It's a two-pronged strategy: Feet and dollars, AND direct communication to insure that someone knows I am already voting with my feet and dollars.
And that's fine, but here's the thing.
Disney doesn't particularly care if you (or I) individually come to WDW to spend our vacation dollars. The only thing that matters to them is
how many guests come and
how much each of those guests contributes to the bottom line. If a change in ticket pricing models (a) increases the average amount that an individual pays to get in the door each day and (b) doesn't decrease the number of guests who come in, then the change is a good one for Disney. It doesn't matter if it no longer works for you (or I) because we've been replaced by people who pay more.
This change has been in place for a year and a half at this point, and has not been undone. That tells me that Disney believes that both (a) and (b) are true.
In fact, Iger is even on record stating that (b) doesn't necessarily have to be true, as long as (a) more than makes up for it.
In a recent earnings call he said:
"We like the steps we've taken in terms of pricing," he said. "We've taken a number of steps … to essentially grow revenue, in some cases actually at the expense of some attendance." Iger said the company is "changing our pricing approach, sometimes in part to moderate attendance so the park experience is a little bit better, but all designed with the effect of essentially raising revenue."
Years ago, the first time I came to grips with the realization that Disney doesn't really care about me, it was unpleasant. After all, Disney is in the business of selling happiness. But, that's not the same thing as Disney wants me, specifically, to be happy. Accepting that reality makes the company a lot easier to deal with.
Bill
