Disney's Price Increases are obscene....

[GraceLuvsWDW]

Walt was in the parks and talking to CM's constantly. We need someone at the top with a vested interest in holding the Disney company to the high standards Walt set for it.

I always see management milling about the parks. I don't think this is the issue. It's demand driven. As long as reservations/rooms are hard to come by the prices will continue to rise.

 

[Dziactor]

I agree with some other posters. I don't like the price increases, but I think the value is there compared to other forms of entertainment. With us, annual passes become more valuable as the more we use it the more we get out of it.

 

[thelionqueen]

I always see management milling about the parks. I don't think this is the issue. It's demand driven. As long as reservations/rooms are hard to come by the prices will continue to rise.

I think I see what you're saying. I was trying to point out that, with the price increases, I think it would be easier to take if the quality was higher. If I saw price increases and heard over and over how much things have improved, I think most people would feel better about paying higher prices.

From what I've read, the quality is going down in a hurry and the prices are skyrocketing to astronomical proportions. If there was a "meet-in-the-middle" ground, I think guests wouldn't complain as much about the increased cost. Just my .02

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

I think I see what you're saying. I was trying to point out that, with the price increases, I think it would be easier to take if the quality was higher. If I saw price increases and heard over and over how much things have improved, I think most people would feel better about paying higher prices.

From what I've read, the quality is going down in a hurry and the prices are skyrocketing to astronomical proportions. If there was a "meet-in-the-middle" ground, I think guests wouldn't complain as much about the increased cost. Just my .02

I just returned and found the quality to be rebounding. The last 2 years with recession were hard on the parks and CM morale, but this year I really felt it's coming back to were it once was.

 

[North of Mouse]

I agree with some other posters. I don't like the price increases, but I think the value is there compared to other forms of entertainment. With us, annual passes become more valuable as the more we use it the more we get out of it.

Also, as pp said, I do not see the quality going down in a hurry - it's worth every penny to us, and we are definitely middle class. Where do you find more value/quality (yes, even including food at such places) for the daily ticket prices? Not any theme park or venue that we've been to or heard about. If anyone knows, please give me an example. Most people can't wait to get back to Disney.

 

[GadgetRick]

I just returned and found the quality to be rebounding. The last 2 years with recession were hard on the parks and CM morale, but this year I really felt it's coming back to were it once was.

They can't use the recession as an excuse. For the last few years they've been quite profitable.

I still think it's ridiculous seeing so much stuff behind wooden walls and a large portion of Main St. behind curtains painted to look like the fronts of the buildings they're covering up. I understand refurbishments have to happen but, if they hadn't waited so long to keep up with the refurbs, they wouldn't find themselves refurbishing (what feels like) half the park at once!

I can't say the quality has gotten any better/worse in the last couple of years. I can, however, say the prices have increased significantly.

 

[GadgetRick]

Also, as pp said, I do not see the quality going down in a hurry - it's worth every penny to us, and we are definitely middle class. Where do you find more value/quality (yes, even including food at such places) for the daily ticket prices? Not any theme park or venue that we've been to or heard about. If anyone knows, please give me an example. Most people can't wait to get back to Disney.

Well, this is always subjective. Some will say other places offer them much more value. That's a tough one to argue either way to be quite honest.

 

[WDSearcher]

They can't use the recession as an excuse. For the last few years they've been quite profitable.

I still think it's ridiculous seeing so much stuff behind wooden walls and a large portion of Main St. behind curtains painted to look like the fronts of the buildings they're covering up. I understand refurbishments have to happen but, if they hadn't waited so long to keep up with the refurbs, they wouldn't find themselves refurbishing (what feels like) half the park at once!

I can't say the quality has gotten any better/worse in the last couple of years. I can, however, say the prices have increased significantly.

RE: the bolded part.

The "stuff behind wooden walls" is almost exclusively the as yet unfinished parts of New Fantasyland. I'm not sure how else they could build that area without putting it behind wooden walls. And since they're building, in effect, a whole new land, it's gonna take a while.

And the refurbishments on the Main Street stuff are major structural as well as cosmetic rehabs. It's taking a long time because ... well ... it takes a long time. Kind of like how the 100,000 mile service on your car takes longer than the 5,000 mile service. It's not because you waited too long to keep up with the service needs ... it's just that an older car needs more attention. Same with the buildings on Main Street. Regular annual rehabs take place every year, and then every so often a major rehab is needed. Keep in mind that those buildings are used as offices and storage spaces -- they are the backstage support areas for the shops down below. Work has to be done in the backstage areas too -- just happens that the front of the backstage area happens to be in guest view.

An obvious solution to the "eyesore" would be to close MK for a few months and do all the work at once, but I don't see that going over well.

 

[thelionqueen]

I just returned and found the quality to be rebounding. The last 2 years with recession were hard on the parks and CM morale, but this year I really felt it's coming back to were it once was.

That is promising! It will be almost 2 years since I've been there, so I'm hoping the quality went down and is coming back all in my absence Thanks for the input!!

 

[Logic]

According to my IRS tax return, I guess I am blessed with an income that is greater than 99.2% of the US population

Disney Forums: Where the 1% come to complain about their vacations being too expensive.

Forgive me if I don't feel bad for you AT ALL.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

They can't use the recession as an excuse. For the last few years they've been quite profitable.
(

This is relative with Disney. The parks division profits were down in 09 & 10 compared to the previous three years and the Studio Group had a decrease in profits from 08 to 09. Combine this with losses in the Interactive Media Division and the huge capital improvement outlays ($1.4 B this year to date and $2.2 B last year) and they have been "relatively" hurting.

Also, recessions affect employee morale, which affects perceived quality in the parks.

 

[phyllis1966]

Regarding the ridiculous food prices at WDW: I thought WDW had the craziest food prices until we stayed at the Atlantis in the Bahamas last summer...basically, your choices are to eat at an overpriced deli, pizzeria or buffet place, or go to a "better" restaurant where we were looking at $40+ entrees (!), even for a 12-year-old. Of course, there were a couple of exceptions, but every single restaurant we went to (we skipped the "better" places except for one night at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill - YUM) was definitely more overpriced than its WDW equivalent.

The room was ridiculously overpriced, but DH had been trying to convince me to spring for a vacation there for at least the last 10 years, so we went for it. They were offering, at the time, one free night if you paid for 3, and a $250 airline credit, and 4 nights there cost us the same as 7 nights at the GF with a theme park view and 8-day Park Hoppers!

Yes, WDW prices seem to be rising at an incredible rate, but we still feel we get more bang for our buck at WDW than most other destinations.

 

[wdwishes1990]

I don't think Disney's woes are all that bad financially, its ashame the cast members are not profiting as well. Or how about hire enough folks to provide the type of service Disney used to provide.

 

[GadgetRick]

Regarding the ridiculous food prices at WDW: I thought WDW had the craziest food prices until we stayed at the Atlantis in the Bahamas last summer...basically, your choices are to eat at an overpriced deli, pizzeria or buffet place, or go to a "better" restaurant where we were looking at $40+ entrees (!), even for a 12-year-old. Of course, there were a couple of exceptions, but every single restaurant we went to (we skipped the "better" places except for one night at Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill - YUM) was definitely more overpriced than its WDW equivalent.

The room was ridiculously overpriced, but DH had been trying to convince me to spring for a vacation there for at least the last 10 years, so we went for it. They were offering, at the time, one free night if you paid for 3, and a $250 airline credit, and 4 nights there cost us the same as 7 nights at the GF with a theme park view and 8-day Park Hoppers!

Yes, WDW prices seem to be rising at an incredible rate, but we still feel we get more bang for our buck at WDW than most other destinations.

Apples and oranges. You're on an island at Atlantis...it's ALWAYS more expensive on an island because they have to get the food there and it's way more expensive to get it to an island when you can't just drive a truck full of food to it.

Also, Atlantis is a high-end resort so they'll add an additional premium.

 

[brea]

Universal hear we come!

Universal can hear you coming?

 

[andyman8]

I don't want to chime in too much, as I, quite frankly, am fed up with posters from both sides of the argument who insult and ridicule each other. I, myself, was told to stay home from the parks because of my "negativity" towards the price increases.

I will say this, though. UOR is a cheaper vacation for several reasons. Although, the one day price is the same, the multi-day prices are lower plus you don't need as many days because there are not as many attractions, thus you won't need as many nights at an onsite hotel that is better than most of the Deluxe resorts. Going by the numbers, it is cheaper.

Also, going by the number (NOT BY OPINION), Disney is not the "best" value out there. For a family of four (two adults, two teens), it costs $2,500 to stay at a deluxe resort with FL Resident discount for four nights and four days in the parks (no PH). Add $1,000 for dining and that's a total of $3,500. That's a lot of money for a four day trip. For example, you could, in essence, buy 3 MacBooks with that money, which would last for two years. That being said, if Disney is worth that much to you emotionally than it could be a good value, but, by the numbers not opinion, it isn't.

These, in no way, reflect my personal opinions and is just a bit of "number crunching."

 

[larryz]

Food has gone to crap and I blame "free dong".

Me, too. Whatever that is, it sounds terrible, and I think they should stop giving it away -- it's obviously causing higher prices, lower quality food, and incredible typographical errors.

 

[brea]

For the record I'm more making fun of the situation as a whole more so than insulting or ridiculing.

If you think Universal is a better buy for your interests and entertainment then by all means go there. Some likewise will continue to go to Disney.

I will fully admit that I may someday convert and go to another park, location and such but that will be purpose based and not based on money. My kids are young enough that Disney makes sense. I talk to people all the time where I agree that Universal makes more sense.

If your decision is based on value for your dollar then you're just in a different category than myself and many others.

 

[coachb]

We are skipping most of our usual restaurant stops. For example, it is kind of a family tradition of ours to hit Crystal Palace for dinner. At over $200 for our family of five it just isn't good value. With the Summer gouging fee, this is almost a 100 percent increase from 2006. We usually do 3 or 4 reservations in the parks. This year, only 1 and it' ll be lunch instead of dinner at Biergarden.

The expense of the park tickets hurts but you can still get value IMO. I have tickets from UT from a couple of years ago and this trips YES tickets were a Godsend. I haven't hit my tipping point yet with park tickets but I have with sit down restaurants.

 

[kaligal]

I think people who refuse to take their kids to Epcot or Uni have children who miss out on some fun stuff.

Just because parents don't think they'll like Epcot or Uni doesn't mean they won't...as has been proven time and time again.

I feel badly for kids who go to Orlando and miss out on Epcot or Uni.