Insanity Pricing Officially Reached

[PeterGriffin]

If you spend the same amount of money for less time/product...isn’t that a compete win for Disney and simply encourages more pricing?

Sorry I am replying to this so long after. I don't understand your response. If I stay less nights, I spend less money. We used to spend around $4000, for a week trip. Now we spend around $3000, for a 5 night trip. I'm not spending the same amount. I'm spending around $1000 less.

 

[GoofGoof]

Actually, people are indeed blaming, in part, the higher prices for Disneyland's current doldrums.

It looks like things have stabilized out west. I’ve been watching the crowd levels on Touring plans site pretty much daily since I’m heading out there the second week of August and the past week or 2 have been pretty close to historic crowd levels. They did cut single day prices for AP holders and I think some people may have also been holding out for Rise to open but now that it’s officially delayed to next year some people may have been drawn in.

 

[GoofGoof]

Sorry I am replying to this so long after. I don't understand your response. If I stay less nights, I spend less money. We used to spend around $4000, for a week trip. Now we spend around $3000, for a 5 night trip. I'm not spending the same amount. I'm spending around $1000 less.

It depends on whether you look at it from Disney’s perspective or your own. You may spend less overall but you are spending more per day so as long as Disney finds someone else to take up those days you skip they are making out better. Also the reason why they keep trying to price out AP holders.

For example for park tickets you are spending more per day going for 5 days vs 10 days due to multi-day pricing. $83 per day for a 5 day ticket vs $47 a day for a 10 day one. On the food side, the prices are way up so lets say a person who spent $40 a day not too long ago probably spends closer to $75 for the same food today. Same goes for hotel rooms. The point is the per person spending is way up. Since there isn’t unlimited capacity and crowds detract from overall experience the business model seems to be pushing towards higher and higher prices even if that means shorter stays or less frequent visits. It works as long as demand says sky high.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Sorry I am replying to this so long after. I don't understand your response. If I stay less nights, I spend less money. We used to spend around $4000, for a week trip. Now we spend around $3000, for a 5 night trip. I'm not spending the same amount. I'm spending around $1000 less.

That’s a not that much of a difference...to be fair.

But you get less time for “more” money, and Disney gets 2 days to resell to someone else.

That’s a straight sets win for Disney is it not?

And ultimately that encourages price increases

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

It depends on whether you look at it from Disney’s perspective or your own. You may spend less overall but you are spending more per day so as long as Disney finds someone else to take up those days you skip they are making out better. Also the reason why they keep trying to price out AP holders.

For example for park tickets you are spending more per day going for 5 days vs 10 days due to multi-day pricing. $83 per day for a 5 day ticket vs $47 a day for a 10 day one. On the food side, the prices are way up so lets say a person who spent $40 a day not too long ago probably spends closer to $75 for the same food today. Same goes for hotel rooms. The point is the per person spending is way up. Since there isn’t unlimited capacity and crowds detract from overall experience the business model seems to be pushing towards higher and higher prices even if that means shorter stays or less frequent visits. It works as long as demand says sky high.

Exactly

 

[WildRide]

It's like Disney thinks it can ride the attendance wave forever with no repercussions. I live in Peoria, IL and just witnessed Caterpillar go from making profits hand over fists up until 2016 to now when they have laid off nearly 10,000 white collar jobs and moving the headquarters to a Chicago Suburb. -Yes these are very different companies, but Cat did not plan on its future and it seems like Disney is not either. *Other than poaching from its movies and theme parks to pay for a streaming service.

I worked for CAT for a few years. I grandfathered in when they bought Bucyrus. They are a company at the older end of the growth cycle. The biggest similarity between them and Disney is both companies have an extreme aversion to any sort of risk. It causes them to move extremely slow for fear of the almighty stock price.

Iger is right to go all in on trying to dominate the stream service world, but his vision for the parks doesn’t seem to look further than a couple years out. Long term I see average people going to Orlando once in their lives rather than continuing a tradition throughout the years.

 

[JusticeDisney]

Exactly

Great response. Very informative. About as well-reasoned as you are capable of.

 

[drizgirl]

It depends on whether you look at it from Disney’s perspective or your own. You may spend less overall but you are spending more per day so as long as Disney finds someone else to take up those days you skip they are making out better. Also the reason why they keep trying to price out AP holders.

For example for park tickets you are spending more per day going for 5 days vs 10 days due to multi-day pricing. $83 per day for a 5 day ticket vs $47 a day for a 10 day one. On the food side, the prices are way up so lets say a person who spent $40 a day not too long ago probably spends closer to $75 for the same food today. Same goes for hotel rooms. The point is the per person spending is way up. Since there isn’t unlimited capacity and crowds detract from overall experience the business model seems to be pushing towards higher and higher prices even if that means shorter stays or less frequent visits. It works as long as demand says sky high.

Just curious, where are these replacement people now? What's keeping them from going already? Only one park hits capacity, and that's typically only a few days a year. So nothing is stopping them.

 

[GoofGoof]

Just curious, where are these replacement people now? What's keeping them from going already? Only one park hits capacity, and that's typically only a few days a year. So nothing is stopping them.

The replacement people are already at the parks. The original poster said he goes to the parks for less time now. If that’s a common trend (which seems to be the case based on postings here) but the parks are still as crowded as they ever have been then there have to be more people taking up the days abandoned by people who visited more frequently or for longer trips in the past.

The parks aren’t at max capacity every day and they really can’t be. The Christmas and 4th of July rushes are not sustainable year round. The crowds are borderline unsafe and the facilities are not equipped to handle that level of use year round. If their goal was just to increase the number of daily visitors they would need to expand capacity, build out additional infrastructure and possibly add a 5th gate to spread the crowds. It seems to me like the plan (at least the short term plan) is to maximize the revenue per guest without significantly adding to capacity. Basically milk the existing stuff for all it’s worth. It’s not a sustainable model and they will eventually need to add to capacity.

 

[JusticeDisney]

That’s a not that much of a difference...to be fair.

But you get less time for “more” money, and Disney gets 2 days to resell to someone else.

That’s a straight sets win for Disney is it not?

And ultimately that encourages price increases

You couldn’t possibly be more wrong.

 

[donnylambb]

I wrote about this a while ago and I got so many Reponses defending it I just gave up.

 

[chimchimcheree]

Reviving this thread to posit that those dates overlap with my spring break (I'm in graduate school). Disney, I'm willing to wager, hiked the prices to account for the spike in visitors.

 

[katieee]

We’re coming from the UK! 29th june for 20 nights, 2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant. all star sports, 1 quick service each/day, 21 day disney park tickets, memory maker and magical express (just need flights for around £1200 total). cost us £4000

 

[Minnesota disney fan]

We’re coming from the UK! 29th june for 20 nights, 2 adults, 1 child, 1 infant. all star sports, 1 quick service each/day, 21 day disney park tickets, memory maker and magical express (just need flights for around £1200 total). cost us £4000

Wow, you are so lucky to get the 21 day park package. I am envious Sounds like a wonderful time!