Disney Raised Parking Prices Overnight!

[hsmamato2]

what,only 17.00 to leave my rental car in a HUGE baking hot parking lot? Why, that sounds like a bargain! who would dare to complain?!?!
FWIW, I stay onsite anyway, so parking costs $0....I have noticed all the new cost trends seem skewed in favor of onsite vs. offsite stays.....

 

[manning]

Increased attendance may not mean anything. We own DVC. We have greatly reduced our spending there. We are doing more things off site.

 

[madge]

Do you have more info on quick service increases?

not specifics, sorry. a friend of mine is in management at one of the AK restaurants & messaged me about parking yesterday ... and said that prices had gone up on food, too ... all on the heels of the ticket price increases.

 

[kellyrd25]

The past few times we have been to WDW there seems to be a great amount of families from other countries. The way it's going most people from the good ole USA will not be able to afford or will not be willing to pay the prices and will choose other vacation sites. Thanks Disney!!

 

[andrews_dad]

what,only 17.00 to leave my rental car in a HUGE baking hot parking lot? Why, that sounds like a bargain! who would dare to complain?!?!
FWIW, I stay onsite anyway, so parking costs $0....I have noticed all the new cost trends seem skewed in favor of onsite vs. offsite stays.....

Clearly this is true. Plus the magic bands, it is 1000% clear that the Mouse brass is taking up war with off-site guests. Off site is not good for them... they know that means we are eating at McDonalds and Bob Evans rather than Chef Mickey's and Tuscker House. They know that means we are buying our signature books at Rite Aide for $1.99 rather than at the Gift Shops for $6.99. They know that means we are bringning in water and snacks in our soft side cooler rather than coughing up cash for a meal plan or snacks. They also know it means we are more likely to spend days in Sea World, Universal, Wet and Wild, Aquatica, and the like. I know why Disney is doing this and it makes sense for them, but is driving some vistors away. But, if it increases the on-site stays and keeps hotrl occupacy higher, they really don't care that they lose a few off-siters.

 

[Muushka]

We used to go to WDW twice a year.

We used to be chomping at the bit to get back.

We used to eat at least 1 meal a day at WDW.

We used to visit the parks when we were at WDW.


Today:

Our time between WDW visits will be (12/2013 next trip 11/2015) almost 2 years.


The last few years we maybe eat 1 meal at WDW per visit.
The food is not that good and too expensive.

We will never take advantage of the AP discounts for DVC because last time we visited we only went into the parks 3 out of 7 days for aprox 3 hours each of the 3 visits. Parks are too crowded AND I have no desire to link my park visits to a wristband (that we did not wear) and have all kinds of data collected. Eating habits, touring habits, how often we go back to the hotel.....

Disney World used to be a great place to visit.

But.....Wilderness Lodge is still our happy place.

 

[kymom99]

Not to turn this into an onsite vs. offsite discussion, but....

After visiting and studying Disney for 10 years, it has become obvious that they are masters at getting people onto the property and making it very convenient to stay there and spend money there.

The rooms are really sparsely furnished. Why do you think it is that they only have 2 straightback chairs in value and mod rooms? So you won't stay in the room. Most hotels, in a king room at least, have a couch or other sort of chair for relaxing. They have ME so you will come to the property without a car, meaning you won't venture offsite to eat or shop. Sounds like a wonderful perk, and it can be, but it is also a way to hold people hostage. No microwaves in the rooms means you are more likely to go to the food courts.

The PP who said they are making their benefits lean towards those who stay onsite is right on. What is happening is, if you live out of the area, you ideally fly in and stay onsite or drive and park for free and use Disney transportation. Or if you live locally, you buy an AP, and get some perks for that, and visit frequently to get a good value out of you pass. Those guests spend more in the parks because they feel like their tickets are already paid for.

I love staying at Disney. They do such a good job making your vacation trouble free. I really do love it. However, after 4 onsite visits, my next planned trip will be offsite. We will be traveling with my step daughter, who will ahve 3 young children. Staying in 3 rooms or some kind of suite will be ridiculously expensive. Paying $17 to park will be a drop in the bucket since we can get a 4 bedroom house with a pool for $100 a night.

To each his own, but once you start seeing the patterns, you tend to get wise to how things work.

 

[KalamityJane]

Anyone thought maybe they are driving up prices to reduce crowds? Raise prices, lower demand.

 

[Marionnette]

Anyone thought maybe they are driving up prices to reduce crowds? Raise prices, lower demand.

That would be a really poor business model. Why would you intentionally drive customers away? The idea is to achieve a balance between what the market will bear and the volume that your business can handle.

 

[luvmy2kids]

I have to say I am so happy my kids are actually bored at Disney. They are older and prefer rollercoasters.... We've had annual passes in the past but no more.. Disney keeps on going up and up. We will only go if we can get in for free....

We actually have Disney waterpark tickets and used them last year. My son brought a friend and he pretty much complained about how bored he was... Glad to see it isn't just my kids that feel that way.

 

[scard192]

Boy, it just seems like Disney is raising their prices for everything! It's already expensive! I'm just not sure how an average family can afford a trip to WDW.

my family can afford to go but only every 3-4 years. Took an extra year to save but we "splurged" and stayed at a MOD (POFQ) last year. I am saving now for a trip in the Fall of 2016 at a value. We will still continue to go, but as prices rise it may be longer and longer between trips.

 

[ssawka]

Look, Disney owes us nothing! Yes, I complain about prices, but I still go. Disney is a publicly held company. Their primary interest is in maximizing profits. To do this Disney needs to find the right mix of fees and prices that maximize the returns for their share holders. Right now they are doing an extraordinary job with that (more than doubling the stock price over the past two years). As long as the parks and resorts are full, they could care less if you and your family can afford to go. This is not to apologize for Disney, but it is the reality of the situation and of the corporate society we, as Americans, have created.

 

[hsmamato2]

Oh, I know Disney has always been really good at LURING people into staying onsite,with Dis transport only. Never been fooled about WHY they provide that service....it's just...it feels.... less like them tempting people to stay onsite,and more like harassing people into choosing onsite now....KWIM?
It feels like a strong armed type move,when you add it all together. Again, not unbusinesslike, but a BIG part of the Disney magic was the way they USED TO run their business,while making their guests feel like....guests. Not commodities,or cattle to be penned and shoved into the proper directions.....
I am still a Disney nut, but how I appreciate Disney is definitely changing now. I truly feel like the hallmark of what Disney used to do so well is quickly disappearing.... and if I want a Chuck E Cheese experience, that's that's where I'll go. If I wanted something better,I used to look to Disney resorts. Too much demanding of consumers,not enough payback in terms of what we get anymore. Bad combo IMHO. And it makes me feel sad.

 

[hsmamato2]

Look, Disney owes us nothing! Yes, I complain about prices, but I still go. Disney is a publicly held company. Their primary interest is in maximizing profits. To do this Disney needs to find the right mix of fees and prices that maximize the returns for their share holders. Right now they are doing an extraordinary job with that (more than doubling the stock price over the past two years). As long as the parks and resorts are full, they could care less if you and your family can afford to go. This is not to apologize for Disney, but it is the reality of the situation and of the corporate society we, as Americans, have created.

yes.... but as I noted, that's what they are currently losing.... they were the BEST at making us WANT to spend our time and money with them,even though it was ALWAYS more expensive than other choices.... These changes are real. How it alters my own opinion of the experience is real. That fact remains, they have seemingly lost their ability to 'smoke and mirrors' their customers and it will eventually impact negatively on their bottom line. (FWIW, I always considered it the best 'illusion show' in the business...to make us enjoy spending)

 

[Gr8t Fan]

yes.... but as I noted, that's what they are currently losing.... they were the BEST at making us WANT to spend our time and money with them,even though it was ALWAYS more expensive than other choices.... These changes are real. How it alters my own opinion of the experience is real. That fact remains, they have seemingly lost their ability to 'smoke and mirrors' their customers and it will eventually impact negatively on their bottom line. (FWIW, I always considered it the best 'illusion show' in the business...to make us enjoy spending)

Well said. Disney has always been an expensive vacation for us. But we felt like we received good value in exchange for our vacation $. We're feeling less like that with each new change. Of course, this is the year that we'd decided on APs because of a surprise invitation to spend Spring Break there with friends who own DVC, (and an already scheduled offsite trip in August) but after 4 trips over the course of the next twelve months we will be taking a LOONNGG break from WDW. We will still visit Florida, but will spend time at the Universal Parks instead.

 

[KalamityJane]

That would be a really poor business model. Why would you intentionally drive customers away? The idea is to achieve a balance between what the market will bear and the volume that your business can handle.

It wouldn't be a poor business model if they cannot handle the volume. It would actually be really smart.

Think about it, you raise prices to price some people out (usually the people that are not going to spend as much anyway), and then you are making just as much or more money than before but with less people. It raises the revenue per person while decreasing their load and expenses.

 

[Marionnette]

It wouldn't be a poor business model if they cannot handle the volume. It would actually be really smart.

It does not appear that Disney feels they cannot handle the volume of guests at this time. When was the last time that you saw any park go to a Phase 4 closure? Or that every available resort room was booked?

 

[KalamityJane]

It does not appear that Disney feels they cannot handle the volume of guests at this time. When was the last time that you saw any park go to a Phase 4 closure? Or that every available resort room was booked?

Why would they want to go to a Phase 4 closure or book out all their resort rooms? It might bring in more revenue in the short term but hurt their long term sales as people would go on planned trips and then not want to return due to crowds, poor service due to being stretched too thin, etc). They want DVC members (look at all the new DVC development), so they are looking for returning guests, not one vacation people. Off siters fall somewhere in between there, I believe.

There's a balance, as you said, and part of that balance is keeping the customers happy and returning. Most companies spend the most on new customer acquisition, and a returning customer is a much better value to them.

 

[eyor44]

It does not appear that Disney feels they cannot handle the volume of guests at this time. When was the last time that you saw any park go to a Phase 4 closure? Or that every available resort room was booked?

Christmas 2013. Did you not see the pictures of the parks or hear about the wait times for rides? It was insane.

 

[Marionnette]

Why would they want to go to a Phase 4 closure or book out all their resort rooms? It might bring in more revenue in the short term but hurt their long term sales as people would go on planned trips and then not want to return due to crowds, poor service due to being stretched too thin, etc). They want DVC members (look at all the new DVC development), so they are looking for returning guests, not one vacation people. Off siters fall somewhere in between there, I believe.

There's a balance, as you said, and part of that balance is keeping the customers happy and returning. Most companies spend the most on new customer acquisition, and a returning customer is a much better value to them.

Understand what you're saying about customer satisfaction and the guest experience playing a huge role in the number of return visits. And I do agree with you in that regard.

However, I do not believe that the Disney executives are looking at it the same manner that the guest is looking at things. Their goal is to get as many people to visit the parks as they can, keep costs low and profits high. Their first objective is to keep the stockholders happy, not the guests. An increased level of guest satisfaction just helps to meet the first objective. There's a tipping point where guests' perceived value of the "product" will make them go elsewhere with their money. The idea is to push as close to that tipping point without going over the edge. Disney doesn't want to raise prices in order to keep people away. They raise prices to maximize their profits.