I hate to say it , and I hope I'm wrong , but ...

[kandb]

There's actually very little evidence of that. Prices have gone up every year and yet crowds keep increasing anyway.

It's possible that a lower price would entice more, but it's equally possible that the draw of Disney outweighs pricing concerns for many visitors.

I don't agree. I believe lowering prices would increase crowds.

 

[Eoghann]

I don't agree. I believe lowering prices would increase crowds.

Your believe does not change what evidence there actually is. And that, as I said, is inconclusive at best.

 

[Davey Jones II]

Considering that lots of people have cut down the number of trips because of price increases, or simply feel priced out, it's pretty obvious that any price drop would swell crowds even more.

 

[Eoghann]

Considering that lots of people have cut down the number of trips because of price increases, or simply feel priced out, it's pretty obvious that any price drop would swell crowds even more.

The fact that something seems obvious does not make it true. There's also no statistical evidence supporting "lots of people cutting down their trips". The fact that a bunch of posters on a forum talk about it means nothing.

 

[Eoghann]

Disney is not cheap but it's definitely not a super expensive vacation. We are going with a family of 5 at the end of Aug. for 10 nights. We have 2 adults, 2 Disney adults and 1 child. Our trip includes 10 nights at a moderate hotel, 10 days of tickets including water parks and the dining plan which includes a sit down dinner every night. My kids were ordering a nice steak at least half the time. Our whole package for the 10 days/nights is $4400. I had priced the Atlantis a while back and it came out to around $1K per day to stay there. I know the Atlantis is a little more extravagant but Disney prices aren't outrageous IMO. We've been going for years and yes the prices have gone up and the thing we don't like about it as much is that's it's so much more crowded. We remember the days of rarely waiting for rides and getting as many fast passes as we wanted.

That's an exceptionally low price given that a similar stay in September is currently being offered for about $6,600 if you use the Quick Service dining plan...

 

[UncleMike101]

Disney is not cheap but it's definitely not a super expensive vacation. We are going with a family of 5 at the end of Aug. for 10 nights. We have 2 adults, 2 Disney adults and 1 child. Our trip includes 10 nights at a moderate hotel, 10 days of tickets including water parks and the dining plan which includes a sit down dinner every night. My kids were ordering a nice steak at least half the time. Our whole package for the 10 days/nights is $4400. I had priced the Atlantis a while back and it came out to around $1K per day to stay there. I know the Atlantis is a little more extravagant but Disney prices aren't outrageous IMO. We've been going for years and yes the prices have gone up and the thing we don't like about it as much is that's it's so much more crowded. We remember the days of rarely waiting for rides and getting as many fast passes as we wanted.

All true, but Disney has to keep in mind that the people making an investment in their vacation want a fair return for their money.
Making cuts that impact their enjoyment, and thus their investment, can and will result in people investing their money elsewhere.

 

[Disneylover99]

That's an exceptionally low price given that a similar stay in September is currently being offered for about $6,600 if you use the Quick Service dining plan...

I think free dining is part of the equation.

 

[Eoghann]

I think free dining is part of the equation.

Ah, so taking advantage of a limited time discount. I feel that's a little misleading when offering it up as an example of what good value Disney is because it's not representative of their pricing. I can get great deals on flights to Europe too... if I save up my air miles...

 

[Disneylover99]

Ah, so taking advantage of a limited time discount. I feel that's a little misleading when offering it up as an example of what good value Disney is because it's not representative of their pricing. I can get great deals on flights to Europe too... if I save up my air miles...

I don't know. I sort of feel like nothing is a good value anymore without some kind of deal.

 

[kandb]

That's an exceptionally low price given that a similar stay in September is currently being offered for about $6,600 if you use the Quick Service dining plan...

Well, go on and check the Disney website. Checking into CBR on 8/26 for 10 nights, 4 adult tickets, 1 child for 10 days water parks and more. Don't add the dining (since we are getting it for free) and did not take out insurance. It might be alittle more since the ticket price has increased since we booked in Aug. 2015.

 

[Eoghann]

Well, go on and check the Disney website. Checking into CBR on 8/26 for 10 nights, 4 adult tickets, 1 child for 10 days water parks and more. Don't add the dining (since we are getting it for free) and did not take out insurance. It might be alittle more since the ticket price has increased since we booked in Aug. 2015.

So you're using a discount not Disney's regular rates.

 

[kandb]

Ah, so taking advantage of a limited time discount. I feel that's a little misleading when offering it up as an example of what good value Disney is because it's not representative of their pricing. I can get great deals on flights to Europe too... if I save up my air miles...

It will be the price this year "IF" Disney offers free dining again, like they have in the many past years, but who knows, maybe not.

 

[kandb]

So you're using a discount not Disney's regular rates.

No discount, just free dining, thought I mentioned that, room is rack rate and so are tickets.

 

[Eoghann]

No discount, just free dining, thought I mentioned that, room is rack rate and so are tickets.

Free dining is a discount. You're getting something for free that normally would cost you $2,000...

 

[kandb]

Free dining is a discount. You're getting something for free that normally would cost you $2,000...

When I say No discount, I was referring to the room/tickets, obviously free dining is a BIG savings, that's why its so popular.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I don't agree. I believe lowering prices would increase crowds.

Disneys internal data doesn't agree With your stance...at least it didn't used to.

There marketing is focused on getting the "idea" of Disney in your head. Not justifying the cost at all.

So the reality is that a decrease wouldn't likely cause a big uptick in customers. Those that want to go generally do...it's not really a matter of budget adherence.

 

[JohnDaleswife]

Wonder when they will start selling fast passes if you want more than the three you start with each day. I could see them doing this in the future.

 

[Kona65]

you just think that its free......not really.

 

[Eoghann]

Disneys internal data doesn't agree With your stance...at least it didn't used to.

There marketing is focused on getting the "idea" of Disney in your head. Not justifying the cost at all.

So the reality is that a decrease wouldn't likely cause a big uptick in customers. Those that want to go generally do...it's not really a matter of budget adherence.

Economists talk about the elasticity of pricing. Some items are immune to what people think are the normal rules about increased pricing resulting in dropped sales. Comic books for example have increased in cover price dramatically above the rate of inflation but because the core market for them are essentially fanatics, those price increases don't result in sales drops.

There's also the factor of people thinking that a premium price equals a premium product. AOL found that increasing the monthly price it charged actually produced an increase in customers. Independent authors on Amazon have discovered the same thing when they move their book prices from $0.99 to $2.99, they actually sell more. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney experiences similar effects.

Everyone recommends reading Freakonomics and I would agree but perhaps an even better read because it doesn't just focus on economics but how what we think are careful logical decisions are anything but is Predictable Irrational by Dan Ariely. Fascinating stuff. It's amazing all the stupid things we do and then justify as logical. And marketers study this stuff.

 

[Eoghann]

When I say No discount, I was referring to the room/tickets, obviously free dining is a BIG savings, that's why its so popular.

Right but you quoted a bundle rate (and it is a very good rate for Disney) as though that was the rate most people would see and used it to say that Disney is good value. What I'm saying is it's not. To get that package normally people would pay $6-7K. Maybe you still think that's good value, but you'd have to agree it's considerably higher than the price you gave and I think a lot of people would view the deal very differently.

That would be like me quoting the park ticket rate as the "cost" of my vacation and neglecting to mention that I have DVC.