Chapek's comments - he doesn't want anyone on this board at WDW any more

[Disstevefan1]

He’s right.

Some people went overboard (especially on the West coast, from what I understand.)

You have to make a theme park reservation now. Should there be none left for the family from Denver because locals want to go ride X again? You need balance.

There’s probably a better solution than just raising prices (more creative passes, especially for locals) but I don’t take any personal offense as if I’m not an appreciated guest.

As always in real life: the bottom line is the bottom line.

So Bobby got rid of those nasty, filthy, unfavorable APrs.

When this does not improve anything at the parks, I wonder who he will blame next?

 

[eliza61nyc]

I'm not upset people are going still. I find funny so many waste money on a diminished product.

Because that's what they want to spend their money on. That's the great thing about earning money, one can spend it on what one wants.
How is it a waste?? I think paying 2000 bucks to see Hamilton is a waste. I have a friend who took her entire family and will argue it was the best 10k she's ever spent.
I love beach vacations, my late husband thought it was a collosial waste of money.

Again obviously you find it diminished, many people obviously do not.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

BS PR spin.

Anyone can visit a Disney park at anytime. The family from Topeka has always been able to set foot in any Disney Park.

Instead Bob and Josh can make the super fans out to be the bad guys because their MBA bean counters say they’re more profitable. Surely this golden age will last forever!

Of course it distracts from their utter failure to run the parks in a way in which they didn’t have to turn one group against each other.

The fact you said the EXACT same thing I would have is surely a sign of the apocalypse

 

[monothingie]

The fact you said the EXACT same thing I would have is surely a sign of the apocalypse

View attachment 666419

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

So Bobby got rid of those nasty, filthy, unfavorable APrs.

When this does not improve anything at the parks, I wonder who he will blame next?

Iger…that is the Disney pattern and fans are accomplices.

Ron Miller was a “disaster”…which he wasn’t. Unqualified? Yes…nepotism is Almost always the wrong move…but they did good things in his time too.

Eisner “ruined the parks”
Bull …he built them…and increased the company portfolio by a factor 10 and made all the people rich.

Iger? It’s gonna be he was “bad with” money and robbed the shareholders by not exploiting the customers enough. That’s how it’s gonna play.
That story is being written now after he lost the power struggle last year.

Come back in 10 years and we’ll discuss it.

…who am I kidding? I’ll never avoid the ban that long

 

[Cliff]

Chapek is absolutely right about one thing. Crowded parks this year have caused prices to go up. This supply/demand formula affects every product and service on planet Earth....and there is no getting arround it.

We as fans complain that the parks are too expensive and only cater to the wealthy. We then turn right arround and complain that the parks are too crowded and wait times are terrible and lines are too long.

If Disney cut every price by 50% to make everybody's visit more affordable....how crowded would the parks get? How much longer would wait times get? How miserable would our visit be?

If we want prices to go down....we "all" need to stop going to WDW for a while. This is the ONLY way to thin out the crowds and lower the "demand" for their product. Once demand drops, then the "supply" will open up and THAT will bring costs down.

Excessive "demand" has caused this price problem. "We" caused the price increase...not Disney. They are just reacting or our demand.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Chapek is absolutely right about one thing. Crowded parks this year have caused prices to go up. This supply/demand formula affects every product and service on planet Earth....and there is no getting arround it.

We as fans complain that the parks are too expensive and only cater to the wealthy. We then turn right arround and complain that the parks are too crowded and wait times are terrible and lines are too long.

If Disney cut every price by 50% to make everybody's visit more affordable....how crowded would the parks get? How much longer would wait times get? How miserable would our visit be?

If we want prices to go down....we "all" need to stop going to WDW for a while. This is the ONLY way to thin out the crowds and lower the "demand" for their product. Once demand drops, then the "supply" will open up and THAT will bring costs down.

Excessive "demand" has caused this price problem. "We" caused the price increase...not Disney. They are just reacting or our demand.

You’re not wrong…

I think the frustration is how truly awful (and they are) that the new management is…especially in PR.

But it’s deeper…Disney sells nostalgia and “happy”…they are not a standard company and can’t be boiled down to a micro curve. It’s over if that ever happens.

The trick in running their parks has always been distributing that demand…it’s like 50% of the tasks they actually handle on the ground…probably 40% of the rest is bulk supply logistics.

They look inept…they have no plan and have gone completely too public in chasing their tails to impress Wall Street. A crisis is coming…we just don’t know what form and when? But this management will not succeed.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

I think I saw that Chapek will be on CNBC at some point today.

Usually some good tidbits that come out of those interviews.

 

[ppete1975]

Chapek interview with the Hollywood reporter when talking about "Superfans".

"But at the same time, we’ve got to make sure that there’s room in the park for the family from Denver that comes once every five years. We didn’t have a reservation system and we didn’t control the number of annual passes we distributed and frankly, the annual pass as a value was so great that people were literally coming all the time and the accessibility of the park was unlimited to them and that family from Denver would get to the park and not be let in. That doesn’t seem like a real balanced proposition.”


This is why we do not go any more.......They dont want us there! These are the very people that brought the parks back to life after the Covid closures and now WDW is just saying "Thanks, but we don't need you any longer"

And then he had the balls to say if our plan doesn't work out, we will let you peasants back in.........

"We have a real high-class problem: We have much more demand than there is supply. What we will not bend on is giving somebody a less than stellar experience in the parks because we jammed too many people in there. If we’re going to have that foundational rule, you have to start balancing who you let in. … Our ticket prices and constraints we put on how often people can come and when they come is a direct reflection of demand. When is it too much? Demand will tell us when it’s too much.”

This is everything that is wrong with this current management team. Disgrace what it has become

So I will be hated for saying this.. but hes right.

At least the part you highlighted.

Annual passes were an issue for overcrowding and outside of merchandise and food didnt bring in a ton of money.
Especially when compared to the family from Denver.. or Oklahoma in my case.

I think a big portion of that isnt the once a month crowd its the go every day vloggers and instagrammers that are at disney 4-5 (maybe 7 days a week) that are the issue. Its not just the ones we all know its the 1000s of wannabes that nobody has ever heard of except for their 12 followers.

You also have the people that go to the parks just to buy merch for ebay, although they might not make the ride lines longer they do crowd up the walkways.

Sure there were black out dates but overall the ability to go in anytime you wanted created crowds that werent real.

I know the loss of APs is hard for the people that use them as originally intended and I am not knocking them at all. Its the new wave thats caused by the internet (ebay, youtube, instagram) thats caused the issue.

I dont think it was an attack on anyone on the boards directly unless timtracker superenthused or adam the woo are here, just that WDW is for tourists and was made to be that. Originally APs were to boost attendance but wdw was also seen as a place that grandparents could take their grandchildren when they were in town. Remember in 71 that was the view of florida.. retirees and old people.

 

[jloucks]

Chapek is absolutely right about one thing. Crowded parks this year have caused prices to go up. This supply/demand formula affects every product and service on planet Earth....and there is no getting arround it.

We as fans complain that the parks are too expensive and only cater to the wealthy. We then turn right arround and complain that the parks are too crowded and wait times are terrible and lines are too long.

If Disney cut every price by 50% to make everybody's visit more affordable....how crowded would the parks get? How much longer would wait times get? How miserable would our visit be?

If we want prices to go down....we "all" need to stop going to WDW for a while. This is the ONLY way to thin out the crowds and lower the "demand" for their product. Once demand drops, then the "supply" will open up and THAT will bring costs down.

Excessive "demand" has caused this price problem. "We" caused the price increase...not Disney. They are just reacting or our demand.

This

Prices on luxury goods are set by us. Complaining about the price of luxury goods baffles me.

In my opinion, we should only be arguing the prices are too cheap! ...which has been my consistent argument for a decade.

Your example of a 50% price cut is excellent. But, the weird thing is, some people would actually like the prices halved but the parks mega packed. I think WDW bends the mold on demand a little in that people go for some unique reasons. Reasons not related to food or rides. They go because they just like basking in the park due to the dopamine hit they get from doing so.

Maybe that is it!? Maybe WDW has some characteristics of addiction and that is what make the demand model so strong?

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think I saw that Chapek will be on CNBC at some point today.

Usually some good tidbits that come out of those interviews.

Yeah…he’s guaranteed to say something completely stupid.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

This

Prices on luxury goods are set by us. Complaining about the price of luxury goods baffles me.

In my opinion, we should only be arguing the prices are too cheap! ...which has been my consistent argument for a decade.

Your example of a 50% price cut is excellent. But, the weird thing is, some people would actually like the prices halved but the parks mega packed. I think WDW bends the mold on demand a little in that people go for some unique reasons. Reasons not related to food or rides. They go because they just like basking in the park due to the dopamine hit they get from doing so.

Maybe that is it!? Maybe WDW has some characteristics of addiction and that is what make the demand model so strong?

The problem is Disney parks are not a “luxury” product

They weren’t conceived, designed, or built to function as such…and the economics don’t work without mass attendance.

 

[TQQQ]

This

Prices on luxury goods are set by us. Complaining about the price of luxury goods baffles me.

In my opinion, we should only be arguing the prices are too cheap! ...which has been my consistent argument for a decade.

Your example of a 50% price cut is excellent. But, the weird thing is, some people would actually like the prices halved but the parks mega packed. I think WDW bends the mold on demand a little in that people go for some unique reasons. Reasons not related to food or rides. They go because they just like basking in the park due to the dopamine hit they get from doing so.

Maybe that is it!? Maybe WDW has some characteristics of addiction and that is what make the demand model so strong?

Parks are both expensive and crowded right now.......I'd take expensive over crowed, but i dont think they are mutually exclusive

 

[eliza61nyc]

The problem is Disney parks are not a “luxury” product

They weren’t conceived, designed, or built to function as such…and the economics don’t work without mass attendance.

Maybe a better description is "disposable" product/experience
They weren't designed to be exclusive or luxury but neither are they designed to be a necessity.

 

[PlaneCrazy1978]

I'm a very local superfan who has:

1. DVC
2. Annual Pass

I go for two weeks every year - once in January and once in August/September. We eat at mostly TS and buy a decent amount of merchandise. Even with DVC, each week we go our bill is 2-3k.

We also try to go once a month for a weekend day, in which we will do the same - 1 or 2 TS and some merchandise. Probably $250 - $400 a trip.

Total in a given year $7000 to $10,800.

This is despite reduced food quality/portions, lack of investment in the product, and overall cut backs everywhere I turn. Yet I still go.

Bob is saying he doesn't want me in his parks whether it's due to blocking me out of park reservations or not selling me an AP. The family from Denver comes every 5 years and spends what, 7 - 10k? Tell me why I am less important or profitable. Sure, I may be an anomaly, but regardless, his policies are affecting me and turning the most diehard fans, like me, away.

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Sorry, as someone who is more like the family from Denver, I have a hard time sympathizing with the plight of the passholders. That said, Chapek's words don't match the company's actions. And there does need to be some sort of balance as the die hards keep things afloat during the lean times.

 

[monothingie]

I'm a very local superfan who has:

1. DVC
2. Annual Pass

I go for two weeks every year - once in January and once in August/September. We eat at mostly TS and buy a decent amount of merchandise. Even with DVC, each week we go our bill is 2-3k.

We also try to go once a month for a weekend day, in which we will do the same - 1 or 2 TS and some merchandise. Probably $250 - $400 a trip.

Total in a given year $7000 to $10,800.

This is despite reduced food quality/portions, lack of investment in the product, and overall cut backs everywhere I turn. Yet I still go.

Bob is saying he doesn't want me in his parks whether it's due to blocking me out of park reservations or not selling me an AP. The family from Denver comes every 5 years and spends what, 7 - 10k? Tell me why I am less important or profitable. Sure, I may be an anomaly, but regardless, his policies are affecting me and turning the most diehard fans, like me, away.

Your DVC, you’re pot committed.


What are you going to do? Sell all your massively over inflated points?????

 

[el_super]

Sorry, as someone who is more like the family from Denver, I have a hard time sympathizing with the plight of the passholders. That said, Chapek's words don't match the company's actions. And there does need to be some sort of balance as the die hards keep things afloat during the lean times.

During the lean times yes, but not as a long term business strategy. Their strategy for the last 67 years has been to get as many people into the parks as possible. Now that they've hit the ceiling, and the parks are buckling under the pressure, they need to take a step back and re-evaluate. That's what they are doing and it is the responsible thing to do.

No one is being denied entry. No one is being put up against the others. If people want a better experience they are going to have to pay more. The first step in evolving the product is going to be shedding this discount aura that surrounds it, via the APs and local discounts.

 

[Jrb1979]

Maybe a better description is "disposable" product/experience
They weren't designed to be exclusive or luxury but neither are they designed to be a necessity.

Maybe but hear me out. If Walt were alive today and built Disney today my guess it would be more similar to Cedar Fair parks then what it is now. When Disneyland and Disney World were built there were very few parks out there.

IMO it's another park with some better themed rides geared to families of all ages. The worst part is the people in charge are trying to make it something it's not. It's never been a luxury park for the wealthy. It was made for families of all ages to enjoy. I know not everyone could afford and still can't afford but til now they didn't get to the point of ing off so many people.

 

[monothingie]

The problem is Disney parks are not a “luxury” product

They weren’t conceived, designed, or built to function as such…and the economics don’t work without mass attendance.

Every time I eat a $34 cupcake I feel like I’m at a 5 star resort in the French Riviera!

Oh no wait….that’s the overflowing garbage can next to Pecos Bill.