So just why is Disney raising ticket prices so early

[lakohls]

Also just bought UT tickets: 4A & 2C 8 day hoppers for $1821.71. Figure gate prices will be about $2068 with increase, so saved about $246 - almost like a buy 5.25 tickets get 1 free deal!

But, I know there is the time factor of $ since I've paid out 5 months in advance of my budget schedule... and DH is not convinced even with the savings we should have spent ahead of the scheduled budget.

SOn the plus side, now with DVC accomodations are paid, flights are booked (AmEx points on JetBlue), and tickets are paid. Outstanding: the DP v OOP decision...

Thanks to everyone on the boards for the advance info.

 

[flicx]

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Hi! I also agree with your other post about Disney being approximately the same cost as a European vacation! We're both on the same page!

Disney will soon outprice themselves, I'm sure. With the economy the way it is and people are out of jobs the average person really can not afford a 10 day trip staying at Disney. It's really a sad time. Fortunately, we have a second home in Orlando and have annual passes.

brunette

Hi Brunette it's been awhile since i last posted.Glad to see you are still here.I must agree with you disney is pretty far along in the outpricing themselves department.They have reduced my families patronage to one trip every three years now.Increasing prices twice in less than one year,hmm not a good idea!

 

[gluvsmickey]

If WE can all see that disney may be making it too expensive for the average family to make repeat visits why can't the big shots see it? I have been lucky enough to go twice a year for the last couple of years but that has come to an end with tickets, flights, rooms we can't do it as much as before and I know I am a big baby but I think that is going to suck!!! I think thay need to realize that if you make it too much for people to get into your parks and hotels then you will miss all the other revenue from their visit, they should put a freeze on prices for a couple of years!

 

[Sammie]

As many long time DVCers will advise anyone thinking of making a DVC purchase, that the buying of DVC is just a small portion of the total cost.

Tickets, transportation to Orlando and food is a huge part of a long, long commitment. Sadly some new members don't sit down and figure up what a Disney vacation once or twice a year for many, many years will cost. And when your children become 10 you will be buying adult tickets for everyone.

If they did, they would

 

[Sammie]

If WE can all see that disney may be making it too expensive for the average family to make repeat visits why can't the big shots see it? I have been lucky enough to go twice a year for the last couple of years but that has come to an end with tickets, flights, rooms we can't do it as much as before and I know I am a big baby but I think that is going to suck!!! I think thay need to realize that if you make it too much for people to get into your parks and hotels then you will miss all the other revenue from their visit, they should put a freeze on prices for a couple of years!

Disney has never been concerned about the repeat guest. As long as enough first timers come for that once in a lifetime trip, they are going to keep raising prices.

 

[KidaniMom]

As many long time DVCers will advise anyone thinking of making a DVC purchase, that the buying of DVC is just a small portion of the total cost.

Tickets, transportation to Orlando and food is a huge part of a long, long commitment. Sadly some new members don't sit down and figure up what a Disney vacation once or twice a year for many, many years will cost. And when your children become 10 you will be buying adult tickets for everyone.

If they did, they would

This exactly what happened to us. We looked at our budget and figured we could handle buying DVC but for whatever strange reason we never even thought the cost of actually using the DVC each year. This year it is my goal to have everything paid for before our trip in August but I am not sure we will make it. Just bought my tickets on UT before the price increase but had to charge them. We are thinking of taking next year off but I don't know if the kids (and the adults) could handle that. LOL

 

[TCups4Me]

I had every intention of buying our tickets from UT before the next price increase for our fall 2012 trip but we will be staying on site and I'm not confident enough in a room-only discount to get the tickets now. I'm lucky enough to get several pin codes each year and at least one has always been a 40% off code, but with all the talk about weaning people off the discounts, I'm afraid the 2012 codes will be package-only discounts such as free dining.

Such a bummer! It's so hard to watch the price increases knowing that I need the product.

 

[TheRustyScupper]

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

1) Those union bargaining sessions must have been tough.
2) Glad our negotiators stuck to their guns.

 

[brunette8706]

Hi Brunette it's been awhile since i last posted.Glad to see you are still here.I must agree with you disney is pretty far along in the outpricing themselves department.They have reduced my families patronage to one trip every three years now.Increasing prices twice in less than one year,hmm not a good idea!

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Hey FLICX! Good to see you!!! I missed you there for a while. Hope things are doing GREAT for you and your family. Yeah, Disney will definitely outprice themselves, so much so that I'm sure there will be a decline in American attendance. When does it end? Sheesh!

Brunette

 

[DonaldTDuck]

If WE can all see that disney may be making it too expensive for the average family to make repeat visits why can't the big shots see it? I have been lucky enough to go twice a year for the last couple of years but that has come to an end with tickets, flights, rooms we can't do it as much as before and I know I am a big baby but I think that is going to suck!!! I think thay need to realize that if you make it too much for people to get into your parks and hotels then you will miss all the other revenue from their visit, they should put a freeze on prices for a couple of years!

Can you get Exxon to freeze their prices for the massive bus system? How about the labor market. CF and RS need to make more to pay their rent and med insurance. Disney's costs are going up and these raises are modest at best. You want them to freeze prices, but costs keep going up. Would you want your company to freeze prices without thought to costs? Won't work. You now have the information to make a decision based on your circumstances. Do that but don't expect a publicly held corporation to stop trying to make a decent profit for their shareholders. And whining on the Disboards ain't gonna help.

 

[yankeepenny]

I am not surprised about the ticket increases happening earlier. You figure, all the news about how great the revenue increase is in $$$ being spent at Universal, disney is losing out. The horrific problems in Japan and that park being shut down for a while?, disney is losing out. And the economy here in the US that still sucks? , disney is losing out.
They are a business trying to make money. And it took them until this new MK addition/construction/changes to figure folks just are not going to spend 7 days in their corner of the world anymore. Thousands of folks now doing 4-5 days for a stay is a lot of money they are losing out on.

So, they think raising prices again will help. Yet if only they knew that just saying, FOR ONCE, "no new ticket prices this year, and thanks for coming back folks" would mean a lot.

JMHO-

 

[mom2rtk]

Disney is free to raise their prices or not. We are all free to go or not.

Nothing any one of us does or doesn't do will have any impact on making that plan succeed or fail. But when the public in some large fashion changes behavior in response to a price increase, THAT is the only thing that can make an impact.

Perhaps they had research to show other parks were raising prices. Perhaps it was the cost of fuel and supplies that prompted it at this time. Maybe the big wigs felt overdue for a raise. We'll never know. But if the public pays the prices and the resorts stay booked, then who are we to say it was the wrong move?

My personal theory? They said all along they were going to stop the big package discounts this year. I think they now see they can't, so they are padding the bottom line in other ways and will have the new discounts ready to go soon. Really. I want you all to remember this when it turns out I'm right in a few weeks.........

 

[fla4fun]

My personal theory? They said all along they were going to stop the big package discounts this year. I think they now see they can't, so they are padding the bottom line in other ways and will have the new discounts ready to go soon. Really. I want you all to remember this when it turns out I'm right in a few weeks.........

This is precisely what I have been thinking as well. Raise the price on tickets, which every visitor has to buy, and then you can afford to offer the packages and room discounts to fill your resorts. The cash cow is in all the other stuff like the tickets and the food and the souvenirs (all of which have gone up in price) that nearly everyone who enters the park will spend money on. Look at it this way - if Disney drives people off property, then they can't get the dining plan, so any food they buy in the park will be OOP at high prices - so they win again. I do expect that we will see at least modest increases in the room rates as well, when those come out. It's whether the discounts will still be there that is the question.

Of course, the economy is playing a role in it as well. Take my electric bill, for example. I just got it yesterday, and I'm using 20KWH less per day than the same time last year (basically, I was on vacation for 2 1/2 weeks of the billing period, so I wasn't there to use anything) and the bill is as high as a midsummer bill last year. I bring home fewer groceries for the same amount of money. I buy less gasoline for the same amount of money. Disney is not immune to these costs either and so they look at the different ways to make up the difference, and this is what they have chosen to do.

It doesn't do any good to complain about it, other than venting our frustration. So long as we continue to visit, we're supporting their decisions.

 

[Jedana]

I have no idea, but we aren't going back to WDW for awhile. Will I miss the theming and the "magic"? Sure. But after our last trip, with multiple rude CMs, DH getting sick from the food at the POFQ food court (no one else got ill), the terrifying weather (not their fault--but it still didn't make the trip fun) and the attitude from Disney of "money money money" over quality, I am done spending money there. At least for a little while.

We can get a 2 year season pass to the 4 local "busch" parks for the less than the price of 1 season pass to WDW. ($379.99 as opposed to $414.29 for the resident annual pass to 4 theme parks only) I could always add the WP & More for $542.09 or I can get a 2 year platinum pass from "busch" and go to all 9 of their parks for $439.99.

Yes, I know, it's Disney and you can't compare the two and etc. BUT I am able to go for 2 years and DH gets to ride more rides that he enjoys.

 

[kathy884]

It's the same way with Disney cruise prices. There are many people who will pay DCL's higher (and sometimes VERY high) prices - just because it's Disney. There are other cruise lines that I like as well as DCL, but there aren't other theme parks I love as much as Disney World.

Boy I sure know what you mean about Disney cruise prices. We are doing a mini little five day cruise from NYC to Canada. Both Disney and Carnival are doing the very same intinary. Disney ships are rated higher (5 stars on cruise critic for Disney // 4.5 starts for the Carnival Glory) and have larger staterooms (so it isn't an exact apples to applies comparison). For midship balcony for three though Disney was 85% higher. // Not worth that premium to me -- Disney, though, will probably get that price. Disney would be my first choice and I'd pay more for them, but not even close to 85% more, especially given that I sailed on another Conquest class ship from a few years back and thought the ship was really nice (was happy with the quality).

If you do little mini tours/excursions on vacations (two hours can easily run $60 pp // six hours easily $80 -$120 pp), If you go sking -- a lift ticket for a day at a nice Colorado ski resort is a little higher than a day at Disney theme park and multi day tickets don't have the discounts Disney offers and there are certainly know second day free offers like Sea World has. While theme park prices are high, I think they are a better value than many of these other things we often spend vacation money on, expensive but a good value. We like many other people, though, have have cut back on some things on vacations (are driving rather than flying on one trip, for example) or shortened vacations to keep things in our budget, especially with the rise in airfares. (That's where I've seen the steepest rise by far --I've had to pay about 35% more for airfares this year than last year for traveling to the same places in the same month -- ouch!)

Ticket prices are IMO a good value, but high for sure. Our vacations are often like this -- (sking every other day, doing one day at Disney per trip, two days at Sea World, with second day free pricing, and spending other days at our resort on a seven night / six day trip -- with maybe a few hours at Gatorland or something like that.) // Multiday tickets discount, though, and wanting to do more than this means I think that most people don't vacation like this. Maybe it's just that we've been so many times and find this a relaxing, more economical way to go that hits our favorites.

 

[NancyIL]

Boy I sure know what you mean about Disney cruise prices. We are doing a mini little five day cruise from NYC to Canada. Both Disney and Carnival are doing the very same intinary. Disney ships are rated higher (5 stars on cruise critic for Disney // 4.5 starts for the Carnival Glory) and have larger staterooms (so it isn't an exact apples to applies comparison). For midship balcony for three though Disney was 85% higher. // Not worth that premium to me -- Disney, though, will probably get that price. Disney would be my first choice and I'd pay more for them, but not even close to 85% more, especially given that I sailed on another Conquest class ship from a few years back and thought the ship was really nice (was happy with the quality).

There's no doubt that Disney cruises usually cost more than others, and occasionally I'm willing to pay more. I moved an onboard booking to one of the Sept. 2012 DCL Canada cruises, although I booked the least expensive inside cabin @ $715 pp + taxes before the 10% discount. I'd love to go on another Canada cruise, but 5 days is much shorter than what I'd prefer. I will probably move that cruise to something in 2013 - especially if DCL returns to Europe.

Getting back to ticket prices - I wish I had purchased more 10-day non-expiring park hoppers when they first came out in 2005. I bought one from a discounter that included 5 water park options in 12/05 for $353! Without the plus options, that ticket price would've been $330. A 10-day non-expiring hopper at today's higher prices is $608.12!

 

[rt2dz]

Can you get Exxon to freeze their prices for the massive bus system? How about the labor market. CF and RS need to make more to pay their rent and med insurance. Disney's costs are going up and these raises are modest at best. You want them to freeze prices, but costs keep going up. Would you want your company to freeze prices without thought to costs? Won't work. You now have the information to make a decision based on your circumstances. Do that but don't expect a publicly held corporation to stop trying to make a decent profit for their shareholders. And whining on the Disboards ain't gonna help.

This goes back to the fact that when an economy isn't hot, businesses need to accept a lower profit margin, a la Wal-Mart (and Wal-Mart isn't exactly hurting--just ask their shareholders). Disney isn't losing money. Disney isn't just breaking even. Disney is turning a profit. They are trying to keep that high profit, and even increase it.

Disney is losing loyalty. People who go regularly are going to be heading there less. Those that plan occasionally trips will become once in a lifetime. And some of those once in a lifetime people will skip it altogether. Because people can't spend money they don't have. In the long run, all these price increases are going to bite them in the butt.

All that said, I don't find this ticket price increase a surprise. I'm only mildly shocked it came 2 months sooner than expected. It would have been nice to seem them wait a little longer to increase ticket prices, perhaps to January. Or skip this year. But either one of those options would have been a bigger shock to me.

 

[mom2rtk]

This goes back to the fact that when an economy isn't hot, businesses need to accept a lower profit margin.

Actually........ business (in this case Disey) only NEEDS to accept a lower profit margin if business drops and they can't fill their resorts and parks as a result of their choice to raise prices.

 

[rt2dz]

Actually........ business (in this case Disey) only NEEDS to accept a lower profit margin if business drops and they can't fill their resorts and parks as a result of their choice to raise prices.

I guess the word is "should" v. "need." What I was talking about is a basic economics principal (that class most people slept through in college). I was also talking about all the other businesses that the pp mentioned. The economy actually gets better when prices are kept lower. The theory behind taxes is even (supposed to be) raise them when the economy is high and lower them when the economy is low.

APs are up $20 per person. That's an extra $120 for me. Some would call that a drop in the bucket compared to what a Disney trip costs. And they're right. It's only 1.5%. But, my budget is what my budget is. And that money has to come from somewhere. What scares me, is the cost of rooms, especially with a large family. THAT is where Disney is losing me.

I have never paid rack rate, and never will--it's just too much. Discounts aren't as available as before, and not for our travel dates. But even when I have 40% off codes, I'm still paying more for lesser accommodations--not just within the Disney area, but in the other places we travel. I can stay in Europe for less. I can go on an African Safari for equal. We've stayed in top hotels in NYC and Chicago for less. I don't feel I'm getting my money's worth anymore with Disney resorts. We don't use the "perks" beyond EMH; it's just always been about the feel, but we're going to put that to the test this next trip. Disney cutbacks have been making that feeling not as strong as it was before. We dearly miss the old cartoon channel loop, for example. And as my kids get more expensive at Disney, they also want to start leaving Disney to do other things--Universal. That's win-win for the kids and the pocketbook. So, we'll see.

 

[havoc315]

They raised ticket prices early, because they released all 2012 prices early.