Out of control WDW ticket prices

[Goofyernmost]

I think you have to back to the OP's post and theory about the focus on the company stock price. If the focus of TWDC is to keep the price elevated because of the stock options afforded the board and the highest level of management, they will always make decisions based on what benefits stock prices short term.
I am not sure but I don't think TWDC was as profitable or a Wall Street darling from the 50's to the 70's.

It wasn't even that in the early 2000's. I had stock that was bought at $24. per share and 5 years later it had zoomed up to $26. Even the dividends for that time didn't amount to much more then about $3.00 per share, if that much. I finally sold it because it was costing me more to maintain the account then I was getting back.

 

[draybook]

To attract the type of people as cast members who would provide the previous level of 'Disney Difference', you would have to pay more. You would also have to expend more money to provide the 'wow' factor that people have come to expect with new attractions and experiences. All of those costs need to be recovered. Some get depreciated over time, some need to be recovered immediately. Therefore they have to raise prices to get the same level of quality.

Ok, but how much were CM's making in the 70's-late 80's, when that level of service was so much higher? I doubt they were running around in BMWs.

 

[flynnibus]

Ok, but how much were CM's making in the 70's-late 80's, when that level of service was so much higher? I doubt they were running around in BMWs.

Satisfied employees is not just about pay... but how they are treated, perks, respect, services...

All things that have been in decline since.

 

[Mouse_Trap]

No I clicked on the link and sent them an email. They replied this morning and said only if I was in the UK or Ireland. They can't sell these to anyone in the states

I forget if these are sent as actual tickets or are e-tickets, even if they had to be posted out to you there is a saving to be made.
Do you know anyone in the UK or Ireland that could order them for you?

 

[Ben_since_1971]

Then why haven't price increases been enough to maintain quality?

Because you have 4 parks, however many hotels, two waterparks, a shopping/entertainment center, etc. And my point is, to maintain the 'Disney Difference' (which in most instances is purely subjective) you would have to raise prices to such a level that you would begin pricing out a large number of your customers. What is the point of having the quality if you don't have customers to enjoy it?

 

[Lucky]

Because you have 4 parks, however many hotels, two waterparks, a shopping/entertainment center, etc. And my point is, to maintain the 'Disney Difference' (which in most instances is purely subjective) you would have to raise prices to such a level that you would begin pricing out a large number of your customers. What is the point of having the quality if you don't have customers to enjoy it?

You're assuming revenues from the parks will all be re-invested in the parks, and re-invested efficiently. That hasn't been happening.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Satisfied employees is not just about pay... but how they are treated, perks, respect, services...

All things that have been in decline since.

Nothing says "I love you" like dropping the staff Christmas party.

 

[Ben_since_1971]

I am not assuming anything. I was just giving my opinion on why the level of quality has not kept up with the rise in ticket prices. But you cannot make a 1-1 comparison between ticket prices and level of quality. The decline of quality (whether perceived or actual) is due to many factors, cost of producing the quality one of them. You also have the people charged with delivering and creating the quality. You have the perception and reputation of the quality by the customers.

I am sure you will agree that people are more apt to give and chip in on a negative opinion than something positive (this thread being one of them). I posted on another thread here about 'what is your Disney sin?' and someone posted that after reading many other threads on this site, she was regretting her pending trip, the first one she has had in a very long time. And it is true. If someone who had either never been, or hadn't been in 10, 15, 20, 30 years read these boards, they would come away with the opinion that Walt Disney World is in imminent danger of going out of business. The transportation system is terrible. The food is terrible. The hotels are crumbling. etc. So naturally one would think that there is a definite quality issue.

But is it really that bad? I would argue no. Are there issues? Of course. Has there been a decline? In some areas, yes. But judging quality is mostly subjective. The whole point of my opinion (and the second part of my previous post) was that if they were to fund this 'Disney Difference' in 2014 dollars, they would have increased costs so high that the resulting prices charged to customers would be prohibitively expensive and they would lose even more money.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Because you have 4 parks, however many hotels, two waterparks, a shopping/entertainment center, etc. And my point is, to maintain the 'Disney Difference' (which in most instances is purely subjective) you would have to raise prices to such a level that you would begin pricing out a large number of your customers. What is the point of having the quality if you don't have customers to enjoy it?

The way Disney currently operates, each one of those entities much pay for itself. There are aspects of the Disney Difference that are absolutely objective, such as a duration of training or show quality standards. If the cost of maintaining quality has so greatly expanded actual prices, then why? Having more increases the actual dollar amount, but that does not mean it has to be a radical increase as a percentage of revenue. Why did that percentage increase happen?

 

[Cesar R M]

I am not assuming anything. I was just giving my opinion on why the level of quality has not kept up with the rise in ticket prices. But you cannot make a 1-1 comparison between ticket prices and level of quality. The decline of quality (whether perceived or actual) is due to many factors, cost of producing the quality one of them. You also have the people charged with delivering and creating the quality. You have the perception and reputation of the quality by the customers.

I am sure you will agree that people are more apt to give and chip in on a negative opinion than something positive (this thread being one of them). I posted on another thread here about 'what is your Disney sin?' and someone posted that after reading many other threads on this site, she was regretting her pending trip, the first one she has had in a very long time. And it is true. If someone who had either never been, or hadn't been in 10, 15, 20, 30 years read these boards, they would come away with the opinion that Walt Disney World is in imminent danger of going out of business. The transportation system is terrible. The food is terrible. The hotels are crumbling. etc. So naturally one would think that there is a definite quality issue.

But is it really that bad? I would argue no. Are there issues? Of course. Has there been a decline? In some areas, yes. But judging quality is mostly subjective. The whole point of my opinion (and the second part of my previous post) was that if they were to fund this 'Disney Difference' in 2014 dollars, they would have increased costs so high that the resulting prices charged to customers would be prohibitively expensive and they would lose even more money.

I think people need to see and feel it by themselves before taking an opinion.
they should only cancel a trip if there was a major refurb that was critical for them.
and I agree with you regarding that WDW is not "crumbling" but it has quite a few of issues.
but I disagree with you on the costs.

 

[Goofyernmost]

Nothing says "I love you" like dropping the staff Christmas party.

You are acting like Disney is the very first and only company to do that. Many, one of mine included, stopped them because they all became a drunken anger fest. Hardly, conducive to a good holiday. I never attended a Christmas party that didn't end in some type of disaster for someone. For Disney all it takes is a little imagination to, number one, understand how much it must cost (what is there about 60,000 employees at WDW alone) and number two, the liability that today's sue happy population puts them in the direct target off. No, it would be nice to be able to do that, but couple that with the pressure from people that have religious beliefs that are conflicted with the celebration of a Christian Holiday and you have total proof of the change in society driving many of those decisions.

 

[Goofyernmost]

The way Disney currently operates, each one of those entities much pay for itself. There are aspects of the Disney Difference that are absolutely objective, such as a duration of training or show quality standards. If the cost of maintaining quality has so greatly expanded actual prices, then why? Having more increases the actual dollar amount, but that does not mean it has to be a radical increase as a percentage of revenue. Why did that percentage increase happen?

How about attractions, machinery and equipment that is now 42 years old and requires more maintenance. Run your car for 42 years and see how much shop time it gets.

 

[ParentsOf4]

If someone who had either never been, or hadn't been in 10, 15, 20, 30 years read these boards, they would come away with the opinion that Walt Disney World is in imminent danger of going out of business.

No one is remotely claiming "that Walt Disney World is in imminent danger of going out of business".

Quite the opposite.

Let's remember that P&R's operating income was $2.2B in 2013.

What someone reading this thread would take away is that WDW have never been more profitable, exactly because of senior management who are willing to push prices, cut quality, and reduce investments in the parks compared to what they did 10, 15, 20, 30 years ago.

 

[jlsHouston]

In general I think there is an enormous sense of pride among the rank and file of TWDC, or at least at once there was, regardless of the mistakes of leadership, and leadership after Walt and Roy made plenty of mistakes in operation and growth. I believe a certain amount of that collective memory of pride is still present. However I think the original culture that had been established by Disney is really no longer intact. For a long time after his death his vision was still what the CM's sought to articulate in terms of their performance and for a very long time I think that was encouraged by enough managers at TWDC the general public had no idea there was even such a thing as trash on the ground, a rude CM, a repair that went days/weeks/months without being addressed.
A couple of decades of Eisner, followed by Iger and the bunch he has in place and pretty much the employees of Disney have concluded CM, is just a label now, and I think enough of them have questioned their value to TWDC. So yes I totally concur, a satisfied employee is so much more than their paycheck.

 

[jlsHouston]

I forget if these are sent as actual tickets or are e-tickets, even if they had to be posted out to you there is a saving to be made.
Do you know anyone in the UK or Ireland that could order them for you?

The only person I know across the Atlantic is a friend of my daughter's who is a nanny in Denmark...