2022 ticket price “increase”

[RSoxNo1]

BlogMickey is click bait and anti-Disney. Never click on their links. I haven't read any news about this but they ALWAYS headline their news in such a way that will encourage people click and react in a negative way.

BlogMickey is NOT clickbait or Anti Disney. He's just not a pixie-duster like a LOT of sites are. The site that shall not be named is the epitome of click bait.

Blog Mickey is about as even keeled as any Disney blog out there save this one (and of course, WDWThemeParks.com).

In fact, I reached out to Mike at Blog Mickey about a misleading headline in the past and he acknowledged it and changed it.

 

[HauntedPirate]

A single park ticket for $46 in 2000 would be about $70 now. At fair value I would expect single park tickets to be in line with what tokyo disney charges now. It's not like Tokyo disney is hurting for money either. I understand disney these days does whatever they think they can get away with to suck up as much of people's money as possible, but its pretty outrageous to literally have doubled the price for a single day even accounting for inflation especially considering the additional capacity they can handle and upcharges between all of their properties. I don't think they increases are justified at all beyond greed. Disney is like being in an abusive relationship in some aspects.

#ThanksBeToTheBobs

 

[aliceismad]

A single park ticket for $46 in 2000 would be about $70 now. At fair value I would expect single park tickets to be in line with what tokyo disney charges now. It's not like Tokyo disney is hurting for money either. I understand disney these days does whatever they think they can get away with to suck up as much of people's money as possible, but its pretty outrageous to literally have doubled the price for a single day even accounting for inflation especially considering the additional capacity they can handle and upcharges between all of their properties. I don't think they increases are justified at all beyond greed. Disney is like being in an abusive relationship in some aspects.

Except that consumers can choose not to go. Likening going to a theme park on vacation to an abusive relationship is just callous.

To your point, however, 2000 was 21 years ago. If a child was born in 2000, they can legally drink this year. In 2000, the price of gas was less than $1.30. Some things rise more or less than the average of inflation.

Also Disney doesn't really want people paying for a single day. That's why they make it cheaper if you stay longer. They want you to stay, eat, buy merch, sleep, repeat. If you go for a week, as many people do, a 7-day ticket starts at $67 a day.

 

[CastAStone]

Last 3 years:
February 2018: ticket/AP price increase
October 2018: ticket/AP price increase
March 2019: WDW announces date based pricing, effectively increases prices for most days
June 2019: Release 2020 packages, Same prices as 2019 but several dates are tiered up, effectively a price increase, AP price increase
Feb 2020: Price increase (sneakily, only on multi day tickets), AP price increase
June 2020: Release 2021 packages, same prices as recently increased 2020 prices but many days are tiered up, effectively a price increase
Feb 2021: release 2022 packages, same prices as 2021 but most days are tiered up, effectively a price increase

If you think that summer 2022 will cost the same in Spring 2022 as it does now, I don’t know what to tell you.

 

[wutisgood]

Except that consumers can choose not to go. Likening going to a theme park on vacation to an abusive relationship is just callous.

To your point, however, 2000 was 21 years ago. If a child was born in 2000, they can legally drink this year. In 2000, the price of gas was less than $1.30. Some things rise more or less than the average of inflation.

Also Disney doesn't really want people paying for a single day. That's why they make it cheaper if you stay longer. They want you to stay, eat, buy merch, sleep, repeat. If you go for a week, as many people do, a 7-day ticket starts at $67 a day.

Disney built a strong brand with guests on benefits, service. and experiences beyond what most vacation destinations could provide. Then over the years we get consistent price raises beyond inflation, years of underinvestment in rides while they build thousands of hotel rooms. They make pin codes useless and dining plan deals almost impossible to actually book. Extra magic hours are shortened and then cut. Ride staffing is reduced cutting efficiency and capacity. Parking becomes a charge and luggage service is cut. Free transport from the airport is cut.

Throughout all of this Disney blames their guests for the rising prices because they need a way to control attendance. It's our fault that we couldn't get on some rides for not staying on site to book early fastpass. It's our fault for not paying for upcharge events to avoid crowds. It's our fault that some people are taking rideshares that they can't keep magical express. It's our fault that we didn't just take a minnie van and relied on the bus service to get somewhere on time.

In california where they are limited by physical space Disney if forced to keep the parks open longer hours to fit enough people and they make plenty of money there. It is absolutely insulting to be told that they have to raise prices when you know they could expand hours similarly at wdw.

It is very much like an abusive relationship.

Multi day tickets don't negate my point either. Those are also way up in price and it takes longer stays then it used to bring the average down significantly.

I hate having to rely all the time on punishing a company financially to get them to change. There are companies out there that are much more proactive about keeping consumers satisfied with their product while investing in services to keep consumers happy. Disney used to be better than that. This level of greed was not the business model that the parks were built on. It is merely the one they chose to operate by now.

 

[DisneyHead123]

I hate having to rely all the time on punishing a company financially to get them to change. There are companies out there that are much more proactive about keeping consumers satisfied with their product while investing in services to keep consumers happy. Disney used to be better than that. This level of greed was not the business model that the parks were built on. It is merely the one they chose to operate by now.

I don't see it in terms of greed, I think of it in terms of the free market. In recent years, Disney hasn't really had competition in the way that most companies do. If you want to go on a Dream Family Vacation, they are "It" with a capital I. Demand has been higher than supply to a huge degree. I think this has been especially true since what I perceive to be the decline of local amusement parks in the US.

Like most free market quirks, however, I think this will eventually self correct. Nature abhors a void and capitalism abhors missed opportunities for dollars to be made. How, exactly, I'm not sure, but my guess is that local competition will get stronger. The one area where Disney really can't compete is locally. They can't bring their multimillion dollar rides to your town, their model requires huge investment in one specific location. In the meantime, mini "all in one place" vacation spots seem to slowly be growing across the country. Little resorts with an indoor waterpark + mini golf + restaurants + etc etc etc, usually near some manner of US landmark that you have on your bucket list and / or feel your kids should visit for educational purposes. If that turns into genuine competition that eats into Disney's earnings, then they will have to go into "winning customers back" mode vs. "trying to thin crowds with higher prices" mode.

 

[wutisgood]

I don't see it in terms of greed, I think of it in terms of the free market. In recent years, Disney hasn't really had competition in the way that most companies do. If you want to go on a Dream Family Vacation, they are "It" with a capital I. Demand has been higher than supply to a huge degree. I think this has been especially true since what I perceive to be the decline of local amusement parks in the US.

Like most free market quirks, however, I think this will eventually self correct. Nature abhors a void and capitalism abhors missed opportunities for dollars to be made. How, exactly, I'm not sure, but my guess is that local competition will get stronger. The one area where Disney really can't compete is locally. They can't bring their multimillion dollar rides to your town, their model requires huge investment in one specific location. In the meantime, mini "all in one place" vacation spots seem to slowly be growing across the country. Little resorts with an indoor waterpark + mini golf + restaurants + etc etc etc, usually near some manner of US landmark that you have on your bucket list and / or feel your kids should visit for educational purposes. If that turns into genuine competition that eats into Disney's earnings, then they will have to go into "winning customers back" mode vs. "trying to thin crowds with higher prices" mode.

The free market does not require Disney operate the way they do now. That is a choice of their business model driven by the executives and board. These people have taken the greedy approach in that they want to maximize short term gains and disney's position as the leader in the sector. There is a way to expand ride capacity, expand hours, expand services and make money on volume. Chapek is a retail guy and if you ever worked with those kinds of people they don't know how to manage a business on profit from encouraging increased demand, they only know how to raise prices and cut cost. This is why the park employees hate him so much and why he cuts entertainment. He views them as a cost not an investment.

I do wonder if universal would have kept building the 3rd park if they knew disney was going to cut even more services. It seems comcast was less vulnerable to the pandemic and has a huge opportunity to cut into disney's market share considering disney doesn't seem to care about competing. A third park esp considering how close seaworld is would make it a real competitor and the sooner they get it running the more market they take.

 

[DisneyHead123]

The free market does not require Disney operate the way they do now.

It doesn't require it, no. But it won't shield Disney from natural consequences either. In that sense the market is self correcting. I don't claim to know whether or not Disney is making the right calls right now... but I do think that it's kinda futile to use moral terms when talking about businesses. I mean they have to follow the law, of course, but beyond that, in our country businesses are supposed to be 'greedy', in a way - they're supposed to look out for the shareholder first. But as you talked about, what is actually the best way to maximize shareholder value isn't always obvious. If they get it wrong, the market will let them know that they got it wrong, and they'll have to adjust down the road.

 

[wutisgood]

The natural consequences would have made my friend a millionaire on gme stock and me great profits, That would have been the market self correcting. I mean they have to follow the law right... unless the markets are about to self correct to the tune of billionaires losing money. then we gotta restrict trading to the poor people.

 

[MurphyJoe]

The free market does not require Disney operate the way they do now. That is a choice of their business model driven by the executives and board. These people have taken the greedy approach in that they want to maximize short term gains and disney's position as the leader in the sector. There is a way to expand ride capacity, expand hours, expand services and make money on volume. Chapek is a retail guy and if you ever worked with those kinds of people they don't know how to manage a business on profit from encouraging increased demand, they only know how to raise prices and cut cost. This is why the park employees hate him so much and why he cuts entertainment. He views them as a cost not an investment.

I do wonder if universal would have kept building the 3rd park if they knew disney was going to cut even more services. It seems comcast was less vulnerable to the pandemic and has a huge opportunity to cut into disney's market share considering disney doesn't seem to care about competing. A third park esp considering how close seaworld is would make it a real competitor and the sooner they get it running the more market they take.

The Epic Universe complex is still being built. Vertical construction is paused at the movement; I've heard a few different stories as to why things are slowed, but Comcast / Universal still very much want to make it happen.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Disney built a strong brand with guests on benefits, service. and experiences beyond what most vacation destinations could provide. Then over the years we get consistent price raises beyond inflation, years of underinvestment in rides while they build thousands of hotel rooms. They make pin codes useless and dining plan deals almost impossible to actually book. Extra magic hours are shortened and then cut. Ride staffing is reduced cutting efficiency and capacity. Parking becomes a charge and luggage service is cut. Free transport from the airport is cut.

Throughout all of this Disney blames their guests for the rising prices because they need a way to control attendance. It's our fault that we couldn't get on some rides for not staying on site to book early fastpass. It's our fault for not paying for upcharge events to avoid crowds. It's our fault that some people are taking rideshares that they can't keep magical express. It's our fault that we didn't just take a minnie van and relied on the bus service to get somewhere on time.

In california where they are limited by physical space Disney if forced to keep the parks open longer hours to fit enough people and they make plenty of money there. It is absolutely insulting to be told that they have to raise prices when you know they could expand hours similarly at wdw.

It is very much like an abusive relationship.

Multi day tickets don't negate my point either. Those are also way up in price and it takes longer stays then it used to bring the average down significantly.

I hate having to rely all the time on punishing a company financially to get them to change. There are companies out there that are much more proactive about keeping consumers satisfied with their product while investing in services to keep consumers happy. Disney used to be better than that. This level of greed was not the business model that the parks were built on. It is merely the one they chose to operate by now.

When the point is reached is not yet understood, but, the diminishing experiences vs the rising costs are reducing the pool of people interested in visiting Disney properties. As for the more affluent people the significance / satisfaction of Disney experiences is eroding due to the reduction of quality. The current trend to provide minimal but charge maximum in the long run is a self destructive business model. This is an entertainment conglomerate! The question is, What happens when it is no longer entertaining?

 

[DisneyHead123]

The natural consequences would have made my friend a millionaire on gme stock and me great profits, That would have been the market self correcting. I mean they have to follow the law right... unless the markets are about to self correct to the tune of billionaires losing money. then we gotta restrict trading to the poor people.

Yeah it's definitely not a perfect system, no doubt. There is also the "golden parachute" issue that one hears about a lot, for example. Even so, I think market forces are still influential enough in this country to make companies responsive to customer preferences over the long term.

I think the situation with Disney has been a bit of an artificial bubble in that they've had next to no real competition for awhile. These are just my anecdotal impressions, of course. When I was growing up in the 80s Disney World was much smaller and other amusement parks were, it seems to me, overall better. Somewhere along the way Disney got huge and many other amusement parks got sketchy and shady, places that wild teens go to cut lines and act wild, not family vacation destinations. (Why that is, I'm not sure, there's probably an interesting story behind that trend.) Now, even Disney's competition like Universal and Lego World probably bring in a certain amount of business because Orlando is the epicenter of All Things Family Vacation (When Magical Express was cancelled, I noticed many families saying they were taking their family vacations at National Parks from now on, but come on, we all know this is an empty threat, the way that you say your kid isn't eating McDonald's anymore if they don't make healthier food. If you want to take your child on a dream vacation, there is just no comparison to the Orlando area anywhere. Hiking America's landmarks, for a five year old, is in no way shape or form the same as riding the Dumbo ride.)

Like I said though, I don't see that lasting forever. While, as you noted, capitalism in this country isn't perfectly fair, it's not going to prohibit Disney competitors from building if they choose to do so. (So that's what I mean by market forces - in some parts of the world I think you just don't compete with the top companies, period, on threat of your life and freedom. But in the US you can.) And if the opportunity is there, competition will emerge, eventually, and even out the market a bit. I predict that this competition will likely be local, at least for now (eventually frequent international travel may be more accessible for the average family, but I think that's a ways off)... places with some combination of a quaint historic town / wineries / beautiful scenic spot / historic site / etc. + some combination of indoor water park / adventure park / small nearby amusement park / spa / prepaid meal plan with over-the-top offerings (elaborate melon carvings or ice sculptures or whatever) / etc. I have to say that as a parent that's the only concept that kinda floats my boat in the same way that Disney does. You sacrifice some of the extravagance of Orlando but you gain the charm of a charming town and / or gorgeous nature, and you still have something magical to offer your child.

 

[josephinelcajon]

Shocking to me! They want the rich and exclude the poor

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Disney's business has collapsed due to the pandemic. They have hotels, parks and other facilities shut down completely...but they're still raising prices because they think that can help offset the decrease in demand.

Bringing up economic theories is laughable. Disney plays by their own rules. They don't care about anything but the next quarter and will do whatever (layoffs, price hikes etc) to spin the numbers in their favor. Bob and the rest are scrambling to convince investors that they still have everything under control.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Disney's business has collapsed due to the pandemic. They have hotels, parks and other facilities shut down completely...but they're still raising prices because they think that can help offset the decrease in demand.

Bringing up economic theories is laughable. Disney plays by their own rules. They don't care about anything but the next quarter and will do whatever (layoffs, price hikes etc) to spin the numbers in their favor. Bob and the rest are scrambling to convince investors that they still have everything under control.

I don’t think that’s them playing by some kind of special or different rules, I think that’s pretty standard in US capitalism. In a strange way, I assume that Disney can’t “play by their own rules” in the way that a company like Walmart has been accused of. For corporate powerhouses like Walmart and Amazon, they are accused of destroying local competition with outsized bargaining power with suppliers and predatory pricing undercuts (say what you will about Disney, I assume you will not find anyone accusing them of price undercutting lol!) I don’t see how Disney Parks, however, could do that even if they wanted to, outside of Orlando. They’re not going to interact much with local retailers because you go to them, they don’t come to you. Unless they have some other way of leveraging power that I don’t know about, it seems to me that they are actually unusually un-influential on competitors because they are limited to a few very specific geographic locations, leaving the rest of the country open.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I don’t think that’s them playing by some kind of special or different rules, I think that’s pretty standard in US capitalism. In a strange way, I assume that Disney can’t “play by their own rules” in the way that a company like Walmart has been accused of. For corporate powerhouses like Walmart and Amazon, they are accused of destroying local competition with outsized bargaining power with suppliers and predatory pricing undercuts (say what you will about Disney, I assume you will not find anyone accusing them of price undercutting lol!) I don’t see how Disney Parks, however, could do that even if they wanted to, outside of Orlando. They’re not going to interact much with local retailers because you go to them, they don’t come to you. Unless they have some other way of leveraging power that I don’t know about, it seems to me that they are actually unusually un-influential on competitors because they are limited to a few very specific geographic locations, leaving the rest of the country open.

People were saying that market forces would eventually correct Disney's ever increasing prices. We've seen how that doesn't happen, even during severe economic recession. I think talking about economic theories on a Disney message board is about as productive as saying "Disney is a business". We get it. We know the theory, but we also know what Disney does in practice.

Now if you're saying US capitalism in reality has nothing to do with economic theory and is just whatever business practices corporations can get away with, than yes, I agree.

 

[bcoachable]

Yeah it's definitely not a perfect system, no doubt. There is also the "golden parachute" issue that one hears about a lot, for example. Even so, I think market forces are still influential enough in this country to make companies responsive to customer preferences over the long term.

I think the situation with Disney has been a bit of an artificial bubble in that they've had next to no real competition for awhile. These are just my anecdotal impressions, of course. When I was growing up in the 80s Disney World was much smaller and other amusement parks were, it seems to me, overall better. Somewhere along the way Disney got huge and many other amusement parks got sketchy and shady, places that wild teens go to cut lines and act wild, not family vacation destinations. (Why that is, I'm not sure, there's probably an interesting story behind that trend.) Now, even Disney's competition like Universal and Lego World probably bring in a certain amount of business because Orlando is the epicenter of All Things Family Vacation (When Magical Express was cancelled, I noticed many families saying they were taking their family vacations at National Parks from now on, but come on, we all know this is an empty threat, the way that you say your kid isn't eating McDonald's anymore if they don't make healthier food. If you want to take your child on a dream vacation, there is just no comparison to the Orlando area anywhere. Hiking America's landmarks, for a five year old, is in no way shape or form the same as riding the Dumbo ride.)

Like I said though, I don't see that lasting forever. While, as you noted, capitalism in this country isn't perfectly fair, it's not going to prohibit Disney competitors from building if they choose to do so. (So that's what I mean by market forces - in some parts of the world I think you just don't compete with the top companies, period, on threat of your life and freedom. But in the US you can.) And if the opportunity is there, competition will emerge, eventually, and even out the market a bit. I predict that this competition will likely be local, at least for now (eventually frequent international travel may be more accessible for the average family, but I think that's a ways off)... places with some combination of a quaint historic town / wineries / beautiful scenic spot / historic site / etc. + some combination of indoor water park / adventure park / small nearby amusement park / spa / prepaid meal plan with over-the-top offerings (elaborate melon carvings or ice sculptures or whatever) / etc. I have to say that as a parent that's the only concept that kinda floats my boat in the same way that Disney does. You sacrifice some of the extravagance of Orlando but you gain the charm of a charming town and / or gorgeous nature, and you still have something magical to offer your child.

Quoting you b/c I agree and as the reason why for the following proposal:

Anyone want to join forces and start a destination theme park resort somewhere on the Third Coast??
How much cash would it take??!!

 

[DisneyHead123]

People were saying that market forces would eventually correct Disney's ever increasing prices. We've seen how that doesn't happen, even during severe economic recession. I think talking about economic theories on a Disney message board is about as productive as saying "Disney is a business". We get it. We know the theory, but we also know what Disney does in practice.

Now if you're saying US capitalism in reality has nothing to do with economic theory and is just whatever business practices corporations can get away with, than yes, I agree.

Remember Disney is only 5 decades old and certainly wasn't the giant it is now for that entire time. I'm not saying this process happens overnight, but I think it happens. Especially, I would think, given the fact that Disney cannot be kinda omnipresent and pre-establish strongholds all over the country in a way that a company like a retail store can. If you want to start a discount retail store in a town with a Walmart, well, good luck with that (nothing against Walmart, btw, they're just an easy example.) If you want to start a family entertainment resort, well, it may be harder given that Disney is even in the same country, but locally they're not going to have much influence (unless there's something I'm missing there.)

Right now seems to me to be a period of trial and error and experimentation when it comes to local entertainment. Malls and movie theaters are on the way out and people aren't quite sure what they want to replace them yet. It seems to me that there is an era of experimentation at the moment - in my area I've seen everything from the family entertainment resorts I mentioned to indoor mini golf bars to bowling restaurants to adult go kart tracks to the huge bounce house place craze for kids, and on and on. A lot of them have, admittedly, flopped, so maybe I'm wrong and we're all just too glued to our screens for such things now. But I think the overwhelming demand at Disney is still evidence that the demand is there and people are still just figuring out what it is that people even want. Again, not an overnight project, but I think it will happen.

 

[DisneyHead123]

Quoting you b/c I agree and as the reason why for the following proposal:

Anyone want to join forces and start a destination theme park resort somewhere on the Third Coast??
How much cash would it take??!!

Cat land. Us crazy cat people are an underserved population. The mascot will be a giant calico named Mittens who, in true cat fashion, will hack up a hairball on your shoe when you arrive and then ignore you for the duration of your stay.

 

[flutas]

The Epic Universe complex is still being built. Vertical construction is paused at the movement; I've heard a few different stories as to why things are slowed, but Comcast / Universal still very much want to make it happen.

Comcast / Universal by proxy cut a LOT of staffing at the very start of the pandemic and are just now getting everyone back on. They had a unique-ish way of doing it though, instead of outright laying off people they would place people on furlough everyone a number of days per week. The end result being staffing cut by X% without firing anyone.

I would say the pause of construction probably came down from comcast over universal.