Bean Counters and shortsightedness

[Aluminum Falcon]

This is absolutely true when you no longer strive to be the best.

That's broad brushing. If they had to have the rides fully staffed all the time it would cost them more, they would then transfer the additional costs to the consumer and then people would complain that they were being Nickeled and Dimed. There is no winning with your logic, it can't be that Disney offers a good product at a price point people are willing to pay. They have to offer an even better product for less otherwise they aren't striving to be the best

 

[mom2rtk]

That's broad brushing. If they had to have the rides fully staffed all the time it would cost them more, they would then transfer the additional costs to the consumer and then people would complain that they were being Nickeled and Dimed. There is no winning with your logic, it can't be that Disney offers a good product at a price point people are willing to pay. They have to offer an even better product for less otherwise they aren't striving to be the best

It doesn't have to be all or nothing. I just think they cut too far when crowds are down, determined to keep the experience the same whether you are there on a busy or slow day.

And your post assumes that Disney actually charges specifically based on what their overhead costs are. I have a hunch they price based on what they think they can get away with. The parks continue to be a very profitable division of the company. No need to charge extra to return the service to how it used to be.

 

[Brian Noble]

The roller coasters aren’t great. I’d rather spend a day in Cedar Point than any days at Universal.

My Brother in Christ, you have not yet been on Velocicoaster. It's not quite Steel Vengeance, but it's right up there.

I'd also rather go to Cedar Point, all things being equal, but that's because Cedar Point is awesome, not because Universal stinks. However, in February/March, that's not an option---and central Florida is pretty great compared to Ann Arbor that time of year.

Universal is the Michigan State of Orlando and you all are their nutty fans.

Priceless.

Sometimes you get your little brother excited when you're playing basketball and let him get the lead. Then you just come back and take it back.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

It doesn't have to be all or nothing. I just think they cut too far when crowds are down, determined to keep the experience the same whether you are there on a busy or slow day.

And your post assumes that Disney actually charges specifically based on what their overhead costs are. I have a hunch they price based on what they think they can get away with. The parks continue to be a very profitable division of the company. No need to charge extra to return the service to how it used to be.

Trying to balance is not a bad idea, otherwise you would see major shifts in crowds when people thought it would be less crowded, it is a lot more advantageous for Disney to offer the same experience throughout the year so they can plan accordingly. There are plenty of reasons they do what they do, but choosing to oversimplify it is convenient

they probably set their prices by weighing a lot more things then just overhead and what they can get away with, but i can tell you that higher costs almost always get passed to the consumer.

If it costs more to run the same operation (Disney did just recently raise its wages, food costs are through the roof, energy is at a premium, inflation is still really high, banks are asking for a lot more when handing out loans to name a few), then they have to charge more. Again it's oversimplifying a really complex business

 

[DisFanDad]

It doesn't have to be all or nothing. I just think they cut too far when crowds are down, determined to keep the experience the same whether you are there on a busy or slow day.

And your post assumes that Disney actually charges specifically based on what their overhead costs are. I have a hunch they price based on what they think they can get away with. The parks continue to be a very profitable division of the company. No need to charge extra to return the service to how it used to be.

The lengths people will go to in order to justify a Multi-billion dollar per quarter profiting business (the domestic parks) - charging consumers MORE while offering them LESS - never ceases to astound me. "Well they have to do this, because profits, and such" - no they don't "HAVE" to do this. They could make zero profit if they wanted to - as long as they break even, they are a viable business. They don't have to ever increase profits either. They don't HAVE to cut staffing during slower times, because that gives customers a worse product, instead of a better one that, might, attract more customers ? And my god, to suggest they would "have to" pass on the increased cost to the customer - and we would complain about "nickle and diming" 1 - they already had the cost passed on to us, the had that staffing, we paid for it, they reduced it, and they didn't lower the price as a result - it's almost like there isn't any real connection there at all. 2 - we "would" complain they were nickle and diming us ... they ARE nickle and diming us already.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

The lengths people will go to in order to justify a Multi-billion dollar per quarter profiting business (the domestic parks) - charging consumers MORE while offering them LESS - never ceases to astound me. "Well they have to do this, because profits, and such" - no they don't "HAVE" to do this. They could make zero profit if they wanted to - as long as they break even, they are a viable business. They don't have to ever increase profits either. They don't HAVE to cut staffing during slower times, because that gives customers a worse product, instead of a better one that, might, attract more customers ? And my god, to suggest they would "have to" pass on the increased cost to the customer - and we would complain about "nickle and diming" 1 - they already had the cost passed on to us, the had that staffing, we paid for it, they reduced it, and they didn't lower the price as a result - it's almost like there isn't any real connection there at all. 2 - we "would" complain they were nickle and diming us ... they ARE nickle and diming us already.

you're asking a business to be a charity. You can always open your own business and do just what you talking about. No business owes anyone anything, if you don't like the offering you don't have to go.

Disney is not a not for profit or charity, they are For Profit, and are acting like every other for-profit business on the planet. No one is owed a vacation on their terms

 

[DisFanDad]

you're asking a business to be a charity. You can always open your own business and do just what you talking about. No business owes anyone anything, if you don't like the offering you don't have to go.

Disney is not a not for profit or charity, they are For Profit, and are acting like every other for-profit business on the planet. No one is owed a vacation on their terms

No one said they were a charity - or had to be one - but we as consumers can hold them to a better product and standard. Or we can act like you - and justify everything they do as "business" and we end up with a worse and worse product that costs more and more. Bravo.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

No one said they were a charity - or had to be one - but we as consumers can hold them to a better product and standard. Or we can act like you - and justify everything they do as "business" and we end up with a worse and worse product that costs more and more. Bravo.

I think that there is actual reason behind a lot of the price increases, it seems like you just believe they are doing it out of spite. I think when you look at it on a micro level it's easy to say they are hurting you personally, on a macro level there are plenty of reasons they would need to hike prices. It isn't so much writing it off as trying to look at the entire scope and see why things would be happening.

Is there a component of charging more because they are offering a premium experience that people are willing to pay more for, i don't doubt it, but it's probably a very small piece of the pie in reality

 

[mom2rtk]

I think that there is actual reason behind a lot of the price increases, it seems like you just believe they are doing it out of spite. I think when you look at it on a micro level it's easy to say they are hurting you personally, on a macro level there are plenty of reasons they would need to hike prices. It isn't so much writing it off as trying to look at the entire scope and see why things would be happening.

Is there a component of charging more because they are offering a premium experience that people are willing to pay more for, i don't doubt it, but it's probably a very small piece of the pie in reality

Why would they do it out of spite?

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

It just comes off that way when people constantly complain that Disney is raising pricing and understaffing their parks when they could “easily” change to make everyone happy

 

[DisFanDad]

I think that there is actual reason behind a lot of the price increases, it seems like you just believe they are doing it out of spite. I think when you look at it on a micro level it's easy to say they are hurting you personally, on a macro level there are plenty of reasons they would need to hike prices. It isn't so much writing it off as trying to look at the entire scope and see why things would be happening.

Is there a component of charging more because they are offering a premium experience that people are willing to pay more for, i don't doubt it, but it's probably a very small piece of the pie in reality

The reason for price increases, and cuts to services is clear, they've talked about it in every investor call for the last several years - it's to increase profits. Margins keep going up, costs keep going down. There might be some element of inflation to this, ie: their costs may have increased, but if their costs increased and that's why they increased prices, their profits wouldn't increase. They have reiterated over and over, in fact it was Chapek's driving principle, to make WDW MORE of a premium product, to price people out, increase margins, decrease costs, and drive up profits. Fewer people, paying more, for less = increased profit. He said this dozens of times in interviews and in investor calls. Sure inflation WAS high for a time - it's not any longer. But Tickets have doubled in price since 2015, instead of 29% inflation for instance. It's not costs - its margins and profits. They have been quite clear on this.

 

[clarker99]

The reason for price increases, and cuts to services is clear, they've talked about it in every investor call for the last several years - it's to increase profits. Margins keep going up, costs keep going down. There might be some element of inflation to this, ie: their costs may have increased, but if their costs increased and that's why they increased prices, their profits wouldn't increase. They have reiterated over and over, in fact it was Chapek's driving principle, to make WDW MORE of a premium product, to price people out, increase margins, decrease costs, and drive up profits. Fewer people, paying more, for less = increased profit. He said this dozens of times in interviews and in investor calls. Sure inflation WAS high for a time - it's not any longer. But Tickets have doubled in price since 2015, instead of 29% inflation for instance. It's not costs - its margins and profits. They have been quite clear on this.

Margins have stayed mostly flat for the Domestic parks pre vs post covid.

 

[LSUmiss]

It just comes off that way when people constantly complain that Disney is raising pricing and understaffing their parks when they could “easily” change to make everyone happy

Greed is different than spite. Most ppl think it’s greed.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

Greed is different than spite. Most ppl think it’s greed.

that’s fair, most people would be wrong though. Most people are just upset that the increases are affecting them they aren’t willing to do the work to find out why they are having increases. They do the simplest thing possible and say the company is greedy with no data to back them up. Everyone is entitled to feel however they want, it’s when their feelings cause them to riff because they’re angry it gets a little ridiculous.

Again if people could back their assertions with actual data I would at least hear them out, but cherry-picking data or just straight up making it up is just wrong

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

View attachment 788852
Margins have stayed mostly flat for the Domestic parks pre vs post covid.

All you’re going to hear is that they were making too much pre pandemic, so they should be dropping their prices now.

 

[wabbott]

A bit of history here. This was what Walt felt about 'value added.'

https://www.inddist.com/sales/blog/22105906/are-you-plussing-your-customer-experience

In Pat Williams’ book, How to Be Like Walt, plussing means to give your customers more than they paid for, more than they expect, more than you have to give them. Walt applied plussing to his movies, theme parks and even scooping ice cream. When Walt visited theme parks, he would occasionally help serve guests. According to one employee, when Walt scooped ice cream for guests, he always gave the biggest scoops. Walt would do more and give more to exceed expectations throughout the entire experience.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

A bit of history here. This was what Walt felt about 'value added.'

https://www.inddist.com/sales/blog/22105906/are-you-plussing-your-customer-experience

In Pat Williams’ book, How to Be Like Walt, plussing means to give your customers more than they paid for, more than they expect, more than you have to give them. Walt applied plussing to his movies, theme parks and even scooping ice cream. When Walt visited theme parks, he would occasionally help serve guests. According to one employee, when Walt scooped ice cream for guests, he always gave the biggest scoops. Walt would do more and give more to exceed expectations throughout the entire experience.

i think it still exists, but a lot of people expect Disney to just do the extra with price of admission. The last time we were there a waiter gave us a free dessert because we were celebrating our anniversary, and another replaced my daughters balloon that she let go of. Nothing Disney was responsible for but appreciated none the less. It just feels like lately people on these boards would rather talk about how those things are expected, and that comes off as spoiled

 

[HokieRaven5]

i think it still exists, but a lot of people expect Disney to just do the extra with price of admission. The last time we were there a waiter gave us a free dessert because we were celebrating our anniversary, and another replaced my daughters balloon that she let go of. Nothing Disney was responsible for but appreciated none the less. It just feels like lately people on these boards would rather talk about how those things are expected, and that comes off as spoiled

Last summer a CM gave me a free double stroller rental for the day. It certainly still happens in moments for guests.

A couple years prior I ordered just one of the orange bird smoothies that came in the souvenir cup from a festival for my kids to share. CM decided to give each of my kids one.

 

[wabbott]

Two examples of "nickel and dimming" come immediately to mind. Fast Pass becomes paid Genie. Parking now costs extra when it used to be part of the hotel rental. All the while prices increase much faster than the inflation rate.

Customers aren't stupid - they know when they're being gouged.

And, if I may readdress a continuing complaint that I have, it seems movies and TV have bottomless budgets to pi$$ away on movies that no one wants to go see.

 

[LSUmiss]

Two examples of "nickel and dimming" come immediately to mind. Fast Pass becomes paid Genie. Parking now costs extra when it used to be part of the hotel rental. All the while prices increase much faster than the inflation rate.

Customers aren't stupid - they know when they're being gouged.

And, if I may readdress a continuing complaint that I have, it seems movies and TV have bottomless budgets to pi$$ away on movies that no one wants to go see.

Parking no longer costs extra.