Disney's Price Increases are obscene....

[North of Mouse]

Sorry, GadgetRick, but you need to do some internet searching and talking to friends, relatives in other states, because gas IS $3.00 and under in several places now Not averages, (that's a different story and never what I pay) but it's out there for that price and people are getting it!!

 

[GadgetRick]

Sorry, GadgetRick, but you need to do some internet searching and talking to friends, relatives in other states, because gas IS $3.00 and under in several places now Not averages, (that's a different story and never what I pay) but it's out there for that price and people are getting it!!

Several places? There have been a couple of people here reporting it. Several or most places is a bit of an exaggeration.

That is my point.

I did do some searching.

 

[mom2rtk]

Someone send some of that $3 gas my way. I filled up at $3.46 out here in the heartland. We're usually around the national average, or just bit below. We're usually not the price leaders.

I'm really not sure what happened. It was $3.25 a week ago.

 

[bytheblood]

what color is the sky in your world?

http://www.staples.com/sbd/content/help/using/general_match.html

Funny, that is the question that 98% of us on this thread have for you.

You are obviously comparing apples to hamburgers and need a better understanding of economics, supply and demand and the difference in market offerings.

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

There's a whole lot of gas near me under $3:

This website shows it:

http://texasgasprices.com/

Why are we talking about gas prices?

 

[flicx]

I actually started the gas anology. My point was and is other things do go up and down in price. Apparently Mr.Iger and others have decided that ain't happening at disney world. They are backing themselves into a corner on this one, once they reach the breaking point it is gonna be a battle to get the people priced out back!

 

[GraceLuvsWDW]

It doesn't seem they are near the breaking point. ADRs are still hard to get, rooms are booked, parks are full pretty much year round. They started the whole "discount game" and everyone expected 30-40% room discounts. So they upped the prices all the way around and absorbed some of the loss.

As I said before, their capital expenditures right now are extreme. Look at US prices pre and post Harry Potter. 4 Years ago you could get a 3 day US pass for $79. Now it's that much for a day. Capital improvements mean you must recoup that $ some way, so prices go up. This is just the beginning, I'm afraid.

 

[andyman8]

Wow! This thread has hit the 30 page mark!

This party's just getting started!

 

[goofy4tink]

I've said it before, everyone has their breaking point.


The original statement was something along the lines of gas is below $3 in a lot of places. This just isn't true. If it is near you, that's awesome.


Why will Disney not go a year without raising prices? I believe they used to. The attitude that Disney does things for a good reason so I'll just take it is part of the problem. If more people complained, they'd think twice.



Newsflash...EVERY vacation spot is a destination spot. Disney is not unique in that regard. How they are unique is they suck you into spending all (or most) of your time on their property spending money on them. Great idea.

And yes, I do see places lowering prices in various places so people like you and I can afford it. Watch commercials about vacation spots...

Yes, every vacation spot is a 'destination spot'...but if I rent a cottage on Cape Cod, I venture away from that cottage. I spend my money in the next town. If I head to NYC, I spend my money in a variety of places.
BUT...with WDW??? The vast majority of guests do not venture offsite. They stay right there, and almost 100% of their vacation dollars go to Disney. That's my point.
So...you have a choice here. Disney is NOT telling you that you have to come to WDW, you have to stay onsite, you have to do all your eating onsite, you have to keep all your money onsite. They DO, however, make it very easy and convenient to do that. There are many ways to 'do' WDW less expensively. You can stay offsite in much less expensive hotels/resorts. You can rent a car and eat offsite as well. Or....shop and get your own groceries. You can head to other sights vs spending all your time at WDW.
No one is demanding that you go to WDW and stay there...at a deluxe resort, with 10 day non-expiring park hoppers, using the ddp. There are ways to do it much less expensively.

All that being said.....yes, it costs a boatload of money to go to WDW. Always has. And yes, things have changed at WDW.....food options have diminished, food cost has gone through the roof, restrooms aren't quite as tidy as in the past (although I've seen just one or two instances of that personally), CM 'magic' seems to be going by the wayside. But again..no one is forcing anyone to go to WDW.
There are plenty of people willing to have that experience..whether it's the same as it was 10 years ago or not. And as long as that's the case, Disney will continue to keep being so expensive.

 

[maxiesmom]

It doesn't seem they are near the breaking point. ADRs are still hard to get, rooms are booked, parks are full pretty much year round. They started the whole "discount game" and everyone expected 30-40% room discounts. So they upped the prices all the way around and absorbed some of the loss.

As I said before, their capital expenditures right now are extreme. Look at US prices pre and post Harry Potter. 4 Years ago you could get a 3 day US pass for $79. Now it's that much for a day. Capital improvements mean you must recoup that $ some way, so prices go up. This is just the beginning, I'm afraid.

I agree with you on both points.

People love to feel they are getting something on sale. Business do better that have higher regular prices, and then put that item on a good sale than have low prices all of the time. People want that rush they get when they think they have snagged a deal! Most major retailers get that, so does Disney.

And even with all of the refurbs and rebuilds Disney is doing right now, you will see many posters saying it isn't enough. They want more! If Disney decides to keep building and re-doing rides, you can bet they will keep passing that cost along to us.

 

[DisLee]

Goofy4tink

Believe me...he doesn't want to see logic or common sense. Doesn't fit what he needs to think.

I’ve posted relevant facts about today’s economy.

My logic looks like this.

1. The average American is earning LESS money and has LOST 35% of their net worth over the last 5 years.

2. The last few years have seen RECORD foreclosures, RECORD unemployment and RECORD bankruptcies.

3. During this same time Disney has raised ticket prices upwards of 30-40 percent.


Your logic looks like this. “if you don’t like it, don’t go.”

I’ve already said I wasn’t going back for a few years, in my first post. So I agree with what you’ve suggested and I’m saying that many more will follow.


I was told by poster bytheblood

“I don't really see Disney doing anything that is any different from the rest of the businesses in the US.”

I then posted links to several websites showing that some of the largest retailers in the US were dropping their prices. McDonald's, Burger King, Sam's Club, Home Depot, Wal-Mart, J.C. Penney,
Sears, Lowes and Staples.


Then WDSearcher busts out with the

“ by your own definition here, you lowered your prices NOT because your customers' net worth changed. You lowered your prices because your COMPETITORS were charging less.”

The reason my competitors have lowered their prices is because they (my competitors) have lost a considerable amount of net worth and are struggling to survive. Not sure why he didn’t figure that out. Too logical?

Looking at the news from yesterday, moody’s downgraded 15 major banks and stocks slid for the 2nd worst day of the year.

Bank failures for the last few years: 31 so far in 2012, following 92 in 2011, 157 in 2010, 140 in 2009 and 25 in 2008.

American’s are earning less, Have lost more than 1/3 of their net worth, are experiencing record foreclosures, record unemployment and bankruptcies. Banks are failing, US credit ratings and most major banks have been downgraded.

Yet you all seem to think that it’s logical for Disney to continually raise prices when sales are flat and the economy is in the tank? Even when they are already reporting record profits from the previous year?


Disney's parks and resorts business grew revenue by 11% in the quarter and 10% for the year, operating income grew by 33% in the quarter and 18% for the year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/nov/11/disney-reports-rise-in-profits

 

[DisLee]

You are obviously comparing apples to hamburgers and need a better understanding of economics, supply and demand and the difference in market offerings.

here's your direct quote.

“I don't really see Disney doing anything that is any different from the rest of the businesses in the US.”


I posted links to the top retailers in the nation showing that they have and will continue to lower prices in this unstable economy. Your quote was NOT in reference to other theme parks. Nice try.

 

[SaraJayne]

I want some of that under $3 gas. It's been holding steady at $3.58 for the last six weeks or so here in NE WI. Before that, it was $3.70 or higher.

Lowest I've seen is $3.55.

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

I have read a good number of posts and now it is basicely the same 2 sides, saying the same thing over and over, just different wordings and 1/2 truths and lies.

Disney puts out the finist family entertainment in the world......no one can honestly debate that......(but I am sure someone will try.....meaningless)


Disney is charging what the market will bear and 99% of businesses in the USA and world are and will continue to do the same thing. Absolutely nothing wrong with that....they deliever a product that is head and shoulders above the other theme parks, movies etc......(OK.....John Carter was a marketing/commerial dud....but its a great movie if you watch it. I can do without the Stitch attaction as well!)

WDW is not cheap........but there is nothing in the world to match the wonder and magic of the place. It is affortable if you go and plan .....Values can be had for under $100 a night.,......less then a box motel along the highways. Multi day Park passes get really *CHEAP* the longer you stay.

OK........food is expensive. However if you go to a sporting event, stage show, concert....any other entertainment venue, you will see real fast that they have gotten VERY expensive too......

The Disney Corporation has one of the biggest donating programs in the world.


So what this all comes down to...If you can't stomack the prices...DON'T GO!.your choice!

*steps off his soapbox*


AKK

 

[maxiesmom]

I want some of that under $3 gas. It's been holding steady at $3.58 for the last six weeks or so here in NE WI. Before that, it was $3.70 or higher.

Lowest I've seen is $3.55.

I just filled my tank at $3.58, and that is lowest I have seen it in Michigan in quite some time! I was thrilled!

 

[fan1080]

Disney's parks and resorts business grew revenue by 11% in the quarter and 10% for the year, operating income grew by 33% in the quarter and 18% for the year.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/nov/11/disney-reports-rise-in-profits

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Are you saying that because Disney is doing well, or because the US economy is not doing well, they should lower their prices for you? Do you somehow feel Disney owes something to you?

If a company is doing well, is it fair for that company to want to continue to do well?

Maybe I'm not following your logic.

 

[fan1080]

I just filled my tank at $3.58, and that is lowest I have seen it in Michigan in quite some time! I was thrilled!

$4.69 here......

 

[mom2rtk]

We are a capitalistic society. Companies in a capitalistic society will charge what the market will bear. Last time I was at Disney the crowds indicated to me that the market was bearing the cost just fine.

To wish for a different arrangement would be to wish Disney away. It would not exist in a different type of society.

Do I like the price increases? Nope. But when they happen, I tell myself that either I find a way to afford it or I don't. That's it. My only choices. If a majority of others decide they can't afford it and stay home, Disney will drop their prices (like they did post 2008 crash in the form of discounts).

It's not like buying gas or groceries where I really can't opt out.

 

[DonaldTDuck]

Burger King lowered prices (and changed their menu) because they were losing market share. Prices are generally only lowered in an effort to increase marketshare/profitablility. Disney is raising their prices to increase profits. They are wiilling to give up market share to a point if they can increase the bottom line. Disney will not lower prices to increase market share because it will not work and will hurt their profitability. Disney uses discounts to maintain market share in slow periods and those of us that 'can't afford' full price have learned to use these.

 

[WDSearcher]

Then WDSearcher busts out with the

The reason my competitors have lowered their prices is because they (my competitors) have lost a considerable amount of net worth and are struggling to survive. Not sure why he didn’t figure that out. Too logical?

No ... not "too logical". Rather too illogical.

Your list talks about the "average American" and that Disney should be reducing its prices because the average American is losing net worth.

My argument is that Disney does not set its price based on the average American's net worth. They set it based on the competition and what the market will bear.

I don't know what business you're in, so it's hard to know whether or not your competitors and you have anything even remotely in common with the theme park business. But regardless, you chose to lower your prices because your competitors did. Not because you felt badly for your customers (aka, "the average American").

Riddle me this .... if your competitors had chosen to try to ride it out with higher prices, would you have lowered yours independently of them for the sole purpose of helping out the consumer? I'm thinking ... no. You'd have stayed with the pricing set by the market. As does Disney.

As for your example of prices being adjusted down at Wal-Mart, Lowes, Home Depot, JC Penney, etc ... every single one of the examples you gave is a retail store. There's not a service or leisure industry provider among them. The vendors you list sell durable goods, not vacation experiences. They sell tangible products, not "magic". Needs vs. wants. They do (and should) have different pricing strategies. They're different products.

American’s are earning less, Have lost more than 1/3 of their net worth, are experiencing record foreclosures, record unemployment and bankruptcies. Banks are failing, US credit ratings and most major banks have been downgraded.

Yet you all seem to think that it’s logical for Disney to continually raise prices when sales are flat and the economy is in the tank? Even when they are already reporting record profits from the previous year?

Yes ... because Disney is a business. And -- even at the prices they're charging -- people are buying their product and lining up for more. You were the one who produced proof of that ... in fact, your data shows that they're reporting record profits. If you were reporting record profits and had that kind of demand, would you be thinking, "Oh my gosh ... I should lower prices"?

Airlines, movies, concerts, sports, other theme parks, even the National Parks are raising prices -- and darned if people aren't paying them. If the entire leisure and entertainment industry independent of Disney decided to cut the consumer a break and drop prices by 20%, you can bet Disney would be right there with them. In fact, Disney would probably figure out a way to convince people it was their idea.

But if the rest of their industry ISN'T cutting prices, what is the logic behind Disney doing so?