News Round Up 2019

[tlmadden73]

Ugh. This sounds like a pattern of knee jerk cost cutting measures in response to Galaxy’s Edge’s soft returns.

I can't imagine them cost cutting so soon from a "soft" opening.

It does seem odd though that DL has had a "soft" opening and WDW fall bookings are down (supposedly). Either people are just waiting until RoR is done and the land is 'fully complete' or people are avoiding the parks in FEAR of the crowds.

I'll have to say . .the Last Jedi and Solo (and the general backlash it has gotten from the hardcore fans) hasn't helped SWGE. It may have alienated the hardcore fans and not excited the casual fans. It seems like SWGE needed to open somewhere a year or so after Force Awakens to fully ride that hype train.

Star Wars just isn't the juggernaut like say Avengers is.
Not saying the land will fail - just saying it may not have the INITIAL popularity that Disney was expecting, but may build up over time (and through word of mouth).

 

[Firebird060]

The problem with cutting costs at Disneyland when it comes to tickets is that since a majority of there guests are AP people you really wouldnt see that much of a increase in attendance, what they would need to do, is limit the blackouts and possibly cut the AP prices, but besides the blackout changes, the price cut is unlikely, Disney does not like to cut prices, once they cut prices its becomes bad PR when they raise them 6 months later. What we might see though is maybe a stagnation of prices for the rest of the year. Now that may not bring people back in right now, but more discounts and special promotions will be the first thing they try, but again with D23 right around the corner and the increase in park attendance for then, we might not see major promos until after D23.

I know alot of people would like Disneyland Ticket Prices to not be more expensive then WDW ticket prices, but there is a much higher operation cost per square foot and per person in Cali compared to Florida, the higher prices help offset those higher costs and with the percentage of guests having APs being higher in Cali, they also tend to make less money per guest per day because he more people go to the parks the less they typically spend in any one day. Again we will see but I think a base price reduction is more than likely a last resort and the sign that things are really bad and something Disney will try to avoid at all costs

 

[Fantasia79]

Completely agree. What’s going to happen when we hit a recession?

I love WDW but always makes me sad when things are cut and service deteriorates with no clear replacement

I know! You hate to think about when a recession hits, but, I feel like there's some short term memory loss going on (Dory a bit too on the mark, perhaps)?

 

[tlmadden73]

"Cost cutting due to lower than expected attendance" is my fear with SWGE in the long run .. over time -- if it continues to have soft attendance. Will they being to cut costs there and you'll see less characters roam, maybe the droid factory or lightsaber factory hours or cut .. or worse .. the quality of the toys being built decreases .. etc. Maybe they won't update or fix (once they break) those cool app integrations. Maybe they stop selling the special coke bottles and just sell normal ones, etc.

 

[mollmoll4]

Wine and Dine medals:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...f-the-disney-wine-dine-half-marathon-weekend/
These.... do not seem on theme? Granted, last year was my first really paying attention to these things but I would never guess a wine and dine theme with these designs. That being said I wish I could do the two course for that Three Caballeros medal!

 

[YesterDark]

Just a small data point..

I had two trips booked as a split stay. 7 Days as part of a free dining offer and 2 days as a room only stay at CBR. Called in today and they had room at Riverside to not only combine my booking at the same hotel, but give me the free dining promotional pricing.

Pretty nice of them to do that. Looks like rooms are opening up because they were previously available as of 1-2 months ago at Riverside.

 

[Q-man]

I can't imagine them cost cutting so soon from a "soft" opening.

It does seem odd though that DL has had a "soft" opening and WDW fall bookings are down (supposedly). Either people are just waiting until RoR is done and the land is 'fully complete' or people are avoiding the parks in FEAR of the crowds.

Or, Disney has now discovered where the price resistance point is.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

What’s going to happen when we hit a recession?

Disney is experiencing it's own deep recession on both coasts.

The rest of the country's vacation spits are booming. I read that summer travel is at record highs this summer but you wouldn't know that by looking at Disney's parks.

Who would have thought this would be the case in the year where they gave STAR WARS it's own billion-dollar land?

 

[rteetz]

Wine and Dine medals:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...f-the-disney-wine-dine-half-marathon-weekend/
These.... do not seem on theme? Granted, last year was my first really paying attention to these things but I would never guess a wine and dine theme with these designs. That being said I wish I could do the two course for that Three Caballeros medal!

Not a huge fan of the medals this year. I was hoping for more color on the challenge medal. Either way I’ll be getting them all.

 

[rteetz]

https://twitter.com/x/status/1149735848730083328

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Maybe they should look at cutting prices, not service. It seems to me all the cost increases (including the added blackout days) has finally caught up to them. When you've fallen off the cliff, you don't get people back by making the cost/service ratio even worse.

or look to provide an even better experience ... at the end of the day Disney will be expensive but it's always felt worth it to many people as it was a superior experience. But the more coverage of overflowing garbage cans, and rudeced staff and staff that isn't as "magical" as in the past - and now cutting back on availability of the monorail, cutting breakfast at GE - it's like getting less for your money which no matter what discounts they offer will still be a lot of money

Always think and decline in experience/service/etc is way more impactful to negatively impacting guest experience than raising prices

 

[TheMaxRebo]

"Cost cutting due to lower than expected attendance" is my fear with SWGE in the long run .. over time -- if it continues to have soft attendance. Will they being to cut costs there and you'll see less characters roam, maybe the droid factory or lightsaber factory hours or cut .. or worse .. the quality of the toys being built decreases .. etc. Maybe they won't update or fix (once they break) those cool app integrations. Maybe they stop selling the special coke bottles and just sell normal ones, etc.

and even longer term, what about the next expansion or if the look to revamp Tomorrowland or whatever - will they not be willing to go as "all in" as far as detail and theming like they did in GE if they don't think they will get the return on it

 

[YesterDark]

Price point is always a primary factor in a vacation, but with rising costs sometimes you can justify the little extra. But when you get worse return on your money AND service is bad then you'll probably won't return unless the money/value is improved.

 

[Q-man]

Disney is experiencing it's own deep recession on both coasts.

The rest of the country's vacation spits are booming. I read that summer travel is at record highs this summer but you wouldn't know that by looking at Disney's parks.

Who would have thought this would be the case in the year where they gave STAR WARS it's own billion-dollar land?

Which lends credence to Disney found where the price resistance point is.

 

[dlavender]

Or, Disney has now discovered where the price resistance point is.

It’s our own “rise of the resistance”

I’ll head out now...lol

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

It’s our own “rise of the resistance”

I’ll head out now...lol

Hey...I thought that was funny!

 

[Lsdolphin]

or look to provide an even better experience ... at the end of the day Disney will be expensive but it's always felt worth it to many people as it was a superior experience. But the more coverage of overflowing garbage cans, and rudeced staff and staff that isn't as "magical" as in the past - and now cutting back on availability of the monorail, cutting breakfast at GE - it's like getting less for your money which no matter what discounts they offer will still be a lot of money

Always think and decline in experience/service/etc is way more impactful to negatively impacting guest experience than raising prices

Wait what’s going on with the monerail? We have a stay at Poly 8/28-9/3 just to utilize the monerail!!!

 

[Q-man]

Wait what’s going on with the monerail? We have a stay at Poly 8/28-9/3 just to utilize the monerail!!!

DL monorail(operating hours cut) not WDW monorail.

 

[mollmoll4]

DL monorail(operating hours cut) not WDW monorail.

With current trends... I feel like this is missing a "yet" at the end.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Wait what’s going on with the monerail? We have a stay at Poly 8/28-9/3 just to utilize the monerail!!!

DL monorail(operating hours cut) not WDW monorail.

Sorry for any confusion - I posted shortly after the story about them shutting down the DL monorail midday so was using that as one example