News Disney CEO Bob Chapek suggests price hikes are coming to the parks thanks to guest demand

[UpAllNight]

Iger started most of the trends being lamented.

You remember the critics…I remember the zealots putting ALL the blame for everything that came after on eisner’s last 3 years fighting with Roy. Who was a hell of alot more intelligent/tougher than anyone the Bobs ever had to speak to.

Well, being a the CEO of a company like Disney is tough. Goes without saying.

As park fans, we see and overly judge that side of their decision making process.

Iger, on reflection, showed he balanced the need for profitability in the parks better, than what was to come.

If new Bob is still in the position in 5 years, can anyone foresee any positive impact of his legacy?

 

[esskay]

I really, really hope the cause of the massive surge in visits this year is only down to people coming back for a trip they missed due to covid. If that is the case then next year it's going to be dead if they put the price up again. It's incredible how thick Bob, and collectively the current management are. Can you raise prices? Absolutely. Will the parks still be rammed? Yep, they will - for a while. Then you'll re-enter the mid 90s with so much goodwill lost and many repeat visitors vowing never to return.

Going to WDW is supposed to be 'magical'. Having poor quality food, a lack of basics that used to be included, and the inability to actuslly do anything without forking out extra cash every damn day of your trip is not magical, it's not fun, and it's not what Disney is about.

The sooner these corporate clowns are out the better. Sadly it won't be any time soon.

Christ I never thought I'd say this but bring back Eisner. At least he understood how to run the damn company without ripping people off.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I wish I was more interested in Nintendo. I'm just not.
My dad made us get Intellivision - The Intelligent Television.

I do love Universal Monsters though.

What they seem to know/permit diving at this point indicates that the Nintendo world is just a small component of the park…far less of the total than toy story or abrams land

 

[esskay]

Prices never go down…not once

They went down significantly in 2002 for obvious reasons. The parks were dead. It actually became pretty affordable for many internaltional guests to visit for the first time.

 

[Touchdown]

On an unrelated note: watched an epic universe update today (our favorite helicopter spy images)…

On terms of “scale”…it looks truly massive. I don’t know if it’s the actual size of Epcot…or DAK…by what’s being built - mostly the centerpieces to each land - leaves a lot of room for more stuff that’s getting underway.

Is it possible they are building the best theme park in Orlando? Would Comcast have the stones?

You know IOA is already knocking on that door already, just need to do something to refresh the Lost Continent/Suess area. Loved the concept art of turning the LC into Hyrule, and I still don’t understand how the Grinch doesn’t have a ride in SL.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Well, being a the CEO of a company like Disney is tough. Goes without saying.

As park fans, we see and overly judge that side of their decision making process.

Iger, on reflection, showed he balanced the need for profitability in the parks better, than what was to come.

If new Bob is still in the position in 5 years, can anyone foresee any positive impact of his legacy?

Iger seemed to care a lot more above “legacy” with parks the last 5. He was awful the first 10

Chapek has no fundamental understanding of how to run or sell them - as it stands. He says all the wrong things to the wrong people to maintain park loyalty and that is a huge thing. for Disney.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I’d say give it five years. Or so. Maybe more. Then see the earnings calls.

Oh, we've been saying the 'short-term, shareholder value only' business model is unsustainable since twenty years now. ('Begone, evil Eisner...'). Yet here we are.


Truth is, economics and spending has shifted towards experiences. A day at Disney is now more expensive than a colour tv or PC, which would've been an exceedingly strange observation in 1992. Never mind concert tickets ans the like. $5000 Bruce Springsteen tickets, anyone?

Tourism has exploded the past decade. WDW could ride that wave, regardless of any intrinsic value to its offerings. The Mona Lisa and Venice too were infinitely more enjoyable in 2008, without a 45 minute line and the experienced ruined by incessant selfie-takers for the former and permanent shoulder to shoulder crowds for the latter. (And Prague, and Amsterdam, and every great natural wonder on the planet). Speaking of, several European cities have recently resorted to charging entrance fees, simply to diminish exorbitant demand. Disney Parks to a large extent function similarly. There will be no end to the high demand nor high prices.

 

[UpAllNight]

I just hope Epic Universe absolutely kicks Disney in to touch.

I hope families switch their more expensive, serviced once a week rooms, to Universal Resort stays.

I hope families that spent 5 days at Disney start to spend 2 or 3 of that, at Universal.

Universal should be rewarded not only for their investment, but mainly because they dont treat their customers with utter blasé contempt.

Actually really offended by that news interview from Chapek earlier. A genuinely stupid man who’s landed a role several stations ahead of his capabilities.

 

[sullyinMT]

I guess this is another trend Disney is behind on, based on Chapek’s personality blunders/emotional intelligence in public.

https://hbr.org/2022/07/the-c-suite-skills-that-matter-most

 

[UpAllNight]

You know IOA is already knocking on that door already, just need to do something to refresh the Lost Continent/Suess area. Loved the concept art of turning the LC into Hyrule, and I still don’t understand how the Grinch doesn’t have a ride in SL.

They already have the best theme park in Orlando in my eyes.

The fact that there are areas with issues, and yet it still ranks so high, speaks volumes.

I think only Disneyland can match it for the highlights. It maybe has 4 or 5 of the top 10-15 rides on the entire planet

Studios needs work like, but name me a Disney park that doesnt

 

[Nubs70]

Is the recent spate of "I paid X at (insert WDW establishment) and it was totally worth it" articles on my Google feed being fed to us in preparation of Chapek's pronouncement?

Are these articles a market shaping activity?

 

[UpAllNight]

Iger seemed to care a lot more above “legacy” with parks the last 5. He was awful the first 10

Chapek has no fundamental understanding of how to run or sell them - as it stands. He says all the wrong things to the wrong people to maintain park loyalty and that is a huge thing. for

Iger wasn’t an idiot. There’s no chance that the things Chapek has implemented didn’t enter this thoughts. Especially over the period of 15 years! Yet, he didn’t pull that trigger.

Did Iger not want to make Disney parks more profitable? Of course he did, it was his bleeding job, but he understood the lifetime value of a customer, unlike short term Chapek.

Maybe Iger could see the bigger picture & wasn’t given credit for that? Maybe we all didn’t respect the balancing act of being a Disney CEO. Maybe only now we can judge that when we can see it done wrong. Really really wrong.

The idea that the groundwork was set is all retrospective. He’s not responsible for anything that follows.

But my overall feeling is that Iger understood the business more & made decisions on his superior judgement.

If you run a business, any business, quarter to quarter, you’re only ever as good as your last set of results. Chapek is in for ride over the coming years, even if he isn’t investing in them.

 

[Mr Mindcrime]

If you don't like this, then do your part. We did. Our last trip was in Feb 2020. We had almost reached our breaking point at that time for diminished quality vs increasing prices. In late 2020 we finally broke. We cancelled a planned 2021 trip and sold our DVC points. We went to Universal in 2021 and 2022 and had a blast. We cancelled our Disney+ Bundle (in response to not only Disney-Flation, but issues with the corporate creative direction). I've even re-decorated my Disney-Themed home studio to something non-Disney. We miss our 3-4 WDW trips each year, which we can still afford, but it no longer seems like a place we should be spending our money. Oh, and we also sold all of our DIS stock (for a nice profit )

Disney didn't adequately address capacity issues at WDW in response to increasing demand so now they are "forced" to raise prices in response to increasing demand. Business 401. However, our family made a business decision too so someone else gets our disposable cash.

Obviously Disney doesn't miss us and quickly let the door hit us on the way out. But we have voted with our wallet. We may never get to return to our beloved WDW, but....... life goes on.

 

[GladToBeHear]

If you don't like this, then do your part. We did. Our last trip was in Feb 2020. We had almost reached our breaking point at that time for diminished quality vs increasing prices. In late 2020 we finally broke. We cancelled a planned 2021 trip and sold our DVC points. We went to Universal in 2021 and 2022 and had a blast. We cancelled our Disney+ Bundle (in response to not only Disney-Flation, but issues with the corporate creative direction). I've even re-decorated my Disney-Themed home studio to something non-Disney. We miss our 3-4 WDW trips each year, which we can still afford, but it no longer seems like a place we should be spending our money.

Disney didn't adequately address capacity issues at WDW in response to increasing demand so now they are "forced" to raise prices in response to increasing demand. Business 401. However, our family made a business decision too so someone else gets our disposable cash.

Obviously Disney doesn't miss us and quickly let the door hit us on the way out. But we have voted with our wallet. We may never get to return to our beloved WDW, but....... life goes on.

Same for us.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

Due to guest demand you leave the company BOB, when can we expect you to be gone BOB !!!!

We also had the much needed DVC talk last night. We have decided after our thanksgiving trip to sell. At least i have,shes still on the fence. 156 bucks a month for maintenance..and probably 20-25 grand back in our pocket sounds great to me. If we do sell, not going to lie, i will miss it. But when i think about that I always miss the times about 4-5 years ago and before. The last 4 trips,although fun have been expensive, losing magic each year , and way to crowded no matter when we have gone. We have the memories and hopefully with a little more push on the wife, we will have the money also.

Side note-We have AP’s and havent started them yet, waiting for our upcoming trip. She’s trying to say well why waste them, we can go one more time before next November to get another2 weeks out of them. Just when your almost free they drag you back in.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

They went down significantly in 2002 for obvious reasons. The parks were dead. It actually became pretty affordable for many internaltional guests to visit for the first time.

You mean when I worked at team Disney?

Want to hear my recollection?

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I wish I was more interested in Nintendo. I'm just not.
My dad made us get Intellivision - The Intelligent Television.

I do love Universal Monsters though.

This is how we feel also, Harry Potter is the only theme at Universal we love as much as Disney, I’m far more excited for the Train your dragon village, the coasters, and the Monsters land than I am for Nintendo.

We find ourselves facing the same dilemma with Universal that we face with most amusement/theme parks when it comes to Disney, most parks offer more rides and better rides but we still end up going to Disney because we love being surrounded by our childhood. When emotional vs rational are at odds emotion often wins despite it making no sense.

I also think this will eventually lead to the downturn of Disney, kids today are inundated with content so they don’t have the same devotion to Disney that we did as kids, it may take another generation but eventually that’s going to catch up to them. Universal is doing a better job of future proofing themselves.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

Same for us.

And hilarious irony here you both are….on a message board….apparently talking about a place your not going to!

 

[Cliff]

The laws of supply and demand are in play here. As long as we keep flooding the parks by the zillions, then Disney is justified in raising their prices. "We" are the ones crowding the parks and driving up prices.

Disney will pull back on prices only after "we" thin out our attendance numbers significantly. As with everything in life, its the buyer that drives demand. If prices are too high...we only have ourselves to blame for that.

 

[dreday3]

This is how we feel also, Harry Potter is the only theme at Universal we love as much as Disney, I’m far more excited for the Train your dragon village, the coasters, and the Monsters land than I am for Nintendo.

We find ourselves facing the same dilemma with Universal that we face with most amusement/theme parks when it comes to Disney, most parks offer more rides and better rides but we still end up going to Disney because we love being surrounded by our childhood. When emotional vs rational are at odds emotion often wins despite it making no sense.

I also think this will eventually lead to the downturn of Disney, kids today are inundated with content so they don’t have the same devotion to Disney that we did as kids, it may take another generation but eventually that’s going to catch up to them. Universal is doing a better job of future proofing themselves.

Aw. Your last paragraph makes me sad. I agree with you.
I thank my dad all the time for giving me the WDW bug way back in 1980.