Disney parks costs, crowds, and categorizations

[rteetz]

I was thinking that too when TX 1st got brought up but I did look up and see that the opinion can vary.

I consider it the south/south central or southwestern region of the U.S. Then again people don't always consider KS the midwest but I assure you it most def. is to us Kansans lol.

I suppose. I definitely consider Texas in the south or south central. I am from Wisconsin and have never once heard someone say Texas is in the midwest.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Relatively near me is Hershey Park which is in middle of Pennsylvania - and they do the same ... have holiday themed nights where the parks are open in December, etc. - but not all of the attractions are open

The other option is that you have parks that are only open seasonally ... certainly enough people in the NY Metro area to support a park that is only open 7 months a year .... obviously would be a different experience than going to WDW but could still be of the Disney quality and allow for people that can't afford to fly to Florida to experience "Disney"

Yeah I can totally see the seasonal aspect but for me personally I love that I can choose to go to WDW (though obviously I don't go too often) whenever I want. The question of "is it open" doesn't exist.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I just don't think that would work. You are then hurting attendance at both WDW and DL say if you built in Texas. If you build in the midwest or northeast you are looking at a park that would have to be built for the climate.

I think Disney needs to focus on building up the three non-MK parks to make them more appealing to spread out the crowds. Something interesting to note is Epcot attendance peaked in 1987 and hasn't seen those numbers since.

Would it really be hurting attendance though, since Disney is jacking up prices to try to keep people away from DL and WDW? Just look at the price increase of the DL AP in the past few years.

In 2016 the population of Texas was 27.86 million, as oppose to Florida's 20.61 and California's 39.25 million (just for comparisons sake).

The population of Houston was 2.303 million, Dallas 1.318 million, San Antonio 1.493 million and Austin 947,000. These cities are all within roughly 3 hours drive of each other. I don't think Disney would have any problem staffing a park in this area.

In comparison, Anaheim had 351,000 and LA had 3.976 and San Diego 1.4.

I really think a Texas Disney could be like DL, pulling a lot of attendance from locals.

 

[AMusicLifeForMe]

Texas is not Midwest.

I have heard it both ways that it is and isn't so I just assume what I have heard the most. I guess I stand corrected.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Texas is not Midwest.

I was thinking that too when TX 1st got brought up but I did look up and see that the opinion can vary.

I consider it the south/south central or southwestern region of the U.S. Then again people don't always consider KS the midwest but I assure you it most def. is to us Kansans lol.

That's my fault - I should have said something like "Middle of the country" or something ... really, the point is that if they want to get more people to "a Disney Park to experience what going to a Disney park is" - they they want to make it easier to go to a Disney park and if you take out (or reduce) the travel component, that is one way to do it

Even if you did a mini-park that was much cheaper ... so less E-ticket attractions, etc. - but still 100% Disney (and Disney quality) - that could be one option and maybe something people could do more often and then do WDW once every 5 years or something

 

[sachilles]

It's been mentioned here before, but I think the big issue in Florida is getting enough quality staff to work the ever expanding growth of the parks.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I love it! Please bend someone's ear and convince them to build in Texas!

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not

 

[sachilles]

To further explain, more gates in Orlando for Disney would mean more staff.
Expanding the current parks will also mean more staff, but not nearly as many as the infrastructure is already in place.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I know I'm repeating myself...but Texas. I live in Austin. We barely have any days colder than the mid 50s in the winter. We also don't have the humidity of Florida and it doesn't rain a lot.

I visited Austin (have some family that live there) a few years back. It was in a drought. By the time we left....it no longer was in a drought or so we had been told lol. That was in May of 2015 and it rained and rained and rained. We had like 1 1/2 days of our trip without rain. But I'm told that was unusual.

It takes about 2 and a half hours to fly to Orlando from here and 3 to fly to Anaheim. Seems pretty in the middle.

To get to WDW it takes roughly 2 hrs 45 mins from my airport. To get to DLR it takes roughly 3hrs 10ish mins. We're roughly in the middle too just not the right weather haha.

 

[TexasKiwiPrincess]

I can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not

Totally not sarcastic! Sarcasm isn't really my style. Jackie Gailey is my girl- optimistic, glass half-full, "There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow" approach to life. Life's too short to be negative and rude.

I honestly would love it if Disney built something in Texas. I think it's an excellent location, especially in the Grand Prairie area between Dallas and Fort Worth. We have a major, international airport at DFW, and Grand Prairie would avoid the worst of the highway woes (the nightmare that is I35, and the parking lot that is 635) Grand Prairie is also close to other entertainment venues in Arlington (The Ballpark (Rangers), AT&T Stadium (Cowboys), and Lone Star Park (horse racing)) Hockey and basketball are in Dallas. I really feel that area has a lot to offer. But, as others have mentioned, it's blue sky dreamin' for this Texas princess!

 

[Capang]

One more thing about the Len Testa podcasts then I will move on.

It amazes me that the tech they used to find cheap tickets is now being applied to find the right combination (price, insurance, and medical factors) of drugs for diabetics. Im blown away by the way they took the vacation planning tech and applied it to the data sets for the medical field. Thought it deserved a quick mention although it's not really news in a Disney sense. Plus I'm a nerd. I love all things data.

 

[rteetz]

Would it really be hurting attendance though, since Disney is jacking up prices to try to keep people away from DL and WDW? Just look at the price increase of the DL AP in the past few years.

In 2016 the population of Texas was 27.86 million, as oppose to Florida's 20.61 and California's 39.25 million (just for comparisons sake).

The population of Houston was 2.303 million, Dallas 1.318 million, San Antonio 1.493 million and Austin 947,000. These cities are all within roughly 3 hours drive of each other. I don't think Disney would have any problem staffing a park in this area.

In comparison, Anaheim had 351,000 and LA had 3.976 and San Diego 1.4.

I really think a Texas Disney could be like DL, pulling a lot of attendance from locals.

It would have to be more of a locals park. I am not sure if population comparisons are fair in this discussions. Look at the comparison of DL and WDW for example. WDW is a World destination, whereas DL isn’t so much. While a higher population means more people in the work force it doesn’t always mean more visitors. I just don’t see them building another stateside park anytime soon. Overseas could be a different story.

That's my fault - I should have said something like "Middle of the country" or something ... really, the point is that if they want to get more people to "a Disney Park to experience what going to a Disney park is" - they they want to make it easier to go to a Disney park and if you take out (or reduce) the travel component, that is one way to do it

Even if you did a mini-park that was much cheaper ... so less E-ticket attractions, etc. - but still 100% Disney (and Disney quality) - that could be one option and maybe something people could do more often and then do WDW once every 5 years or something

Would a mini-park work tho? When people think Disney parks they think castles, characters, parades, fireworks, and rides like Space Mountain. I think building a mini-park would defeat the purpose.

To further explain, more gates in Orlando for Disney would mean more staff.
Expanding the current parks will also mean more staff, but not nearly as many as the infrastructure is already in place.

True. They could especially have workforce issues if Universal continues their expansion to a third gate.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Would a mini-park work tho? When people think Disney parks they think castles, characters, parades, fireworks, and rides like Space Mountain. I think building a mini-park would defeat the purpose.

Just throwing ideas out there ... it's a challenge when I think 99% of people feel the parks are too expensive - specifically if we feel it is something everyone *should* be able to do - yet at the same time they are crazy crowded and just building more in Florida just spreads the same crowds out, etc.


Trying to think of something that would enable more people to experience going to a Disney park and then get addicted/emotionally connected at a price point they can afford

 

[TheMaxRebo]

One more thing about the Len Testa podcasts then I will move on.

It amazes me that the tech they used to find cheap tickets is now being applied to find the right combination (price, insurance, and medical factors) of drugs for diabetics. Im blown away by the way they took the vacation planning tech and applied it to the data sets for the medical field. Thought it deserved a quick mention although it's not really news in a Disney sense. Plus I'm a nerd. I love all things data.

i agree - though my first reaction was "wait, they don't already have software that will tell you what combination of medicine a patient should take?" - but then they mentioned this now takes into account what insurance you have and what it will cover combined with what you can afford out of pocket, etc.

 

[Capang]

i agree - though my first reaction was "wait, they don't already have software that will tell you what combination of medicine a patient should take?" - but then they mentioned this now takes into account what insurance you have and what it will cover combined with what you can afford out of pocket, etc.

Exactly. It's genius. I wish we would have had that long ago. Amazing to think it came from vacation planning software.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

So to sum up, it sounds like there is no solution to the popularity of Disney parks.

Disney isn't willing to build another US park.

The 2 parks that are in the US are crowded enough that Disney can keep astronomically raising ticket costs, food costs, hotel prices etc. Yet people still keep coming (just not maybe the people that could afford to in the past).

The rising prices keeps out a lot of people who used to/would like to come to the parks and spend money, they just can't afford the very quickly rising prices.

Building more gates in Orlando does not make sense, because most people have a finite number of vacation days and Orlando is running out of employees.

Building more gates in DL does not make sense because they don't have a lot of land and the Anaheim government is now fighting DL on a lot of things.

Prices keep rising because demand keeps rising, yet this keeps away a lot of Disney fans who would like to come to the parks and spend money. So I guess the solution is those people are SOL. As long as the upper middle class/rich people or international guests can keep coming, nothing will change.

I still don't think it makes sense not to build another park in the US, and I don't think I'll be convinced that it doesn't make sense.

Sure, Disney might be able to eek out a bit more profit in the parks it does have by raising prices. But creating 1/3 more product would make them even more money. At least in my mind. Granted, I am not an economist and I only got a B in my college economics course.

 

[rteetz]

Building more gates in DL does not make sense because they don't have a lot of land and the Anaheim government is not fighting DL on a lot of things.

The Anaheim vs. Disney battle is a whole other interesting discussion to have.

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

The Anaheim vs. Disney battle is a whole other interesting discussion to have.

Oops that was a typo, 'not' was supposed to be 'now fighting'

 

[rteetz]

Oops that was a typo, 'not' was supposed to be 'now fighting'

I read it as now

 

[TheMaxRebo]

One idea Len mentioned that I think would be a good, albeit small, thing is to lobby the schools in the North East to go to year round school schedules so there are more breaks, people can come when it isn't 120 degrees and the crowds would be more spread out