A Spirited Perfect Ten

asianway

asianway

Well-Known Member
lentesta said:
Put on your tin-foil hats, kids. This is where I go all "conspiracy theory" on y'all.

<start of tin foil section>

What if the September crowds were engineered by Disney to justify the upcoming tiered pricing scheme? Like "We have to raise prices to keep crowds low - you saw September!"

It wouldn't take much to do this. You tell the security folks at bag check "Hey, be extra thorough today, and don't worry about the backup." Then the first thing people see when they get off the ferry/monorail is a huge line, and they think it's more crowded than it should be.

You tell ride staffers to be extra careful in checking seat belts, regardless of how it affects ride dispatch time, or you take a few extra vehicles offline for maintenance, and bam, longer waits at the attractions.

It's completely doable, and it could be done in a couple-paragraph email. Who's going to argue against extra security? Who's going to argue against extra ride safety?

<end of tin foil section>
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The first party selling out along with lackadaisical wristband checking starts to make more sense in that light
 
Next Big Thing

Next Big Thing

Well-Known Member
Cesar R M

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
Just a note on that. I don't understand all the angst about the price increases. In 1970 I bought a brand new car for $3200.00. Think you can get one for that now? Prices go up and life goes on. Especially in a place like WDW or any of the other parks which are not even close to being a necessity. If we don't have enough money to go, we just don't go. Everyone lives on. When enough people stop going then you will see the prices drop, but, don't expect that to happen real soon.
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huge difference in price based on INFLATION.. vs priced based on something completely different. Disney prices went beyond inflation prices. @ParentsOf4 could pull his magical statistics again to show this as a FACT.
 
Cesar R M

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
lentesta said:
Put on your tin-foil hats, kids. This is where I go all "conspiracy theory" on y'all.

<start of tin foil section>

What if the September crowds were engineered by Disney to justify the upcoming tiered pricing scheme? Like "We have to raise prices to keep crowds low - you saw September!"

It wouldn't take much to do this. You tell the security folks at bag check "Hey, be extra thorough today, and don't worry about the backup." Then the first thing people see when they get off the ferry/monorail is a huge line, and they think it's more crowded than it should be.

You tell ride staffers to be extra careful in checking seat belts, regardless of how it affects ride dispatch time, or you take a few extra vehicles offline for maintenance, and bam, longer waits at the attractions.

It's completely doable, and it could be done in a couple-paragraph email. Who's going to argue against extra security? Who's going to argue against extra ride safety?

<end of tin foil section>
Click to expand...
didnt disney did this already by shutting down many food venues even if they were needed?
 
Cesar R M

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
flynnibus said:
I dunno about manufactured crowds... but I certainly can see 'not caring about crowds' when the business would value operating with the least cost possible that allows things to get crowded, but not so crowded things cause a ruckus. Which is why I've poo'd on Dave using your wait times as indicators of attendance. All it takes is Disney slow-boating attractions through reduced staffing, lower intensity, or resistance to running more ride vehicles to make make attractions have longer lines.

Disney isn't incentivized to give you the lowest possible wait time. Just 'low enough' to keep the magic total ride count where it needs to be.
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wasnt the rumoured Disney's "sweet spot", 5-6 rides for the whole day?
 
D

doctornick

Well-Known Member
Next Big Thing said:
ABC Family becoming "Freeform" http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/abc-family-changes-name-freeform-829689

It's a change that Ascheim says needed to be made after consumers who weren't familiar with ABC Family viewed the cabler as one that targeted parents with small children. "And that really isn't the content we put forth,"

Terrible name for a TV Channel if you ask me, but whatever.
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Hmmm. The network was contractually obligated to keep the word "family" as part of the name as part of the original sale from Christian Broadcast Network (same reason The 700 Club continues to air on the channel). I'm impressed that Disney managed to find a way out of that clause.

That said, I liked the idea of calling the network XYZ better than Freeform.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
hopemax said:
No, it was $1.60 in 1970. You are off by 60%. So a minimum wage employee would have worked 27.5 hours to afford one night in the most expensive room category on property. Minimum wage today is $7.25 so to afford a night in that $521 room, that would take 71.8 hours of minimum wage work. 2.6 times as much.

2nd quarter 2015, median weekly earnings in the US were $801. So they could buy 1.5 nights in the Contemporary room.

I found the stats for 1970, and it wasn't as high as you mentioned. 1970 total, median full time was $138/week although for white males it was $168. So for total, full time that would be 3.1 nights, and for a white male 3.8. Again, at least twice as long for one week's worth of work.
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Except that no one on minimum wage is going to WDW, then or now. And if they did, they certainly wouldn't be able to afford a night in the most expensive room. Again, apples to apples needed for comparison along with a hefty dose of reality. You have to factor in that that income isn't going to have to only pay for WDW, but, support a family as well. That leaves a lot less to play with. I know, I lived it. I would have loved to stay at the Contemporary when I went in 1983, but couldn't afford it if we expected to eat as well. That was the reality. There is more spendable income now then there was then, the margins were much smaller in real time expenditures. The percentages might be the same, but the amount of money that those percentages represent are much larger.

I can afford to now, but, refuse to pay that much for a room to sleep in. Yes, I'm cheap, but, I absolutely could not relax and enjoy myself paying those unreasonable, in my opinion, rates. I get my moneys worth out of park tickets, that, is not the problem. It's the rest of the stuff that is nothing short of robbery, but, like myself, no one has to pay that if they don't want too. So, if one wants to, then they should, if not, they shouldn't, but, don't blame the park rates. That's still a heck of a lot of entertainment for a reasonable price. Just because it was cheaper at one point in history, is totally irrelevant.
 
Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Cesar R M said:
huge difference in price based on INFLATION.. vs priced based on something completely different. Disney prices went beyond inflation prices. @ParentsOf4 could pull his magical statistics again to show this as a FACT.
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I covered that Cesar, inflation is pushed out there often. The problem is that inflation is not a relevant measurement when it comes to this. Inflation is measured by what it costs to maintain life when looked at as cost of living. In fact, I don't know if they still do, but, for a long while the costs of utilities, like gas and heating oil wasn't even in the discussion. Why? I don't know since it was a major part of what it costs us to live. So the cost of living index was way under reported, but, it made the government look good even though it was killing the rest of us.

Even if included, cost of living is just that. What it cost us to maintain life. Not what it costs us to maintain all the extra perks of life, just life itself. As much as I like Disney parks, I would be hard pressed to claim that without them I would literally die. Theme Parks and resorts are classified as luxury, unnecessary expense and therefore cannot be compared with the cost of living. Since it isn't required to maintain life, it is free to deal with what the market will bear. Apparently, judging from the crowd sizes, it is bearing quite well.
 
HauntedMansionFLA

HauntedMansionFLA

Well-Known Member
truecoat said:
True but they have set them selves up for a big fall when a recession hits. It will be easier not to go to WDW when the price is so high.
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That's true. We are due for the Stock Market to take a dive - 1993, 2001, 2007/08/09. I was spoiled when I went back to Disney as an adult. September 2005 it was walk on to every ride - zero wait times.
 
HauntedMansionFLA

HauntedMansionFLA

Well-Known Member
truecoat said:
True but they have set them selves up for a big fall when a recession hits. It will be easier not to go to WDW when the price is so high.
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What about the families that book a vacation with the ability to make changes to their plans thinking Disney will offer the free dining plans or the huge discounts at the resorts each year. I'm waiting for Disney to stop the FDP and resort discounts.
 
Iwerks64

Iwerks64

Well-Known Member
Goofyernmost said:
I covered that Cesar, inflation is pushed out there often. The problem is that inflation is not a relevant measurement when it comes to this. Inflation is measured by what it costs to maintain life when looked at as cost of living. In fact, I don't know if they still do, but, for a long while the costs of utilities, like gas and heating oil wasn't even in the discussion. Why? I don't know since it was a major part of what it costs us to live. So the cost of living index was way under reported, but, it made the government look good even though it was killing the rest of us.

Even if included, cost of living is just that. What it cost us to maintain life. Not what it costs us to maintain all the extra perks of life, just life itself. As much as I like Disney parks, I would be hard pressed to claim that without them I would literally die. Theme Parks and resorts are classified as luxury, unnecessary expense and therefore cannot be compared with the cost of living. Since it isn't required to maintain life, it is free to deal with what the market will bear. Apparently, judging from the crowd sizes, it is bearing quite well.
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Look up the Forbes CLEWI (cost of living extremely well index). This measures pricing increase in luxury goods. It has indeed outpaced inflation for the past 25 years, however nowhere near the level of increases in pricing that WDW tickets and hotel rooms have risen. However, looking at the income growth of the top 1%, even those CLEWI levels are a pittance. So, yes, @Gooyernmost, WDW is a luxury item and shouldn't be judged by cost of living increase rates. But compared to most every other luxury item over the past 25 years, WDW is far outpacing in price increases. Still doesn't seem to stop people from willing to pay the gouging.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
asianway said:
The first party selling out along with lackadaisical wristband checking starts to make more sense in that light
Click to expand...

So... clarifying before the Aliens get me (Cue @Cesar R M for the meme)

.... What I meant was Disney using FP+ to start to manage its staffing and cut back on labor hours. Rides arent fully staffed, lines get long despite lower attendance.

Its a theory at the moment but one of the more plausable ones....
 
ford91exploder

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
DisneyOutsider said:
On the other hand, if you price the product so that it becomes a high end luxury experience frequented by the rich, demand becomes rather inelastic.
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But NOW you have to make the experience commensurate with the price, I can see catering to the wealthy if the price AND service and amenity levels were both on the upswing but whats happening at WDW is service and amenities are being relentlessly cut while prices are increasing at double digit rates.

It seems Disney is shooting for the 'One and Done' market assuming since it's DISNEY they will pay any price irrespective of the services provided.
 

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