Disney slowly losing our dollars.

[misterID]

im at the point where we go about every 3 years...this span of time makes you re-appreciate the parks and deal with the prices. it actually helped me to take time between trips and start to "miss" the world all over again. too much of anything, including disney, is never a good thing. 3 years and the trip is magical all over again

Same here. Back in the 90's I was an APer that went once a month, back when EPCOT was still EPCOT. Now, it's just not worth it, imo. Spacing out trips is a lot easier since I moved away from Florida, but it does make you appreciate the WDW atmosphere a whole lot more; the smells, the sounds, the nostalgia. Hopping to different resorts helps a lot to. It might actually be a good thing if people spaced out their trips for a few years.

The funny thing is, back then I could appreciate MGM for being a limited park, only because MK and EPCOT were so strong and you never knew what was coming around the corner. I could even appreciate AK when their was lieterally nothing to do but walk around (this was before Everest!), but doing the vacation with the Park Hopper, I have truly come to dislike these parks. It's nowhere worth the money. It's insane to pay MK rates for AK. There's no excuse for it. And I swear, MGM feels smaller and more cramped than it used to. It's still just a park to spend a couple hours, ride TGMR, ST, TOT and leave. I think I'm just getting older and everything was better back in my day. But I think in this case, it's true

If I was an APer today I'd be really depressed. I'd have to have a UNI AP, something I never dreamt I'd do. HHN and City Walk is still pretty cool for a dude in his (barely holding on to his --)early 30s. And you know, it's cool walking around and seeing construction. Hell, I even miss all those "Pardon Our Pixie Dust" signs I used to see walking around The World.

 

[danpam1024]

I think that's a big thing. Those of us in this group are a very small minority. Most people don't go that often. They'll go once or twice. It is like any other vacation, where they will go and just spend. I don't want to get into a politics or economics debate but with a weak dollar it is tempting for Europeans to come to Disney and spend their money. As a Florida resident I am used to getting annual passes and go 3-4 times with seasonal passes. I don't care to go during spring break, or Christmas, so I won't pay for those days. We are buying tickets now in August because my daughter is still two. After those expire we may take a little break. It will be another ticket to add. We might just go during the spring and or fall promotions where a resident pay $120 for 3 days and maybe add the hopper option. Seems more reasonable.

I agree- last time we had seasonal passes they were $209- now they're $309!

 

[King Capybara 77]

I can understand the AP crowd feeling let down by the price increase but for us international tourists the price of the hotel/admission tickets ,whilst not cheap , is far outweighed by the cost of physically getting to the US. It is probably that more than Disneys prices that would stop a lot of us from visiting from abroad.

 

[draybook]

I can understand the AP crowd feeling let down by the price increase but for us international tourists the price of the hotel/admission tickets ,whilst not cheap , is far outweighed by the cost of physically getting to the US. It is probably that more than Disneys prices that would stop a lot of us from visiting from abroad.

I can appreciate that. Just for fun, I used Expedia to book a mock trip to Paris for our family of four. For the hotel, rental car and airfare it was 6k alone. I can only imagine the cost once attractions and parks were added in.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

So with just a couple of messages you were able to score an excellent deal on a WDW vacation from a total stranger but after years of loyalty to Disney, what could you score from them?

Is that the sound of crickets I'm hearing?

I think I know why this thread is titled "Disney slowly losing our dollars".

You summed it up so beautifully!

The best price I could've gotten on an AKV studio w/savanna view thru WDW utilizing their "generous" 30% fall room-only discount was $947. For TWO nights. TWO. Yeah. One. Two. At that price Mickey can stick it where the sun don't shine. Talking around a little, a convo with @EOD K9, quick phone call (very nice guy, too!) and BAM! I'm in a $947 room for less than the best price Disney offers on a moderate resort for the same 2 nights. Booked. Paid in full. All set to go. I'm elated. He's a little chunk closer to funding another cruise. Win/win. Cannot beat that.

FYI, I think @EOD K9 has some other points he's looking to rent out. A lot of DVCers are taking to renting out points because they get a better value on the points then if they use the same points to do the cruises. Or they can use the money for anything else they may want to do without the limitations. Definitely some amount of honor system if you rent from people you "know" casually from forums. But, there's also those businesses that broker the rentals.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: if we had bought DVC back when we looked into it I would be beyond livid today. I don't care to go into the 4 parks in the foreseeable future. I would be so mad if I had tied myself to something I don't care for. Honest, if we had bought DVC I think the points rentals would be our saving grace. But still, I would be irritated that I even had to go thru all that hulabaloo. That's just me.

 

[ShookieJones]

I'm not there just yet (soon but not yet). We're visiting other places. last two years Universal for a couple of days and this year we're adding sea world and discovery cove to the Uni visit, but we added days to do these things so WDW is still getting our 8 days 7 nights. This year it's at the contemporary with MK view to boot. Good God!!!

Anyway - The way things are going I could definitely see there being a shift and WDW only getting a few of our days and Uni and the rest of Orlando getting the rest.

Deep in my heart and in the back of my head I'm rooting for the old girl, but you know all great empires must fall. We're just witness to the decline of a great one, while a few others battle to be the next "great" one.

Universal obviously is the heir apparent - At the rate they're going, with quality and all the right franchises - if they had more land, I'm afraid to say nothing would stop them from overtaking our sweet WDW.

 

[ddbowdoin]

We've been leaning more towards the cruise lately. Seems like there's actually more to do then the parks. We didn't even do half of what we wanted last time. Meanwhile we go to the parks and are ready to leave by lunch. Its the same food everywhere and its not great. plus its expensive now for everything. Were annual pass holders but its getting to where I don't know if I wanna renew this year.

really?

drink, eat, and a nightly show... that seems to be more?

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

So with just a couple of messages you were able to score an excellent deal on a WDW vacation from a total stranger but after years of loyalty to Disney, what could you score from them?

Is that the sound of crickets I'm hearing?

I think I know why this thread is titled "Disney slowly losing our dollars".

Disney is losing our dollars because they are too expensive! We're doing exactly what @sweetpee_1993 is doing and renting points for September. We got a studio standard view at BLT for half of what it would have cost us to get it from Disney. We get the room we want and the person who the points belong to don't have to lose them. It's a win-win situation for both parties involved. If Disney were cheaper, we would go through them.

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

We might just go during the spring and or fall promotions where a resident pay $120 for 3 days and maybe add the hopper option. Seems more reasonable.

This is the only way ill go now. Its alot cheaper AND we get to see the special events at Epcot and DHS in spring and fall.

I have also been offered free uni tickets. i might cash in on that one day and check out Uni and IOA. i havent been there for over 4years now.

I have always been a Disney fan, always will be, but i dont think i am a WDW fan anymore.

 

[Glasgow]

I'll be in Orlando later this month on business and would've always headed to WDW for a day or two in the past - not this time. Would also have brought the kids down as well, not this time. I guess I've reached my limit. We're a trip a year family which will now be going to 1.5 to 2 years. Sad, more than anything I guess, but hopefully WDW will really be upping the value quotient over the next few years. We'll see

 

[cowanfamily]

I know I'm in the minority here, but I'm fine with the prices. I feel they keep the rif-raf out of the parks. Go spend 1 day at 6 Flags and you'll know what I'm talking about.

 

[King Capybara 77]

Just to clarify.
14 nights at coronado for two adults from Gatwick with hire car and no dining £3438 or $5157 ish
Add on the park tickets makes it £4473 or $6709
So whilst the tickets are not cheap they are a small percentage of the overall cost of the holiday for us UK visitors
BTW Disney is about £550 for a 14 night ticket, UNI is £450 for a similar one .
As we would only spend 3-4 days at uni/seaworld the disney ticket doesn't seem so bad to me

 

[ParentsOf4]

i understand why everyone here revs on about UNI but imho those parks just don't have the same feel as Disney.Also i couldn't imagine spending more than a couple of days here. so with seaworld being a 1dayer thats 3 of 14 days non disney and i for one will still be sending my pounds Disney's way in the majority until uni changes its image.

I agree, Uni can't match WDW for 'feel'. Instead, Uni is going for the gusto and trying to give their paying customers the biggest bang for the buck, adding major attractions in a short timespan while really stepping up to the plate when it comes to quality.

WDW, on the other hand, once the undisputed best place to visit in Orlando, has gotten into the habit of building only a few mediocre additions, cutting quality, and jacking up prices as much as possible. WDW is coasting on past glories.

Uni seems to care about its customers; WDW does not.

That's what stinks the most, that's why Disney is slowly losing a lot of people's dollars. At this point, they care more about the size of their CEO's bonus than their customers.

 

[fractal]

Wife was pricing beach rental homes in Dewey beach DE to Fenwick Island. Any decent home on the beach is $7,000 to $10,000 for a week.

Now, this is Delaware. Not the Outer Banks or Hilton Head.

For roughly the same amount of money, I'm taking 4 adults ( me, my wife, my mother and my 19 year old ) and 2 children (16 and 11 which means they are really adults in Disney's eyes ) to the Polynesian for a week - with the dinning plan and park tickets (hopper tickets + water park) and two rooms.

Now, that doesn't include travel costs. When I last looked at prices for Atlantis it was about $15,000/week just for the accomodations.

I don't consider Disney cheap - not by a long shot - but I never feel like I'm getting ripped off. Two years ago before our last trip I was reading these boards and started to get worried that going back to WDW was a big mistake. We ended up having a great time. Maybe I'll feel different after our upcoming trip - time will tell.

 

[fractal]

I agree, Uni can't match WDW for 'feel'. Instead, Uni is going for the gusto and trying to give their paying customers the biggest bang for the buck, adding major attractions in a short timespan while really stepping up to the plate when it comes to quality.

WDW, on the other hand, once the undisputed best place to visit in Orlando, has gotten into the habit of building only a few mediocre additions, cutting quality, and jacking up prices as much as possible. WDW is coasting on past glories.

Uni seems to care about its customers; WDW does not.

That's what stinks the most, that's why Disney is slowly losing a lot of people's dollars. At this point, they care more about the size of their CEO's bonus than their customers.

Oh yeah. Mr Roberts does pretty well himself running Comcast.

 

[Glasgow]

When you compare WDW prices against many higher end vacation options it stacks up pretty well. Also, when you break it down as a per hour cost it seems relatively reasonable as well (say, for example, versus going to the movies - $7-$9 per hour). The deluxe experience at WDW has always been expensive so in my eyes the families taking those trips are less likely to get sticker shock as well.

I think the issue with WDW has now become a matter of perceived value, or lack thereof. Disney used to be much cheaper which meant a higher content to price ratio. Over the past few years the prices have gone up without a matching amount of content, so people are no longer as comfortable shelling out the extra dollars due to the disproportionate pricing scale.

The first customers to feel this effect are ostensibly those attending the value and moderate resorts. I don't want to make this a class debate but there no longer seems to be a value option at WDW. Even staying at a value resort is now equivalent to or more expensive than taking a standard week's long vacation elsewhere. You used to be able to justify going back to WDW again and again due to the value versus, say, a beach trip .. not anymore.

 

[flynnibus]

Wife was pricing beach rental homes in Dewey beach DE to Fenwick Island. Any decent home on the beach is $7,000 to $10,000 for a week.

You are comparing apples and oranges tho... those large beach houses are typically for multiple families, etc. You can rent a house off the beach in Rehoboth for less than 2k... or beach front condos in those lower numbers as well.

As a lifelong vacationer in the DE/MD beaches... if you are looking at 10k for a single family.. you're doing it wrong The types of properties in the DE beaches are not the same scale as the houses you typically find in OBX.

Ocean front condos in Ocean City (developed area) are less than 2k/week in prime time for a typical 2 bedroom type of place. Comparing this to Disney deluxes at 400+/night... and we know the true comparison for Disney hotels are their peers in the area which are more like 200+/- a night.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Just to clarify.
14 nights at coronado for two adults from Gatwick with hire car and no dining £3438 or $5157 ish
Add on the park tickets makes it £4473 or $6709
So whilst the tickets are not cheap they are a small percentage of the overall cost of the holiday for us UK visitors
BTW Disney is about £550 for a 14 night ticket, UNI is £450 for a similar one .
As we would only spend 3-4 days at uni/seaworld the disney ticket doesn't seem so bad to me

I think for international visitors with those loooooong stays that are more than 10 nights adding tickets to other parks isn't as easy to factor in. Adding a few more Disney days doesn't add as much cost as starting with a fresh ticket at another park. Then y'all have to consider transport to/from other properties, etc. I could see where it's not as practical.

My hubby and I will be at WDW pre-cruise for 2 nights in September. As previously mentioned, I scored a killer deal on a great resort. Tickets for the 2 of us for 2 days would cost more than the resort. Not worth it. Part of our decision to stay in the villa is so we have a resort destination and don't need to go to a park for entertainment.

A week long cruise on the Disney Fantasy for us will be roughly $2k. Haven't pulled the trigger yet because I have a feeling some discounts will roll out closer to sailing. The cruise includes all your food, drinks, entertainment, etc. Once you pay for it you don't HAVE to spend any more money. That's what I love about them. A week at WDW would cost us a lot more than that and we just don't enjoy the parks as much as we used to.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Anyway - The way things are going I could definitely see there being a shift and WDW only getting a few of our days and Uni and the rest of Orlando getting the rest.

Deep in my heart and in the back of my head I'm rooting for the old girl, but you know all great empires must fall. We're just witness to the decline of a great one, while a few others battle to be the next "great" one.

Universal obviously is the heir apparent - At the rate they're going, with quality and all the right franchises - if they had more land, I'm afraid to say nothing would stop them from overtaking our sweet WDW.

WDW will turn it around, will starting bringing in some new exciting additions, and we will be excited about it. (OK, I will be.)

But for the last 10 years, it's felt like WDW has forgotten what made it outstanding; WDW has lost its way, lost its sole. In its quest for the almighty dollar it's forgotten what put it in a position to collect so much of that almighty dollar in the first place. WDW has been leveraging off the successes of its past, ignoring the future.

WDW won't ever be the "value" vacation it once was but at least there will be something to be excited about.

But why did we loyal WDW fans have to wait all these years?

 

[aladdin2007]

WDW will turn it around, will starting bringing in some new exciting additions, and we will be excited about it. (OK, I will be.)

But for the last 10 years, it's felt like WDW has forgotten what made it outstanding; WDW has lost its way, lost its sole. In its quest for the almighty dollar it's forgotten what put it in a position to collect so much of that almighty dollar in the first place. WDW has been leveraging off the successes of its past, ignoring the future.

WDW won't ever be the "value" vacation it once was but at least there will be something to be excited about.

But why did we loyal WDW fans have to wait all these years?

Um were still waiting, and there doesnt seem to be any sign of a huge turn around like that first sentence states. Just sayin,,,,but love the optimism.