The below chart compares the price of a 1-day WDW ticket with the opening day ticket price adjusted per the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Other WDW ticket types show similar price trends.
(Note that prior to 1982, theme park admission and attractions were sold separately. Ticket prices before 1982 include admission plus the 12 Adventure ticket add-on.)
What’s immediately obvious is that through the mid-1990s, ticket prices closely followed the CPI. In other words, for a quarter-century, ticket prices closely followed the cost of other consumer goods.
This was a period of tremendous growth at Walt Disney’s “Florida Project”, when entire theme parks were added. Ticket prices remained reasonable despite billions being invested in WDW by a much smaller corporate Disney.
Yet it has been during the period of greatest ticket price increases that the parks have stagnated and quality has declined.
There’s a reason those of us who had to buy our own tickets decades ago remember Walt Disney World so fondly.
Early Disney leadership was molded by Walt Disney himself, with Donn Tatum and Card Walker both having worked closely with Walt and his brother Roy Disney.
WDW and Disneyland were highly profitable during this period. Unfortunately, they were the only segment of the company performing well. The remainder of Disney languished under a series of uninspired films and almost non-existent marketing. After fending off a hostile takeover, Disney brought Michael Eisner on board in 1984 as CEO in an attempt to turnaround the company’s production studios. The results were phenomenal with Disney producing a series of animation films now generally referred to as The Modern Classics.
The mid-1990s represented a seminal period for WDW. WDW was in the process of building what might very well turn out to be its last theme park. The long-term business plan was shifting away from theme parks to hotels and timeshares. (Thank you, DVC.) Bill Sullivan and Bob Mathieson, the last remnants of WDW's Old Guard, were forced out. Frank Wells, generally viewed as a calming force to many of Eisner’s excesses, was killed in a helicopter crash. Bob Iger joined the company as an ABC executive, and later would become CEO without any theme park experience.
Essentially, Disney leadership transitioned from those who were shaped by Walt Disney’s vision to those who were shaped by Wall Street’s vision.
WDW hasn’t been the same ever since.
(Note that prior to 1982, theme park admission and attractions were sold separately. Ticket prices before 1982 include admission plus the 12 Adventure ticket add-on.)
What’s immediately obvious is that through the mid-1990s, ticket prices closely followed the CPI. In other words, for a quarter-century, ticket prices closely followed the cost of other consumer goods.
This was a period of tremendous growth at Walt Disney’s “Florida Project”, when entire theme parks were added. Ticket prices remained reasonable despite billions being invested in WDW by a much smaller corporate Disney.
Yet it has been during the period of greatest ticket price increases that the parks have stagnated and quality has declined.
There’s a reason those of us who had to buy our own tickets decades ago remember Walt Disney World so fondly.
Early Disney leadership was molded by Walt Disney himself, with Donn Tatum and Card Walker both having worked closely with Walt and his brother Roy Disney.
WDW and Disneyland were highly profitable during this period. Unfortunately, they were the only segment of the company performing well. The remainder of Disney languished under a series of uninspired films and almost non-existent marketing. After fending off a hostile takeover, Disney brought Michael Eisner on board in 1984 as CEO in an attempt to turnaround the company’s production studios. The results were phenomenal with Disney producing a series of animation films now generally referred to as The Modern Classics.
The mid-1990s represented a seminal period for WDW. WDW was in the process of building what might very well turn out to be its last theme park. The long-term business plan was shifting away from theme parks to hotels and timeshares. (Thank you, DVC.) Bill Sullivan and Bob Mathieson, the last remnants of WDW's Old Guard, were forced out. Frank Wells, generally viewed as a calming force to many of Eisner’s excesses, was killed in a helicopter crash. Bob Iger joined the company as an ABC executive, and later would become CEO without any theme park experience.
Essentially, Disney leadership transitioned from those who were shaped by Walt Disney’s vision to those who were shaped by Wall Street’s vision.
WDW hasn’t been the same ever since.
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