Disney is going to price us out of the Kingdom..

[NickMaio]

Businesses can charge whatever they want if they can get it. I don't see the problem. Universal costs $115 for a day pass, up from $40 20 years ago.

I love it - - - - -WDW can do whatever they want - - - Greed is ok as long as there are less people in the parks.
This thread is about WDW pricing specific families out of their parks - - - - not about "can" they do it?????????? - - Of course they can, it does not mean it is right.

WDW was created as a place for all members of the family to have fun together. Now people are ok with this giant corporate machine churning out dollar bills and pricing out the original demographic that made it hugely popular in the first place.

However you cut it Greed it wrong - - profit is ok - - - but giant increases when the theme park division just had its most successful profitable year is plain Greed to line the pockets of a few.

I am really enjoying what people are ok with here - - - True WDW dyed in the wool fans........Their machine can do no wrong.

 

[NickMaio]

Businesses can charge whatever they want if they can get it. I don't see the problem. Universal costs $115 for a day pass, up from $40 20 years ago.

At least Universal has been adding a new summer ride every year for a while now. WDW has been adding dessert parties and cool down tents for their upper end customers.
And yes - - Uni is just as greedy as WDW. Still not right.

 

[OneofThree]

I love it - - - - -WDW can do whatever they want - - - Greed is ok as long as there are less people in the parks.
This thread is about WDW pricing specific families out of their parks - - - - not about "can" they do it?????????? - - Of course they can, it does not mean it is right.

WDW was created as a place for all members of the family to have fun together. Now people are ok with this giant corporate machine churning out dollar bills and pricing out the original demographic that made it hugely popular in the first place.

However you cut it Greed it wrong - - profit is ok - - - but giant increases when the theme park division just had its most successful profitable year is plain Greed to line the pockets of a few.

I am really enjoying what people are ok with here - - - True WDW dyed in the wool fans........Their machine can do no wrong.

Don't take this the wrong way but, if Disney Co. ran things according to your ideas, there likely would no longer be a WDW. And this coming from someone who has levied plenty of criticism upon them, much of it on this board.

 

[Model3 McQueen]

Businesses can charge whatever they want if they can get it. I don't see the problem. Universal costs $115 for a day pass, up from $40 20 years ago.

And how much has Disney raised their prices by in that 20 years? lol

 

[wdwjmp239]

I know my Disney plans have changed considerably over the last 5 years. In fact, I'm a DVC member and have found that I can save a butt load of cash by going to the local Publix (grocery store), getting stuff I need for the time I'm at Disney, and just cooking in the room (usually stuff you can throw in a crock-pot or "insta-pot" and go hang out in the parks for a few hours). For a family of four, we had breakfast one day at Crystal Palace inside of MK and went for $120.00 (before tip) and had dinner in the room (we were still full from breakfast and skipped lunch). Then, we did Teppan Edo for dinner for $120.00 (before tip) and had breakfast and lunch in the room. So, $240.00 just for breakfast and dinner.....imagine if you had to do $120.00 three times a day for a few days....that'll add up quick!

We don't do much in the way of souvenir shopping as we're "locals" (we're 3 hours away). If my kids want something, they pay for it through the allowances they earn. My wife and I don't do much in the way of drinking so beers, wines, cocktails at Disney....truthfully...if we were going to do that, then we'd go off property (I saw what Crystal Palace at MK wanted to charge for a Bud Light and was appalled at the price).

In regards to admission - we're annual passholders and because we're Florida residents, we can finance the passes over time. Do we get a discount if we finance them? No discount, but it's convenient for us.

But for those of you who travel far and wide to spend a few days at Disney, I can see how price increases can impact your travel plans. If you can tighten up the expenses, you can make your trips a little more "affordable".

 

[NickMaio]

Don't take this the wrong way but, if Disney Co. ran things according to your ideas, there likely would no longer be a WDW. And this coming from someone who has levied plenty of criticism upon them, much of it on this board.

We will never know.
There are plenty of successfull fortune 500 companies that don't screw their original customer fan base.
No offense taken......

 

[SteamboatJoe]

Don't take this the wrong way but, if Disney Co. ran things according to your ideas, there likely would no longer be a WDW. And this coming from someone who has levied plenty of criticism upon them, much of it on this board.

How so? I'm not getting the implied conclusion here.

 

[OneofThree]

How so? I'm not getting the implied conclusion here.

There are a whole host of business challenges associated with the idea of a listed corporation navigating the current environment while holding to the strategy employed in the 70's and 80's. You'd be amazed at the impact on financial management alone.

 

[chris p]

They have to raise the prices of something to compensate for the wage increase to $15.00. They priced me out about 4 years ago. I may occasionally go to DTD but nothing else.

I’ve been saying this from day one...people want min wage at $15.00/hr, guess what, everything will raise in price to compensate as though it never even happened. So dumb

 

[eliza61nyc]

You guys just don't get it - - - WDW is and HAS been pricing out the middle income families for a while now.

There are no leisure commodity or services you could compare WDW annual price increases to.

We get it, what's not to get? we just don't believe Disney has to price their product according to what it's customers feel is correct. Who determined that someone is only supposed to raise their prices according to inflation?. If I have a house in a hot market no I am not selling it cheaply.

They've got something the public wants, it's a hot commodity. they feel they don't have to compare themselves to others, they are the leaders (that's how they feel).

Now maybe when the student loan bubble bust, or when the next recession hits or any other scenario we can think of happens Disney will feel the pain. but as of today, they have a product, everyone wants that product, they haven't been pricing anyone out that I can see because the parks are still packed. so who's going??

Now for me it's not about whether Disney can do no wrong, for me it's about simply commerce and free market. I believe people/businesses that own stuff have the right to sell it for what ever price they feel their product is worth it. I also believe that the middle class does not have some god given "right" to go to Disney no more than they have the right to a luxury car.

I reject this fallacy that Disney when it opened was cheap, are you telling me that in the 70's if a family didn't have the money, Disney let them in free??? that's called a charity. Now walt may have had some kumbyaa vision of Disney but that certainly was not how it ever operated.

And I absolutely reject this notion that Disney or any company has to price their product according to what someone else fells is fair. that's regulation.

So if Disney really is pricing out the "middle" class, then guess what, people will stop going, they will lose money and then some thing else will have to happen.

Again just my opinion

 

[Chef Mickey]

And how much has Disney raised their prices by in that 20 years? lol

About the same.

 

[Chef Mickey]

At least Universal has been adding a new summer ride every year for a while now. WDW has been adding dessert parties and cool down tents for their upper end customers.
And yes - - Uni is just as greedy as WDW. Still not right.

Disney World has 4 parks and 2 water parks too. Universal is still trying to get to Disney's scale.

From a subjective standpoint, Disney's content is also far better.

 

[Chef Mickey]

I love it - - - - -WDW can do whatever they want - - - Greed is ok as long as there are less people in the parks.
This thread is about WDW pricing specific families out of their parks - - - - not about "can" they do it?????????? - - Of course they can, it does not mean it is right.

WDW was created as a place for all members of the family to have fun together. Now people are ok with this giant corporate machine churning out dollar bills and pricing out the original demographic that made it hugely popular in the first place.

However you cut it Greed it wrong - - profit is ok - - - but giant increases when the theme park division just had its most successful profitable year is plain Greed to line the pockets of a few.

I am really enjoying what people are ok with here - - - True WDW dyed in the wool fans........Their machine can do no wrong.

Yes, they can. You aren't the authority on the definition of "greed." You do realize Disney is a for profit company owned by shareholders, right? They have a fiduciary responsibility to increase the value of shareholders. They aren't doing anything that's illegal, unethical, or even offbase market pricing for similar concepts (like Universal).

You're basically saying they should charge less than they can easily get and pack the parks because you're upset your imaginary family can't afford it. Where does that stop? Should everyone get a Disney vacation? Should everyone get an iPhone?

The price is the price...pay it or prioritize other wants to pay for it. All this entitlement gets old. You're not the business police. Buy some DIS shares if you think they are making out like bandits and you will too.

 

[zurj]

I feel like I'm in a bad relationship with Disney. It used to be so much fun... I thought about her all the time... Constantly made plans to be with her. Spent money on her because she made me feel good. But now, I feel like she's taking advantage of me because she knows how much I like her, and constantly nags me into spending money on pointless stuff that I know I shouldn't but I don't want to end the relationship, which makes me resent her, and ultimately wise up and dump her for Universal (who I've been cheating on her with anyways), because even though Universal isn't as hot, she makes me feel special, and doesn't make me feel like I'm getting taken advantage of all the time.
Disney's all like "Remember how much fun it was... come on lets do it again." I'm like, "I love you so much, of course we can, baby. Just let me grab some money out of the ATM." Then Disney's all like, "What do you think your doing. It cost this much now. Oh and you need to pay for that too." Me: "But baby, last time you didn't make me pay for that. You said you were just happy that I was with you. You said you were just glad I was choosing to spending so much time with you. It's one of the reasons I told all my friends about you. And why can't we stay out late like we used to? Now you're telling me we gotta cut it off early, or else buy special tickets just so I can be close to you for longer? Why do you keep treating me like I don't matter as much to you anymore. And what about how you keep telling me about all this great stuff you're going to do for me, but it always feels like if you do something for me, you take something away too. And remember that time a couple years ago when you said we was going to be doing that thing at the theater? Whatever happened to that?" Disney's like, "You better start treating me right. I've got a lot of other people that are interested in me, and if you can't hang, you need to back off. I got big plans coming up later this summer and I don't want you messing them up." Meanwhile, Universal is over there like, "She thinks she's too good for guys in your income bracket. I'm not like that. I may not be as pretty as her, but if you're looking for a good time, we can have some fun. I ain't free, but I'm looking for a guy making about what you're making. I know it's not what you're used to, but a lot of people like that I'm known for being Harry. And you can always tell that I'm trying to make myself better for you. And besides all that, she only wants to talk about is Star Wars. She pretends she don't like super heroes too, but that's just cause she's jealous of me."

 

[eliza61nyc]

So how do you think Disney should be be regulated??

 

[Dead2009]

Yes, they can. You aren't the authority on the definition of "greed." You do realize Disney is a for profit company owned by shareholders, right? They have a fiduciary responsibility to increase the value of shareholders. They aren't doing anything that's illegal, unethical, or even offbase market pricing for similar concepts (like Universal).

You're basically saying they should charge less than they can easily get and pack the parks because you're upset your imaginary family can't afford it. Where does that stop? Should everyone get a Disney vacation? Should everyone get an iPhone?

The price is the price...pay it or prioritize other wants to pay for it. All this entitlement gets old. You're not the business police. Buy some DIS shares if you think they are making out like bandits and you will too.

I demand they lower their prices to 20 bucks so I don't have to go and complain Disney ended up closing 3 of the parks because they couldnt maintain costs.

 

[Jonathan Dalecki]

So how do you think Disney be regulated??

Myself as benevolent overlord, deciding whom I want to let in on any given day based on my own shifting whims. Anyone who wanted admission would have to pass a rigorous screening, which would change daily. I'd charge idiots a fortune but anyone who could prove to me that they truly loved Disney would get in for a nickel. Sounds fair?

 

[bryanfze55]

Who defines what a “middle income family” is? And I don’t think Disney is driving away all middle income families given their attendance. I know we are a middle income family and can go to Disney annually. I think middle income families have to consciously manage their money in order to go to Disney - but so what? It’s a luxury vacation, it shouldn’t necessarily be easy to afford. When the average price of a new car is $32,000 and the average size of a new house is 2700 square feet, I fail to believe middle class Americans CANT afford Disney - they choose to spend elsewhere. We can not afford to stay in a deluxe resort, and we don’t even feel comfortable staying in a moderate at current prices. But we still have fun. People act like they can’t enjoy a Disney vacation unless they’re staying at the Polynesian. Maybe we don’t get as much bang for our buck as we used to - small crowds, short lines - but Disney can still be done without breaking the bank with some flexibility.

 

[NickMaio]

Yes, they can. You aren't the authority on the definition of "greed." You do realize Disney is a for profit company owned by shareholders, right? They have a fiduciary responsibility to increase the value of shareholders. They aren't doing anything that's illegal, unethical, or even offbase market pricing for similar concepts (like Universal).

You're basically saying they should charge less than they can easily get and pack the parks because you're upset your imaginary family can't afford it. Where does that stop? Should everyone get a Disney vacation? Should everyone get an iPhone?

The price is the price...pay it or prioritize other wants to pay for it. All this entitlement gets old. You're not the business police. Buy some DIS shares if you think they are making out like bandits and you will too.

Thanks - -you really put me in my place.
If you don't think that 8 to 10 times the inflation rate over a decade is not the definition of greed - - - - that's too bad.
Greed is doing this again and again in the face of record profits - - - - -

I bet you feel that the federal bailout of the banking and auto system was alright too.........

Don't worry about us - - - we can afford WDW prices - - - the value for these ever rising prices just does not balance anymore.

I really enjoy your views on your corrupt greed filled economic system.
Without the lower income families WDW and DL would have never got off the ground............now shareholders are more important than the people who rooted the company. My views are a skewed, nice!

 

[NickMaio]

Yes, they can. You aren't the authority on the definition of "greed." You do realize Disney is a for profit company owned by shareholders, right? They have a fiduciary responsibility to increase the value of shareholders. They aren't doing anything that's illegal, unethical, or even offbase market pricing for similar concepts (like Universal).

You're basically saying they should charge less than they can easily get and pack the parks because you're upset your imaginary family can't afford it. Where does that stop? Should everyone get a Disney vacation? Should everyone get an iPhone?

The price is the price...pay it or prioritize other wants to pay for it. All this entitlement gets old. You're not the business police. Buy some DIS shares if you think they are making out like bandits and you will too.

Kreep drinking the Mickey kool-aid!