flynnibus returns to DLR - thoughts and experience

[flynnibus]

Max prices ? I don’t think you have thought this through - they certainly have marketing people that analyze data for pricing decisions. I don’t like higher prices either but look around you it’s everywhere

I'm only responding to your theorm that reducing profit is somehow a problem or foreign concept.. which in turn suggests the norm is 'max profits' -- which product strategy is not that cut & dry.

Pricing is not simply 'what is the max we can get away with' before breaking customers. To take a bone simple example.. look at Walmart, their strategy is to be the most competitivly priced.. not just 'well, target is selling for that, so we should too' because we know we can.

Dollywood isn't giving away soda because they have to due to price pressures. People don't maintain different price points because that's what the market tolerance is this week.. Pricing is part of your product strategy, not just customer tolerance.

 

[flynnibus]

You really think $8 for a slice of pizza is the max Disney can get away with when the competitors are selling it for $20?

No - and nothing I wrote inferred that. You keep dragging this 'well the other guy' examples which has never been part of any of my issue. Disney has a leg up on retail and F&B and yet Disney continues to charge absurd prices. That stands true, no matter what stupid thing you bought at another park.

 

[mickEblu]

No - and nothing I wrote inferred that. You keep dragging this 'well the other guy' examples which has never been part of any of my issue. Disney has a leg up on retail and F&B and yet Disney continues to charge absurd prices. That stands true, no matter what stupid thing you bought at another park.

Yes everyone is wrong and you re right. lol. That tracks.

 

[mlayton144]

I'm only responding to your theorm that reducing profit is somehow a problem or foreign concept.. which in turn suggests the norm is 'max profits' -- which product strategy is not that cut & dry.

Pricing is not simply 'what is the max we can get away with' before breaking customers. To take a bone simple example.. look at Walmart, their strategy is to be the most competitivly priced.. not just 'well, target is selling for that, so we should too' because we know we can.

Dollywood isn't giving away soda because they have to due to price pressures. People don't maintain different price points because that's what the market tolerance is this week.. Pricing is part of your product strategy, not just customer tolerance.

I hear you but think about this - Walmart’s “brand” is built around offering the cheapest prices , take that away and you have no business. No one ever said they shop at Walmart for their quality right, or their beautiful aesthetic that you go just to browse in your day off.

Don’t know much about Dollywood , but would you really view them as a competitor to Disney or simply filling a niche? If this model was really a magic sauce where are all the other Dollywoods?

 

[Disney Irish]

I'm only responding to your theorm that reducing profit is somehow a problem or foreign concept.. which in turn suggests the norm is 'max profits' -- which product strategy is not that cut & dry.

Pricing is not simply 'what is the max we can get away with' before breaking customers. To take a bone simple example.. look at Walmart, their strategy is to be the most competitivly priced.. not just 'well, target is selling for that, so we should too' because we know we can.

Dollywood isn't giving away soda because they have to due to price pressures. People don't maintain different price points because that's what the market tolerance is this week.. Pricing is part of your product strategy, not just customer tolerance.

There are many pricing strategies that companies use, the majority of which use comparison pricing of peers and local markets.

Disney does charge a premium price, but they don't charge much more than their competitors or local market. In fact in many cases they charge less, as noted by several posters with examples.

Now could they charge less, of course. But that would cut into margins which would affect the bottom line and would cause shareholders to revolt. So Disney isn't going to do that, no matter how much there is complaints about it.

Also while I've never been, but a quick internet search reveals that Dollywood charges for their soda, they don't give it away. Only water is free. So even Dolly is charging based on the market, $3.59 to be exact.

 

[flynnibus]

I hear you but think about this - Walmart’s “brand” is built around offering the cheapest prices , take that away and you have no business. No one ever said they shop at Walmart for their quality right, or their beautiful aesthetic that you go just to browse in your day off.

Absolutely incorrect - Walmart brand is also about scope, access and convenience. It's why they build 'one stop shops' including everything from optical to tax services.

But again, the point is your pricing strategy is part of your PRODUCT strategy and what you set out to market and structure your business around. It is not simply a commodities market of whatever the current price tolerance is.

Don’t know much about Dollywood , but would you really view them as a competitor to Disney or simply filling a niche? If this model was really a magic sauce where are all the other Dollywoods?

Jesus man... Anaheim is not some alt universe where the business strategies are unique in the universe. The example was never about comparing 1:1 as a theme park or even as a competitor - It is a discussion on product strategy. This could be about Taco Bell or Kia -- the fact some keep hanging on local competition just reenforces people are missing the forrest for the trees.

 

[flynnibus]

There are many pricing strategies that companies use, the majority of which use comparison pricing of peers and local markets.

Ah yes, The Disneyland model.. where they pride themselves on just following the majority of strategies of those around them. What a grand place they built with that mindset...

Disney does charge a premium price, but they don't charge much more than their competitors or local market. In fact in many cases they charge less, as noted by several posters with examples.

The prices are high - people can just find examples that are higher. That doesn't make them less high.

Now could they charge less, of course. But that would cut into margins which would affect the bottom line and would cause shareholders to revolt. So Disney isn't going to do that, no matter how much there is complaints about it.

What if... they realized by instead of charging for X... they can make more money from Y?

Also while I've never been, but a quick internet search reveals that Dollywood charges for their soda, they don't give it away. Only water is free. So even Dolly is charging based on the market, $3.59 to be exact.

My mind screwed up when I wrote that.. it should be Holiday World - but I believe there was some other notable examples too. Point being, pricing is part of strategy, not just local norms. And no one has yet to accept Disney's advantages in their F&B model compared to the others they keep bringing up. They are making a freaking killing on these food prices.. even more so than the competitors charging more.

 

[Disney Irish]

Ah yes, The Disneyland model.. where they pride themselves on just following the majority of strategies of those around them. What a grand place they built with that mindset...


The prices are high - people can just find examples that are higher. That doesn't make them less high.


What if... they realized by instead of charging for X... they can make more money from Y?


My mind screwed up when I wrote that.. it should be Holiday World - but I believe there was some other notable examples too. Point being, pricing is part of strategy, not just local norms. And no one has yet to accept Disney's advantages in their F&B model compared to the others they keep bringing up. They are making a freaking killing on these food prices.. even more so than the competitors charging more.

Disneyland prices aren't out of whack with the rest of the Anaheim and SoCal market in which it does business. This is the point people are trying to make. Yes they are high if you want to compare them to some regional amusement park in Indiana that gets less than 5% of Disneyland's yearly attendance, but they aren't high compared to the local market.

And yes Disney does have an advantage in Food and Beverage costs through its market position, I don't think anyone is denying that. That just means they can charge less and still make more compared to the rest of their peers and local markets. That doesn't mean however they are going to charge rock bottom prices. They are still a business, one with shareholders that monitor and expect the same healthy margins in the Park division quarter after quarter, and punish Disney if margins go down.

 

[mlayton144]

Absolutely incorrect - Walmart brand is also about scope, access and convenience. It's why they build 'one stop shops' including everything from optical to tax services.

But again, the point is your pricing strategy is part of your PRODUCT strategy and what you set out to market and structure your business around. It is not simply a commodities market of whatever the current price tolerance is.


Jesus man... Anaheim is not some alt universe where the business strategies are unique in the universe. The example was never about comparing 1:1 as a theme park or even as a competitor - It is a discussion on product strategy. This could be about Taco Bell or Kia -- the fact some keep hanging on local competition just reenforces people are missing the forrest for the trees.

OK then , Flynnibuss is CEO of Disney Corp, what is his “pricing and product strategy”?

 

[truecoat]

A little story about Walmart: I have a friend who works at a Fortune 500 company as a VP. He told me they had to use a separate facility to make one of their products cheap enough for Walmart. You get a better version of this product from any other retailer other than Walmart.

 

[mickEblu]

A little story about Walmart: I have a friend who works at a Fortune 500 company as a VP. He told me they had to use a separate facility to make one of their products cheap enough for Walmart. You get a better version of this product from any other retailer other than Walmart.

Costco would never

 

[mlayton144]

A little story about Walmart: I have a friend who works at a Fortune 500 company as a VP. He told me they had to use a separate facility to make one of their products cheap enough for Walmart. You get a better version of this product from any other retailer other than Walmart.

I would believe that

 

[Disney Vault]

I have notice this too. I don’t feel Disney is being adequate with staffing at all on my Sundays visits. I have notice Pirates seem to have trouble with how fast CM load and dispatch the boats. None of the boats syncs with the scenes. It pauses a LOT, I thought the attraction broke down for a minute. It always backlogs before hitting the jail scene.

All of this is caused by slow loading guests from wheelchairs and ECVs

 

[Touchdown]

I’ve more been disappointed by the food quality cutbacks. Plates are smaller at a lot of restaurants, for the most part it’s still fine but some of the lower end places have crossed over to not being worth it. I think I’ve had my last Monte Cristo at Disneyland for instance. My group all had it a few days ago and the amount of ham and cheese we had in our sandwitch had to be less then an half inch of width. I’m serious when I say that over 80% of the sandwitch’s width was just batter. I was a fan of adding the pomme frites to the dish and cutting back to just two half slices but when they first did that it was still a proper sandwich. You can’t put less meat and cheese in a sandwich then you get in a kids lunchable. It’s just wrong.