News Bob Iger talks about attendance declines, ticket pricing, the feud with Ron DeSantis, and his huge optimism for Disney Parks and Resorts

JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
drizgirl said:
"Discussing pricing at the parks, Iger says that pricing is not an issue since he addressed it on his return late last year."

Did I miss something?
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As I stated in another thread, I've been researching pricing in December for a friend's family. A 2 day base ticket for 2 adults and 1 child is $955. That's just ridiculous. The wife immediately shot down the three of them going in December. (I told them there is a 3 day ticket alternative for Florida Residents through September 29 which would cost the three of them approx $668.) You can't tell me that "pricing is not an issue."

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John park hopper

John park hopper

Well-Known Member
Disney's slight of hand raise prices then give a discount and in peoples mind oh boy what a deal not realizing Disney is not loosing a penny. Kohl's dos this all the time. Summer has always been crowded just look at the crowd calends over the years --kids are out of school and people vacation 2023 seems to be no different

2023
  • June 1-30 – moderate to heavy summer crowds, with Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays being a bit busier than the other days of the week
  • July 1-9 – heavy summer crowds as guests travel to WDW for the 4th of July
  • July 10-31 – moderate to heavy summer crowds, with Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays being a bit heavier than the other days of the week
  • August 1-13 – moderate crowds that get lighter as the month goes on
  • August 14-18 – light crowds as more kids head back to school
  • August 19-20 – moderate weekend crowds
  • August 21-31 – some of the lightest crowds of the year, with Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays being a bit heavier than the other days of the week
Bob I don't think weather/heat has any thing to do with attendance. Have to ask Bob when were you ever in the parks incognito experiencing what the average family does and on a middle income budget --probably never.
 
L

Lilofan

Well-Known Member
TalkingHead said:
His response to the WSJ article was even better. “Well, actually, it’s not accurate and crowds were low because it was hot on July 4th…” Are we sure he’s not posting here?
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July 4 hot is a few months May-Sept for locals . For a CA resident with mild climate year round some residents not even having central AC FL summer can be brutal heat to them.
 
Jenny72

Jenny72

Well-Known Member
I actually wrote a week ago that our trip wasn't that expensive compared to other trips, but that was a longer (10 day) stay. We had a cheap hotel room and ordered groceries, no alcohol, no Genie+, etc. so it wasn't bad. When I compared it to other 10-day trips, it was actually pretty comparable, and it worked out for us budget-wise.

In fact, I looked into taking a short trip again. But those shorter-term ticket prices really are insane. I was enticed by $114 rooms, but the ticket prices would be many times higher than that. It's not that I can't afford it, but it just doesn't seem worth it. So I've soured on the idea. If they put out some deals, we'll see. But pricing is 100% a factor for us.
 
Basil of Baker Street

Basil of Baker Street

Well-Known Member
John park hopper said:
Disney's slight of hand raise prices then give a discount and in peoples mind oh boy what a deal not realizing Disney is not loosing a penny. Kohl's dos this all the time. Summer has always been crowded just look at the crowd calends over the years --kids are out of school and people vacation 2023 seems to be no different

2023
  • June 1-30 – moderate to heavy summer crowds, with Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays being a bit busier than the other days of the week
  • July 1-9 – heavy summer crowds as guests travel to WDW for the 4th of July
  • July 10-31 – moderate to heavy summer crowds, with Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays being a bit heavier than the other days of the week
  • August 1-13 – moderate crowds that get lighter as the month goes on
  • August 14-18 – light crowds as more kids head back to school
  • August 19-20 – moderate weekend crowds
  • August 21-31 – some of the lightest crowds of the year, with Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays being a bit heavier than the other days of the week
Bob I don't think weather/heat has any thing to do with attendance. Have to ask Bob when were you ever in the parks incognito experiencing what the average family does and on a middle income budget --probably never.
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Jewelry store pricing. Mark up merchandise 400% then offer 50% off
 
TheMaxRebo

TheMaxRebo

Well-Known Member
GhostHost1000 said:
Anyone else surprised it was hot in central Florida on July 4th this year? No? Then why does he think that affected crowds.
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Talking to CMs and other folks there they said it was hotter than typical and lots of reports of people head back to resorts early, just couldn't deal with the heat. Also local Passholders would be impacted and decide not to go

Not saying it was the man reason and certainly not the only reason but it did contribute a bit, just how extreme the heat got for a few days around the 4th. (Whether that is 2% or 7% or whatever no idea but it didn't help)
 
D

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
Jenny72 said:
I actually wrote a week ago that our trip wasn't that expensive compared to other trips, but that was a longer (10 day) stay. We had a cheap hotel room and ordered groceries, no alcohol, no Genie+, etc. so it wasn't bad. When I compared it to other 10-day trips, it was actually pretty comparable, and it worked out for us budget-wise.

In fact, I looked into taking a short trip again. But those shorter-term ticket prices really are insane. I was enticed by $114 rooms, but the ticket prices would be many times higher than that. It's not that I can't afford it, but it just doesn't seem worth it. So I've soured on the idea. If they put out some deals, we'll see. But pricing is 100% a factor for us.
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But it's not cheaper because Disney adjusted pricing. That's cheaper because you personally cut back expenses.
 
disneyC97

disneyC97

Well-Known Member
We cut down on many a sit-down restaurant on our upcoming trip at end of the month...a direct result of feeling the prices had gotten too high in 2019 and then 2021 trips. So, they'll make money off our trip on food as usual but less than the last two times in that area. Also, no planned Disney Springs trip and we cut either Hoop-Dee-Doo or Cirque to keep costs down. Something we are spending money on that we didn't previously - travel to and from the airport.
 
Kamikaze

Kamikaze

Well-Known Member
JohnD said:
As I stated in another thread, I've been researching pricing in December for a friend's family. A 2 day base ticket for 2 adults and 1 child is $955. That's just ridiculous. The wife immediately shot down the three of them going in December. (I told them there is a 3 day ticket alternative for Florida Residents through September 29 which would cost the three of them approx $668.) You can't tell me that "pricing is not an issue."

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Thats not 'a' ticket. Thats *3* tickets. So 'a' ticket averages out to $318 or $160/day.
 
GhostHost1000

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
TheMaxRebo said:
Talking to CMs and other folks there they said it was hotter than typical and lots of reports of people head back to resorts early, just couldn't deal with the heat. Also local Passholders would be impacted and decide not to go

Not saying it was the man reason and certainly not the only reason but it did contribute a bit, just how extreme the heat got for a few days around the 4th. (Whether that is 2% or 7% or whatever no idea but it didn't help)
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Weren’t APs blocked?
 
D

dreday3

Well-Known Member
JohnD said:
As I stated in another thread, I've been researching pricing in December for a friend's family. A 2 day base ticket for 2 adults and 1 child is $955. That's just ridiculous. The wife immediately shot down the three of them going in December. (I told them there is a 3 day ticket alternative for Florida Residents through September 29 which would cost the three of them approx $668.) You can't tell me that "pricing is not an issue."

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I'm just asking - is this expensive compared to other parks? We were looking at Universal this December and it was coming to around $154 for one park per person for one day. That's without packages/etc.

I don't think it's tickets where Disney is expensive - I think it's hotels, extras, etc.
 
gerarar

gerarar

Premium Member
I'm looking to book my first actual solo trip this coming late-September since graduating and working full-time.

Started looking at ticket prices recently, and a 4-day ticket is $531.21, and $621.44 with park hopper. Obviously I want and am going to park hop, so the latter is my only choice.

They currently have that $399 4-park special ticket, but you're restricted to 1 park/day, so no good for my case.

To say that's not expensive would be a lie. And that's not even including hotels (probably gonna stay off-site), transportation, and food/miscellaneous stuff. Was also thinking about doing my first party, which would be another $149. Also maybe my first sit-down restaurant (never done one in the past and always went to QSR's), so that's another extra-cost.

My company offers WDW ticket discounts, which saves about $15-18/day, so about ~$60 in savings.

To actually do the planning and calculating the costs for myself makes me even more appreciative & thankful of all the past WDW vacations that my parents and family have done for me. I contemplated a couple months ago whether to get an AP, but ultimately decided against it.
 
JohnD

JohnD

Well-Known Member
dreday3 said:
I'm just asking - is this expensive compared to other parks? We were looking at Universal this December and it was coming to around $154 for one park per person for one day. That's without packages/etc.

I don't think it's tickets where Disney is expensive - I think it's hotels, extras, etc.
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Here is comparable 1-1 pricing, using the least expensive start day for my friend's desired visiting days on 12/18-19, so approx $50 less than Disney.
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TheMaxRebo

TheMaxRebo

Well-Known Member
JohnD said:
As I stated in another thread, I've been researching pricing in December for a friend's family. A 2 day base ticket for 2 adults and 1 child is $955. That's just ridiculous. The wife immediately shot down the three of them going in December. (I told them there is a 3 day ticket alternative for Florida Residents through September 29 which would cost the three of them approx $668.) You can't tell me that "pricing is not an issue."

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The tickets really are the killer. Even if one feels the price of a day ticket is worth what you can get out of it, when you multiply by # in your party and then # days you are going it gets very high very fast

We were doing some work comparing prices and even if you adjust the 2019 figures for inflation prices are way higher now. You'd also see a bigger drop in the per day price by the time you got to a 5 day ticket, don't really see that now, have to get out further

We were like coming at what impact would be if Disney did something like Universal with the "Buy X days get Y days of tickets free" and found that if they did buy 4 days get 2 free, you still be paying more than what a 6 day was in 2019 (adjusted for inflation)

And in 2019 FP+ was included, now G+ is extra. I think that is really what turns people off - be one thing is prices stayed the same and then had the extra cost but to pay considerably more just for the entrance and then still have the extra on top, tough to take
 

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