So just why is Disney raising ticket prices so early

[sydneysmom]

Someone has to pay for my gigantic pay raise of 25¢ per hour!

You're not alone !!!

 

[manning]

I don't think it is the annual increase anybody is complaining about. It is the fact that the cost of tickets is getting out of control. The economy is horrible and Disney is starting to become as affordable as going on a 21-day European tour.

From a Corporation perspective, I think it is to push people towards DVC and annual passes - but then there is the cost of rising airfare, food in the parks (which is crazy for what you get) and all of that jazz.

Disney is continuing on the cut-backs for guests, but increasing the prices for everything to pay for new resorts and the Fantasyland expansion. They cannot even operate a decent IT system, so accommodation and customer service is not always top on their list from a guest perspective.

I will still go to Disney until I cannot afford it, but I understand the passion.

I've owned DVC for awhile. I'll just quit going into the parks. Like dad used to say % increase times zero purchase = zero.

 

[WDSearcher]

Here is my real issue with these increases.Now we have moved them up to 10 months instead of a year.I think the world of disney, but the raw greed has got to end.Disney has jumped prices so much faster than they used to.Its not just ticket prices either its everything.Parking, eating, room rates etc.To pass it off on the expansion at fantasyland doesn't fly either.Just look at all the other expansion in the earlier years 80's 90's etc.Sorry I am afraid they are doing damage to the product that they will regret one day.Disney in my opinion is fast becoming a playground for the wealthy,you know a snooty country club that doesn't want common people to be able to afford to go to.Just my opinion,will I still go? Probably, but it will be quite awhile. I still have enough tickets for one more trip, after that it may become a once every 5 year thing!

Just because Disney chose to do a 10-month thing this year doesn't mean it will be that way every year.

I assume that the reason they raised them now is because SeaWorld and Busch Gardens just raised theirs, and so the pump was primed, so to speak. One theme park raises prices, and the others follow. Universal won't be far behind. If Disney is becoming a "playground for the wealthy", then so is SeaWorld, Universal, Busch, etc. They're all pretty much at the same place, price-wise.

I don't agree with the whole, "Everyone should be able to afford it" concept. If that were true, think of the crowds, if nothing else. People already complain about how crowded it is at WDW -- if it was suddenly $20 less per ticket to get in, what do you think that would do to crowds and lines? Disney -- any vacation, really -- is something you save for. You assign $$$ to it if it's a priority in your life. If Disney prices itself off my priority list, then that's my choice. It's not Disney's responsibility to make sure we can always afford it. I personally would love to own a BMW convertible, travel around the world, and buy a nice comfortable house on a few acres of land. But I can't. Is that BMW's fault? Of course not. I've chosen not to save for those things because there are other things that I'd rather do right now.

My money ... my choice.

 

[flicx]

WDseacher, Doesn't disney advertise itself as an affordable family vacation? I see ads on TV all the time that say this.I find it funny that you compare disney to a BMW, interesting anology!I'm sorry I just disagree with the gouging that is going on.Here's the thing, once they upset enough people they will do serious damage to the theme park business.I'm not alone in this mindset and once enough of us who have had it with the increases stop going they are in trouble.Its unfortunate I really thought things ran well till the early 2000's.

 

[Finally08]

Well I *never* thought of Disney as an affordable family vacation. An affordable vacation for us growing up was driving one state over to TX and staying with my stepdad's family for a few days. We might hit a park (a *regular*, outdoorsy green park lol) and maybe there would be an apartment pool we got to swim in. That was it.
I thought Disney was for people on tv, and rich people. I never even knew anyone personally (classmates or family/friends) who had ever been...I finally went as a teen and again still thought all those people who stayed on site must be rich. I didn't even know there were sit down restaurants.

And now it seems everyone goes, all the time. I can't go to Disney without running into someone local. Everyone on facebook is going, all the kids from school....Dis may be becoming more and more expensive over the years but it seems more and more "common" folk are able to go than decades ago.

 

[Shir Kahn]

They could double the prices and we'd still go. We definitely wouldn't be happy about paying so much more, but we'd still go. The suits know this for sure.

 

[LilyWDW]

WDseacher, Doesn't disney advertise itself as an affordable family vacation? I see ads on TV all the time that say this.I find it funny that you compare disney to a BMW, interesting anology!I'm sorry I just disagree with the gouging that is going on.Here's the thing, once they upset enough people they will do serious damage to the theme park business.I'm not alone in this mindset and once enough of us who have had it with the increases stop going they are in trouble.Its unfortunate I really thought things ran well till the early 2000's.

No, Disney advertises itself as a special vacation full of memories and dreams. They give examples on how much it will be, but they don't make it seem like everyone and anyone can afford it every year.

And I am really getting tired of the "OMG this is the second price increase this year" and "How dare they raise their prices after only 10 months" statements. Usually the increase happens in August... they just pushed it up this year. The changes were going to happen, it's just that the timing was different.

If you do not agree with the increase, then do not go. Simple. Tell Disney you do not agree with your wallet. However, there are still many people who think the cost is fine for the value. We will continue to go for the time being because we do not agree it is too much as of yet. Disney, to me, is not a vacation I do every year. It is a vacation I take time and save for so I can go all out.

 

[WDSearcher]

WDseacher, Doesn't disney advertise itself as an affordable family vacation? I see ads on TV all the time that say this.I find it funny that you compare disney to a BMW, interesting anology!I'm sorry I just disagree with the gouging that is going on.Here's the thing, once they upset enough people they will do serious damage to the theme park business.I'm not alone in this mindset and once enough of us who have had it with the increases stop going they are in trouble.Its unfortunate I really thought things ran well till the early 2000's.

Yes it does. And it is affordable. Compare it to a week at a ski lodge, a family vacation to Europe, a vacation to Hawaii, five days in Washington DC or NYC or Chicago -- show me "average" for any of those and I can build you a Disney trip that costs less.

And I didn't compare Disney to a BMW, by the way. I said I'd always wanted one but I choose not to save for it at this time. I never compared the two.

Every single time Disney raises prices (which is to say at least once a year), posters make all the requisite doom and gloom and greed comments of "once they upset enough people, then people will stop going ... blah, blah, blah". But based on recent crowd reports -- not to mention the number of trips being planned on this board alone -- it would appear as though that has not yet happened. And people have been saying that same thing for decades. Ten years ago people were grousing that Disney cost too much and that "one day they'll charge too much and people won't go." Still waiting for that day ...

A trip to WDW is not some inalienable right that everyone has. It's something you choose to spend money on or not. If you find it a horrible price-goughing value, then don't go. Simple. If it's too expensive, then choose another less expensive location. It takes my family three years to save up for the kind of Disney vacation they want. They could come every year if they choose different resorts, ticket packages, restaurants or activities, but they know what they like and they don't mind saving for it. Their choice, just as it is yours. And if there ever comes a time when the majority of travelers decide that Disney is indeed out of their reach and not worth the money, then Disney will re-do their pricing strategy.

Thing is ... it costs the same to go to SeaWorld, Universal, etc. as it does to go to Disney. It's not as though Disney is charging $100 a day and SeaWorld costs $30. It's not like Wilderness Lodge is $1000 a night and Portofino is $85. Disney isn't outpacing any of its competitors -- in fact, every time Disney raises its prices, the other parks are right behind them. The industry charges what the market will bear.

You say "once enough of us who have had it with the increases stop going they are in trouble." That is true of any product. But when is that point? Have you stopped going? What's your price threshhold?

 

[minandmick]

Someone has to pay for my gigantic pay raise of 25¢ per hour!

I'm tellin' ya!

I've been a nurse for 10 years and this was about our pay raise last year, too. Not even sure we are going to be getting one this year.

I love my job, though.

 

[k5thbeatle]

No, Disney advertises itself as a special vacation full of memories and dreams. They give examples on how much it will be, but they don't make it seem like everyone and anyone can afford it every year.

And I am really getting tired of the "OMG this is the second price increase this year" and "How dare they raise their prices after only 10 months" statements. Usually the increase happens in August... they just pushed it up this year. The changes were going to happen, it's just that the timing was different.

If you do not agree with the increase, then do not go. Simple. Tell Disney you do not agree with your wallet. However, there are still many people who think the cost is fine for the value. We will continue to go for the time being because we do not agree it is too much as of yet. Disney, to me, is not a vacation I do every year. It is a vacation I take time and save for so I can go all out.

Well stated!

...A trip to WDW is not some inalienable right that everyone has. It's something you choose to spend money on or not. If you find it a horrible price-goughing value, then don't go.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Yet I would argue that many do somehow see it as some kind of "right"...crazy as it sounds?

 

[TLSnell1981]

I don't think it is the annual increase anybody is complaining about. It is the fact that the cost of tickets is getting out of control. The economy is horrible and Disney is starting to become as affordable as going on a 21-day European tour.

From a Corporation perspective, I think it is to push people towards DVC and annual passes - but then there is the cost of rising airfare, food in the parks (which is crazy for what you get) and all of that jazz.

I will still go to Disney until I cannot afford it, but I understand the passion.

Disney is out of control! Food prices are ridiculous, quality has suffered, surcharges for "holidays" and now...park tickets receive, the second price increase in LESS than a year.

I have cut our Disney visits, this year and next. We have decreased our dining in WDW, and spending on generic merchandise. Our December trip will be spent in Europe...it's cheaper. We are DVC members and have annual passes...for now, but will spend time at Universal with extended family.

TIIC don't get it, Disney is losing the Magic. IMO

 

[flicx]

A trip to WDW is not some inalienable right that everyone has. It's something you choose to spend money on or not. If you find it a horrible price-goughing value, then don't go. Simple. If it's too expensive, then choose another less expensive location.

You say "once enough of us who have had it with the increases stop going they are in trouble." That is true of any product. But when is that point? Have you stopped going? What's your price threshhold?

Please this idea that disney is a" right"is ridiculous.Never said it was.Expecting a product to go up reasonably over the years isn't unreasonable.Fact is disney has and still continues to raise prices faster than inflation!I love the blindness of some on this site,the easy way people shrug off another increase 2 months early! You ask if I have stopped going, the answer is yes!It is 3 years this year and I don't see it changing soon.I have been a long time patron of disney(30yrs) and think the place is great,however the price increases have slowed my ethusiasm.Used to go annually, like many others on these boards have cut back due to the increases.Price threshold? I've pretty much reached it.

 

[LilyWDW]

Please this idea that disney is a" right"is ridiculous.Never said it was.Expecting a product to go up reasonably over the years isn't unreasonable.Fact is disney has and still continues to raise prices faster than inflation!I love the blindness of some on this site,the easy way people shrug off another increase 2 months early! You ask if I have stopped going, the answer is yes!It is 3 years this year and I don't see it changing soon.I have been a long time patron of disney(30yrs) and think the place is great,however the price increases have slowed my ethusiasm.Used to go annually, like many others on these boards have cut back due to the increases.Price threshold? I've pretty much reached it.

Why are people freaking out about 2 months early? That I do not understand. So what? Disney is trying to use the increased attendance to gain some profit by increasing prices BEFORE the summer season. This is a smart business decision and smart timing. If they did it in August, they would lose this opportunity. An increase was coming one way or another, everybody knew that. So I really do not see a difference.

And I am NOT blind, thank you very much. I understand economics, business, and all of that just fine. You have reached your threshold... okay. Then you don't have to go and do other things with your money. However, just because there are some of us still willing to go to Disney doesn't make us blind to things. It just means we are willing to save to go and these prices have yet to make us balk. Some of use find that there is still enough VALUE to make up for the COST.

Then again, I have never gone annually. That was always outside of my abilities due to the costs. Instead, I save up a few years and go as I want to go.

 

[mel&me]

Because they can, no one can do anything about it and know it.

 

[flicx]

Here is a novel idea,since the economy is so bad how about no cost increase this year?Of course that hasn't happened in what 20 years or so? Why get upset when it is 10 months instead of a year,I think that is a simple question.Whats next, six months,three months?They are just escalating costs faster!Please the blind comment wasn't meant in a hurtful way,I could be just as sensitive and and take offense to people constantly saying don't go or if less people can afford it then it won't be as crowded!

 

[Planogirl]

I would agree that no one has the "right" to go to a themepark. However, I do believe that people have the right to say what they wish about the price increases both good and bad. I get the impression that some would prefer that people say nothing negative.

I have about reached my threshold. I can't justify paying for the passes and restaurants and so on with all of the expenses our real life has. It's easy to plan a much less costly vacation so that's what we'll do. No gripes and no criticism, just real world stuff.

 

[flicx]

I would agree that no one has the "right" to go to a themepark. However, I do believe that people have the right to say what they wish about the price increases both good and bad. I get the impression that some would prefer that people say nothing negative.

I have about reached my threshold. I can't justify paying for the passes and restaurants and so on with all of the expenses our real life has. It's easy to plan a much less costly vacation so that's what we'll do. No gripes and no criticism, just real world stuff.

Nice post plano,I guess I just can't state things as elegantly as you!

 

[LilyWDW]

I would agree that no one has the "right" to go to a themepark. However, I do believe that people have the right to say what they wish about the price increases both good and bad. I get the impression that some would prefer that people say nothing negative.

I have about reached my threshold. I can't justify paying for the passes and restaurants and so on with all of the expenses our real life has. It's easy to plan a much less costly vacation so that's what we'll do. No gripes and no criticism, just real world stuff.

I have no issue with people saying negative things... but I also have a right to dispute those arguments and ask for clarification on statements. I may have been a bit blunt in earlier posts but I do stand by them. I still do not understand the 10 month argument, but most likely I never will as I simply don't see a difference since the increase was going to happen in 2 months anyways. I simply will see it as good timing on Disney's part and a good business decision. It comes down to:

1) Raise prices in August like normal. OR

2) Raise prices in June and use the increase in ticket sales to pad revenues and profits.

Many people do not plan the way we do on these boards. Especially in the summer months you will have many "day of" ticket sales. These increased sales are a great time to increase your revenues. It simply makes sense in my mind.

Disney has increasing costs, just like the rest of us do. Tickets are most likely one of their highest revenue generators (in fact, their quarterly increases this year compared to last year are due to increased ticket sales according to the reports). If ticket sales are UP, then that shows there is a demand there. It only makes sense to increase the prices there compared to other areas. If sales dramatically decrease, then Disney will see they have hit their price ceiling for this moment in time (though I doubt there will be a dramatic difference).

My guess is that enough people will still see value in a Disney vacation. Cost is just one aspect of value, but each person will weigh the different parts differently. So, where increased costs may decrease value greatly for one person, it may not be a huge deal for another.

Honestly, neither side is "wrong" as there really is no right vs wrong in these sorts of situations. It all depends on where the other person is coming from and HOW they look at the situation.

 

[Planogirl]

Disney does have increased costs to contend with just like I do. I recognize that. However, Disney is not a necessity. My son's college education, appliances needing replacement, car repairs, outrageous electricity bills (it's hot here!) - those are necessities. At least in my world. Disney takes much lower priority than my own real life circumstances and when I say that I won't go for a while due to pricing then that just reflects my own disappointment at being priced out of going. At least for now.

Wise business decisions on the part of Disney? I also agree with that and this will be true up to a point. None of us know where that breaking point is. I can only recognize my own and that is true for all of us.

The two month change in the price increase for passes seems to be a major point of contention. Some people budget down to the penny. Disney just threw a wrench in that. Plus passes are far from the only item increasing in cost at WDW. I don't care how much it cost to go to the theater or a sporting event. People bring that up but that's not what this is about. A person might be able to justify $50 to go see a movie. They might not have several hundred to go a hot, crowded resort with mediocre restaurants (YMMV) and so on. Like stated, it's a matter of perspective.

 

[rt2dz]

I would agree that no one has the "right" to go to a themepark. However, I do believe that people have the right to say what they wish about the price increases both good and bad. I get the impression that some would prefer that people say nothing negative.

I have about reached my threshold. I can't justify paying for the passes and restaurants and so on with all of the expenses our real life has. It's easy to plan a much less costly vacation so that's what we'll do. No gripes and no criticism, just real world stuff.

I am right there with you. I, too, have reached my threshold to some extent. It's hard for me to say that. I've gone annually, sometimes 2-3 times a year, since 1976; I remember actual E tickets.

I am not so upset that they've raised prices. I was expecting it. I don't care that it came in June v. August. I just expect it at some time during the year. I do think it needs to stop going up so much every year. Not because they DO advertise it as "affordable"--commercial just ran. Affordable is a subjective word. But because I think the value is going down.

I do have a lot of years and trips to compare it to. I still think they offer a lot, compared to other parks and are a fairly decent value, but not what it was. The dining is going downhill--too much of the same thing at every restaurant. And the way they charge... I do expect theme park pricing on food (you're basically a prisoner), but I expect better at the resorts compared to pricing. Or to follow the industry and not raise prices during prime time. I see that shows have been cut back. I'm not thrilled that most everything you buy is generic, and/or can be found at Wal-Mart, and no park specific merchandise (I am at Disney WORLD not DisneyLAND).

Prices up, value down. They are bound to hit a wall. Will it be this year? Next? Five years from now? I don't know. I do know it will be hard to go back. And as the industry leader (one reason you can't compare upcoming increases to their increase--they set the bar), it will be a shame. I don't know if they will be able to fix it. Someone already posted they thought Disney was for rich people. That made me laugh. But it's all about perception.

And um, NO it is not the same cost to Disney as Universal or, especially, Sea World. Seriously?? Either you are getting some fantastic Disney deals (please share how) or you are way, way, way over paying for those other places. My entire family of 6 goes to Sea World for the cost of one ticket for one person to Disney. In researching summer vacations, I did price a trip to Europe for two weeks and discovered it would cost less than 10 days to Disney. Too bad I didn't have two weeks time. Or hadn't promised my son we'd go to Disney for Thanksgiving.