Are They TRYING to keep us away?

[denisenh]

People have been complaining about the lack of fresh paint on the rides, the fact that rooms aren't as clean as they used to be, no Spectro or fireworks during the week, the cuts in hours... well, guess what? It takes money to have these things, and that sometimes means increasing ticket prices.

Sounds fair to me! Please keep us updated on these improvements!! Thanks in advance!

 

[TinkerbellRules]

Prices for all events (sporting, theme parks, etc) will be going up due to 9/11. Insurance and the the added cost of security on such events has gone up so the cost is passed on to us. A lot of people don't think about the impact on insurance companies and security issues with the attacks. My DH works for an insurance company. From what I understand, the amount of insurance companies willing to insurance high-rises has declined significantly.

So, I imagine, it has something to do with the terrorist attacks. Course, that's what they were trying to do anyway, was ruin our economy as well as terrorize us. Just my opinion...

 

[kylara]

While I can see people being annoyed buy the price increase, I find it surprising that so many people were "surprised" and upset that Disney didn't give more notice. When the other theme parks raised their prices back in April, Disney stated that they would hold off on a price increase until the end of summer. To me, that means they gave 5 months notice.

And also, I would rather ticket media go up a little than to have a majority of rooms back at rack rate. The news here in the Orlando area stated that Disney has offered more and deeper cuts for their rooms than they have in the past to keep occupancy up. To me, that is a decent trade off for the small increase. And it works for Disney...it might entice more people to stay onsite and spend more money onsite with the room discount.

 

[Popsicle]

Sorry so many people are upset about the price increase on the tickets. We have gone to Disney EVERY year since 1992, and EVERY year there has been an increase. If I'm not mistaken the new prices were usually effective Feb., Mar., April, sometime in there.

Being the hicks we are. we were happy to pay the same price this year as we did last year. Of course, we went before the increase became effective.

What I'm more upset about is the decrease in the places in the parks where the Disney Club discounts are applied. The only place you're almost assured of discounts is at Downtown Disney. Compared with the Disney Club card, the Magic Kingdom Club card was really Magic.

Again. being rubes, we've never stayed on-site. Have always found we got so much more in a room or a home-away-from-home condo off-site. We can't justify paying the prices. The parks are all the Magic we need on a daily basis.

Other things that concern us are the attitudes of some of the CMs. But even there we have to look at what they have to contend with in terms of customers. We'll never forget the night of TRAM WARS when the trams from the Magic Kingdom were slow and a woman actually threw pebbles at a CM because of it. Disgusting. Not trying to justify some of the surly attitudes we've experienced (especially at ESPN restaurant at the Boardwalk this year,) but sometimes you have to put things in perspective, complain when it is called for, and move on.

I still love Disney, but I agree that my loyalty is being slowly chipped away.

 

[buzz5985]

I recently went on a summer vacation to Niagara Falls, and Lake George NY. We are from MA, a little north of Boston. I was pushing for Disney World, a final farewell to my son's "toddlerhood" As he started kindergarten on 9/4. I kept a very accurate record of expenses. I stayed at 3 different Radisson Resorts - I would recommend 2 - the one in Utica NY ($110/night) and the one in Niagara Falls Canada $160/night. the one in Buffalo NY was a dump. Then we traveled to Lake George NY, beautiful lake, our room was right on the lake, but it was run down and needed work, but it was cheaper than the others. I paid $155/night, plus $10/night for my 5 yo. Never mind the $1 for local calls, and the $1.50 for 1-800 calls!!!! How about $.25 for a bucket of Ice? or $20/hour for a row boat? I told my DH we could have done Disney a lot cheaper. When we got home and I showed him the numbers, he finally believed me. Get out and see the country, you will realize, Disney isn't that expensive.

 

[beansmom]

I keep promising myself that one day I'm gonna go somewhere different-- would love to see Niagra, Mt Rushmore, tons of other places...somehow disney just calls me away.

 

[Luv2Roam]

I would agree on a lot of the cost too. That is one reason we return to WDW.
Fisrt, we bith immensely enjoy our trips. Second, DH LOVES going somewhere that he doesn't have to drive. It is very relaxing for him. We had a car for a few days in January and became the Bickersons. No more of that.
Try and get a decent room in downtown Chicago for less than $200. And believe me for under $200 it very well may be a dive. I know from experience.
I love staying in downtown Chicago. Flying there is cheap for us. The room rate probably keep us away more than anything.

 

[LorieR]

I am thrilled to be going for the third time in three years and happy that Disney World is still there after all these years! Sure, I am not happy to be paying more for the tickets but I DO have a choice in all this, and I choose to go!!! Last year I paid full price for PO Riverside and this year, after learning "the ropes," I am paying $44 less per night!! Times are tough...we all know it... I am just glad I am here, I am healthy, and Disney World is there for me if I CHOOSE to go!!!

 

[starwood]

Just my 2 cents

We went to Great Adventure - NJ over the weekend. Compared to Disney there is no doubt that Disney wins.

1. Admission was $48 for one day (only a few dollars less than a 1 day for Disney).

2. Parking was $10 ($3 less than Disney)

3. Even though we still paid the full admission price - half the rides were closed for repair and all the water rides were drained.

4. The lines were incredibly long because only 1/2 the rides were functioning.

5. They have a fast pass clone BUT you need to pay extra for it.

All day long we kept saying how much we appreciated Disney after seeing this.

 

[travelitis]

I expect price increases and am not bothered by it. I agree with Popsicle that my loyalty to Disney is eroding, though. The more Epcot resembles a huge infomercial for corporate sponsors, the more Disney inundates us with "opportunities" to spend even more money in the parks, and the more they produce substandard quality animation (sequels to beautiful classics) the less I like it. I still love it, make no mistake about that, but it's tarnished a little.

I have nothing against them making a buck or a few billion bucks, but the marketing in the parks has gotten more "in your face" than it used to be. In fairness, advertising in general has more of an "in your face" approach, but that detracts from the magic for us. I guess that's why Epcot is our least favorite park now, yet I used to be enamored with it. Disney isn't the only place doing this, and the cruises we've taken illustrate that. However, we know they have some pretty fun toys in the stores, but must they have a CM standing outside with a cart bouncing a big ball to my kid so then I have him begging for one? That's not magic, that's underhanded and a real turn-off.