Is attendance really down at WDW this or…

[el_super]

The biggest problems Disney theme parks have in Florida:
1. Price

So what would you cut to justify a lower price?

 

[MR.Dis]

So what would you cut to justify a lower price?

Nothing. If you cut prices there would be greater attendance. This is tried and true economics. More tickets bought, more rooms filled, more merchandise bought, more tables filled. Those at the top have to ask themselves if the current model of higher prices and lower attendance is better than overall lower prices with much higher attendance.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

So what would you cut to justify a lower price?

Nothing, this is the problem with Disney logic, rather than offering value and making more money from increased sales they offer less, charge more, and then wonder why sales are down.

Disney makes $0 from a non sale, it makes no sense to have empty rooms at overpriced hotels, empty tables at overpriced restaurants, hundreds of thousands of square feet of overpriced retail goods that aren’t selling, etc.

They’d rather make a $20 per item profit on 100 sales than a $10 per item profit on 1000 sales, this logic only makes sense on a corporate profit margin spreadsheet, in real life its lunacy.

 

[Ayla]

I’m not denying the pricing, crowding, heat, etc., that are keeping people away but I think this hits on something as well— many park guests (potentially partially due to the factors I just listed, along with Disney’s desire to monetize alcohol) are ill behaved and inconsiderate— whether it’s line cutting, lying to get DAS for unlimited fastpass, jumping in front of someone who’s been sitting waiting to watch a parade/fireworks show for an hour but left 8 inches between them and the rope, holding a table for 3+ hours to watch a show, shoving kids out of the way in the pre-show rooms to get closer to the door, etc., there’s a lack of civility that makes the park experience less pleasant in totality. I feel like I have personally heard several people justify “beating the system/man/mouse” when they aren’t actually punishing Disney, they are mostly making things worse for their fellow guests.

Also, when thinking about prices, the dollar is extremely strong, so as painful as price hikes are for us Americans who earn and save in dollars, they are about 20 to 30% worse for nearly everyone else.

I've got a pile of Euros in our safe for our upcoming European trip and thankfully, dollar to Euro is almost 1 to 1 (it also makes converting prices much easier! LOL).

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Also, when thinking about prices, the dollar is extremely strong, so as painful as price hikes are for us Americans who earn and save in dollars, they are about 20 to 30% worse for nearly everyone else.

Which is also leading people who can swing it to travel abroad more now as the dollar goes further.

At least anecdotally. I have one friend in Thailand now, another in Japan, and my wife leaves for Italy next week (so see what the dollar can do there)

 

[C33Mom]

Which is also leading people who can swing it to travel abroad more now as the dollar goes further.

At least anecdotally. I have one friend in Thailand now, another in Japan, and my wife leaves for Italy next week (so see what the dollar can do there)

We’re going to Europe this fall (spending part of the trip with DCL, where the currency conversion doesn’t help us though), and seriously considering cancelling Nov WDW trip and heading to TDR instead.

 

[seabreezept813]

I might shell out for one character breakfast on a trip, for the character convenience, but I'm not dropping the money on a multi course fixed price table service when my child won't eat all of the courses to begin with..add us to the list of customers who will absolutely do skipper canteen and won't return to BOG in its current form.

Sad, as we loved BOG for lunch when QS lunch there was an option. Even the TS dinner à la carte was good. Fixed price just isn't worth it. (We won't do CRT for the same reason).

Ughh feel the same and we actually spend a lot on dining. We did the “free” dining this year because we love character meals, but we can’t justify BOG. We went once for dinner and it was so meh for the price. And we would go at least twice a trip when they had QS. We loved the environment so def a loss. We got more value when we tried CRT breakfast, at least with that you get a lot of princesses. BOG needs like 5 more characters and actual meets to justify the cost.

 

[Lilofan]

We’re going to Europe this fall (spending part of the trip with DCL, where the currency conversion doesn’t help us though), and seriously considering cancelling Nov WDW trip and heading to TDR instead.

TDR is a better choice than DL. 14K CA cast are looking to have a strike vote in the future.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Last time I did BOG was for dinner prior to the prefixe menu. I actually enjoyed it quite a bit in the main dining room. Would like to go back sometime, but not at $300 for my family.

That $300 is almost the cost of converting all my tickets (it's 2/3rds) to hoppers.

I had no idea it had gotten this expensive, BOG has been a must do for us every MK trip, it wasn’t that many years ago it was about $30 a person for French Onion soup, a French Dip, and grey stuff. On our last trip (Jan 2023) we paid $55 a person and I remember questioning whether it was worth it anymore, I just looked and it’s now $70, there’s absolutely no way we’re paying that, they’ve lost their mind.

 

[JD80]

I had no idea it had gotten this expensive, BOG has been a must do for us every MK trip, it wasn’t that many years ago it was about $30 a person for French Onion soup, a French Dip, and grey stuff. On our last trip (Jan 2023) we paid $55 a person and I remember questioning whether it was worth it anymore, I just looked and it’s now $70, there’s absolutely no way we’re paying that, they’ve lost their mind.

$70 per adult $41 per kid.

For my family 2 Adults and 3 Kids 12 10 and 7 cost would be $321 before drinks and gratuity. So with tax and 20% tip, no alcohol it's about $410. So I did my math wrong before.

It's absurd. Lunch is the same.

CRT is more expensive than that. $385 before tax and tip for Dinner.

Hoppers upgrade for my family is $450.

 

[JD80]

Also to put in perspective, BOG Dinner is roughly $25 less that a day for the dining plan ($94.28 vs. $70). Which, if you think about it, is right on target because for that extra $25 you can get QS and a Snack.

Then again, BOG is 2 sit down credits. wompwomp

 

[seabreezept813]

$70 per adult $41 per kid.

For my family 2 Adults and 3 Kids 12 10 and 7 cost would be $321 before drinks and gratuity. So with tax and 20% tip, no alcohol it's about $410. So I did my math wrong before.

View attachment 800445

It's absurd. Lunch is the same.

CRT is more expensive than that. $385 before tax and tip for Dinner.

Hoppers upgrade for my family is $450.

The food isn’t even very good. No decent seafood options. Best part of the meal was my kids dessert where they could paint an edible teacup. Who wants a 3 course fine dining meal in the middle of fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom

We do miss the QS breakfast, we’d have mimosas and share a plate. And we loved their old lunch —the Croque Monsieur was great. It was also cool how they’d find you at your table with the roses. Honestly they could bring back the QS options and add 15-20 bucks to those and it would STILL be a better value.

 

[JD80]

The food isn’t even very good. No decent seafood options. Best part of the meal was my kids dessert where they could paint an edible teacup. Who wants a 3 course fine dining meal in the middle of fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom

We do miss the QS breakfast, we’d have mimosas and share a plate. And we loved their old lunch —the Croque Monsieur was great. It was also cool how they’d find you at your table with the roses. Honestly they could bring back the QS options and add 15-20 bucks to those and it would STILL be a better value.

I haven't been since 2017 but I enjoyed the food quite a bit for lunch and dinner. I've heard the food isn't bad now, just not worth the price for a family.

I would consider going if it was just the wife and I. I don't mind spending $150 on a meal, but it's a waste on my kids now and they will never get to see the inside of that building until they are older I guess (or the place changes).

Not sure what they are thinking with that menu.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Ughh feel the same and we actually spend a lot on dining. We did the “free” dining this year because we love character meals, but we can’t justify BOG. We went once for dinner and it was so meh for the price. And we would go at least twice a trip when they had QS. We loved the environment so def a loss. We got more value when we tried CRT breakfast, at least with that you get a lot of princesses. BOG needs like 5 more characters and actual meets to justify the cost.

Im a bit spoiled by Disneyland, but we go to the plaza inn character meal there and the breakfast buffet is fine and we've always seen like 10 different characters. And the price is just $46/adult and $27/kid - very reasonable esp considering the # and variety of characters. Nothing at WDW comes close.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Honestly they could bring back the QS options and add 15-20 bucks to those and it would STILL be a better value.

Agree, I always found the food pretty decent, I’d happily pay $10 for the soup, $15 for the French dip, $10 for the desert, and even $5 for the refillable soda. $40 for what would be a $25 meal in a normal restaurant is reasonable, $70 is insane.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Disney makes $0 from a non sale, it makes no sense to have empty rooms at overpriced hotels, empty tables at overpriced restaurants, hundreds of thousands of square feet of overpriced retail goods that aren’t selling, etc.

Most businesses when faced with this dilemma would try a different strategy, but Disney's solution is to just raise prices and hope for the best.

 

[Laketravis]

Here's a great example of just how out-of-touch they are with their consumers. What the @#*& makes them think I would even consider paying almost 3x more for each night? I'm certain they have a couple of decades worth of my purchasing habits that would tell them otherwise.

 

[CntrlFlPete]

I’d love to know if merchandise sales have plummeted also.

We used to come home from trips with bags of souvenirs, now it’s rare for us to leave with more than 1 or 2 items.

I have a drawer full of Disney PJ bottoms, I’d buy one almost every trip when they were $20-25, now that they’re $35+ I haven’t bought one in probably 3 years, they had a cute Stitch print last trip and it was $44.99, they’re crazy if they think I’m spending $45 for PJ bottoms. Same with T-shirts, I’d buy them every trip at $20-30, now that they’re $40+ I’ll never buy another one.

The worst part is as the prices have gone up the quality has simultaneously gone down, I have Disney shirts from 10 years ago that are so soft they still feel amazing, some of the more recent ones feel like they were made from sandpaper.

the one thing that really surprised me this year is that they have this Lilly collection that has been 40% off for at least 3 months now. I expected the stuff to fly out within a week. Not sure if it is still around today, but just surprised me that it didn't sell well at 40% off.

 

[GhostHost1000]

Here's a great example of just how out-of-touch they are with their consumers. What the @#*& makes them think I would even consider paying almost 3x more for each night? I'm certain they have a couple of decades worth of my purchasing habits that would tell them otherwise.

View attachment 800502

Is that a family suite or the mermaid rooms?

 

[bwr827]

$70 per adult $41 per kid.

For my family 2 Adults and 3 Kids 12 10 and 7 cost would be $321 before drinks and gratuity. So with tax and 20% tip, no alcohol it's about $410. So I did my math wrong before.

View attachment 800445

It's absurd. Lunch is the same.

CRT is more expensive than that. $385 before tax and tip for Dinner.

Hoppers upgrade for my family is $450.

Why are you tipping 20% when food costs have shot so high? Ridiculous.

A waiter years ago got a 15% tip on $100. Now it’s 20% on $175? No way. Percentages are dynamic to the bill total.