Prices just hit my threshold :-(

[3DisneyFanz]

STOP IT! The Walt Disney Corporation is a public company. They exist to increase the wealth of their shareholders. That is the sole function of a public company. If Iger wasn't producing record returns he would be out and someone new would be in.

I think we'd all be better off if that happened.

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

The issue with this argument is, how many people outside of the internet message board echo chamber no longer find value in it. If you spend a lot of time on the internet, you will find that there are many, many opinions that seem to have an overwhelming majority on forums just such as this one, on any number of topics. But most of the times, if you get off of the message boards, you will find that the actual majority opinion is quite different.

Did I specifically reference the opinion of only those on internet chat boards?

 

[momof2n2]

I don't know.....I just can't think that some of the things that Disney has been doing as of late is "smart business".

I don't work for a theme park, but I *am* a consumer.....and "smart business" to me is to offer an appealing product at a price that people find value in the purchase. While I understand that many people will still find value in Disney even after this most recent change, this thread is a good indicator that other folks definitely do not. Value can be lost with noticeable ticket price increases, black-out dates, parking fee hikes, limitations on rides and experiences (FP+, I'm looking at you), inflexibility (not being able to get ADR's for the most popular places unless you have a 6-month planning lead time), and the list goes on.

Disney can most definitely charge whatever they wish. They can raise prices of tickets, dining, resorts, and whatever as high as they want to. Some people will continue to pay it. Some people will continue to be satisfied.

Unfortunately for Disney, life is such that happy people who find value in their purchases tend to tell a few select people just how satisfied and happy they are. Unhappy people who feel they didn't get the value out of their purchase tend to tell everyone who will listen about their dissatisfaction. In my corporate world, its much easier for a business to retain happy, satisfied, repeat clientele than to earn the trust and business of new customers. Keeping people coming back and building loyalty is generally what we call "smart business". And while greed can give some favourable short-term results, the long term view can be quite different.

Only quoting you Gina b/c it is the most recent of posts I agree with.

We have two sets of friends who recently did WDW trips. Both sets waited until their kids were "old enough" - their words, not mine. Neither has any intention of returning. As one dad said, "I spent $7000 to stand in line for a week." They did not get on the headliners nor meet A&E, despite the fact that those are the images that come up when you watch commercials, hit the website, or watch the trip planning DVD. Did their kids have fun? Yes. Did they have $7,000 worth of fun? Absolutely not.

I just enjoy imagining turning the clock back three years to see what conversations we could have been having right now if WDW had invested in innovative attractions instead of fixing something that didn't need fixing. And I doubt ANYONE would be arguing about the price increase if the perception was that WDW had even more to offer now than it did three years ago.

OP - there is no shame recognizing that the ROI has dropped for your travel party. I am confident this is our last trip until ginormous changes (the good kind) hit the "world".

 

[3DisneyFanz]

And Walt would plow many of his profits into new projects, not into a vault where'd he dive into his riches like Scrooge McIger.

What? That's crazy talk. Reinvesting for the consumer? That must be why he was such a poor business man.

 

[bpadair32]

Did I specifically reference the opinion of only those on internet chat boards?

And I quote "this thread is a good indication..."

 

[eliza61]

lol,
Did grumpy get ahold of tinkerbelle's wand? Is it me or will any complaint against Disney on these boards be handled by the Queen of hearts herself?

Off with their heads!!

 

[rotlex]

This is great news for us. We have been yearly visitors, sometimes twice a year, for over a decade. After our trip this past August we began questioning whether or not we would return again in 2016. Not just due to cost, but the fact that nothing has really changed in all those years. OK, New Fantasyland is done, but really, other than a gorgeous new area, there is not much to do there that’s all that “new”.

These AP prices increases, along with the what I’m sure will be overall price increases that will be just as high, have now helped me say hey, it’s time to vacation somewhere else for a while. Maybe actually see something in this beautiful country of ours, or another, that’s NOT a theme park, LOL.

Thanks Disney. Really. This is not a sarcastic, angry or mad rant, but you have helped me to stop giving you my money. At least for a little while. (Read, until maybe Pandora, Star Wars, and Toy Story Land are ready)!

 

[hopemax]

Prices have been going up for quite a while, and FP+ has been in place for a while, and their numbers are higher than ever. So while you are correct past success doesn't mean future results, the results already seem pretty clear.

It's not milk, where you can see how a price change affects things over a period of months, because people buy it weekly. Most people "buy" WDW once when they were kids, and a second time when they're adults. Even regular repeat visitors (DIS crowd excepted) visits more in a pattern of every 5 years or every 3 years. FP+ has been around about 2 years. That's not enough time to make a determination on impact.

And people who have been planning to go to WDW for 3 or 5 years or "since they were kids" aren't going to just give up on that trip in the last year, because they are too emotionally invested at that point. Right now, parents visiting WDW were kids during the mid 80s-Disney Decade. They lived the awesome expansion of the World, and so of course they want to bring their kids; the memories were wonderful. But as gets regularly pointed out..."that Disney is long gone." I believe Disney is riding a "demographic wave," I am not at all confident that it's the current choices that are driving increased visits.

 

[saskdw]

Not sure what's in the air today, but all I've read on DIS is people complaining about everything.

If you can't afford it don't go.
If the food is terrible don't go.
If the service is terrible don't go.
If the buses are too slow don't go.
If Universal is cheaper go there.

We need a Whiners and Complainers section on DIS, where all whining and complaining gets put there. It's got to be real frustrating for newbies to come here looking for help planning a trip and they have to sift through all the complaining to find the important information.

Rant over...Flame suit on...

 

[Disneyliscious]

These AP prices increases, along with the what I’m sure will be overall price increases that will be just as high, have now helped me say hey, it’s time to vacation somewhere else for a while.

Same. I have been loyal to Disney since 1988. Thats 27 years of loyalty. I've never visited US/IOA, Sea World, Busch Gardens, Wet N Wild.....not even Gatorland. Every trip we have ever taken to Florida has been to Disney World. However this year for the first time ever, we are using part of our trip to visit US/IOA. We haven't been to DHS since 2004. The "guestimated" plans for finishing Star Wars land is 2019/2020 at this point (Avatar land in 2017, Cars Land in 2018, which will guarantee at least 2019 for Star Wars because Disney isn't going to open 2 major attractions in the same year).

If US/IOA prove to be more of a value when we're there in just over a week, you can bet thats where we'll return to.

 

[bpadair32]

Not sure what's in the air today, but all I've read on DIS is people complaining about everything.

If you can't afford it don't go.
If the food is terrible don't go.
If the service is terrible don't go.
If the buses are too slow don't go.
If Universal is cheaper go there.

We need a Whiners and Complainers section on DIS, where all whining and complaining gets put there. It's got to be real frustrating for newbies to come here looking for help planning a trip and they have to sift through all the complaining to find the important information.

Rant over...Flame suit on...

Ive only been on these boards for a couple of weeks and I was shocked by how much Disney hate their is here. I was coming to try and get information and share experiences with other people that like Disney as much as I do... man did that not work out!

I just don't understand all of the hate and complaining. I mean seriously, like you said, if you don't like it, don't go. If you are going to go, you are "voting with your wallet" and all of your complaining is meaningless.

 

[lugnut33]

Not sure what's in the air today, but all I've read on DIS is people complaining about everything.

If you can't afford it don't go.
If the food is terrible don't go.
If the service is terrible don't go.
If the buses are too slow don't go.
If Universal is cheaper go there.

We need a Whiners and Complainers section on DIS, where all whining and complaining gets put there. It's got to be real frustrating for newbies to come here looking for help planning a trip and they have to sift through all the complaining to find the important information.

Rant over...Flame suit on...

Yes, these people who are complaining, who I'm also sure have been numerous times over the years, are all imagining those problems you list. I'm sure they are imagining a loss of their ROI.

 

[SparklePixie]

The issue with this argument is, how many people outside of the internet message board echo chamber no longer find value in it. If you spend a lot of time on the internet, you will find that there are many, many opinions that seem to have an overwhelming majority on forums just such as this one, on any number of topics. But most of the times, if you get off of the message boards, you will find that the actual majority opinion is quite different.

I have many friends and family that used to visit Disney. None of them belong to any Disney message boards. Their attitudes and thoughts are reflected by the majority on this board. Disney is no longer a good value to them.

 

[lugnut33]

Ive only been on these boards for a couple of weeks and I was shocked by how much Disney hate their is here. I was coming to try and get information and share experiences with other people that like Disney as much as I do... man did that not work out!

I just don't understand all of the hate and complaining. I mean seriously, like you said, if you don't like it, don't go. If you are going to go, you are "voting with your wallet" and all of your complaining is meaningless.

IT'S NOT HATE! It's Disney fanatics who are passionate about their favorite park (their laughing place) and hate to see it slowly degraded over time due to the demands of making all out profit.

 

[andyman8]

FWIW, Disney's been getting more bad press than usual with this AP price increase. Lots of media outlets are reporting that a new pricing structure is "imminent." And I'm not just talking about Disney blogs. I study journalism, so I keep tabs on all the major plays, and many of them (from NBC News to TIME) have been covering the AP price increases as an indication of a new ticket pricing structure. The coverage has also not necessarily been in a favorable light generally speaking.

 

[bpadair32]

Yes, these people who are complaining, who I'm also sure have been numerous times over the years, are all imagining those problems you list. I'm sure they are imagining a loss of their ROI.

No one is saying that they are imagining it. Different people are going to have different opinions as to what is or is not a good value. Some of us think that it still is, some of us do not. If you don't think it is a good value, don't go. If you do go, complaining here is not going to change anything.

 

[bpadair32]

I have many friends and family that used to visit Disney. None of them belong to any Disney message boards. Their attitudes and thoughts are reflected by the majority on this board. Disney is no longer a good value to them.

And I have many family and friends that continue to go to Disney and love it. We are both working with sample sizes that are way too small to extrapolate anything out of.

 

[Maxpowers]

Whiners and Complainers section

The new most popular section on the boards!

I just don't understand all of the hate and complaining.

Welcome to internet forums ;D

In summation

 

[momof2n2]

Ive only been on these boards for a couple of weeks and I was shocked by how much Disney hate their is here. I was coming to try and get information and share experiences with other people that like Disney as much as I do... man did that not work out!

I just don't understand all of the hate and complaining. I mean seriously, like you said, if you don't like it, don't go. If you are going to go, you are "voting with your wallet" and all of your complaining is meaningless.

It's not Disney hate for many of us. It is Disney disappointment. Many of us have been there too many times to count and are now shaking our heads.

I did vote with my wallet in 2014. We all out cancelled our WDW trip and shifted it to a SeaWorld/BG/Aquatica vacation. We had a stinking awesome time. This upcoming trip is a last hurrah of sorts. My mom in particular is keen on seeing my youngest girls experience princesses (which may or may not include A&E depending on how fast my mouse can click at 12:01AM March 8th...)

BECAUSE of the honest trip reporting of many posters I am well educated and have worked (almost successfully) to lower my expectations. I won't start on the tiering and rationing here. But from the reports of posters I trust, I expect I will not get to do as much as I usually do. BUT ... I will be paying more than ever before. AND getting up at midnight to get what I do get.

 

[disneyfan2kids]

Ive only been on these boards for a couple of weeks and I was shocked by how much Disney hate their is here. I was coming to try and get information and share experiences with other people that like Disney as much as I do... man did that not work out!

I just don't understand all of the hate and complaining. I mean seriously, like you said, if you don't like it, don't go. If you are going to go, you are "voting with your wallet" and all of your complaining is meaningless.

A few weeks?! Give it some years... a decade or more! You'll see that this site is very helpful for both assistance and voicing concern. Or you can drink the Kool-Aide and think that nobody can criticize WDW because they do no wrong. If that's the case... they are specifically targeting YOU with the unending price increases along with fewer attractions.

If you need me... I'll be using my DVC to hang at my resort pool and making plans on where to eat offsite and what offsite attraction to visit tomorrow.

AFTER I use my current AP up of course...LOL!