2018 Price Increases

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.

Certainly not saying it is easy but it is doable. If it is too expensive with all the perks you can often drop some perks and still be able to come.

I normally stay on-site but at value and the main reason for on-site is I come for rundisney events mostly and at 3am in the morning disney provided race day transportation is worth the cost of on-site. Personally though I'm not going to pay $700-$800/night for a villa at grand floridian though especially since I'm rarely in my rooms. Everybody is different though. If you want the perks and the extras you'll have to pay for them.
 
Certainly not saying it is easy but it is doable. If it is too expensive with all the perks you can often drop some perks and still be able to come.

I normally stay on-site but at value and the main reason for on-site is I come for rundisney events mostly and at 3am in the morning disney provided race day transportation is worth the cost of on-site. Personally though I'm not going to pay $700-$800/night for a villa at grand floridian though especially since I'm rarely in my rooms. Everybody is different though. If you want the perks and the extras you'll have to pay for them.

It certainly is doable, as we have done it.

It's just, as pp's have stated, you start to hit a threshold on what you want out of your vacation dollars.

When $X used to get you a moderate and a buffet, and now $x gets you a value and a Casey's hot dog, you start to pause......
 
Certainly not saying it is easy but it is doable. If it is too expensive with all the perks you can often drop some perks and still be able to come.

I normally stay on-site but at value and the main reason for on-site is I come for rundisney events mostly and at 3am in the morning disney provided race day transportation is worth the cost of on-site. Personally though I'm not going to pay $700-$800/night for a villa at grand floridian though especially since I'm rarely in my rooms. Everybody is different though. If you want the perks and the extras you'll have to pay for them.
It doesn't matter if you "can" still do it. For some it's about affording it. But for many it's about not feeling like the value they get is worth the cost any more. Stripping away a lot of extras while paying more just doesn't feel like a good value to some. "Less for more" can be hard to swallow. Everyone has their own personal breaking point.
 
It certainly is doable, as we have done it.

It's just, as pp's have stated, you start to hit a threshold on what you want out of your vacation dollars.

When $X used to get you a moderate and a buffet, and now $x gets you a value and a Casey's hot dog, you start to pause......

That is true especially if you compare what that same money would get you elsewhere. If I wasn't coming for rundisney races I'd likely put the money elsewhere or at a minimum not come twice a year like I do now and spend the money elsewhere.
 


It doesn't matter if you "can" still do it. For some it's about affording it. But for many it's about not feeling like the value they get is worth the cost any more. Stripping away a lot of extras while paying more just doesn't feel like a good value to some. "Less for more" can be hard to swallow. Everyone has their own personal breaking point.

That is true. Everybody's point is different.

My only point was you can do disney on a budget if you want to. Yes you will miss out on some stuff and things but if you want to go there are ways to do it without completely breaking the bank. It will never be cheap, but can be done without being insane.
 
That is true. Everybody's point is different.

My only point was you can do disney on a budget if you want to. Yes you will miss out on some stuff and things but if you want to go there are ways to do it without completely breaking the bank. It will never be cheap, but can be done without being insane.

That's true.

You definitely don't need a Theme Park View suite with a daily table service meal and have extra tickets for parties or after hours events.

However, I don't think that's the clientele that's really complaining, or even really noticing.

I think its the folks who used to be able to spring for a mod/even deluxe sometimes, and have the occasional meal, who now can no longer do those things. (not speaking from personal experience or anything...)

Its that bracket who bears the "brunt" of the double digit increases across the board.

But, as you state, you can still have a great experience without any of those things. We still do. There's certainly nothing wrong with enjoying a packed lunch on Tom sawyer's island.

But if we get to the point where a 5 day PH ticket becomes the same price as my current AP (hyperbole-but maybe not as much as we may like), there's not enough I could strip out to justify.
 
Looking ahead to 2019 then 2020 price increases with the new tiered multi day ticket...

2015 single day ticket prices were $105 then the 2016 peak pricing was introduced at $124 so a 18% increase.

I am guessing we can expect at least that 18% increase for a 5 day ticket for when they officially release the pricing "later this year"...but I bet it will be closer to 19.5%.

Feb 2019 I doubt they will raise the peak multi day ticket as they didn't with the single ticket in 2017 after the tier was introduced. I bet the next WDW increase will come once SWL has a firm open date (internally) and the price increase will be in place before SWL official opening is announced. For that I would expect a 5% hike overall but would not be surprised for a 10% price increase on the peak rates.

Does that seem right?
 


But if we get to the point where a 5 day PH ticket becomes the same price as my current AP (hyperbole-but maybe not as much as we may like), there's not enough I could strip out to justify.

Kinda is for us, I think a 5 Day Hopper is $501, our DVC Premium AP renewal (no black outs and includes water parks) was $505 including tax.
 
I find all this speculation that Disney is raising prices specifically to reduce attendance completely bizarre.

They don't need to increase prices to reduce attendance. If crowds are that big of a problem, the crowds themselves will drive people away. There's no need to actively manage that.

What Disney wants is to maximize the attendance/profit curve. That means having the most people they can in the parks at the highest price they can get away with. If they push too high, attendance drops off to the point where they make less money overall, even considering the higher ticket prices and lower staffing costs. If they go too low, they're leaving money on the table. Believe it or not, so far they're apparently still in "leaving money on the table" mode. As long as they can raise prices without seeing a significant drop in attendance, they'll keep doing so.

So yes, increasing ticket prices will eventually reduce crowds, but that's a secondary effect, not a primary goal. The concept that Disney is raising prices in an attempt to "preserve the experience" for those who can still afford to go, or that they're somehow concerned that they have a "crowd problem" independent of the financial aspect, is, in my opinion, totally off the mark. Even tiered ticket pricing is not an attempt to drive people away, or even to increase off-peak attendance, but simple recognition that the attendance/profit curve at those specific times of year is not yet at its maximum.

And for the record, I'm not defending them. I think they probably are getting close to the top of that curve (and that's why we're seeing more fine-grained measures like tiered prices and targeted promotions), and it may come back to bite them hard when the economy inevitably shifts. But I guess they'll just be prepared to offer heavy discounts at that point, and they don't see any reason to miss out on potential profit in the meantime.
 
Maybe I was thinking of it too simply.

Say you have 50,000 in magic kingdom and each person paid $100. Would Disney not prefer to have 25,000 people paying $200 each and getting a better experience, plus reducing their costs for cast members?
 
Maybe I was thinking of it too simply.

Say you have 50,000 in magic kingdom and each person paid $100. Would Disney not prefer to have 25,000 people paying $200 each and getting a better experience, plus reducing their costs for cast members?

No.

They have hotel/DVC rooms to fill, plus they have some Mickey Bars and trinkets to sling as well....
 
I think they may be trying to find that "sweet spot", parks are at a comfortable capacity with ticket prices high enough to offset fewer people buying food, souvenirs etc. But that is purely speculation on my part. Then again everyone may be over thinking this, & Disney will continue to increase prices until attendance starts to decline, then adjust. I know the last few times I've been at WDW there are still a lot of people there, so prices going up don't seem to be deterring anyone so far. Makes me think of the frog in boiling pot of water......
 
With our family, it's basically coming down to the percentage of Disney's increases each year vs. my wife and mine's work raise.

If Disney is raising ticket prices 10% or more each time and we're only receiving about a 4% salary increase, eventually, we can't keep pace on our vacation budget. This can lead to three options for us:
One, find a higher paying job, two, cut down on days at Disney or three, don't go at all.

The first option is obviously time-consuming and possibly not able to be done. The second is what we've had to do the last couple of times and the third, I'd hate to think about. But that is what eventually may happen. Speaking as a guest who has been visiting the parks (DL) since the early 60's, that would be a very sad day if it comes to that.
 
I think repeat customers (like me) who have to fly to Orlando will grapple with the frequency of their trips.

Maybe we went twice a year, now we go once. Maybe we went once a year, now we make it every other year. That kind of thing. There is only so much cutting you can do to a particular trip. And shorter trips won't be a fun answer because of the high cost of getting there.

This equation will be different for those who are within driving distance.
 
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I think repeat customers who have to fly to Orlando will grapple with the frequency of their trips.

Maybe you went twice a year, now you go once. Maybe you went once a year, now you make it every other year. That kind of thing. There is only so much cutting you can do to a particular trip. And shorter trips won't be a fun answer because of the high cost of getting there.

This equation will be different for those who are within driving distance.

That is me. I'm driving distance. Long drive (from atlanta) but drivable. and yes that does make it easier to plan a trip
 
Maybe I was thinking of it too simply.

Say you have 50,000 in magic kingdom and each person paid $100. Would Disney not prefer to have 25,000 people paying $200 each and getting a better experience, plus reducing their costs for cast members?

no, because of hotels, etc. - but they might prefer to have 48,000 paying $200 each - that is, willing to take a slight haircut for a lot more total revenue
 
I think repeat customers (like me) who have to fly to Orlando will grapple with the frequency of their trips.

Maybe we went twice a year, now we go once. Maybe we went once a year, now we make it every other year. That kind of thing. There is only so much cutting you can do to a particular trip. And shorter trips won't be a fun answer because of the high cost of getting there.

This equation will be different for those who are within driving distance.

Definitely. My husband won't fly, so for us, Disney requires 3 days of driving to get there. We are not driving 3 days, to only spend 2 or 3 days in the parks. It's just not worth it at all. And even if he did fly - whether we drive, or fly, we're still looking at $1000+ just to get to Disney, so again, it would not be worth it for only a couple days. But if we lived within an easy day's drive, then most definitely, I would go for only a couple days.

Granted, that ^^, is not taking into account the fact that Disney is just too expensive for us anymore, anyways. I've already said, the trip I'm doing with the kids/MIL trip in November will be our last, potentially forever, but certainly for a long time. We just flat out can't afford $4500+ for vacations, and that's the bare minimum price for our family of 4, to come from Canada, stay 5 nights and do 4 days at Disney. Even 3 nights/2 days would cost us $3000. Basically, a Disney trip is $1000 per day for us. And, honestly? I just don't feel it's worth it.

And I agree with you, there is only so much cutting of costs you can do. I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm definitely the oddball in this group. It's very easy to see that most on here have deeper pockets than we do, as evidenced by their trips, their frequency, their suggestions, their budgets etc... The number one thing people suggest on here when people start complaining about the cost is, "Drop from a deluxe to a mod, skip the DDP, skip the character meals" etc.... But they don't realize that "regular" people, as in a few of us on here, but many "out there", are already doing all those things. A lot of people are already staying in value rooms, or off site, are not doing character meals, and instead are just getting QS meals, bagging lunches etc... because that's all they can afford. So if you're already doing all that, where does that leave you? And it's those people that Disney has already priced out, or is currently pricing out. But at the end of the day, we don't matter, because quite honestly, I think there's more than enough people in that 1%, to keep Disney going for a long time.
 
Definitely. My husband won't fly, so for us, Disney requires 3 days of driving to get there. We are not driving 3 days, to only spend 2 or 3 days in the parks. It's just not worth it at all. And even if he did fly - whether we drive, or fly, we're still looking at $1000+ just to get to Disney, so again, it would not be worth it for only a couple days. But if we lived within an easy day's drive, then most definitely, I would go for only a couple days.

Granted, that ^^, is not taking into account the fact that Disney is just too expensive for us anymore, anyways. I've already said, the trip I'm doing with the kids/MIL trip in November will be our last, potentially forever, but certainly for a long time. We just flat out can't afford $4500+ for vacations, and that's the bare minimum price for our family of 4, to come from Canada, stay 5 nights and do 4 days at Disney. Even 3 nights/2 days would cost us $3000. Basically, a Disney trip is $1000 per day for us. And, honestly? I just don't feel it's worth it.

And I agree with you, there is only so much cutting of costs you can do. I have to remind myself sometimes that I'm definitely the oddball in this group. It's very easy to see that most on here have deeper pockets than we do, as evidenced by their trips, their frequency, their suggestions, their budgets etc... The number one thing people suggest on here when people start complaining about the cost is, "Drop from a deluxe to a mod, skip the DDP, skip the character meals" etc.... But they don't realize that "regular" people, as in a few of us on here, but many "out there", are already doing all those things. A lot of people are already staying in value rooms, or off site, are not doing character meals, and instead are just getting QS meals, bagging lunches etc... because that's all they can afford. So if you're already doing all that, where does that leave you? And it's those people that Disney has already priced out, or is currently pricing out. But at the end of the day, we don't matter, because quite honestly, I think there's more than enough people in that 1%, to keep Disney going for a long time.

Yeah, I do think WDW internet groups and sites like this one don't represent reality for many folks...It's a select group of people who have the disposable income for Disney and are obsessed enough about going there to try to go often :) And of course, these sites also serve as marketing tools...the more you read them, the more you want to go, the more you learn about all of the extras. There's nothing wrong with this, but it's definitely something to keep in mind.

But it's not necessarily reality. My friend just took her daughter this summer, she is a single mom. She saved for five years to go and she won't be back. That's it, that's their Disney trip. A lot of people stick to regional vacations with kids and I think that's where the discrepancy of opinions sometimes comes into play on here when you have all different perspectives due to transportation needs (local, within a days drive, have to fly)

Does your husband just not like flying? That's a long ride! We drove down once but it was two days of driving. I liked it but I loathe flying. My husband, the driver, wasn't so keen lol
 

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