Is Disney Too Commercial Now

Prices have steadily increased. Almost to the point where the average goer like my self, can no longer afford going yearly.
How do you know what the "average goer" demographic is, and how can you be so sure that you are in that group? Honestly, I have no idea what the "average" WDW guest is like and no idea if I am among them. I'm not even sure if there is such a thing. But on some level, I have to believe that if someone can no longer afford to go, then they can't be the "average goer". In order to be an average goer, one has to actually go.
 
I have to also agree with op. To me it seems more about the money then the magic. The latest being charged to come in early or to stay late. Disney used to stay open late in the summer for free. This was the main reason I decided to not renew my annual passes this year.

Disney still stays open late in the summer for free as does it open early. It has always been based on attendance. The currently posted hours will change as we get closer to the months they are posted for. I've seen this every year firsthand. They won't extend hours until they have a grasp on how many are coming. It makes sense.
 
I've seen it work pretty well at DL. I think that is solely because most of their visitors are local and so the characters are nothing new to them. I once walked with Alice and the Mad Hatter all the way from their ride to somewhere near the subs and nobody bothered us.

I think DL and WDW are just very different with very different types of visitors.

I do agree though, I like orderly lines. I love characters but I won't shove in front of kids in a mob to meet them, so lines are much more agreeable to me.

I am thinking of some of the last few times I visited WDW and I have to agree about how unrealistic it would be to have roaming characters. I think Flynn was supposed to be 'running away from the guards' and such in the Tangled area, that would have been impossible the last few trips I was on because it was hard to move at all.

I think the past 12-18 months have been a bit different for Disneyland as a lot more "out of towners" (like me) have come for the 60th anniversary so you had the mix of locals with non-locals and so it was mixing the way Disneyland does it but with more WDW type crowds, so it was a bit of a nightmare when I was there in October to be honest. But maybe in a more typical time it works better
 

This would probably be an appropriate time to let everyone know that I am currently in negotiations with a potential corporate sponsor for my message board posts here on the DIS.

That's all I can say for now.
I hear GM is looking to drop Test Track so they might be in.

I am ashamed to admit I looked up inflation prices.

Gas in 1971 averages $.40/ gallon, now $2.45

General admission to Magic Kingdom in 1971 $3.75, but did not include the ticket books which got you about 8 rides that were tiered A-E tickets. Today roughly $90 a day depending on your options.

This seems to look like gas has gone up 6x and WDW has increased 24x, but there is a difference. Disney has increased it's parks to four, they have done away with ride tickets, and they have kept upgrading rides, events, shows ect.

Now we have four parks, two water parks, and Disney Springs. Gas is still gas. The difference is you need gas, you don't need Disney.
Just some numbers to consider.
 
Ugh I would not count Disney Springs in with the rest of the parks. This isn't really directed towards anyone in particular but Disney Springs is just a shopping center that I guess is pretty now? I think I have something against Disney Springs. But I don't really consider it entertainment or some gift that Disney provides us, it is just there so they can charge rent and keep more money on Disney property.
 
Ugh I would not count Disney Springs in with the rest of the parks. This isn't really directed towards anyone in particular but Disney Springs is just a shopping center that I guess is pretty now? I think I have something against Disney Springs. But I don't really consider it entertainment or some gift that Disney provides us, it is just there so they can charge rent and keep more money on Disney property.
Is that any different the Main Street?
 
Is that any different the Main Street?

I can see your point, but to me Main Street provides more entertainment value than Disney Springs since I enjoy the heavy theme and the Main Street characters and the vehicles (love the horses) and the view it gives to the castle.

So maybe that would be a personal preference over how much you enjoy the Main Street feel against the new Disney Springs theme.
 
I've been going to Disney World for about 45 years now. I've missed a year or two throughout, but pretty much have made it a yearly trip.
Well it's been about 3 years since my family's last visit. This being for a couple of reasons.
Cost - Prices have steadily increased. Almost to the point where the average goer like my self, can no longer afford going yearly. Both the parks and property hotels have priced themselves out of my family's income, and we aren't poor by any means.

OP, The "average" goer has never been able to afford a WDW trip every year.

Disney has always been commercial, and IMHO the reason the theme parks are so popular and people are willing to save up for years just to at least visit once in their lifetime.
 
Disney is teetering, at least for me, on being too expensive to the point where I can't go as often as I like. I try and go every year (and mostly succeed), but I split the costs two to three ways with my sisters, depending on who is going. And it's still tough to afford. As the original poster stated, it's been three years now since the last visit. That is quite significant if one previously visited every year for decades. I've just accepted the fact, though, that Disney will always be expensive and I will have to deal with it or not if I want to visit. I will add that being expensive vs being too commercial are two different things.
 
Last edited:
Wow. We are all Disney fans here. To jump on a fan for his views on Disney is funny. The defenders are certainly out in force. That's for sure. When I say I am an average goer. After 45 year of visiting the parks I believe I am. I think everyone has noticed the changes. These changes have affected some more than others is all that can be said.
 
Yes, I was thinking that in my mind, and opinion at least, it's not whether Disney is "too commercial",but whether some of the "magic" has been slowly leeching away, due to all the reasons the OP mentioned - which I have all felt personally, as I've said here many times. Still magical, yes, but slowly approaching that "tipping point" Pete has been talking about for awhile - at least for ME personally - don't know, can't say for anybody else. That's all part of why my visits have been more spaced out, and that makes me sad. Again - this is all just ME, based on MY life.

I've said before the combination of factors in the last few years has strongly reminded me of the end of the Michael Eisner era, and the "Bring Back the Magic" campaign orchestrated by Roy Disney. And I don't "drink the Kool Aid" when it comes to Disney (even though a stockholder, and making money, as I've also said before) or anything else in life - if the emperor has no clothes, I ain't gonna agree he an't nekkid! :) I calls 'em as I sees 'em, but I will admit I may see things differently than others at times, although I'd like to think I try to be as objective as I can. And I definitely feel I'e been shouting into the wind with my opinions on this particular subject for a long time, getting more and more sad about it all, although I feel others echoing my own words and feeling back to me more and more, and I just try to keep quiet when I'm thinking "what have I been trying to say for the longest?" in my own head. :o

I will say, last but not least - that's why projects like the newly-opening Disney Springs, and still-to-come Pandora, Rivers of Light, Toy Story Land, and even Star Wars Land (even though not a fan) bring me hope - I find joy in seeing what Disney can be, and still hope for amazing things to come! I do not mean to sound or feel NEGATIVE about the "now", I just feel wistful and yearning for the "what was, and can be in some form again".
 
Last edited:
I hear GM is looking to drop Test Track so they might be in.

I am ashamed to admit I looked up inflation prices.

Gas in 1971 averages $.40/ gallon, now $2.45

General admdisappointing. c Kingdom in 1971 $3.75, but did not include the ticket books which got you about 8 rides that were tiered A-E tickets. Today roughly $90 a day depending on your options.

This seems to look like gas has gone up 6x and WDW has increased 24x, but there is a difference. Disney has increased it's parks to four, they have done away with ride tickets, and they have kept upgrading rides, events, shows ect.

Now we have four parks, two water parks, and Disney Springs. Gas is still gas. The difference is you need gas, you don't need Disney.
Just some numbers to consider.
I get the numbers, but speaking more to how they are losing the personal touches that used to ne everyday happenings. Everything has to be planned to a T now. Some of those personal touches are now charged extra for. Just dissappointing
 
Wow. We are all Disney fans here. To jump on a fan for his views on Disney is funny. The defenders are certainly out in force. That's for sure. When I say I am an average goer. After 45 year of visiting the parks I believe I am. I think everyone has noticed the changes. These changes have affected some more than others is all that can be said.

Nobody jumped on you, you started a thread and people responded. Maybe you expected 100% agreement with what you said because we are all Disney fans, but not everyone is going to have the exact same views as you. Nothing is wrong with that, and nothing is wrong with discussing that.

I still think that if you have been going to WDW every year for 45 years you are much more than the average goer, regardless of the extras you don't buy, but to each his own on that. I do have to ask though, do you really expect things to be the same every year for 45 years? I don't know a single company that operates that way.
 
First of all, I don't expect everyone to agree with me. As far as companies changing. Changes are expected. But to start charging for things that used to be free is different. That's when a company s taking advantage of its' popularity at the time. And before you get defensive again, I understand it is a business, and they have the right to raise prices or creates prices for things. But the question I'm asking is "Was that Walt's idea in the first place?" I don't think so. And I see a lot of people agree, aside from the constant Disney corporate defenders. To be honest I don't know if "Commercial" was the right word for the post. "Popular" should have been the word. It just leaves a bad taste in a lot of fans mouths when you try to get every cent you can out of visitors pockets at every turn. Some of which used to be expected being "Disney" is all.
 
I feel as though "commercial" is too vague of a term to encapsulate what Disney has done to the parks as a whole. While the past 20 years have produced some great attractions and shows, most all of them were tied into brand reinforcement, while other attractions went bye-bye.

KRR, LMA (up until Lightning McQueen was featured in the show), SSE, KS, and the "thrill rides" stand out as the "Disney-less" attractions. Everything in EPCOT used to be this way: SSE, tLS, Lw/tL, WoM, JII, HORIZONS, UoE, Communicore, Maelstrom, El Rio Del Tiempo, and AA. They produced their own mascots and merchandise: Figment, SMRT-1, etc.; just thinking about Duffy the Bear grinds my gears.

In a nutshell, acquiring brands and featuring those brands in the parks looks to be the strategy going into the future. I feel like Pandora will be Disney's flop, just as King Kong will be Uni's flop. A good attraction doesn't have to rely on a brand (like Jungle Cruise or SSE). Take Splash Mountain for instance, no one important was writing letters calling for Song of the South to be released on DVD after Splash Mountain came out. This brand-first, backwards imagineering goes against everything the company stood for.
 
If you don't plan a year in advance of where you're going to be at an exact day and time you're *&^%.
I'll definitely disagree with this one. The only thing we book in advance is where we will be staying. No FPs. No ADRs. In fact, we never make ADRs because we never do onsite table service meals. As for FPs, the night before, once we've decided which park to go to the next day, I will book 3 FPs for that park. Sometimes we use all 3. Sometimes we don't. It all depends how the day goes. Other than that, we wing it. It hasn't been a problem yet. We were there in November and January and will be there again in July in case you're wondering how recently we've done this. And I've been visiting since 1978.
 
The biggest problem, which I've said numerous times, and on this I agree with the OP, is that the place is just too damned crowded. And yes, this is Disney's "fault" because they've created all kinds of special events and offered various discounts to bring people in at traditionally slow times. They've extended the Halloween and Christmas parties. They introduced "free" dining. They've extended F&W. and more.

Most of what we all complain about comes down to the crowds as the base issue.
 













Receive up to $1,000 in Onboard Credit and a Gift Basket!
That’s right — when you book your Disney Cruise with Dreams Unlimited Travel, you’ll receive incredible shipboard credits to spend during your vacation!
CLICK HERE








New Posts







DIS Facebook DIS youtube DIS Instagram DIS Pinterest DIS Tiktok DIS Twitter

Back
Top