Prince-1
Well-Known Member
We did when Covid was all the rage. Everyone was an infectious disease expert.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
WSJ: Even Disney Is Worried About The High Cost Of A Disney Vacation (gift link)
- Thread starter lentesta
- Start date
We did when Covid was all the rage. Everyone was an infectious disease expert.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Serpico Jones
Well-Known Member
Testy exchange between CNBC host Becky Quick who feels Disney is becoming anti-consumer with the lightning lanes and such and media analyst Rich Greenfield who loves it when companies raise prices and rips people off.
Last edited:
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Pretty much confirmation they’re lost
It’s not a “luxury” product…which is why it worked for 100 years
Chi84
Premium Member
My kids think it's a "luxury" product lol. If we didn't pay for it they would be stuck with Six Flags and they much prefer WDW.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
I love her…absolutely nails it
That’s an opinion
That is 100% incorrect based on their history, strategy, customer response, stability and resiliency
Is this the “I think it’s this…” again?
Chi84
Premium Member
No, it's just that there are different definitions and connotations to "luxury." It can mean "something desired and often expensive but not necessary" according to Merriam-Webster. Disney seems to fit that.
Another definition is "a condition of abundance or great ease and comfort; a sumptuous environment." Disney does not fit that definition unless you're paying far more than the average guest. Even then . . . I would have a hard time fitting the concept of a theme park into that definition.
Last edited:
hopemax
Well-Known Member
Here's another recent WSJ article about consumer spending, and the current dynamic which Disney is certainly caught up in.
"The top 10% of earners—households making about $250,000 a year or more—are splurging on everything from vacations to designer handbags, buoyed by big gains in stocks, real estate and other assets.
Those consumers now account for 49.7% of all spending, a record in data going back to 1989, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics. Three decades ago, they accounted for about 36%.
All this means that economic growth is unusually reliant on rich Americans continuing to shell out. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, estimated that spending by the top 10% alone accounted for almost one-third of gross domestic product.
Between September 2023 and September 2024, the high earners increased their spending by 12%. Spending by working-class and middle-class households, meanwhile, dropped over the same period."
This reinforces the same question I and others have had for a long time regarding Disney. If everyone is in competition for the dollars and time from the wealthiest, how can Disney deliver a worsening product and expect to be a winner?
"Pierce, who lives in Marin County, Calif., has been scaling back on takeout meals because of rising prices: “I don’t want to have a $15 sandwich.”
Pierce and her husband together bring in about $300,000 a year, largely from investment income. The couple and their teenage son went on a three-week safari to Africa in July that cost about $35,000. "
This re-emphasizes a point, that sometimes gets lost. This person can certainly afford a $15 sandwich, but recognizes that it's stupid to spend money this way. Value still matters, even to wealthy folks.
"The top 10% of earners—households making about $250,000 a year or more—are splurging on everything from vacations to designer handbags, buoyed by big gains in stocks, real estate and other assets.
Those consumers now account for 49.7% of all spending, a record in data going back to 1989, according to an analysis by Moody’s Analytics. Three decades ago, they accounted for about 36%.
All this means that economic growth is unusually reliant on rich Americans continuing to shell out. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, estimated that spending by the top 10% alone accounted for almost one-third of gross domestic product.
Between September 2023 and September 2024, the high earners increased their spending by 12%. Spending by working-class and middle-class households, meanwhile, dropped over the same period."
This reinforces the same question I and others have had for a long time regarding Disney. If everyone is in competition for the dollars and time from the wealthiest, how can Disney deliver a worsening product and expect to be a winner?
"Pierce, who lives in Marin County, Calif., has been scaling back on takeout meals because of rising prices: “I don’t want to have a $15 sandwich.”
Pierce and her husband together bring in about $300,000 a year, largely from investment income. The couple and their teenage son went on a three-week safari to Africa in July that cost about $35,000. "
This re-emphasizes a point, that sometimes gets lost. This person can certainly afford a $15 sandwich, but recognizes that it's stupid to spend money this way. Value still matters, even to wealthy folks.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
…I didn’t even notice the dump they take on streaming in the same clip
So you have an indictment of bad parks management and an indictment of bad media management in the same blip
And both are 100% correct
I’ll remind anyone who said “only bob can save us from the evil…” this time last year that he’s the biggest fox at the door of the henhouse
End it
So you have an indictment of bad parks management and an indictment of bad media management in the same blip
And both are 100% correct
I’ll remind anyone who said “only bob can save us from the evil…” this time last year that he’s the biggest fox at the door of the henhouse
End it
Chi84
Premium Member
Disney may be counting on the wealthy people who think designer handbags are stupid but won’t blink at buying a $15 sandwich.
Agent H
Well-Known Member
Sure but sometimes that 15 dollar sandwich is too good to not buy it.
el_super
Well-Known Member
How long has this been a question? The parks are still busy and raking in cash.
Cutting back on services and amenities might be the only way to keep them even close to being affordable now. If people on the lower income side actually did stop visiting, they could reintroduce amenities and luxuries for the higher paying guests. Or pivot back to discounting.
They will be fine.
I am speaking about Domestic Parks only.
Huh? YOY growth domestically has gone flat. Take out LL revenues and it gets bad.
But Disney isn't even doing that. They are cutting and raising prices. It's the reason why less people are going and why they're in this problem to begin with.
What? Low income guests are gone. Middle Income guests, the kind that built the Disney brand are leaving and not coming back. It's been mentioned multiple times here that guest retention efforts are not working and potential guests are being going to destinations which offer a better value proposition.
Except they've been doing that since the summer of 2023. They've tried every discount trick from Free Dining to 40%AP discounts and it isn't working.
IDK, 2025-2028 are going to be rough.
Disstevefan1
Well-Known Member
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
And jokes aside…the difference now is it IS falling apart…as opposed to what felt like at least a decade of “…be careful what you wish for…” warnings from core fans…
They are shedding customers and burning up all their reputation and good will at a phenomenal rate
Don’t hate the players…hate the game
Ayla
Well-Known Member
Yep. I've been saying the same thing all along.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
If you know anything about why Disney parks work…and I’m beginning to have my doubts that a lot of fans do…this is unsustainable.
So do you place your faith in which of these two concepts:
1. The management is smarter than everyone else on the planet and can redefine math
2. They know they’re screwed…and don’t care what happens after they are ejected or Bail out.
It’s a binary choice…and not a hard one
DisneyHead123
Well-Known Member
Really interesting article. My guess is that anywhere below the 500k mark, it depends a great deal on cost of living and life circumstances. I also see a lot of articles about people making 250k a year and living paycheck to paycheck these days.
A noteworthy point, I think - in 1980, there were about 226 million people in the US. The top 10% was between 22 and 23 million people (ballpark, not sure if these numbers account for the entire household or just the earners). Today there are 340 million people, meaning the top 10% has presumably added about 12 million people. I assume international travel is also much more prevalent. I think that probably impacts how much Disney has been able to raise prices. There are signs we may be headed for a population decline in the next couple of generations but up to now the growing audience pool has made the parks a more and more limited resource, relatively speaking.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Is that why attendance has been up the last couple of years…when more frivolous cash has been spent by the first world than in most of its history combined?