NYT opinion piece: Disney and the Decline of America’s Middle Class

[irlandaise]

"The system dispenses front-of-the-line spots and gives priority to travelers who book a guide, purchase expensive passes or stay at a Disney property. As a visitor on a budget, Ms. Cressel is near the bottom of a pecking order in which, on many days, thousands of spots for the park’s premier rides are reserved for the big spenders."

Full article gift link (good for two weeks):

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/28/...e_code=1.hk8.inRI.-a89p0Q6MJcb&smid=url-share

 

[gottalovepluto]

Wish I could have the couple mins that nonsense took to read back. I’ll summarize for others
-it’s expensive no matter what
-the more you pay, the better your experience

 

[BayTower2010]

NYT is quickly becoming not relevant. Pieces like this are not insiteful as it is a regurgitation of just about every Disney board on the internet. NYT used to stand for quality reporting, not those grocery store garbage papers.

 

[tigertides]

I posted this article a few hours earlier (Wish the mods would combine threads)

I think the NYT pointing out that:
- Not just Disney, this is a general trend in America (pay to play) that has now infected what should be more democratic areas of society (children's theme parks)

- It flies into the face of the Exalted One, the Founder Walt Disney ethos that everyone should be treated like a VIP. Was Walt wrong? or is the current CEO hellbent on maximizing profits wrong?

 

[irlandaise]

Wish I could have the couple mins that nonsense took to read back. I’ll summarize for others
-it’s expensive no matter what
-the more you pay, the better your experience

It's more than that. The author is talking not just about Disney, but about companies in general, and how they're responding to an increasing economic divide. That's the real problem; what Disney is doing is only a symptom of it.

 

[juxtapose]

Has this not been a thing forever though? 1st class flights, 1 class trains, suites in hotels, private tours, private jets, etc have been around forever. They're just now finally offering minor upgrades that middle class people can afford and now it is bad?