Harry Potter IS making a difference!!

[slappy magoo]

Exactly. They public is now "spoiled" by heavy room discounts, free or discounted dining, and Magic Your Way tickets. Disney MUST begin to work it's way back to a normal, pre-9/11 pricing structure if they don't want to really be suffering down the road. They should go cold-turkey. Eliminate all discounting, deal with the short-term backlash, and try to get back on track before it's too late.

Not to get widly off-topic, but I don't think I can agree with the idea of the public being "Spoiled" by Disney discounts. Prices of WDW have vastly outpaced rates of inflation/cost of living prices. Even if you look at a 10-Day ParkHopper pass - arguably the best "value" for park tickets, they're far more expensive than 10 days worth of passes at WDW when it first opened once you factor inflation. Now, to be fair, there is MUCH MUCH more to do at WDW now than then, and choosing to spend more time at WDW means you're not spending money elsewhere, but still, it's more expensive than it was, even after adjusting for inflation. Meanwhile, average wages (for most people who still have their jobs) are relatively flat - they're either not getting raises, or their raises don't compensate for cost of living increases. So, unless these people readjust how they live - get a smaller house in poorer parts of the country (while still being within commuting distance of their jobs or finding a better job in an economy where unemployed outnumber available jobs 5 to 1), they're going to have less discretionary income on stuff like vacations. And if they want to go to WDW on their vacations, they're going to have to stretch that dollar wherever they can. For some people, that may mean staying at a mod or a value instead of a deluxe. Of course, that stinks for WDW, suddenly having their higher-bracket resorts more empty and everyone fighting for space at their less expensive resorts. It could also mean fewer days spent on vacation, which ALSO stinks for Disney, because the more time you spend on property, they at least have a fighting chance of getting more money out of you (at the very least, you have to eat, and they hope you're not the bagels-in-your-room-for-breakfast, share-a-turkey-leg-for-lunch type of tourist).

Disney jacks the prices up faster than inflation, to give the illusion a WDW vacation is more of a "luxury." They then offer discounts, hyping them as "limited time offers," so you feel lucky for getting them. It's all psychological, and not much more different than a store like Macy's selling a pair of pants for 80 dollars that they bought for 10-20 dollars, then offering them for half-off certain times of the year and you feeling like you made out like a bandit, when they could've been selling those pants for 40 all along, but why should they if there's a chance they can sell 'em for 80? As a result, many of us are trained to look for sales, with people who truly can't be bothered with sales (or don't hjave to worry about money) buying those pants for 80 when the mood strikes them. Some of us also just go to a discount store like Kohl's instead, but who amongst us wants to go to a discount theme park?

Long story short, Disney WANTS us to feel "spoiled" by offering discounts, but honestly, they could sell their vacation packages for less than they do on a regular basis, do away with special promotions because regular prices are quite good, and still do very well. But they make more money keeping prices jacked up for certain times of the year for people who don't want to or have to worry about prices, while offering "deep" discounts during off times to attract people who otherwise couldn't afford a WDW trip (or at least, the kind of WDW trip they'd like to take).

 

[Flip83]

For my kids (13 & 9), Harry Potter is the #1 thing they are looking forward to doing on our next trip to Orlando. Keep in mind... we are a Disney family, DVC owners, go to Disney every year and the kids have NEVER been to Universal (I went once when the kids were young).

Our plan is to buy 2 days at Universal and cut those days out of whatever pass we buy for Disney. We are not extending our trip. So for us, Disney is losing $$$ they get from us every year. )

People have always taken the 1-3 days to visit US Parks from there Disney trip. Not everyone would extend a trip for US. But almost everyone will
Take their 1-3 Days out of 7+ days at Disney to ser US. What you would pretty much never hear is that someone took 1-3 days to visit WDW from their Universal Vacation. Everyone I know, and some on here said the same. Disney rides/shows have a replay value. Many many people go to Disney because of it's nostalga, replay value, and all the great ammenities. Yeah, they have nostalga and use it. Not many parks can do that. And it hasn't grown old yet. Just like I read on here (is how I look at it, and many I know) if you go 3 days, by the end of the 2nd day your done. 3rd day, your flat out bored.

My Aunt who had season tickets, and has two young teen kids who are obsessed with Potter loved the WWOHP, but they never buggee my aunt n uncle about going again n again. Last year and during this whole year they kept buggin her to see Star Tours, or Tower of Terror, or Expeditiom Everest, or Haunted Mansion, or Splash Mountain. Disney isn't losing when most of these peoplr take a couple days to US or SW. because the rest of the week they are at Disney. That's how it will always be. Universal keeps people interested by adding new rides frequently, or recycle old rides because they have to going against Disney.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Then what are they dangling if they can't compete? Nothing that effects Disney to a point of attendance rapidly dropping. This argument is pointless.

Disney has everybody convinced that attendance is all that matters because they were able to keep it inflated with the discounting. Admission is not what makes the park money. It is food and merchandise sales. Once again, guest spending has been down at Walt Disney World for a few years now, but people are spending lots of money at Universal for Harry Potter merchandise. Universal does not have the capacity to take away all of Disney's attendance, but what they can do is take away people's spending money. Where is Disney making money if you have a discounted room, discounted admission and free dining and then only buy a couple of shirts?

Long story short, Disney WANTS us to feel "spoiled" by offering discounts, but honestly, they could sell their vacation packages for less than they do on a regular basis, do away with special promotions because regular prices are quite good, and still do very well. But they make more money keeping prices jacked up for certain times of the year for people who don't want to or have to worry about prices, while offering "deep" discounts during off times to attract people who otherwise couldn't afford a WDW trip (or at least, the kind of WDW trip they'd like to take).

Disney themselves have said the discounting has gone on for too long, for too far. It was never intended to make one feel special, it was designed to inflate attendance following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. It has continued since then and increased again to deal with the recession.

There is a difference between occasional sales and the constant sales that had become a part of the Walt Disney World model. It is not just people feeling good about finding the sales, it is that people are at the point that they will not come without a sale. All of this still does not address the issue of guest spending. People were supposed to take the money saved on discounts and spend it on merchandise. They have not done that, so Disney needs to start trying to make money in those areas again.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

There is a difference between occasional sales and the constant sales that had become a part of the Walt Disney World model. It is not just people feeling good about finding the sales, it is that people are at the point that they will not come without a sale.

I don't think it's just Disney. Every holiday retail story I've read the last couple years says that retailers have been forced to cut into their bottom lines through deep discounts just to get people in the store.

This problem might have started with 9/11, but it's still with us because of the economy. That's my take anyway.

I think once we leave the "psychological recession" behind (the actual one appears to be over) and people just generally feel comfortable spending money again, it will help solve Disney's "problem" of people being hesitant to pay wildly inflated prices for their subpar lodgings. :lookaroun

 

[lightning509s]

Let me throw something else into the mix as we discuss WDW attendance figures.

Normally "regular" cast members (excluding supervisors and management) are allowed ( 12 ) free entries into the parks for themselves and their families. This is the norm!!! However, this year, cast members were given an additional ( 4 ) sign-ins for a total of ( 16 ). Talk about "padding the attendence figures!!!

Now let's continue the conversation....

 

[fosse76]

We face the big decision on our upcoming trip - do we take a day out of WDW to see HP? We always rent a car, so that's not a factor. The boys are 15, 13, and 11 now, and the youngest two are HP fans. We're prime candidates, but we're probably not going to do it for two reasons:

1. We don't like to switch resorts mid-trip, so we're at a WDW moderate the whole trip.

You do realize, right, that even if you stay at a Disney resort, you can drive over to Universal for a day AND still return to your Disney resort, right? You do know there isn't any requirement to stay next door to Universal in order to go into the parks, right?

2. The Magic Your Way ticket pricing makes the additional day at the Disney parks so incredibly cheap compared to a single day at Universal. The difference is hundreds of dollars.

True, and none of the four Disney parks have Harry Potter. So that reasoning is lame. You're simply making an excuse not to go.

I'm sure many other families face this same decision, but I doubt all of them will choose to stay at Disney. The question is then whether the people that slice a day or more off of their Disney vacation are offset by the people brought in by HP to Universal that decide to try a day or more at WDW. Short-term, I think Disney loses in that one. Long-term, there are too many variables to predict with any degree of accuracy what will happen.

That depends. The people who travel SPECIFICALLY for Harry Potter are not going to be visiting Disney (well, the vast majority of them). You may have a small percentage who may choose to visit for a day, and an even smaller percentage who visit all the Disney parks, but when people travel for specific reasons, they don't generally alter their plans.

But as someone else pointed out, many people who go to Disney already have Universal, Sea World, etc. planned into their vacation...so the question is, how many people who don't have that plan already built, and who usually only visit Disney, are now altering their vacation to include Universal? Clearly Disney thinks quite a few, otherwise they wouldn't have all-of-a-sudden decided to group their attendance figures to include Disneyland Resort.

 

[jakeman]

True, and none of the four Disney parks have Harry Potter. So that reasoning is lame. You're simply making an excuse not to go.

That reasoning isn't lame at all.

To some families the difference is adding literally $20 for an entire extra day for a family of three at WDW versus almost $250 for a day at Universal to see one land at one theme park.

The question becomes one of value. Is HP worth $250?

That's a valid question for most families. It was worth it for my family, but may not be so for another.

You can't just say "Uni has HP, you should go" any more than you can say the converse of "Disney is better, you shouldn't go". It is all what the value of the experience is to each family.

 

[fillerup]

This is purely anecdotal, and I don't pretend to represent my demographic, but.......

We are long time Disney APers and will continue to be for the foreseeable future. We go to WDW right around 80 days per year. We had US APs about 10 years ago but only for one year.

At the time, we enjoyed Universal and generally considered some of US's theming superior to WDW. We definitely felt that US's food and beverage options to be better.

All that said, because of WWoHP, sometime in the next 12 months, we'll purchase US APs.

Based on that and other attractions as well as Christmas, Mardi Gras, and the summer concert series, I would guess that adds up to 30 or so days in the year that we won't be at Disney.

At this point, we've stopped sending Disney merchandise as gifts - our families are pretty much over it. They will, however, be thrilled to get some Potter stuff.

Between F&B and merch, it won't be enough to drive the stock price down, but if there are many more like us, it's not good.

I just want to see Disney get back in the game and give us something meaningful and new, but I don't see much of that on the horizon.

 

[DisneyLeo18]

That reasoning isn't lame at all.

To some families the difference is adding literally $20 for an entire extra day for a family of three at WDW versus almost $250 for a day at Universal to see one land at one theme park.

The question becomes one of value. Is HP worth $250?

That's a valid question for most families. It was worth it for my family, but may not be so for another.

You can't just say "Uni has HP, you should go" any more than you can say the converse of "Disney is better, you shouldn't go". It is all what the value of the experience is to each family.

I was in Orlando in the winter of 08 and 09 and bought a 7 day/2 park pass to US/IoA for about $100. I didn't use all 7 days but it was basically the same as a one day/2 park pass so I went for it.

After checking recently I noticed the 7-day ticket is up over $250, if it wasn't for my company discount I wouldn't even think of visiting US/IoA next year... but I'm also not a HP fan at all.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You do realize, right, that even if you stay at a Disney resort, you can drive over to Universal for a day AND still return to your Disney resort, right? You do know there isn't any requirement to stay next door to Universal in order to go into the parks, right?

The problem is that a lot of the Disney deals are based around buying admission and lodging together as a package. A day at Universal could mean either buying an extra day at Disney that will go unused, or an extra night, that may disqualify or complicate any special deals. The problem here is that people may choose to stay off property for part or all of their vacation and realize the biggest advantages to Disney's accommodations are Extra Magic Hours, the buses and a lack of other amenities included at similar or lower prices elsewhere.

 

[Disneyfanman]

Not to get widly off-topic, but I don't think I can agree with the idea of the public being "Spoiled" by Disney discounts. Prices of WDW have vastly outpaced rates of inflation/cost of living prices. Even if you look at a 10-Day ParkHopper pass - arguably the best "value" for park tickets, they're far more expensive than 10 days worth of passes at WDW when it first opened once you factor inflation. Now, to be fair, there is MUCH MUCH more to do at WDW now than then, and choosing to spend more time at WDW means you're not spending money elsewhere, but still, it's more expensive than it was, even after adjusting for inflation. Meanwhile, average wages (for most people who still have their jobs) are relatively flat - they're either not getting raises, or their raises don't compensate for cost of living increases. So, unless these people readjust how they live - get a smaller house in poorer parts of the country (while still being within commuting distance of their jobs or finding a better job in an economy where unemployed outnumber available jobs 5 to 1), they're going to have less discretionary income on stuff like vacations. And if they want to go to WDW on their vacations, they're going to have to stretch that dollar wherever they can. For some people, that may mean staying at a mod or a value instead of a deluxe. Of course, that stinks for WDW, suddenly having their higher-bracket resorts more empty and everyone fighting for space at their less expensive resorts. It could also mean fewer days spent on vacation, which ALSO stinks for Disney, because the more time you spend on property, they at least have a fighting chance of getting more money out of you (at the very least, you have to eat, and they hope you're not the bagels-in-your-room-for-breakfast, share-a-turkey-leg-for-lunch type of tourist).

Disney jacks the prices up faster than inflation, to give the illusion a WDW vacation is more of a "luxury." They then offer discounts, hyping them as "limited time offers," so you feel lucky for getting them. It's all psychological, and not much more different than a store like Macy's selling a pair of pants for 80 dollars that they bought for 10-20 dollars, then offering them for half-off certain times of the year and you feeling like you made out like a bandit, when they could've been selling those pants for 40 all along, but why should they if there's a chance they can sell 'em for 80? As a result, many of us are trained to look for sales, with people who truly can't be bothered with sales (or don't hjave to worry about money) buying those pants for 80 when the mood strikes them. Some of us also just go to a discount store like Kohl's instead, but who amongst us wants to go to a discount theme park?

Long story short, Disney WANTS us to feel "spoiled" by offering discounts, but honestly, they could sell their vacation packages for less than they do on a regular basis, do away with special promotions because regular prices are quite good, and still do very well. But they make more money keeping prices jacked up for certain times of the year for people who don't want to or have to worry about prices, while offering "deep" discounts during off times to attract people who otherwise couldn't afford a WDW trip (or at least, the kind of WDW trip they'd like to take).

From my perspective, Lee is absolutely right. I work in Fast Food, which has been destroyed by the recession. Everyone is discounting to keep traffic coming into the restaurants, which has hurt margins to the point of many restaurants closing up shop. Now if someone stops discounting, the public simply stops going until they get a deal. It's an endless circle that we created ourselves by frantically trying to retain traffic flow at the expense of long term business.

Disney is doing the same thing. They are teaching the public to wait for a deal. They need to stop now and accept lower attendance with increased spending. They need to gently lower food prices from the current highs and get rid of the deep discounts altogether. WDW is about BRAND DISNEY, not about Discount Disney. A strategy change is necessary and necessary right now.

Universal is again re-learning the lesson that quality drives attendance in the Theme Park world. Disney was the original professor of that concept, but they have relied on age old tricks for the past "too long" now. At least at WDW. Disneyland was in the same boat until Pressler / Harris moved on. they flipped back to a Quality First approach and they have become a cash and profit generator again. WDW can do it too.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Disney is doing the same thing. They are teaching the public to wait for a deal. They need to stop now and accept lower attendance with increased spending. They need to gently lower food prices from the current highs and get rid of the deep discounts altogether. WDW is about BRAND DISNEY, not about Discount Disney. A strategy change is necessary and necessary right now.

They sort of started it with Summer Nightastic, but what is going to bring people back is quality, limited time offerings. Replace a "limited deal" with a limited "must see". The family that is making their once in a lifetime vacation is going to come, they may wait a few years but they will (slowing down on price increases would help get them on property sooner). Do more with the parties. Have more out during normal hours. Do special shows in some of the lesser used venues. Have out special characters in special seasonal costumes. I can understand the hesitancy to close attractions for weeks/moths each year for overlays, but I think Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy has shown that, with the right initial investments, an attraction be closed for mere days to allow for an overlay to happen (with cheaper labor and fewer regulations it may even be possible to get it done faster in Florida).

 

[si23]

I hate harry potter and i hate the fact they changed dueling dragons i just loved merlins castle, i love ioa and was wondering is the park as a whole a lot busier in the quiet seasons i been in summer when line for the hulk was 120 mins but went in may before harry potter was open.

 

[slappy magoo]

Disney themselves have said the discounting has gone on for too long, for too far. It was never intended to make one feel special, it was designed to inflate attendance following the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. It has continued since then and increased again to deal with the recession.

It may be what they say, the official corporate line, but it's not what I believe. They say it, and then they'll stop offering deals, or less valuable deals. If they still sell out rooms, then great, they've moved the line in the sand of what people will be willing to spend for a Disney trip. After all, Disney said that's the end of the good deal, so suck it up Sparky.

If attendance starts to suffer, guess what? More deals.

There is a difference between occasional sales and the constant sales that had become a part of the Walt Disney World model. It is not just people feeling good about finding the sales, it is that people are at the point that they will not come without a sale.

Because Disney's priced their trips higher and faster than the pace of inflation and cost of living. People now have to either spend comparatively more to have the same Disney experience they've enjoyed in the past (or, what Disney would prefer, is for people to spend even more and enjoy higher-end Disney vacations than in their past), OR spend the same for shorter trips or fewer amenities. Or, as they've been conditioned to do, wait for deals. Is it our fault for being "Spoiled?" Disney's fault for conditioning us? Or Disney's fault for charging too much too fast and the average vacationer not being able to keep up, so Disney then feels compelled to offer deals to keep rooms occupied and restaurants booked, only to then raise prices even higher and faster (park tickets past few years increasing in winter AND summer), and the cycle begins anew.

All of this still does not address the issue of guest spending. People were supposed to take the money saved on discounts and spend it on merchandise. They have not done that, so Disney needs to start trying to make money in those areas again.

And they're going to do that by STOPPING discounts and sales? That'd be some powerful reverse psychology right there.

What they'd need to do, they'd never do. Reduce prices of admission, lodging and meals across the board, and see if it frees up wallets more for Mickey ears. They could try it for a year, and dump sales and promotions altogether. Maybe people won't care if free dining's not offered, if it means getting everything else for less. They won't know unless they try, but it'd be like admitting Disney not a "premium brand," so they won't, and will potentially cut off their corporate nose to spite their face.

 

[EvanAnderson]

^ I agree, what was done to the Dragon's castle is kind of an embarrassment. That queue was the best in the world (now it's Forbidden Journeys), now its just empty room after empty room. It's quite sad. I'd say if WWOHP were to go back and fix something, it'd be the Dragons queue. You can also tell where the money went. FJ.

If you go in the off season, WWOHP is obviously the most crowded, with FJ being at around a 45 or a 60, where the rest of the park is 10 to 20 minute waits. However, go in the summer, or Christmas week, the whole park is packed.

EDIT: Referring to si23's post

 

[lazyboy97o]

It may be what they say, the official corporate line, but it's not what I believe. They say it, and then they'll stop offering deals, or less valuable deals. If they still sell out rooms, then great, they've moved the line in the sand of what people will be willing to spend for a Disney trip. After all, Disney said that's the end of the good deal, so suck it up Sparky.

If attendance starts to suffer, guess what? More deals.



Because Disney's priced their trips higher and faster than the pace of inflation and cost of living. People now have to either spend comparatively more to have the same Disney experience they've enjoyed in the past (or, what Disney would prefer, is for people to spend even more and enjoy higher-end Disney vacations than in their past), OR spend the same for shorter trips or fewer amenities. Or, as they've been conditioned to do, wait for deals. Is it our fault for being "Spoiled?" Disney's fault for conditioning us? Or Disney's fault for charging too much too fast and the average vacationer not being able to keep up, so Disney then feels compelled to offer deals to keep rooms occupied and restaurants booked, only to then raise prices even higher and faster (park tickets past few years increasing in winter AND summer), and the cycle begins anew.



And they're going to do that by STOPPING discounts and sales? That'd be some powerful reverse psychology right there.

What they'd need to do, they'd never do. Reduce prices of admission, lodging and meals across the board, and see if it frees up wallets more for Mickey ears. They could try it for a year, and dump sales and promotions altogether. Maybe people won't care if free dining's not offered, if it means getting everything else for less. They won't know unless they try, but it'd be like admitting Disney not a "premium brand," so they won't, and will potentially cut off their corporate nose to spite their face.

You completely ignore the option of Disney putting in the effort to make a Walt Disney World vacation worth what Disney is charging. The cutting back and doing less while discounting only hurts the brand and what people are willing to spend. It drives the resort and its experience down from something "Disney" to something ordinary. The discounting undermines the idea of Disney as something special and unique. The cutting back and resting on laurels weakens the perceived value. The rampant price increases just exacerbate the previous two problems.

Reducing prices is not going to increase guest spending. The prices are already reduced via the discounts, and instead of spending the saved money, people are just keeping it. People will just follow course if prices are permanently lowered to their discounted level, and then you have the problem of getting rid of the extra money from those who did pay full price.

 

[Alektronic]

Basically, it is just Universal is #2 and they are trying a lot harder to impress people and industry insiders alike. WDW is just coasting along with their past reputation.

Another thing, Disney used to be the place to work, now that is changing. I have many friends who used to work for Disney and now work for Universal and they like it much better. More freedom and allows them to be more creative and more opportuntities for advancement. Some were basically forced out at Disney and now are thriving at Universal.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Exactly. They public is now "spoiled" by heavy room discounts, free or discounted dining, and Magic Your Way tickets. Disney MUST begin to work it's way back to a normal, pre-9/11 pricing structure if they don't want to really be suffering down the road. They should go cold-turkey. Eliminate all discounting, deal with the short-term backlash, and try to get back on track before it's too late.


Bingo.

The way to make a significant change in the ticket structure is to do so with a major change to the park(s). Universal changed their ticket structure (and made 1 day touring more costly) when The Wizarding World Opened. They reaped the benefits of this as well.

No, it won't.
No chance at all that MK will see anywhere near the increase in attendance and merch sales that IoA is getting from Potter. Nobody I've spoken with at Disney even expects that.
FLE will give them something new to market for MK, and will provide a small attendance bump, and capacity increase. That is all it was designed to do.

Then the next phase of Potter is announced, and FLE quickly falls off the radar of the general public.

If anything, what we've seen out of the Fantasyland plans so far could result in a decrease to merchandise sales.

Not to get widly off-topic, but I don't think I can agree with the idea of the public being "Spoiled" by Disney discounts. Prices of WDW have vastly outpaced rates of inflation/cost of living prices. Even if you look at a 10-Day ParkHopper pass - arguably the best "value" for park tickets, they're far more expensive than 10 days worth of passes at WDW when it first opened once you factor inflation. Now, to be fair, there is MUCH MUCH more to do at WDW now than then, and choosing to spend more time at WDW means you're not spending money elsewhere, but still, it's more expensive than it was, even after adjusting for inflation. Meanwhile, average wages (for most people who still have their jobs) are relatively flat - they're either not getting raises, or their raises don't compensate for cost of living increases. So, unless these people readjust how they live - get a smaller house in poorer parts of the country (while still being within commuting distance of their jobs or finding a better job in an economy where unemployed outnumber available jobs 5 to 1), they're going to have less discretionary income on stuff like vacations. And if they want to go to WDW on their vacations, they're going to have to stretch that dollar wherever they can. For some people, that may mean staying at a mod or a value instead of a deluxe. Of course, that stinks for WDW, suddenly having their higher-bracket resorts more empty and everyone fighting for space at their less expensive resorts. It could also mean fewer days spent on vacation, which ALSO stinks for Disney, because the more time you spend on property, they at least have a fighting chance of getting more money out of you (at the very least, you have to eat, and they hope you're not the bagels-in-your-room-for-breakfast, share-a-turkey-leg-for-lunch type of tourist).

Disney jacks the prices up faster than inflation, to give the illusion a WDW vacation is more of a "luxury." They then offer discounts, hyping them as "limited time offers," so you feel lucky for getting them. It's all psychological, and not much more different than a store like Macy's selling a pair of pants for 80 dollars that they bought for 10-20 dollars, then offering them for half-off certain times of the year and you feeling like you made out like a bandit, when they could've been selling those pants for 40 all along, but why should they if there's a chance they can sell 'em for 80? As a result, many of us are trained to look for sales, with people who truly can't be bothered with sales (or don't hjave to worry about money) buying those pants for 80 when the mood strikes them. Some of us also just go to a discount store like Kohl's instead, but who amongst us wants to go to a discount theme park?

Long story short, Disney WANTS us to feel "spoiled" by offering discounts, but honestly, they could sell their vacation packages for less than they do on a regular basis, do away with special promotions because regular prices are quite good, and still do very well. But they make more money keeping prices jacked up for certain times of the year for people who don't want to or have to worry about prices, while offering "deep" discounts during off times to attract people who otherwise couldn't afford a WDW trip (or at least, the kind of WDW trip they'd like to take).

The thing is, we are spoiled by discounts. The discounts become the "regular price" for most people. Speaking solely from my own experience, I stayed at AKL in February because I got 3 nights free. If they eliminate those types of discounts I can't afford to stay at AKL because the same "heavily discounted vacation for 2" increases by 75% in total cost. That's far more extreme than the regular ticket price increases we've gotten used to every August.

 

[devoy1701]

I just want to say that my peers and myself-- the 20-somethings who have money to spend now and soon will be taking their own families on vacation-- grew up with Potter. Literally. Harry is as much a part of our childhood as Lion King, LM, and BatB. Maybe even more so because Potter came on the scene as many of us were starting to transition into teenagers, so our memories are more vivid. As we grew up, Harry grew up too. I think there is definitely a sense of nostalgia for this age group. If you could have seen the demographic for HP7 opening day, you might understand a little more fully.

My point is that when I go on vacation, with all that money to spend because of my lack of mortgage and children, I want to go see WWoHP. I've been to WDW. It's the same as when I went a couple of years ago. I want to try butterbeer and buy some candy and explore the world of HP that I loved to read about. And I'm pretty sure I'm not alone.

Just wanted to say that I'm in the twenty something range too, but I only consider Potter as a annoying little blip of my preteen life. I read the first 4 books, but by then I had graduated to reading adult authors. I can't stand Potter now...Star Trek was a much larger part of my childhood .

I still only see HP as a fad...and that Uni jumped on the bandwagon. Albeit this fad has been around for 11 years now, but I still don't think it has the staying power of Star Wars and/or Trek. And when I read that Sentinal article, all I really got out of it was that Disney wasn't releasing their separate attendence figures and that attendance is pretty much flat, in the meantime Uni is up. I failed to see how that means Uni is making a difference on Disney though.

Rates on mortgages are very good now btw you should look into it!

 

[fosse76]

The thing is, we are spoiled by discounts. The discounts become the "regular price" for most people. Speaking solely from my own experience, I stayed at AKL in February because I got 3 nights free. If they eliminate those types of discounts I can't afford to stay at AKL because the same "heavily discounted vacation for 2" increases by 75% in total cost. That's far more extreme than the regular ticket price increases we've gotten used to every August.

Exactly. Go to the Trip Planning board and look for the threads regarding discounts. How many people post askibng about discounts before ever considering booking their trip.