Disney's Price Increases are obscene....

[eliza61]

And yet, the parks are still full, and the restaurants are still full, and the resorts are still full.

The simple truth is, it really doesn't matter to Disney whether any one of us individuals posting on this thread keeps going to WDW.....as long as ENOUGH people keep going. And as long are there enough people with the disposable income and the desire to visit WDW, Disney's going to do just fine.

Very true but I do wonder if that's more of the quality of the product or the fact that disney deep discounts every thing.
I wonder if disney will ever be able to get away from "free dining"? doubt it?
Not only can they not stop it, they have expanded it almost to a full 6 months ( I don't travel during the first half of the year so I don't know if they offer it then).
I truly don't know anyone who would say they would go to disney if they had to pay rack rates without free dining or if they did not get a discount on the room.
I also know many dvc'er who like me, don't regret our purchase, I definitely got the purchase price back in savings for the way I travel and still have great vacations but would I purchase NOW, with the conditions of the park, how they take care of the resorts (too hit or miss. one day great mousekeeping,next day lousy) and the food quality? Nope, no way.

I also though say a bit of it maybe disney burn out, we've gone pretty much every year for some time now. we still have great times but we definitely notice the down slide.

You're also right that it doesn't matter to disney very much what we think (they've pretty much proven that) we're pretty much just bouncing opinions off of each other and we do have this conversation annually.

 

[fishacura]

I may not have all the expendable $$$'s of the OP here, but I do feel that I get my money's worth at Disney.

Exactly. It all comes down to this simple principle:

Someone has a good or service. They charge what they feel the market will pay. Either it will pay that, or it will not, and they will adjust accordingly. What's FAIR is what people will pay....there is no utopian definition of "fair"...it's all about the marketplace.

 

[Danibelle]

Someone mentioned the local zoo not allowing in f&b-if Wdw did this perhaps they could slow the increases and maybe reopen the shuttered locations...

I am always surprised that WDW lets food into the parks. I don't think you can do that at DLR. Most parks and zoos (and stadiums) have a strict rule about outside food and drink.

 

[mieshie75]

Sometimes i wonder why i read this site...
If your gonna complain about Disney raising prices well then please don't complain.
Disney has to raise prices to keep the other complainer happy, you know add more attractions, add more upkeep to current attractions. Hire better workers. Pay people what they deserve. By all of the supplies (that are also going up) to keep the park running.

But If no ones cares about that kinda stuff then by all mean Disney don't raise the price. We dont want any new attractions. We dont mind if Splash is down half of the day for mechanical issues.

Come on people, so the price went up. This is life the price always goes up sooner or later. I am by no means rich, or even well off. But the way i feel when i enter a Disney park is soooo worth every dollar I spend there. It gives me something to look forward to, and great memories to keep me smiling through the year.

 

[amycishere]

AAA should have old prices until June 15th, I only checked Florida though. GET THEM MEMBERS!!!

 

[eliza61]

Sometimes i wonder why i read this site...
If your gonna complain about Disney raising prices well then please don't complain.
Disney has to raise prices to keep the other complainer happy, you know add more attractions, add more upkeep to current attractions. Hire better workers. Pay people what they deserve. By all of the supplies (that are also going up) to keep the park running.

But If no ones cares about that kinda stuff then by all mean Disney don't raise the price. We dont want any new attractions. We dont mind if Splash is down half of the day for mechanical issues.

Come on people, so the price went up. This is life the price always goes up sooner or later. I am by no means rich, or even well off. But the way i feel when i enter a Disney park is soooo worth every dollar I spend there. It gives me something to look forward to, and great memories to keep me smiling through the year.

I find this very ironic since you yourselve are complaining.

by your analogy only people no one should ever has a reason to complain.

Gas price go up, oh well I still have to drive
food prices go up, oh well I did enjoy that burger last night.

Truthfully, this thread was pretty nice, people were simply discussing why they do or do not think disney's prices are offering the same value.

May I suggest you not read this type of threads then if you don't want to hear us "complainers".

 

[mieshie75]

I find this very ironic since you yourselve are complaining.

by your analogy only people no one should ever has a reason to complain.

Gas price go up, oh well I still have to drive
food prices go up, oh well I did enjoy that burger last night.

Truthfully, this thread was pretty nice, people were simply discussing why they do or do not think disney's prices are offering the same value.

May I suggest you not read this type of threads then if you don't want to hear us "complainers".

Actually this site was started by a complaint, I am not really complaining but stating a fact. Basically that we cant have our cake and eat it too. Which is what alot of people on here seem to want. I dont think people should not complain but on this site they seem to do it about everything and quite frankly they take the magic out of Disney for some of us.

 

[DisneyFamily123]

I've changed my spending priorities. I could care less about a big house, expensive car, material things. I'd rather spend my money on nice vacations at places like Disney World with my family. Fun is worth every dollar spent. I've had too much stress in my life. I get disgusted about how expensive every day things in life are -- food, gas, home repairs, etc.. Spending money on fun is much easier to do.

I don't care what Disney does to raise prices. I'll still go... it just means something else is going to have to give. I wonder if the Disney Vacation Club might help but I've counted on the specials - room discounts and free dining to make the vacations more affordable.

 

[WDSearcher]

Every single time Disney raises the prices, people complain. And it kind of amuses me, because we KNOW that Disney is going to raise prices pretty much every single year. We see it coming; we discuss when it's going to happen and when to buy tickets to avoid it. Like everything else in the world, the price goes up every year. So I never quite get people complaining about it like Disney is the only place doing it.

And I TOTALLY don't get people saying, "Disney costs too much now, so I'm off to Universal!" Because, really ... Universal costs the same, unless you're local and can use one of the various discounts. And if you ARE local, then there are also plenty of WDW discounts for various types of APs. So then the complaint becomes less of a complaint and more of a way to dramatically declare, "I'm off to Universal!" as if that will instantly make someone at Disney stop in their tracks and say, "OMG, so-and-so is headed to Universal! STOP RAISING PRICES!!" Alas ... not gonna happen.

If your AP at Disney no longer holds value for you, then by all means ... buy a Universal AP or SeaWorld or the big SeaWorld / Busch Gardens / water parks combo ticket or Legoland or Gatorland or Holy Land or whatever. Or swear off theme parks altogether and head off to the national parks or take a cruise to the Bahamas or go to Vegas or drive Route 66 or go to Europe. But please don't think that anyone is going to be trying to drag you back from evil Universal.

What I WOULD love is for those folks who do say "Well ... I guess it's Universal for me!" would come back after they take their Universal trips and talk about how it went for them there. Did they find the value they missed at Disney? I wish people would come back and post their comparisons and break down why Universal was so much more economical or value-added. But no one ever does that. (Maybe they do on the Universal boards.)

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Actually you may find aDisney parks prices are the same as universal, since universal raised there rates to wdw levels, and for a lesser park, with the exception of potter.

WDW =4 parks, Uni =2 parks

Not to mention your getting a year of admission for your AP.

But more to your point.......parks prices are alot cheaper then most other entertainment venues today. Especailly when you note that when you buy multi day passes it get cheap in a hurry!

1. A sports event.......easily $30 to $500 for 3 hours of questionable game play.

2. A concert..........easily $100 to hundreds for a few hours.

3. Dinner at a 3, 4 or 5 star...easily more then any park.

4. Nascar.........$50 to over a hundred, for 3 hours.

In any case. I hope you enjoy Universal.


AKK

I'm with you!

 

[jade1]

the quality of the product has declined since the the early-90's pinnacle.!

I don't like the price increase, but would not be to interested if they bulldozed all of AK (EE/FOTLK/Safari are great), TOT, RNR, TSM, Fantasmic, Soarin, TT, and Fantasyland Exp, Boardwalk plus numerous great resorts-even at 1/2 price.

 

[TagsMissy]

I find most entertainment to be expensive everywhere. My DH and I have season tix for our local NHL team. Cheap seats $2550. Oop those same tix would be$$$$ . Most games those tix r $44 or $60. Premium games those tix opp face value r $ 80 and 2 games $100. They change the price depending on the opponent. Anyway add 15 a game for parking and a $4 bottle of water $9 beer and a $5 pretzel and the bare min spent for 3 hours is around $100 for us. If we eat dinner there $120 for 3 hours. Without season tix those prices are $120 to $250 respectively depending on ticket prices for that game..

Movie cost for two are about $40 for tix , popcorn, soda
Count fair is easily over $100 for admission, couple rides, food, etc

WDW is not cheap but I think there is value per hour

nothing to do with Disney but I wish our cheap tickets were that cheap! I am envious of you! lol

 

[Metro West]

I'm not a fan of price hikes but it's part of life and business. I will still go to WDW and Universal and I think the APs for FL residents are a pretty good deal dispite the rate increase. I mean seriously...it would cost me less than $500.00 for a "regular" AP for a whole year. How many tourists spend the same on tickets and get 365 days? Now...it's easy for me to absorb the extra money since I'm single and have no children to worry about but I can understand if you have a family.

What I would to see Disney do is offer a two park AP with all the same benefits as the regular AP...and make it available to everyone. I never go to AK or DHS with any regularity but always go to MK and Epcot. I would really love to see a two park AP!

 

[theaslip]

Every single time Disney raises the prices, people complain. And it kind of amuses me, because we KNOW that Disney is going to raise prices pretty much every single year. We see it coming; we discuss when it's going to happen and when to buy tickets to avoid it. Like everything else in the world, the price goes up every year. So I never quite get people complaining about it like Disney is the only place doing it.

And I TOTALLY don't get people saying, "Disney costs too much now, so I'm off to Universal!" Because, really ... Universal costs the same, unless you're local and can use one of the various discounts. And if you ARE local, then there are also plenty of WDW discounts for various types of APs. So then the complaint becomes less of a complaint and more of a way to dramatically declare, "I'm off to Universal!" as if that will instantly make someone at Disney stop in their tracks and say, "OMG, so-and-so is headed to Universal! STOP RAISING PRICES!!" Alas ... not gonna happen.



If your AP at Disney no longer holds value for you, then by all means ... buy a Universal AP or SeaWorld or the big SeaWorld / Busch Gardens / water parks combo ticket or Legoland or Gatorland or Holy Land or whatever. Or swear off theme parks altogether and head off to the national parks or take a cruise to the Bahamas or go to Vegas or drive Route 66 or go to Europe. But please don't think that anyone is going to be trying to drag you back from evil Universal.

What I WOULD love is for those folks who do say "Well ... I guess it's Universal for me!" would come back after they take their Universal trips and talk about how it went for them there. Did they find the value they missed at Disney? I wish people would come back and post their comparisons and break down why Universal was so much more economical or value-added. But no one ever does that. (Maybe they do on the Universal boards.)

Apologies - Don't have time to create a line-item matrix comparing the value of Universal to WDW. About to fly a plane to Providence filled with WDW vacationers...

Here is the deal kool-aid drinkers. I'm not selling Universal over WDW. I will say we enjoy both. Universal has done a great job with some things and getting better IMO. Look at how successful Harry Potter has been for them. Anyway, I realize that on this board hardly anyone has a problem with any kind of price increase because, after all, hey that's life! I do have a problem when the same passes this year would cost me $330.00 more than last year. That's not a small increase. Sorry, even by this arrogant rich guy's measure. Last year's Universal's FL resident AP cost me $169.00. This year it cost me $169.00. I understand this is an extremely difficult concept to grasp.....You said you don't understand, I'll explain in mathematical terms. ($169.00 X 6) < ($299.00 X 6). And consider that in my arrogant, wealthy opinion - 3/4 of my kids prefer the attractions at Universal. Get it?

I love WDW. I'm an airline pilot based at MCO. I fly people to wally world every time I go to work, and enjoy talking with folks heading to WDW, especially first-timers, sharing ideas, etc..

Making a comment or observation on this board that is contrary to Disney's profit financial goals is clearly the equivalent of criticizing the Pope in The Vatican. With the passion for Disney I see on this board, I'm glad I'm a Disney stockholder....Peace out.

 

[CandleontheWater]

I agree with theaslip. I don't think anyone on this board hates Disney, but you can love something and provide constructive criticism at the same time. Constructive criticism does not "diminish the magic" it means you're looking at the big picture and you're not blinded by your passion.

I can understand why Universal is raising its ticket prices, it is in a HUGE expansion phase. There are BIG things underway at Universal at the moment, multiple big attractions, new entertainment, its like Disney was back in the 90's. Its a really exciting time to be a Universal.

Disney, on the other hand, really isn't showing us lots of return for our increased dollars. Maybe on the West Coast, where Carsland really is big doings, but here, not so much. I know that FLE is on the horizon, but for all the hype, we're getting a net increase of one attraction (Mine train cancels out the closure of SWSA), on TS restaurant and one CS. I don't find that terribly impressive. WDW has not been expanding and opening new rides nearly at the phase of Universal at the moment, so I don't see the reason for the extremely high increases.

I would be HAPPY to pay an adult price for my 3 year old IF Disney did things like fix the yeti in AK, add a new country to WS, open a few more family-friendly rides in DHS, and many of the other things thrown around on these boards. With the kind of increases we see EVERY year, we really should be getting MORE!

I love Disney, I enjoy vacationing there, but that doesn't mean I can't look at it critically. I would say that mega fans have the MOST responsibility to think critically about the parks, and hold management to the standards we expect, the first timers aren't going to do it for us.

 

[maxiesmom]

ses.

I would be HAPPY to pay an adult price for my 3 year old IF Disney did things like fix the yeti in AK, add a new country to WS, open a few more family-friendly rides in DHS, and many of the other things thrown around on these boards. With the kind of increases we see EVERY year, we really should be getting MORE!

I love Disney, I enjoy vacationing there, but that doesn't mean I can't look at it critically. I would say that mega fans have the MOST responsibility to think critically about the parks, and hold management to the standards we expect, the first timers aren't going to do it for us.

The problem is, every time they try to close something down to fix it, there is a huge uproar, and people having fits about how THEIR vacation is being ruined. Monorail repairs ring a bell? Test Track closure? I can only imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if they closed Everest down to fix the yeti.

People want it all. They don't want to pay any more, yet they want new attractions, and attractions that somehow maintain themselves. I can't believe that the people who are so dismissive about the new Fantasyland have been to the parks and seen the scale of it. It is huge!

Don't forget too that even the old rides are being plussed. Dumbo and the new queue looks fabulous. The Pooh queue too. And the graveyard at the Haunted Mansion is way more than I expected. A huge improvement. Don't forget they have BTMR down for repairs, as well as refacing most of Main Street. And that is just what is happening at the Magic Kingdom.

I honestly think there are some people who won't be happy no matter what Disney decides to do. Unless they somehow manage to roll Walt out on an segway, they will think they are not doing enough.

 

[CandleontheWater]

The problem is, every time they try to close something down to fix it, there is a huge uproar, and people having fits about how THEIR vacation is being ruined. Monorail repairs ring a bell? Test Track closure? I can only imagine the wailing and gnashing of teeth if they closed Everest down to fix the yeti.

People want it all. They don't want to pay any more, yet they want new attractions, and attractions that somehow maintain themselves. I can't believe that the people who are so dismissive about the new Fantasyland have been to the parks and seen the scale of it. It is huge!

Don't forget too that even the old rides are being plussed. Dumbo and the new queue looks fabulous. The Pooh queue too. And the graveyard at the Haunted Mansion is way more than I expected. A huge improvement. Don't forget they have BTMR down for repairs, as well as refacing most of Main Street. And that is just what is happening at the Magic Kingdom.

I honestly think there are some people who won't be happy no matter what Disney decides to do. Unless they somehow manage to roll Walt out on an segway, they will think they are not doing enough.

I agree that people who complain about rides being down and construction at the parks are whiners, and I don't think Disney gives them a second thought. The lack of maintenance and building done by Disney has noting to do with people getting upset.

The Fantasyland expansion does open up more square footage, but I'm not terribly impressed with what is going INTO the newly opened area. If this was the mid 80s/90's during Disney's golden years of park growth and expansion, we'd be seeing MORE being done. Less gift shops and meet and greets, more "red meat", KWIM. With the pace of ticket increases I think its logical to expect more "red meat" the hearty, immersive, cutting edge attractions that Disney used to rule at! The percentage of ticket increases have been greater over the past few years, yet we've seen LESS overall building and expansion.

A few plussed queues are nice, and that would be acceptable with a modest increase of prices, maybe 1-2% over inflation. If you look over the past 5 years at the ticket increases, and then see what we've gotten, its been pretty pathetic.

I'm not terribly impressed with maintenance of attractions or buildings, because I see that as the BARE MINIMUM that the parks should be doing. We're not getting bare minimum price increases, so why should we be happy with bare minimum improvement.

Disney is supposed to be the best, so I want the best. I don't see anything wrong with wanting the parks to reach their full potential given the capital increases we are providing.

 

[EMAW_KSU]

B

Could I afford 6 APs - you betcha! According to my IRS tax return, I guess I am blessed with an income that is greater than 99.2% of the US population, but again, from a value perspective, I think that Disney has surpassed the gouging level.

Do you have a sign in your yard also? "Look at me I am in the top 1%"

 

[MakiraMarlena]

Seems to be the same dichotomy in most of those threads.

A: I don't like Disney raising prices.

B: They've got to raise prices because the park costs more to run.

A: Bull, they've got plenty of money, why don't they build some new attractions.

B: They are building new attractions.

A: You call those attractions? I mean some real attractions.

If anybody is really going to quit WDW and try another park, there are plenty of them out there. They're all raising prices too, but maybe one of them will have the value you are looking for.

 

[TLSnell1981]

Good grief, if Disney MAINTAINED their attractions, there wouldn't be a need for lengthy closures....much less several at a time. And, not EVERY business raises prices at a rate, higher than inflation. Disney's turned into a carnival, it's all about the gimmick and illusion. "Look how much, you get for free."

I had no intention of renewing my APs, but my 4 year old DGS wants to go... So, I renewed at the end of May. Can't believe, I squeaked by the increase.