Dear Mr. Iger...

[DebbieB]

I don't get why most people are complaining. If you buy multi day tickets, there was no increase this year

Multi day tickets increased also, up to 10%.

 

[kiford]

If you are going for multiple days, or even just one day, ticket cost is still bargain entertainment in $$ per hour. Anyone go to an NFL game lately? They make Disney look like a bargain basement.

The son of a friend of mine went to the NBA All-Star game in Toronto a few weekends ago for just one night. $800 - one person, one night. It would have been $4,000 if he'd gone the whole weekend. I would never consider paying that kind of money for that short a period of time but they were sold out. Supply/demand.

 

[5kidsmommy]

The son of a friend of mine went to the NBA All-Star game in Toronto a few weekends ago for just one night. $800 - one person, one night. It would have been $4,000 if he'd gone the whole weekend. I would never consider paying that kind of money for that short a period of time but they were sold out. Supply/demand.

I live outside of Cleveland and I am continually shocked by how much people are willing to shell out for NBA games but who am I to judge? People are always willing to part with money for experiences that they consider worthwhile. For me it's Disney.

 

[bryanb]

When crowds are high (constantly) there are two paths:

A) Try to control crowds by making attendance more cumbersome (ie. higher costs)
B) Increase capacity to accommodate more guests

The Star Wars expansion is a good start but it's a few years late. Same with Avatarland. They do not need to add a ride or two, they need to significantly increase attractions to meet demand. The impact of their decisions may not be felt for years or maybe even decades but it will be felt...

Totally agree that more capacity is needed. But capacity is risky, time-intensive, and ties up a lot of cash. I totally agree that Star Wars will come a few years too late... but these projects are so complicated, I'm not surprised it took them 3 years after acquiring Lucasfilms to develop concepts, do all the engineering and environmental surveys, get numerous rounds of creative and business approvals, and break ground. And even then everyone working on it probably feels rushed and under pressure.

If I were managing the parks, I'd have to challenge the team: why not do both (A: demand pricing) for the short term and (B: capacity increases) for the long term?

 

[pumpkinhead10a]

Guys it's not about moving people around It's only about putting the extra dollars too the bottom line...that's it....They know a certain amount of their weekend and holiday customers can only go on weekends and holidays so they are in the money, they been tracking this for a while so no surprize. They are going to push the pricing envelope as far as they can and price the low income people out off the parks. They want higher income customers in the parks who spend more off their dollars at the parks, it's about increasing the dollar amount per customer witch all retailer want.

 

[boomgoesthemickey]

and any and all executives within the Walt Disney company responsible for this decision, I would like to respectfully request that you reconsider your new tiered pricing structure that you announced for your theme parks . Despite record breaking attendance (up 17% over the past two years) leading to profits that have doubled over the past five years, you have decided to institute this new pricing policy . One has to wonder why at this time , when there are considerably less attractions to experience over that same five year time span in almost all your parks . Recently we have also seen cutbacks in guest services along with reductions in character meet and greet experiences , shows, and staffing . I fear this new pricing policy will make an already difficult decision for many families as to whether or not to visit Disneyland or Walt Disney World now something they won't even consider . As I'm sure you know many families for obvious reasons can not visit the parks except during the holidays or over summer vacation . These are the exact times you have instituted your premium pricing . If it ain't broke don't fix it ! As Walt Disney said during his speech at the dedication of Disneyland "Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals the dreams and the hard facts that have created America with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world ." Please , keep park tickets at one price for the entire year . It isn't fair to punish families who cannot visit the parks except during these periods of the year . From a business standpoint I feel that you are shooting yourselves in the foot with this unnecessary price structuring . A severe backlash regarding this new policy I fear is imminent . A quick reversal of this decision would help you escape the wrath of many and also help your continued success and attendance growth similar to what you have seen over the previous five years .

Unfortunately capitalism doesn't have an off switch or brake pedal, if a company believes it can still profit while making budget cuts it will. I do appreciate your stance on the matter though.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I don't consider the cuts happening now to be occurring "during off season periods" as we are weeks away from some of the largest crowds of the year descending upon WDW.

Okay, this is a clear contradiction.

Yes, Disney is a business, but they have continually treated WDW as the red headed step child to Disneyland

Before I get to my point, this phrase is offensive to redheads and stepchildren, and yes, I know it's common.

Anyway, with Walt Disney World being the number one tourist destination and theme park, why do you believe TDC is treating Orlando so undesirably?

The cuts in monorail operating hours are more for budget issues than they are maintenance issues.

What makes you think buses are cheaper to operate?

I think @DVCcurious is paraphrasing a quote from Yogi Bear.

Or he could be paraphrasing Yogi Berra. Yoga Bear, it'd be statements like, "Shish-kaboob, Bob-Bob... I mean, shish kabob, Boo-Boo."

They know a certain amount of their weekend and holiday customers can only go on weekends and holidays so they are in the money,

Which makes Disney any different from virtually any other tourism-elated business, how, exactly?

 

[Disneyliscious]

If it means my holiday season, onsite, multi-day park stay will have less crowds, yippee!

This isn't going to happen though. People will whine and moan for a while and then shell out the extra $$ to still go. The price increase will do nothing to "spread out crowds". People have become so conditioned to throwing money at Disney its utterly insane. They are on the verge of nervous breakdowns if they don't get a FP+ or a dining reservation. When you have that mentality going on, its going to take drastic, unheard of measures to "crowd control".

 

[lugnut33]

Okay, this is a clear contradiction.

Before I get to my point, this phrase is offensive to redheads and stepchildren, and yes, I know it's common.

Anyway, with Walt Disney World being the number one tourist destination and theme park, why do you believe TDC is treating Orlando so undesirably?

If they were truly off-season cuts they would have been made at the beginning of January, not just a few weeks before the second busiest time of the year. You don't staff up for busy times by making cuts.

It's just a saying, no offense intended.

To look at how the parks are treated differently you just have to look at past history. Show me where in DL they have let one of the parks languish and become stale? They had a problem with DCA and spent 2 billion to rectify the situation. Epcot has been forgotten about for so long now and the additions to DHS will be done about 10 years too late. All you have seen in those two parks over the years are cuts cuts and more cuts, very few additions. Besides, take a look at the care with which they do refurbs out in CA compared to FL. Night and day.

As for the monorail, it's widely known the operating costs are much higher than running the bus service from the TTC to MK. Those reductions in hours are basically to try and keep the current monorail system running for a few years more until they either shut it down or have to replace it at a cost management doesn't want to spend.

 

[captain america 2003]

Many good arguments presented both in support and against , however I still maintain that this price structuring model is both unnecessary and unfair . Remembering that there is no discounted ticket prices for the quote unquote slow off peak periods . So comparisons with hotel and airline pricing doesn't hold much water because both cut their services prices when they are slow . Look , we all can agree that a trip to Disney's parks is never and really has never been affordable to everyone, but don't we want more people , especially children to experience "the Magic " of a day at the "Happiest place on earth" ?

 

[maxiesmom]

Many good arguments presented both in support and against , however I still maintain that this price structuring model is both unnecessary and unfair . Remembering that there is no discounted ticket prices for the quote unquote slow off peak periods . So comparisons with hotel and airline pricing doesn't hold much water because both cut their services prices when they are slow . Look , we all can agree that a trip to Disney's parks is never and really has never been affordable to everyone, but don't we want more people , especially children to experience "the Magic " of a day at the "Happiest place on earth" ?

Actually air fare is usually a lot less certain days of the week, when they need to attract more buyers.

And not everyone even cares to experience a Disney vacation. I know it wasn't even a blip on my radar until I was almost 30 years old. So no, I don't feel unusually sad that others have not experienced a trip to WDW. There are a lot of things I haven't yet experienced in my life either, and I don't expect people to feel sorry for me because of it

 

[captain america 2003]

Take this very common example into consideration....the Smith family is driving down to Florida to visit grandma over the Christmas holiday break from their home in Boston . They want to surprise their son Jimmy and their daughter Mary who they think are at the perfect ages to enjoy a day at the Magic Kingdom . They know that it won't be cheap as they begin to plan their trip and then they notice that to go when they can Disney wants them to pay a higher admission price that puts the trip out of their budget . Not fair , not right , not necessary . Any attempt to explain this as a crowd management tool is ridiculous . This is simply just Disney finding another way to charge more and justifying it with the old "everybody's doing it (in the travel industry) ". I always thought that Disney wasn't like everyone else . I always thought they were better than this . Naive of me ,maybe , after all they are a publicly traded company that needs to be profitable . I get that . However , a reasonable , uniform price increase across the board is all they should have done .

 

[AnnaKat]

Of course not. But my 8 day PH averaged out to (I think) about $55 a day. I'd pay some premium above that to avoid any 30+ minute wait. Maybe an Express Pass? Limit per day? Definitely less than $100. BUT, if I could should which days to avoid lines I might pay that for a day or 2.

Luckily I understand how to tour and have been often enough where I can avoid most lines or just skip something I've done before. In 2012 we skipped Peter Pan. FPs were gone and waits were 50 minutes. Got it on the next visit.

We'd also pay extra to avoid long waits. An Express Pass that would allow the guest unlimited FP+ for that day of.
We always get APs, & our per day cost is less than the 10-day Hopper. It would be worth a same-day charge of $100-$150
(in addition to already using a Tix) for an Express Pass Benefit of unlimited FP+ line access. It doesn't do any good to visit
AK say 5 times during a 2-week stay, & only be able to ride the Safari once (each visit) w/a FP because the standby line is 40 to 70 minutes long With the option of paying MORE for the Express Pass, you could @ least do everything you want in your Express Pass day, EVEN WITH high crowd levels

 

[maxiesmom]

Take this very common example into consideration....the Smith family is driving down to Florida to visit grandma over the Christmas holiday break from their home in Boston . They want to surprise their son Jimmy and their daughter Mary who they think are at the perfect ages to enjoy a day at the Magic Kingdom . They know that it won't be cheap as they begin to plan their trip and then they notice that to go when they can Disney wants them to pay a higher admission price that puts the trip out of their budget . Not fair , not right , not necessary . Any attempt to explain this as a crowd management tool is ridiculous . This is simply just Disney finding another way to charge more and justifying it with the old "everybody's doing it (in the travel industry) ". I always thought that Disney wasn't like everyone else . I always thought they were better than this . Naive of me ,maybe , after all they are a publicly traded company that needs to be profitable . I get that . However , a reasonable , uniform price increase across the board is all they should have done .

What is reasonable is very subjective.