When will the Disney Money Grabbing End?

[Mrlogboy]

I agre 100%
Unfortunately mr monopoly, 1% ers what eve you call them don't care. This applies to any/all companies. If your profits don't meet you expectations we drop your stock and your value drops. Then they make more and go to Disney, and the rest of us can not or have to save up longer to go.

I guess it is true,
All good things must come to an end

 

[mefordis]

You don't get it. Disney wants to give the rich a way to see Disney with out dealing with the middle class and poor.
You have to be well off to spend ( family of 4 is $600, for three hours) the middle class can't do that. So the rich can enjoy Disney with out rubbing shoulders with the poor

Or maybe a family will use miles to pay for their plane tickets or even drive to save on airfare. Then they can take that savings and use it for the 3 hour party. One way for middle class to afford it if they really want to go.

This could also appeal to those who only plan to go to WDW once in their lifetime. I feel like a lot of people are spoiled because they could always afford to go 2-4x a year and now that prices have gone up and their wages are stagnant, they can no longer afford to do that. Most people in the US can't afford to go even once in their lifetime.

 

[redgokart]

either way the price for 6-7 hours (3 hours exclusive) is way too high. it should be the same price as a regular day ticket or less! it would be an excellent way to thin the crowds because these ticket holders wont enter until 7pm. they could market them to the adult disney lovers who want to enjoy disney without getting up early and having to dodge strollers, sightseers, and photographers all day long.

 

[usnuzuloose]

I know I am priced out. This is just costing way to much money. And I am talking just about the regular things to pay for, not including the extras.

 

[Danman]

Say goodbye to extra magic hours for free. Im sure there is no limit to the amount of tickets that they will sell. We haven't been in 5 years- considered it this year and the more I read the more I think I will just stick to Universal for my theme park needs.

Where are you going go when Universal follows suit if Disney is successful? Disney is swamped and people complain about crowds and prices and then threaten to take there business to Universal. Just think, in a few short years with all the people that left Disney they will complain because Universal is so crowded and is now price gouging.

I don't like it either but that's just how things roll. Supply and demand and Disney is as busy as ever. Can't blame them

 

[Colleen27]

149 bucks can get you a couple nice steaks at shula.

I paid to get into the park the first time. Why would I want to pay a second time?

I think most of the market for this will be people who haven't paid to get in the first time. I had the same immediate reaction as everyone else - no way am I paying $150pp for 3 hours in the parks! - but then I thought about it a bit more and have to admit there are times when I might. Not when we're staying on site and "doing Disney" for all/most of the trip, but to add a Disney evening to a non-Disney trip.

For example, we're trying to figure out how to fit in a Universal/Halloween Horror Nights vacation and for that we'll be staying on-site at US. For that trip, I'd probably book this as a way to get a little Disney fix with my youngest - it is a little more expensive than a one-day ticket, but we're night owls so it suits us better than the early park closings in the "slow" season. And since we're not rope droppers even when we're on site, never mind being across town, it makes more sense to me than paying for a daytime ticket for beating the crowds. (Not that I think we'll have the option; I don't see this co-existing with party season so we'll probably end up doing MNSSHP if we decide on a Disney visit.)

 

[katyjeka]

OK for weeks now I've been researching the net to do with all these price hikes probable price hikes and I got an idea in my head . I start to look on the Internet to see if there's any reports on the percentage of people in the park based on their nationality . The reason why want to do this is because I gone to the park since 1971 I was only four months at the time and don't remember much . Then frequented the parks a bit me 80s more in the 90s and prior to going to last July 4, 2002 was the last time I went to Disney World. So my thinking is in the 80s and 90s the percentage of people in the park that were from America with maybe 60 or 40% . And add the years progress that percentage might be dropping a little bit and or changing because the percentage of international travelers is picking up . Heck if you don't make a reservation at least maybe a year out you'll have a hard time really getting what you want to get sometimes depending on the time of the month . So on the disboards, please correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the majority of the people posting are from United States of America .Who have traveled quite frequently yearly if not every few years and have gotten used to the way the park is the way The Disney dream is . and like others I believe this last July vacation will be the last one for a little bit maybe five years to Disney World I can always go to Disneyland or heck maybe Shanghai I'll be cheaper. so yes prices will continue to increase even more than mess things that were free will get parsed out and have fees attached to them again because they can .let's go back to the 20% to 40% that are American. It's a 10% drop off Bella be a very little blip to Disney because I'm sure the international travelers will pick up and fill in the gap's plus as well ride Lines to get a little bit shorter. don't want to be a bearer of bad news but I do unfortunately greet hundred percent with Pete . This will change when overall demand changes which I do not see any time soon . Heck even if demand changes and say about five years well guess what we got toys story land we got Star Wars land avatar lands been up for a while so I see this as sustaining for maybe 10+ years unfortunately . Now that's not to say they will not have deals hopefully the Disney folks are smart enough to realize that maybe there are more international people coming then local people and like they give deals to Canadians maybe they will give some deals to Americans similar to they give deals to the Florida people might be harder to grab but hey we can always hope. And if that does not work we can just try and sprinkle pixie dust .

So sorry - but I need to vent - I am an avid Disney fan, have been going to the parks 2-3 times a year since '90, take Disney cruises, am a DVC member, LOVE all things Disney- just like all of you. After reading about these "add-on" price tags to items which were previously part of my ticket I am VERY SAD and DISCOURGED. Disney vacations were never cheap, but the quality and the attention to detail was unsurpassed.

Disney has ALWAYS been my haven- my go to place to get away from the stress of live to forget the horrible things that are going on - and be happy. The parks, the rides, the resorts, The cast members, the flowers, the music, all these little things make my trip special. When you go to Disney you KNOW what to expect- a great trip.

But now I fear that my Disney bubble may burst, I see Disney trying to make me pay for things that were previously part of my tkt, and it makes me sad to see this occur. With my Disney vacation I always felt I was getting "top quality" and "exceptional service" special things for what I was paying for, but with these petty increases, and most recently the change in removing live actors from the parks [the bands at EPCOT, Studios street performers] Disney is not only making us pay for items that we once received as part of admission, but they are now removing things that I looked forward too, and valued during my visits.

I truly hope that this trend will not continue, because if it does, Disney will be lowering itself to become just like every other mediocre theme park- and that special sparkle, will be lost. If the Disney "bubble" is broken then there will be nothing special to draw me in. I can spend my money anywhere and visit other places and see other things, and perhaps, maybe not be disappointed spending my money.

Disney please rethink what you are doing.

We have been visiting over 30 years. I have wanted to buy into dvc for many years but could not convince my dh. We were pretty close a couple times but changed our minds. We try really hard not to compare present trips with past but it's tough. We loved discovery island, splashing in the lake, and the food and fun packages. Times are changing and we are trying to go with it but the magic is getting harder to find. This past year was the very first time I felt we were vacationing at an amusement park. Sounds strange but never before had I felt that way. WDW was not just a park and I spent many days arguing this point with friends and family. The attitudes of cast members have changed. Yes, we still saw some very kind people but the overall vibe was different. We did spend three days at Universal/IOA and must admit we had a great time. Our youngest loved Dr. Suess and our entire family loved Harry Potter. The Grinch and ScoobyDoo Gang were the best character interaction we've ever had, ever. We will go back to the world again I'm sure but it is no longer our first vacation choice. We have started to discover how far our vacation money will go elsewhere and our girls are excited to vacation in new places. I never thought I'd be able to take our family to some of the countries in Epcot for less than Epcot........something is wrong with this.

 

[Darcy03231]

We have been visiting over 30 years. I have wanted to buy into dvc for many years but could not convince my dh. We were pretty close a couple times but changed our minds. We try really hard not to compare present trips with past but it's tough. We loved discovery island, splashing in the lake, and the food and fun packages. Times are changing and we are trying to go with it but the magic is getting harder to find. This past year was the very first time I felt we were vacationing at an amusement park. Sounds strange but never before had I felt that way. WDW was not just a park and I spent many days arguing this point with friends and family. The attitudes of cast members have changed. Yes, we still saw some very kind people but the overall vibe was different. We did spend three days at Universal/IOA and must admit we had a great time. Our youngest loved Dr. Suess and our entire family loved Harry Potter. The Grinch and ScoobyDoo Gang were the best character interaction we've ever had, ever. We will go back to the world again I'm sure but it is no longer our first vacation choice. We have started to discover how far our vacation money will go elsewhere and our girls are excited to vacation in new places. I never thought I'd be able to take our family to some of the countries in Epcot for less than Epcot........something is wrong with this.

We've gotten away from our WDW vacations over the last couple of years and have found that other destinations have been either less expensive or comparable in price.

Last year we did:

A week at Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica
10 days at the Young Island Resort (St. Vincent)
10 days in Orlando (US/IOA, SeaWorld and other smaller attractions)

Our upcoming trips through 2017 (so far) are:

11 days in Grenada
12 cruise - Baltic Sea
12 days in Europe going to London, Paris & Barcelona

So far we've been having more fun that our last WDW trip.

 

[Colleen27]

We will go back to the world again I'm sure but it is no longer our first vacation choice. We have started to discover how far our vacation money will go elsewhere and our girls are excited to vacation in new places. I never thought I'd be able to take our family to some of the countries in Epcot for less than Epcot........something is wrong with this.

This would be funny if it wasn't so true. Even with 5 of us, which means airfare adds up to something just short of absurdity for overseas trips, we're looking at a considerably lower per-day budget for our first European adventure next year than for our most recent Disney trip. My budget is only preliminary at this point, but I'm coming up with spending about 30% more than we spent on our last Disney trip... to spend 3 weeks overseas and visit 4 countries, rather than one week with the Mouse. Of course, that's not counting souvenirs - we quit shopping at WDW years ago because of the declining merchandise selection and quality, so going someplace where we might actually find things we want is a budgeting challenge I haven't had in a while.

 

[kathy884]

I don't think Disney has ever really been an inexpensive place, but there are plenty of ways to lower your overall vacation cost, and do a day at Disney. Sure they are selling more extras if there is the demand for that, but for me most of their prices were above and beyond what I could stomach since day one, so I'm just not seeing a major/radical shift. I've been priced out of Disney resorts except the campground ever since the MK park opened back in 1971. Sure I could afford a value, but I prefer to get a beautiful two bedroom offsite condo for a similar price and since we usually have six people or so, I'd actually need two values making the condo quite a bit less expensive. I stopped getting the multiday tickets ever since they started charging a premium for no expiration, and pared down my spending to just do one park day per year. For me a single trip multiday ticket is too much time at the mouse and too much money more the mouse, although cost per day is good with four days or more, but I never want to do that much. Extra party prices have always annoyed me. If I do a party I do just that for my one park day. I find the add on tours like Wild Africa Trek at $250 pp high season plus an Animal Kingdom park admission a little too rich for my blood. And those 35 pp meals get really pricey really fast. Sometime I have done one per trip, but more recently zero.

So for years, I've been doing Orlando on the cheap, spending a week in an offsite condo in Orlando, doing one day at Disney (about $100 pp), three resort days at the condo, Two SeaWorld days a trip usually the first and last full days of my vacation, getting that $15 or so second day deal. I bring food into Disney. At SeaWorld I buy the $30 pp all day meal deal. For dinners out I do chains like Sweet Tomatoes and Olive Garden. We cook all breakfasts in. We do lunches in or sandwiches except for SeaWorld meal deal days. Orlando trips are way less expensive for me than any other place I go for a week long vacation. We enjoy the swimming, tennis, family games, and family movies at the condo. We also like to go resort hopping at the Mouse one 1/2 day and ride the monorail around. Occasionally we go to the Kennedy Space Center, Clearwater Beach, or something like that for a day trip. Oh and I fly down using SW points, and there are always lots of good deals on rental cars in Orlando.

Our main vacation every year is somewhere other than Orlando (often the western United States -- National Park or other pristine natural place). This summer we are going to Colorado for a week. Cost there is similar to cost in Orlando. Other US west destinations are usually a little pricier because of higher airfares and more expensive lodging than those bargain beautiful offsite Orlando timeshare condos we rent from owners. // The killer for us for Europe is the $1500 pp high season airfare -- ouch.

With good movie attendance, park prices up, and attendance up, though, I did buy some Disney stock lol.

 

[OhMari]

We have been visiting over 30 years. I have wanted to buy into dvc for many years but could not convince my dh. We were pretty close a couple times but changed our minds. We try really hard not to compare present trips with past but it's tough. We loved discovery island, splashing in the lake, and the food and fun packages. Times are changing and we are trying to go with it but the magic is getting harder to find. This past year was the very first time I felt we were vacationing at an amusement park. Sounds strange but never before had I felt that way. WDW was not just a park and I spent many days arguing this point with friends and family. The attitudes of cast members have changed. Yes, we still saw some very kind people but the overall vibe was different. We did spend three days at Universal/IOA and must admit we had a great time. Our youngest loved Dr. Suess and our entire family loved Harry Potter. The Grinch and ScoobyDoo Gang were the best character interaction we've ever had, ever. We will go back to the world again I'm sure but it is no longer our first vacation choice. We have started to discover how far our vacation money will go elsewhere and our girls are excited to vacation in new places. I never thought I'd be able to take our family to some of the countries in Epcot for less than Epcot........something is wrong with this.

We wanted to buy too but never did. I think what held us back is the $1000 yearly maintenance fee. We usually spend that amount to either stay at a moderate or we rent a DVC for $10 a point. In the last 10 years, we rented from the same person 6 times. Yes it is only a studio, but sufficient for us.

 

[manning]

When will it End? When Disney becomes a private company. And we know that won't happen.
Disney is a publicly owned company. It has many shares of stock held by many stockholders. The prime mission of the board of directors is to keep them happy. Thes officers have a fiduciary to act in the best interest of the stockholder and must set aside their own personal motives in favor of the stockholders goals. To give them the highest return. Failure to do this could lead to legal action and the board members/CEO can be removed.

The goal of the stockholders is to make as much money as possible.

 

[maxiesmom]

This would be funny if it wasn't so true. Even with 5 of us, which means airfare adds up to something just short of absurdity for overseas trips, we're looking at a considerably lower per-day budget for our first European adventure next year than for our most recent Disney trip. My budget is only preliminary at this point, but I'm coming up with spending about 30% more than we spent on our last Disney trip... to spend 3 weeks overseas and visit 4 countries, rather than one week with the Mouse. Of course, that's not counting souvenirs - we quit shopping at WDW years ago because of the declining merchandise selection and quality, so going someplace where we might actually find things we want is a budgeting challenge I haven't had in a while.

A good part of the reason it is cheaper to go to Europe is many people feel it is unsafe to travel overseas right now. They have to make it cheap enough to lure people out of their comfort zone.

 

[katyjeka]

Agree, people are afraid to travel to certain areas now. We refuse to raise our girls to fear we instead have decided to educate them on being cautious and aware of their surroundings. I hope people realize things can happen anywhere including in the WDW bubble. Our 2 weeks in Merida Mexico worried the grandparents, they felt it was not safe for our family in Mexico. We met some fantastic people who were peace loving, friendly, and so welcoming. We saw some amazing sites and our girls were able to see that kids are more or less the same no matter where u go. They played and made friends. Our parents are blinded by fear and are missing out on some beautiful places as well as people. Mexico is just one example of a place that can be dangerous if u don't plan ahead and educate yourself on places to avoid. Do your homework and it's a beautiful place.

 

[katyjeka]

Forgot to add two weeks in Merida including flight, rental car, and vacation home were less than one week at Disney. We were able to experience real ruins, swim in cenotes, walk thru markets where our girls were able to buy souvenirs (for a quarter of the price at Disney) and swim in some beautiful warm water. Disney will continue to raise prices and people will continue to buy. We've decided to place a value on our hard earned money and get as much out of it as we can. For some Disney is just this but for us the value has disappeared.

 

[maxiesmom]

Agree, people are afraid to travel to certain areas now. We refuse to raise our girls to fear we instead have decided to educate them on being cautious and aware of their surroundings. I hope people realize things can happen anywhere including in the WDW bubble. Our 2 weeks in Merida Mexico worried the grandparents, they felt it was not safe for our family in Mexico. We met some fantastic people who were peace loving, friendly, and so welcoming. We saw some amazing sites and our girls were able to see that kids are more or less the same no matter where u go. They played and made friends. Our parents are blinded by fear and are missing out on some beautiful places as well as people. Mexico is just one example of a place that can be dangerous if u don't plan ahead and educate yourself on places to avoid. Do your homework and it's a beautiful place.

I agree that we shouldn't isolate ourselves. But don't kid yourself or anyone else, bad things can happen no matter how much homework you do on a place. Paris isn't exactly known as a dangerous city, nor is Brussles.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

Agree, people are afraid to travel to certain areas now. We refuse to raise our girls to fear we instead have decided to educate them on being cautious and aware of their surroundings. I hope people realize things can happen anywhere including in the WDW bubble. Our 2 weeks in Merida Mexico worried the grandparents, they felt it was not safe for our family in Mexico. We met some fantastic people who were peace loving, friendly, and so welcoming. We saw some amazing sites and our girls were able to see that kids are more or less the same no matter where u go. They played and made friends. Our parents are blinded by fear and are missing out on some beautiful places as well as people. Mexico is just one example of a place that can be dangerous if u don't plan ahead and educate yourself on places to avoid. Do your homework and it's a beautiful place.

This is going pretty off topic with this thread, but I wanted to chime in.

I think there are some places that are undoubtedly too dangerous to travel as Americans. I love traveling abroad, but I would not go to Iran or North Korea, given their record of falsely accusing and imprisoning American citizens. But I would definitely travel to most other parts of the world. Is there danger? Of course. Your flight could disappear over the Indian ocean, there could be a bombing at a concert in Europe or your tour bus could crash in South America. These are all real things that have happened, with lives lost. But you could also die when hit by a drunk driver on your way to work, or be shot in a movie theatre or when eating tainted food at a local restaurant. The chances of these things happening are actually very low and I am willing to take that chance. I would rather die doing something that I loved than to live in fear and not enjoy my life.

And there is always the chance of tragedy at a Disney park. It is not immune to the problems that we are seeing globally and I do hope that nothing ever will occur, but realize that risk is inherent in life.

 

[katyjeka]

Not kidding myself but what would make Disney immune? We will take our girls to Paris one day as the city has a lot to offer. We do our homework to be aware but understand danger is all around us. We live 30 miles from Shanksville Pa. Trust me nobody would have believed the horror that happened that day. We r are small country area, everyone knows everyone and we felt "safe" from the outside world. Lesson learned!!!! You can not hide your family and we refuse to raise a future generation in fear. A shooting, bombing, God knows what else, can happen inside those magic gates and I don't believe people travel to Disney with their guard up. It is, unfortunately, a perfect target. A large group of people in a concentrated area. I understand places like Mexico are dangerous, so is Detroit, St. Louis, etc..... That doesn't mean these cities don't have a lot to offer. They have great people, interesting things to do, and sites that should be seen. One small concentrated area that is unsafe does not make the city dangerous. Educate oneself on what to avoid and enjoy the rest......Live in fear, teach your family to fear and we all lose.

 

[maxiesmom]

Not kidding myself but what would make Disney immune? We will take our girls to Paris one day as the city has a lot to offer. We do our homework to be aware but understand danger is all around us. We live 30 miles from Shanksville Pa. Trust me nobody would have believed the horror that happened that day. We r are small country area, everyone knows everyone and we felt "safe" from the outside world. Lesson learned!!!! You can not hide your family and we refuse to raise a future generation in fear. A shooting, bombing, God knows what else, can happen inside those magic gates and I don't believe people travel to Disney with their guard up. It is, unfortunately, a perfect target. A large group of people in a concentrated area. I understand places like Mexico are dangerous, so is Detroit, St. Louis, etc..... That doesn't mean these cities don't have a lot to offer. They have great people, interesting things to do, and sites that should be seen. One small concentrated area that is unsafe does not make the city dangerous. Educate oneself on what to avoid and enjoy the rest......Live in fear, teach your family to fear and we all lose.

To me it is the difference between visiting California during fire season and going a different time of the year. I'll choose to go when there is less of a threat. Of course none of us are immune, but we all do try to put the odds in our favor, don't we? We put on seat belts instead of not, we wear bike helmets. To me it is the same, just on a way larger scale. And judging by the prices for European travel, many feel the same way.

Btw, I live pretty darned close to where the Uber driver went crazy and started shooting people. I work in a mall and have taken Active Threat training. I don't live in a bubble. But as much as I would love to see Paris and other cities, I'm staying closer to home for now.

 

[katyjeka]

A terrorist can strike a little town in the middle of Pa., I don't know of a place with less threat. I refuse to hide my family in fear and would rather educate them. I respect your opinion and even understand it but will continue to show our family the world. I agree with above there are some places that obviously we will not go (North Korea for one)but for our family the world is meant to be discovered and we will do so.