you).

 

[hertamaniac]

Maybe don't ignore those parks for so long that their appeal goes down? Maybe keep new things in the pipeline to keep the parks fresh instead of waiting until it all reaches critical mass? Maybe don't close everything else while you're finally working on so much delayed and long needed new stuff? Maybe when you finally add new stuff, add more in capacity that just enough to equal what you closed to make way for it?

Your dead on. I know that MK has quite a few attractions that are in desperate need of a refresh (my definition of which is a more holistic update). Philharmonic/Carousel/JC/PP/Tiki Room are, I feel, easy targets. The cost of a refresh should give them a new life of XX years helping justify the increased ticket prices.

 

[dlavender]

If crowds just keep going on then people will have a less enjoyable experience and that is not good for disney long term.

The other thing I want to mention especially with the "disney is too expensive" comments is that disney wants and encourages you to get a bunch of upcharges. You don't have to do them even if encouraged very highly. I thought about this when looking at a thread in another part of the board about "best value/moderate/deluxe resort" and there were a ton of people who said "never stayed in a value" or "did a value once..never again" and it seems like so many people just have to have character dining and meal plan and this and that. While a lot of those are nice they are not required to still have a fun time. You don't have to do every add-on disney has that they want you to take (even though they will definitely try to sell them to you).

It's hard to "strip" your experience, in their defense.

Years ago, when we only had one child, we would stay in a Disney resort, and eat at character buffets.

We had more kids, and the prices went crazy, so we had to move off site, and no longer do the buffets.

It wasn't easy at first. At first we missed the perks of on site and the character buffets.

We don't really miss them anymore, but it is a hard sell to tell people to pay roughly the same as they use to, but lose the extras.

We are faced with this situation again this year. Pay roughly the same for our AP's, but lose the water parks.