DISNEY if you don't want the average Joe to stay at the parks just say so...

[TAK]

I agree 100% that if the cost of a Disney vacation no longer seems worth it to someone, if it feels like a waste, then you have every right and in fact probably should take your money elsewhere. Or stay and feel dissatisfied until you hit that tipping point. Either way, I don't blame you. I can understand the frustration. Something you've done for awhile now and enjoyed is no longer as enjoyable, and costs a lot. Deciding that the extravagance of this expensive vacation is no longer worth emptying your pockets is a valid decision, but a bummer.

But I can't get onboard with the notion that Disney is supposed to be for "average Joes", whatever that's defined as. It's always been a phenomenally costly vacation. You can economize, of course, and a lot of you on these Boards come up with some great ways to do that. But when you're barely living paycheck to paycheck or you're struggling to pay the bills as it is, Disney is as far out of reach as the moon. I know because I grew up that way, poor as all get out, and as a Disney fanatic it was hard to see my wealthier, more financially secure friends go when I couldn't. Now, my situation has changed, and I can afford to go -- for the first time last year, at the age of 43.

In the movie "Reality Bites", Winona Ryder's character talks about how her friend Troy seems to feel "like the establishment owes him a Snickers". My husband and I talk about that quote a lot to try to keep ourselves grounded. It stinks when something non-essential is out of reach, but it stinks, and that's it. You can be mad it costs a lot, and you can wish it would cost less, you can have the opinion that it's worth less than they're charging, and you can decide it's not worth it to you to pay for it -- but you can't be mad that it isn't cheaper because you're somehow entitled to it. Just my $0.02.

 

[larryz]

That is your choice.

Actually, I said "some of us." I don't include myself in that group.

 

[Doug M]

If your tax refund is so large that you can take a trip to WDW you need to adjust your withholding because you are loaning the government your money for free. If that isnt the case, your "refund" is EITC and therefore a welfare payment and not a tax refund.

 

[MaryLovesPoohBear]

I must have missed the part in the Bill of Rights about our right to an affordable Walt Disney World vacation.

I'm a (single) public school teacher in one of the worst-paid states in the nation. My parents are retirees who aren't exactly wealthy either. We're going to WDW for the first time in 17 years. True, we are a small group and it took years to save up the money for this splurge of a vacation. Because THAT'S what a WDW vacation is. A big splurge. If you've got other financial priorities and/or cannot swing WDW, you DON'T GO. You take smaller, less expensive trips and save WDW for the special occasions. This idea that it's a place that everyone should be able to afford to go every year is just not realistic. It's a one-of-a-kind vacation destination. You have to pay to play.

Yep.

Heck, my own parents never ever went to Disney. They simply couldn't afford it.

But I've been many times.

 

[nilla]

Thinking of the families with 2 kids or more who Disney is pricing out of a Disney vacation because of their greed

Again, it's not necessarily Disney's greed. Disney relies on stockholders to supply capital. Disney will lost stockholders if they don't try to maximize profits. Most people don't buy Disney (or any other) stock because they want to help others.

Would you turn down a raise at your current job if you knew your employer was also raising prices? I know I wouldn't.

 

[DisDadDVC]

Not thinking about me, been Disney 5 times..just me and the wife! Thinking of the families with 2 kids or more who Disney is pricing out of a Disney vacation because of their greed . Spent 40 years in retail management so I do understand the cost of running a business and the need to improve the balance sheet, but I also know when it comes down to plain greed and the joy of saying look I'm making the most profit ever and that what this is. From what I can see their play book are targeting the families with a yearly income of over 100,00.00, as lower income families tends to spend less money in the parks, but that 's only my humble opinion!

I don't have any problem with that. Many businesses target different economic groups. Ann Taylor targets a different group than JC Penny. Disney may want to target a different market than Six Flags. Etc, etc etc.

 

[Jcon]

Yep.

Heck, my own parents never ever went to Disney. They simply couldn't afford it.

But I've been many times.

My single mother worked OT to send me with my aunt/uncle/cousins back in 1985. She had to skip it because she couldn't afford it. She's never been.

 

[Tara1988]

The resort fee probably rubs a lot of people the wrong way, but every hotel I've stayed at charged a resort fee. Disney prices are high, but so is the price of everything else. That's just the way the economy in general is. I'm not going to stop going because I feel like they make it well worth the cost.

 

[dachsie]

I was thinking about the proposed "resort fee" and have come to the conclusion that this might actually end up being cheaper than if they simply raised the room rate by $15 a night. Here's why:

Last year, at CBR, it was a good 3-4 days before we had working wi-fi in our room. It took multiple calls to tech support to get it resolved. If there were a $15/night fee last year for "perks", which included wi-fi, we would have complained, and most likely would have that waived for those days. Not so simple putting a dollar amount on it if it's not part of a semi-itemized fee.

That's assuming they wont raise the room rates too which we all know wont happen.

 

[powellrj]

We use to stay on-site when they kids were small. About 10 years ago we started staying off-site. One of the perks of staying on-site was free parking. Now if the resort fee is added, paying for parking will be no big deal.

 

[PSUGuy]

I wouldn't care too much if WDW prices increased yearly by the rate of inflation or maybe a bit more, PROVIDED... Disney continued offering wonderful entertainment options. For us, 1999 and the next few years was WDW's heyday with Pleasure Island including the Adventurer's Club, the most unique entertainment I've ever experienced. We'd fly from Pa to Orlando just to spend 5 nights there. A full schedule of musical offerings in WS to say nothing of the World Showcase Players, the list of great options is nearly endless. To squeeze the nickel until the buffalo bleeds while cutting corners is the very definition of greed. Charge what you want but provide value. A lot of value has been eliminated.

Bill From PA

 

[hookedonears]

Disney's profits are up, the parks are full, Disney Springs is full, even with all the construction people are flocking to WDW. NOW YOU ARE LOOKING FOR WAYS TO SQUEEZE MORE MONEY....poor.. poor Walt's dream is dead.....

You spent 2 billion on the herder program and with FP+ so you can control people's were about in the parks and they don't even realize that you are doing it . Brought in tier pricing so you can squeeze more money out of you guest on the busy days just because you can. Now you want to charge more as a resort fees, what next charge 20.00 more for the A rides, 10.00 to ride the Monorail, 15.00 to walk down Main street, 5.00 for the ferry. oops better not give you any more ideas.

Just flat out say it..YOU DON'T WANT THE AVERAGE JOE TO GO TO OUR PARKS... don't price them out and make them feel bad because they can't afford to go to Disney anymore ...have the guts and say we don't want you any more, we want people who spends lots more money in our parks. Even through the average Joe was the ones who made you what you are today and that your right as we are only the guest!

Guys the only way to be heard by Disney is too stop going to the parks, to their movies, stop watching ABC, tsn or anything that has the Disney name, it's time to be heard!!!! ( They know that's never going to happen )

Disney does need to make a profit but how much is the answer?????

IT'S UP TO YOU

What do you want? Dilapidated parks that never change? Street people walking down Main Street, so Disney can say they welcome everyone? Do you want WDW to be run like the government? Pretty soon, the only people going would be street people. Quit blaming Disney. They are a business and have to be run like a business. They have to compete with an ever increasing stiff competition. Disney's cost to keep up with the Jones's goes up every year. Yes, fewer and fewer people can afford to go. If you want to put the blame somewhere, put it where it belongs. Having a completely flat economy over the last 7 years. Blame the drop in average salaries in this country over the last 7 years. Blame for the first time in history, over 50% of Americans are considered below middle class. Blame the economy where kids are having to live at home longer, because they can't find jobs. Blame the fact that people are working fewer hours than ever before, because full time jobs are becoming harder and harder to find and the vast majority of new jobs created, are low wage and part time. The blame should rest on the American people 7-1/2 years ago.

 

[MaryKatesMom]

IMHO Disney isn't telling the "average Joe" (or repeat guest) they want us to stay away. They're just saying they couldn't care less if we visit. They've been marketing to the "once in a lifetime trip"/new guest crowd for awhile--the ones who don't know any better or don't care.

They figure they don't have to do anything special to get the return guests because we have pixie dust in our eyes and we'll return no matter what. And even if we don't return, they figure they'll make it up in newbie volume, along with increased profits from reducing expenses/services and raising prices.

Average Joes? IMHO you can sum up their view of Average Joes in 1 word: "Whatever."

That is how I feel. Every other business has some sort of loyalty program, yet for the those of us who were PAP, all they did was take away perks and the TIW program price has gone up substantially and they've added more block out dates.

I'm so glad my DH talked me out of buying DVC at BC years ago. At the time I couldn't imagine not wanting to be there but the message "We don't care about the guest experience" has been received. I sent an email about the lack of assigned seating at the Wishes dessert party and the CM who called me really wasn't very nice. She kept repeating that is the way they are doing it and had no answer to "how am I going to sit 11 people?" I swear I could hear the shrug of her shoulders. I do the dessert party to so I don't have to stake a spot out 2 hours in advance of Wishes but now I have to line up 2 hours in advance pay $49 per person for mediocre desserts?! And they aren't letting people stand by the railing, you have to stay seated in your obstructed view seats. This is a very bad deal that only return guests would know or care about.

 

[momof2n2]

If your tax refund is so large that you can take a trip to WDW you need to adjust your withholding because you are loaning the government your money for free. If that isnt the case, your "refund" is EITC and therefore a welfare payment and not a tax refund.

DH and I usually get $12,000+ back. One year we did what you said because others had preached. Did we take $500 a pay period and put it aside? Nope. It got spent. Some of us would rather let someone else benefit from holding our money and just have it handed over as a lump sum. You do what works.

 

[hookedonears]

I wouldn't care too much if WDW prices increased yearly by the rate of inflation or maybe a bit more, PROVIDED... Disney continued offering wonderful entertainment options. For us, 1999 and the next few years was WDW's heyday with Pleasure Island including the Adventurer's Club, the most unique entertainment I've ever experienced. We'd fly from Pa to Orlando just to spend 5 nights there. A full schedule of musical offerings in WS to say nothing of the World Showcase Players, the list of great options is nearly endless. To squeeze the nickel until the buffalo bleeds while cutting corners is the very definition of greed. Charge what you want but provide value. A lot of value has been eliminated.

Bill From PA

That would only work if Disney was static. But it's not. They have to change/add/improve to keep up with competition and those cost have to be passed on some place.

 

[ArwenMarie]

If your tax refund is so large that you can take a trip to WDW you need to adjust your withholding because you are loaning the government your money for free. If that isnt the case, your "refund" is EITC and therefore a welfare payment and not a tax refund.

There's nothing wrong with spending your tax return on a vacation or a small home project or whatever. If you're getting a few thousand back and it's a little "bonus" in your mind, so be it. As far as the EITC, it's a refund for working people and therefore not welfare. Its purpose is to encourage people to keep working, therefore off welfare, and it is a huge factor in keeping working people above the poverty line. It goes straight back into the economy and the government knows that. Anyway not to go to far OT

 

[prestoncaldwell]

well, guess what. That's exactly how it worked when Disneyland and Disneyworld opened.
Except top rides are not called A, but E.
that's why headliners are called E-Tickets, because they used to require the use of a "E"
ticket from your ticket book.
it used to cost a A ticket to ride the main street vehicles, a C ticket for Dumbo, Peter Pan, among others

it would be back to the "good old days" where you paid for what you rode. That's how Walt started it. So you might be wrong in saying his dream is dead ... looks like it will pretty much come back to life ...

(not saying it would be good or I would like it, just saying what used to be)

pic courtesy of yesterland

More accurately, you were rationed access to each level of ride by virtue of the number of tickets in the book. If I recall, you could purchase additional tickets, but it was a long time ago.....

 

[momimouse27]

I get that they have to adjust pricing to stay in competition, I get that. But the amount of price increases in such a short time is discouraging to those of us who scrimp and save to go. I remember when my kids were little(early 2000s) we went for free dining and stayed at BC and I think our entire package was $2700. Those days are pretty much over. We're lucky if we can stay in value now, unless my dh has a sales meeting and they stay on property.

When I was walking around Epcot(my favorite park) last visit, it made me sad that Innoventions had been pretty much decimated and that area seems empty to me. We went to DHS and for us there was nothing to do after about 4 hrs. I hope it feels differently to me after many of the implementations are up and running, and we won't stop visiting.....But for our September visit, it may be off site and a two day pass for us. FP+ and a magic band is not enough for me to pay a resort fee, at least until Star Wars and toy story land are open.

 

[nilla]

Just think - had Disney stuck with Eisner, they could have saved $7.4 billion, the savings of which could then be passed on to customers.

Of course, then they would no longer own Pixar...

 

[kyomagi]

We usually go for 6 nights, 3 days at a park, 1 day at TL, 1 day at DTD and 1 Doing whatever.

Our ticket prices went up 35 total for two people, the first increase for us since 2013. Even if they charge $15 a day for a resort, its only $75. So about 110$ increase.

Op, you're telling me that you have a problem with such a small increase? You know when i first went in 2009 tickets were about 90 bucks a day. Over 7 years its gone up about 25 since 09 for me. You have to save money to go to disney, put down the starbucks for a couple of weeks or eat in a few times instead of going out, you will be surprised how fast you can save $110. Disney is not a right, its a luxury.