Pay per ride is disastrous for WDW with big families who go for more then a few nights.
The problem is the world and the World has decided that "having a big family" isn't worth giving breaks. Average guest spending per day is apparently the primary metric that matters. And as often demonstrated around here... if you get left out "You should have planned better." Your multiplier being 5 and someone else's being only 3, 2, or especially in the case of one, "sounds like a personal problem." [this is not my stance, this is the general reaction to similar things]
"You should have stayed onsite." (even if you own a home in central Florida)
"You should have paid for a ticket." (even if you traded your labor for the admission benefits)
"You should have reserved in advance" (even though you didn't have vacation approval from your job)
"You should have done it MY way," as if it's the one true way. [This is the way?]
If that's the way things are, do I now get to say, DH & my way was to consider the lifestyle we wanted and if that lifestyle was supportable if we had kids? So we didn't. My parents' way to afford Disney was for my Mom to work there [And, if you read my post in the other thread, means that in some backwards way, even though she's gone, whenever I go, she still gets "paid" which is why I'm still here. When my Dad is unable or gone, then I am gone, and I know my WDW visits are on borrowed time, so I'm riding the waves. I thought April 2015 was that moment. I thought I was mourning the loss of two things. But Disney surprised even us by letting it continue. Apparently, some bits of Disney employment has its privileges when so much does not.]
For the record, that is NOT what I'm telling you should have done. It's a RIDICULOUS proposition, but so are the other hoops others expect people to do while justifying why they deserve "20 minutes or less" status over waiting in lines like everyone else. And depending on where you read, like that fun social media post from before, some will say that since they have kids and I don't, they deserve it even more.
I've been doing this online Disney forum thing since 1996. And if there's one thing I've seen, is eventually Disney always gets *you* where it hurts. Their version of the "house always wins." For many, the eventual moment is when their kids or grandkids "age out." That's when the break hurts the least. But the beast always comes, and apparently the beast is very hungry after 15 months of limited fresh meat. I am truly sorry, that for you and all the others facing what comes next, that the beast will arrive before you and your kids are really ready for it.
For now there is. The question right this minute is how much feeling like an ATM are guests willing to stand? I don't think that limit is nearly as high as the execs think it is.
Disney's movie re-release schedule, and vault strategy, was predicated on the fact that their key demo turns over every 7 years. New humans provide a lot of cover when it comes to what people are willing to do. New parents don't know what things used to be like. They were kids when they came before. They didn't know. If it's ridiculous for them, it must have been ridiculous for their parents and their grandparents. And others will jump in to say how their family couldn't go before, so it absolutely was the same level of ridiculousness. It takes something really big and external to force the situation. There have been wobbles. 9/11, financial crisis. Disney didn't learn anything. They just converted deluxe rooms to DVC, and reduced capacity within the parks by closing attractions or replacing high capacity rides with headliners with crappy OHRC. Like nature in Jurassic Park...apparently "Disney finds a way."
I still think there will be a moment it all comes crashing down. It's just not going to be after a global pandemic, with all this pent up demand and upper middle class people who, all things considered, saw considerable growth in their savings and didn't experience job insecurity. I'm mean, I've never had so much money in our bank accounts. And when that 7 year clock resets, then it's as the cool kids say, "That's the way it is. Pay it or don't go."
Again, not me... I'm just quoting the general response.
