Are Disney prices too high?

[10-4 Good Buddy]

nearly all rational analysis shows that DVC allows for someone to get rooms for about 1/2 the rack rate.
All narcissistic analyses claim much, much lower.
I like my DVC, but it is a lot of cost over 50 years.

"Narcissistic" - Now there's a word you don't hear every day.

Not really. When going to Disney its a vacation with the full experience.

A day at Six Flags example:
admission (without discounts) approx. $60 for ONE day
crappy lunch of two tiny slices of pizza and a small soda $15
bottle of water $4
Souvenir - far worse quality than Disney, the stuffed toys are more akin to what you get out a claw-machine and cost $20 for an average one.

Awww, I don't think that's a fair comparison at all. How many people buy a one-day ticket to Disney World? I was looking online and you can get an Annual Pass good for the rest of this year and all of next year good at any Six Flags that includes parking for less than $100. That's less than ONE DAY at MK! Then according to a post earlier in this thread you can add a deluxe dining pass that gets you lunch and dinner and a snack every day you go with unlimited beverages for like $90, also good the rest of this year and all of next year.

So sheer dollar for dollar, you get much more at Six Flags. But I know what comes next - "Yeah but it's Six Flags and the food sucks and the parks are terrible and the rides are lame and the bathrooms are filthy and the lines are long and, and, and........" But isn't that what the op was complaining about? That WDW is charging more but going down the road of diminishing quality? How many threads have we read on here about crowded parks, long lines, broken down rides, degradation of food quality, crappy merchandise, filthy bathrooms, rude guests, rude CM's, etc.........and they weren't talking about Six Flags!

 

[Jake&IzzyLand]

I'm confused now. So you buy DVC upfront and then pay for it for 42 years?

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

You can feel free to laugh at us all you like. It's rude, IMO. Just because it's a different choice than yours doesn't mean they are throwing money away. They are valuing it differently than you, sure, but that doesn't necessarily equal throwing it away. The countless other vacations we've had at places other than WDW are more valuable, to us, than a DVC membership. We haven't thrown anything away.

Laugh may be strong, wonder what they are thinking may be more accurate.

But sometimes "explaining" to folks how it can work is quite the undertaking.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

I'm confused now. So you buy DVC upfront and then pay for it for 42 years?

Your call, You can sell any time you want and recover a large portion if not more than you paid. But it's just dues each year after the upfront purchase correct.

Look at it similar to a home. You can buy the home outright, but then its just taxes/upkeep/bills etc (dues).

You typically don't say after 10 years that it cost you the purchase price divided by the years in there-because you can sell it and get that money back, sometimes hopefully much more.

 

[grimley1968]

Laugh may be strong, wonder what they are thinking may be more accurate.

Just as others might wonder at the thinking of those who spend well into 5 figures to buy into a vacation destination they may only wish to visit once.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

Just as others might wonder at the thinking of those who spend well into 5 figures to buy into a vacation destination they may only wish to visit once.

I would actually laugh at that as well good point. DVC is not for one and done.

However, a case can be made that after that first trip, renting the points going forward can work quite favorably IMO.

 

[RoryRose]

Laugh may be strong, wonder what they are thinking may be more accurate.

But sometimes "explaining" to folks how it can work is quite the undertaking.

I know how DVC works. I was *this* close to buying in. Luckily, I came to my senses in time.

 

[safroim]

I know how DVC works. I was *this* close to buying in. Luckily, I came to my senses in time.

There's no need to ever purchase a timeshare, DVC included, you can always rent points for very close to the annual maintenance fee, sometimes less.

 

[slickpoetry]

I haven't read this whole thread so I am sure this point was made already (forgive me)

You will know Disney prices are too high when the crowds start going away.

That hasn't happened yet. In fact if you read these message boards you get the impression the parks are more crowded than ever.

So no, Disney prices are not too high.

 

[minnie-apple-mouse]

There's no need to ever purchase a timeshare, DVC included, you can always rent points for very close to the annual maintenance fee, sometimes less.

I would absolutely rent DVC before paying cash-great point. We just have come out even better owning-about half that price, but still a great deal esp if you do not want/have the down payment.

Good input for this thread.

Even 83 points for BWV for 7 nights would only be around $118 a night renting at $10.

Although we rent a lot of our BCV for $15 a point, so it pays the dues and puts $10 in our pocket since it paid off the purchase long ago.

Heck even at $15 the 83 points at BWV would only be $177 a night and no tax. Not all that bad either.

 

[AliceinMaryland]

Yes I think the prices are too high but when you go to the local amusement parks around here like Six Flags or Hershey Park, you pay just about the same price for food.

 

[brunette8706]

But that oversimplifies things because you have not defined what the market is. If Disney used to sell Turkey Legs to 5,000 people at $6 a pop, and now sells them to 3,158 people at $9.50 a pop, it receives the same revenue. But can it be said that this is "what the market will bear"? It priced 1,842 people out of the market. Looking at this in the extreme, suppose it decided to sell only one Turkey Leg per day, and this created a mad fervor to be the one person to buy that leg, and Disney raised the price to $30,000 for that one leg, and each day, it sold that one leg. It would be generating the same revenue as when it sold 5,000 at $6 each. But is this "what the market can bear" if virtually every prior customer stopped buying the product? Sometimes "what the market can bear" means generating a similar or greater revenue stream than before. But sometimes "what the market can bear" means the price at which all of the current customers remain current customers. Frankly, I don't think $9.50 is what the market can bear for Turkey Legs. I am sure that they are selling far fewer of them than ever before. I know that my family is off that bandwagon, or cart, as the case may be.

Great post!

 

[brunette8706]

And you would be wrong. I have been going to Disney Parks since Disneyland opened. It was always about being a place for all who could afford it could enjoy it. It's always been a business first and foremost and it has always been about maximizing profit and never a charity. You can pay the price you can enter. If not, too bad.

Walt was a businessman and he operated the parks like that. Sell books of tickets but not enough E and D tickets so back to buy another book while never using up your lower value tickets. He knew how to get money out of Propke.

According to the Walt Disney he stated WDW would be place where families to go to have fun together.

 

[Gumbo4x4]

The one that gets us is the one-day ticket. We've had the opportunity to go to WDW for a day or two at most, but the per day cost is just not in my comfort zone the way a 5+ day ticket is. So, this past Summer when we wanted a day at AK, we skipped it. Next Summer when we'd like to do the same, we will likely skip it as well.

 

[flicx]

The one that gets us is the one-day ticket. We've had the opportunity to go to WDW for a day or two at most, but the per day cost is just not in my comfort zone the way a 5+ day ticket is. So, this past Summer when we wanted a day at AK, we skipped it. Next Summer when we'd like to do the same, we will likely skip it as well.

Of course in another money grab Disney did away with no expiration tickets. That way if you only go a few days every year or so you can't get the same discount as a week long or more guest!

 

[brunette8706]

Of course in another money grab Disney did away with no expiration tickets. That way if you only go a few days every year or so you can't get the same discount as a week long or more guest!

Exactly Flicx!

It just seems like Disney just tries to get every last penny out of their guests. That is what they do and yes it is price gouging.

 

[brunette8706]

The one that gets us is the one-day ticket. We've had the opportunity to go to WDW for a day or two at most, but the per day cost is just not in my comfort zone the way a 5+ day ticket is. So, this past Summer when we wanted a day at AK, we skipped it. Next Summer when we'd like to do the same, we will likely skip it as well.

I agree! They stopped the free hopper an no expiration tickets too! Why do they charge more for the Magic Kingdom than the other parks? Because they can which is another gouge sorry.

 

[subtchr]

Exactly Flicx!

It just seems like Disney just tries every last penny out of every guest. That is what the do and yes it is price gouging.

I agree! They stopped the free hopper an no expiration tickets too! Why do they charge more for the Magic Kingdom than the other parks? Because they can which is another gouge sorry.

You keep saying this, but I don't think you understand what price gouging is. I found several different definitions on economics sites, and what you describe doesn't fit any of them. One is "pricing above the market price when no alternative retailer is available, as during a civil emergency".

Disney has competition, not just in Orlando but world wide. So there are PLENTY of alternative retailers. They are not pricing above the market price, as many posters on this thread have pointed out.

Vacationing at Disney World, as vacationing ANYWHERE, is a choice, a choice that comes with a cost.

You would really rather they dropped their prices to what they were 20 years ago? Or any other reduction you choose? What then? Put up with even MORE crowds?

I really would love to hear what you would like Disney to do to solve the problem you think they have created.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Laugh may be strong, wonder what they are thinking may be more accurate.

But sometimes "explaining" to folks how it can work is quite the undertaking.

Explaining planning Disney trips in general to people can be quite the undertaking. There's a whole other thread going about that right now, IIRC.

As for us...we know how DVC "can" work. No explanations necessary. We understand, and we choose to make a different decision. Different values, different decisions.

 

[flicx]

You would really rather they dropped their prices to what they were 20 years ago? Or any other reduction you choose? What then? Put up with even MORE crowds?

While these crowds everyone talks about sound unheard of, they are not. The numbers are close to attendance numbers in the 90's with current magic kingdom numbers slightly higher and quite frankly EPCOT hasn't reached the attendance numbers from 1991.