Here's the text of the article. I have a subscription apparently.
Last month, Disney once again hiked its prices. And once again, the world responded with shrieks.
It's too high! People won't pay! Disney is nuts!
None of that is true.
Disney is charging what the market will bear. And frankly, anyone who has been to Disney — and witnessed a two-hour wait for Soarin' or struggled six months out to get reservations at the Be Our Guest restaurant — knows that Disney not only can raise its prices, it actually needed something to thin the herd.
These are basic laws of supply and demand. And there is continued demand for the pixie dust Disney supplies.
But as true as it is that Disney is simply following basic business models, it's also true that Disney has priced out much of America.
Disney may be America's playground, but many Americans can't afford to play here anymore.
This is Disney's new reality.
It can cost a family of four $5,000 for a week's vacation that includes only moderate-level accommodations and dining.
Single-day tickets — now $105 a day at the Magic Kingdom — have nearly doubled in the past decade, far outpacing inflation and wage growth.
Frommer's — one of the world's best-known travel authorities — has described the trend as the "The one-percenting of Disney."
The Washington Post penned a piece titled: "How theme parks like Disney World left the middle class behind."
Well, if Disney is leaving most of America behind, it is leaving its hometown in the dust.
Metro Orlando, after all, ranks dead last in wages among major metro regions.
That means many of those who live in the shadow of Cinderella Castle can't afford to go inside.
This isn't an inflammatory theory. It's basic math. Look at the numbers:
The latest price hike puts midtier annual passes (with blackouts during spring break and the holidays) at $549 a person. For a family of four, that's $2,200.
Now, consider the majority of Central Floridians make less than $29,700. Yes, the
majority.
That means working an entire month — without paying rent, taxes, grocery bills or anything else — to buy theme-park tickets.
It's simply not doable.
Locals can sometimes snag cheaper deals. And employees at Disney and other companies can get perks and freebies. But the majority of workers at parks, motels, restaurants and stores throughout Central Florida are scrambling just to make ends meet.
It is one of the wicked ironies of service-sector economies: The people who fuel the tourism engines can't afford to live like the visitors they serve.
So whom does Disney target? Well, it's much broader than the "1 percent" catchphrase suggests. One-percenters make around $300,000 and more. Disney seems to be targeting 20-percenters: folks with household incomes starting around $100,000.
That's in line with what Visit Orlando says the average visiting family makes: $95,000.
That may not sound like a lot to some. But it's more than double Central Florida's average household income of about $40,000.
Orlando's economy is really just a intensified reflection of America's widening income gap.
It wasn't always this way. When Disney opened its doors in 1971, a full day's ticket cost $3.50. Today, you have to spend $20 just to park your car.
In just the past 11 years, prices have doubled for both single-day passes (from $55 to $105) and top-tier annual passes (from $300 to $649).
So park prices are up about 100 percent, while the average American's wages have increased by about 35 percent.
I think this price disconnect may do some long-term damage to Disney's brand loyalty. Right now, 40-something Gen X-ers are willing to cough up a mortgage payment or two to take their kids to Disney because they have fond memories of family trips when they were young.
But if today's kids are priced out, they won't feel the same Disney draw once they have kids of their own.
Still, for now, I see no reason to expect park prices to stop rising, because the parks are still packed with people who are willing and able to pay.
The harsh reality is that Disney doesn't have to worry about leaving working-class families behind ... because it doesn't need them.
smaxwell@tribpub.com
