Len Testa - “Disney positions itself as the all-American vacation. The irony is that most Americans can’t afford it.”

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Who are those people? It's pretty rough for that age group. They are not even buying houses.

I’d you do a deep dive…that lines up

It seems the 30 and under market Is largely abandoning that kinda stuff in favorite or “minor luxuries”

Disney is collecting the trash there…easy money for them

And they play the stock market like it’s a casino…that’ll turn out well

 

[Miss Bella]

I’d you do a deep dive…that lines up

Nicely he 30 and under market Is largely abandoning that kinda stuff in favorite or “minor luxuries”

Disney is collecting the trash there…easy money for them

And they play the stock market like it’s a casino…that’ll turn out well

I have kids in their very early 20's and they don't feel that way nor do any of their friends. They have zero interest in anything Disney. Maybe its the millennials with the boomer parents that are hooked on Disney.
The stock market is a Casino.

 

[bmr1591]

I don’t doubt there are a lot of at Disney (I’m one, though we’re hoping to have kids in the next couple years), but I see a ton of families with young kids. They far outnumber and spend more. Yes, they make commercials targeting millennials, but they make commercials for families too. Are we going to pretend Cool Kid Summer was for 25-35 year olds?

 

[CoastalElite64]

It's not just Disney World like many of us have been saying. There's something in the air in 2025.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

Saw the same one…
And they are staring to do dcl ones leaning that way too

What are we doing?

I imagine its refreshing the nostalgia factor of the Disney parks in the hope that these high income young adults will visit the parks and love them, eventually taking their kids there if they like it enough OR just going themselves as this generation has been having a stark difference in family planning with many people not planning on having any kids.

 

[AidenRodriguez731]

It's not just Disney World like many of us have been saying. There's something in the air in 2025.

I dont think most entertainment/public outing offerings have hit even close to the records of the 2019 kind of times. And its somewhat easy to see why. Before that bubble popped, vlogs were super popular. Everyone was trying to do them themselves and show off all the cool stuff they were doing. Now, since COVID imo, vlogs are kinda lame because EVERYONE was doing them talking about their experience during the pandemic etc. A lot of extra free time for people to learn other at-home cheaper hobbies/skills or of course to realize that they dont HAVE to go out as much anymore.

I think it fundamentally rewired a lot of people and thats not an effect you can just flip on and off

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I imagine its refreshing the nostalgia factor of the Disney parks in the hope that these high income young adults will visit the parks and love them, eventually taking their kids there if they like it enough OR just going themselves as this generation has been having a stark difference in family planning with many people not planning on having any kids.

Or desperately trying to keep their revenue above the line by leaning into a more fickle customer group as opposed to adjusting to regain their white picket fence market…which they’re losing due to overpricing tactics

It’s lazy…requires less work and doesn’t acknowledge the mistakes of bad management

 

[Alice a]

It's not just Disney World like many of us have been saying. There's something in the air in 2025.

Things are not great out there in the world of discretionary spending for the average person.

We run a local hardware store. This year has been a steadily declining slog. We are about to have the worst October we’ve had since 2009, adjusted for inflation, between extra fees now added to all our orders, rising costs and shrinking margins, and people just generally being more careful about purchases.

I had someone who used to come in and buy toys for her kids or a plant or candle use 3 different cards to pay for a toilet plunger yesterday.

Since we are the last hardware store left downtown, most other business owners come into our store for their hardware needs. It’s been a rough year for everyone, even luxury hotels, restaurants, and high-end vacation homes, and it’s getting tougher. Quite a few aren’t making it.

If we didn’t have a trade show in Orlando in February where our main vendor is paying for the hotel and gas, with group rates for tickets, we wouldn’t be going to WDW next year.

 

[Ayla]

Who are those people? It's pretty rough for that age group. They are not even buying houses.

They aren't buying houses for a myriad of reasons ~ one being they choose to spend their money on other things, all while complaining they can't buy what they want.

 

[Nubs70]

 

[Miss Bella]

They aren't buying houses for a myriad of reasons ~ one being they choose to spend their money on other things, all while complaining they can't buy what they want.

I couldn't afford to buy my own house today. I don't really think that's justified comment. I would love to see some proof of that claim.

 

[Miss Bella]

Things are not great out there in the world of discretionary spending for the average person.

We run a local hardware store. This year has been a steadily declining slog. We are about to have the worst October we’ve had since 2009, adjusted for inflation, between extra fees now added to all our orders, rising costs and shrinking margins, and people just generally being more careful about purchases.

I had someone who used to come in and buy toys for her kids or a plant or candle use 3 different cards to pay for a toilet plunger yesterday.

Since we are the last hardware store left downtown, most other business owners come into our store for their hardware needs. It’s been a rough year for everyone, even luxury hotels, restaurants, and high-end vacation homes, and it’s getting tougher. Quite a few aren’t making it.

If we didn’t have a trade show in Orlando in February where our main vendor is paying for the hotel and gas with a daily food stipend, with group rates for tickets, we wouldn’t be going to WDW next year.

I don't know how anyone that pays attention to what is actually happening out there would think it's just a Disney phenomenon. I often think people in Disney forums live in a bubble or something.

 

[Miss Bella]

My 22 year old son pays more to rent a room in a 4 bedroom apartment than our mortgage payment ever was.

 

[bmr1591]

They aren't buying houses for a myriad of reasons ~ one being they choose to spend their money on other things, all while complaining they can't buy what they want.

What a wild, disconnected take. The housing market is in one of the most unaffordable states in decades, but it's a millennial's fault they buy a coffee once a week on the way to work? It also doesn't help that most banks won't help finance a home purchase because they can't prove a family can make their monthly payments, all the while they're paying more for their monthly apartment payments than their mortgage would be.

 

[jah4955]

I couldn't afford to buy my own house today. I don't really think that's justified comment. I would love to see some proof of that claim.

An extremely well-done, but very sad (& scary), explanation: https://bleedingfool.com/blogs/why-telling-millennials-to-cancel-hulu-isnt-the-answer/

 

[wannabeBelle]

An extremely well-done, but very sad (& scary), explanation: https://bleedingfool.com/blogs/why-telling-millennials-to-cancel-hulu-isnt-the-answer/

good article!! Marie

 

[Andrew C]

I am not going to opine on why this doesn't happen as much anymore (costs, profits, etc.), but it would be nice if the US could get back to building starter homes.

Also, I think we went off topic. lol

 

[jah4955]

I am not going to opine on why this doesn't happen as much anymore (costs, profits, etc.), but it would be nice if the US could get back to building starter homes.

Also, I think we went off topic. lol

it's all connected

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They aren't buying houses for a myriad of reasons ~ one being they choose to spend their money on other things, all while complaining they can't buy what they want.

That is a tremendous oversimplification

Sure people spend too much on …that’s what our celebrated free market model governed by business behemoths (cough) have pushed for 50 years…

…but when the cost of education and housing in particular doubled in ten years if you’re LUCKY…then it’s not just that kids shop at the banana republic too much

The train is out of control and is being watched by people who would be well suited to be con artists in a banana republic

 

[Disstevefan1]

I am not going to opine on why this doesn't happen as much anymore (costs, profits, etc.), but it would be nice if the US could get back to building starter homes.

Also, I think we went off topic. lol

I don't know what defines a starter homes but all around me there are MASSIVE communities being build on former farmland.