Excuse Me, “Legacy Fans”? We Might Just Be Disney’s Only Way Forward.

[georgina]

i guess I count as a 'legacy' fan? Went for the first time in 1998 with our 3 kids, returned in 2000, 2002 (twice), 2003 (had Ap's for the 2002-2003 years and camped at FW), multiple trips through the years, 2004 with one DD, 2006, 2008, 2009 with other DD, 2013, then started going solo w/Ap's, 2014 through Feb 2020. Post-covid I have done 2 trips, one using 5 free night certs at the Swan, one using DVC rental credits. I don't care that much about being on-site.

Only one of my kids cares about DW, and she has a 6 month old, so we will be back. We will probably stay off-site or at Swan or potentially Shades of Green since her DH works for the defense dept. I will pay for G+ at a couple of parks and ILL$ as needed. I am at a stage in life where I can afford the extra costs. We still find it a fun trip and will continue to go, adapting to the current systems and with an 'it is what is is' feeling.

 

[Magical2017]

I am 54 and have been a Disney fan for most of my life. Our last trip to WDW was four years ago and it was not what we had come to expect. Since then my kids have only asked to go to Universal. We will be going back there at the start of 2023 and spending our entire trip on Universal property. That does not mean we won't ever go back to Disney, but not for awhile.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It’s because for decades it was free.

Nope it wasn't. Sharing a public pool with 100 people is not the same thing as sharing a private pool with 35 people, but you have to pay for one of them and not the other.

 

[Pickles516]

To be honest, people can get as upset as they want but there will be enough “legacy” people to keep Disney afloat while gen Z etc. start to make more money. By the time Gen Z is in their 30’s and 40’s, a significant amount of legacy fans will be dead and their grandkids won’t care about the fast pass system and mickey’s magical express because they didn’t grow accustomed to it. By that time their grandkids will spend the money gram gam socked away for college on whatever they’re going to spend it on and never think twice about if the legacy fans were upset in the year of our lord 2022.

 

[Jrb1979]

To be honest, people can get as upset as they want but there will be enough “legacy” people to keep Disney afloat while gen Z etc. start to make more money. By the time Gen Z is in their 30’s and 40’s, a significant amount of legacy fans will be dead and their grandkids won’t care about the fast pass system and mickey’s magical express because they didn’t grow accustomed to it. By that time their grandkids will spend the money gram gam socked away for college on whatever they’re going to spend it on and never think twice about if the legacy fans were upset in the year of our lord 2022.

I disagree cause IMO a lot Gen Z and younger don't have the same love the older legacy fans of Disney fans have. They aren't going to go bankrupt or anything. I think it won't be as popular as it is now or in years past.

 

[DCLMP]

Nope it wasn't. Sharing a public pool with 100 people is not the same thing as sharing a private pool with 35 people, but you have to pay for one of them and not the other.

Terrible analogy. Makes no sense at all. If you want to pay for fast passes do the VIP experience

 

[DCLMP]

To be honest, people can get as upset as they want but there will be enough “legacy” people to keep Disney afloat while gen Z etc. start to make more money. By the time Gen Z is in their 30’s and 40’s, a significant amount of legacy fans will be dead and their grandkids won’t care about the fast pass system and mickey’s magical express because they didn’t grow accustomed to it. By that time their grandkids will spend the money gram gam socked away for college on whatever they’re going to spend it on and never think twice about if the legacy fans were upset in the year of our lord 2022.

That and I don’t gen Z is going to have an easy go of it. Most of them can’t even afford rent or a mortgage these days much less a vacation. Sad times.

 

[Pickles516]

I disagree cause IMO a lot Gen Z and younger don't have the same love the older legacy fans of Disney fans have. They aren't going to go bankrupt or anything. I think it won't be as popular as it is now or in years past.

I think they’ll just change the experience based on whatever gets that generation invested. Gen Z and younger millennials value things differently and spend money differently.

A good example of this can be seen in the gaming industry. Companies don’t really release complete video games anymore- they release what are essentially vehicles for downloadable content via micro transactions and make absurd amounts of money. A “video game” called Star Citizen crowd-sourced like $350m over the past ten years and ***still is not an actual game***. Disney could pitch a really great attraction and have the whole thing paid for before they even broke ground on it.

You can see it in how streaming services gauge the success of their tv series - they know within about a month from a series’ release whether it will have a second season based on how quickly people binge the season, how many people re-watch it, and(most importantly) how many new subscribers they gained as a result of the show’s release.

People make millions playing video games, playing with toys, playing board games, and scratching lottery tickets on YouTube and twitch due in no small part do the interactive nature of those platforms.

Disney will learn to adapt to the new generation(honestly, I think the new generation is being manufactured to consume media and experiences in this way). When the author of the article says “oh well Disney how can gen z afford Disney if they’re facing a housing crisis!? Huh!? They can’t! Ha!” She’s really not making the point she thinks she is because that’s not how this new generation spends, and Disney knows it. They’re biding their time and moving toward this new model.

Maybe Gen Z maybe can’t afford a mortgage, but they can afford to pay $5/month for five years in the hopes that Disney’s new crowd-sourced attraction will be everything they’ve ever dreamed of. They may not have 401k’s and pensions, but they can spend thousands, one little micro transaction at a time to upgrade their Magic Band Ultimate Platinum Avatar or whatever.

30 years from now, Disney parks will probably be unrecognizable in terms of how they generate revenue, and by that time I’ll be a senior citizen, and most legacy fans will be dead or infirm. Disney will not weep for them.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think they’ll just change the experience based on whatever gets that generation invested. Gen Z and younger millennials value things differently and spend money differently.

A good example of this can be seen in the gaming industry. Companies don’t really release complete video games anymore- they release what are essentially vehicles for downloadable content via micro transactions and make absurd amounts of money. A “video game” called Star Citizen crowd-sourced like $350m over the past ten years and ***still is not an actual game***. Disney could pitch a really great attraction and have the whole thing paid for before they even broke ground on it.

You can see it in how streaming services gauge the success of their tv series - they know within about a month from a series’ release whether it will have a second season based on how quickly people binge the season, how many people re-watch it, and(most importantly) how many new subscribers they gained as a result of the show’s release.

People make millions playing video games, playing with toys, playing board games, and scratching lottery tickets on YouTube and twitch due in no small part do the interactive nature of those platforms.

Disney will learn to adapt to the new generation(honestly, I think the new generation is being manufactured to consume media and experiences in this way). When the author of the article says “oh well Disney how can gen z afford Disney if they’re facing a housing crisis!? Huh!? They can’t! Ha!” She’s really not making the point she thinks she is because that’s not how this new generation spends, and Disney knows it. They’re biding their time and moving toward this new model.

Maybe Gen Z maybe can’t afford a mortgage, but they can afford to pay $5/month for five years in the hopes that Disney’s new crowd-sourced attraction will be everything they’ve ever dreamed of. They may not have 401k’s and pensions, but they can spend thousands, one little micro transaction at a time to upgrade their Magic Band Ultimate Platinum Avatar or whatever.

30 years from now, Disney parks will probably be unrecognizable in terms of how they generate revenue, and by that time I’ll be a senior citizen, and most legacy fans will be dead or infirm. Disney will not weep for them.

IMO it has nothing to do with price or experience for them to go to Disney. I work with mostly Gen Z and none of them have any interest in Disney. Unless you grew up with Disney and go to parks as kids often I don't think the connection is like it once was

 

[Pickles516]

That and I don’t gen Z is going to have an easy go of it. Most of them can’t even afford rent or a mortgage these days much less a vacation. Sad times.

I don’t think they have to. They’ve just been designed to be parted from their money in a different way. Disney will capitalize by catering to them, and to the select few that can just throw money around with no concern.

Even better for Disney is that the younger the millionaires and billionaires get, the more of a role generational wealth plays in who can afford to be extravagant. Nobody cares about a lackluster experience when spending grandpas millions, because spending the millions *is* the experience.

 

[raidermatt]

I don’t think they have to. They’ve just been designed to be parted from their money in a different way. Disney will capitalize by catering to them, and to the select few that can just throw money around with no concern.

Even better for Disney is that the younger the millionaires and billionaires get, the more of a role generational wealth plays in who can afford to be extravagant. Nobody cares about a lackluster experience when spending grandpas millions, because spending the millions *is* the experience.

That business model should reside in Fantasyland. As much as I think Disney's current management is missing the mark, even I give them enough credit to realize banking on "generational wealth" would be insane.

 

[FuzzyPeach]

IMO it has nothing to do with price or experience for them to go to Disney. I work with mostly Gen Z and none of them have any interest in Disney. Unless you grew up with Disney and go to parks as kids often I don't think the connection is like it once was

I don’t think it is either. I think it may be even weaker of a connection for Gen Alpha, lots of entertainment competition for children that wasn’t there the same way a couple decades ago.

I do wonder what a combo of that and a heavy focus on guest spending vs guest experience will do in the long term.

 

[Smugpugmug]

IMO it has nothing to do with price or experience for them to go to Disney. I work with mostly Gen Z and none of them have any interest in Disney. Unless you grew up with Disney and go to parks as kids often I don't think the connection is like it once was

I definitely agree. Growing up (Gen Z), Nintendo was a massive part of my childhood alongside Disney and that was the same for a lot of people my age. I'm really looking forward to Epic Universe because of the Nintendo area.

 

[Jrb1979]

I don’t think it is either. I think it may be even weaker of a connection for Gen Alpha, lots of entertainment competition for children that wasn’t there the same way a couple decades ago.

I do wonder what a combo of that and a heavy focus on guest spending vs guest experience will do in the long term.

Let's just say those that hate the large crowds might get their wish. I think in 10 years it will be a shell of its former self.

 

[Pickles516]

That business model should reside in Fantasyland. As much as I think Disney's current management is missing the mark, even I give them enough credit to realize banking on "generational wealth" would be insane.

Aside from the fact that you ignored everything else in favor of one point(and seemed to misunderstand or intentionally misrepresent it), Disney already banks on generational wealth to an extent. Club 33 isn’t full of people that got there through gumption and the sweat of their brow. One of the biggest lines Disney uses to sell DVC is that you can leave it to the kids. Wealthy parents aren’t paying for their own fantasy wedding at the grand Floridian at the age of 65. The fact that wealthy families tend to stay wealthy is definitely a part of the plan. They’ll milk the poorer and younger crowd drop by drop, and count on the wealthy to blow money as they always have. It’s the simplest thing in the world.

 

[Jrb1979]

Aside from the fact that you ignored everything else in favor of one point(and seemed to misunderstand or intentionally misrepresent it), Disney already banks on generational wealth to an extent. Club 33 isn’t full of people that got there through gumption and the sweat of their brow. One of the biggest lines Disney uses to sell DVC is that you can leave it to the kids. Wealthy parents aren’t paying for their own fantasy wedding at the grand Floridian at the age of 65. The fact that wealthy families tend to stay wealthy is definitely a part of the plan. They’ll milk the poorer and younger crowd drop by drop, and count on the wealthy to blow money as they always have. It’s the simplest thing in the world.

You missed my point in what happens now that the kids aren't really into Disney anymore.

 

[Pickles516]

IMO it has nothing to do with price or experience for them to go to Disney. I work with mostly Gen Z and none of them have any interest in Disney. Unless you grew up with Disney and go to parks as kids often I don't think the connection is like it once was

This is another big factor. My students don’t really care about going to Disney. They want to meet Mr. Beast.

Also, I didn’t miss your point - I just hadn’t responded to it. What I’m saying is that Disney isn’t going to just sit around and hope kids get interested again, they’ll change the experience to fit how and what that generation consumes.

 

[Jrb1979]

This is another big factor. My students don’t really care about going to Disney. They want to meet Mr. Beast.

Exactly. If the IP doesn't draw then you aren't left with much. Gen Z and younger seem to more inclined to visit a regional park over Disney or Universal.

 

[FuzzyPeach]

This is another big factor. My students don’t really care about going to Disney. They want to meet Mr. Beast.

I think there’s a lot more need for parents to go out of their way to “expose” (that sounds so odd in this context) their kids to Disney than in the past. They are so big now, with Marvel and Star Wars under their umbrella, but everything else grew too.

 

[Jrb1979]

I think there’s a lot more need for parents to go out of their way to “expose” (that sounds so odd in this context) their kids to Disney than in the past. They are so big now, with Marvel and Star Wars under their umbrella, but everything else grew too.

IMO it's a big reason Disney does so well right now is that parents continue to take their kids in hopes they will continue the family legacy.