So I e-mailed about the cost of the Mnsshps...

[Nancyg56]

The night I wanted to go went up $20 compared to last year. Once the cost crept up over $90 it became more than I wanted to pay. Instead I will have a nice dinner at The California Grill, and still be able to see Hallowishes.

I do the same in December. My DS and DDIL wanted to go, but after costing that out for them, and adding the safari thing they are considering, the bank broke. WE will have a nice dinner instead.

 

[Nancyg56]

Just in the last year, off the top of my head (some may be more than a year or coming soon because these are off the top of my head). Also trying to pick things that are free:

Storymaker touches to several attractions, including Haunted Mansion.
New Peter Pan queue to make it interesting.
New store for Haunted Mansion, which even if you don't buy from is more interesting to browse than a candle store.
New Star Wars fireworks being called the best ever played at WDW by some.
Longer Flower & Garden that some are calling better than Food & Wine (with a handful of free experiences).
Revamped FP+ to maximize Fastpass ability.
An entirely new section of Africa, with a new dedicated theater for Lion King.
Frozen shows at HS.
A slight re-work of the ending of the Great Movie Ride.
Right around the corner:
Soarin' (More capacity = more rides = more value)
New track for Toy Story Mania (adding more capacity = more rides)
Discovery Island Carnivale
Harambe Acrobats
Soccer Meerkats
Karibu Sisters
Muziki
Viva Gaia
Tree of Light night show
Rivers of Life (maybe not right around the corner, lol! Might be up and running when I visit again in 2018).

Only three or four of these attractions replaced something big. The rest are entirely new, or replaced something smaller or outdated. Again, I avoided things that cost more money on top of admission, but if we were to include those too you can add Skipper's Canteen, almost all of Disney Spring (something I never cared about before but now have a few stores I want to visit that aren't anywhere else), and more.

Okay, that explains the rise in ticket prices, which I have not yet complained about. THe rise in Hard Party Events is crazy big in my opinion. I like an extra every trip for my family, but this cost is too much for us to absorb.

 

[cbsnyber1]

We just got 4 tickets for the Christmas party on nov 27 for $92 each. I assume that was more than last year but we only had a couple days to go and during this period we are staying at bay lake so it makes sense. Since we don't go to the parks that day until 4 or 5 when we can enter MK it still works out for us. I would never use a day ticket plus buy the party ticket.

Wow . . . we last to MVMCP in 2012, paid $55. If my math is correct $92 represents a 67% increase from $55 - in just four years.

 

[Ser Arthur Dayne]

Who has verified it?

EasyWDW is a widely-trusted Disney parks resource. Josh has no benefit from making something like that up, as his website and published book only do him good if people are actively visiting the parks, not avoiding them. If that's not good enough for you, that's fine, but nothing I offer, short of a signed letter from Bob Iger, will.

 

[cmash95]

here is the deal. they are marketing these parties to dvc and Ap holders. that's why they get the big discounts and unfortunately the locals without those or the people coming and staying on property and buying tickets pay so the others get their discounts. that's how the new marketing team works. I have seen this done many times. food prices at disneyland are higher because their Ap's get a food discount and even with the dining plan here, wno do you think makes up the difference? those of us not on the plan and paying full price. also they have been tiered pricing for several years now. septeimber was always cheaper than october and halloween was always the most expensive and always sold out first. if you don't want to go halloween then either don't go at all or pick another day to go but I can also say that CM discounted prices went up as well. maybe not 20 dollars but also remember labor costs went up 50 cents and hour per employee so 10 dollars and hour also has to be configues into it.

 

[Huff]

EasyWDW is a widely-trusted Disney parks resource. Josh has no benefit from making something like that up, as his website and published book only do him good if people are actively visiting the parks, not avoiding them. If that's not good enough for you, that's fine, but nothing I offer, short of a signed letter from Bob Iger, will.

Who said make it up? Blogs are opinions for the most part. Still, its one persons opinion. If it were more than a rumor then there would be countless 1st hand reports day after day at every park on multiple forums across the internet. There isn't. Almost all cite the same resource. I'll still wait for the scores of 1st hand actual reports and my own observations.

 

[Mcert01]

We went in 2013. We paid $66 for Advance tickets. So, if I am reading the pricing right it is 9% increase at the lowest advanced rate (3% a year isn't bad), but a whopping 37% increase over the highest advance ticket rate. The average increase seems to be in the 20% range +/- 3%. WOW! The cost for a family of four just went through the roof. I mean, it was fun, but its not $350 - $420 fun!

 

[Ser Arthur Dayne]

Still, its one persons opinion.

lol

Saying "it's crowded" is an opinion. Observing an attraction running at half capacity and providing photographic evidence, on multiple occasions no less, is not. Is it an opinion that Disney laid off hundreds of workers earlier in the year, leaving them with less employees to operate their parks?

 

[goofy4tink]

here is the deal. they are marketing these parties to dvc and Ap holders. that's why they get the big discounts and unfortunately the locals without those or the people coming and staying on property and buying tickets pay so the others get their discounts. that's how the new marketing team works. I have seen this done many times. food prices at disneyland are higher because their Ap's get a food discount and even with the dining plan here, wno do you think makes up the difference? those of us not on the plan and paying full price. also they have been tiered pricing for several years now. septeimber was always cheaper than october and halloween was always the most expensive and always sold out first. if you don't want to go halloween then either don't go at all or pick another day to go but I can also say that CM discounted prices went up as well. maybe not 20 dollars but also remember labor costs went up 50 cents and hour per employee so 10 dollars and hour also has to be configues into it.

Have to disagree. I own dvc and have had an AP for about 15 years. We don't get 'big' discounts! Not to mention, the dates that we are offered discounted admission, have diminished greatly. Many dvc owners loved the early Dec time frame. And we got a decent, not big, discount on a good number of nights. But, Disney quickly realized how many were using those discounted dates. They took them away! Nope. Disney markets very little to AP and DVC people. They have our money already. We don't buy the ddp. But hey, they gave us TiW. After a number of years, they raised the coat...a lot!

 

[jhaig]

They are continually adding new experiences. Nowhere did it say they were good experiences. They seem to be adding bad experiences just as quick as they can!

If those new experiences include being crammed into the MK with 25,000 others for exclusive access to long lines and mediocre candy, then kudos to them.

 

[Huff]

lol

Saying "it's crowded" is an opinion. Observing an attraction running at half capacity and providing photographic evidence, on multiple occasions no less, is not. Is it an opinion that Disney laid off hundreds of workers earlier in the year, leaving them with less employees to operate their parks?

I can provide numerous photographic evidence of the opposite on multiple occasions. Does it mean anything? I am asking why there are not NUMEROUS 1st hand reports showing up on Disney forums internet wide? Only references to a single blog. There were 100 painters layed off in Feb. Normally layoffs like this occur in December almost every year. The number of painters has always fluctuated. This year was later than typical. There were also 250 IT workers layed off last year but were replaced and is the subject of ongoing law suits. Park ride workers have not been layed off that I'm aware of. Do you know of a statement by Disney otherwise?

 

[murmer]

here is the deal. they are marketing these parties to dvc and Ap holders. that's why they get the big discounts and unfortunately the locals without those or the people coming and staying on property and buying tickets pay so the others get their discounts.

Actually the ap/dvc discount this year for select dates in October is a whooping....3 dollars! Yep makes me feel really appreciated. They are not courting this event to ap/dvc with only a 3 dollar discount.

 

[lubob]

Just in the last year, off the top of my head (some may be more than a year or coming soon because these are off the top of my head). Also trying to pick things that are free:

Storymaker touches to several attractions, including Haunted Mansion.
New Peter Pan queue to make it interesting.
New store for Haunted Mansion, which even if you don't buy from is more interesting to browse than a candle store.
New Star Wars fireworks being called the best ever played at WDW by some.
Longer Flower & Garden that some are calling better than Food & Wine (with a handful of free experiences).
Revamped FP+ to maximize Fastpass ability.
An entirely new section of Africa, with a new dedicated theater for Lion King.
Frozen shows at HS.
A slight re-work of the ending of the Great Movie Ride.
Right around the corner:
Soarin' (More capacity = more rides = more value)
New track for Toy Story Mania (adding more capacity = more rides)
Discovery Island Carnivale
Harambe Acrobats
Soccer Meerkats
Karibu Sisters
Muziki
Viva Gaia
Tree of Light night show
Rivers of Life (maybe not right around the corner, lol! Might be up and running when I visit again in 2018).

Only three or four of these attractions replaced something big. The rest are entirely new, or replaced something smaller or outdated. Again, I avoided things that cost more money on top of admission, but if we were to include those too you can add Skipper's Canteen, almost all of Disney Spring (something I never cared about before but now have a few stores I want to visit that aren't anywhere else), and more.

The topic and idea was new things added to the Halloween party to make the tickets go up. As well as the Christmas party. Not the every day small items disney added . Which I might add they raised the every day admission price for those items you mentioned.

 

[Planogirl]

I can provide numerous photographic evidence of the opposite on multiple occasions. Does it mean anything? I am asking why there are not NUMEROUS 1st hand reports showing up on Disney forums internet wide? Only references to a single blog. There were 100 painters layed off in Feb. Normally layoffs like this occur in December almost every year. The number of painters has always fluctuated. This year was later than typical. There were also 250 IT workers layed off last year but were replaced and is the subject of ongoing law suits. Park ride workers have not been layed off that I'm aware of. Do you know of a statement by Disney otherwise?

I don't know of park ride workers being laid off but many actual CM's have reported cut backs in hours. That would of course be much the same when it comes to the visitor experience.

You will never get numerous first hand reports. You have to trust what you can get because Disney itself is very tight lipped about stats. I see what I can find out as sampling in a way. Plus I think that Josh is a good source.

 

[MermaidMommy]

Who said make it up? Blogs are opinions for the most part. Still, its one persons opinion. If it were more than a rumor then there would be countless 1st hand reports day after day at every park on multiple forums across the internet. There isn't. Almost all cite the same resource. I'll still wait for the scores of 1st hand actual reports and my own observations.

If you look around the Disney blogosphere, you'll see plenty of references to the recent cuts. It's all over the wdwmagic forums, for example. As PP said, Josh has been to the parks numerous times and has documented the ride cutbacks. Additionally, there have been several reports here on the DIS about only one side of Dumbo running recently. Most people, even Disney fans, don't know enough about how the rides work to be able to know if ride capacity is diminished, so that's why someone with Josh's type of knowledge is so valuable.

 

[Huff]

Additionally, there have been several reports here on the DIS about only one side of Dumbo running recently.

I have seen that 1st hand repeatedly on numerous rides for years and years at various times. Same thing I've seen for years at DLR. Nothing new. My point is I have yet to see an increase in that happening over whats been common for years. Why did Disney put in a 3rd screen at Soaring? Why an additional track at Toy Story if they're trying to decrease ride capacity of what they already have?

 

[MermaidMommy]

I have seen that 1st hand repeatedly on numerous rides for years and years at various times. Same thing I've seen for years at DLR. Nothing new. My point is I have yet to see an increase in that happening over whats been common for years. Why did Disney put in a 3rd screen at Soaring? Why an additional track at Toy Story if they're trying to decrease ride capacity of what they already have?

It been well-documented in the mainstream press, as well as the Disney online community, that Disney made significant staffing cuts at the end of February/beginning of August. Around 20% reductions at both Disney World and Disneyland. Hours were cut, entertainment was cut, staffing levels were cut. It's really not something that's debatable -- just google it and you'll get dozens of hits. Not to mention, it's been all over the DIS. The cuts were all designed, apparently, to boost earnings short-term and are something completely different than the long-term capital investments. That's comparing apples to oranges. And, some of the staffing cuts were at attractions, which means some rides haven't been operating at their normal capacity.

 

[scrapquitler]

Continually add new experiences? Since when?

New this year: metal detectxors. LOL

 

[Huff]

It been well-documented in the mainstream press, as well as the Disney online community, that Disney made significant staffing cuts at the end of February/beginning of August. Around 20% reductions at both Disney World and Disneyland. Hours were cut, entertainment was cut, staffing levels were cut. It's really not something that's debatable

I have googled it. Most of the discussions point to layoffs and repeat two specific layoffs as proof. Last year Disney laid off 250 IT workers but replaced them with foreign workers spurring an ongoing legal battle. Then this year Disney laid off 100 painters at the end of February but those jobs are seasonal and the layoff occurs almost every year. There have been stories in papers such as the Sentinel that talked about hours cut but those cuts do not equal cuts made to reduced park hours and shows, thus the labor for rides etc. is still there. The layoffs being repeated over and over had nothing to do with ride staffing. What I am seeing is the internet rumor mill in full swing with reports such as above spun into something they never were. On visits I have yet to see anything I haven't seen over many years....rides partially shut down at various times. Been like that for a long time.

 

[Huff]

New this year: metal detectxors. LOL

Probably a result of the couple found in a Disneyland Paris hotel with explosives. I haven't heard an update who they were or what they intended to do.