News Disney CEO Bob Chapek reiterates his belief that park reservations are now an essential part of Disney's theme parks business

[TrainsOfDisney]

Perhaps you have aged out of your enjoyment of the parks and are just trying to hold on to a feeling that is no longer there.

I’ve heard this take a lot and i can assure you that for myself, it’s not the case.

I went to Disneyland solo this year and loved it just as much as ever.

Seeing the poor management and long term planning for Disney Parks does not = grown out of enjoying the parks.

 

[Kingoglow]

Dear Mr. Chapek,
I want to suggest a new revenue stream for the company. There is an opportunity to charge for stroller parking. There are hundreds of strollers in the parks every day, all of them piled together near popular rides; such an eye-sore. There is already staff in place in these areas to help facilitate stroller parking so no new human resources expenditure would be needed.
You can charge $12-$18 in a surge pricing structure to provide guests an opportunity to park their strollers. Additionally, you can charge $150 for an all-day stroller parking pass at the front of the park or in the app (available at 7 am, the day of the visit).

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Well since a small fraction of people who like high end with small kids actually are in wdw at any given time…to say there are no other alternatives is a bit aloof. Cruises, beach resort towns, cities, regional areas.

Since there are 8,000,000,000 on earth and about 100,000,000 people in Disney parks each year…everyone with a dime is there, no?

You can snit elsewhere…by the way. You have zero insight into how Disney parks are run…as demonstrated on a 1:1 ratio when you post.

Block me. Hit the button. And try to have a nice day too. Nothing but love for you.

So again a bunch of sarcasm and snark, but no real substance. Not really surprising.

The point of this wasn’t high end vacations, it was what is the alternative for a higher end vacation geared to young kids. No one has said there aren’t alternative vacations, what we have said is that there isn’t an alternative destination or vacation for familes with young kids.

Beach resort towns? Really besides the vast majority or jersey shore wAnna bees that really makes me wish for another Sandy like storm surge, your saying a beach resort is somehow comparable for kids to 4 large amusement parks filled with their favorite movie characters? Sure the weed filled smell of the board walk and it’s carni rides and rigged ball throw games absolutely compares to Pandora or Rise of the Resistance.

Regional areas? God it’s the specificity of your arguments you have to love.

Cities, again just a great specific argument. That’s a great comparison, theme parks and characters and rides, but yes young kids will definitely be just as entertained by going to…….what Miami? Gonna hit the clubs? No I bet rather than hanging out with Mickey they would much rather looking at the architecture in Europe. Or maybe touring the battlefields and historical landmarks along the freedom trail.

Disney is not marketing to a bunch of no matter the income. They are not trying to attract all 8billion in the world (which is definitely a realist number to use for marketing purposes, the travel trends of the close to 3/4 of a billion people in India and China that live an abject poverty and will never leave their home village should definitely be considered. Same Of course for all the similar situated people in Africa and South America.)

Sure there are other vacations people could take, but again I and Capt are still waiting to hear an example that replaces what WDW offers, with something similar. People love to ski, If that is what your looking for, concierge service in Aspen with a nanny to watch the kids, that’s great. But your not choosing that over disney, Disney doesn’t offer that. Your not choosing Disney there because it’s not what you or your kids want.

Your not taking your 6-7 year old to six flags or Hershey park, and getting the same experience as WDW. Visiting with Anna and Elsa and riding haunted mansion does not match up with waiting in line watching mom and dad or an older cousin riding Kingda Ka or Candymonium and scouring the park to find the ride or 2 that you are tall enough to ride.

 

[el_super]

See above, although I'll point out you're basically combining arguments from a bunch of different people and assuming they're all saying the same thing. I have never suggested people attending the parks are too dumb to act in their own interests or that people are objectively wrong to enjoy the parks as they are now.

Apologies if it wasn't really meant that way. I took this as, only people who lacked experience/frame of reference could enjoy the place as it exists today.

I do still see a lot of false-consensus floating around these boards... where people have lept to the conclusion that Disney management must be up to some nefarious scheme in order to get everyone (who all think alike of course) to go to the parks, regardless of the (obvious) degradation in quality.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

So again a bunch of sarcasm and snark, but no real substance. Not really surprising.

The point of this wasn’t high end vacations, it was what is the alternative for a higher end vacation geared to young kids. No one has said there aren’t alternative vacations, what we have said is that there isn’t an alternative destination or vacation for familes with young kids.

Beach resort towns? Really besides the vast majority or jersey shore wAnna bees that really makes me wish for another Sandy like storm surge, your saying a beach resort is somehow comparable for kids to 4 large amusement parks filled with their favorite movie characters? Sure the weed filled smell of the board walk and it’s carni rides and rigged ball throw games absolutely compares to Pandora or Rise of the Resistance.

Regional areas? God it’s the specificity of your arguments you have to love.

Cities, again just a great specific argument. That’s a great comparison, theme parks and characters and rides, but yes young kids will definitely be just as entertained by going to…….what Miami? Gonna hit the clubs? No I bet rather than hanging out with Mickey they would much rather looking at the architecture in Europe. Or maybe touring the battlefields and historical landmarks along the freedom trail.

Disney is not marketing to a bunch of no matter the income. They are not trying to attract all 8billion in the world (which is definitely a realist number to use for marketing purposes, the travel trends of the close to 3/4 of a billion people in India and China that live an abject poverty and will never leave their home village should definitely be considered. Same Of course for all the similar situated people in Africa and South America.)

Sure there are other vacations people could take, but again I and Capt are still waiting to hear an example that replaces what WDW offers, with something similar. People love to ski, If that is what your looking for, concierge service in Aspen with a nanny to watch the kids, that’s great. But your not choosing that over disney, Disney doesn’t offer that. Your not choosing Disney there because it’s not what you or your kids want.

Your not taking your 6-7 year old to six flags or Hershey park, and getting the same experience as WDW. Visiting with Anna and Elsa and riding haunted mansion does not match up with waiting in line watching mom and dad or an older cousin riding Kingda Ka or Candymonium and scouring the park to find the ride or 2 that you are tall enough to ride.

I noticed you left out cruises, which sirWalter mentioned. Obviously Royal Caribbean specifically is marketing 5-7 day vacations to families with kids.

Plenty of “regional areas” do exist of course, kinda depends on what your kids enjoy. The idea that Disney is the only place that can provide a certain level of happiness for children is just crazy.

 

[el_super]

The two completely false premises bandied about - cause Iger sold it to the weak lobed - are that:
1. They want attendance to go down
2. Somehow they’ll make more if it does.

Except, it is actually working this way, and they have stated as such in their financial reports (yes the financial reports they are bound by law to be truthful in). It's been this way since Q3 of 2019.

In the end…the mass model is why it works.

But feel free to watch if their run of “lucky” goes cold.

The more these statements get posted here the more I think that Iger maneuvered them into a perfect win-win scenario:

Prices go up, Passes are eliminated, access is restricted and either:

1) Fewer people show up, allowing them to reduce operating costs and staffing, and per capita spending shoots up
2) The same number (or more) people show up, in which case they just get to reap the benefits of the excessive demand without having to take any additional action.

Either way they win.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Pulling in a quote from another thread as an example of what @Chi84 and I are talking about. The context of the discussion was the refurbed Kona Cafe:

More in the same vein of Universal's Royal Pacific. Looks more fit for that Resort, than Moana themes at the poor Poly. But I do like it, great upgrade.

Moana theming at the Poly is deeply unpopular on these boards. Regular guests love it. They asked for it, they got what they asked for, and they're pleased by it.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

The two completely false premises bandied about - cause Iger sold it to the weak lobed - are that:
1. They want attendance to go down
2. Somehow they’ll make more if it does.

Both are categorically false. Here Endeth the lesson.

Strawman. They never said they wanted attendance to go down. They said they wanted attendance to go down during periods of peak demand when things were so crowded that the experience was miserable. They weren't talking about "it's slow moving around Peter Pan's Flight at 2pm in August," they were talking about "on Christmas it's impossible to move, find a meal, or ride more than two rides."

 

[bcoachable]

I’ve tooted this horn once before- but I’ll toot it again. I don’t think the current Bob will be around long enough for him to have a care in the world about this metric. His board of directors, however, should be.

The “Net Promoter Score” for the Diz will be a very interesting to watch over the coming months… it has already dropped nine points this year.
What is a Net Promoter Score, You ask?
“NPS stands for Net Promoter Score which is a metric used in customer experience programs. NPS measures the loyalty of customers to a company. NPS scores are measured with a single-question survey and reported with a number from the range -100 to +100, a higher score is desirable”

 

[lazyboy97o]

Moana theming at the Poly is deeply unpopular on these boards. Regular guests love it. They asked for it, they got what they asked for, and they're pleased by it.

How do you ask for something that doesn’t exist? People ask for what they know. Moana wouldn’t exist if Disney only made the movies people asked for.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

How do you ask for something that doesn’t exist? People ask for what they know. Moana wouldn’t exist if Disney only made the movies people asked for.

Obviously I'm not talking about fans asking for Moana, the movie. I'm saying once Moana, the movie, existed, guests said "why isn't Moana at the Poly and in Adventureland and at Aulani?"

Interestingly, guests did not ask for Moana in Future World, so make with that what you will.

 

[Chi84]

On the topic of Moana, shortly after the movie came out there was little to no Moana merchandise at the "Moana Mercantile" shop in the lobby of the Polynesian. We went in there while waiting for our restaurant reservation and asked the CM where we could get a stuffed Hei Hei. The poor guy said he was asked that about 1,000 a day, picked up a Moana booklet and said, "Well, you can learn to draw Hei Hei."

 

[CaptainAmerica]

On the topic of Moana, shortly after the movie came out there was little to no Moana merchandise at the "Moana Mercantile" shop in the lobby of the Polynesian. We went in there while waiting for our restaurant reservation and asked the CM where we could get a stuffed Hei Hei. The poor guy said he was asked that about 1,000 a day, picked up a Moana booklet and said, "Well, you can learn to draw Hei Hei."

It took a bizarre number of months for her to make her first Meet & Greet appearance, and when she did it was in Hollywood Studios. That was strange too.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Strawman. They never said they wanted attendance to go down. They said they wanted attendance to go down during periods of peak demand when things were so crowded that the experience was miserable. They weren't talking about "it's slow moving around Peter Pan's Flight at 2pm in August," they were talking about "on Christmas it's impossible to move, find a meal, or ride more than two rides."

View attachment 676096

Actually Bob “the greatest showman” Iger in 2016 or 17 on an investor call/symposium/something said that they wanted to “limit attendance”. After it went down.

And the praetorian guard took, pumped it, stroked it and loved it ever since…cause they were gonna be “special”

But they mistakenly believe the United States had outlawed lying.

There is a backstory to that

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Actually Bob “the greatest showman” Iger in 2016 or 17 on an investor call/symposium/something said that they wanted to “limit attendance”. After it went down.

Limiting attendance to 80,000 when most days you get 60,000 is still limiting attendance on the days you would have gotten 100,000.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Limiting attendance to 80,000 when most days you get 60,000 is still limiting attendance on the days you would have gotten 100,000.

It was their annual number that was reported down…your numbers are also bug nuts off too.

If you want to quote the textbook…get the upgrade digital version…its “interactive”

 

[UNCgolf]

I am glad that you circled around to point this out because while I was reading your post I was thinking that it didn't, so much, sound like a problem of diminished park experiences, but rather, the cynicism of age. Perhaps you have aged out of your enjoyment of the parks and are just trying to hold on to a feeling that is no longer there.

It's not really that -- it's that they've actually removed a significant part of what I loved. Even as a child, EPCOT was my favorite park (Future World specifically, although I also liked the World Showcase). I also really loved the whole front part of DHS with all of its theming that's now basically just turned into facades with generic Disney merch inside.

So the park experience is diminished for me due to replacing things I liked with things I either don't like or like much less. Most of the stuff in EPCOT (Imagination and maybe World of Motion excepted) would have required significant updates or replacement by now, but updating the pavilions and keeping them full of other activities and attractions with a similar purpose is what would have worked for me. Instead they mostly gave up on that idea entirely.

 

[Chi84]

It took a bizarre number of months for her to make her first Meet & Greet appearance, and when she did it was in Hollywood Studios. That was strange too.

There were discussions on multiple boards about people asking for Moana merchandise and leaving Disney stores empty-handed. Hilarious.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

So again a bunch of sarcasm and snark, but no real substance. Not really surprising.

The point of this wasn’t high end vacations, it was what is the alternative for a higher end vacation geared to young kids. No one has said there aren’t alternative vacations, what we have said is that there isn’t an alternative destination or vacation for familes with young kids.

Beach resort towns? Really besides the vast majority or jersey shore wAnna bees that really makes me wish for another Sandy like storm surge, your saying a beach resort is somehow comparable for kids to 4 large amusement parks filled with their favorite movie characters? Sure the weed filled smell of the board walk and it’s carni rides and rigged ball throw games absolutely compares to Pandora or Rise of the Resistance.

Regional areas? God it’s the specificity of your arguments you have to love.

Cities, again just a great specific argument. That’s a great comparison, theme parks and characters and rides, but yes young kids will definitely be just as entertained by going to…….what Miami? Gonna hit the clubs? No I bet rather than hanging out with Mickey they would much rather looking at the architecture in Europe. Or maybe touring the battlefields and historical landmarks along the freedom trail.

Disney is not marketing to a bunch of no matter the income. They are not trying to attract all 8billion in the world (which is definitely a realist number to use for marketing purposes, the travel trends of the close to 3/4 of a billion people in India and China that live an abject poverty and will never leave their home village should definitely be considered. Same Of course for all the similar situated people in Africa and South America.)

Sure there are other vacations people could take, but again I and Capt are still waiting to hear an example that replaces what WDW offers, with something similar. People love to ski, If that is what your looking for, concierge service in Aspen with a nanny to watch the kids, that’s great. But your not choosing that over disney, Disney doesn’t offer that. Your not choosing Disney there because it’s not what you or your kids want.

Your not taking your 6-7 year old to six flags or Hershey park, and getting the same experience as WDW. Visiting with Anna and Elsa and riding haunted mansion does not match up with waiting in line watching mom and dad or an older cousin riding Kingda Ka or Candymonium and scouring the park to find the ride or 2 that you are tall enough to ride.

Unless you think most if not all wealthy families with children are going to Disney theme parks every year or just not taking vacations, it's clear there are other options and most are already going to these.

I don't want to sound snobby or snarky, but there's more to life than theme parks, even for kids. Surely you enjoyed other kinds of vacations with your family when you were a child?

Disney is likely responsible for making theme parks as popular as they are by elevating the experience so much, but there's nothing to say that if people stop finding them enjoyable places to visit that theme parks can't also die off due to poor business decisions. I really don't get the notion Disney can get away with almost anything as though they held a monopoly on drinking water.

 

[surfsupdon]

Pulling in a quote from another thread as an example of what @Chi84 and I are talking about. The context of the discussion was the refurbed Kona Cafe:


Moana theming at the Poly is deeply unpopular on these boards. Regular guests love it. They asked for it, they got what they asked for, and they're pleased by it.

That is great to hear. I have always said that the beauty of Disney Resorts are that there are so many options. It is a reason we were a one-and-done family at the Polynesian, because many other places suit us better. I am glad the general public enjoys the changes.

As I said, Kona Cafe refurb does look great!!