Even Disney Is Worried About the High Cost of a Disney Vacation

[lowlight]

If you own a home, I assume you’re willing to sell
It at a deep discount so some Gen Z kid can afford it? It’s certainly not corporate greed to sell a product for what demand warrants.

And yes, you can blame the Disney fanatics for running up the prices at WDW. The only reason WDW hotels cost so much is because people want them bad enough they’re willing to pay. Stop paying and the prices will come down.

These examples aren't even close to analogous. I'm not blaming Disney for being a greedy corporation, I'm saying that blaming the fans who want to go to Disney for higher prices is silly, when really it's a very small subset of the population that are the whales that Disney is laser focusing on.

If they raise ticket prices 10% and lose 5% annual attendance, are they worse off? I assume not, since they've stated this is their goal.

 

[LAS2AMS]

These examples aren't even close to analogous. I'm not blaming Disney for being a greedy corporation, I'm saying that blaming the fans who want to go to Disney for higher prices is silly, when really it's a very small subset of the population that are the whales that Disney is laser focusing on.

If they raise ticket prices 10% and lose 5% annual attendance, are they worse off? I assume not, since they've stated this is their goal.

But attendance isn’t dropping. It’d hard to argue that corporate greed is driving prices up when attendance continues to increase and people continue to complain about crowd levels.

Look at tickets to major concerts and sporting events. They’re clearly underpriced (as many wind up on the resale value for far more than face value) and yet people complain about their inability to get tickets. If Disney were to slash prices, they’d fill their parks to legal capacity, slash investment (both things people complain about now) and reservations would be challenging to get.

People think they can lower prices by voting for new politicians when really the only way is to vote with their wallet. None of us are captive to Disney. It’s a great big world out there - don’t like those prices, vacation elsewhere.

Most people visiting WDW stay and eat offsite. Prices for WDW hotels are so high because a core group of devoted fans want it so bad they’re willing to spend whatever Disney wants.

 

[Instagramhusband]

I think Disney has bigger problems overall than just the parks. Yes its a core business but they need to dump other things and just focus on what has made Disney be Disney. At some point that will mean selling ABC, ESPN, and coming up with better content for future generations of fans.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Meanwhile, the Lightning Lane Premier Pass has sold out at all 4 parks for the first time for February 15.

 

[Brian Noble]

At some point that will mean selling [...] ESPN

Sports is literally the only thing people will watch in real time---which means it is the only thing that is guaranteed to serve commercials to eyeballs.

I get that it's "not Disney", but it is very profitable. Or at least it can be if they can keep a lid on rights fees.

 

[reddog21]

I'm saying that blaming the fans who want to go to Disney for higher prices is silly,

Could it be that no one is to blame? Disney sells an extremely unique themepark vacation product so you can set the market to whatever people are willing to pay. IMO you can't put a price on a good vacation and Disney never disappoints.

If you want to blame people for paying a premium on a product you can get much better elseware for half the price look no further than a DIsney cruise line.

 

[Instagramhusband]

Sports is literally the only thing people will watch in real time---which means it is the only thing that is guaranteed to serve commercials to eyeballs.

I get that it's "not Disney", but it is very profitable. Or at least it can be if they can keep a lid on rights fees.

Profitable now. Very dependent on Cable subscribers in an era of streaming. Curious to see how the next round of negotiations go for them with the NFL in 5 years.

 

[Brian Noble]

I'm not even sure it is dependent on cable anymore. ESPN is moving their flagship channel to direct-to-consumer streaming, and that's happening several years before I expected it to.

 

[Brian Noble]

And it is worth noting: there is no ad-free tier for ESPN+. I'll bet there won't be for ESPN either.

 

[HokieRaven5]

Majority of Disney’s Linear content has already been incorporated with streaming or is in the process of fully being available via some streaming service. There’s not much paring down to really do at this point. They’ve maintained their margins in a reducing cable sub market while increasing their margins in the growing streaming market.

 

[clarker99]

Like it was not long ago, Entertainment/Sports (the old DMED division) will soon overtake Experiences as the main profit centre for the Company. The initial losses with D+ are over and the era of profit is now here and growing. Disney's financial situation is as healthy as it has ever been and looks like it will only get better.

Post in thread 'DIS Shareholders and Stock Info ONLY'

Feb 5, 2025

On a rolling 4 quarter basis, Disney broke its Operating Income record and the upward trajectory continues.

• clarker99

• 

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I'm not even sure it is dependent on cable anymore. ESPN is moving their flagship channel to direct-to-consumer streaming, and that's happening several years before I expected it to.

ESPN also isn't renewing their F1 racing contract for 2026 and now Netflix and NBC are duking it out. We watch F1 on ESPN the actual channel on cable (and ABC when it airs on them for the U.S. races) and then watch it on the streaming app for ESPN when needed.

 

[RickNJane]

Hate to move away from ESPN (Ok not really) but Disney is not the only theme park that continually raises prices. Have you been anyplace else lately? All very expensive and increases like clockwork. Disney is the one that gets slammed about expense, however.

 

[New Mouse]

Hate to move away from ESPN (Ok not really) but Disney is not the only theme park that continually raises prices. Have you been anyplace else lately? All very expensive and increases like clockwork. Disney is the one that gets slammed about expense, however.

Because they are also drastically cutting services and raising prices more than inflation.

 

[RickNJane]

Because they are also drastically cutting services and raising prices more than inflation.

Don't disagree. However it is an industry wide trend.

 

[Mirabell Rose]

But attendance isn’t dropping. It’d hard to argue that corporate greed is driving prices up when attendance continues to increase and people continue to complain about crowd levels.

Look at tickets to major concerts and sporting events. They’re clearly underpriced (as many wind up on the resale value for far more than face value) and yet people complain about their inability to get tickets. If Disney were to slash prices, they’d fill their parks to legal capacity, slash investment (both things people complain about now) and reservations would be challenging to get.

People think they can lower prices by voting for new politicians when really the only way is to vote with their wallet. None of us are captive to Disney. It’s a great big world out there - don’t like those prices, vacation elsewhere.

Most people visiting WDW stay and eat offsite. Prices for WDW hotels are so high because a core group of devoted fans want it so bad they’re willing to spend whatever Disney wants.

Why do you think attendance is not dropping?

 

[RickNJane]

Why do you think attendance is not dropping?

Things such as Lightning Lane selling out. How quickly the after hours events sell out. For DLR it is the limited supply of AP. The parks are crowded, which is subjective I know. I would love to see hard numbers. It also remains to be seen the effect of Universal Epic Universe and the Canadian American boycott.

 

[Minnie1222]

Why fixate on attendance? Higher attendance doesn't alway mean higher profits. An ideal situation would be to decrease attendance while maintain or increase profits. Why serve 100 people paying $1 each when you can serve 10 people paying $10 each?

 

[RickNJane]

Why fixate on attendance? Higher attendance doesn't alway mean higher profits. An ideal situation would be to decrease attendance while maintain or increase profits. Why serve 100 people paying $1 each when you can serve 10 people paying $10 each?

Because attendance is an indirect measure of how much Pain the public is willing to endure. There is a point where the rise in prices will cause a fall off in attendance as people just can't afford or justify the cost. True, profits may not suffer, but the number of people in the parks will drop. Disney is about profit, true, but there is a bit of diminishing return going on.

 

[Minnie1222]

It also remains to be seen the effect of Universal Epic Universe and the Canadian American boycott.

I think the Canadian boycott will have a bigger effect than Epic Universe. I have been going to Universal for decades. Their fan base and overall demographic are different from Disney's. The true Universal fans are awesome. You won't hear much from them since they're too busy celebrating/awaiting the opening of a new park. All the negative gossips about Epic shoving Disney are likely from disgruntled former Disney guests.