Price increase show discussion

[YesterDark]

I also want to know what insensitive do you have to stay in Disney property? Honestly is the extra magic hours worth getting gauged out in comparison to off site locations? We get some awesome quality hotels offset with our rental car which is still a significant discount plus the off site hotel has free parking and breakfast ...I’m just not seeing it but more power to those who love staying there.

Honestly, the cost of the hotels (moderates) really doesn't bother me. I'll pay the extra for not having to deal with driving at the end of the day, or in the morning, or the parking. Transportation is a big thing along with it's availability (I know hotels offer it too). I also have three small kids too.

I also just like staying on property. I travel quite a bit for work and there is a difference at Disney resorts vs. just nice hotels.

However, needing to go to two rooms soon when my youngest hits 3 is going to have me seriously considering offsite. It's the cost of tickets that kill me with my family of 5.

 

[YesterDark]

We also usually drive down from NY

Crazy man.
Though I've thought about doing it and my wife nearly slapped me.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

There are plenty of websites that text you when a window opens for a restaurant.

but still, that is something to set up (but perhaps something I should look into as I have never leveraged that at all)

But is isn't just that. when staying off site you have to get up early 30 days out from each day of your trip to try and get half way decent FPs, when they change park hours that messes things up, etc.

Maybe also as we often have 9+ people in our group but coordinating can take up time and can seem like "work" at times.

If it never feels like "not fun" for you then good for you but it can get tiring at times to me

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Crazy man.
Though I've thought about doing it and my wife nearly slapped me.

it's either that or we don't go as we can't afford to fly all 5 of us (or we have to save like many years for one trip)

And we try to make the trip enjoyable by picking spots on the way down to stop (I usually plan the trip around breweries I want to check out)

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Honestly, the cost of the hotels (moderates) really doesn't bother me. I'll pay the extra for not having to deal with driving at the end of the day, or in the morning, or the parking. Transportation is a big thing along with it's availability (I know hotels offer it too). I also have three small kids too.

I also just like staying on property. I travel quite a bit for work and there is a difference at Disney resorts vs. just nice hotels.

However, needing to go to two rooms soon when my youngest hits 3 is going to have me seriously considering offsite. It's the cost of tickets that kill me with my family of 5.

I’ve stayed on site too and I’ll be honest I’d rather drive than wait for multiple buses. I’m in and out and the hotel is 10 minutes away. Again everyone vacations at their own pace I just always like gathering more information than less.

 

[YesterDark]

but still, that is something to set up (but perhaps something I should look into as I have never leveraged that at all)

But is isn't just that. when staying off site you have to get up early 30 days out from each day of your trip to try and get half way decent FPs, when they change park hours that messes things up, etc.

Maybe also as we often have 9+ people in our group but coordinating can take up time and can seem like "work" at times.

If it never feels like "not fun" for you then good for you but it can get tiring at times to me

It took you longer to write this post than it takes to set up those alerts! Touring Plans has one and Mouse Dining has one as well. I'd really suggest using them if ADRs is a stress point. After my initial 180 day mark, I just set alerts and re-adjust my plans up until the hours before the meal. It's an excellent tool.

Also, coordinating 9+ people for any vacation is not fun. I feel you with that adventure. Good luck.

 

[YesterDark]

it's either that or we don't go as we can't afford to fly all 5 of us (or we have to save like many years for one trip)

And we try to make the trip enjoyable by picking spots on the way down to stop (I usually plan the trip around breweries I want to check out)

Sounds fun but I love road trips. My wife does not. She gave me grief because I picked the Philidelphia airport instead of Newark to save a few hundred bucks and an extra 40m drive!

 

[YesterDark]

I’ve stayed on site too and I’ll be honest I’d rather drive than wait for multiple buses. I’m in and out and the hotel is 10 minutes away. Again everyone vacations at their own pace I just always like gathering more information than less.

Right on.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

It took you longer to write this post than it takes to set up those alerts! Touring Plans has one and Mouse Dining has one as well. I'd really suggest using them if ADRs is a stress point. After my initial 180 day mark, I just set alerts and re-adjust my plans up until the hours before the meal. It's an excellent tool.

Also, coordinating 9+ people for any vacation is not fun. I feel you with that adventure. Good luck.

Guess I will have to look into those if there are any I really want that we don't get .... but still, are many first time guests going to even know that is a thing? It's one thing for veterans to sort of know what they feel they need to do (vs what they can skip) to have an enjoyable trip but I can't even imagine how it must feel as someone who has never gone, knows nothing about planning a trip, to try to figure this all out - I can see it being a real turn off (though, motivation to use a travel agent I suppose)

 

[YesterDark]

Guess I will have to look into those if there are any I really want that we don't get .... but still, are many first time guests going to even know that is a thing? It's one thing for veterans to sort of know what they feel they need to do (vs what they can skip) to have an enjoyable trip but I can't even imagine how it must feel as someone who has never gone, knows nothing about planning a trip, to try to figure this all out - I can see it being a real turn off (though, motivation to use a travel agent I suppose)

Few data points I don't know so I'm just speaking out of my rear-end:

1. How long prior to the trip does the average person book? Before or after 180 days?
2. How many people use the dining plan where TS credits can be utilized every day?
3. Does the average first time visitor eat at many sit down restaurants not at their own resort?

If your typical first time visitor books outside of the 180 day mark AND does not use a travel agent then I hope that person is doing some basic research about their trip. Disney does a good job sending you email reminders to book reservations so you're aware.

But no, a new visitor will not know about those websites unless they do more than a cursory deep dive on the internet about Disney Vacations. I just hope that anyone committing $1000s more than your usual family vacation is doing their homework and learns about the different things they have to do to make it enjoyable. Or at least make them aware of everything.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

But no, a new visitor will not know about those websites unless they do more than a cursory deep dive on the internet about Disney Vacations. I just hope that anyone committing $1000s more than your usual family vacation is doing their homework and learns about the different things they have to do to make it enjoyable. Or at least make them aware of everything.

you'd think thank but at least anechdotally I have been shocked by how little some people know when they go and commit $1000s for a Disney vacation and then are shocked when they get there and found out there are things called fastpasses or that you can actually make dining reservations or, heck, that there is more than 1 theme park!

 

[YesterDark]

you'd think thank but at least anechdotally I have been shocked by how little some people know when they go and commit $1000s for a Disney vacation and then are shocked when they get there and found out there are things called fastpasses or that you can actually make dining reservations or, heck, that there is more than 1 theme park!

Oh I've heard the stories too. You can't win with everyone. I'm sure there are people who walk up to the park on random days buy tickets at the gate and become vexxed when they can't do CRT.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Oh I've heard the stories too. You can't win with everyone. I'm sure there are people who walk up to the park on random days buy tickets at the gate and become vexxed when they can't do CRT.

I always think of a co-worker who came to me for advice for planning their first trip and I tried to give her some, but then her husband refused to do any planning saying "this is vacation, we will just got to whatever restaurant when we want and eat there, I am not making reservations" ... he was convinced that even if they were full he would slip the hostess a $20 and they would get in no problem.

Not surprisingly they did not have an enjoyable trip because he was incorrect

 

[Brianstl]

I really think that Pete did a good job laying out many of the factors that are IMHO combining to create this situation. The potential recession is a factor, the hotel prices, food prices, ticket prices are factors, the threat of Star Wars crowds are a factor too.

How many complained about the crowds in the past? Either Disney was wise and listened and hiked the prices to reduce the crowds (consider the year end results, profits up/attendance down) or they just totally misread the demand for Star Wars. I think there are elements of both I also think they bumbled the opening and should have waited for both rides to be ready. They over promised and under delivered, I found SWGE at Disneyland to be wonderful, but with only 1 ride it was severally lacking in staying power.

Revenue and profits were down at domestic theme parks and hotels even with increased per guest spending. They were down in the third quarter despite the fact that Easter fell in the third quarter this year and should have boosted revenue and profits.

Profits for the division overall were up because of a massive quarter at Disneyland Paris and increased sales in the consumer products segment.

 

[Sweet Pea Reed]

Compared to the trip DH and I took for the same week in February in 2017, we're seeing an increase of $1,000 for our trip in 2020. Same resort (CBR), same ticket and dining package. I didn't expect that much of an increase.

But.....then we look at the $150 per year increases to stay in Ocean City Maryland every summer, and the horrible experiences we have at Hershey Park for $70 per person. At Hershey, we've found our experience to be that the park employees are grumpy, and WDW cast members to be friendly and helpful and even sometimes magical. And at Hershey, when we go during slower times of the year, we wait an hour in line for headliners because only one train is operational. Half the rides, we don't do because they spin or go upside down, so the $70 at Hershey isn't worth it for us. And then we say, "That's it, next year we're going to Disney." So here we are.

DH and I spent $2,500 this summer in Ocean City Maryland, for a dumpy no-name hotel ($199 a night), and dinner and parking each night. Taxes are outrageous there. Traffic was a pain, unless we walked to our destinations. We'll spend $5,000 in February for 9 nights at CBR, park tix and the DDP. Definitely worth the price. It's just a larger chunk than we're used to.

 

[KingLlama]

I'm willing to pay an extra $20 per park ticket per day if it means they get rid of Duffy from all parks forever.

 

[rteetz]

I'm willing to pay an extra $20 per park ticket per day if it means they get rid of Duffy from all parks forever.

The Duffy bus is picking you up from the airport.

 

[KingLlama]

The Duffy bus is picking you up from the airport.

The "Duffy bus" should be a 1978 AMC Pacer with no air-conditioning, an AM-only radio, and a tail light busted out.

 

[NeuroCindy]

I’ve stayed on site too and I’ll be honest I’d rather drive than wait for multiple buses. I’m in and out and the hotel is 10 minutes away. Again everyone vacations at their own pace I just always like gathering more information than less.

Preach. I'd much rather get to my car and blast the air conditioning in my face than wait for a bus in the heat. The driving doesn't bother me at all.



Also to address someone else's point, many (if not most) of my friends have planned their trips less than 180 days out. So it definitely does happen.

 

[mcd2745]

As to the onsite/offsite "debate"...we typically stay onsite. Last year, we stayed offsite because we won the use of a condo in Kissimmee for a week at a school fundraiser. We talk about how it feels like we never even went to WDW last year. It just wasn't the same. We hated driving to the parks and dealing with the parking lots, trams, ferries, etc. I'd much rather take the buses and other WDW transportation. Then there was the lack of FP+ options at 30 days. I was able to eventually get the ADRs I wanted, so that wasn't an issue. To each his/her own of course, but for us...staying offsite simply doesn't compare.