Have we reached Peak Pricing at WDW?

[Miffy]

Well, yeah, the Galactic Starcruiser proved hubris can definitely go too far.

But I'd admit that pricing the parks and hotels in general can be more complicated.

Very true.

 

[tvguy]

Prices always increase with inflation, but they have increased at a much more drastic rate in the last decade.

For our last family Disney trip (2019) the ticket prices alone ($2400) were more than the cost of our entire on-site trips from years prior. I actually just looked on the website and the current price for the exact same tickets is $4600, so nearly double in 5 years. And, I looked at my email confirmations and 10 years ago I spent $1018 on the same tickets. That's approaching 5 times the price in just 10 years.

We used to do an 8-12 night trip every year and of course prices increased a bit each year, but the last few felt like dramatic leaps in pricing (where the cost did not match the experience) so we have not gone back.

Hard to believe that two friends and I used to go to Disneyland in the late 1970's for two days for $100 each. And that included splitting the cost of 800 miles round trip of gasoline, which had just jumped to 50 cents a gallon! We stayed at the KOA, which is the current site of the parking structure. And of course admission, and food.

 

[crisi]

What will they do with the Value and Moderate resorts, though? I mean, why did they build them and why would they keep them? People with a lot of money who are having a once-in-a-lifetime trip to WDW aren't staying at Pop or the All Stars or even POR.

Right now, there are decent discounts for both resorts and park tickets available and they started selling APs again. So apparently they do want other people visiting, unless I've misunderstood something.

If the Disney parks are going to become a luxury experience only--the theme park equivalent of a $2.5 million house or a $350K car--Disney is going to end up losing a lot of customers of their other products. And I think they know this. Yes, once-in-a-lifetime visitors may spend more (although for sure there are once-in-a-lifetime visitors who are on a strict budget as well), but there's nothing like goodwill to keep a business in business.

They aren't going to turn those people away - but they aren't going to entice them by lowering ticket prices and "keeping it affordable." They will charge what the market will bear, looking for the point at which they can maximize profit (which is not the same as maximizing revenue). There will still be plenty of middle class people who scrimp and save for a Disney vacation. Nor am I saying its a $350,000 car - its a $50k car, not a used Ford Focus.

And Disney can shutter resorts - they have in the past when attendance doesn't support having the resorts open.

Disney parks and hotels (theme parks and hotels in general) are something that is labor intensive - you don't manage to cut a lot of headcount with new technology. Unless they figure out how to significantly cut headcount with technology (and to some extent they have - newer rides required less staffing than older rides - but they are stuck with a lot of staff) costs are likely to outpace inflation - its called Baumol's cost disease. Moreover you have constant pressure from Wall Street to maximize revenue.

 

[Anthony1971]

I can recall going the 90s through later 90s very early 2000's in that period Disney also had multiple price increases that ended with length of stay tickets in other words it was if you had 6 nights at a Disney hotel you had to buy 7 day tickets period. The hotels were not cheap then either All stars were 69 in the off season when they first opened. You could stay offsite with breakfast included for half that....Waited for 2/12 hours to go on countdown to extinction now Dinosaur. Then came the down turn came they offered new tickets promotions on hotels and empty parks as in you would see a few other people walking down main street in MK period. Prices still went up year after year but they offered promotions. Funny through it all the parks were still a cash cow for Disney and Disney had a lot more to offer than it does today as far as things to do outside the parks... From boat rentals to driving a race car to parasailing you could do it.... While I am not defending the pricing as it is very high thinking Disney will lower prices is a long shot. They will get people to come back offering???? Things like free fast pass HA this was great right. Think about the logic.... get people to stand around while they wait for the time to come to go on their next ride. People will have more time to shop and eat... Magic express get people on property with no way to leave... DP started cheap... get people use to eating at TS. Disney will find a way to make a person happy and happily pay... and hey handing over your money with a smile is a lot better then paying for a miserable time.... DVC which we own for over 20 years.... I am club member... ummmm no you own a timeshare with use em or lose em points... with the size of DVC now... there will always be people at Disney. Rent the points.. great someone gets a good deal and has more to spend.. Come your self yes you can save money but odds are you are going to pay for some meals and more likely a lot of meals and parks or something that puts money in register .... Disney INC. is nothing less then marketing genius and always was even when Walt was around.... There is no other place you can pay to get into a theme park (while free back then but ride tickets) and drop ? on a meal that was huge steps above what you would expect to eat at a theme park and offer merchandise that was by far different that what you expect to find at a theme park. Think of some of the posts people write... We stay at BW or BC so easy to just pop into EPCOT for a meal... So you just paid to walk into a theme park and then paid for a meal.................But it was only 30 bucks more a person to add an extra 2 days on the park tickets......The parks have been and will continue to be a cash cow for the foreseeable future.

 

[Robber Baron]

I remember amazing trips in the 2008-20011 time frame. Buy 4/Get 3 free

YES, that was the best promo ever.

 

[Miffy]

There have also been promos where they gave you 13 months instead of 12 for an AP. Not all that long ago.

 

[PrincessNelly]

For us, we go about 2-3 times per year.
I'm a penny pincher, so through various saving methods, I've been able to maintain our vacation budget for the most part. It takes alot of effort to do.

We've started driving in lieu of flying, split stays, traveling with friends, cooking meals in our room instead of eating out, skipping parks on trips to reduce our ticket cost, buying tickets from 3rd party discount websites, rent last minute DVC & RCI stays, we finally snagged a cheap DVC contract while ROFR wasn't around to help with reducing the cost on our future trips.

In the moment, I rarely think about what it cost us to be there. And we still have a wonderful time.
But afterwards, I'm always shocked when I breakdown the costs per goods/experience . (And again, thats with us maintaining our vacation budget for the last 12 years).
We haven't booked a traditional Disney hotel room or package in years. I was blown away seeing moderates going for $375/night and values for $250+ in generally what was off peak times. I don't think I could bring myself to pay those prices. Our studio room at OKW wasn't in great shape and I was shocked to see that room going for $450+/night. It's not worth it.

I think overall, travel is becoming pricey. And I think for many people, Disney is so expensive, it's a "one and done" type of vacation destination.
I do think we're at a point where the value for dollar is not exactly there and people will start to look elsewhere for travel.

We considered skipping MVMCP this year but decided to go after much debate.. I already know that $200 per person for a few hours is ridiculously silly when compared to a full day ticket.

Truthfully, if we enjoyed our Disney Cruise much more than Disney World. I forsee us opting for cruises over WDW more. It just seems like a better value.

 

[gottalovepluto]

I think we have reached peak rate of change. Prices will continue to rise but not as fast as before and some of that will be offset with deeper discounts.

 

[jimmymc]

Disney really, really hates rolling back ticket ticket and hotel prices. I doubt rack rates will ever go down, but we have started to see more discounts available. Percentage off rooms, packages, and potentially free dining returning next year. They'll be stable for a little while until the economy starts doing well again and vacation spending increases, then we'll see some more.

 

[DCLMP]

I don't think scrimping and saving for a Disney vacation is possible right now. Not for the middle class.

 

[Juliet25]

Our recent WDW vacation (June 2023) was downgraded from 7 nights at WL to 5 nights at Pop. We just did two parks instead of four, had no dining reservations, and did our shopping at the Disney outlets. The prices are ridiculous for the experience provided.

 

[Chickinvic]

Not sure we have reached the peak. Disney knows from past experience that when things are less crowded at WDW, people spend more, to the point that Disney makes more money overall than if they had more people in the parks.

Then why do they keep trying to jam pack the parks to the point of misery/diminished experience for most people? Thinking especially about Disneyland California, but the Florida parks can get awfully miserable with crowds too.

 

[tvguy]

Then why do they keep trying to jam pack the parks to the point of misery/diminished experience for most people? Thinking especially about Disneyland California, but the Florida parks can get awfully miserable with crowds too.

Every I am reading is they AREN'T packing the parks.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/where-everyone-disney-theme-parks-200500589.html

https://www.disneytouristblog.com/summer-2023-crowd-slowdown-disneyland/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/disney-world-cost-attendance-down-ron-desantis/

 

[Chickinvic]

Our recent WDW vacation (June 2023) was downgraded from 7 nights at WL to 5 nights at Pop. We just did two parks instead of four, had no dining reservations, and did our shopping at the Disney outlets. The prices are ridiculous for the experience provided.

If I ever make my way back to Florida I'll likely just do Universal. I would consider doing an after hours event if one was happening at WDW (I like the lower crowds). Otherwise, I won't bother with Disney.

 

[kuhltiffany]

We’ve been here for 10 days and have not bought 1 souvenir. The prices are insane. Epcot used to be our favorite park but it’s looking old and tired. The constant need to be booking things, checking the time, changing plans for virtual queue return windows, etc is not fun. I had gift cards and passes to use up, now I don’t think we’ll be back for a while…

 

[Pinnochio]

It's no secret that WDW crowds have lulled.

all i can say to this is that every DVC studio in October & November are booked solid, minus a few straggler days here and there

 

[Marek Zyskowski]

I was in the parks August 15th - 20th. I benefited from discounts for my Hotel Stay and the parks were not crowded. I was a happy customer.
The company is looking to be profitable and the number 1 thing that clients want is less crowded parks. So I would not be surprised if prices stayed high. I will go back next summer knowing that the parks might be less crowded.
One of the things that I noticed was I did not need to buy lightning lanes to ride the attractions that I wanted. When you stay at a resort you have the benefit of entering the park early you can skip the lightning lane. You don't wait long.
It would be nice to have a small discount as a Disney+ subscriber or if you are an annual visitor.

 

[DCLMP]

all i can say to this is that every DVC studio in October & November are booked solid, minus a few straggler days here and there

If you're a DVC owner don't you have to use your points?

 

[Minnie1222]

I was in the parks August 15th - 20th. I benefited from discounts for my Hotel Stay and the parks were not crowded. I was a happy customer.
The company is looking to be profitable and the number 1 thing that clients want is less crowded parks. So I would not be surprised if prices stayed high. I will go back next summer knowing that the parks might be less crowded.

Our friends, who haven't been to Disney in years, are returning in hope of low crowds as reported by social media. One family just went this past Labor Day and unfortunately it wasn't as empty as they had wished. We're going with another family in less than two weeks and another couple in December. It's true that people don't mind paying higher prices for a less crowded park.

 

[Pinnochio]

If you're a DVC owner don't you have to use your points?

true, i'm just saying its not nearly as empty as reported.....