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Disney is going to price us out of the Kingdom..
- Thread starter bjlc57
- Start date
Just curios what you think has changed in the past year and a half to justify 3 increases?
Wendy Pleakley
Well-Known Member
I think most people here are coming from an out-of-town visitor perspective.
You're right, I'm always floored by locals who complain about annual pass prices. I'm spending more than them on flight + hotel alone, before I even get through the gates. The ability to visit a Disney theme park as often as one wants? Those prices are a bargain.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Goto Discovery Cove and experience that vs the chaos that is Blizzard Beach. One feels like a vacation.. the other feels like playing in traffic.
The Empress Lilly
Well-Known Member
Increase in misbehaviour correlates with increase in price at WDW.
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
This is true beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Walt Disney1955
Well-Known Member
I can't speak for him, but I know for a fact that in March of 1997 tickets for one day at the Magic Kingdom were $40 US. Ditto for Universal. I remember marvelling at how expensive that was and was just glad my dad had the money for that because I sure didn't as a teenager. Well, that's 22 years ago. A day at Disney is almost triple that today. Good luck finding someone whose salary has tripled since 1997. So yeah, Disney is much more expensive than it ever has been.
NickMaio
Well-Known Member
WDW has had 15 and 18% price jumps in a given year. When inflation was 1.5%. Yes....that is a 10 time increase over inflation.
Its not 10 times every year.... More in the realm of 6 to 8 times......
Incredibly high. Saleries have not been increasing.....except for the very wealthy income earners.
Its not 10 times every year.... More in the realm of 6 to 8 times......
Incredibly high. Saleries have not been increasing.....except for the very wealthy income earners.
the_rich
Well-Known Member
Just for the fun of it I went on air bnb to see how much it would cost for a week at the shore. I randomly picked ocean City, nj and the week of July 22nd. 18 otions popped up and they ranged from 1000 to 8000 for a week. I averaged them and it came out to 3000 for the week. So 3800 isnt unrealistic.
eliza61nyc
Well-Known Member
Ignore the troll, it's what I do
Chef Mickey
Well-Known Member
And there was no Animal Kingdom in 1997, so times have changed all over.
Disney’s prices don’t need to change in lockstep with your salary. Most stuff for fun doesn’t do that. What are Universal’s prices now? It’s a $215 for a one day. Quit complaining.
unmitigated disaster
Well-Known Member
Yeah, you're not in touch with people who make $30,000 or $40,000 a year. Which, in the U.S., is a huge chunk of people.
Disney is doable on a budget. But, you'll be at a value or moderate. Probably not getting ParkHoppers. Quick service. And describes me.
Instead of Disney Parks, why don't you try the National Parks? A yearly pass is like $180.
Amidala
Well-Known Member
The insane pricing boosts would mean nothing without people to hand over their wallets, which they have done & will continue to do. But even with inflated prices, more people are attending the parks than ever: 16,972,000 in 2010 and 20,859,000 in 2018. It isn't just pricing boosts falsely inflating Disney's revenue, it's bodies in the parks. Definitely agree attendance is being supplemented by luring people in with things like holiday up-charge parties, which is why attendance numbers have continued to climb...but the parks are still crowded enough during peak season, so I don't see the downside to filling in the gaps? All this suggests to me is that Disney has learned to draw guests all year round, instead of just during the favored vacation seasons.
Last I checked, a one-day two-park pass at Universal was $170, compared with Disney's peak price of $189 (?) I could be wrong here if things have changed. But either way, when you consider that Disney has four parks and Universal two (even if we're counting Volcano Bay, admission is separate), I'm with you—I would easily give the edge to Disney on pricing.
Disney and Universal have completely cornered the market on this kind of experience. I'm not arguing with anyone that the price hike is ethical, but just find this whole conversation about what "justifies" the change to be really baffling. Disney will charge what they can get, like any other business. The parks are more popular than ever; people are willing to pay. If the time comes when price hikes cause a drop in revenue, Disney will adjust accordingly. But there hasn't been a drop in attendance since 2001 (for obvious reasons), so I doubt that will be happening anytime soon.
Wendy Pleakley
Well-Known Member
I've always disliked Universal's practice of matching Disney's prices, particularly with one-day tickets.
At a minimum, most people are going to buy a four-day ticket for Disney. Two days is sufficient for Universal. Because of how multi-day pricing works, it always worked out that Universal cost me more per day than Disney.
It stopped my from visiting Universal during more than one trip.
It's less of an issue now, with the addition of Volcano Bay plus the added value from recent Universal additions (Potter in particular), but I still think Universal would draw more people if their one-day prices aligned more closely with the actual cost per day at Disney.
At a minimum, most people are going to buy a four-day ticket for Disney. Two days is sufficient for Universal. Because of how multi-day pricing works, it always worked out that Universal cost me more per day than Disney.
It stopped my from visiting Universal during more than one trip.
It's less of an issue now, with the addition of Volcano Bay plus the added value from recent Universal additions (Potter in particular), but I still think Universal would draw more people if their one-day prices aligned more closely with the actual cost per day at Disney.
NickMaio
Well-Known Member
YES - - -Most things do change with the average salary < that is WHY we have inflation>. - - Take films for example - - the averge cost to produce a major blockbuster has almost tripled in the last ten years....yet movie prices have increased with inflation, taking averages into account. - - - - -
I am really getting a kick out of the WDW defenders here.........WDW's increases over the past ten years have been astronomical. The only thing that comes close is housing price increases in North America's top markets, LA, New York, Vancouver, Toronto......
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.
Me 'Earties
Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate
Keens is awesome, and I would vote it as better than Peter Luger, both for menu and ambiance. But some will like the latter better, and I can respect that-both are great. As you know, Keens doesn’t have a ribeye on their menu, because the couldn’t find a supplier with consistent quality. That says something there-they won’t serve it unless it’s the best, consistently.
I remember Le Cellier one year, some years back, where you ordered, I believe, ribeye, and it was very, very fatty. It just wasn’t the high quality beef that it should have been. I remember many years back (maybe 12 or so years ago), when Mr. Me ‘Earties and I had gone to Le Cellier for a treat (at that time, we were poor grad students so it was an exceptional treat to have a meal there, let alone be at WDW) and it was out of this world. In my experience (and it could be just my luck), the steak quality had gone down over the years (now that we can afford to go more often), or perhaps not consistent.
Me 'Earties
Not all treasure is silver and gold, mate
Maybe, but it’s not at EPCOTand Le Cellier still serves a good steak. I mean, it’s AAA Canadian beef which is just a notch below prime.
I agree with you there-being in Epcot is what makes the difference here
Chef Mickey
Well-Known Member
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.
mdcpr
Well-Known Member
Keens is great--that's more of a date night or business dinner place for me. I like Peter Luger's because I find it more family friendly.