Josh D'Amaro comments on rising prices and "additional" or removed services: "An inevitable result of progress"

[Sirwalterraleigh]

For him or for me?

Him…but maybe you too?

…I’ll let it germinate and get back to you

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

So the fee they charged me to park overnight at their hotel after I already am paying for a room to stay there and park tickets is a progress fee? Gotcha glad it's not them trying to just nickel and dime me.

What major resort style hotel doesn’t charge you for parking? Other than a roadside courtyard marriot, every major hotel I have ever stayed at charges for parking, separate from your room fee. This includes Marriot World Resort and JW Marriot Bonnet Creek in Orlando. How is doing what every other major hotel does nickel and diming anyone?

 

[Grumpy4196]

What major resort style hotel doesn’t charge you for parking? Other than a roadside courtyard marriot, every major hotel I have ever stayed at charges for parking, separate from your room fee. This includes Marriot World Resort and JW Marriot Bonnet Creek in Orlando. How is doing what every other major hotel does nickel and diming anyone?

So Disney is striving to be like everyone else now?

 

[John park hopper]

What major resort style hotel doesn’t charge you for parking? Other than a roadside courtyard marriot, every major hotel I have ever stayed at charges for parking, separate from your room fee. This includes Marriot World Resort and JW Marriot Bonnet Creek in Orlando. How is doing what every other major hotel does nickel and diming anyone?

At one time Disney was a cut above all the others and did not charge for parking. By your logic if they are just doing what others do how come they don't provide at least a complimentary breakfast or cooked to order breakfast like most others do?

 

[Andrew C]

By your logic if they are just doing what others do how come they don't provide at least a complimentary breakfast or cooked to order breakfast like most others do?

This is typically seen as a benefit of a rewards program....unless you're staying at a select service property where they offer "hot" breakfast. Or Embassy Suites where they do the full cooked-to-order.

At one time Disney was a cut above all the others

Were they? In terms of theme maybe...
And at least they do not have a resort fee...yet...lol

So Disney is striving to be like everyone else now?

They should...many of the others do it better.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

So Disney is striving to be like everyone else now?

ThAts really not the point. Again how is charging for a service that everyone else in the market space charges for “Nickel and diming?”

 

[Javier Antonio Nisa Avila]

I think it's pretty obvious that the decisions being made now are part of their long term plans. It's important to remember that these people working on these strategies, spend 40+ hours a week learning and understanding how the parks operate, with data we don't have access to, and on a level that none of us here can probably even comprehend.



Yes, going to a Disney park can be a terribly stressful experience today, and yes it can impact the desire of people to return. Disney knows this and has stated as such.

But the only real way to correct for this, is to start bringing attendance down. You have 20 million people going to a park (and with a business model) that was designed in the 1970s to accommodate half as many people. Raising prices might seem like a detriment today, but if it reduces the crowds and reduces the stress of a visit, it will be worth it in the long term.

I don't think increasing prices will be worth it in the long term. I have lived moments in Disney World where the parks were overcrowded. I had no problems because I could enjoy the magic without problems.

As a matter of fact, I stayed at Pop Century in 2019. However, today the prices of Pop Century are very similar to Contemporary or Grand Floridian in 2019. Well, I don't understand why the want to destroy middle class.

Disney will always be crowded. They want us to believe that increasing prices is good for us. However, we have to take into account that employment has been reduced and the environmental has become terrible in som points. Moreover, there are less services than before. So, where is the trick?

 

[Tha Realest]

And on the topic of trying to pull big spenders into the parks...it's hard to even spend money when most of the merch is crap now. Save for some of the unique Epcot and MK throwback anniversary stuff, it's all so generic and boring. Even the freaking pins are starting to get boring. A friend came down for their first time in July and didn't want to buy anything even though they came with an extra suitcase and the mentality of burning money down there.

Current mgmt has said they view long lines as failures, as that is less time the customers have to eat and shop. Which is why this statement is so ironic. I screencapped it and shared with my wife, as we’ve noticed a considerable downgrade in merchandise quality over the last few years. Back in 2019/20 there were tons of items that we bought. We weren’t sure if they were just not trying as hard, had lost some creativity, or it was supply chain issues, but everything felt very generic and not any different than what you could get at an outlet Disney store or Target. So, to bring it all full circle, they design these parks to be essentially Disney malls, but then put out substandard and uninteresting merchandise

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

ThAts really not the point. Again how is charging for a service that everyone else in the market space charges for “Nickel and diming?”

It’s nickel and dimming regardless of how widespread it is. Same as ticket fees, processing fees, airline baggage fees, resort fees…

The sad thing is when Virgin hotels opened in Las Vegas they tried to counter this trend by having “no hidden fees” but after about 6 months they changed their policy because advertising the “true price” made them look far more expensive than everyone else. Now they look less expensive and add $50 a day in fees just like everyone else.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

These are audited financial statements.

Sort of, they give a generic cost but it’s easily inflated with internal expenses.

The $500 million rumor for Cosmic rewind is a great example, we keep hearing they spent that much on the ride but no one can figure out exactly how they managed to do it.

Is it $400 million on physical construction and $100 million on “internal” expenses like design or is it $100 million on physical construction and $400 million on internal expenses? That’s a huge unknown.

 

[Andrew C]

It’s nickel and dimming regardless of how widespread it is.

It is nickel and diming if you consider everyone else to be nickel and diming...

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

It is nickel and diming if you consider everyone else to be nickel and diming...

It’s like saying gas prices are too high, just because they’re high everywhere doesn’t make it any less true.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Sort of, they give a generic cost but it’s easily inflated with internal expenses.

The $500 million rumor for Cosmic rewind is a great example, we keep hearing they spent that much on the ride but no one can figure out exactly how they managed to do it.

Is it $400 million on physical construction and $100 million on “internal” expenses like design or is it $100 million on physical construction and $400 million on internal expenses? That’s a huge unknown.

Okay first of all, that's not how it works.

Second of all, it doesn't really matter. Even if you thought their methodology was bogus, they're still increasing expenditures significantly.

Third of all, it's in Disney's financial best interest to expense (rather than capitalize) as much as possible, i.e. MINIMIZE the CapEx number, not maximize it. It's a tax thing.

 

[marni1971]

It is nickel and diming if you consider everyone else to be nickel and diming...

It’s nickel and diming when they take something that was complementary - and was cost negligible to offer - and then start charging for it.

 

[Andrew C]

It’s nickel and diming when they take something that was complementary - and was cost negligible to offer - and then start charging for it.

I have no issue with them charging for parking in order to align with the market. Hotels make a ton of money charging. I think it was silly that they didn't do it sooner.

My main concerns are still overall product and capacity.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

At one time Disney was a cut above all the others and did not charge for parking. By your logic if they are just doing what others do how come they don't provide at least a complimentary breakfast or cooked to order breakfast like most others do?

No by my logic Disney acting like every other hotel resort in the industry is NOT nickel and diming anyone. It’s an industry standard fee and it makes no sense for Disney not to charge for it

 

[John park hopper]

This is typically seen as a benefit of a rewards program....unless you're staying at a select service property where they offer "hot" breakfast. Or Embassy Suites where they do the full cooked-to-order.

Just did a search and there are well over 30 hotels that serve some sort of breakfast (complimentary) not part of a rewards program. Bottom line Disney institutes charge which benefit their bottom line and use the excuse its an industry standard but if it benefits the guest (industry standard) we'll ignore it

 

[Andrew C]

Just did a search and there are well over 30 hotels that serve some sort of breakfast (complimentary) not part of a rewards program

Which ones? Mostly select/focused service I imagine as that is the standard in the industry. And Embassy Suites as mentioned previously.

 

[marni1971]

I have no issue with them charging for parking in order to align with the market. Hotels make a ton of money charging. I think it was silly that they didn't do it sooner.

My main concerns are still overall product and capacity.

Not parking. Fastpass.

We’ll just disagree about parking

 

[bhg469]

Traveling for work for years, I only ever had to pay for parking if it was in a metropolitan area. It never bothered me because the parking is limited.. Also paid at really high end resorts when I had to stay there. Parking fees are a cash grab at WDW, not a fee out of necessity.