how much are you willing to pay before you say enough

[Mad4Dizne]

I don't think the current $55. is too high per se for what you get in entertainment value; but depending on where you live, the cost of living may be such that a family's salary can't easily afford the cost. (Where we live everything is more expensive and salaries are not getting bigger, alot of people out of work...) I just think to myself that I always believed Walt Disney was about providing entertainment for all families. I also think the adult ticket at age 10 is a bit outrageous. Why not keep the jr tickets and require a birth certificate for proof of age???

 

[crisi]

The national median household money income is under $43k. That makes it hard for many American families to afford $55 tickets. But that makes it hard for many Americans to afford to own a home, drive a nice car, or afford to dine out.

Our vacations as a percentage of our annual income is fairly small - less than 5%. When we made less money, it was still about 5% - we went less often and spent less when we did.

 

[Local_Girl]

Interesting thoughts...here's my .02...while it seems expensive to us as a family of 4 to go to WDW, breaking it down and comparing it to other entertainment available, it is a good value.

I do believe that Disney and other similar businesses have an "invisible line" so to speak, with regard to ticket prices. When that line is crossed, fewer people will decide that Disney is worth the cost of the ticket and attendance will begin to level off and perhaps drop. The key is determining where that invisible line is! I'm not sure what that price is for our family...and honestly it would depend on other things too, such as whether or not our income increases proportionally, cost of living increases, etc. I realize that all kinds of people from all walks of life go to WDW, but if Disney continues to target young families, they have to think very hard about how much more they can increase their ticket prices and still provide value for these young families. Just my opinion...

 

[TarraLee]

DH and I usually spend about $3500 for a 5 night trip for the two of us. I know we could go cheaper, and we have in the past, but we just don't enjoy it as much when we can't buy a mickey bar and have to eat chicken fingers the whole week. So we've decided its a better value to us to ditch the movie channels on cable and netflix, and be able to live it up on vaccation. I can deal with no starbucks at work if it means I can have a frozen margarita in Epcot, and a lapu lapu by the Poly pool.

Kiddos of our own are a few years down the road, but I wonder how they'll change our spending habits...

 

[WaltD4Me]

I don't know when I would say enough. I have never bought individual tickets. Always get UPH or PH and think they are well worth it. I didn't even know single day admissions were almost $60 until a friend came back from a day at MK last month.

I tend to think all amusement park tickets are high. The thing that really gets me is what it costs for people like my mom who don't ride ANYTHING. It's different at Disney because of all the shows and non-ride attractions, but for some place like Cedar Point or Six Flags, where my mom only goes to help out with the grandkids, I think they should offer a non-rider price. While Disney's prices don't bother me now, I think most other big amusement park's prices are outrageous. To me, you get so much more at Disney.

Lisa

 

[MrsPete]

For the majority of us who live outside of the Orlando area, we can't consider JUST the ticket prices -- we have to consider the total cost: hotel, transportation, and meals as well as tickets.

I do think ticket prices are too high. A family of four would have to spend more than $200 for a day's entertainment. A DAY'S ENTERTAINMENT. One day. $200 is my family's monthly grocery bill. $200 is someone's car payment. $200 is back-to-school clothes for my kids. $200 is new bikes for both my girls. $200 is a full year's membership to a small local pool. $200 is almost a week at summer camp. For most people $200 is a large amount of money. One day's entertainment.

Don't get me wrong, I love Disney as much as anyone, but I do think they're overpriced.

 

[DiznEeyore]

Originally posted by MrsPete
I do think ticket prices are too high. A family of four would have to spend more than $200 for a day's entertainment. A DAY'S ENTERTAINMENT. One day. $200 is my family's monthly grocery bill. $200 is someone's car payment. $200 is back-to-school clothes for my kids. $200 is new bikes for both my girls. $200 is a full year's membership to a small local pool. $200 is almost a week at summer camp. For most people $200 is a large amount of money. One day's entertainment.

So true!

This very thing came up in conversation with my brother the other day. He is taking his family to WDW next month (just one stop on a family/business trip). They'll be staying with his inlaws so only need daytime admission. I'm so used to buying Hoppers that it actually shocked me when he said that it would cost $200 for his family (4 of them -- kiddoes are 7 and almost 4) to spend the day at the MK.

When you think of it in those terms .... OUCH!!

 

[WaltD4Me]

I do think ticket prices are too high. A family of four would have to spend more than $200 for a day's entertainment. A DAY'S ENTERTAINMENT

Wow, I never thought about it like this. That does seem like alot when you think of it that way.

Although, I wonder how many people go to just one park for one day? I mean, you would think alot of Florida residents get annual passes and if you going and staying there, you get UPH or PH's, even if you go for more than one day, you get a break on a two day ticket. It's kinda like anything, you get a break when you buy in bulk. Disney is the amusement park version of Costco! LOL!

I figure if you get a 6 day adult UPH for the advance purchase price of $310, that works out to $51 a day, but includes all the parks, waterparks, Disney Quest and Pleasure Island, so you figure about 10 hours of of entertainment time, which works out to only $5.00 an hour...less than the price of a movie!

Lisa

 

[lc1965]

I am finding people's comments on salaries vs. spending very interesting. I was unfamiliar with all those stats! Nevertheless, for me it is not an issue of affordability or whether the Disney company has any obligation whatsoever to make its product affordable to anyone at all.

I am underemployed, but am going to WDW in November & it will probably cost me $1500 for the week. I found a way to make it work, incl., working long days at 2 jobs when the opportunity presents itself & not spending $ that could go into my vacation fund. There is a great temptation, for example, to buy a cup of coffee before I go to my night job - & I'm not talking about the designer stuff you get at the current collection of brand-name chains. I'm talking about spending 60 cents in a deli for a cup of java! All the dollars here & there I save by not spending that money goes for things I want, incl but not limited to a WDW vacation. As for Disney not being obligated to make its product affordable, not all products are affordable to all people. (I wanted to treat myself to diamond stud earrings, but I didn't go to Harry Winston - I went to BJ's Wholesale Club. Still got my diamond earrings - just not the same quality or size.) If you want a vacation you can go any number of places w/o thinking twice. If you want a vacation that is "somewhat" to "really" outside your budget you will plan for it. That goes for so many things in life, as we all know.

I hope I don't sound like I'm soapboxing this because I'm not. I wish for myself that WDW were less expensive, but I understand that I'm getting a great value for my $ & I plan long & hard for this special treat.

 

[WaltD4Me]

You make an excellent point lc1965. No one HAS to go to Disney,
Just like I don't have to stay at The Bellagio when I go to Las Vegas, I've got other cheaper options and sometimes I use them because I can't afford The Bellagio every trip, but that doesn't mean they should lower their room rates. We could all go somewhere cheaper on vacation.......so the question is do we REALLY want WDW to become one of the cheaper places?


Lisa

 

[lc1965]

eactly, waltd4me -- & don't you think lisas are the most wonderful people?? lol!

cheers,
lisa

 

[dana0069]

Lets put things back into real life perspective.
Here in canada for me to buy a 5 day hopper plus tickets from our local disney store, for our family of 5 is $2300.00..!! never mind breaking that down to per day cost, or per hour or min. cost. look at the overall real expensive...$2300.00. HELLO..thats a lot of money! now add in the real cost of transportation, lodging and the HIGH..and i mean HIGH cost of food there!! it is competley out of proportion.
most cnd's i talk to say that it is a ONCE in a lifetime vacation, and that they will never be able to do it again.
Now anyone who knows anything about bussiness, knows that you build a bussieness on REPEAT bussiness, NOT one shot deals.
Obiviuosly for people to say they cannot afford to go back, the price is too high. So somewhere down the road, thats going to hurt the economy of orlando/wdw.
Think about it...lower the cost, attact more people, lots of repaet bussiness, the company will prosper for years to come..or Rise the price so high that the reg.family can no longer afford it, that spells OUT OF BUSSINESS..its simple math people..
ITS called corporate GREED..!!! and it will bite them in the A**.
mark my words.

 

[WaltD4Me]

If you want to put things in perspective, I hear about ALOT more people going back (repeat business) to WDW....I'll be going on my 4th trip there in December...than say Hawaii....in fact I've known several people who have gone to Hawaii and they have all said THAT is a once in a lifetime trip because it's so expensive, one person who told me this is a cardiac surgeon...not poor by any means...and he said everything in Hawaii was so expensive, they'd probably never go back and they went 4 years ago, yet I still don't hear of alot of cheap deals to Hawaii and they are still making it on tourism there just fine. And how many websites and discussion boards do you see devoted to trips to Hawaii?

Sure you have to add in the cost of getting there and food and everything, but you have to add that in on any trip and high airfare prices aren't Disney's fault. As for lodging, I think Disney resort prices are pretty reasonable with the value resorts they offer now and the deals they are putting out there. My brother paid alot more for his not as nice hotel room near Hershey Park in P.A. than I will be for my very nice resort room at WDW in December and it cost him almost $40 to get into Hershey and it is about 1/2 the size of MK. Just a little perspective for ya.


Lisa

 

[crisi]

But Disney's business model is not to encourage repeat traffic from everyone - it can't be. They'd overfill the parks if every one of their guests makes yearly trips.

Their business model is to encourage repeat trips every few years from a subset of their customers - wealthy guests and Disney fans. To encourage a lot of repeat visits from Florida residents (who don't have travel costs). And to sell Disney as a "once in a lifetime" vacation destination to families at lower income levels and with significant travel concerns.

A lot of people can't afford even one trip to Disney. But you only need to look at these boards to discover there are a lot of people who can afford multiple trips. There are DVC members from all over the world - certainly not the third world poor - but the world's population of the "relatively wealthy" is more than enough to keep Disney in business.

Moveover, by pricing their product high, they retain good profit margins and continue to attract a demographic that will spend money. As a business Disney would rather have one family staying in the GF, getting a PS for every night and buying a lot of expensive souvieniers than ten families staying at Pop Century, bringing their sandwiches into the park with them, eating offsite, and pre-buying their souvieniers at Wal-Mart. Ten "value" families means longer waits at the attractions for the "deluxe" family - and the deluxe family might not have a great time and return over and over again.

Not everyone can afford a BMW, but the company doesn't seem to be hurting because they don't have a significant market share. Not everyone can afford diamonds, but I don't see De Beers crying in their tulips.

I don't mean this to sound like snobbery, its suppose to be a lesson in business and chosing your market.

 

[dana0069]

Great line of logic there crisi..thankyou for your in depth insight on the financial world of Disney..
Well based on your logic of thinking, then i guess the sky would have to be the limit on how much is too much.
Lets see...well why not chg $10,000.00 per day per park?Because in yourr mind there will be always someone with that much money that are willing to pay that. And that way Disney could still attract about 50,000 people..they wouldn't be loosing any profit margins, and they could do away with the fastpass system, because there would be no need for it. Big margins, big dollars alot fewer people and NO line-ups!!! that would be great!!!
That way, not only would I not be able to afford to go..chances are you WON"T either!!!!!! now i feel better...

 

[crisi]

Dana, do you really want to see a form of the quadradic equation a company like Disney would use to come up with the maximium they could charge and continue to make money, or do you just want to be sarcastic and assume I don't know what I'm talking about? My guess is that $10,000 is well above the peak point in their equation, but the current peak point is probably pretty close to $55 a day. I don't know what Disney's numbers are, but I do know what that equation looks like.

 

[mickeymousefan]

I personally dont feel that Disney is targeting only wealthy people either. Otherwise, why would they keep building Value resorts instead of new Deluxes.? Plus by running specials with discounted hotel rooms, they are attracting people who may have otherwise stayed offsite. That equals more people in their parks , and in their eyes, once you are on property, going to Seaworld or Universal may be too much of a hassle and you may skip it and it makes dining off property impossible.
I do think if it was cheaper, more people would go. I dont like the idea that keeping prices high "keeps out the riff raff". To me Disney is not just a vacation, it is an experience!!!! I think more kids should be able to enjoy that experience, not only the ones who have parents with money.

 

[dana0069]

You can take this as sarcasim if you want..
But i'm telling you, Disney is a business like any other business, don't think it isn't!!
there are recipes for success, and there are recpies for DISASTER.
Keeping the cost out of reach...spells one thing crisi.
and i 'm not telling you what it is.
in my world 2+2=4, ok.

 

[Dchef]

LISA, That is a really good point!! I think all in all they have kept up with the rest of the country and far surpass them in quality!!! This is our first time going and our twins are five--will we go again? Sure, when we CAN do it..we will just work it out if we want to go.
In no way do I think that Disney has an obligation to keep prices low or affordable. Sometimes we forget the big picture and that is what a huge organization Disney is to run. Sure, they are making money---but for them that is acertain goal...BUT unlike most places that just take and don't deliver--Disney really does deliver the goods---You truely do get what you pay for.
I remember when it first opened and we went as a family and all you got was a ticket book and once you used a ticket for a ride--you couldn't go again. Parks have come a long way.
I also believe that the quote made in an earlier post of 15,ooo for a family of 5 could be concidered extreme, because I think if you want to go you can find a way to do it cheaper...that is what I am working on at this very moment!!!
Sorry, another soap boxer rising to the occasion.

Darlene

 

[kevin38]

I am new here I would like to go to disney but it is out of my reach
My big problem is the cost of AP I have Ap's for US/IOA,BGT,Sea World so we come to orlando probably once a month(excepting when hurricanes) The cost to bring my family of 4 for annual pass is 1516 dollars that is more than I paid for two years at all of above. So when we go to orlando disney gets none of my money by their choice.

Cost of Ap's US/IOA 179 (buy one year get second free)99renew
SW/BGT 139 Two years(silver)
Disney 379 One year

I know people will say disney is the best but i did not buy those passes at the same time. so now i can go to those other parks free except for food Breakfast at hotel, lunch at park, and dinner in town.