Attendance drop in the parks... I wonder why

[Angel Ariel]

I've spent a fair bit of time reading this thread the past week and until the last few pages one thing really stood out for me, quite a few posters who feel they don't get a good ROI on WDW trip. This in and of itself is not unusual here and that's fine, but it seemed odd to me that there was a rather vocal handful who joined this forum in the past 6 months or so. Just struck me as odd that one(or three) would feel this way and join the forum after coming to this conclusion. I fully understand those who were already active here when they came to that conclusion.

Why? People can still love Disney, even if they feel a WDW trip may not be a good ROI right now. That doesn't mean the love they've always had for Disney just disappears. This is forum that does welcome people who love Disney, right?

 

[Chef Mickey]

It also happens to be one of the cheapest places to live in the country. Low cost of living can really make a man feel successful.

edit to add....

At my current income level, I would live like an absolute king in Texas.

edit to add...

I'd have more investment properties then you too. If I lived in Texas.

edit to add....

I would never ever live in Texas.

LOL...Do some research. A couple of the large cities in Texas have some of the wealthiest people in America. "Cheap state" to live isn't always the case in certain counties, where property tax is 3%/yr. On a $1m home, that's $30k/yr just in taxes. California is more like 1%. That matters.

I don't live in the "great deal" part of Texas. Remember, it's a big state.

 

[Ralphlaw]

None of us are perfect, but we made the best of the breaks that we had. When I got out of law school, I was unemployed for 6 months. I continued studying various other areas like the Foreign Service Exam, sent out a minimum of 5 resume's a day, stayed in shape, and kept plugging away. I finally landed a job making a whopping $28,000 per year with zero benefits. A few years later I made partner. Then that firm dissolved right after my son was born. I opened by own firm, did not pay myself for a few months, cranked out 60 or so hours a week, took no vacation for 4 years, and finally went to Disney.

The role of luck should not downplayed, but working hard and smart gives people far more chances to be lucky. There were dozens of times that I could have given up or just whined. Yeah, I probably whined a little, but I still got up every morning, went to work, read a few dozen books on investing, and got comfortable at a job in which I am the boss and can't get fired. By the way, I was in my office last night until 7, finishing up esoteric tax forms like the W-3, 940, 941, WT-7 and a few others. I then went home and blew snow for 20 minutes. I finally had dinner of leftovers and saw my kids around 7:45. Not patting myself on the back, but I am saying that very often lucky is as lucky does.

 

[xdan0920]

LOL...Do some research. A couple of the large cities in Texas have some of the wealthiest people in America. "Cheap state" to live isn't always the case in certain counties, where property tax is 3%/yr. On a $1m home, that's $30k/yr just in taxes. California is more like 1%. That matters.

I don't live in the "great deal" part of Texas. Remember, it's a big state.

Your financial acumen baffles the mind. Truly.

A couple things. What county are you referring to? I see the highest average bill for Texas counties is King County at $5066.

I am in Bergen County NJ. Here's our average taxes for 2015. $11500. That's the AVERAGE.

 

[Angel Ariel]

For every personal anecdote where someone pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, there are also personal anecdotes where people have had the bootstraps ripped away from them before they could even try to pull themselves up. Is it really necessary for this thread to continue to devolve into individual financial situations?

As prices increase, attendance will drop. That is natural, and Disney said in at least one of its investors calls that it was their intent to address crowd control through pricing. They've done so, and they're now getting the results they said they intended.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Your financial acumen baffles the mind. Truly.

A couple things. What county are you referring to? I see the highest average bill for Texas counties is King County at $5066.

I am in Bergen County NJ. Here's our average taxes for 2015. $11500. That's the AVERAGE.

Average means nothing...my taxes are way more than $5,000/yr and even more than $11,500. I'm saying 3% of the value of the home makes taxes a bigger hit on the same value home in California where property taxes are sometimes under 1%. ON

 

[xdan0920]

Average means nothing...my taxes are way more than $5,000/yr and even more than $11,500. I'm saying 3% of the value of the home makes taxes a bigger hit on the same value home in California where property taxes are sometimes under 1%. ON

Dummy. Do some research. There's plenty of places in Texas with under 1% tax rate as well.

Tell me what County you live in.

Edit to add...

Cost of living isn't only tied to property taxes. Didn't they teach you that at Wharton?

 

[Andrew C]

Dummy. Do some research. There's plenty of places in Texas with under 1% tax rate as well.

Tell me what County you live in.

some in Texas have to pay property taxes to two counties...like me...

 

[George]

I should note that ever since Judi Dench ruined my life, I've still been able to afford bi weekly trips to WDW.

Ahhh....Mr. Spiderdink, I was prepared to ignore this thread until your post opened up my soul. Now, I must tell the message board of the burden I bear, the story of Dench and me. I was her boy toy for 3.5 amazing years. I saw the world and lived the jet set lifestyle and in exchange I had to give my body over to her lustful urges 5-7 times a day. It was quite the deal. When she sensed that I had a wandering eye, she began to enable and in the end even overtly encourage a burgeoning crystal meth addiction to keep me at bay. Over time, the physical decay caused by the addiction was startlingly. I believe the inevitable putrefaction of the mouth was the last straw and she turned me out like stray mutt. I now live in the sewers of London with other lost urchins, only surfacing in the early morning when my grate is no longer home to rats. Tuesday's and Thursday's are the worst since my benefactor doesn't leave a fresh Times of London for me to use as a blanket. I now must end this tale, since the owner of this, one of the few remaining internet cafes, is rightly sensing that I will not pay. Do not worry @vitani88, you had no idea...I now bid you all adieu.

 

[George]

The comedy routine is pretty funny,.........

Correct.

 

[George]

some in Texas have to pay property taxes to two counties...like me...

Tell me about it. The worst was when I had two vacation homes on this continent. One straddled the US/Canadian border and one straddled the US/Mexico border. By straddled I mean different rooms in different countries. Not only was the tax burden really complex, I also had to go through customs to use the ground floor bathroom in both homes!

 

[The Mom]

I have neither the time nor inclination to go through this whole thread and edit all of the political remarks. Just giving everyone a friendly reminder to stop making them.

 

[Andrew C]

Tell me about it. The worst was when I had two vacation homes on this continent. One straddled the US/Canadian border and one straddled the US/Mexico border. By straddled I mean different rooms in different countries. Not only was the tax burden really complex, I also had to go through customs to use the ground floor bathroom in both homes!

For a split second...

 

[wm49rs]

Tell me about it. The worst was when I had two vacation homes on this continent. One straddled the US/Canadian border and one straddled the US/Mexico border. By straddled I mean different rooms in different countries. Not only was the tax burden really complex, I also had to go through customs to use the ground floor bathroom in both homes!

I told you a dozen times, tunnel....

 

[Goofyernmost]

I should note that ever since Judi Dench ruined my life, I've still been able to afford bi weekly trips to WDW.

Sure, but, that's mostly because you were able to keep your expenses below your income. It's simple really! Well, not really simple, in fact it is quite difficult. It is easy enough to keep expenses low (I would suspect that living in the sewers of London is a great help with that), however, the most difficult one is the get your income to go upward especially with the loss of the Times Of London to use to find good high paying jobs that don't mind foul smelling, tattered clothing at the interview. A simple investment or pilferage of a bottle of Febreze might buy you enough time to get your foot in the door. If you can.... wear socks!

If you run into Dame Dench again please let her know how much I enjoyed her time as "M" in Her Majesty's Secret Service.

 

[Otterhead]

The role of luck should not downplayed, but working hard and smart gives people far more chances to be lucky. There were dozens of times that I could have given up or just whined.

This is absolutely true. But it also varies from situation to situation. I think about my sister and her family; she graduated from college and has had great, steady employment since then. Her husband is a retired Naval officer. They have a house and two kids. She works two jobs, he takes care of the kids while earning a degree. Their kids are the perfect age to go to WDW. But they'd rather save for a better car. They aren't whining, lazy, or sponging off of anyone. They're simply pragmatic about the affordability of a luxury vacation for a suburban family of 4.

 

[Chef Mickey]

Dummy. Do some research. There's plenty of places in Texas with under 1% tax rate as well.

Tell me what County you live in.

Edit to add...

Cost of living isn't only tied to property taxes. Didn't they teach you that at Wharton?

Again, no. I'm only talking about property taxes because you made the comment about living cheap. It's not cheap to live everywhere in Texas. And I'm only talking about the counties that matter, the desirable ones...and I'm only talking about the counties and areas with the NON cheap housing. LOL...you are a piece of work.

 

[xdan0920]

Again, no. I'm only talking about property taxes because you made the comment about living cheap. It's not cheap to live everywhere in Texas. And I'm only talking about the counties that matter, the desirable ones...and I'm only talking about the counties and areas with the NON cheap housing. LOL...you are a piece of work.

WHAT COUNTY?

 

[Chef Mickey]

WHAT COUNTY?

What part of no? What are you even arguing? There are tons of million dollar homes in my area, so I really don't care about your $11k average in NJ. I wish my tax bill was $11k...maybe I'll move there?

 

[Grimley1968]

For every personal anecdote where someone pulled themselves up by their bootstraps, there are also personal anecdotes where people have had the bootstraps ripped away from them before they could even try to pull themselves up. Is it really necessary for this thread to continue to devolve into individual financial situations?

As prices increase, attendance will drop. That is natural, and Disney said in at least one of its investors calls that it was their intent to address crowd control through pricing. They've done so, and they're now getting the results they said they intended.

This was a great post, and on topic.

As to the bolded: unfortunately, apparently the answer is yes.