News Disney Parks Chief Josh D'Amaro Says Pricing Model Aims to Keep Vacations Affordable for Families

[DisneyHead123]

I think they know they have largely reached the upper limit of the lower level pricing - why the value resort picking and quick service pricing has, largely, state flat or even gone down after adjusting for inflation but deluxe pricing and "experiences" (like the Geo-82) are still going up a as know at least some people will pay it

Do also think a bit of a returned focus on families with younger kids with the "cool kid summer", 50% off kids tickets, free kids dining plan next year, etc - whether as counter programming to Epic or just trying to create the next generation of Disney families

That’s true, it does seem like it’s the deluxe resorts and experiences that have continued to skyrocket in price, although even those have leveled off a bit.

If most kids eat like mine, the free dining plan is the best discount for Disney ever. Kids can have that three bites of ice cream, dinner roll and soda for free with a full price room, lol.

 

[monothingie]

Today is May 19, 2025. I know everyone is excited for an update from Josh D'Amaro about his constant pondering on affordability for the plebes, however Josh isn't at work today, because people like him don't need to think about the ordeals of the common folk on a Monday. Hopefully the butler will wheel in breakfast and his freshly shrunken pants so that he can start his day in a couple of hours.


Next Josh D'Amaro affordability thought update will be tomorrow May 20 2025.

 

[Lilofan]

Today is May 19, 2025. I know everyone is excited for an update from Josh D'Amaro about his constant pondering on affordability for the plebes, however Josh isn't at work today, because people like him don't need to think about the ordeals of the common folk on a Monday. Hopefully the butler will wheel in breakfast and his freshly shrunken pants so that he can start his day in a couple of hours.


Next Josh D'Amaro affordability thought update will be tomorrow May 20 2025.

WDW is the biggest single site employer in Central FL. If one doesn’t like how the company is lead there are plenty of other vacation options in FL but most of all FL will take your money to support the overall economy.

 

[SamusAranX]

It’s called thinking out of the box and taking risks instead of blaming this and that or the system . Seemed to have paid off.

Losing money is the goal? Gee golly I’ve been investing wrong

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The US population has increased

• 1980: 226,545,805
• 2025: 343,603,404

more people = more crowds

Travel has risen on a consistent trajectory since like 1950…only disrupted by recessions

 

[GhostHost1000]

Just checking in to see if Josh and Bob have made things more affordable yet or if they just like talking about it

 

[monothingie]

Just checking in to see if Josh and Bob have made things more affordable yet or if they just like talking about it

Bottles of filtered tap water still cost $6.00, so probably not.

 

[Trauma]

Just checking in to see if Josh and Bob have made things more affordable yet or if they just like talking about it

They have not raised prices today.

I guess we should be grateful for that!

 

[Disstevefan1]

Just checking in to see if Josh and Bob have made things more affordable yet or if they just like talking about it

Since talk is cheap, talk is the most affordable option for Josh and Bob.

 

[monothingie]

This has to be parody right? How many takes did it take Josh to say that without him loosing it in laughter? Please tell me there are out takes.

 

[HauntedPirate]

I remember that one year when Disney jacked up ticket prices by a large margin, before Covid. They took the risk, and it paid off. Still sold plenty of everything. Still crowded.

Not really. They jacked prices on AP's in 2019 (22-25%), but single day ticket prices have not had a large jump (double-digit percentage) since the mid-80's. They have, however, made park hopping more expensive, along with date-based tickets which makes exact comparisons to pre-Chapek-reign-as-P&R-head tickets impossible these days.

 

[monothingie]

I remember that one year when Disney jacked up ticket prices by a large margin, before Covid. They took the risk, and it paid off. Still sold plenty of everything. Still crowded.

They made money by monetizing every part of the experience to make up for the lower number of people going. Even with the post-covid travel bump, attendance never rebounded to 2019 levels.

All the families going support his statement.

The fire sale of promotions and special offers currently available say nope.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

When they ran off one income, they had one car, maybe one TV, one house phone, no computers, etc. There were still plenty of families who couldn’t afford to go to Disneyland. We surely couldn’t afford WDW in the 70’s or 80’s. Didn’t resent that, either.

We’re comparing a post-war boom with a post-pandemic recovery. It’s amazing we weren’t in a recession for the last two years.

I remember that one year when Disney jacked up ticket prices by a large margin, before Covid. They took the risk, and it paid off. Still sold plenty of everything. Still crowded.

All the families going support his statement.

A drop in attendance without a recession…and I’m not even talking about the 5 mil that wdw never got back after Covid…does not fit the definition of “working”

Don’t drink bobs koolaid. He’s slowly poisoning the entire operation with it

 

[JD80]

They made money by monetizing every part of the experience to make up for the lower number of people going. Even with the post-covid travel bump, attendance never rebounded to 2019 levels.

The fire sale of promotions and special offers currently available say nope.

92% occupancy in Q2 says otherwise. I'd be curious if we could compare attendance in Q2 2025 to Q2 2019. If attendance in 2025 is less than 2019 then WDW has managed to get more people to stay on site vs. off site. Which is a huge win.

2019 and 2025 look very close to the same for Room Nights and Occupancy.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Bob, Josh and Hugh don't give a cr@p about the guest experience in the parks or the affordability in the parks. They don't go to the parks, just just want to continue to milk these cash cows.

They know folks who can still afford to visit the parks will continue to visit. They continue to raise prices on everything to prop up revenue with less guests visiting.

All Bob, Josh and Hugh care about the next quarterly report.

Folks may think this is short sighted and a bad business model, but that's how its been for decades, perhaps to a lesser extent in past decades but its always been the case.

 

[LSLS]

92% occupancy in Q2 says otherwise. I'd be curious if we could compare attendance in Q2 2025 to Q2 2019. If attendance in 2025 is less than 2019 then WDW has managed to get more people to stay on site vs. off site. Which is a huge win.

2019 and 2025 look very close to the same for Room Nights and Occupancy.


View attachment 859485View attachment 859487

Eh, I'd be surprised. We will obviously have a better look in a few months when the 2024 reports come out, but for now, what we know is 2023 was 9.31% lower than 2019. A nearly 10% jump in attendance I have to imagine would make it into the shareholder reports. Most of them simply say they saw increases in revenue due to and increase in guest spending (a few due mention a rise in attendance, but that would be some big jumps for just some of the quarters). That said, the Q2 report did shock me, so who knows at this point.

 

[JD80]

Eh, I'd be surprised. We will obviously have a better look in a few months when the 2024 reports come out, but for now, what we know is 2023 was 9.31% lower than 2019. A nearly 10% jump in attendance I have to imagine would make it into the shareholder reports. Most of them simply say they saw increases in revenue due to and increase in guest spending (a few due mention a rise in attendance, but that would be some big jumps for just some of the quarters). That said, the Q2 report did shock me, so who knows at this point.

Just numbers for reference:

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Bob, Josh and Hugh don't give a cr@p about the guest experience in the parks or the affordability in the parks. They don't go to the parks, just just want to continue to milk these cash cows.

They know folks who can still afford to visit the parks will continue to visit. They continue to raise prices on everything to prop up revenue with less guests visiting.

All Bob, Josh and Hugh care about the next quarterly report.

Folks may think this is short sighted and a bad business model, but that's how its been for decades, perhaps to a lesser extent in past decades but its always been the case.

One very key difference

Previous strategy was building through loyalty…the current puts price dynamics over all

It’s the differnce between volunteers and hostages

 

[Disstevefan1]

One very key difference

Previous strategy was building through loyalty…the current puts price dynamics over all

It’s the differnce between volunteers and hostages

Valid point.

I have always thought in my mind repeat guests was significant.

I wonder what percentage repeat guests is today?

I wonder how many repeat guests they lost?

And of the repeat guests they did not lose, how much the frequency has gone down today?

Families only have so much free time and disposable income.

 

[Lilofan]

Bottles of filtered tap water still cost $6.00, so probably not.

Water fountain refill or ask CM for cup of ice water - free