News Disneyland and Disney California Adventure Ticket Price Increases

[Parteecia]

@Parteecia Are you regularly at the parks?

At least once a week before the pandemic, even though the condition of Buzz always made me sad. Not gone since and nothing I've seen or read makes me want to go. I will always reserve the right to comment however, especially as an alumna. I will not stop advocating to return to the classic maintenance STANDARDS.

Oh, wait, was that rhetorical?

 

[Consumer]

@Consumer You don’t go to the parks a few times a month, right?

I've gone once in the last three years and don't expect to go again for a long time as I no longer live in LA.

 

[BuzzedPotatoHead89]

At the end of the day though, if there are so many people in the park that I can't even find a bench to just sit on, there are too many people who have access. I've seriously been in the position of going to a table service restaurant in the park, just to be gauranteed a place to sit. That was though, back when it was easier to get those reservations.

I’ll grant you that this is true but I do think a lot of this is driven by Keys/APs vs day visitors.

Which I guess when you factor in Magic keys is more a wholesale “CostCo” style phenomenon than Wal-Mart. Still, I just don’t think the pricing is quite as accessible as your neighborhood Wal-Mart, which I think would be acceptable/understandable if the product wasn’t simultaneously declining by degrees.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I’ll grant you that this is true but I do think a lot of this is driven by Keys/APs vs day visitors.

Which I guess when you factor in Magic keys is more a wholesale “CostCo” style phenomenon than Wal-Mart. Still, I just don’t think the pricing is quite as accessible as your neighborhood Wal-Mart, which I think would be acceptable/understandable if the product wasn’t simultaneously declining by degrees.

I’d love to know what percent of Keys renewed, I’ve been keeping an eye on the DL Key calendar and there’s been near 100% availability the last couple months, prior to the renewal date every weekend would be gone 2 months in advance.

Despite the decrease in Keys the parks are still packed, I don’t think keyholders are the problem, I think it really is day guests filling the parks.

There’s nothing Walmart about visiting the parks though, everything is expensive from the tickets to the hotels to the food and drinks… there’s just a ton of people who are willing to spend it.

 

[smooch]

Status of the park's maintenance / etc. aside, the only possible reasoning that would be somewhat justified if you're being very generous to Disney would be to hopefully lower crowd numbers to give the people in the parks a better experience. The problem is they already have a reservation system they claims does this but it has not helped crowds and is just used to maximize profits by staffing as few people as possible, as others have mentioned already. Throwing this on top is just insulting, I agree with @Californian Elitist whole heartedly. I haven't been to the parks in years and have really wanted to go since my last Disney Park trip was WDW in around 2019 I believe and my last DLR trip was 2018 or very very early 2019. I've especially wanted to go with my girlfriend since it's been so long and she never got to ride RotR because of boarding groups, and I haven't even seen SW:GE in person yet. But these price increases are just making it more and more impossible.

To be fair, I am a college student who only works part time because I've been especially busy this semester (final year of college means capstone class and higher level classes with much more time commitment necessary) so I am earning even less money than usual. I hope we can try to save together to go eventually, but honestly given the reservation system and mobile ordering for food still seeming somewhat confusing and clunky as I haven't used it yet and my gf's family had a bit of a tough time with it on their trip, as well as poor show all around the park and the growing number of changes that put me off from the park, I don't know how soon my next trip would be. I am still so bummed my family's 2020 trip to Japan was cancelled because of covid, I was so excited to go to Tokyo DisneySea even if it was just for a day. I've seen people doing the math on Twitter and you could pretty much go to Tokyo DisneySea from CA / FL with tickets, flights, hotels, and such for less money than simply flying to WDW for a vacation. That's absolutely crazy to me. Plus they're even lowering prices for vaccinated tourists at Tokyo I believe to help drive even more people into the parks, while Disneyland offers less and less while charging more and more.

 

[Californian Elitist]

At least once a week before the pandemic, even though the condition of Buzz always made me sad. Not gone since and nothing I've seen or read makes me want to go. I will always reserve the right to comment however, especially as an alumna. I will not stop advocating to return to the classic maintenance STANDARDS.

Oh, wait, was that rhetorical?

Not rhetorical, I was genuinely curious.

As a fellow alumna, I will also hold them to the classic maintenance standards, especially since they hammered the importance of them into our heads. At least they did when I was hired.

 

[Californian Elitist]

Status of the park's maintenance / etc. aside, the only possible reasoning that would be somewhat justified if you're being very generous to Disney would be to hopefully lower crowd numbers to give the people in the parks a better experience. The problem is they already have a reservation system they claims does this but it has not helped crowds and is just used to maximize profits by staffing as few people as possible, as others have mentioned already. Throwing this on top is just insulting, I agree with @Californian Elitist whole heartedly. I haven't been to the parks in years and have really wanted to go since my last Disney Park trip was WDW in around 2019 I believe and my last DLR trip was 2018 or very very early 2019. I've especially wanted to go with my girlfriend since it's been so long and she never got to ride RotR because of boarding groups, and I haven't even seen SW:GE in person yet. But these price increases are just making it more and more impossible.

To be fair, I am a college student who only works part time because I've been especially busy this semester (final year of college means capstone class and higher level classes with much more time commitment necessary) so I am earning even less money than usual. I hope we can try to save together to go eventually, but honestly given the reservation system and mobile ordering for food still seeming somewhat confusing and clunky as I haven't used it yet and my gf's family had a bit of a tough time with it on their trip, as well as poor show all around the park and the growing number of changes that put me off from the park, I don't know how soon my next trip would be. I am still so bummed my family's 2020 trip to Japan was cancelled because of covid, I was so excited to go to Tokyo DisneySea even if it was just for a day. I've seen people doing the math on Twitter and you could pretty much go to Tokyo DisneySea from CA / FL with tickets, flights, hotels, and such for less money than simply flying to WDW for a vacation. That's absolutely crazy to me. Plus they're even lowering prices for vaccinated tourists at Tokyo I believe to help drive even more people into the parks, while Disneyland offers less and less while charging more and more.

First of all, congratulations on coming to the end of college. I say you should use whatever money you’ve saved and spend it on a trip to a different state or country. It was personally very liberating to me to see different parts of the country and the world after earning my degrees. I know you’ve traveled before. Don’t give Disneyland your hard-earned money. I haven’t been to the parks in a few years either. I’m going tomorrow, but that’s because I was invited by a dear friend of mine and my ticket has been covered.

You will have completed a wonderful accomplishment and celebrate it somewhere unworthy, in my opinion.

 

[shambolicdefending]

As long as enough consumers are willing to pay, Disney would be stupid not to raise prices. No justification is necessary other than, "the customer is willing to pay it."

Maintenance, staffing, etc. Whatever service level complaints there may be (and there are many), it's all background noise. If the customer is willing to pay more - and they largely are - prices can, should, and economically must continue to go up.

 

[Disstevefan1]

As long as enough consumers are willing to pay, Disney would be stupid not to raise prices. No justification is necessary other than, "the customer is willing to pay it."

Maintenance, staffing, etc. Whatever service level complaints there may be (and there are many), it's all background noise. If the customer is willing to pay more - and they largely are - prices can, should, and economically must continue to go up.

Folks talked about a cost "breaking point" for decades.

That "breaking point" was never hit.

I really, really hope the fictional "breaking point" is hit one day but I really don't think it will happen.

 

[shambolicdefending]

Folks talked about a cost "breaking point" for decades.

That "breaking point" was never hit.

I really, really hope the fictional "breaking point" is hit one day but I really don't think it will happen.

Disney will always stay just below the breaking point, like every business should.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Disney will always stay just below the breaking point, like every business should.

Time will tell, I guess.

 

[shambolicdefending]

Time will tell, I guess.

Like you said above, I think time has already told us. Everything that's being said about the price increase today could be copied and pasted into dozens of other threads and conversations throughout the years. They're always just about one more increase away from pricing out their base of demand... and that's where they'll always be.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Like you said above, I think time has already told us. Everything that's being said about the price increase today could be copied and pasted into dozens of other threads and conversations throughout the years. They're always just about one more increase away from pricing out their base of demand... and that's where they'll always be.

You are correct.
I will go back to what I have copied and pasted into many threads:
"TWDC and its theme parks are........ invincible"

 

[shambolicdefending]

You are correct.
I will go back to what I have copied and pasted into many threads:
"TWDC and its theme parks are........ invincible"

I actually don't think they're invincible. But it won't be high prices that cause them to struggle. It will be poor adaptation to consumer behavior shifts and inadequate reactions to stiffer competition.

 

[Disstevefan1]

I actually don't think they're invincible. But it won't be high prices that cause them to struggle. It will be poor adaptation to consumer behavior shifts and inadequate reactions to stiffer competition.

I guess time will tell then.

 

[CaptinEO]

Who’s “people?” The ones that have grumbled, myself included, as far as I know, aren’t regular visitors.

@Rich T Don’t you live in Florida?
@Consumer You don’t go to the parks a few times a month, right?
@CaptinEO How often do you visit the parks?
@Parteecia Are you regularly at the parks?

Once a year. Pre pandemic once a month.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

As long as enough consumers are willing to pay, Disney would be stupid not to raise prices. No justification is necessary other than, "the customer is willing to pay it."

Maintenance, staffing, etc. Whatever service level complaints there may be (and there are many), it's all background noise. If the customer is willing to pay more - and they largely are - prices can, should, and economically must continue to go up.

I have no problem with price increases, I just wish the quality matched the price.

Disney has always been expensive but the quality justified the price, unfortunately with Genie+, maintenance issue, food quality issues, staffing issues, etc we aren’t even close to getting the same product today that we got just a few years ago. Bring back the quality and we’ll happily pay the price again.

 

[CaptinEO]

I have no problem with price increases, I just wish the quality matched the price.

Disney has always been expensive but the quality justified the price, unfortunately with Genie+, maintenance issue, food quality issues, staffing issues, etc we aren’t even close to getting the same product today that we got just a few years ago. Bring back the quality and we’ll happily pay the price again.

This. I totally don't mind paying for a product/experience I like. Paying more for the same is just supply and demand. Paying more for less just feels like you're being cheated.

 

[shambolicdefending]

Disney has always been expensive but the quality justified the price, unfortunately with Genie+, maintenance issue, food quality issues, staffing issues, etc we aren’t even close to getting the same product today that we got just a few years ago. Bring back the quality and we’ll happily pay the price again.

This is a perfectly valid view, but the majority of Disney consumers don't seem to agree with it. They still think the price is worth it - which is also a perfectly valid view.

 

[Disney Irish]

This is a perfectly valid view, but the majority of Disney consumers don't seem to agree with it. They still think the price is worth it - which is also a perfectly valid view.

I think this is an important point. What a few hundred fans on a Disney Fan site think isn't moving the needle much if at all. Its the general public that has to feel the same way before Disney will think there is an issue.

Note that I'm sure Disney is aware of the complaints regarding maintenance and such, but there is limited things they can do if most of it is caused by supply chain and staffing issues. A lot of that is out of their control. Not saying they are completely blameless, but a bit of understanding is needed as its a balancing act.