Labor cost cutting measures begin at Walt Disney World as the company enters Q1

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
Did you see the news about the new Magic Keys reservation availability at Disneyland? Reducing crowding is absolutely what they are about right now.
Magic Key deal at DLR is a package deal of ticket experiences at different rate categories to be used during the year.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
Still doesn't make sense. Universal would be severely prone to Disney's pricing, which could ultimately hurt them or even force them out of the market entirely. That's just a bad business decision and I honestly don't think Universal is that dumb.
I mean… maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but you seem to be ignoring the fact that Universal offers an experience directly comparable to or superior to that offered by WDW. It isn’t “second best.” If WDW lowered room and ticket prices back to 2005 levels, I wouldn’t suddenly switch back to WDW. That resort has enough other deficiencies that Uni remains very attractive. And I don’t see why another park of Disney/Uni quality, Epic Universe, wouldn’t pull from Disney. Prices aside, is it better to go to the shambles that is EPCOT or visit an all new park? Especially one with attractive IPs? Yes, some guests will remain loyal to their Mickey Mouse soap bars, but nowhere near all.

You seem to be offering a variation of the disastrous Blue Ocean strategy.
 

Tay

Well-Known Member
I mean… maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but you seem to be ignoring the fact that Universal offers an experience directly comparable to or superior to that offered by WDW. It isn’t “second best.” If WDW lowered room and ticket prices back to 2005 levels, I wouldn’t suddenly switch back to WDW. That resort has enough other deficiencies that Uni remains very attractive. And I don’t see why another park of Disney/Uni quality, Epic Universe, wouldn’t pull from Disney. Prices aside, is it better to go to the shambles that is EPCOT or visit an all new park? Especially one with attractive IPs? Yes, some guests will remain loyal to their Mickey Mouse soap bars, but nowhere near all.

You seem to be offering a variation of the disastrous Blue Ocean strategy.
Mario Kart alone will have them in shambles. I also just saw the planned Harry Potter section that will be there and Disney is in trouble. Magic Kingdom will still be the most popular park in the world.
 

Minnesota disney fan

Well-Known Member
Because of 80's & 90s kids who have spent the last 25+ years dreaming of bringing their kids to WDW to experience what they did and Boomers paying to bring the grandkids for the same reason. Those kids have kids that are now old enough, and they are being paid adequately enough to pull the trigger. It would take a huge change in public perception or a catastrophic event to get them to change course and remove WDW from their child's life experience entirely. Even if they have a horrible time, many were likely to come only once anyway. Their dissatisfaction can't translate into a lower attendance in the future. Future attendance is driven by someone else whose kids just aged into Disney and Mom/Dad have been counting on their bonus/overtime check to pay for it. What Disney does or doesn't do, is to a degree, irrelevant because the choice to go was made 25 years ago, and everyone has just been in a holding pattern.
We ARE that family you described. But WDW was a different magical place back then. We took our kids, they took theirs, and that is where it all stops. The grandkids want to go to other places, so the nostalgia part is diminishing for them. Mom and Dad see the way the parks are going, are not happy, and now go the Cayman's or other tropical places and love it. As for my husband and myself? We are the die hard disney fans, but we have become increasingly unhappy with the "disney" that is now. All the cuts, money grabbing, lack of attention to the attractions, I could go on and on.
We have parted ways with disney with NO visits planned at all, ever. Its' sad but it is time. Too much has changed and leaving a bitter taste. So we don't fit your image at all.
 

el_super

Well-Known Member
I mean… maybe I’m misunderstanding you, but you seem to be ignoring the fact that Universal offers an experience directly comparable to or superior to that offered by WDW.

That's all pretty subjective, and certainly not a fact.


And I don’t see why another park of Disney/Uni quality, Epic Universe, wouldn’t pull from Disney. Prices aside, is it better to go to the shambles that is EPCOT or visit an all new park?

People said the same thing about IOA opening 20+ years ago. Disney is still there and still leading the pack. People go to the parks for different reasons and I'm sure we both know that there is a group of people who will go to Disney every year and never consider Universal. Those people are weighing a lot of factors into their math that are still just as important and vital to Disney's business as things like price and number of rides.

I'm sure there are people that are also in the "Never Disney" Universal camp too.

The point isn't really about making Universal out to be some ambulance chaser, ready to catch all the people being priced out at Disney, but acknowledge that Universal actually has their own appeal and market and that any plan to expand their resort would have to be dependent on what that market wants, and not what Disney is doing.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
That's all pretty subjective, and certainly not a fact.




People said the same thing about IOA opening 20+ years ago. Disney is still there and still leading the pack. People go to the parks for different reasons and I'm sure we both know that there is a group of people who will go to Disney every year and never consider Universal. Those people are weighing a lot of factors into their math that are still just as important and vital to Disney's business as things like price and number of rides.

I'm sure there are people that are also in the "Never Disney" Universal camp too.

The point isn't really about making Universal out to be some ambulance chaser, ready to catch all the people being priced out at Disney, but acknowledge that Universal actually has their own appeal and market and that any plan to expand their resort would have to be dependent on what that market wants, and not what Disney is doing.
I mean, you’re making a subjective judgement in the opposite direction. Fair’s fair.

No one expects WDW to go away, and no one expected it when IOA opened. But you seem to be making the assumption that WDW and Uni aren’t competing for the same guests. It’s the assumption Iger made for many years and it allowed Uni to gain a lot of ground. There will always be brand loyalists, but in general Uni and WDW are competing for the same market segment.
 

el_super

Well-Known Member
I mean, you’re making a subjective judgement in the opposite direction. Fair’s fair.

Subjective how?

It’s the assumption Iger made for many years and it allowed Uni to gain a lot of ground.

Universal gaining ground here doesn't hurt Disney. Disney's attendance has been going up just the same. If Disney's attendance was being stolen by Universal, we wouldn't be complaining about overcrowding. You seem to think this is an either/or scenario, and it's not.
 

UNCgolf

Well-Known Member
Literally if the current management's only edict was to keep the current attraction roster at MK as-is for the next 20 years, that would be doing something.

It would be doing something, but it wouldn't be doing something relevant to the post you quoted, so I'm not sure what your point is.
 

matt9112

Well-Known Member
Subjective how?



Universal gaining ground here doesn't hurt Disney. Disney's attendance has been going up just the same. If Disney's attendance was being stolen by Universal, we wouldn't be complaining about overcrowding. You seem to think this is an either/or scenario, and it's not.

I think you have to look at percentages....disney attendance did not increase for example the same as universals when potter opened. The pie can grow but unis slice can grow independently of disney and vice versa.
 

el_super

Well-Known Member
I think you have to look at percentages....disney attendance did not increase for example the same as universals when potter opened. The pie can grow but unis slice can grow independently of disney and vice versa.

Yes exactly. There seems to be this desire to show that Disney's attendance will shrink due to Universal gaining, but that hasn't really happened historically.
 

Sir_Cliff

Well-Known Member
I agree but i think what may be true is the pie may grow and uni MAY get more of the new pie.
Does Disney really care, though? They seem to feel they have too much of the pie right now and would rather deal with that situation by reducing their share by raising prices rather than increasing capacity to accommodate growing demand.

Not saying their strategy is the correct one, but that's how I read their mindset.
 

Casper Gutman

Well-Known Member
Does Disney really care, though? They seem to feel they have too much of the pie right now and would rather deal with that situation by reducing their share by raising prices rather than increasing capacity to accommodate growing demand.
Disney absolutely does not want to reduce its share of the pie. The idea that it’s goal in raising prices is even partly to limit crowd sizes is fantastical.
 

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